I honestly struggled to get through this one.

The story concept? Made no sense half the time. The main characters? Strange and not in an endearing way. The romance? Not sure where it really was. The language? So entirely over complicated and at times offensive. (Reference to the me too movement an ableist language)

The blurb and cover had me really excited for this one, however it took me weeks to barely finish it.

I won’t be picking up anything else from these authors.

Fox and Cady’s story is a definitely interesting. We’re thrown in very quickly to both characters problems. Their characters felt less developed than I usually like but they still had a lot of depth. The ending while not abrupt didn’t really flesh out their issues. It felt kind of incomplete. That being said the plot line pulled me in and kept me entertained and I loved the touch of mystery thrown in.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

The premise of the book sounded offbeat in a fun corky sort of way. Unfortunately it was a dnf for me. It felt like we were just plopped right into a storyline and expected to know what was going on. As I kept reading, the story became less appealing and the characters were hard for me to become interested in. The “corky” that I was hoping for ended up falling flat and came across more so as awkward.
I appreciate the opportunity to be able to read this though.

Fate has brought Fox & Cady together, through their love of reading. She owns a bookstore, and he needs a weekly supply of books to survive boredom in the wilderness. Hence his weekly call to place an order and their weekly chance to flirt with each other.

FOX is an army vet living like a hermit in the woods trying to deal with SEVERE PTSD. Cady is the disabled new owner of a bookshop she has just inherited (with some strings) from her dead Aunt. Cady is struggling to make ends meet and adult. Fox is struggling to readjust to the world. What will happen if they ever meet in person?!! I had to find out! This book was addictive. I was always craving the next chapter.

FOX is the super duper most alpha-est male lead EVER. He has PTSD and absolutely NOTHING else wrong with him. If he was a real man, he'd be a unicorn. I mean, you could live next door to a special forces training center, and you MAY catch a glimpse of a man this HOT fleetingly, once in your life, from 100 yards away. He literally had me at "hello," with the best phone flirty banter ever. **bites fist** The way he loved Cady, his protectiveness, how he took care of her. Sigh. Like I said, a unicorn. I'd hike up a damn mountain to chase him back down too. You go Girl! I was super proud of Cady in that moment.

I devoured this book in a couple of days and contemporary romances aren't even my fave. I usually go for Kerrigan's historical romps. This one has a steam level that is OFF THE CHARTS! There are super sexy times on a phone, in a bookstore and in a tent! **Explicit sex & language alert**

I'm so glad to hear that this will be a series and can't wait to see what Ms. Kerrigan and Ms. Aubin cook up next!

Book Review

Nevermore Bookstore by by Kerrigan Byrne & Cynthia St. Aubin

Set in the rainy PNW, Nevermore Bookstore, lightly inspired by Edgar Allen Poe’s prose, this is a really fun, spicy read. I read it in just over one day and stayed up until 3 am to finish it.

The way that the book sets up, I was *sure* that a few of the characters were either paranormal or mythical, however, there are many ways to be a perceivable monster.

Many clever metaphors and descriptions. Some were slightly cringey, but overall, I did enjoy the writing. I really did not like how Fox calls Cady “Woman.” There were also some very of the moment pop culture references that were fun to read in today’s world, but a few that didn’t land. The Colin Kaepernick comment really bummed me out.

I really loved the representation of AS (Ankylosing Spondylitis) throughout the book. It is very rare amongst young women and those living with it are truly warriors. Although I do not have AS, I have another chronic pain illness and I felt like it was handled with care. The author weaves in a myriad of chronic illness, mental health mountains, and traumas to add depth and representation to the characters and it hit home for me. My sister has AS and I will be getting her a copy of this book.

There is certainly some voyeurism that is semi-creepy, and the character is flawed, but he’s also deeply thoughtful and caring. This trope is also called for what it is directly in the book and the person who is being watched was even making jokes about it, so that seemed to be resolved.

Has humour, heart and an HEA and this PNW reader will most likely seek out following books in the series. The spice was delish.

