I almost didn't request this book from Netgalley. I almost missed out!
Fox has removed himself from society. He lives off the grid and the only connection to the world he has is a weekly call to order books from town. What first starts off as a weekly order slowly turns into chatting, and then flirting. Fox knows he can't have Cady, but a little flirting over the phone won't hurt either of them. One night he calls her later than usual and overhears a break-in. This woman, this connection to living, was put in danger, and he won't stand for it.
Listen, Fox makes some questionable decisions to protect her, but do I care? Nope. This is fiction and it gave a taste of everything. Small Town vibes, literary mentions, telling people off via book titles, dirty talk, and a best friend that you couldn't help but love. I will definitely be following the rest of this series.

Publishes March 28

Nevermore Bookstore provided a much-needed escape from a bad week at work. I usually struggle to read print when I’m anxious or upset, but my brain readily accepted this fluffy, heartwarming story with a smile.

You might enjoy this book if you like grumpy x sunshine; disability rep; mental illness rep; book-obsessed MCs; small towns full of quirky, nosy residents with poor impulse control; steamy sex scenes; a cat named Kevin Costner; and taxidermy misfits.

You may want to skip this one if stalking or deception are dealbreakers. One of the MCs crosses some serious boundaries. I thought the issues were handled well, but your mileage may vary.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Nevermore Bookstore is a fun, character driven romance with large mental health and chronic illness representation.

Cady Bloomquist has just inherited the Nevermore Bookstore from her aunt. Her life consists of running the quaint bookshop in the pacific northwest town of Townsend Harbor, cat-sitting for her neighbor, and fighting off the nosey "Karen", Caryn, from the City council, all while dealing with her chronic illness, "Astrid". The highlight of her week is the Thursday night phone calls with the mysterious Fox.

Fox is living off the land in the woods just outside of Townsend Harbor after debilitating PTSD symptoms force him away from civilization. His last link to the real world is the weekly calls with Cady, who makes him feel human again.

When a late-night disturbance at the bookstore threatens Cady's safety, Fox has to be the one to check up on her. But once he has crossed paths with her in person, he decides being around her as "Bob" is the best way to keep her safe and at arm's length away.

I fell in love with Townsend Harbor and the friends that Cady has surrounded herself with. They provided a great levity and balance to the heavier topics of chronic illness, grief and mental health struggles that are featured. The connection between Cady and "Bob" was so sweet and gentle friends to lovers. The secret of Fox's identity was revealed over the course of the story in a way the felt very realistic and purposeful.

There was a light suspense element around the break-in at Nevermore. But the only purpose it had in the story, was to bring Fox and Cady together at the beginning of the story and after the 3rd act break-up. I felt that the story would have been just as powerful without the suspense element.

Additionally, I am not sure that the phone calls between Fox and Cady really added anything to the relationship contained in the story. It just as easily could have been a romance between Cady and "Bob". To me it felt like it the main impact of the phone calls was to help introduce physical intimacy between Fox and Cady earlier in the story (and specifically include a phone sex scene).

Overall, it felt like a slice of life where Cady and Fox meet each other. It is the perfect quiet, small-town contemporary read.

I DNF this at 30%. The book starts with the reader already behind, and we never catch up. The dialogue between the two characters is cringey; this reads more like fanfiction. The male MC is obviously supposed to be the sexy-bossy-protective type but it’s not believable because they don’t even know each other.

I hope this book find its audience. I received an advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

This read by @kerriganbyrne and @cynthiastaubin was such a fun read and I am excited to know this is the start of a four book series because I’m ready to return to #townsendharbor with its fun quirky characters.

