This book was a pleasant surprise for me! I wasn't initially drawn to the story for whatever reason, but as soon as I started reading I was hooked. I love a bad boy with a soft heart. Joelle runs a bakery and Max owns the bookstore next door. They are forced to cohabitate during reconstruction, but realize there may be more there than "just" coworkers. Max was sweet, but I did have a few issues with his anger/lashing out at Joelle. Nothing dangerous or worrisome, but enough to give me pause. A sweet love story with a happy ending and great inclusivity.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group, Berkley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC! This was a mostly sweet romance about a bakery owner and her crush, the bookstore owner next door, with some spicy bits. The family relationships within the book are a nice addition to the romantic narrative.

This was a story about a girl named Joelle and the bookstore owner next door.

The interplay between Joelle and Max was cute initially but the conflict was troubling. I felt like there was something missing like there was too much telling and not enough showing, but Max has such strong reactions that the sudden happy ending didn't seem realistic to me.

I really wanted to love this one. There were many things that drew me to this book. It's about a baker and her romance with a guy who owns a bookstore. Books + dessert = pure heaven! And it's set in Portland, one of my favorite cities.

This book had too many things that bothered me to say that I liked it. I felt like both Joelle and Max were really immature. She was self-deprecating in an annoying way and he was just a plain jerk. The hate that they had for each other in the middle of the book sprang out of nowhere and wasn't grounded in anything substantial. And then suddenly, they didn't hate each other anymore and I felt like I had whiplash.

What I disliked the most was Max. He was a jerk to Joelle over and over and over. And I get it - he was reacting to some crappy situations, but why should a woman accept his situation as an excuse for repeated instances for why he is an asshole? I need my heroes in my romance novels to be likeable and I just couldn't get myself to like Max.

I thought the sex scenes in this book were hot! And I enjoyed the look into Filipino culture and family dynamics as well.

Steam level: 🔥🔥🔥
⚠️: mention of infidelity, alcoholism, liver disease

I really struggle with my rating for this one because I love the idea of the plot, I love the main character, the ending is cute, and it really just has so much potential to be a hands-down amazing book. My issue is Max's "temper." I understand giving him the backstory and how that would have impacted him in his life and growing up. I do not enjoy how he can be super lovely and sweet with Joelle and then just switch flip mad, throwing things, hurting her with words (yes towards the end she does the same, not cool), his actions should not be tolerated by Joelle. However, her response to his actions is running off crying (nothing wrong with that), shutting down making herself "small" until he calms down and then it just leads to them taking each other's clothes off.

I stuck it out in hopes that Max would have this great arc redemption, maybe get therapy or do something, anything to better manage himself and the way he deals. But he really doesn't truly deal with it, without going into spoilers he does one with associated with his past, and then it's like BAM Max is all better. I just don't vibe with that, sorry.

This was a cute book, but nothing earth-shattering, or even particularly memorable. The characters were shallowly constructed, and these wasn't anything that made me really care about them or root for them. Both seemed a little juvenile, and quick to both judgment and anger. I get the misunderstanding trope, but it's not used very well, and the characters just come off looking immature. I didn't hate the story, but it's not one I would pick up again.

I did not love this book. Mostly because I didn't find Max to be the grump to her Sunshine- I mostly just felt like he was a complete jerk. He would say things that were basically unforgivable MULTIPLE TIMES OVER AND OVER and then with just a quick apology boom. Don't get me started on the ending. It was hard to enjoy because it just felt like the MMC was such a jerk. Joelle also felt complete at odds with herself.

This is a good book. He owns the bookstore and she owns the bakery and they just happen to share a building. I can 100% relate to Joelle's nervousness around the Bookstore owner. This is a will they/won't they type of book. I will recommend this to all the romantics out there.

An indie bookstore run by a tatooed hottie forced to share space with a kind and lovely (albeit a little socially awkward) baker? Um, yes please.

A cute, fast read great for summer.

After crushing on him for over a year, Joelle is ready to ask Max, the owner of the bookstore next-door to her bakery, out on an official date. If only she didn't get so tongue-tied in the process! After a series of miscommunications and multiple events leading to hard feelings for both of them, can they overcome their trials and work out their differences? Or will working in the same space prove to be too close of quarters to get through?

The premise of this is super cute. Geeky girl crushes on hot bookstore owner. Who wouldn't want to read that? Ultimately this proved to be just so-so for me. The lack of emotional development (though talked about, it never came through for me) left much to be desired and left the insta-heat at the beginning of the story feeling forced and flat. There was also a lot of emotional upheaval and discussion of family and finances that didn't quite work for me.

While this will appeal to a lot of readers of the genre, it was just ok for me. Not an instant hit, but a possible author to keep in mind for future books.

Soooo good!!!!!
This book follows Joelle and Max. Joelle owns a bakery next door to max's bookshop. She has been crushing on him since they met and is trying to work up the courage to ask him out when they get the news that they're going to be working a lot closer to each other.

