The British Booksellers by Kristy Cambron, 384 pages. Thomas Nelson, 2024. $17.
Language: PG (7 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG13
BUYING ADVISORY: ADULTS - OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Charlotte and Amos loved each other and dreamed of opening a bookshop as co-owners someday, despite the fact that they had wildly different social standings. Decades later, Charlotte and Amos have rival bookshops across the street from one another, and Charlotte’s daughter, Eden, is being sued by a random American who has come in the midst of war to serve her the papers.
At first, the constantly changing settings, time periods, and points of view were off putting, but I came to enjoy the stories being told. By watching the story unfold through time, Charlotte and Amos’s story becomes more powerful—and some antagonists turn out to be more of heroes than I wanted to give them credit for. I love that a story that starts to look like a tragedy can still end happily given enough time.
Most of the characters are English; Jacob is American. The mature content rating is for alcohol use and innuendo. The violence rating is for blood, death, bomb use, gun use, and descriptions of war.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

This beautiful story seamlessly travels from the time leading up to WW1, WW1, and WW2 and is full of well-researched history and charming characters.

I loved learning more about the Land Girls and the forgotten blitz and really fell in love with the characters in this story. I loved the bit of mystery and the second-chance romance. Not to mention the rival bookstores!

This was my first Kristy Cambron book and I’m excited to go read from her backlist now!

Highly recommend!

When you think about the Blitz, it's normal to immediately think about London and the destruction it faced during the worst days of WW2. But THE BRITISH BOOKSELLERS put the spotlight on Coventry and its little known Blitz, while still weaving on a decades long love affair between two unlikely book-loving people.

The British Booksellers will grab your attention and leave you turning pages into the night. This is a sweeping romance, spanning more than three decades and two world wars.

This lovely book reads like an epic love story. Amos and Charlotte are kept apart by class, expectation and, ultimately, war. Amos is a tenant farmer’s son who falls head over heels for an earl’s daughter, at a time when such a union was unthinkable. Nevertheless, Charlotte returned his feelings with her whole heart, until she’s forced to marry a neighboring earl, knowing that the union will not be a love match.

Then the onset of World War One changes everything, with Charlotte’s husband and Amos sent to the front. Amos returns horribly wounded outside and in and shuts himself away. But fast forwarding a couple of decades and World War Two pulls him from relative safety and back into Charlotte’s life.

This was a beautiful book, the later story against the Coventry blitz, designed to cripple the British munitions effort. The city itself was decimated in places, but the resilient residents held strong and prevailed. This is an event I know well as my own Mum was a little girl during this season, and lived in Coventry. Cambron is deft in weaving real history with two distinct love stories. About 75% of the way through I realize quite how clever this writer is with a truly stunning detail that seemed small until I grasped the significance. All I can say is ‘bravo.’

I received a copy of The British Booksellers from the publisher via NetGalley, I also grabbed the audiobook. The views are my own.

Thank you Thomas Nelson for the copy of this book.
-
Read if you like: multiple perspectives, dual timelines
-
In this book we get to read about Amos and Charlotte, childhood friends despite being from different social backgrounds. After experiencing WW1 and being in the midst of WW2, the two seem to be rival booksellers. The story tells us what happened and if they two can ever reconnect.
-
I really enjoyed the dual timelines and Charlotte and Amos. I quickly became invested in these two and wanted to keep reading to see what would happen. If you enjoy wartime stories then then this would be a good one to check out!

Giving this book a neutral rating. I was not able to get through it. It just didn’t grab my attention, but I also only got about 10% of the way in before giving up. I may try again in the future, but did not start off interesting enough for me to continue at this time.

I am going to leave my original review above, but continue here with an update. I am a mood reader, and the first time I picked up this book, I just wasn't feeling it. However, I was given an audio ARC a few weeks later, and upon listening to the book in full, I can happily update that I give this book 5 stars. The story is absolutely heart warming and once I started listening, I couldn't stop - I finished this book in one day. My heart hurt at so many places, especially for Will of all characters, but in the end, I was happily surprised with how everything worked out. The author wove the perfect threads of connection from the very beginning. I highly recommend this book if you like historical romances that are suspenseful in light ways.

Honest truth: I was surprised to find that this author has multiple published works. I felt that my advanced reader copy felt much like an early draft. There were odd sentence constructions, weird word choices, and sentences that kind of went nowhere. Also, “thrice” and “trice” are not the same word. I hope all this was cleared up for the final publication.
On to the story. The dual timeline mostly worked, although the jump in years in the past section (when Charlotte and Amos are barely in their teens to when they are young adults) was a bit jarring. The exposition of why Amos never showed up at Gretna Green was anticlimactic. I’d have liked to actually see it, rather than just mention it later. It’s never really explained why William sets up a trust fund for Amos.