Cady + Fox connect via weekly late night phone conversations when Fox places his book order from Cady’s bookstore. Fox is a recluse who suffers from severe PTSD and believes he could never deserve a relationship with her due to his mental illness. Cady suffers from chronic illness and is cash strapped to make the necessary repairs to the bookstore she inherited from her late aunt. When someone begins vandalizing the property, Fox realizes he might have to come out of hiding to protect Cady and help her defends her claim to the building from the town council.
If you enjoy contemporary language, thick sarcasm, 80’s-90’s cultural references, and sex and body positive language you’ll love this read. Sprinkle in some hot sexual tension with a splash of voyeurism and you’ve got 🥵 spice too. If was impossible not to root for Cady and Fox’s HEA.

This was an odd read, and not in a good way. It’s seldom that both MCs of what’s marketed as a funny romance have such debilitating health issues as Cady and Fox with their chronic illness and PTSD. It was an interesting premise, but the book couldn’t quite handle the funny and the serious at the same time, and they threw a mystery in the mix too. The balance was constantly off. And that was before we got to the romance part, after having spent much too long a time with the secret crush/hidden identity thing and the creepy stalker stuff. I simply didn’t feel the romance. I was invested in the problems of the MCs separately and was interested in reading them, but together the two were constantly off balance, like the whole book. There were some funny parts, though sometimes it tried too much, and I liked Cady and Gemma. They would’ve made a fun couple.

Thanks to NetGalley and the authors for this book and I’m about to give my honest review.
When I started this book I thought it was going to be a cozy library story with some mystery in it. Oh I was wrong.
The MMC is a giant red flag! Like huge one!
It starts with Cady and Fox making once a week phone call to a he watches her with binoculars and can see almost all she does.
Besides that it was some kind of funny at times, wasn’t really as I expected. It has a double POV which I liked, but the way he talks looks like a monster hunter but he wasn’t. He’s just a stalker and Cady is in love with.

4-4.5*

I loved this book. That’s the summary of this review for me.

Nevermore Bookstore is an amazing story, there is not another way around it. I was a little afraid after accidentally seeing some of the other reviews, but I was pleasantly surprised in how much I disagreed with the bad comments.
The book is not very easy to read, it talks a lot about the problems the main characters face in their lives. They both have long term issues, either physical or mental. However, I really appreciated how honestly but kindly it was described and dealt with in the story. It was refreshing to see real life difficulties being brought up in a gentle manner, where both characters grew and became better when they were together.
Plot wise, is a fairly simple story, there is not a big conspiracy behind. But the way it was written, make you curious about what is going to happen. I frankly couldn’t put this book down, every aspect was so engaging, I became entranced in it.
The characters were absolutely stars, it was impossible not to root for them, not to love them. Not only the main ones, but also the side characters were amazing and made the story a little bit extra fun and entertaining.
This was my first book by either Kerrigan Byrne or Cynthia St. Aubun and it was one of the best written story I’ve read in the last few years. Their style is impressive and captivating without being too complicated to read. It was so easy to get lost in the pages and become part of the story, a truly immersive experience.
I’m really hoping they release more of this series soon, because I can’t get enough of it. For me, this book could have been an extra 100 pages longer and I would have devoured it. An absolutely easy recommendation to rom-com/drama romance lovers, that enjoy books that make you believe anything is still possible, despite all the problems life throw at you.

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

• Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for the opportunity of reading this ARC and providing feedback! •

Whilst I enjoyed this book by @kerriganbyrne and @cynthiastaubin, I was thoroughly confused for the first half of the book.

The story is essentially a beauty and the beast re-write, but with some colourful language (which I enjoyed), some spicy scenes (also enjoyed) and some not so good wording (Fox called Cady "woman" way too much!).

I loved their chemistry but having spent half the book pretending to be someone else, I got the creeps a bit.

And yet still, I enjoyed it. It used language that I am used to (new to smut) and I giggled at some of the small jokes that I did get. Plus I related to Cady more than I would like to admit.

Thanks to @netgalley for giving me an Advance Reader Copy.

Two authors felt obvious- so much didn’t feel cohesive? Maybe that’s also because it was a bit out there! The cringy jokes ruined it for me overall.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!

