I really wanted to like this one, but it ultimately fell flat. A third round purchase for most libraries, may be a better purchase for libraries with a hallmark type interest.

This book was a lot of fun! I enjoyed getting to know the characters. I enjoyed the forced proximity and the challenges it brought., i felt like it really sucked me into the situations and the story. This book is a quick read.

This was such a mesmerising book. One Hui aid the dual POVs and how the relationship between Joelle and Max. The difference between the character and combination of a bakery and bookstore drew me in. Loved their passion in their work and can’t wait to read more of the author’s books.

A bookseller and a baker that are business neighbours and long term acquaintances finally give into their mutual attraction but life in general keeps getting in the way. I love the premise and idea behind Max and Joelle’s romance but felt like their romance was a bit whiplash-y. Maxs backstory was so heartbreaking and tender, I thought it was almost ruined by the fact that him and Joelle were so quick to call it off all the time. Clearly his trauma was running his life still, I think the plot should have focused more on that and less on the trivial.

The Cover is amazing. The Plot and idea solid but I did not love it. I Liked it. It was a nice fun read.

first off let me say that this cover sold me so badly on this book.

really wanted to love this one but I couldn't get into it with the insta-love trope.

joelle owns a bakery and guess who works next door? a hot bookstore owner named max. it's very cute that as soon as he comes in, she's always so giddy because of her crush on him. when their landlord forces them to work together in a shared space... it all starts to bloom. max has also been crushing on joelle.

max wasn't my favorite character and I don't think joelle should have been so forgiving which is why I just couldn't see them together or made me want to root him. loved this author though!

I really think if people enjoy insta love trope then this is something for them.

I loved the premise of this, but couldn’t always get behind Max’s actions. Overall I enjoyed this and I think it’d be a great read for anybody who wants a fun and light-hearted read but more than once I found myself angry or annoyed at Max.

Loved the premise just not the delivery. Average at best, not memorable. I struggle with certain rom com tropes and this was one of them. Just not a good fit for this reader.
Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing

Such a cute read! I was immediately sold on it when I learned it followed a baker and a bookstore owner. So adorable and it read super quickly, definitely recommend to romance lovers.

A bookstore owner and a baker? YES PLEASE! I enjoyed this book and loved the forced proximity with a twist. Joelle and Max are forced to work together in close proximity due to unexpected circumstances. Enemies to lover is always a favorite of mine, and this one was done well. And you know I love a grumpy bookstore owner!


When a baker meets the bookshop owner of her dreams, and he turns into her nemesis, they’ll both have to read between the lines to avoid a career-ending recipe for disaster.

Max Boyson looks good...from a distance. But up close and personal, the tattooed hottie Joelle Prima has been crushing on for the past year and half has turned into the prime example of why you shouldn’t judge a book by his delectable cover.

When she first learned about the massive renovation to the building they share, Joelle imagined that temporarily combining her Filipino bakery with Max’s neighboring bookstore would be the perfect opening chapter to their happily ever after. In her fantasies they fed each other bibingka and pandesal while discussing Jane Austen and cooing over her pet hamster, Pumpkin. Reality, however...is quite different. Her gallant prince turned out to be a stubborn toad who snaps at her in front of customers, dries his wet clothes in her oven, and helps himself to the yummy pastries in her display case without asking.

But beneath Max’s grumpy glares, Joelle senses a rising heat—and a softening heart. And when they discover the real reason for the renovation, they’ll have to put both their business senses and their feelings for each other to the test.

¹Very nice rom-com. I really enjoy it!
²The "intimate" interaction starts from the 2nd-3rd chapter
³I can't remember what colour are the eyes of the male protagonist. That means that it is not mentioned so often, and that is a good thing!!
⁴But he has a tattoo (which is mentioned often)
⁵And the female protagonist wears glasses and doesn't even know how beautiful she is (such a cliché)
⁶It had a bit of side drama (I am not a big fan of side dramas but it wasn't so bad in this one)
⁷Almost all the plot takes place in a cafe/patisserie-bookstore that I really wish was mine because
Food + Coffee + Books = my favorite hobby! Not much of an energetic type I am
⁸The female protagonist has a pet rodent and takes it with her to the cafe/patisserie and somehow I didn't want to think of a place where they serve food with any kind of rodent..

What a cute read! I love anything bookish, so a boy with a bookstore...lovely. This book is incredibly sweet, and the characters are very lovable. I read this in one sitting and truly will be recommending it to everyone this holiday season, as it's such a cozy read for when the weather turns cooler!

This book is SO adorable! I regret waiting so long to read it. It is so charming. Any book with a bookstore element plus love...I swoon.

This reads really quickly, and had me very invested in the story. This will not be my last from this author!

The Boy with the Bookstore is a bit of an unorthodox title given the switching perspectives, and journey. Max and Joelle definitely have some shared opportunities for forced space sharing, and their different approaches to life definitely made the conflict point very obvious, but the conclusion was really good. I also love characters that bring out the best in each other.

Very cute read for a rainy, autumn afternoon.

The premise of this should have worked so well for me but the writing was so choppy, so tell instead of show, and so juvenile feeling that I couldn't get past the first 25% of the book, despite starting it over again from the beginning, hoping to get into it.

I thought this book was okay. I really enjoyed the first chapter set up. However 2 things lost me. 1. The quick initial hookup (I need a slow burn most times) and 2. the immediate change in feelings for a reason that I just didn't understand, along with the main MC treating the female MC so poorly. At that point in the story, it just kind of lost me. I think the rest of the book was fine, but it never went back to that initial first chapter excitement.

This book felt a bit too all over the place for me to strongly recommend it as a good romance. While the characters were likeable enough and interesting, I really struggled with the enemies to friends to enemies to friend to lovers back and forth nature of this. It made everything feel too long and too forced and ultimately drove me to care less about the characters and lose investment in the story.

From my blog post (link is attached): There are 2 things that always go well together in my mind and that is books & baked goods, so when a book delivers BOTH of these things, it makes me extremely happy (and hungry). With one MC owning a bakery and the other a bookstore (and from what I read, that “boy” is definitely a man my friends), it’s truly like a match made in heaven. We also get cameos from beloved pets (shoutout to my fellow furparents out there). There’s mutual crushing, heated moments, funny banter, family interventions and plenty of book & food talk throughout the book! Definitely have some snacks nearby while reading!

I had high hopes for this one but it fell flat. Max is kind of a jerk with a slow redemption arc. I love the grumpy/sunshine trope but Max takes it a little too far.

This one sounded super cute but it relied too heavily on the miscommunication trope. I don't enjoy that trope but it can be used well in some instances. In this book though it was used too much and it was really frustrating. In addition to that I didn't like either main character. This book just wasn't for me at all.