Thank you to MTMC tours and Netgalley for an ALC in exchange for an honest review and promotion. All opinions are my own.

Must Love Books follows Nora Hughes. She's working for Parsons publishing and while she enjoyed her job when she started, her latest pay cut has made her expenses unaffordable. Nora begins to moonlight with a rival publishing house in order to make ends meet and steals some Parsons authors along the way. But when best selling author Andrew Santos is thrown in the mix, Nora doesn't know what's right anymore or what she wants to do.

I definitely enjoyed this one; however, I really wish I had known how much this would deal with depression and suicidal ideation, because from the cover and marketing I've seen I definitely thought it was just a cutesy romcom. I really enjoyed this adult contemporary fiction! I really loved seeing Nora navigate publishing, romance and figuring out her next steps. This had some similar vibes to Honey Girl where Grace was struggling with burnout and the unknown of life after grad school.

I'd love to see more books about publishing and working in the publishing industry come out. I find it all really fascinating, but I don't want to actually work in publishing. I loved seeing Nora and Andrew grow closer. I really liked these two together and seeing them become closer. Nora's struggle with what to do was so well crafted. I felt for her, trying to juggle both her loyalties and what was and what wasn't crossing her own personal line. It's so hard in a situation like hers when your home and more is on the line.

I loved the ending. It felt right for this book. Nora hasn't figured everything out, but she's picked a direction to start in. Can't wait to see what's next for this author!

Rep: Biracial Black cishet female MC with depression, biracial Filipino cishet male side character, cast is made up of mainly white straight characters, Black female side character briefly mentioned, queer side character mentioned.

CWs: Mental illness (depression), suicidal thoughts. Moderate: sexism, misogyny, racism, classism, Minor: closed door sexual content.

Regarding book:
I really wanted to love this book! The name, the cover, the concept, I love a peek into publishing and I love a journey where a young woman is finding her footing in career and personal life. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this book, primarily because Nora's decision to secretly freelance for a competing publisher - which is the foundation of the plot- is so resoundingly stupid that I really couldn't care one way or the other about her from then on.
There are many ways she could have had conflict or made tough choices regarding work that could have put her at risk without having her be so dumb she thinks her work lives in a vacuum, seemingly with no awareness of the concept of networking or how incestuous any profession is. Silly choice.
The book got better in the last quarter or so, Andrew was a very likable character. But also the very late in the game introduction of the fact that Nora struggles with depression just felt out of place. Did I miss that in the beginning? Did the author introduce it as a way to explain or excuse so many poor decisions? The book got more interesting as Nora explored this "struggle" but it all felt like an afterthought to me and sadly by then as a reader I didn't care, I was just trying to not put the book down without finishing.
AUDIOBook:
This was painful to listen to. I typically love audiobooks and have only come across one narrator that led me to stop listening - this came darn close. The narrator's tone and pace was painfully flat and slow, making the book feel even more amateurish. I even tried to listen on 1.25 x and it didn't help resurrect the lifeless.

I liked this book. I enjoy any books that address mental health and bring that discussion into the mainstream. My problem with it is that it’s not a factor in the storyline until nearly halfway through and is then not occasionally mentioned, almost as an afterthought. That makes it feel like it’s just something to add for some extra drama instead of an actual part of the character. How she dealt with her depression and SI is never addressed. I love a book about books, the setting in the publishing world is different. However, there also wasn’t really anything that made it standout from the cookie cutter Women’s Fiction/Romance storyline. I did like the narrator, her voice was fitting for the character.

DISCLAIMER: I received this book free from NETGALLEY in exchange for an honest review.

Nora is an editorial assistant who has stayed way too long in her position. She feels stuck in every aspect of her life. Work, personal, financial and most importantly, mental health wise. When anyone is in a bad place they aren’t always capable of making the best decisions for themselves. Rather than being proactive and job hunting as so many of her colleagues have done, she just sits, waits and stews and internally complains to herself and does a lot of “woe is me” thinking. Then in another blow her salary gets cut and increase her workload. She has rent to pay so takes an under the table job with a competitor and winds up both lying and disappointing everyone including herself again and again. It wasn’t at all what I was anticipating when I read the blurb. It did end on an up note, but it was a hard listen getting there.