This might be the book for you if you like:

* Characters with chronic pain
* Cats named after famous people (shout out to my own fluff, Kevin Bacon)
* voyeurism
* Phone sex
* A lot of Edgar Allen Poe references (tbh who doesn’t)
* A little bit of book porn with a side of small town mystery
* And, of course, lumberjack men that kind of remind you of a bear

So anyway, I love a good falling for someone in a little bit of an unconventional way—with this story it starts with the two love interests only ever speaking over the phone and never having seen each other. Not to take it there, but it feels more relevant in this pandemic-centric world we’re living in where falling in love with someone kind of feels like it has to be unconventional.

ON GOD this book is so quotable and funny, there’s this absolute smattering of zippy one liners. I think the only thing I wanted more of is there’s some language and literary references that feel really peppered on in the beginning that left me going “this is absolute word porn and book reference porn in the best way possible” but I feel like it tapers off and just ends up going more into a sillier style (like for example saying shit snacks). I do love the way the rest of the story is written though I’m telling you I was DYING laughing so much.

Most of these characters are comedy gold and I related to the best friend Gemma so much. Cady, the MC, is obviously very well fleshed out and I enjoyed her POV a lot. I did struggle for awhile on the Fox POV chapters for the first half of the book. Truly no knock on him just not my specific jam and his actions left me feeling he wasn’t actually very likable for awhile? But if you hold on through the middle the end of this book was really fun to get to.

I LOVED THIS BOOK. I was granted this ARC from NetGalley to read and for my first ARC experience it could not have gone better. It really had everything I love in a romance, witty banter, non-stop sarcasm from the friend group, a diverse group of friends in age, experience, etc. This group kept me laughing through the whole book. The physical tension between the two main characters was palpable. The verbal celebration of a larger body was top tier for me as a plus-size women. The nerdy book references and the Taylor Swift reference is an instant win for me.

My only cons were two jokes in the book that didn't quite land. The one about MeToo and Colin Kaepernick.

As a whole this gave me 5 star feelings!!

Nevermore Bookstore is a funny and charming story set in a PNW town that I would love to visit in real life. The humor is spot on and a good balance to some of the heavier topics the MC's deal with of chronic illness, PTSD, grief, etc.
I am very excited to see that this is the first book in a new series and can't wait to see who will be featured in book 2.

I had to DNF once it turned into a stalker like situation because that just wasn’t what I signed up for.

Thank you to net galley for the arc

I want to start off by thanking the publisher, the authors - Kerrigan Byrne and Cynthia St. Aubin, and NetGalley for providing me with this free eARC. The opinions in this review are mine and mine alone.

When I first started this book I expected the standard rom-com but this book was different. Was it cliché? Yes. Was it cheesy? Yes. Was I enthralled? Absolutely, yes.

The Nevermore Bookstore walks this wild line between the Cat and Mouse Duet and You've Got Mail. The main characters have a really beautiful connection. The community gives Gilmore Girl vibes and the topics and personal issues the characters face feel very honest and genuine.

Sure, the book was one big meme but I enjoyed it. If you survived Pastry Shifters and you're looking for another quirky, steamy read you'll enjoy it too.

I'll absolutely be reading more books in this series.

I really enjoyed this book, and read it in one sitting. I thought this was fun and fast-paced, and I loved the banter which was funny and had me laughing out loud. The characters were super quirky and were really brought to life. Fox and Cady make an adorable couple who had a whole lot of steamy chemistry even before they met, and it got so much steamier afterward. I really liked most of the side characters minus the sheriff's evil mother who is trying to make it so Cady loses her bookstore. This is part of the mystery, Cady is trying to find her aunt's will to prove she inherited the building that houses her bookstore and her apartment, but weird things keep happening like a break-in where nothing was stolen, and her taxidermy friends not being where they were left. There was at least one loose end, but it didn't dim my enjoyment of the story. Kerrigan Bryne is one of my favorite historical romance authors, and while I've never read anything by Cynthia St. Aubin before Ill definitely be adding her to my TBR and I will be eading anything else they put out together.

