Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC on this book.

The Bookshop Sisterhood is a book about 4 women who have been friends since college. They have monthly book club meeting and decide to invest in their own bookshop. I honestly thought the name of the bookstore would be The Bookshop Sisterhood, but sadly it was not. The book starts with the book club meeting in January when the 4 women decide to open the shop and progresses through each of their stories and the hardships that they face over the next couple of months.

I enjoyed the book and all the twists and turns (some more predictable that others).

This was a light and easy read about four friends who want to open a bookstore together. They share decades of friendship and a love of books which is evident throughout the story. Each character gets her own POV chapter yet I found all the voices sounded the same and even though I was in their heads I didn't really connect or understand any of them. Poor decisions and lack of communication led to almost all of the problems which I found tiring. The characters are supposed to be in their 30s yet I found them all very immature and overly dramatic in their reactions. I'd give it a 2.5/5. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is the first time I have read this author and this book just jumped out at me . It is A GREAT READ. Longtime friends Celeste, Yasmann, Toni and Leslie are longtime friends whose dream is to open a Bookshop. They are all four book lovers. Everything seems to be going a long fine until they aren't. Right before all of this takes place something not so good happens to each of them. To write it would spoil it. This is a must read to find out after all these years and the dream finally seems in place, does their dream come true.

The Bookshop Sisterhood follows four friends as they make plans to open a bookshop. I went into this book blind and enjoyed the general premise of this book. The story follows the lives of each of the friends. The story lines of the friends was filled with lots of drama, chaos, action, and cattiness. I wanted to love the book, but it didn’t quite work for me for the duration of the book. I wanted to feel the sisterhood but I think the train wreck of this group was hard to fall in love. Overall I’d say it was a 3 star experience. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

Four best friends, the Sisterhood, dream of opening a bookshop. Toni, Leslie, Yasmeen, and Celeste have supported each other through life's highs, lows, and plenty of drama!

This book is a good choice if you enjoy stories about strong friendships—friends who support each other and aren't afraid to speak their minds, especially when tough decisions need to be made.

Overall, the book kept me entertained and was a fast-paced read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mira Paperback for providing an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Bookshop Sisterhood follows four friends as they plan and open a bookshop that focuses on minority authors. The book follows each friend through the five months it took to open the shop. Along with the storyline of the shop, each friend goes through complete chaos in their personal and professional life. From medical issues to winning the lottery, each friend faces completely unbelievable circumstances. Although this book is action packed, it was extremely had to keep the characters straight. I will be interested to see what the author is able to publish next!

"The Bookshop Sisterhood" follows four women -- Celeste, Toni, Leslie, and Yasmeen -- through one of the most turbulent years of their lives. Marriage troubles, life-changing diagnoses, past choices coming back to bear, and on top of all that -- winning the lottery. When their lives seem to be crumbling at their feet, will friendship be enough to see them through?

I wanted to love this book, but it didn’t quite work for me. The concept of sisterhood didn’t feel right for this group of women, as they were more catty and toxic than supportive. I wasn’t seeking a flawless group of friends, but I expected them to at least seem like genuine friends, not frenemies. To be honest, I only managed to get through about a third of the book before deciding to stop. Although it had elements I usually enjoy, like bookstores, friendships, and found family, the stakes were so high that it felt unrealistic. This might appeal to readers who enjoy high drama and soap opera-like twists, but to me, it felt like an exaggerated gossip story that lost its believability.

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing | MIRA and NetGalley for providing an ARC.

I really wanted to like this book but it just didn’t do it for me. I don’t think sisterhood was the right word for this group of women, because they were catty and toxic. I wasn’t looking for a perfect group of friends, but I expected them to feel like friends and not frenemies.

NOTE TO PUBLISHER: I made it through chapter 13. I felt that I got a good feel for the characters enough to provide a review for why the book wasn't working for me, but I do think there are readers who'll enjoy the book. I felt like there was a lot going on for each character & almost too much tension to keep up with. That is more a personal preference for me since I like drama to be a little lower stakes & more realistic.

REVIEW:
Four friends embark on an adventure that I'm sure a lot of us have dreamed of - opening a bookstore together. Each faces challenging twists-and-turns that threaten the opening of the shop. I really loved that the friends were also looking to fill their bookshop with books by authors of color.

To be very transparent, I only completed 1/3 of this book before I made the decision to DNF. There were a lot of elements that I typically like in a book (books about bookstores, friendship, found family, etc.) but the stakes were so extreme that it didn't feel realistic to me. This could be a great read for those who love high stakes & soapy drama. It almost read like a juicy gossip story that had been retold about 10 times & became more salacious in each iteration.