I found Eden, for all her bravery and single-mindedness to save the estate, to be kind of a secondary character. The blurb makes it sound like she’s much more prominent than she is. This story is really about Charlotte and Amos, how the must overcome past actions to move forward. The descriptions of bombing and its aftermath are harrowing. I knew a little bit about the bombing of Coventry—mostly the cathedral there—but didn’t realize it had been so heavily hit, and I appreciated the notes at the end of the book.

Possible objectionable material:
Descriptions of war, both WWI and WWII. People are injured and die. One character is an alcoholic. Characters smoke and drink. Minor cursing. Kissing.

Who Might Like This Book:
Those who like stories set during war, those who love books, those who like second chance stories.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book is also reviewed at https://biblioquacious.blogspot.com/2024/04/wwii-books-about-books.html

This is a story inspired by real events from the London Blitz and how war affected the lives of so many and how it still affects them today.
This is a dual Timeline story that reads well and is easy to follow. This is the story of Amos Darby and Charlotte Terrington and how war tore them apart and how their two book stores, so close together, are now rival stores. And then there is Eden (Charlotte's daughter), struggling in war and with a lawsuit.

How will all these stories come together and what will happen to all our characters? This is a book you must read to find out. As you read through the pages you come to know the characters, you feel for them and what they have been through and understand the way their lives have unfolded.

A truly intense and strong read which I enjoyed and found intriguing and genuine. A book I highly recommend and I would have to give it 4 1/2 stars.

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas Nelson--FICTION for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

I found #thebritishbooksellers to be a delightful historical fiction novel about a little known period in WW II England that also has a touch of romance. Kristy Cambron has given us fully developed characters that we grow to know and enjoy through the course of the story. This book feels very well researched and is intertwined into its history so seamlessly that you’ll believe it’s all about real people. I definitely enjoyed this and thank #netgalley and the publisher #thomasnelson for the ebook to read and review. All opinions are my own.

Such a great story! I loved the historical time frame and the flashbacks between the current settings and years before. The romance was perfect and I felt their chemistry throughout the whole book. I found myself rooting for them the entire book and couldn't wait to see how everything played out. Loved the side romance of the daughter of the main character as well. Very well done book. Will definitely read more books by Kristy Cambron.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Do you like to read books about bookstores or libraries? I love to visit both, and I enjoy reading books about them.

The British Booksellers is a dual timeline novel set during WWI and WWII. In the pre-WWI timeline, there is a love triangle. Amos Darby is a farmer’s son and is in love with Charlotte Terrington, an heiress. Will Holt is the Earl’s son and also in love with Charlotte. Charlotte has been promised in marriage to Will, but what happened to her relationship with Amos? What happened to Will? In the WWII era, Charlotte and her daughter Eden ran a bookshop in Coventry. Across the street is their bitter rival, Amos Darby and his bookshop. When a mysterious American comes to town with a legal case against Eden, will all the secrets of the past come out?

My thoughts on this novel:
• I really enjoyed the dual timeline and how they perfectly went together. The events of the past were finally revealed at the end of the WWII era to explain what was happening at the time.

• The story was told through multiple points of view.

• It was interesting how the trauma of WWI (the Great War) had ripple effects that impacted the next generation that were then at the forefront of WWII. It’s always said to me that there was not any help for soldiers who suffered from PTSD.

• The Coventry blitz was devastating. Afterwards, the Germans termed a new term in modern warfare: Coventrieren which means “to devastate or raze a city to the ground.”

• The build-up to the blitz was also nail-biting as bombs started to fall, the finding of hidden German paratrooper gear, and questions on whether the American lawyer is really an American or a German spy.

• I liked the addition of the land girls to the story and how they came to town to help run the Holt estate.

• I really enjoyed the characters in this novel. I particularly enjoyed that when I thought a character was not a good person like WWII era Amos, or WWI era Will, the story grew deeper, and more complex as you learned more about each person and that there was more to them than met the eye.

• This story was also about forgiveness, second chances, and moving forward with life after a devastating occurrence.

• It was interesting how the differences between classes was strict before WWI, but had eased by the time of WWII.

• I enjoyed that this novel had both a second chance romance as well as an enemies to lovers romance.

• This novel was a clean read.

• Author Kristy Cambron included a great author’s note that explained her inspirations and the real history behind this novel.

Overall, The British Booksellers by Kristy Cambron is a compelling historical fiction novel with engaging characters and a great dual timeline plot. I highly recommend it.

Tenderly written with painstaking detail to historical facts, The British Booksellers is a novel of bravery in the face of evil. Across the pages a complex romance unfolds as Charlotte and Amos fall in love and are separated, only to be reunited years later. With twists and turns and danger aplenty, this book is sure to satisfy any lover of historical fiction.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.

