Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I really wanted to like this as the premise of a bookstore and a bakery owner getting together is really something I'd enjoy but unfortunately this book fell flat for me. The main reason being the MMC Max. He was a jerk to our FMC time and time again. Now I understand he was going through somethings but that's not an excuse to treat someone as poorly as he did Joelle and he said some really nasty things to her.

I did enjoy how family was central to this book. Being South Asian and coming from a really close knit family myself, I found that I could relate a lot to the family dynamics in Joelle's life.

I would have liked more chapters from Max's POV, most of the story is told from Joelle's with the odd chapter from Max.

First of all, can we talk about how amazing this title is? THE BOY WITH THE BOOKSTORE by Sarah Echavarre Smith is the perfect romance for readers who love books about books, plus it's romance! What more could you want?

Books and baking!! Two of my favorite things are at the core of this story. This story was sexy, but also sweet, and it had me swooning and giddy with excitement.

The Boy With The Bookstore by Sarah Echavarre Smith is a delightful and lighthearted romance that will captivate readers who adore contemporary love stories, especially those who appreciate the charm of bookstores, the warmth of family, and the humor that comes with navigating the ups and downs of relationships.

"The Boy with a Bookstore" by Sarah Echavarre Smith invites readers into a delightful tale where romance and reality collide in the most unexpected ways. Joelle Prima, a baker with dreams of a perfect romance, finds herself entangled with Max Boyson, the tattooed bookshop owner she's been crushing on. As they embark on a temporary collaboration due to building renovations, Joelle's fantasies clash with the grumpy reality of Max.

Echavarre Smith crafts a story filled with humor and heart as Joelle and Max navigate the challenges of sharing a space. Max, initially seen as a toad, reveals layers beneath his gruff exterior, sparking a unique chemistry. The novel beautifully explores their evolving relationship against the backdrop of a bakery and bookstore, with delectable descriptions of Filipino pastries and literary discussions.

As the characters uncover the true reason behind the renovation, the narrative unfolds into a test of both business acumen and emotions. "The Boy with a Bookstore" is a charming read that encourages readers to look beyond appearances, teaching us that sometimes, love and connection blossom in the most unexpected places.

I love friends to enemies to lovers. Add books and baked goods in, and I'm there! This was definitely worth the read and I'll be looking for more Smith books in the future.

this book was cute, nothing over the top amazing but still an enjoyable romance! The tropes are always what a romancer reader enjoys but it seemed to jump around quite a bit. lots of pettiness to throw around hahahah

I loved the premise of The Boy With The Bookstore--a baker and a bookstore owner fall in love? Absolutely ideal match.

I wasn't feeling Joelle and Max's romance, though. Max was so irrationally mean to Joelle repeatedly throughout the book. Yeah, we all have bad days and can snap when we're grumpy, but he was disproportionately harsh to her! I do agree that Joelle was a bit of a doormat, but mostly in regards to how he treated her (but also her parents didn't try to prosecute the person that stole presumably hundreds of thousands of dollars from them?). I don't think Max really showed Joelle that he changed in the end, and she accepted him back with no guarantee that he wouldn't blow his lid again the next time they hit a bump in the road.

I usually love this author's books, but when I can't get behind the relationship in a romance novel, there's not much left. I could kill for some ube baked goods right now, though!

He's a bookstore owner. She's a bakeshop owner. And there is a massive renovation happening on their shared building, forcing them to share a new space until the renovations are complete. *cough forced proximity cough cough*

And although Max may look handsome, rugged, and like the bad boy of her dreams... his attitude is just... bad. Joelle is the sunshine, to his midnight rain. With the shared spaces, and business problems, they'll be forced to deal with each other and see if they can cohabit the space.

My feels: It was sweet and cute, and I really liked it!

*Gifted by Netgalley & Berkley - thank you! All opinions are my own.

