In The Bookshop by the Loch, the first novel I've read by Julie Shackman, the main character, Lexie, returns to her hometown to stay with her mum for three months. She visits a charming bookshop she's always admired, only to discover that it's up for sale. Lexie is determined to save the shop and has a plan with the owner when a brooding artist, Tobias, appears on the scene, set on turning the bookshop into an art gallery.

While Lexie is the protagonist, I found Celeste to be the true star of the story. Julie does an excellent job of developing each character's individual goals, showcasing their determination, and highlighting their unique personalities.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it. Get your copy today and fall in love with these characters as much as I did.

2.5/5 ⭐️
Thank you NetGalley and publishers for the advanced copy of this title.
Unfortunately this one was not for me, even though the premise seemed right up my alley.
The writing was overly descriptive in the most benign parts but when it came to the relationships we barely got anything.
Some parts felt like they were written by someone who’s not Scottish but who kept remembering that they set their story in Scotland. Phrases felt out of place and we were constantly reminded where we were.
The main plot points definitely had a lot of potential but I feel like not much was done with them.
All in all it was definitely more slice of life than romance.

I love stories that involve bookstores and this one was no exception!

Shackman’s smooth and vivid writing flows so well it was easy to get swept up in the unfolding tale. It was a breath of fresh air to read this sweet romance filled with love, loss, hope, and finding happiness in unexpected places.

It’s an interwoven story full of adventure and new beginnings with delightful and quirky characters I immediately wanted to get behind. The warmth of the relationships stood out and was comforting to read.

Lexie is at a crossroads in life and she returns to her hometown to some thinking space. Her beloved bookshop, Book Ends, is in trouble - it’s a real treasure and is where her passion for books stems from. She gets involved to try and save it , can she shoulder the pressure and turn things around?

Enter the charming Tobias who has a claim to the shop and wants to take it in a different direction. I loved the ensuing friction between Lexie and Tobias with their witty back and forth and sarcastic interactions. They have conflicting ideas and complex family dynamics to unravel. The more time they spend with each other the closer they grow, they confide in each other and support one another through some shocking news. Lexie sees Tobias’s kind and caring nature and realises her first impressions may have been off as their chemistry simmers and attraction flares. Will they find their way together?

The Bookshop By The Loch is the perfect escapist read looking at what’s important, making the most of each day, and taking a risk. It’s a story I would recommend to any romcom fans looking for a feel-good story to settle down with. A delight of a book!

Thanks to One More Chapter and NetGalley for the ARC.

I was lucky enough to read book #5 recently and even though these books are great as a standalone I loved that I could just continue on. Lovely story and endearing tale. Need more please - haha!

The Bookshop By The Loch by Julie Shackman is heart-warming and cozy read set in an idyllic Scottish town by a loch. This story is filled with Scottish charm and deals with love, growth and family.

Lexie and Tobias start off at odds with one another but they have some chemistry and the enemies to friend’s romance is sweet.

This is the sixth book in the Scottish Escapes series, but could easily read as a standalone,

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

BLOG TOUR REVIEW


Review for 'The Bookshop By The Loch' by Julie Shackman.

Read and reviewed for Julie Shackman, One More Chapter Publishing, Harper Collins UK, NetGalley and Rachel's Random Resources Tours.

Publication date 31st January 2024.

This is the first book I have read by this author but it most definitely won't be my last!! It is also the sixth book in Julie's 'Scottish Escapes' series but can be read as a standalone.

This novel consists of 40 chapters and an epilogue. The chapters are short to medium in length so easy to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!

WOW!!!! What can I say?!?! What an absolutely beautiful book that I fell in love with!!! I cannot wait to read more books by this extremely talented author!

This book is beautifully written with vivid descriptions setting the picture perfectly in the readers mind. The title, description and cover works perfectly with the storyline.