Title: The British Booksellers
Author: Kristy Cambron
Genre: Historical fiction
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

A tenant farmer’s son had no business daring to dream of a future with an earl’s daughter, but that couldn’t keep Amos Darby from his secret friendship with Charlotte Terrington . . . until the reality of the Great War sobered youthful dreams. Now decades later, he bears the brutal scars of battles fought in the trenches and their futures that were stolen away. His return home doesn’t come with tender reunions, but with the hollow fulfillment of opening a bookshop on his own and retreating as a recluse within its walls.

When the future Earl of Harcourt chose Charlotte to be his wife, she knew she was destined for a loveless match. Though her heart had chosen another long ago, she pledges her future even as her husband goes to war. Twenty-five years later, Charlotte remains a war widow who divides her days between her late husband’s declining estate and operating a quaint Coventry bookshop—Eden Books, lovingly named after her grown daughter. And Amos is nothing more than the rival bookseller across the lane.

As war with Hitler looms, Eden is determined to preserve her father’s legacy. So when an American solicitor arrives threatening a lawsuit that could destroy everything they’ve worked so hard to preserve, mother and daughter prepare to fight back. But with devastation wrought by the Luftwaffe’s local blitz terrorizing the skies, battling bookshops—and lost loves, Amos and Charlotte—must put aside their differences and fight together to help Coventry survive.

This was such a good read! I love that it was both World War I and World War II fiction. I loved young Charlie’s POV, but her adult self’s POV was just as interesting. Seeing Eden’s adventures with the garden girls—and the handsome American Lawyer—was enthralling, too, but what I enjoyed most were all the literary references. Highly recommend this read!

Kristy Cambron is an award-winning author. The British Booksellers is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Thomas Nelson in exchange for an honest review.)

This is a fantastic historical fiction about the forgotten blitz during WWII. There are lots stories out there from the WWII period, but this one took a different angle.

I loved that books had such a space in this story, and I adored the heart-achingly beautiful love story that was woven in as well.
The romance was there and was delightful, with meaningful kisses, and a slight love triangle, however, I would classify this as more of a historical fiction than a historical romance.

I was provided a free advanced copy from @netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
An Earl's daughter, Charlotte, and a tenant farmer's son, Amos, form a special friendship throughout their childhood. But as they grow up, society, and it seems like the world, won't let them be together. Twenty-five years later they are rival bookstore owners in Coventry, England as Hitler rages across mainland Europe. Contending with new challenges and old wounds they will try to figure out how to save their town from what has become known as the Forgotten Blitz.
We get to know these characters through their current struggles as well as flashbacks to their childhood and WWI.
@kristycambron is an excellent author. I love getting to know her characters as they become so real to me. This story will stick with me for a while. Definitely check it out, as it has already been published!
#NetGalley #TheBritishBooksellers

The story itself is just incredible. My heart wept and grieved for what was lost and soared for this second-chance love story that takes place across two timelines. Amos and Charlie’s (Lady Charlotte) story is full of longing, bravery, and heartache. These two were secret childhood friends, who didn’t let the difference in their stations stop their affections from growing. But life and society expectancy did their best to thwart their dreams at every turn, and just as they hoped to make their escape for their love, the Great War ripped them apart. Now 25 years later and another war to face, Amos and Charlotte are at odds as competing bookshop sellers. Charlotte is a war widow and has a grown daughter, while Amos seems intent on staying a grumpy hermit. With the Germans blitzing Coventry nearly daily, Amos and Charlotte must come together to help their community through, and maybe find that their love can bloom again.

I particularly loved the way the author, Kristy Cambron, wove the past and present together. It’s like looking through an old family photo album and hearing all the stories behind the pictures. While the book is mainly about Amos and Charlie, it’s also about Eden, Charlotte’s daughter, and a mysterious American solicitor who threatens everything she holds dear.

The audio narration was magnificent. Barrie Kreinik has a melodic voice and draws you into the story. Many thanks to @kristycambron @austenprose and @thomasnelson for the physical copy of the book and for having me be apart of this tour. Also thanks to @netgalley and publisher for the early audio copy to listen to in exchange for my review.

My friends read this book if you love:
📖 Great War & WWII setting
📖 Downton Abbey/ Upstairs Downstairs/ You’ve Got Mail vibes
📖 Slow Burn/Enduring Love
📖 Rich Historical Details

Kristy Cambron, The British Booksellers, Thomas Nelson, April 2024.

