Member Reviews
Thank you to Penguin General UK and NetGalley for the ARC!
I am thoroughly obsessed with Book Lovers. I laughed out loud, I sobbed, I related way too much to Nora.
Emily Henry’s ability to put such specific emotions and dynamics into words is something I will never be able to get over. This book is the quintessential romcom yet still so, so different to anything I have ever read. I was completely enraptured by the story, by the characters, by the writing, and the way all of this somehow simultaneously led to numerous moments of introspection - not what I was expecting when I started to read this book.
Every time I sat down to read Book Lovers, I could NOT stop. The self-control it took to not “accidentally” skip to the last page (like our favourite main character) just to make sure there was a happy ending (shout out to Spaaaahhh) was astronomical.
I will 100% be reading this again, although maybe after I emotionally recover.
Once I get my hands on a physical copy it will be absolutely covered in highlights and annotations, but until then I will end this review with two of my favourite quotes:
“… and I still feel like a city person, through and through, but maybe it’s possible to have more than one home. Maybe it’s possible to belong in a hundred different ways to a hunted different people and places.”
“… because this wanting, it feels good, like a bruise you need to press on, a reminder that there are things in life so valuable that you must risk the pain of losing them for the joy of briefly having them.”
W O W . ARE YOU KIDDING??? I think these should be enough to convince anyone to read this book honestly, whew.
I really needed this book; a lovely slice of warmth, wit and romance. The tale of a literary agent who knows all the romance book tropes working out how to accept her history and navigate her future. The characters have depth, you're invested from the beginning and rooting for everyone. (Copy received via Netgalley in return for an honest review)
So I have had many good things about Emily Henry's novels - splashed all over Youtube saying how amazing they are so when this came up on NetGalley I could not click request quick enough.
I normally read thrillers/mysteries/domestic noir so this was completely new to me. I am glad that I read it as the writing is great and I really warmed up to main character Nora, but being 100% honest - it did take me a while to get into this novel.
I am glad that I stuck with this novel as it was a good beach read. So we meet Nora who is a literary agent making it big in New York, she is late to a meeting to Charlie, a handsome editor and they do not get off to a great start. We then fast forward a few years, and meet Libby, Nora's sister. Libby is desperate for a vacation, with 2 small kids at home and pregnant with her third she is in need of a break so they both go to North Carolina. Whilst on vacationing there are main incidences where Nora and Charlie accidently run into each other and this occurs so many times.
This novel has a good story line running through the whole plot and great characters that you kind of wish were your best friends.
Thanks to NetGalley, Emily Henry and the publishers for allowing me a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.
A story of sisters love and trying to keep each other happy, of course with a romance thrown in.
Nora is a literary agent and her younger sister Libby arranges for them both to go to Sunshine Falls the typical small, cute village that is in all the romantic books where the female meets the love of her life.
Libby did a to do list for Nora to help her find romance.
Good likeable characters and some laugh out loud bits to bring a smile to your face.
Thanks ton Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Happy Publication Day to Book Lovers.
I have bought Emily Henry's two previous bestsellers but have yet to read them and this was my first read from this author. I don't read a lot of romance fiction and was so pleasantly surprised by this book, I understand the hype now.
Nora is a NYC literary agent. Successful, hardworking, her whole life is works. She has had a series of non serious relationships and Nora knows she is the woman that men date before they meet the woman they are going to spend the rest of their life with.
Charlie is a book editor and Nora has had a brief run-in with him professionally.
Nora's younger sister persuades Nora to take a month long break away from her desk and travel with her to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina. A town straight of one of Nora's clients bestselling novel. Bizarrely she keeps bumping into her NYC nemesis, Charlie there...
I got into this book quickly, I really enjoyed the authors style of writing. Its smart, fast and funny and oh so readable. I loved the references to all of the fictional tropes that occur in novels and the references to books throughout. The characters were so well drawn, realistic and the dialogue and setting was very entertaining. Henry writes great sexual tension coupled with wit and warmth and this whole book was a delight.
I am going to read her previous books asap and will urge people to add Book Lovers to their summer reading lists. Perfect escapism and the book to add to suitcases this summer.
I think this is my favourite Emily Henry book to date! I do say that with each of her books but I mean it this time! I loved Nora and Charlie and I adored the small town setting. To me it was a bit like a hallmark movie but with characters with common sense lol
Give it a go its perfect for any book lover!
