The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks just makes me feel happy. Maggie isn't really a reader, but gets talked into helping her best friend Rochelle run her family's bookstore while Rochelle is on maternity leave. The problem is that Rochelle lives in Bell River where everything is about Edward Bell, a novelist, and the legacy he's left that ruled over by his grandson Ralph (aka the villain). It doesn't take Maggie long before she can't help breaking Ralph's archaic rules, and she quickly begins to make friends, have fun, and become a part of the community. She even befriends the curmudgeonly Vernon above the bookstore. But in the process, she increasingly is managing keeping her activities not just from Rochelle, and Ralph (of course!) but Malcolm - who despite being employed by Ralph, finds himself falling for Maggie. Not surprisingly it will all come to head when Ralph's plans for the Bell Society businesses could find Maggie and her new friends on the outside looking in...unless Maggie comes up with a plan. I loved the small town community feel, complete with a local bookstore, cafe, B&B and farmers' market. I loved the moments between Maggie and Malcolm where she draws him out of his very small shell, and he gets her more engaged in reading. I loved the funny moments that made me laugh. I also love how Maggie, who goes into this story feeling like a failure because she can't seem to find a career that she has any passion for, learns to see herself in a different light and stop doing things the way everyone else does them when it doesn't make her happy. This story, while it does have a romantic element to it, is definitely more focused on self-discovery, and is a more robust story for it. A complimentary copy was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Very amusing premise full of intriguing characters. I'm all for characters who represent chaotic goodness. Even with her flaws, Maggie Banks seems like someone I would love to hang out with.

For Libraries: Are you really going to pass on a book-themed book?!

Content warning: Racism, sexism

Thank you to Netgalley for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This normally isn't the type of book I read, I requested it just because the premise sounded fantastic. Secret little bookshop and events? Hell yeah! And the book very much did not dissapoint. Filled with secrets, potential cults, and a wonderful sense of humour that kept me laughing all the way though!

The humour is a big main point of this book, Maggie is chaotic, unpredictable, and just a delight to read about. Chapter 1 is great at setting the tone of the rest of the book and showing Maggie's character!

This isn't much of a romance book, it's got a pretty adorable side straight romance where they're pushing each others' boundries and trying new things, but I wouldn't say it's a focal point. For me this was a bonus but if you're looking for a big romance this potentially might not be it (but try it anyway, if you like romance as a genre you'll most likely like this too!).

The Bookshop of Maggie Banks is a wonderfuly humorous, chaos-filled journey about finding your place in the world, learning to love something new and finding new friends along the way!

Liked the premise. Characters tho were weakly-developed,stereotypical and difficult to connect to.
I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Maggie has arrived in Bell River to help her friend Rochelle in her booksjop. However, when she arrives she discovers that the bookshop is only allowed to sell book by the famous author who lived in Bell River along side literary classics.

When things start going badly for the book shop Maggie needs to think outside the box and starts selling 'forbidden' books and starts an underground bookclup.

If you enjoy books about books then this one is for you.

The premise of this book is so cute and with such good intentions, but it fell very flat for me. I had difficulty connecting or caring about the eccentric group of characters. Even Maggie felt very one dimensional. Sorry.

In a climate where books are censored and restricted, The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks fits right in. The title to me was a little confusing, as I assumed the bookshop in the title would be one that only sold banned books, but by the time I finished the story, it made more sense. The focus of this book is Maggie, who struggles to keep a job and can't find a job that she actually wants. She's great at event planning and creating an atmosphere where people are relaxed and happy, but she can't find the job that allows her to do this and not disappoint her parents' expectations. She's been living with those parents for a while, and therefore jumps at the chance to assist her best friend Rochelle running her bookshop in the town of Bell River when Rochelle has to go on bed rest through the end of her pregnancy. She's not much of a reader, but she is a good friend who wants Rochelle's business to succeed. She's quite surprised to discover that everything in Bell River revolves around a former resident and author whose famous book was written in the town, including the book store Rochelle owns. The story ramps up as Maggie realizes that the book store loses a lot of business because they don't carry anything contemporary, and the Bell River Society (which has a stake in many of these businesses, including the book store) has restrictions on what they can sell. Maggie decides to start selling these "banned books" on the side, and what starts off harmless enough turns into quite an undertaking as she markets these books in a variety of creative ways which will, of course, eventually come back to bite her in the tail, especially where her new love interest, Malcolm, is involved since he works for the head of the Bell Society.