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with this uncorrected proof for review. *

Kristy Cambron has used the way in which her characters interacted during World Wars 1 and 2 to produce a fine historical novel based on solid research. An additional explanation of her reasons for choosing Coventry as her location, the research she undertook, and the fabrications she introduced for her fictional purpose is excellent. There is also an informative list of sources – a welcome addition to historical fiction. A useful glossary is at the front of the novel. Each chapter is dated so that the past (WW1) and present (WW2) chapters are clear. The prologue, set in 1908 provides the backdrop to the relationships explored in the succeeding chapters. The cello and books that Amos Darby saves for Lady Charlotte Tarrington on this occasion provide the theme for their relationship, despite their significantly different status – he a farmer’s son and she an heiress to a seemingly boundless property.

Lady Charlotte Tarrington (later, Holt) Amos Darby and William Holt, heir to his father’s title and property as the Earl of Harcourt, Eden Holt and the American, Jacob Cole are the main protagonists. However, the land girls and the Bayley Lane occupants and staff on the Holt lands are characters with stories. The bookshops, one belonging to Amos Darby and the other to the Holt women, are almost characters too, in their presentation of the owners through the books they display and their furnishings.

In chapter one the warm relationship that existed between Amos and Charlotte shown in the prologue has changed and the proceeding chapters develop this theme at the same time as providing graphic stories and images of Britain at war. Each chapter portrays a development in the war they are describing as well as the characters’ relationships. Reading and discussing books, and the value and significant impact the book Amos takes with him to war, are also important themes.

I found The British Booksellers a satisfactory read, although for me the writing was not as engaging as I expected. However, just as importantly, Cambron’s dedication to bringing to life the story of a less well-known blitz, her markedly expert research and the way in which she was able to weave fact and fiction together is commendable. The questions that are posed at the end of the novel provide further aspects of this writer’s dedication to her audience and enthusiasm for encouraging deeper understandings of her work.

* The publishers wished to have the following noted: "I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank you to NetGalley, Thomas Nelson -- Fiction, and Kristy Cambron for the opportunity to read the ARC of The British Booksellers. I thoroughly enjoyed this historical fiction book set back and forth between WWI and WWII. I also was totally enthralled with the long lasting love between the main characters that was carefully weaved between the two time periods.

Most of the story took place in Coventry, England where the characters of Amos, Charlotte, and Will grew up together. Amos and Will both fell in love with Charlotte beginning as early as WWI and lasting all the way through to WWII and beyond. Both men were also sent off to fight during WWI while Charlotte remained at home. Jealousy and secrets kept the the truly in love couple from being together.

The author, Kristy Cambron, did a wonderful job of presenting historical facts about WWI and WWII as the backdrop to a complicated love story. Her characters were wonderfully built and it was difficult to dislike any of them. It was one of those stories where you could truly find something good in all of them, including the obvious enemies.

I learned quite a bit of new information about Coventry, England and the part they played during WWII. I thought Cabron also described the trenches during WWI and the "No Mans Land" area incredibly well. I visited that area a few years ago and she was able to transport me back to those exact spots with her amazing descriptions. If you love reading historical fiction, while also enjoying a wonderful love story, I highly recommend this novel for you. #NetGalley #TheBritishBooksellers

The British Booksellers is a historical fiction novel, told in alternating timelines between WWI and the start of WWII during the Coventry Blitz.

I loved that the British Booksellers was part book about books. Rival bookshops operating on the same street by two book lovers and childhood friends/sweethearts who were torn apart by their stations in life and the horrors of the first world war.

The British Booksellers also told the story of how people can find love during the toughest of times. I loved the mature romance that blossomed between our main characters, Lady Charlotte and Amos. But, there were also these other beautiful love stories that developed between some of the secondary characters.

Then, there was the history of the story. The Coventry Blitz, as the authour explained in the authour notes, is often referred to as the Forgotten Blitz because it did not get the same attention as some of the bigger blitzes. The blitz razed houses, businesses, and factories, left their medieval era church destroyed, and so many wounded and killed. Reading the residents' experiences, you can only imagine what life was like for them and the horrors they had to endure. But, even so, there was so much courage, bravery, and fortitude from the citizens of Coventry.

This was such a compelling and remarkable story. While the earlier time frame gave us the background to fully understand the later time frame, I found myself more invested in and wanting to stay in the WWII timeline. I am just so drawn to stories where ordinary citizens pull together during absolutely horrific times, pockets of real humanity during a very dark, dark time in this world.

This book definitely needs to make it to your reading list.

Thank you to @kristycambron @thomasnelson and @austenprose for having me on this book tour and for the advanced digital copy of this fabulous book. My opinions are my own.

This was so interesting! There was an alternating timeline between WWI and WWII in England, and showed the main characters in both of these timelines. It is hard to fathom that people went through both of these wars, but it really drove that home for me. I loved the book store aspect and the small town in England. I will definitely read this author again.