I absolutely love, Love, LOVE this absolutely stunning book based book that is absolutely perfect for any and all bibliophiles out there so don't even waste your time reading more than this and go and grab your copy now!! However, if you need any further convincing I will tell you a bit about the book and how I felt about it. This book is an absolutely gorgeous, romantic, book paradise escape!!! It is an absolute rollercoaster ride of emotions filled with heartbreak, books, confusion, books, second chances, books, romance, books, painting, books, anger, books, family, books, love, books, secrets, books, confusion, books, drama, friendship and so much more. Oh, I'm not sure if I mentioned books!! I was completely swept away with the storyline and loved having a holiday in the beautiful Scottish Highlands looking over the gorgeous loch while surrounded by.... you guessed it...books!! Lexie heads back home to her Mum and Grandad after being turned down for a promotion that she should have had. When she arrives home things go from bad to worse when she discovered the book shop that she had grown up visiting and falling in love with is being put up for sale. After lots of consideration and debating Lexie decides to manage it while continuing to do what she loves by freelance editing. However, Trevor's (the owner of the bookshop Book Ends) then turns up and wants to use half of the 'Book Ends' as an art gallery. With Lexie and Tobias at loggerheads, Lexie's so called father making an appearance out of the blue and much more going on will Lexie be able to make a success out of 'Book Ends' within the year that Trevor has given her to do so? Well, if you are still reading this you need to go and start reading this gorgeous book to find out! With illnesses, job opportunities, family secrets and much more going on this is anything but a typical romance book!!! This book really is a rollercoaster ride of emotions. I was utterly glued to the pages and I could not bring myself to put it down. I was carrying my kindle around with me every chance that I got as I just could not put it down and ended up devouring it in one sitting then being gutted I had finished it so quickly!! tis is one stunning book with a stunning location that I would absolutely love to visit!! I was devastated when I came to the end of this gorgeous mini break away and had to get back to reality in windy and wet Wales. However, I am so pleased that this book is the sixth book in this series as it means I can escape back with the previous 5 books while waiting for the seventh one to come out!! I would seriously recommend this book to anyone and everyone!! A gorgeous uplifting romance that will warm your hearts 💝. I am off to add the rest of Julie's previous to my Amazon wish list as soon as I've finished this review!!

Although this is the sixth book in the series I had absolutely no problems reading it without the others. Any details or events that have previously happened are mentioned in just the right amount of detail to let a new reader know what has happened and yet not too much to bore a previous reader.

Clear your schedules and grab the tissues as this is one gorgeous and unputdownable stunner that will keep you hooked and have tears streaming down your face❤️

I absolutely loved getting to know the characters in this book who were all strong, realistic. I became completely invested in each and every one of them. They all had their own problems, secrets, feelings and all had unique personalities and I just absolutely loved getting to know them all. The main character Lexie is an absolutely fantastic female protagonist and I mean she is a huge book lover and has been since a child, she then goes on to work with books!! What is there to not love about her? Honestly, I just adore books about books with book loving characters!! An absolute perfect storyline for any bibliophile!! My heart went out to Lexie after the way she was treated by the idiots she used to work for and I was rooting for her from the start to the end. It wasn't all about books and book loving characters though and along came Tobias who did not make a good impression on me at all, I found him to be rude, self centred and just wanted to give him a clout with a book!! I was not the only one who felt this way but to find out if Lexie did batter him with a book or it ends up like a perfect romance I will leave for you to discover when you grab your copy of this page turner! It wasn't just Lexie I adored though and there were several other fantastic characters that stood out for me and that I fell in love with. I thought Lexie's mum was sweet but definitely didn't help adding to Lexie's stress, her Grandad was just absolutely adorable, celeste was absolutely lush and I loved getting to learn more about her life. there were more characters I liked and others I could not stand but I'm trying to keep my reviews short and not say anything that would spoil it for future readers. I will say that with all the characters, thanks to Julie's fantastic writing skills she ensured I felt each of their love , friendship, pain, heartbreak, happiness, anger, sorrow and so much more. Regardless of if I loved them or hated the characters they each played their parts perfectly and it wouldn't have been as amazing a read as it was if I had loved them all!!! Julie does an absolutely amazing job of bringing the story to life and the characters leap out of the pages as your turning them thanks to her evocative writing skills!! Well done Julie!!! I am hoping to meet several of the characters in Julie's previous and future books.

Congratulations Julie on an absolutely gorgeous and heart-warming read filled with everything you could ever ask for in a page turner!!! I am looking forward to reading more of your future books especially the previous and future books in this series!! I would absolutely love to see this book turned into a movie!!! This is why I would like to welcome you to my favourite author list and here's to your next success 🥂

Overall an absolutely gorgeous book lovers book that will keep you glued to the pages and warm your heart ❤️!!!

362 pages.

This book is just 99p to purchase on kindle and £9.19 in paperback (at time of review) via Amazon which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!

Rated 5 /5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.

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This is the sixth book in the Scottish Escapes series and perhaps one of my favourites of the ones I have read so far.

When Lexie leaves her job and is given the opportunity to become Manger of her local Bookshop she takes the chance. She is busy making plans for the shop when Tobias makes an appearance, unfortunately, with different ideas.

The relationship between Lexie and Tobias is good with its twists and turns. I also liked the friendship with Maeve and Celeste. I felt there was a great range of characters who are all relatable.

