Thank you to NetGalley and Xpresso Books for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Like others, I was thinking quirky paranormal romance based on the cover. What’s that saying though, “Never judge a book by its cover?” Zero paranormal elements involved here, which is fine by me. I think what did bother me though was the story began super cute and I was pretty into it, but after the first few chapters, the whole reclusive book boyfriend / bookseller / kitschy bookstore vibe vanished and became something else altogether.

I did love the inclusion of the female main character’s ankylosing spondylitis and the male main character’s PTSD.

I did not love several problematic references which honestly made me feel uncomfortable over anything else.

Overall, it was okay but just not for me.

DNF, I was starting to get creepy stalker vibes. And there was a lot more sexy stuff than I wanted, especially when they were just getting to know each other over the phone. Also, was he keeping his rare editions in his tent in the woods? I didn't want to find out. I loved the premise, though, so I was disappointed that it didn't live up to the potential. Maybe it will appeal more to other people.

I was excited for this book, but found the overall experience very disappointing. I did not enjoy the development of any of the characters— I never grew to truly care for either Fox or Cady, they seemed too flat. Secondly and my biggest gripe was I was confused the entire book. I truly thought that based on the way Fox talked that this was a werewolf book and that he would transform at any moment. I was shocked to find out in the end 20% of the book that he was not a mythical creature, but just a man with mental health issues! I think this could have been explored more throughout the book and been more respectful if it wasn’t treated as a big reveal, but was actually talked about early in the book and developed. The book also had a lot of small details that were thrown out and discarded. Cady’s mom is in jail but they have reconciled, Fox was married and now divorced, etc. I would have loved more development on these topics.

Cady and Astrid' (her ankylosing spondylitis) recently inherited the Nevermore Bookstore after her beloved Aunt passed away. But the store is struggling, and she's reliant on a mysterious customer 'Fox' who calls once a week at 8pm. Over time, their relationship has grown flirty and Cady wonders if she'll ever get to meet the only man who seems to understand her.

But Fox is not who she imagines. He's an Army Ranger with the weight of what he has experienced on his shoulders. Unable to live in a confined space, he's made his home in the mountains outside of town with his only link to society his calls to Cady.

So when Fox overhears a break in at Nevermore, he ignores all of his rules to appear in Cady's life under an assumed identity. What will Fox do when Cady discovers that he is her mysterious caller? & who is he really?

This book puzzled me a little. I really enjoyed the beginning and the tension that built between Cady and Fox. They had great banter and it was nice to see two people with their own forms of pain able to release that when talking. What worried me was how some of Fox's behaviour was portrayed.

I can see what the Author's wanted readers to feel, I was rooting for them both to work through their trauma enough to be together, but the way it ended up made me feel a bit disappointed. Clearing up some of the 'lurking' and the delay in fully explaining Fox's history to the reader could help to resolve this I believe.

Ultimately, I did enjoy the book but feel anyone who is triggered by PTSD and descriptions of war experiences and stalking/surveillance should have a think before reading.

Thank you to Netgalley, Xpressotours and Authors Kerrigan Byrne & Cynthia St Aubin for providing me with this ARC. I have written this review voluntarily with all opinions being my own.

This is a 3.75 for me. This is a steamy romance with the grump and sunshine trope. Cady is my favorite character. Even though she has is dealing with pain in her body daily she keeps a positive outlook. Fox, however, was a little harder to figure out. This is kinda where I took off 1/4 a star. I am all for the mystery or mystic of not revealing everything about a character at once, but I was not sure if this character was human or a paranormal creature for a good portion the book (especially having read Mrs. St. Auxin’s books). Once I understood more about Fox I really enjoyed the book more and was able to relate to why the two should be in a relationship.

All thoughts and opinions are my own, and I have not been by anyone.

Cady is running Nevermore Bookstore after the death of her beloved aunt. Each week she gets a call from the same (sexy voiced) customer. Fox is drawn to Cady as much as she is to those weekly calls. You’ll find yourself laughing and swooning at this sweet romance.

