Oh I wanted to love this book! I love, love books about books and bookstores. But this one just did not work for me.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This story follows indie bookstore owner Zora Dizon. Zora has put so much into her business that her love life is pretty much non existent. Zora meets Author, Lawrence, and teacher, Reid, at a book signing event at her store. Lawrence who also is her favorite author hit it off while her first meeting with Reid , who happens to be Lawrence’s best friend, was anything but. Once Zora is dating the two men she is having a hard time deciding which one she likes more. The men are up for the competition though. I absolutely loved Granny Marion and Emma. They kept me cracking up. The beginning was slow but I enjoyed Zora’s story.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing and MIRA for the ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you for the ARC!

This book was really interesting… Granny and Emma were something else and had me laughing the entire book. Lawerence was blah and I didn’t care for him from the jump. Reid was actually pretty sweet besides the first encounter. I would suggest this book if you’re looking for something cute and funny

Rating 4.75

I fell in love with this authors writing last year when I first read Savvy Sheldon feels good as Hell, and I have been a fan ever since. And this book is no exception. Zora is loving life with her bookstore thriving. But she has a dilemma. She has two men vying for her interest. Lawrence, one of her favorite authors, and his best friend, Reid, a teacher. She dates them both (with them eventually knowing about it, ) and will have to come to a decision as to who is the one she wants.

First off, can we appreciate how pro black this book is. from Zora and her love interest, to all of the side characters, and the constant desire to support black owned business through out the entire book was amzing. At the beginning, I was Team Lawrence. Reid did not make a good first impression. But as I continued to read, Lawrence really worked my nerve and I might have called him out of his name a time or two. I switched to team Reid. And that plot twist had my jaw right on the ground. I was flabbergasted. And with Zora being a curvy woman and proud of it, this book allowed me and women like me to see ourselves. Exceptional job.

This was such a good read. Zora is a great MC: beautiful, smart, funny, strong, and a true bibliophile. I really enjoyed every minute of this book. I loved the book talks, the food and the spice! Granny and Emma were also hilarious.

While this book was a fun read, I also took away an important message. It’s easy to get caught up in the romance and excitement of lust - but for a long term love, make sure you marry someone you actually like.

So I’ve been excited about this book ever since I finished Savvy Sheldon Feels Good As Hell and the excitement was warranted!

This is a book lovers book! Zora owns a bookstore, dreaming about penning her own book, obsessed with all things bookish, and has what I would describe as a meet cute x2 that sends her in search of her happy ending. This story was a perfect combination of love and spice with a small dash of mess. The characters are lovable, the writing is vivid, and left me wanting more.

Taj McCoy is two for two in my book. I love everything from her plus size representation to her writing style. She has for sure earned a spot on my auto buy list.

This story goes much beyond the trope of loving someone before you know who that person you love really is. It's got power, it's got thought, and a lot of other things, and for that reason I really wanted to have enjoyed it more. I'd say it was a 3+.

Zora is the owner of an independent book store, and her grandmother can't see the day she'll finally give her great grandchildren. But Zora doesn't have time for that between the books and her work. Then she meets the author whose books have captured her, as well as his cranky best friend, and that way she ends up going out with both of them, trying to see which of the two will be her happy ending.

I like the tone of the book. Zora isn't a dreaming main character, but she isn't totally against love either. It's not only easy to believe in the character but also to identify with her. However, I think everything about the book was too predictable. It's funny that the trope didn't play as you'd think it would, I'll avoid going into the details so I don't spoil you, but the pages don't surprise you in the least. You may argue, it's a romance, I want the coziness more than the surprise. But I find that the thrill is also important when "falling in love". Of course, Zora had more than enough of that, but as a reader it was lukewarm. And wordy. Her daily life with her best friend, her grandmother, her job, her activities in the community, it's all great, but it took so much room, I started skipping whole passages. Like, great that she's doing that, but it's not interesting. I'm not dying to know how this or that played out, I can already foresee it. Zora felt like a real person, and the book felt like her life blog, whenever it wasn't talking about her love interests, not like a story developing.