As well as the bookshop story, each character has a side story going on, and there were quite a few curveballs thrown in.

It is a lovely heartwarming and engaging story about second chances, forgiveness and family.

Thank you @rachelsrandomresources for my ARC in exchange for an honest review, which I am leaving voluntarily.

The Bookshop by the Loch is the sixth in Julie Shackman’s Scottish Escapes series. I haven’t read any of the others though so can safely say that you can enjoy this as a standalone novel if you haven’t read any either. I can never resist a book that is set in and around a bookshop and with the Scottish Highlands setting, this one really appealed.

When editor Lexie is passed over for promotion, she takes extended leave and moves back in with her mum and Grandad in the lochside town of Bracken Way. The owner of the much loved bookshop has decided to retire but Lexie can’t bear the thought of it closing and agrees to take on the role of manager to try to turn its fortunes around. She was bursting with ideas and I almost wished I could go and visit the bookshop! However, there’s a fly in the ointment when the owner’s grouchy nephew appears and demands space in the shop for his art gallery. The animosity between the two was instant.

What I really enjoyed about this enemies to lovers romance was that actually, a friendship developed first which seemed very realistic. Both Lexie and Tobias could be rather hot-headed and impetuous at times but gradually they learned to share their working space and get to know each other. Every time they appeared to be getting close to moving to more than friends though, something always seemed to happen which prevented it!

And there is certainly much to keep your attention aside from the romance in the book. There are family secrets galore, people coming to terms with illness or their own mortality, characters with second chance romances and unexpected job opportunities. There are some fantastic minor characters too and my favourite was feisty but frail Celeste, although I’m not sure what she’d think about being called a minor character!

I really enjoyed spending time in Bracken Way with Lexie and Tobias, and would certainly read more from this author in the future. Recommended if you enjoy gentle romance with plenty of other drama happening in the story. I rather like the sound of the next book in the series, A Scottish Highland Hideaway, with its very autumnal looking cover. I’ll be watching out for that later this year.

This was a lovely story to read. I loved the setting and how 2 people came together that really didn't like each other from.the start. And how family was key and how they helped a.mother and daughter come together before she died. It was a really lovely book to read I loved the characters.

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I’m a big Julie Shackman fan so this was an auto-pick for me and as soon as I got my copy I dived right in. I fell in love with Lexie and this story in the first few pages, Lexie and her story just connected with me, I think just the being let down on her deserved promotion struck a chord with me (having been through something similar in the past) and just resonated so well. I loved her personality and attitude, demanding her leave (so wish I’d been able to do that) and when she got home to her mum and grandad, her mum had her favourite meal on , I was almost crying in relief to be home too !

That’s what I love about reading, someone else’s story (be it fiction or true) can connect with you on a level that is so much more than non readers can , that sometimes is more real than connections you get from real life, books and stories I think understand me more than some people. I don’t know if that makes any sense or is sad, but it definitely feels true to me.

The Bookshop by the Loch was a welcome return to reading for me, although I had been reading on and off over the last couple of months, this was a book that made me love reading again, not that I have ever disliked it, but over the last month or two during a difficult time, I haven’t always felt the joy or love I would for books I would usually rave about. It was a me/life thing, not the books. But Lexie and her world brought that magic back, that pleasure and joy, the emotions, thank you Julie and all the other authors who make sad times that little more bearable, that bring some joy and ease when their isn’t much in real life. While there are times I struggle to read or connect with what I know are fabulous books, I will never not appreciate the difference reading and books bring to life.

I know this review seems probably a bit odd, random and erratic probably, but it sums me up lately. However, what I can say is that this book will make you smile, laugh, cry and connect with it and the world, make you feel a bit better about life and the world even if it’s just while you read, that’s something very special and I wouldn’t give that up for the world.

Thank you Julie and authors everywhere

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

When Lexie Dunbar misses out on a promised promotion in the Glasgow Publishing Company where she's worked for the past five years she is devastated. She returns to the small highland village where she grew up to spend time with her mum and grandad and rethink her life choices. When she sees the village bookshop is closing down she is upset as are many villagers. Trevor, the owner, offers Lexie the chance to manage the shop and gives her a year to make it a success. This could be problematic as Trevor's nephew ends up using half of the premises as an art gallery and they don't see eye to eye. Meeting feisty octogenarian Celeste Matthews adds spice to Lexie's life while the return of her errant father brings turmoil. There's a lot going on in Bracken Way! #netgalley #thebookshopbytheloch

I received an E-ARC with a request for my honest review.

This uplifting romance is set it Scotland and follows Lexie Dunbar who when her life takes an unexpected turn in her publishing career, returns to her childhood home.