*ARC provided by NetGalley for an honest review.

Genre: Romance
Rating: 2.5/5 ⭐️
Spice: 3/5 🌶️

Summary: Cady’s late aunt left her in charge of her beloved bookstore but she’s having a hard time proving to the town’s council that the bookstore was legally her aunt’s. She’s also having a hard time with her growing feelings for the mysterious man who calls the bookstore each week.

Thoughts: This book was kind of all over the place. There was so much going on and it just felt a little rushed. I needed more consistency. There were sections that were straight up cringy but others that redeem it a little bit by being super romantic.

There’s one scene towards the end that felt so overly dramatic, it was a little hard to read through.

The characters truly make this book, however. The humor really had me laughing out loud during certain sections. I also loved how flawed the heroine was. Her honesty and sense of humor were so refreshing.

First off thanks to netgalley for providing me an ARC!

Cady recently inherited Nevermore Bookstore from her Aunt Fern who passed away. Cady also has an intense flirtationship with a customer, Fox, who calls and places a huge order every Thursday.

This book was not good. Fox is a creep who watches Cady from the woods, which is where he lives. He is weirdly possessive and the embodies the whole "I know whats best for you and it's not me because I'm damaged" vibes. There is another man in Cady's life too, Ethan. And the two guys are both horrible.

There is a subplot of the bookstore getting broken into which is forgotten about until the last chapter. Fox has a history which is touched on for about a page. The last chapter.. what the heck.. Judge Judy shows up?

Honestly, I wish I had the time back I spent reading this book.

I was so excited for this book but ended up disappointed. Cady was funny but Fox was a creepy stalker who was in serious need of therapy. Their relationship lacked depth and chemistry. There were too many made up words and creative description. Plot was almost non existent and the writing was all over the place. I couldn't bring myself to care about Fox or Cady. The romance and humor fell flat. I wanted to DNF this book several times. Overall this one just didn't do it for me.

I wanted to like this.

I could not.

It was a weird relationship that wanted to be romcom funny maybe? But wasn’t. She was a hot mess MC abut not in an endearing way. I don’t it just wasn’t for me.

The book club was the only thing I enjoyed.

What an interesting book! I read it based solely on the cover, the title and the genre. The storyline of Cady and her mysterious Thursday phone calls with Fox had me hooked (I mean, come on, those phone calls!). As I tried to work out in my mind how it all would come together, the hours slipped away and I had knocked out the book in less than a day. I found this to be a fascinating read!

What did I just read, genuinely.. what was that?!
It was a mess, it was all over the place, it was cringey and it was just all a bit random.

The writing was not good, I mean we had sentences that were PARAGRAPHS! I love a descriptive story as much as the next guy but this took it to the extreme.

I did quite like the characters (mostly the side characters) but that’s the only thing the book had going for it. The plot was just so bizarre, I’m still not entirely sure why/how Fox came to be calling/watching her and it was never fully explained. The ‘mystery’ element of the story was just ridiculous.

There were a few moments in the book that were in poor taste and clearly not thought about by the two authors, editors and whoever else had a hand in this book before it got to this stage -

• A joke about the ‘Me Too’ movement
• Having a Muslim terrorist/kidnapper/torturer (why did his religion need to have anything to do with it?)
• Comparing her pubic hair to having “Colin Kaepernick in a leg lock down there”

These were things that did not need to be in there.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review

I was expecting a cute romance and I think the cover gave me a bit of a wring impression. The first few pages with the phone call between Cady an Fox was really good, the tension was almost palpable and it sparked my curiosity.

But when Fox demanded that Cady lockedvthe doors, immediately, I started to get the feeling this might not be my type of MMC. And that feeling lasted throughout the book.

There is a lot going on and some parts I really enjoyed. I loved the setting of a book store, for instance. But overall I didn't really connect with the main characters.

This book gives the tale of a bookstore owner who falls for the mysterious man who calls her store once a week.