Thank you NetGalley and Oliver Heber Books for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

3.5/5 stars

I will start off by saying, I know Kerrigan Byrne is the queen of historical romance. So seeing her venture into the contemporary space had me intrigued. This book was definitely quirky and funny, and had great representation (mental health, chronic illness, etc) which was incredible. However, I guess I should not have gone into this blind and maybe that was my error. I was expecting a cute, poe-esque (Nevermore, hello) paranormal modern romance… and this was not that. I think Byrne is an exceptional writer, this just came a bit out of left field for me.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Nevermore Bookstore by @kerriganbyrne and @cynthiastaubin is a hilarious yet romantic/heartbreaking story. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I laughed out loud/swooned many times while reading this book!!! The humor was top-notch, the sex scenes were fan-worthy, and the interactions between Cady and Roman were amazing. I love how the book was set in the PNW as well, in a small town where everyone knows everyone. There was also an aspect of mystery which I was excited about. Overall, a quick and fun read that is super romantic!!! Nevermore Bookstore releases March 28th, 2023. 🤩🔥🌲🏘️📖

The concept of this was really interesting, but the execution was not very good. I wanted to like the main characters but it felt very rushed and jumbled and that caused me to not care as much. I wanted the vibes to be what the cover, title, and description made it seem like.

I really enjoyed this book! I love books about books or bookstores so this was right up my alley! I adored the spice and mystery and it made me laugh out loud!

Nevermore Bookstore
(Townsend Harbor Book 1)
by Kerrigan Byrne & Cynthia St. Aubin
From the cover and the description I wanted to love this book, but it was full of gratuitous f-words and graphic sexuality. Not my scene. However, it was about a woman with chronic illness and a man with what I would describe as PTSD. I couldn’t skip the swearing, or frequent casual sexual references, only the full on sex scenes. The thing is, I haven’t ever read a book that captured my husband and I so well. I couldn’t stop reading. It resonated so hard. I needed this book. I loved it. The writers are insanely talented, their rich use of language delighted me. This book is 18+ at least (I know nothing about rating systems), but having a chronically ill heroine and hero with PTSD made it worth it for me. Every sentence is well written. The plot, wonderful and believable. Character arcs, perfect. I wish I could read 50 more books like this one…though, preferably, closed door & sans the 6 million f-words.

Overall, I highly recommend this book, with the above stated disclaimers.

Thank you @NetGalley and Oliver Heber Books for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

#nevermorebookstore #kerriganbyrne #cynthiastaubin #oliverheberbooks #chronicillness #ptsd

This book was so confusing to read. The language and word choices were often odd and made me think "did we jump back to the 50's?" or something. It kept taking me out of the story as it didn't fit a contemporary. After reading I saw that one author writes a lot of historical so maybe that is why, but it was so odd.

That and I kept waiting for the guy to be revealed to be a werewolf or something. The first chapter from his point of view made it seem like he was a shifter and so he thought he couldn't be with anyone...but he is just a normal guy with PTSD. So...it was an odd read. I kept reading just to see what strangeness would happen next. I did like that the lady had a chronic illness, but that also felt...I have read other books with ladies with similar maladies, but while I love the representation it also felt like it didn't matter that much or affect her that much. It also made people treat her like she didn't know herself and if she were okay or not, specifically her bestie who overstepped often for me. Like it's her life - she can live it and manage her illness the way she wants!

Thanks for NetGalley, the author and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

Nevermore Bookstore disappointed me despite the fact that I was very eager about it. I got the impression that this would be a paranormal romance from the blurb, cover, and title. When I checked, it wasn't. So, the description and appearance of the book, are deceptive. This steamy romance touches on some serious issues and has some dubious elements. The first half of the book was mostly to my liking, but as the plot continued, it felt strange. I really struggled to keep going till the very end. It was fun for a while. The older women and their book club were wonderful. But the flow of the book wasn't smooth. The characters could have been more developed. Prosaic quality of the text didn't meet my expectations. Overall it is a okay okay type read.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC!

I'm torn down the middle on this contemporary romance story. In many ways this book is cute and fun with interesting characters and good writing. But there are other parts of it that are cliché and corny and some the language made me cringe. The plot mostly held my attention. The romance is a very slow burn, some of it not great, but other parts were excellent. It's a good book to spend the day with and I did enjoy it but there was enough of it where I wasn't connected enough to rate it higher than three stars.