The title had me instantly. Must Love Books? Um, DUH!!! Four stars for this fun book about reading and books! I do hope the audio quality of the NetGalley app gets better or you allow to send it to ibooks or something because the quality is just sooooo poor.

I went into this book blind and I was expecting a lighthearted Romcom mingled with the love of books.
This book was realistic and deep, not light and fluffy like so many other romance books you come to know and expect.
The struggle of a woman who is an editor assistant with a dying publisher has to make hard choices in her life in order to survive.
Yes, there was a male counterpart; however, Nora realized she needed to find who she was first and love herself before getting truly involved with someone else.

This is such wise advice as the only person who can make you happy is yourself and not the love of another. Maybe the divorce rates wouldn’t be so high in this country if more people romanticized about themselves instead of others.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the gifted copy

Must Love Books follows Nora Hughes, the overworked, underpaid editorial assistant. Nora decides to take a second job at a competing publishing house and secretly steals authors away from her current place of employment. Let's just say, this gets complicated fast, especially once she meets author, Andrew Santos.

Unfortunately, this just wasn't for me. As a character focused reader, I found it hard to connect to the characters and found myself getting confused about which character worked for which publisher. This book felt a bit disjointed for me as well. The first half was super slow and focused a lot on her jobs and the publishing world and the second half took a strong turn into talks of suicide and mental illness. I would have probably preferred to see it blended better. That being said, please check out trigger warnings if you are planning to pick up this book.

Read an ALC courtesy of Netgalley, the publisher, OrangeSky Audio, and the author. Thank you for the opportunity!

Rating: 2 Stars

A story about fighting your way out of the darkness and finding yourself. Interesting characters and storyline. Lots of moral dilemmas that come out fine in the end.

I love books about books so my eye was drawn to the title and illustrated cover of Shauna Robinson's debut novel Must Love Books. Thankfully fellow readers alerted me that this isn't a romcom but an honest look at working in publishing. TW: suicidal thoughts

The premise: The main character is 20-something Nora who works for a publisher of business/non-fiction titles in NYC. She was so excited to be employed as an editorial assistant and dreamed of becoming an editor. However, five years later, she's stuck in the same position working on books that don't sell, mourning changes in the office environment, and doing the work of at least two (entry-level) positions. She's unhappy with her professional and personal life and begins to think everything would be easier if she wasn't around any longer.

Then a small mistake on a bestselling author's sandwich order gets Nora noticed, and things quickly get far more complicated than she could imagine. Can a good development in her personal life bring bad things to her career? Do "dream jobs" really exist?

My thoughts: I'm glad I went into this book with a hint of its mood and subject; it's definitely not a romcom. I appreciated the honest look at an industry that is often romanticized and the struggles its employees face, and I enjoyed the unique relationship between Nora and Andrew. I had issues keeping track of Nora's coworkers, and I was surprised by the mental health plotline - it seemed to come out of nowhere, but maybe that's what it's like for some who live it. I was grateful to read this via audiobook and thought Tyra Kennedy's narration captured Nora's personality well.

Many thanks to OrangeSky Audio and NetGalley for the advanced listening copy; all thoughts are my own.

This book was described as a combination of The Bookish Life of Nina Hill meet’s Younger. I haven’t read Nina Hill but Younger is one of my favorite shows so I had to give this a read.

Once upon a time, Nora landed what she thought was a dream publishing job, but five years later, she feels like this is a dead-end job, especially after the pay was cut, barely able to make rent. When an opportunity arises for her to freelance for a competing publishing house, she takes it, while also keeping her full-time job.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, but Nora did bother me sometimes. She was well aware that working for both publishing houses was wrong, which ticked me off a bit. I also can’t help but note that she was going through some serious mental health issues, and I don’t think the author took that very seriously or portrayed that in the right way.

