I think the idea of this book was really interesting and had a lot of promise, unfortunately for me it did not work. I felt it was cliché and cringy and so I did not end up enjoying this one. The rep in it, from what I understand, was really well done though for PTSD and chronic pain I just wish the rest of the story matched that rep.

When picking up this book I was first intrigued by the cover, then I read the blurb and felt like it could be something for me. I liked some parts of it, but overall I think it could be better, but something was off in my opinion.
Fox, a male MC, is a character that at first did not get me to like him, it can be probably due to not being able to understand him, or rather pinpoint him at all. Which did not serve him right as I could not build a proper connection with him besides the bits that were given here and there to give us teases and no proper insight into him. And to be honest I do not exactly understand how their connection bloomed.
I liked Cady, she was an open and intriguing character - she could be the one that readers liked the most and what lifted the story along in the overall conclusion. She is also a representation of acceptance and inclusivity which is important to me.
Generally, it was not a read that kept a lot of my attention as I felt like it was lacking a proper spark that would glue me into the pages which is a shame as I saw potential in it.

I wanted to love this book, really i did. I received the ARC from
Netgalley and was so excited to jump in.
I feel like the characters were underdeveloped and packed full of cliches and not in the fun way, normally pop culture mentions dont give me the ick but they really did here.
I loved the idea of nevermore but it just fell flat for me.

This book was just okay. The cover of this book was somewhat deceptive- while I thought it would be a fun witchy romance, it turned out to be more of a book about some adults who just really need therapy. Fun read but overall disappointing.

Let’s start with what I enjoyed; I really loved the representation in this book in regards to both of the characters. They both struggled with a lot, one with their mental health and the other physically. I loved the support that Cady had with all her friends. The book club she has set up is 😘🤌🏻 they discussed my favorite blue aliens & their spurs 😏 hehe. I also thought the grand gesture at the end from both of them was amazing.

However these things just helped balance out the book for me. I was truly confused for the first few chapters, I thought I was reading a paranormal spooky rom com but I obviously wasn’t. I don’t want to say much without giving spoilers but somethings were just too weird for me. I got some creeper vibes and not in a sexy way. I also felt very disconnected from the story. I think there was a little sub plot of a mystery but to me it was whatever.

Would I recommend this book? I don’t know, however one of my book besties did request the ARC to read it thanks to all my chatting about it while I was reading it! It definitely was an amusing read.

This book had so much potential but the over the top survivalist was just too much. I could not get over the descriptions of his feelings.

I love Kerrigan Byrne, so I didn't think twice about picking this book. I was only familiar with her historical romances, and I couldn't wait to see how she'd do with a modern story. First of all, the driving drama in Townsend Harbor will speak to anyone familiar with historical properties, fussy HOAs, and small town humor. I loved every bit of it. The morally grey aspects are very upfront, and I did cringe through some if it, but it is carefully handled which I appreciated. The over-the-top protective Fox and the cheerfully kink-positive Cady were fabulous to follow, and I love to see a chronic illness written so well on page. And the lust and sex scenes are hot, hot, hot!

I was gifted an e-book and will provide my own honest opinion. Overall I found it To be quite good. I could of been Gemma and Cady’s best friend. However I do notwagain like the overall theme containing approval of the stalking and voyeurism that is a central part of the romance. Never understood why the sheriff allowed the transients to continue to camp there and . not make them move on. Anyway Cady was gifted the bookstore upon her Aunt’s death. Cady has sto deal with the passing of her Aunt Fern and the city council and historical society, letters expecting Cady to prove she is the rightful owner. A good light suspense, however I found it slow in the middle so much so I put it down to read others. Even when I picked it back up and continued the story became very interesting... on with the story. I would recommend for adult readers. Available now! Go out and get your copy. Even with my reservations they on some subject matter and graphic sex. I would recommend for adult readers. Thanks to the following for allowing me to review early #NetGalley, #, #OliverHeberBooks, #KerriganByrne & #CynthiaSt.Aubin, #NevermoreBookstore

Thank you for my gifted copy!

I sadly couldn’t get into this one and DNF’d. Will hopefully try again in the future!

The start was promising, with the cutest cover and innuendos: but delving deeper into the book I was disappointed.

