Tess Lane, owner of Lakeside Books, finds solace in hosting a weekly book club after her husband's mysterious death. Three years later, her world is shaken when River Harrison, her late husband's best friend, arrives, reigniting unresolved questions. As a former marine turned private investigator, River helps Tess seek the truth about her husband's death. Their journey along the Carolina coast uncovers hidden secrets, forcing Tess to confront her past and consider the possibility of love again.

I’m a huge fan of Annie Rains’ work and The True Love Bookshop is no exception! I loved further getting to know Tess, a character in previous books in the series, as well as meeting River! Though at times an emotional roller coaster, The True Love Bookshop is such a sweet small-town romance!

Thank you to Forever and Netgalley for the advanced copy! All opinions are my own.

Thank you for the advanced copy of this book. My reviews can be read on my GoodReads account here: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1335387-kelly

This has been on my NetGalley shelf for over a year, and I still haven’t picked it up. I've tried, but it just isn't for me (right now). I hope other people enjoy it more than I did.

Well apparently this is book three in a series. Which I didn’t know when I picked it up, but that didn’t make it difficult to read. So in my opinion it can be read as a standalone.
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Tess is newly a bookstore owner and a widow when River comes crashing into her life, just like when he came crashing into her wedding to stop it. Tess and River have a love hate relationship that provides tons of comedy, a lot of mystery, and good feels for the story.
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I thoroughly enjoyed the writing in this book and the small town feels. Tess and Moira’s friendship was fantastic, and I loved her as a side character.
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One little nitpick is that the descriptions of characters was lacking making it hard to picture them at first. For example, at 23% into the book reader finally gets a description of what Moira looks like, after her having been in numerous scenes prior and not being described. Admittedly this probably wouldn’t be a problem if I had read the series in order so I’m not too concerned about it.
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This book is for lovers of the miscommunication trope, only one bed trope, and soft fluffy dogs!
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Hoping the next book is Gil and Moira’s story!

This is was a typical romance novel with a little msytery thrown. Both characters were likable characters and it was sweet when they got together.

This book brings us back to Somerset Lake to Tess and her lovely Lakeside Books. While Tess loves her shop and her friends, she is still under the cloud of her husband's mysterious death 3 years ago. When his best friend and former Marine, River shows up to find out what really happened they go on a journey that leads them not only to answers but to each other. I loved their dynamic and Annie Rains never disappoints with a good story and compelling characters.

I received this book for free from netgalley for an honest review.

Heartwarming and fun but also very deep at times. Great read.

THE TRUE LOVE BOOKSHOP - Annie Rains

#3 in the Somerset Lake romance series

A NEW CHANCE AT ROMANCE - 4 stars

Plot - 4 stars - For Tess Lane, owning Lakeside Books is a dream come true, but it’s the weekly book club she hosts for the women in town that Tess enjoys the most. The gatherings have been her lifeline over the past three years since her husband’s death. Tess has tried to move on, but when River Harrison shows up on her doorstep, all her lingering questions come rushing back, especially with the impact he had on her wedding years ago. She's not sure it's time to move on, but she's certainly tempted.

Writing - 4.5 stars - Rains writes a casual and easy-to-read book, and it's always enjoyable to jump back into one of her series. We've gotten to know Tess fairly well through her friends in previous books, so it was great to read her story. Rains has created a great couple who both fit into the small-town Somerset Lake setting very well, despite the fact that both are quiet people on their own.

Characters - 4 stars - Tess is a strong, independent woman who has mostly recovered from her husband's untimely death. After meeting River, he seems like the perfect pairing for her since he's understanding, quiet, and very supportive. Plus, he's had a thing for her for a long time. There was a bit of a disconnect for me, though, since she began the book treating him as the enemy, after what he did at her wedding. But within a few pages, she had completely turned around and was acting as though they were friends. That seemed a bit quick (and unbelievable) to me.

Title - 4 stars - Of course the title tells us that this book is set during the pre-Christmas season. Pretty self-explanatory.

Cover - 4 stars - I like the cover showing the front of the bookstore. Most of the colors are light blue and white, so the bright red door draws the eye and welcomes in the reader. Plus what reader could resist all of those books in the window?

Overall - 4 stars - I was somewhat surprised to learn that Tess is a woman of color since that wasn't mentioned in either of the previous books, but it was pointed out this time because of her pride in her family and her accomplishments. She has been strong in overcoming the sudden death of her husband, but more strength will be needed to face these next few revelations. It's clear that she'll be strong with River by her side. They make a great pair--both quiet but also independently strong. The intrusiveness of the small-town atmosphere is still touched upon, but it was a lot less important in this story. And it was fascinating to watch River work as a private investigator on a couple of jobs.