When she is given the opportunity to re-invent her favourite local bookshop to stop closure she is torn, but soon jumps at the chance at the challenge.

With the arrival of the bookshop’s nephew Tobias who is an artist, tensions rise as Lexie finds herself having to share the shop and change her original plan.

Will she succeed at turning the bookshop around? Will Lexie warm to Tobias?

This romance is uplifting, even through all the challenges the characters face in their lives and the choices they must make.

The setting of the book sounds such a beautiful place, and perfect for this romance storyline. The small-town feel brings all of the characters together, even with the secrets awaiting to be uncovered.

There is an entwining storyline which helps bring the characters together in an unexpected but heart-warming way.

Overall, an uplifting romance with a woman’s challenge of saving her local bookshop.

Thank you so much for this ARC. It was very cute! I wasn't familiar with the series before, but it seemed to stand up well on its own. Fans of the series will likely love it. I was hoping for a bit more romance, and more about the bookshop! The writing was good, and overall I enjoyed it. Thank you!

The Bookshop by the Loch ticks a lot of boxes. A picturesque setting, a lot of family drama and a slow-burn, sweet romance.
Lexie pulls at your heartstrings right from the beginning as she faces the mortification of being publicly passed over for a promotion. She asko has a sad back story where her father abandoned her and her mother when she was little. So it was that I had a great wanting for her to succeed massively in her new venture and as a freelance editor.
Chances come rolling for Lexie in the form of managing the local bookshop and as a freelance editor. Having to share the space with Tobias caused functions in the beginning but they quickly became good friends. His grouchiness wasn't long-lived as they bonded over familial problems, secrets, tensions and drama. Lexie's father turns up out of the blue after twenty-three years to cause further upset.
The added storyline of Celeste's book and her connection to the area was an interesting addition and I enjoyed her storyline as much as Lexie's.
I was rooting for Lexie and Tobias all the way through and it was a lovely and heartwarming moment when it all worked out for them.
This is an uplifting story of love and forgiveness.

I would firstly just like to say a big thank you to Rachel’s Random Resources who very kindly forwarded me an arc copy of this book, for my kindle, in return for my honest review.

The Bookshop By The Loch is actually book number six from the Scottish Escapes series but can very easily be read as a stand alone without any problems at all.

Lexie’s most favourite place is her local book store called Book Ends. When she learns that it is going to be sold, she just knows that she has to do something to help…

The characters were all very realistic and down to earth and I could relate to each and every one of them.

I really enjoyed the enemies to friends trope and it was heartwarming and romantic too, with that all important happy ending…….

Another enjoyable read in this series. Beautiful setting and good characters make this a happy feelgood read that you can easily read as a standalone if you haven't read the others in the series

This is a great series and this addition just adds to it! Lots of love, family matters and secrets! Well written and recommended.

I always enjoy Julie Shackman's books, but this one seemed to be a bit too full of people, side stories, spin offs.....It is one of a series but can be read on its own. There were one or two examples of poor editing/grammar etc which always irritate me. However, the book was a pleasant read with the main characters interestingly portrayed, but not one of my favourites. Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read and review the book.

This is the sixth book in the Scottish Escapes series, but it can be read as a stand-alone. I highly recommend reading the other books if you are looking for clean and charming escapist romances. I have been enjoying this series. It continues to capture my attention and heart. There is a lot of beautiful depth to this story. When you first start reading this book, it gives off those charming romantic vibes, but as the story progresses, you realize there is so much more to it. There are so many layers that exist within this book. This book deals with complex and messy family relationships, friendships, health issues, and how people deal with life's crises. There are moments that will tug at those heartstrings, and you will love it. All the characters feel real and relatable. I loved being with every character in this book. They are all dealing with something, and watching as they wade through those life troubles, you can't help but build those connections with those characters.

I am a fan of small-town romances and loved this book's small-town charm. The added bonus is that we get to spend time in a bookshop. I am a sucker for those romances that take a struggling business and breath new life into it. That transformation promotion is pure catnip for me. This is a clean, slow-burn romance. There are some fabulous scenes with these two together that will warm your heart. I love a good enemies-to-lovers romance, and Julie did a great job incorporating this trope into her story. The romance between Lexie and Tobias is not always the story's main focus. Their growing relationship is woven throughout all of these secondary stories that are happening at the same time. I enjoyed how the romance was structured in this book, and it fits well with the overall vibe of the story.

The Bookshop by the Loch is another heartfelt and gorgeous romance by Julie Shackman.

Thank you, One More Chapter and Rachel Random Resources, for sending us an arc in exchange for an honest review.