This was truthfully a one-star read for me, but I appreciated the development and care given to the depiction of chronic physical and mental illnesses.

Unfortunately, Fox’s behavior was often toxic, creepy, and incredibly violating (secretly watching the heroine in her room from the woods with binoculars???) and the boundaries of consent were not treated with respect in this book.

I also hated how the protagonist describes herself as “big,” and the book makes a big deal about her round shape and body positivity, yet the cover shows a completely average, small to mid-sized woman. Absolutely not a fan of that design choice.

In short: This one wasn’t for me. :(

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for my honest review.

The first half of this book was so promising. The supporting characters were fun and the authors did a great job building a cozy environment. I felt invested in the small mystery underlying the romance and thought it added some necessary tension. The initial interactions between the f mc and m mc were pretty addicting, I was excited for more.

Cady was a pretty boring protagonist, trauma from her past came up very haphazardly and felt indulgent. Though, I thought the chronic illness depiction was good. The strangest part about Fox was his style and manner of speech he changed so often, most of the time I fearing what weird thing he was going to say next.

A bit of the banter was cringy, but I think that’s par for the course with a RomCom. A couple of the jokes (about #Metoo and Colin Kaepernick?!?) felt so out of place for the rest of the book and were inappropriate, odd, and unnecessary. I also LOATHE when m mc refer to the f mc as “woman” when they’re trying to be sexy. Gives me the major ick. And the ending of the mystery was a bit disappointing. The motives of the crimes seemed to be reaching at best.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As an English major and self-described word nerd, this book was extremely off-putting. While I realize that every book is not a literary masterpiece (nor should it be - snore!) this author used phrases I'm pretty sure even the most dedicated bodice-ripper fan would blush. I was disgusted by the constant references to Fox's dick and him having to avoid a "wiener roast" when talking to Cady. It's just gross honestly.

I was looking forward to a rom-com about books and bookstores. Instead, I got a rough n' ready hero with some serious PTSD and a weirdo backstory and a heroine who has ankylosing spondylitis, issues surrounding her dead aunt and self-esteem issues.

I just couldn't get past the vulgar, crass and mostly unnecessary turn of phrases, metaphors and hyperbole.

Each Thursday, at 8 am, Cady the owner of the Nevermore Bookstore receives a phone call from a mysterious yet alluring stranger named Fox, who requests books for the following week.

I loved the beginning, their tension was unmatchable during their phone calls. It spiraled from innocent book discussions to flirtatious conversations to phone sex. The plot was fairly simple and made me curious to see what happens next. Cady was sweet, though at times she seemed naive. She had a lot oh her plate with her illness, aunt’s passing and the bookstore debts, yet she was always cheerful. Fox’s living conditions made my heart ache for him, he suffered through a lot.

I would’ve liked to see their relationship develop a little more after Cady discovered Fox’s true identity. But the dealbreaker for me was in chapter 20, where we see Fox having a nightmare of being tied up and tortured, “The Creature “ tells Fox to give thanks to ‘Allah’ (the god that muslims pray to and believe in), in my opinion it was very unnecessary and islamophobic, the author could’ve used ‘God’ which isn’t specific or tied to any religion.

Overall, the book was really good and entertaining, with a simple plot and a funny dialogue. I loved Cady’s friends and the senior bookclub, I look forward to reading more about them in future books. I liked he chronic illness (Autoimmune Spinal Arthritis) and PTSD representation, we need more of those. The plot twist at the end was really fitting to the mysterious aura that the book had.

Thank you Netgalley, the author and the publisher for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Fox lives off the grid and is clearly dealing with some issues due to his past. Cady has some serious health issues and is trying to save her bookstore. They become involved in more ways than one due to several circumstances. This however, is not a normal romance novel.

I'm not sure where I stand on this book. On one hand, the main male character's behavior is super creepy in a stalkerish but I want to keep you safe way. It reminds me of Edward watching Bella sleep in Twilight. On the other hand, something about the book kept me reading, so there must be something there.