The chemistry these two have is incredible, and the spicy scenes OML.
Easiest 5 star review I have given in a while,(even though I'm super easy to impress haha)
Please pick up a copy of this when it comes out!!! you wont regret it.

I've been dipping my toes into romance again this year. I have friends who thoroughly enjoy books similar to The Boy With the Bookstore and I've had success with some of them. Unfortunately, this one was middle of the road for me.

I appreciated the setting -- I mean, bakery + bookstore seemed like it was a perfect, made-for-me story. However, as much as I wanted to get into the romance between Joelle and Max, Max's "bad boy" and hot-tempered personality was just too much for me. There was a lot of abusive elements between these two and the "happy ending" that is common in this style of story just didn't resolve those elements for me.

I am a sucker for anything that has a bookstore and a Baker in a story. For that reason when I read the blurb to The Boy and the Bookstore and saw that it was also Enemies to Lovers I was sold! I enjoyed Joelle and Max's chemistry and thought their story was fun and flirty.

Anyone who knows me knows that Forced Proximity stories are completely my jam. I loved the premise of the story and how the conflict in the story arose from that. I will say that this story definitely wasn't Enemies to Lovers. More Grumpy/Sunshine but their chemistry was definitely there. Overall, I thought this story was fun and flirty. 4 stars ~Ratula

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book for an honest review.

Here I come with an unpopular opinion...

I'll start with what I liked! I did like that idea of a baker and book seller romance - especially when said baker and bookseller are forced into the same store space. I am nothing if not a forced proximity lover! Both Joelle and Max were unique characters and I absolutely fell in love with Joelle's family! Also, don't read this book hungry, because the descriptions of the baked goods were TOO good!

However, the romance here took many, many turns. It went from friends to lovers to friends to haters to lovers to haters back to lovers - all the back and forth was giving me whiplash. But worst of all, while Joelle does play pranks on Max during their "hate" phases, there were times when it actually felt like Max was too cold and cruel. Anytime anything went wrong, he would take it out on Joelle either with cutting words or cruel actions, even initiating some of their hate phases. Because of this, I found it hard to root for them as a couple.

That being said, I do appear to have an unpopular opinion here! Also, I did still love the author's writing style and the plot and so even if this specific book didn't work for me, I would still love to read other books from this author!

A fun, forced proximity romance. Joelle is proud of her Filipino-inspired bakery, and enjoys bantering with Max, the handsome bookstore owner from next door. She's on the verge of finally asking him out, but then their landlord announces he's remodeling the building. Not only will they have to move out of their respective storefronts, they'll have to share a tiny space together. Suddenly Max is being kind of boorish, helping himself to pastries, complaining about Joelle's hamster, and generally being a jerk. What happened to the sweet guy next door? Is there any hope of a future for the two of them?

There's a lot of family baggage and trauma here. Funny things happen, but the story has some real emotional weight, as well. I was frustrated by Max's hot-and-cold character, and some of the truly stupid and thoughtless things he does. I guess Joelle is more forgiving than me. Although I have to agree with him that a pet hamster has no place in a bakery. Hello, health code violation!

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

The story was cute, I didn't find it as engaging as other titles by this author. I found the ending too "clean", like they way it wrapped up at the courthouse. I will still purchase titles from this author though because I love how she ties in Filipino culture.

Very cute book with a nice Rom-com set up and a nice setting in Portland. Well rounded characters and plot lines.

Love, love, love! Sarah Echavarre Smith is just incredibly talented in creating a new world in each book. Diverse characters with complicated emotions and personalities that come alive on the pages are a speciality of hers and this one was just as good as the last! Loved the situational drama set up for the two main characters, their different relationships with their families, and the rollercoaster of their own relationship was really intriguing.

This book really surprised me! Based on the cover, I was expecting just a cutesy rom com, but it was so much more! Joelle and Max were written so well. I loved getting both of their points of view. I wouldn’t classify this as an enemies to lovers, but more of a grumpy/sunshine trope. I really loved Joelle’s relationship with her family. I loved how they supported each other and took care of each other, but also I liked how the guilt over feeling like they weren’t doing enough or doing it right was showed. I adored her family. Max’s inability to share his feelings and thoughts really bothered me at first, but once we got his backstory, it made so much sense and showed a lot of complexity with his character. I loved seeing him and Joelle grow not only as a couple, but as their own separate people with boundaries, dreams and perseverance. And the epilogue was just so sweet. This was such a delightful read and I can’t wait to read what this author writes next! Warning: DO NOT read this on an empty stomach. There are tons of amazing food descriptions and they absolutely got my appetite up.

The romance between Max and Joelle began and blossomed early in the book, which surprised me, as I wondered, where the story would go from there. I liked that family plays such an important role in Joelle's life and that Max comes to value the idea of family as something he never had. I also liked that problems with Max's bookstore and Joelle's bakery also moved the story forward.

The romance could have had more internal challenges, however, instead of all from outside conflicts. Also, the constant praises for Joelle as a dutiful daughter, praises from Max and from her family were a little overdone throughout the book. But overall, this was a pleasant read, a contemporary young romance novel.