Very well written, but not my cup of tea. Maybe someone else will enjoy it. It was a real struggle for me to read. Just not the book for me.

This book was so cute and i absolutely loved every minute of it! I read it in one sitting and i couldn’t put it down. I am grateful to have received an early copy of this book. Cady is such a badass and i am so happy for her and all her strength and courage. Fox is such a grump but i love him and he thinks he doesn’t deserve to be happy but he deserves it all. Cady and fox are perfect for eachother and I’m so happy with how the book ended. It was such a funny, cute read! Highly recommend!

I’ll be honest this book isn’t what I expected it to be at all. I still enjoyed the story, but I expected more creepy, maybe supernatural aspects. Spoiler: there isn’t any.
There were a few twists that I didn’t see coming, so the mystery was there! The romance, and spice were there.
I definitely want to go camping now…

While inheriting a bookstore from her late aunt and maintaining a somewhat social life in a small PNW town, Cady looks forward to her weekly calls with her favorite patron who she only knows as “Fox”. The sound of his voice has her hooked, and she can’t help but imagine who this mysterious man might be. After a break in, Fox can’t stay away, but will his PTSD keep punishing him into a life in the wilderness?

I really loved the representation of a plus size FMC, who struggles with a physical disability. I don’t personally have a back problem like Cady, but I do suffer from a chronic disease, so seeing a FMC that isn’t super strong and deals with similar everyday problems that a lot of society doesn’t talk about was refreshing!

Fox, the MMC is damaged, broken, army vet who deals with PTSD day in and day out. I would have liked more of his story but what you get makes his character make sense at the end.

I’m a sucker for dual POV. I love getting to see what’s going on in both main characters minds.

Solid 2.5 Entertaining but cringy.

Pros: Bookstore, PNW setting, fun side characters, mental health and chronic illness representation, grumpy/sunshine

Cons: So much cringe. Dumb character decisions. The language ranges from texting shorthand to Downton Abbey. "People mistake my kindness for stupidity" ( not exact quote) YES SIS you're explaining this to the WWE sized drifter you invited into your house where you live alone to shower and share dinner! Fox was essentially stalking her at one point and literally lying the whole time. Like yes he went through some big things but his actions were just immediately forgiven with a room in the woods and swoony courtroom entrance..

I was so excited to read this after seeing how cute the cover was and that it was set in a bookstore and a small town, but unfortunately it was a DNF for me. The writting was little cringe and cheesey for me personally, I loved the cosy setting though but the romance for me just wasn’t enough to keep me reading :(

It was not even 300 pages and I struggled. It was just so cringy. The writing was simplistic, there were plot holes, and it just felt rushed. I don’t think i’ve ever read so many “boi’s” in one book. I did like the chronic illness awareness, but that’s it. The characters were unlikeable, fox was a so rude and annoying, cady was made to be so weak. I also didn’t like how close cady and caryn’s names were.

Thank you Netgalley for the arc and letting me review honestly!!

I want to start by saying I’ve read 5 books Kerrigan Byrne’s Victorian Rebels series, which is what originally drew me to this ARC. I was really hoping to like this more.

I enjoyed the romance between Fox and Cady at first with communicating/flirting only by phone, but then it got to be a bit weird… him watching her from the mountain with binoculars? Literally why. He just felt creepy the entire book and not a good MMC. The ending of the book was wrapped up well, but I felt it was extremely predictable with who broke into the bookstore. The writing felt very choppy to me, and I don’t know if it’s from 2 different authors writing different chapters, but I would get confused in the storyline and what exactly was happening. Some sentences made me cringe. The sentence about her describing her pubic hair??? Was completely unnecessary and racist. I was uncomfortable and upset, and it could’ve just not been a part of the dialogue at all. I don’t even want to quote it, because it literally makes my head want to burst. I could probably give this book a higher rating, but I just can’t.

Things I enjoyed: I love how the understood one another and were extremely compassionate in areas where the other was suffering with chronic illness and PTSD.