So we have good characters, a trope I like, a filling to the story so it's not just another romance, but it lacked thrill. Those scenes that really give you butterflies in the stomach. We were almost there some times, but it was mostly a lot of blog entries.

I'd read more from the author, as I can see lots of room for improvement, and I know there is a public for this book, so I can think of some people I'd recommend it to. However, it wasn't a favorite for me.


Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

Sweet and spicy! Zora Books Her Happy Ever After, had me giggling at the sweet romantic words and gestures, to then have me sweating it out in a few of the steamy scenes.

This novel follows Zora, a bookstore owner who is constantly nagged by her best friend and grandmother to settle down... and get laid because Granny wants great-grandchildren. But Zora doesn't have time for that, her life centers around the bookstore, and she doesn't have time for dating until her favorite mystery writer and crush, Lawrence agrees to visit her bookstore to promote his new book. When he shows interest in Zora and asks her on a date, she decides it's time to make room for romance.

Things begin to get a little... complicated, when Lawrence's best friend, Reid, who Zora butted heads with at the book promotion, begins to show interest in her. She learns that there may be a little more to the grump that she first met, and that first impressions aren't always the true person. As she begins dating both men who are pining for her affection, she begins to learn that these friends may be hiding secrets.

I loved the theme of strong black women being central to their community, which Taj portrayed in this book. Her characters, Zora, Emma, and Granny were definitely strong, valued, and loved members of their community and family. I loved the dynamic between the three of them and how they interacted with each other.

DNF -This wasn’t for me. I’m all for strong women but this seemed like a slap in the face to traditional family dynamics. Also, “are you having a stroke?”….can we move away from this VERY serious medical diagnosis in books. If someone is appearing like they are having a stroke it’s an emergency. Someone at a loss for words -not a stroke. Thanks.

I enjoyed this novel. It was an easy read that kept me turning the pages. There were a couple issues though. The reference to Granny as 'the elder' felt unnatural, unnecessary, and forced. She was such a phenomenal character and we didn't need to be reminded of her status as an elder throughout the novel. Her interactions with other characters included the respect one would give to an elder in the family and those actions got the point across much better than the blatant reference. I also found the plot of this novel predictable; however that did not deter me from engrossing myself in this story from start to finish. I loved how the idea of a female dating multiple men was handled with such caution and care. Never once was our main character demeaned for her sexuality and/or exploration of what she truly wanted out of a relationship. I loved that she was an entrepreneur first, building a family second regardless of the pressure she received from her family members. I also enjoyed how confident Zora was in her body and how lovingly her curves were received by men. The sex scenes were steaming and thorough!!! However, my all time favorite part of this book were the side characters! Granny and Emma were the best side characters EVA. Their sleuthing, prying, encouragement, and comfort was unmatched. Overall, I truly enjoyed this novel and would recommend it to other romance readers.

There are some great pieces of this book. I loved the trio of women owning and maintaining the book store. I’d love to see a book from Emma’s POV. The DC setting and tight-knit community were fresh and fun. The descriptions of food, books, and travel were rich and drew me in. It was the romance and “mystery,” unfortunately” that lower my rating. I didn’t mind the start of the love triangle, and I love that Zora wasn’t villainized for wanting to date two men. Towards the end, though, it just felt messy and the men’s reactions to what happened felt too much. The mystery part felt fake and didn’t quite explain enough for me.

TL;DR — a nice romance with a great fresh setting but not one I’m desperate to recommend.

3⭐️

*I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Mira for this ARC!*

I am a sucker for a book about books, or bookstores, or libraries, etc, so I was very intrigued by this book! I am also a big romance fan, so count me in!

I really liked all of the parts of the book about Zora’s bookstore and what she puts into running and managing it. I found this part of the book fascinating. I loved hearing her plans for book/author/store promotions, store events, social media planning. It was gratifying to my organizational lizard brain.