Things I liked:
The dedication
The way he describes her & thinks of her was cute, "she was adorable on a regular day. Inebriated? He'd met certain sociopaths who would be charmed by her"
And the representation of PTSD and ankylosing spondylitis

Things I did not like
1. The smut vocab was poor and cringy as hell
2. Unnecessarily descriptive vocab
3. "It wouldn't be his first bare-handed kill, but it would be the first with his dick swinging in the breeze"

Plot:
Cady receives weekly phone call orders for her bookshop from a mysterious man. After her bookstore is broken into, a new mysterious man comes into town. Oddly enough she was on the phone with Fox as the break in was occurring. Could they be the same man?

Characters:

Cady: main character; runs a bookstore; has a chronic illness
Fox: former major in the army; has PTSD; doesn't like being around people
Gemma: Cady's best friend; is on the council
Ethan: sheriff; is romantically interested in Cady; doesn't like Fox
Caryn: councilwoman; Ethan's mom; illegal surveillance; part of the bookclub
Myrtle: friend of Cady's; funny; member of the bookclub
Vee: owns a spicy shop; funny; member of the bookclub


Overall:
I personally liked the amount of representation for people with chronic illness, PTSD, and people who are not petite. I also thought that the setting of the town was really fun and I wish there was also more of an exploration of it. With that being said this book still fell a bit short for me. I thought that the dialogue was somewhat immature for both of the main characters. There were many moments where I had to stop and remember how old the characters were supposed to be.

In terms of romance I was confused. I felt that they had not known enough about each other to warrant how passionate Cady was about him. She literally did not know his name for 94% of the book. He continually ran away because he felt he was getting too close, which I, personally, would absolutely hate because if you like someone would you not want to be with them??? The reason he didn't want to be with her is because he didn't want to ruin her perception of him. He did have some redeeming qualities. He was compassionate, kind and helpful. Parts of her would lock up and he would know exactly what to do to help soothe her. Those moments were great and I wish there had been more like them. I also wished that they spoke more about themselves so that they got to know each other better. At about the 90% mark we get an info dump of both of their lives, which could have been delivered throughout the book.

One large bone I would like to pick is the stalking. I cannot call it anything else. Dude was really on the mountain with binoculars staring through her window. He was also creeping around town to watch her. The only reason they met was because she walked up to him and asked him for help moving things around. If she hadn't he would still be watching.
In fact if she had not literally chased him up a mountain and said I'm not leaving until you come with me, they would not be together.

I really adored the concept in theory, but it just didn't work for me personally. Maybe Morally Grey isn't a trope for me, but the voyeurism was offputting and creepy to me. I really loved the chronic pain rep, book love, and mystery, but It was ruined by the stalking and spying. That said, I enjoy the town, the characters, and world-building so I will stick with the series.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for access to an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Just about everything about this book was a big yes for me when I read the description. Small town mysteries, a story rooted in strong, well written friendships between women, a bookish girl with odd, spooky hobbies and interests trying to find her place, the inclusion of disability representation, a man with a sexy voice and a protective streak... Honestly, I was salivating. And in a lot of ways, I ended up *really* enjoying this book.

Cady Bloomquist--the inherited owner of Nevermore Bookstore and Townsend Harbor's first leading lady--was a beautifully written character who was funny and flawed and insecure and so, so interesting to read. The way she spoke was hilarious and her friendship with Gemma and with the other members of their book club was so endearing and felt so real and fun that I wanted to be one of them. I even found myself relating to Cady in so many ways--maybe not the weird obsession with terrifyingly deformed taxidermied animals, but still.

In all honesty, I think this book would have been an easy 5-star read for me, if it weren't for one massive, unforgivable flaw that is the giant red flag Fox carries around with him for the majority of the book. I mean, aside from the already odd living in the woods thing which I could absolutely have gotten past, there was the camping out in the middle of town and spying through her windows, during *very* private and intimate moments or not; posing as someone else in her life and essentially catfishing her and confusing her feelings; not telling her the truth about who he is and why he refuses to see her and thereby making her feel more inadequate than she already did...it's just messy.