I adored the romance between Nina, and Andrew, an author at her publishing house. I also loved reading a book about a twenty-something young woman struggling financially and with her career. For me, it made Nora relatable, despite the choice she made that I certainly disagreed with.

I loved the authors writing style; it was funny at times, always engaging and the dialogue between characters was great! I also love a book about books.

The ending was satisfyingly perfect and gave me hope that if Nina can figure out her messy life, we all can!

Must Love Books by Shauna Robinson is one of those books where you think you know what you’re getting yourself into, but half way through you realize the story is more than its cute book cover. What I loved most about this book was how Shauna tackles depression and suicidal thoughts. I found a little bit of myself in Nora which made this book very relatable. It also made me stop and give thanks to those special people in my life that take the time to just check in and push me to always choose to do what is best for me.
Thank you to Orange Sky Audio and NetGalley for an ALC in exchange for my honest review.

I wanted to devour this book based on the MC, but this one just didn't grab me like I hoped. I ended up stopping 1/2 way through. I work in the library and sell books also, so lots of this felt similar to my life. I could see and hear her at the book selling stations. However the back and forth between the two publishers and trying to connect with the author personally just didn't work for me. The passages about her earnings vs living expenses didn't seem realistic based on where she was supposed to be living, which really bothered me. I liked the red cover of my ARC, but seems the cover published is more orange which doesn't seem to fit for me. I also listed to the book.

Thanks NetGalley for the free audio ARC.

Nina is such a complex character, that I actually came to adore her! I found the premise of the story interesting, and I loved getting to know a bit more about the publishing world. I absolutely enjoyed the banter between Nina and Andrew. Andrew made me smile so much while listening to the audiobook.
The book does tackle some suicidal thoughts, but it showed how the character struggled with those thoughts and what she did to cope and eventually open up to her friends about it.
The narrator was great and kept me tuned to the story till the very end. Loved the tidbits from the author at the end.

Noras dream job was working in the publishing world in the hopes to meet new authors and authors from her childhood to tell them how much there work meant to her. But after 5 years of taking lunch orders, having to kiss ass at work and bad tempered emails. After 5 years with all her favorite coworkers let go or leaving on there own. Her paying never increasing but decreasing she knows there is no such thing as a dream job.

Her life is nothing like she planned for she wanted so much in this world. She barley makes enough to make ends meet and when they cut her farther she doesnt know what shes going to do. She doesnt want to give up her dream even though shes not happy. With the pay cut shes unable to afford her rent and reading new or old novels as a comfort is gone. Nora decides to moonlight for a rival publisher to make ends meet

She thinks she can do both for a few months until something full time open ups and she can leave her current job once and for all.

Enter Andrew who is a big author her current job is trying to get to sign his next book contract. They keep running into each other and become friends. A part of her wants to try to convince him to sign it and maybe that will show them she can do more. But on the other hand if she brings her into her new job maybe that will be the step to higher her full time.

This book was beautiful where it shows someone who thinks there 1st job out of school is it for them. But what if it isn't what it teaches you is to keep trying different things. Its okay to not know what you want. and your happiness is what should be important. Being a 6 or higher is the goal not being under 5 on the scale.

In everything in this book it ends with Nora still not knowing what shes doing what will make her a 6 or higher. But shes found a place to start and thats all we really can do. I do love this ending.

Also there is a love story in this book but its a small one with another person but the big one is the love story with yourself.

I loved the ending. It felt right for this book. Nora hasn't figured everything out, but she's picked a direction to start in. Can't wait to see what's next for this author!

some triggers in the book: Mental illness (depression), suicidal thoughts.

Thank you NetGalley for this Audio-Arc in exchange for my honest review.

I love reading books about books, especially the behind the scenes drama. Nora is such a relatable protagonist, even if you don't work in the publishing industry. Being an underpaid and overworked employee is basically a right of passage at this point. I really think this book would be a fun and thoughtful read for anyone. We have put the idea of the "dream job" on a pedestal, but as this book proves, you can be doing a job that seems like it is perfect, and yet it might not meet your expectations. Add to that the grind of trying to pay bills, navigating upper management types, and wondering if your work friendships are real, this book felt like a diary entry about the modern woman's experience.