This is a cleverly told book, and there are some unexpected twists as you move through it. Some of it is predictable, but I admit some of it surprised me. I felt like it was entertaining, but I also felt like there were a few gaps and not as much depth to the relationships in the book as I would have liked. In the end, it wraps up neatly and is engaging. I didn't connect with the characters as much as I would have liked (especially Malcolm), but the book was entertaining and a fun read. Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the opportunity to read this book.

The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks follows Maggie as she fills in running her friend's bookstore while her friend is on maternity leave. While there, she meets the townspeople and works to determine what she is going to do when her friend comes back to takeover the shop.

I enjoyed this story for what it was -- a light, fluffy contemporary with a sweet romance intertwined throughout. I enjoyed the banter between Malcolm and Maggie. I also really loved how the author chose to have Maggie discover her love of reading while working at the bookstore. It was fun to see her journey in trying different books and discovering what she liked.

I didn't love that Maggie was consistently making decisions behind other peoples' backs that had significant consequences for those people. While she acknowledged at times she should tell these people what she was doing, I felt frustrated at times with her lack of regard for the implications of her decisions.

Overall, I thought this book was a fun read that was pleasant and comforting with small town vibes and a bookish theme. Definitely worth the read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion!

PS -- the cover is gorgeous!

The amount of secondhand anxiety I felt is REAL! Maggie is a fun, quirky protagonist who tries to do the right thing, even if it's a little wrong. The literary references were great, and I loved how it all wrapped up. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review!

3.75 stars

Offbeat story of a young woman who considers herself to be unfocused and drifting in the employment sense. She is temporarily living with her best friend, who is expecting, and managing her bookstore. This doesn't make perfect sense since our main character Maggie isn't a reader and is not that familiar with books, but - oh, well.

The problem is that this bookstore is operating under considerable restraints. It is in a small town built around the memory and adulation for a long-dead local author. No modern books are allowed, for one thing. Maggie has considerably more skills than she gives herself credit for, and it's not long before she has started sort of an underground illicit book club and setup online sales for all the current books customers actually want to buy.

Along the way she makes all kinds of friends, and even gets romantically entangled with a buttoned-up man who works for the uptight descendant of the revered writer. There are all kinds of ruses, deceptions and workarounds, the most hilarious of which involves genre mixing for classics, like Moby Dick as a racy romance.

Thanks to the publisher and to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

What a great journey of self discovery! I was not familiar with Shauna Robinson but I'm going to be following! This was a super cozy fun read. As a book lover, loved this book about a banned bookshop.

Maggie was very relatable for me. Her journey of learning to love herself and turn her flaws into positives was wonderful.

So happy I read this!

I received an electronic ARC from SOURCEBOOKS Landmark through NetGalley.
Maggie feels like she is floundering when everyone she knows has a career and life. She moved back home and has been stuck trying to figure out what she wants to do with her life - nothing fits. Her friend asks her to come and run her book store while she is on maternity leave and Maggie jumps at this chance to leave home. Readers see her arrive, learn about the store, maneuver secret changes, and hold her own when everything falls apart. In the end, she comes to realize what everyone else has seen; she is an events planner who can create tremendous excitement out of anything - even bringing classics to life with a twist and keeping a bookstore devoted to one author afloat.
Robinson's pace is sporadic but the overall storyline flows together. The final few chapters connect the characters to the new way the Bell Society will conduct business. The ending is satisfying as readers see how the town will relaunch and free itself from the Edward Bell mystique.