There's for sure more, and it was so difficult, because when they were good, they were *so* good that he even had me glancing awkwardly at my raging feminism and considering letting him have a pass. But despite the love I have for Cady and her friendships and the genuinely cute romance they found their way to through their traumas, his behavior was decidedly not it for 75% of the book, and that just dragged the good parts of the book down.

Thank you Net Galley for providing this book and allowing me to read it in advance. I was unable to personally get into this book but that is the power of reading. There’s books for everyone. I know someone else will adore it!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC of the Nevermore Bookstore. I was so excited to read this as a fairly new romance reader and a lover of bookstores. Unfortunately, I found it difficult to enjoy. Between the cringe-y phrasing and jokes that just didn't land, it was hard to finish. On top of that, the story was so shallow that I never really got invested in the characters. I will give props to the writers however for their depictions of chronic illness and complex PTSD which I thought was well done. Overall, just sort of a meh read.

Thank you NetGalley, Oliver Heber Books and Kerrigan Byrne & Cynthia St. Aubin for this ARC!

𝚃𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚜 / 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝:

⤑ Kooky Small Town
⤑ Plus Sized Heroine
⤑ Chronic Illness and PTSD Representation
⤑ Bookstore Setting
⤑ False Identify
⤑ Mutual Pining


This had great aspects at the start. The FMC Cady is very lovable - she’s gone through quite a lot, after losing her aunt and trying to keep her bookstore afloat, while also dealing with chronic pain, she falls for a mysterious customer whom she has never met while speaking over the phone. But he has his own secrets and past haunting him. There were moments of this read, especially with Cady and how she spoke to others that I loved. Fox’s background also had me cheering for him once we learned about it, but overall it was too little too late to be invested in this story. They had me at the start, but they did lose me.

This is listed as a Humour / Satire. If it was meant to be a satire of Romance books - I didn’t get it. It wasn’t sharp or direct enough. But it did not work for me as a romance. Tonally it was all over the place. Our MMC is pulled right out of a dark romance, shady past and thinking he’ll destroy the FMC by being near her included. But our FMC and the group of townspeople around her are kooky and silly, typical romcom fair. I got no satisfaction from the half attempts in either genre.

Because of this tonal shift that happens consistently throughout the read all of the extra information in-between our FMC and MMC interactions feels so long and unnecessary. Even if it is character building backstory, I just was not invested at all in these people getting together because the writing was long-winded, weighed down with needless details. Also when we did finally get to the interactions they were so cringey. Not swoony or romantic, I could feel the attempt at swoon which somehow made it worse.

Books can be great when they are ‘no plots, just vibes’, but this had clear plot points and then failed to utilise them for my attention or entertainment. I won’t continue with this series.

Quick Summary: A strange & bizarre coupling

My Review: Nevermore Bookstore by Kerrigan Byrne and Cynthia St. Aubin is book one in the Townsend Harbor book duo. It is described as a "Hot, Kink-Positive, Morally Gray, Grumpy-Sunshine Rom com."

About the Book: Two strangers with a penchant for flirty book discussions, dirty phone talk, saucy looks, covert contact, and spicy sessions are brought together. Both have issues of challenge that complicate their lives. Despite the significant hardships, they find something special in each other.

My Favorite Scenes (coded to avoid spoilers):

- Your Name is Bob?
- Order in the Court
- 1, 2, 3...Reveal
- These Two
- Cop-a-squat
- A New Normal

My Final Say: This story was somewhat up and down, in my opinion. There were elements that I really enjoyed, but there were also elements that I did not care for. The pacing fluctuated, shifting between slow and go throughout. Overall, it was a passable read. With that said, readers may need to motivate themselves to push forward until the end. Some people will like this book, while others may not. In the end, I can definitely say that Townsend Harbor is certainly not boring.

Rating: 3/5
Recommend: +/-
Audience: A

Thanks to the author and to the publisher (Oliver Heber Books) for granting access to this title in exchange for an honest review.

I really tried to like this one but just couldn’t get into it. The premise was not my favorite. I DNF’d this one, sadly.

I liked the story idea and the characters. But I didn't finish the book. The content was to explicit for my liking.

The book start really good for me, i was enjoying it! but then, everything start turnin so weird and crepy that unfortunaly, i just couldnt connect with the story at all and Fox, the hero, was too crepy for my taste, i didnt like much his character,,, i just feel the book wasnt for me

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC