I thought this book was okay. I wasn't initially captivated but it did get better. I'm glad I finished it, however, I wasn't longing to listen to it.

This book was very slow paced, which made it feel pretty long, even at 1.75 speed. I did enjoy the story and was left wanting to better my life after finishing the book, which felt nice. However, it doesn’t feel like there is too much to the book. Not much happens to the main character that makes you want to keep reading. I always finish the books I request, but I have a feeling if this was something I wasn’t expected to leave a review for, then I wouldn’t haVe finished it.

Must Love Books

Author: Shauna Robinson
Publisher: OrangeSky Audio
Publication: Feb 17, 2022

Star Rating: 4 Stars

Review: Have you ever felt stuck or invisible in your job? Or maybe you thought you had found your dream job, but it wasn’t what you expected? Well this is exactly how our main character, Nora feels. Nora has always loved books and wanted a job where she could share her passion with others. Instead she’s been stuck as an editorial assistant for a publisher in the business books division…boring! When the company begins restructuring and threatens Nora’s future, she begins to really consider if this is the career path for her. With the help of one of her author client, Nora dives into what happiness and dream jobs really mean. After a few questionable decisions, she revises her view of a dream job.

This book makes you really look into career happiness and whether there really is a dream job for everyone. I appreciated how not all of Nora’s questions were answered, and she took a leap of faith at the end both in her work and personal lives. I also liked having an inside look into a publishing company and a little bit of the long process an author goes through to get a book published.

Definitely a fast and captivating read that I would recommend! Thank you NetGalley and OrangeSky Audio for a copy of the audiobook for an honest review.

I enjoyed the premise- a romance set in the literary world is right up my alley- and the narration on this audiobook was impeccable, but unfortunately the story was too slow for me to truly get into.

I really enjoyed this one! The inside look at the publishing/editorial word was so interesting! Nora was a great, relatable main character, though flawed at times in the choices she made.

I enjoyed the narrator for this one! I thought the book was narrated well and it kept my attention while listening.

Thank you OrangeSky Audio for this audiobook copy in exchange for an honest review! This book is out now.

This was a cute read about learning to stand up for yourself and ask for what you need. Nora is increasingly given more and more tasks at work after a pay decrease and she slowly spirals into depression. I loved getting to know Nora and see how she digs herself out of her funk and find her happiness. Despite her youth, she is easy to relate to because her struggles are multi-generational. We all yearn for acceptance, acknowledgement, and a feeling of accomplishment. Bonus points for a Filipino love interest.

Narration was well done, no issues.

I liked this book because the story flows well and is unique on it's take on the in-between-jobs worker. The process of finding where you belong is usually depicted in literature through getting the dream job, but what if you're not sure of what the dream is? Also, what if you're just not happy with your life and where you are in life? Is that okay. The book normalizes life's imperfections, from an imperfect love life, to an imperfect work situation, to crawling your way through an imperfect existence overall.

This book was just ok. I found my brain wandering at times rather than really paying attention to the story. I went back to it, but it just seemed slow at times.

Overall, it was cute. It had good characters. Story is relatively plausible. I would be interested to read another by this author.

I liked the audio narrator. I would definitely listen to a book by her again. There were a few errors, so wondering if I listened to a final copy.

What an absolutely delightful book! I loved everything from the publishing insight, the vibrant location, and the fun characters. Nora was so relatable and down to earth, both as a bibliophile and someone struggling to find her path and make ends meet on her own. I loved the cute romantic connection she makes, and also that it takes a back seat to her personal and professional goals, complementing it rather than outshining it. I don't think I could have loved this story any more than I did!
The narrator was perfect for telling this story and bringing these characters to life.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

I'm beginning to realize that a wacky, tropey premise is often more likely to disappoint me than make me fall in love with a romcom. This book had exactly the kind of premise that drew me in - Nora has always loved books and knew that a career in publishing would be her dream job. But after five years of taking lunch orders and dealing with annoying authors, she begins to realize that this dream job in publishing does not exist. And after the publisher she works for, Parson's, announces that they're cutting her salary by 15%, Nora needs to get a second job. Instead of getting a job literally doing anything else, she decides to take a job at a rival publishing agency.

At the same time, she starts to bond with one of Parson's bestselling authors, Andrew Santos. Parson's is desperate to get him to agree to publish his next book with them, but poaching him for her new rival employer would be huge for Nora. Unsurprisingly, this presents her with a huge conflict of interest - not only between her two jobs, but with her personal and professional lives. She spins a web of deceit that inevitably has to come crashing down with some - or a lot of - consequences. This type of story is always so frustrating to me, because instead of being able to enjoy the romance, I'm just worried about what has to happen to reckon with the lies being told. Not only that, I just didn't feel any chemistry between the two main characters - so I wasn't really even rooting for their love story to begin with. This reminds me a lot of another disappointing romcom I read last year, [book:The Summer Job|55271529], which has a similarly tropey concept filled with complex lies.

Overall, this wasn't the book for me - but might be for you if you love tropes and complex narratives. Thank you to OrangeSky Audio for the audio ARC via Netgalley.

Thank you to NetGalley and OrangeSky Audio for the advanced audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a solid 4 stars—but it is NOT a traditional romcom, so manage your expectations. This is definitely a love story’s beginning, but it’s focus is about the evolution of Nora and who she is and wants to be and eventually becomes with hints of romance with a potential healthy love interest. I LOVE novels that showcase a characters true growth, and this is a great example. While some of Nora’s decisions made me uncomfortable because I had to sit in my anxiety with how things would turn out, I found the resolutions felt right and quite optimistic. The narration is lovely, though I did enjoy it at 1.25 speed. I enjoyed it.