The Boy With a Bookstore é uma leitura de muitos altos e baixos.
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Joelle é dona de uma pequena padaria filipina, que é seu sonho desde nova. Depois que ela teve que abrir mão de fazer uma escola de culinária, ter seu próprio negócio é um orgulho. Ela tem um crush no dono da livraria que fica no mesmo prédio: Max. Acontece que o crush é mútuo e Max também está de olho em Joelle. Agora o prédio onde eles tem seus negócios será reformado e os dois precisarão dividir o mesmo espaço. Mas Max não parece muito feliz com isso.
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Meu principal problema com esse livro é que Max é uma montanha - russa. Ele tem altos, quando ele é maravilhoso e baixos quando ele trata a Joelle que nem lixo. E isso me incomodou demais enquanto eu estava lendo esse livro.
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A Joelle é maravilhosa e merece o mundo todinho, ela teve uma vida bem difícil e teve que abrir mão do seu sonho por conta da família.
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A relação dos dois nasce desse crush e vai se desenvolvendo apesar do Max. A Joelle tem muita paciência e entende alguns problemas que ele teve no passado.
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Enfim, não é de todo ruim se você ignorar esses baixos do Max.
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Yeah, no. I don't like it when characters are mean. Was he supposed to be curmudgeon or angsty? Doesn't matter. No thanks.

Enemies to lovers done not well! 🥵

If there’s one thing I can’t handle in a book, it’s protagonists that are immature (and not meant to be), Plus, we don’t put up with men who are jerks 👀 MAX. I really didn’t enjoy this one… a romance’s one job is to have you root for and love people falling in love. Mission not accomplished, so I can’t rate this one well. 🥲

I’m normally a fan of Smith, and because of the synopsis, I was very excited to read this one. Unfortunately it wasn’t for me and I had to DNF it.

I enjoy Smith’s writing, and her writing in this one was no exception. I enjoyed the main female character and the love for animals. Even the plot of this was good.

So why did I DNF it? Because the main male character was so. bad. He was just flat out mean and rude, and completely unlikeable. He was fine in the first chapter or so, but once they find out about the renovations, he just became a massive dick, to the point where I didn’t care about him at all, was annoyed with the main character for liking him, and he wasn’t redeemable to me. He was condescending to her, rude, disrespectful, and just angry.

I will continue to read Smith’s work, and maybe this book was redeemable as it went on, but I didn’t want to take that chance.

Let me premise this by saying I listened to the audiobook while following along in the ebook. I enjoyed the concept, I love a good bakery, and a good bookstore, so combine the two in a fluffy rom-com, I figured I'd be completely in for it. However, that chapter 11 conversation where they admit to liking each other was the most cringe worthy thing I've ever read/listened to in my life. I physically shuttered. Other than that, the book wasn't horrible. It didn't exactly stick out to me, it wasn't a "oh my goodness I need to tell all my romance reading friends to read this." type of book, but, I'd probably give it as a recommendation

I don't know why I waited so long to read this book but how fitting that I was reading it during National Library Week when we embrace book lovers and readers. This was a cute read. I enjoyed the characters and thought they were all very interesting. I really enjoy Sarah Echavarre Smith's books. She adds a unique twist to each of her books. Looking forward to her next book.

Thank you so much to the publisher for sending me an ARC!
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Unfortunately I DNFed this, it just didn’t catch my attention and maybe I’ll get into it again when I’m in the perfect headspace to give this another try! But I would buy and recommend this to others definitely!

love bookstore romances, but not this one, loved the heroine and her hamster and her bakerty, didn't get the attraction of the hero

It was a really nice and cute romance story. This is the second book I've read by Sarah Smith and I liked this light and romantic love story. The MC is a shy filipino American nerdy baker girl, he is a badass biker-look bookstore-owner. Both are cute and perfectly made for each other, both felt attracted to the other since the beginning. Everything is so perfect, the story could have been over after 60 pages. The conflicts in this novel seemed to constructed and artificial for me. I could not understand how Max could do the same errors again and again. But this was the only thing I have to criticize here. Besides that, I felt very good entertained and am beyond happy to find a female MC with filipino roots and a lot of love for Ube-flavored food. Would love to taste an Ube latte!

I would recommend this book for everyone who enjoys a cute romantic love story and some steamy love scenes.

The dialogue was cringe-worthy and neither of the main characters was likable in any way. Reading a romcom, one wants to root for the characters both individually and as a couple; I did not care about them at all due to their personalities being so off-putting. I just wanted it to be over.

I really wanted to like this book about a baker and the bookstore owner next door to her bakery. But sadly this was not a hit for me. I did not believe the romance between our main characters. I was told they had a crush on each other and they did jump right into a heavy make out session during their first private conversation, but there was no build up, no tension at the beginning. And their communication with each other was either non-existent or just awful for most of the book. I did love her loving family, but that's about it. I would not recommend.