Zora’s relationships with her grandmother and her best friend were lovely. I really liked how the author leaned into these relationships. It really helped to make Zora’s character more fleshed out. They were all zany and lovable.

Now, as for the romance aspect of this story, I’m not a huge fan of love triangles where people are knowingly dating multiple people at once. It makes me uncomfortable personally, so that part of this book was a bit hard for me to get into. Also, I felt that the choice between the two men was pretty obvious from the jump, but that’s all I’ll say on that.

Also, I figured out the big twist right away. I thought it was incredibly obvious, in large part thanks to the synopsis itself. Perhaps that was intentional, in which case ignore me.

Overall, I really liked the bookstore and the family/friendship parts of this book. The romance was not my favorite, but that is just personal preference.

My Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️

I gave Zora Books Her Happy Ever After 3 Stars!

I love a bookstore owner romance and this one was a lot of fun plus there was a TON of great food references (seriously, I got sooo hungry reading this book!). There was also a fun mystery at the center of the story that has Zora putting to use her detective skills as she simultaneously dates two best friends.

While I wasn't the biggest fan of the love triangle part of this book I definitely enjoyed the story overall and loved the side characters and DC setting! Recommended for fans of Alexa Martin's Better than fiction or Shauna Robinson's The banned bookshop of Maggie Banks. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

Title: Zora Books Her Happy Ever After
Author: Taj McCoy
Genre: Romance
Rating: 2.0 out of 5

Zora has committed every inch of her life to establishing her thriving DC bookstore, making it into a pillar of the community, and she just hasn’t had time for romance. But when a mystery author she’s been crushing on for years agrees to have an event at her store, she starts to rethink her priorities. Lawrence is every bit as charming as she imagined, even if his understanding of his own books seems just a bit shallow. When he asks her out after his reading, she’s almost elated enough to forget about the grumpy guy who sat next to her making snide comments all evening. Apparently the grouch is Lawrence’s best friend, Reid, but she can’t imagine what kind of friendship that must be. They couldn’t be more different.

But as she starts seeing Lawrence, and spending more and more time with Reid, Zora finds first impressions can be deceiving. Reid is smart and thoughtful—he’s also interested. After years of avoiding dating, she suddenly has two handsome men competing for her affection. But even as she struggles to choose between them, she can’t shake the feeling that they’re both hiding something—a mystery she’s determined to solve before she can find her HEA.

This started off good: I loved Zora herself and all of her ambition and drive to give back to her community. The friendship between her, Emma, and grandma Marion was fantastic! The eye candy—Lawrence and Reid—wasn’t bad, either.

But then I realized just how hypocritical Zora, her granny, and the other characters were. You can’t make a big production of praying before every meal and mention God in conversation---and think it’s okay to be sleeping with two different guys you barely know. You can’t have Zora’s family be so proud of her and encourage her to live out her own dreams and goals—and have granny beat her over the head with mentions of great-grandkids every other breath. And Zora, who is supposedly so self-aware and alert to the tricks of guys in the dating scene….notices the massive red flags both these guys are throwing up---and chooses to believe they’re not actually red flags at all. Um…what? So, despite starting off so promisingly, this really should have been a DNF.

Taj McCoy is from Oakland. Zora Books Her Happily Ever After is her new novel.

(Galley courtesy of Harlequin/MIRA in exchange for an honest review.)

(Blog link live 4/5.)

Taj McCoy does it again! Smart, swoony, and fun - Zora Books Her Happy Ever After is one for the ages! I actually enjoyed this more than her debut. Normally I'm not a big fan of love triangles but I think it was executed excellently here, and people will want to root for them both initially. Get ready for a beautiful ending and to be struck with feels.

I loved Taj's last book and I am super excited about this one as well. I love a book about someone who sells books. Zora is a bookstore owner who hasn't been lucky in love. Emma her best friend and her grandmother are honestly one the best parts of this book.