💭 ᴍʏ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛꜱ:
Absolutely adored the setting of this book, which reminded me so much of Gilmore Girls and Virgin River! Nora is such a strong female lead; we should see independent women in books more often! A good reminder that you are enough, just the way you are. Charlie is such a gentlemen. What I love most is, that it’s a sweet romance with deeper topics, like guilt and grief, woven into it. That gives the story so much more meaning and realism. A very enjoyable and quick read!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🤓 ʀᴇᴀᴅ ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪᴋᴇ:
Short Chapters
Quick read 🤓
Character built
Virgin River/Gilmore Girls 🎥
ꜱʏɴᴏᴘꜱɪꜱ:
𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳. 𝘛𝘸𝘰 𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘴. 𝘈 𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨...
𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘶𝘵-𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦. 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴.
𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘢'𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘴.
𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬-𝘶𝘱𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺-𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳-𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘢'𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘸𝘢𝘱 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩'𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘍𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴, 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘺 𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘫𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴, 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘢 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰...𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦.
Emily Henry’s new novel is about a New York book editor, who keeps getting dumped when here boyfriends go on business trips to small towns and fall in love. Nora is the before woman. When her sister drags her to a small town in North Carolina to spend a month, she encounters Charlie - her work nemesis. He’s the editing equivalent of her, but he turned down her biggest novel and she’s not over it. And they keep bumping into each other…
And it’s delightful. As you can probably tell, it’s a book for people who love reading romances and seeing someone do something different with the tropes and archetypes. It’s a romance, but it’s closer to the woman’s fiction end of the spectrum because Nora has some issues of her own to deal with and that along with her relationship with her sister takes up almost as much time as the romance does. It will probably make you cry, you will probably worry if there’s going to be a happy ending but it’s worth it in the end, even if I wanted a slightly longer epilogue (what’s new!).
Nora is a cutthroat literary agent, trying to mend the increasingly strained relationship with her sister. When they take a trip to the setting of her sister's favourite book, the last person she expects to (repeatedly) run into is her literary adversery, editor Charlie.
Admittedly, I struggled to warm to Nora in the opening chapters, and found those same chapters a little slow going. But from the second the sisters arrived in Sunshine Falls, I really warmed to her. By chapter nine I was totally invested and beginning to understand why Nora had become the woman she was now. Nora has lived her life putting herself last. It was heartbreaking reading about how she had been compartmentalising her feelings for so long.
I loved Charlie. In many ways he's like me. A stranger in his own family. He has the same dry sense of humour as Nora (and myself), and I found myself rooting for them almost immediately. Their banter was top tier: simultaneously hilarious with wicked sharp retorts but also hot as sin; and it always felt authentic (I have entire pages annotated). The chemistry was incredible. This is slow burn, enemies-to-lovers/soulmates done right. But more than that, this is a story of self-acceptance, and of sisterhood. I probably cried non-stop for the final ten chapters. That, for me, is the sign of a great book. Book Lovers is a story of two of them trying to find that perfect last page.
My first read by this author, I will definitely be catching up on Emily Henry's previous books!
Overall Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Heat Rating: 🔥🔥 and a half
Emotional Rating: 😂😂🥰😍💔💔😢😢
*Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to leave an honest review*
I have posted the same review on Amazon UK, but awaiting moderation
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.
This book was just perfect and I am just completely obsessed with Emily Henry's writing at this point!
I just fell in love with Nora and the how she put everyone before her, she is a character who deserves the world. Her sister Libby was such a fun character! Oh and Charlie, I just loved him too.
The only thing I hated about this book was that it had to end.
Definitely recommending this book to friends and I just can't wait for Emily's next book!
Book Lover by Emily Henry ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Nora is a successful, city loving writing agent but when her pregnant sister Libby suggests they spend a few weeks living out their ‘small town’ fantasies in Sunshine Falls she jumps at the chance to reconnect. While there she just so happens to bump into her nemesis from work, the enigmatic Charlie.
This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year after loving You and Me On Vacation so much last year, and thank goodness it didn’t disappoint!
The dialogue and banter between the characters was just fantastic, the kind that normal people come up with about two hours after a conversation and think ‘now why couldn’t I of said that?!’
Loved the slow burn enemies to friends to lovers between Nora and Charlie, but also the connection between Nora and her sister.
Having read and loved Beach Read and People We meet on vacation, this was obviously a must! Genuinely my favourite to date - loved the setting, characters were developed and believable and the enemies to lovers theme is always a winner! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
As a massive fan of Beach Read and You and Me on Vacation (People on Vacation) I knew it was a no-brainer that I should read Book Lovers and man, expectations were blown!