This is a story about finding yourself through friendships, relationships, work and books.

I loved that the premise of knowing who you are was more important than having a cute romance element in the book. I loved the main character, Nora, and thought she was very relatable. I also loved how the mental health aspect was treated without being triggering.

I was not sure about the book at the beginning, but I encourage everyone to continue because it becomes a great story.

(I got the arc from NetGalley)

This one had me spinning. I love books but I didn't love Norah. She was one of those characters that made me want to grab her by the shoulders and shake her and tell her to grow up and move on. She is in a job that has been downsizing her salary while piling on more and more and now she is working for the competition all while still working at her present job...and poaching authors. While working at a conference she meets the author everyone loves and wants and they strike up a friendship. Her editor wants him to sign with them and he doesn't want to and wants Norah to get him to. Oh the pain of it all. I did finish this one and if it wasn't in audio I'm not sure I would have.

{3.5 stars}

Nora is an underling in the publishing world, she followed this career path because she loved reading, but her job has her in a rut. Too much work with not enough pay and zero appreciation on top of work that doesn't inspire her has her at the end of her rope. She is looking for something that can rocket her into the future she dreams about but every step she takes seems to be in the wrong direction.

I think this one is slightly mis-marketed as a rom-com, there is a love story within but it is not the focus and frankly was distracting from what I thought was the more compelling story, a millennial's search for meaning, joy and success. I think this is more of a story about mental health, there are several sections that focus on Nora's suicidal ideation and those pieces were so compelling. Her friends were supportive and the narrative demonstrated well what it is to be living with depression and the inaction driven by anxiety (although I would have liked an appearance of a therapist or the suggestion of one - we didn't get that til the very end). I appreciated the arc that offered hope while still being wholly realistic.

The love of books and writing as well as the insight to the publishing industry was great. There are some light moments and witty banter, I just think readers should beware that there are some heavy topics within but all are dealt with nicely.

Thanks to MTMC Tours, Orange Sky Audio and the author for the gifted copy of this one. All opinions above are my own.

Synopsis: Nora Hughes works in what she once thought was her dream job: publishing. However, after 5 years of being an overworked, underpaid, and underrepresented editorial assistant, she finds her purpose in this profession severely lacking. And when recent layoffs leave Nora feeling isolated as well as pointless, she feels herself sinking into a dark place where things she once found pleasure in, such as reading, no longer have their appeal. Desperate to pay her rent and possibly escape her current situation, Nora finds herself in a morally gray position as she works for 2 competing publishers at the same time. Discovering who she is, what she wants, and who she wants to spend her time with is at the heart of Nora's journey and the key to her happiness.

Must Love Books by Shauna Robinson read a bit like an Indie film to me. It was smart, poignant, and not overly dramatic. Nora was a likeable enough character, and I feel that Robinson adequately and subtly represented the thought processes of one experiencing depression. Not all of Nora's choices and feelings were logical or founded, but rather than frustrating, it appeared to be a result of her current state of depression. This book does have a closed-door romantic element to it, but it is not the overarching narrative, which I think, given the title and cover, is a little deceptive. I could see a lot of people picking this book up and thinking they'd get a romance and might possibly be disappointed. My biggest complaint with this book was the narration. I hate to bring this up because I don't really have a specific complaint, and I can't even say I didn't like her voice, I just didn't like the way she read this book.

Reviewing
Must Love Books
By Shauna Robinson

We all know I’m a sucker for books with a bookish theme so this one was a no brainer for me. Robinson does a beautiful job of balancing Nora‘s journey of self worth and coming of age with a whimsical romance. I found the authors perspective on mental health and open conversation refreshing and very relatable. I would recommend this book to all readers who are looking for a little romance and a peek into the world of publishing.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 clean stars for this cute and relatable read with a PG rating.