Thanks to NetGalley and Oliver Heber Books for this advanced copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

‘Sometimes passion was a whisper, other times a roar. This time? It was a storm.’

Nevermore Bookstore by Kerrigan Byrne and Cynthia St. Aubin was completely different from what we were expecting, once again the curse of the cartoon cover strikes with the dreaded thumb people, however, we ended up really enjoying it. It deals with very heavy topics and mental health which is not indicative by the cover. Once we started reading, we’re not going to lie, we thought this was paranormal and Fox was some type of shapeshifter. It had such an intriguing start that we honestly didn’t have a clue where Fox and Cady’s story was going to go, both together and individually, it was like all the romance tropes challenged each other to a duel for supremacy, and the winning trope was ‘last one’ standing.

“You’re a good man…”
“No, Cady, I’m not.”
“Yes, you are. You can try to convince yourself of that all you want. But you’re not going to convince me. Where you came from, what you did – it doesn’t matter to me.”
“It would…If you knew.”

We also went into it thinking it was a rom-com at heart, but overall, it was much more than that, to be fair. Sure, it was funny, even hilarious in parts, however, the humour came from the fabulous book club cast and Myrtle in particular. Whereas Cady and Fox, between them, had stories of heartbreak, violence, and suffering. With all this being said though we absolutely enjoyed it and despite the story being all over the place at times, it actually kept us invested and falling in book love by the end.

“I know you think you’re some kind of big, strong hermit who’s too broken to love, but you don’t get to decide that for me.”

Fox was an intriguing character. Who or what even was he? We didn’t have a clue, but what we did know is that he felt fiercely protective of Cady and he protected her with his life, in whatever shape or form that may be. We couldn’t help but fall in love with this gruff enigmatic character. He was a conundrum we just had to unravel. He displayed questionable behaviour at times, and he kept us guessing right until the end when we finally got his backstory, which explained a lot! His anxiety and PTSD were really well written with sensitivity, he had a plethora of issues that affected how he viewed himself and the world alike. Who doesn’t love a man who reads and quotes fiction?! With Fox though comes not only heat, love, protection, and passion but a lot of angst, a lot of disappearing acts, worrying, and heartache.

“You quoted f**king Shakespeare, Poe, and Plath to me. And then you come to my house, to my business, and protect me and help me and make yourself an indispensable part of my life until I’m so seduced, I can’t see straight…..”

When Cady’s aunt died, she inherited a bookstore and flat housed in a building that has historical value to the small town which is pretty much politically run by the Townsends. A family with shady skeletons in their closet and a hot sheriff son who fancies Cady like mad. Cady is not interested though as she’s been wooed by the mysterious deep-voiced Fox, a customer she’s never met, yet who loves reading and will read anything Cady sends him. Swoony and hot, this relationship is a simmering pot ready to boil over! Oh, and it has one of the hottest phone-nookie calls we’ve read in a very long time!!

‘She was everything. Just everything. A warrior. A Boss. A lover. A survivor. A woman who clutched her compassionate humanity with both hands and refused to let the world turn her bitter.’ ‘I can’t be another thing she has to survive, he thought. I can’t be another burden on her shoulders.’

Cady is a fierce warrior fighting to keep her head over water, what with her chronic illness and struggling book shop. Not only that, strange and scary things are happening that are clearly signs someone wants her run out of business. Ever the optimist, Cady fights on with the help of the mysterious stranger and the man who has stolen her heart on the other end of the phone. Our favourite moment in this story was the banter in the book club. It had us laughing out loud and reminded us of chatting books with fellow readers. And on that note, no truer words were said: “We don’t yuck someone else’s yum…”

Cady and Fox are a sweet couple. I liked Fox’s protective nature, and how much he cares for Cady. Cady’s determined nature is one of my favourite things about.
Unfortunately their romance gets a bit lost in the storyline. The story is a bit confusing to read, especially in the early chapters. While the characters in this story all seem great, I feel like we don’t really get a chance to know them as well as we could have.