Cute story. The book is well written and the characters and story are great. Enjoyable read. I always enjoy Annie's books.

who doesn't love books about books?! this was no exception. I really enjoyed the storyline although it was a little slow for me at times. the message this story gave was online any other and I really appreciated it.

This book was so fun! The character development and relationship that were built were so sweet. O loved this book so much!

The True Love Bookshop

by Annie Rains

With themes of forgiveness and second chances, The True Love Bookshop invites you into the small town of Somerset Lake. The setting is predominantly Tess’ dream come true: her bookshop which she is trying to put her own stamp on by expanding the collection of books on offer and inviting authors for book signings. Unfortunately, she is still dealing with grief three years after her husband passed away.

The drama in Tess’ life ratchets up when River Harrison stumbles into the bookshop having suffered a knife wound. He is the man who ruined her wedding day nine years prior. Although she has never forgiven him for trying to break up the event, she agrees to take care of his dog Buddy while he is in the hospital. This simple act of kindness results in Tess and River teaming up to find out what her deceased husband Jared was doing in the neighboring town of Morrisville when he had the fatal car accident.

This romance has its share of ups and downs. Tess and River both deal with pains from the past. River was adopted as a two year old, but has done little to search for his birth parents. He is viewed as a loner, but he enjoys nature and is happy. There are devastating revelations in store for Tess. Both characters learn to redefine family and friendship.

I liked Tess and River; watching them reach out and grow emotionally and relationally was a pleasurable benefit of this romance. There were plot complications both for the couple and for the town whose festival had been ruined for the last two years by mischief. As a PI, River was hired to discover who was behind the problems.

This was my introduction to author Annie Rains, and I would definitely like to read more of her books. I appreciated that the author included multi-cultural friends and marriages and treated them as the norm.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Rating: 4/5

Category: Romance, Women’s Fiction

Notes: 1. #3 in the Somerset Lake Series, but it worked fine for me as a standalone.
2. Includes excellent discussion questions.

Publication: July 7, 2022—Forever (Grand Central Publishing)

Memorable Lines:

…the point of Tess’s book club…was friendship, food, and fiction. The best three f-words in the dictionary, if you asked Tess.

River believed in loyalty and honor, not just in the military, but in everything. And Jared believed in loyalty and honor only when someone else was watching.

…River had never believed in luck. He believed in right and wrong, in keeping your word, and helping others as much as possible. He couldn’t imagine ever falling into a pattern where he did the wrong thing and needed to search out lawyers to hide his secrets.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher/author for this ARC for an exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book.

I enjoyed this sweet read about a bookstore. Books about bookstores just make sense. I loved meeting all the people who visited the bookstore in the book. They felt like friends.

I didn't finish this book. The story didn't grab my attention. The dialogue and plot was not interesting to me. When I read a book I usually want to be interested in the overall plot. The book when I started it already seemed predictable.

Really good book. The plot was well-written and engrossing. I look forward to reading more from this author.

I did not expect to like this book as much as I did. It's labeled as a romance, but I thought it was a cozy mystery, but who cares about labels!

This story centers around a local bookstore and it's owner, who learns her deceased husband had been keeping some big secrets from her.

Can I just own a bookstore, already!?!?! Doesn't that sound fantastic.

I'll pass on the husband.

This book definitely had the cheese factor, which is not my jam, but it told a real life story, with relatable characters.

It held an authentic small town charm that I found endearing.

I've never read a book by Annie Rains, but she's said to have a knack for pulling at the readers heart strings. This story of acceptance, forgiveness and inclusion definitely fit that bill.

This book is exactly what I needed after coming off some less than stellar spooky/mystery reads.

Mood reading at its finest.

Plus, I'm living for the cover.

Thank you Netgalley and Read Forever Pub for the ARC.

The book cover and title were what sold me to request this book - and come to find it it's part of a series. Nevertheless, it wasn't hard to get into this story and I do feel it could be read as a stand-alone as I didn't feel lost when devouring this small-town romance. Watching the characters and their relationships develop kept me engaged and wanting to know how it would turn out, who gets a HEA if anyone. This story touches on many emotions and tugged at my heartstrings more than once.

The cover of this book does not match the inside. I liked the investigation into her late husband with his former best friend, who happened to try to stop their wedding 3 years prior.

It tried to be twisty and turns but many points were very predictable.

The PI/former Marine/love interest was pretty hot character and truly the only reason to stick around til the end.

I loved this book so much!!! Annie Rains has done it again! She has a wonderful way of telling stories with tough topics. I was once again swept away by her characters. My feelings were all over the place with this book. But, it was such a good story! This was a good enemies to lovers trope.