Unfortunately I had to DNF this book. I stopped reading at 30% for a number if reasons. This book read as very obvious that there were multiple writers and there didn't seem to be a cohesiveness to the story. It seemed to jump all over and took a turn I hadn't expected. I was expecting there to be a paranormal aspect to things but it turned out to be a stalker situation which was a bit concerning when reading his internal dialogue. Then Fawkes hiding his identity, while helping her in the store was not it for me. I understand that it was meant as a protective gesture and I would expect that from a dark romance but not a book marketed as a funny quirky romance. I did really like Cady as a character and her quirkiness and the disability rep. Also her struggle with grief and moving on after the death of someone you love. I unfortunately couldn't get past Fawkes and his dialogue and stalker behavior.

I thought I was getting into a cozy paranormal small-town romance. What I got was a cliche "quirky" main character that made up words and a "hero" that lived in a cave, watched the main character, and deceived her. The "hero" originally read like a vampire (solidifying my thought that this was a paranormal small-town romance), but that wasn't the case. The third-person writing style confused me in some scenes when I wasn't sure which "she" the author was referring to...it was a bit distracting.
The storyline jumped all over the place and was quite hard to keep up with and keep straight. I really wanted to DNF this book but I am not one to do that. There are very likable side characters that I feel helped this book immensely but I just couldn't find anything to love about it.
The nail in the coffin for this book for me was the line: " It’s like I have Colin Kaepernick in a leg-lock down there.”
it= her pubes.
WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?!?
Who thought that was an ok thing to write?

I'm a fan of Kerrigan Byrne's books but hadn't read Cynthia St. Aubin's writing so I wasn't sure what to expect from a collaborative effort.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. The writing was a bit fast-paced especially in the beginning and I felt it took my brain a bit of time to catch up and wrap itself around what is happening and who's who. There was backstory provided here and there but it kind of felt like they jumped right in.

Otherwise, I liked the story. It was fun and even the serious parts didn't feel too dark and serious. There was a bit of mystery involved and not just a typical romance. I will say there were some parts that just didn't make a lot of sense to me. One very short chapter in particular (not going to share spoilers) was just sprinkled in it seemed and wasn't really explained.

Even though most of the story was resolved at the end, it felt a little loose. I think it could have been tied up a little more (especially in terms of that random chapter I am referring too but don't want to write a spoiler).

I would give the book maybe 3 1/2 stars but can round up to 4 for the purposes of this review.

Nevermore Bookstore Book Review
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫(3.5 stars)

“I’m having a break, but whether it’s a through or a down is yet to be decided.”

📚 The vibes:
- Grumpy/sunshine
- PTSD Rep
- Disability Rep (ankylosing spondylitis - autoimmune spinal arthritis. Painful, chronic, not curable)
- Book lovers

📚 My thoughts:

This one was such a unique read that I’m not sure how to categorize it. There’s mystery, romance, a crime, and dark pasts. These characters have issues. But I loved the journey. I loved the friendship that the MCs had, and I found their interactions to be really sweet. The deception in the plot had me on my toes- just waiting for it all to hit the fan. I will say this isn’t a rom com. It’s contemporary and even ventures into a suspense romance, in my opinion. I liked both characters- Fox and Cady. But Cady never truly held Fox accountable for his (what i consider to be- deviant) behavior - she actually LIKED it. Edward Cullen and Bella vibes happening there. IYKYK.

My biggest complaint is that there was too much spice and crude talk for me. I skipped a lot of the spice - as I felt like it was too much and just not necessary for the story to be what it was.
Releases March 28, 2023.

Thank you so much to the authors, publishers, and NetGalley for providing me with this ARC to read and review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.