This was a feel-good story about a reluctant bibliophile who takes over the management of a bookshop for her pregnant best friend only to find herself hampered by a small town that only wants to focus on/celebrate a classic white male author that few people care about. If you love stories about small town bookstores, saving long-time institutions and sweet rom-coms, this book is right up your alley. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest reivew!

Reading is my passion, so what's better than reading about books and bookshops? Maggie has come to Bell River to help her friend Rochelle run her bookshop, Cobblestone Books. Maggie tells the story in the first-person point of view, so the reader immediately feels like part of the community. This is a fun book to read because Maggie keeps fun things going on throughout the book. Thanks to the author Shauna Robinson, Sourcebooks Landmark, and NetGalley for providing a complimentary copy of this ebook. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Maggie Banks is at loose ends with no idea of what she wants to do with her life. She agrees to take over the management of a friend's bookstore even though there are strict rules on what she can and cannot sell. Almost immediately she breaks the rules, suffers consequences and has to figure out ho to keep the bookstore afloat. A cute rom-com that includes books and book lovers. What's not to like?

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest opinion.
Maggie Banks is a thirty-something still looking for her passion in life and between jobs when she moves to Bell River to cover for her best friend Rochelle, managing Cobblestone Books while she takes maternity leave.
The peculiar part of Bell River is that it's heavily managed by the Bell Society as a town-wide tribute to it's most famous resident Edward Bell.
This is the second book I've read by Shauna and she makes the MC so relatable. Seeing Maggie discover herself and become part of the town was a joy. This was a really charming small town story that advocates for the power of books and why they shouldn't be banned.
What didn't work: Malcolm. He reads as almost autistic, and there seemed to be no real attraction. It was like she wanted him because he was The Only Black Guy in Town. I'd like to give more credit, but he is also written as a life long fan of author TJ Hull, and a stickler for rules. So when TJ Hull send out his newsletter and specifically references a secret even he took part in at Cobblestone Books, I found it really hard to believe Malcolm would have missed that. Wouldn't the obsessed fan boy be subscribed to the newsletter? Am I being too nit-picky? Possibly.
This is not a romance, it does not bang, but I'm giving it 4 stars because I loved meeting the residents of Bell River. They're so diverse and real that they felt like friends.

3.5 stars

Having read and loved Robinson’s first novel, I couldn’t wait to read this one as I’m a huge fan of books about books, bookshops, and libraries.

I loved the main character, Maggie. She’s such a clever and funny character. Robinson did a great job of depicting Maggie’s position at the bookstore. Reading about her planning events, taking sales, and curating underground book events was intriguing.

I usually don’t gravity to books with romance subplots, but I found the romance between Maggie and her love interest to be sweet. It did not come across as forced or cheesy.

Although this story may have been a bit predictable in some areas, I still enjoyed reading how the story developed. I especially loved the ending and how it wrapped up.

I took off a few stars due to the predictability, and the story sometimes seemed to drag. Although I may have loved this book slightly less than the author’s first, this was still enjoyable and I can’t wait to read the author's future novels.

If you're looking for a fun, cozy story and enjoy reading books about books, this is for you!

What a fun take on "banned books"! In a small town, Bell River, near D.C., Maggie Banks finds herself stuck selling only books by a famous local author, Edward Bell, and books published in the late 1960s and before. This predicament is just part of a larger metaphor for her life - she's stuck - not sure where to go or what to do next with herself as a woman in her late 20s. Having never given book recommendations herself, as she isn't an avid reader, Maggie dreams up ways to make Cobblestone Books more exciting and full of patrons. She continues to be stifled by the Bell Society members yet highly encouraged by her community of friends. Finally, she secretly comes across some long lost letters which hold the key to answering scandalous questions surrounding Edward Bell. Stuck Maggie has to decide how to use this information, knowing she might lose her community and friends in the process.

I was not in love with this book but I know many will love it. The writing was just OK as was the story. I found it boring. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley.

What a delightfully fun read! Maggie is a post-grad struggling to find her passion in life. As we go along her journey with her, we fall in love with the characters from Bell River. This book is packed with a great plot, relatable characters, and books!!

Solid 4.5/5 ⭐️s