I really enjoyed reading about this book and the dynamics between Nora and Andrew. I love how Nora gave herself years to focus on her book and getting it noticed. I also love that we get to see her in her job as a content creator that directly reflects her book. I love her drive and passion and I admire that so much about her.

Then we have Andrew, I was so shocked that he has a Filipino decent even if it was not a big deal, I still appreciate the representation nonetheless. I thought he was not the male lead because Nora was not into him at first. Glad that she found someone who has the same passion as her, writing.

After reading a tragic books back to back, it was such a refresher to read a book about a book. It’ everything I could ask for. I needed that little romance with no tragedy n the background. I appreciate everything his book has to offer.

I definitely love seeing how the publishing world works. It might have a focus on the non-fiction works, but geting a scene what it’s like to work in the publishing industry.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Set in the world of publishing, this story centres around Nora, an overworked and underpaid editorial assistant. She finds herself caught between two publishing houses, looking to woo a writer into signing a contract for her current employer or for the publishing house she is moonlighting for. Along the way she faces up to what makes her happy, what she wants from life and the changes she wants to see in her life.

This was a pleasant enough read but I didn't really feel any depth of connection to Nora so it was hard to feelinvested in her story. The ending felt too abrupt and open-ended, it left me wishing for an epilogue to revisit things a few months later.

Easy listen, good narration!! Really enjoyed this fast paced book! It is a book lovers book!! I would definitely read from this author again! Really been enjoying audiobooks this month!!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and sourcebook landmark for this earc!

I was initially interested in this book because in the synopsis it mentioned how the main character had a love for books and figuring out how the rest of her life is going to go. Totally relatable right?

I enjoyed the beginning a lot. Nora finding a new “side” job and having a cute flirtation with one of their authors. I was hooked. I thought andrew was adorable and the scene when he takes over the booth, only to run the payment wrong was hilarious (and cute 🥰) I know the romance wasn’t supposed to be the focus for the book or for Nora, but I wanted more. I enjoyed seeing Andrew be there for her when she was only a 3 on the happiness scale. I liked seeing them go to the touristy ice cream shop. The parts I wasn’t the biggest fan of are the parts the synopsis talks about. The book isn’t focused on romance, it’s more about finding your own happiness and what you do in your life when your having a hard time (TW for suicidal thoughts). While not my favorite parts (again I think this is a me thing and not the book) it’s hard to read. For me, it’s hard to be in that frame of mind, which is the point! Nora is going thru it emotionally, so getting that emotion thru on page was perfect.

Im very interested in seeing what this author comes out with next! I’d def recommend this book to a friend (if you’ve read the book, you get that reference)

Also! This audiobook was fantastic!

My review timeline for this one got away from me a bit, but I received an audiobook ARC from Netgalley. This book is in many ways more relationship fiction than all out romance. The pacing reminded me a bit of Carrie Pilby, where there was a lot of introspection of our main character and issues that had to be addressed in order to move forward. Overall, I enjoyed the plot and audiobook narration. This one is slow-paced, so it may take time to feel full invested.

I really wanted to enjoy this book but it just didn't do it for me. It was really slow moving and the main character was so negative about her life that I just wanted to scream at her to do something to change it. I don't feel like it matched the description all all. Very disappointed.

Nora is struggling with her life. She is overworked and under appreciated at Parsons Press. As her friends leave for other positions, Nora is left alone. Things get interesting when she is at a conference promoting books and one of their bestselling authors, Andrew Santos, stops by to visit and help her in the booth. When her salary is cut, Nora starts looking for other jobs. She finds herself very unhappy and Andrew is the only person who seems to be able to get her out of her funk. Andrew no longer wants Parsons Press to publish his books and Nora is thinking about suggesting a publisher she started working for on a part time basis. She is torn between wanting to have a better job, and trying to keep the relationship she has with Andrew separate.
I was intrigued with the discussion of happiness. In every job there are factors that contribute to happiness. Andrew wants Nora to be happy. She struggles with how to make that happen. I thought this book gave insight into the publishing business and brought up a lot of thought-provoking life issues.

This book was alright. It’s well written and has a story that, even though it has elements used before, is unique in many ways.
Nora Hughes is feeling underappreciated and displeased with her current job. She is an editorial assistant at Parsons Press. She thought this was her first step towards reaching her dream job. However, after 5 years of picky authors, ordering lunches, and then having her already too low to live salary cut, she has come to the conclusion her dream job just may not exist.
Soon, Nora hatches a brilliant plan. She’ll moonlight for a rival publisher to make ends meet and also, perhaps, turn some of Parson’s authors along the way. I bet you can figure out how great a plan these two things were.
Her plans are a little sidetracked though when one of Parson’s best selling authors, Andrew Santos, is thrown into the mix. Now, Nora has to really think about where her loyalties lie.
This book was okay. It had some great characters and the story progressed nicely. It went by fast as it was written in an easy to read quickly style. There was a decent enough romance as well.
I would just recommend this to those curious about what happens in it.

Nora is depressed and feeling stuck at her dreary job. She'd had dreams of turning her love of books into a magical career but ended up in a lowly administrative job at a company that publishes the most boring business books.

When her pay is unexpectedly reduced to do company wide cuts she covertly takes on a side job at a competing publisher.

The star of the boring publisher, Andrew Santos, also being to show a little more than professional interest in Nora.

She's left to grapple with her secrets, her depression, her suicidal ideation, and the struggle to come up with a real plan for her future. Can she keep her secrets and survive her lowest of lows?