I loved everything about Book Lovers, in particular the banter between Nora and Charlie, which alone elevated the book to a whole other level
As someone who is sarcastic with dry humour and loves witty banter, Book Lovers spoke to me on a soul level 😍
Everyone needs to read it. Immediately. And then re-read it, along with her previous works.
Books, sisters, city girl in a small town flipped upside down. More books, banter, wit, snark and chemistry. Emotions, more books and feelings.
Emily Henry is an auto buy author for me now, since I have devoured and loved all three of her adult romance books.
I just love her writing! I love the romance, the characters, the back stories and the connections between them. It just clicks for me.
I adored this book📚📚📚📚📚
Aptly named, the story follows literary agent Nora who heads to small town straight out of a romance novel where she bumps into brooding editor Charlie who she’s previously clashed with. Dragged on the trip by her beloved sister Libby who sees the trip as an adventure where the siblings can tick off things on a country inspired bucket list, Nora can’t help but feel out of her comfort zone and seeing Charlie, who belongs to her New York world, there is jarring and unsettling, but soon the pair find themselves drawn to one another.
Charlie and Nora are characters I can imagine being on the big screen because they’re so fleshed out I could imagine their laughs and interactions so easily. Their warmth and charisma leaps off the page as if their love story in a quirky little small town in the back end of nowhere was happening right in front of me !! With believable dialogue, easy to visualise characters and a world I want to dive right into, it’s safe to say Emily Henry has NAILED it. It draws upon the cliche romance movie trope but with an added ooze of charm and emotion. There’s plenty of intrigue and will-they-won’t-they and enough witty quips to shake a stick at, and i tore through the pages even faster than I thought possible, so much so that I’m already considering going for a second read through.
Book Lovers is more grief laden than Emily Henry’s previous offerings, but the tangible and lingering pain experienced by the sisters following the death of their mother is so raw and visceral, and works as a heady contrast to the more sweet and cutesie elements. It is perfectly balanced in my opinion as it stops the book from becoming too cliche or generic.
Easiest 5 stars from me
Huge thank you to Viking Books for my copy
I think everyone can collectively agree that Emily Henry is a gem of a writer. I never read romance or was even slightly interested in romance until beach read peaked my interest, Emily Henry let me fall in love with a genre that I didn’t think was for me and I am so glad she did. With each new books she writes I fall more in love and I think Charlie Lastra is my favourite man in the EHU (Emily Henry universe🤣). I am the little sister in my family and I am lucky to have a big sister as amazing as Nora is. Nora can be misguided but she truly had the biggest heart despite that exterior everyone perceived . The dynamic and build up to Nora & Charlie was the BEST I’ve read in a romance novel, the Italian dinner in the lovely sunshine falls… that scene will be burned into my brain for the best connection in romance I’ve ever read, I truly felt the chemistry in the pages. I could talk about this book forever but I also want to touch on the sister dynamic, it was such a good representation of how sisters can be, how we lean on each other and how much we mean to each other too. I’ve never teared up reading a romance book but you better believe my heart was soaring for so many reason and finally all there is left to say is I AM HEATHCLIFF 😭 thank you netgalley UK for my arc!! Truly lucky for this one.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cdbl1JcLjFl/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
HECK YEAH, that was good!
Emily Henry did it AGAIN. got me hooked, got me in love, got me crying for more.
Cannot wait for more books by her! Fantastic read for book lovers :D pun intended! and love lovers!
ai ai it made my day and I am in such a great mood now :D
Another great read from Emily Henry. It took me a while to get going for me but once it did I really enjoyed the romance. I loved the dynamic between Nora and Libby - the strength of their relationship had me often in tears as they worked through their grief and love for eachother. The town of Sunshine Falls sounded great, just right for a film setting, with great characters and of course a lovely bookshop.
I have been a fan of Emily Henry after reading People We Meet on Vacation...I just love her writing, witty banter and her books are ones that I would take on a spa weekend, girly trip away or to read on the beach.
Book Lovers intrigued me a lot and it didnt disappoint. I really enjoyed Nora's character and that she has been unlucky with love on the reverse of the cliche of 'trip to a small town and fall in love'. I really felt for her and loved her passion for her job.
Anyway, this was a superb read, I couldn't put it down and I would highly recommend it if you love a good romcom or beachy read!
This isn't the sort of book I'd normally choose but the idea of a literary agent love story was too intriguing to resist! It was an enjoyable, tongue-in-cheek romantic romp, that somehow managed to poke fun at the genre while embracing it!