The concept of this romance is that Zora started a relationship with Lawerance the author she loves, who was promoting his book, While sitting in the audience she Reid who is not being very nice under his breath...

Fast forward she is now seeing both men, Reid seems to get her and the gel on an intellectual level however Lawerence seems to be great on paper but something is kind of off.

Eventually, she will have to make a choice, they are both looking for her to make a choice eventually.

I enjoyed Zora, Emma and granny the most. The drama between the two men was interesting however the big twisty was super obvious. I figured it out pretty quickly. I will let everyone who reads this figure it out on their own.

All in all, this was a great read and I cannot wait for Taj's next one

Zora must choose between a popular author and a high school teacher to be her happily ever after. This book follows her decision and the ups and downs of dating multiple suitors. Lawrence, a popular author, promises to treat her well, but fails and Reid promises to provide her with experiences and he does. A secret between the two men causes heart ache in Zora, but that is resolved by the end of the story where she chooses Reid. The intimate scenes are rather spicy!

"Zora Books her HEA" has a lot of pluses & a few minuses in my opinion. I enjoyed the diversity in this D.C. & bookstore set novel, and loved that the MC was plus-sized. Loved Granny & Emma as side characters too (though the baby nagging was tedious). I did NOT like the two male leads tho - and one was just trash. I did appreciate some of the maturity that was brought to the situation however. My fav part was the bookstore, and wish that Zora had kicked everyone to the curb & just worked on it & herself. Still, enjoyable at times. My sincere thanks to the publisher & Net Galley for the complimentary DRC. Opinions are my own...

Zora Books Her Happily Ever After is a fun, flirtatious, and entertaining novel from beginning to end. I enjoyed McCoy’s first novel so much that I was excited to read the sequel. Set in the Washington DC area Zora is a bibliophile that owns her own bookstore and does her best to give back to the community through it while also spreading a deep love for literacy. When her favorite author comes to town she is fascinated instantly by him and his handsome best friend. However, Zora soon gets caught up in a love triangle between the two. Who will she choose?

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m iffy about love triangles in my romance novels but this one was done very well. And the mystery and sub-plot twist added to the reading experience. Both men are friends which complicates things and so Zora has to follow her heart, while also getting help from her grandma and best friend Emma. I loved the dynamic this trio of strong women has in the book and I enjoyed it just as much if even more than the romance. They are tight-knit and supportive, and their colorful banter definitely made me laugh and smile throughout the book. I hope that we’ll get to read a book about Emma in the future (she definitely deserves her own novel). The romance was very steamy!

I was also highly engaged in this novel due to its bookish setting and it will speak to any bibliophile.

"She’d (Zora) dive into different worlds and chase the characters through their discoveries and challenges; her vivid imagination helped her picture everything transpiring on the page. Books helped her grieve and reflect on special memories."

The bookstore seemed like a literary safe haven for books and I appreciated how Zora put so much effort into helping young, local Black and Brown writers get their start. It really connected with me. This is a fast-paced novel that’s a page-turner and the characters, as well as Zora’s journey in love, were well-written. I can’t wait to see what McCoy will write next.

I had a really good time with this! From page one, I was hooked and falling in love with these characters. Granny was definitely my fave and I loved how often she popped up on the page. The strong family bond between her, Zora and Emma was so beautiful to witness.

I loved that this romance revolved around all things bookish. Zora's passion and drive for her Black owned indie bookstore was everything.

It was interesting seeing the differences between Reid and Lawrence and how Zora reacted to them both. I really appreciate how they gave her the space to date and choose between the two without putting any unnecessary pressure on her. I don't think I've ever seen that in a romance and it was a refreshing take on the love triangle trope.

My theory panned out (no spoilers!) but I kind of felt like it was a bit obvious as well.

Overall, I really had a good time with this - the food descriptions were to die for! - and I feel like a lot of romance readers are gonna fall in love with this book