Is sisterhood the right word? lol lots of drama and toxicity. It was giving train wreck in a fun, hard to look away kind of way! A lot for me but I can see it being enjoyable for others. Well written though and I did like the story overall

˗ˏˋ꒰ 📚 ꒱ 2.5 stars (rounded down)

➳ i wanna start this off by saying thank you to netgalley and harlequin for this arc!!

➳ this book wasn’t bad, but it was kinda meh. i had a few complaints, which ill go over later in the review! ☺️

✧˖*°࿐ plot

➳ when four book loving bestfriends, celeste, toni, yasmeen, and leslie decided to open a bookstore together, they had no idea of all the obstacles they’d face in the months before its opening. a lot, and i mean A LOT of drama ensues, including but not limited to (☝️🤓) a lottery winner, a divorce, and many secrets…

✧˖*°࿐ didn’t like

➳ these grown *bleeeeeeeeeep* adults could get so… dumb? childish? self sabotaging? cringy? downright disappointing? is there a word that combines all of these traits and multiplies them by ten? bc it’d be very useful right now.. 😒 aren’t adults supposed to be… idk… MATURE?

➳ to expand on one of my points in that rant above 😭, the four grown women fmcs acted so childlike at times it actually made me physically cringe. it happened so often that it actually made this book lose a whole star bc i cannot handle a cringy book or cringy characters 😣

➳ most of the book was the women coping with their ongoing drama, whether it was against each other, their s/o, or family, and i found a significantly large portion of it to be so frivolous and unnecessary. like the fmcs were overreacting 90% of the time, bringing the drama onto themselves.

✧˖*°࿐ characters (some spoilers (i have beef with all of them))

➳ yasmeen: i was super sympathetic to her at the beginning but how did she not recognize her own reckless spending and lifestyle choices?? im much younger than her and i was wary of it..

➳ leslie: ok so i think her drama was the most valid bc her child was in life or death type danger… but like with her father/family nooo. (major spoilers til next character) i felt so bad for her dad he did not deserve how she treated him after loving her for years. i get that she was upset about the betrayal of not being told, however i do not understand why it took her so long to realize that although he wasn’t her bio father, he loved her and treated her like he was, and that he was her father in any other sense of the word. he supported her and was her family, and a family doesn't need to be linked genetically, but by love and care. sorry for the rant 😭

➳ celeste: i was very supportive of her at the beginning with her trauma but as the book went on her refusal to go to therapy, if not for herself, for the sake of preserving her marriage, just bothered me. when she finally got down to it, it turned out to be an extremely easy (and obvious) solution.

➳ toni: i felt so bad for her but honestly she made her situation so much worse by keeping it to herself.. and her past too. sincerity is the way guys 😇

➳ basically to sum it up all these characters got on my NERVES.

✧˖*°࿐ final thoughts

➳ so i did have a lot of criticism for this book.. however i must admit it was kinda entertaining at times 😭. like i wasn’t thinking, “oh my gosh, this is so good i need to keep reading” rather “omg all these ppl’s lives are getting destroyed”. it was like watching a train wreck 🫣

➳ i am significantly younger than the main characters, so this may affect my perception of this book. if you enjoy drama and are in your 30s, this may be the book for you! i personally just didn’t really enjoy it.

I wanted to love this book. I REALLY wanted to love it. Black women, a bookstore, and bringing on the sisterhood to tackle the big challenges of life?

It has so many choice ingredients...but the bread didn't quite rise.

The characters felt two-dimensional and exaggerated, more like a telenovela than real life. The bookstore planning seemed wildly impractical all the way through. Indeed, the life events were improbably dramatic en masse (you're telling me these super opinionated and never-not-ready-to-fight-with-each-other women didn't say, "Girl, one therapist not working doesn't mean all therapists won't work—we're finding you a recommendation!). It was the difference between a telenovela and a rom-com. While some of the moments of sisterhood were beautifully done, overall, the book felt like an author with real talent needed another round of revisions/support from the editorial teams around her to help move it from caricatures to characters, and from plot points to storytelling.

Ms. Lindo-Rice, it's clear you've got the chops, talent, imagination, and passion to succeed. I look forward to continuing to read your work and will purchase this nonetheless, because again: Black women, a bookstore, and bringing on the sisterhood is a story I want to read and support.

I was not familiar with any of Michelle Lindo-Rice's previous works but the description of The Bookshop Sisterhood was one that I found intriguing. I worked for four years in a bookstore so I love anything related to bookstores.

Four best friends who decide to open a bookstore together. But before they can open the bookstore, each of the four friends has major life-changing events.

This could be the case of not all books are for all readers. I just found that each of the four main characters all had such major issues in their lives and it was a downer. I found it hard to relate to any of the characters and finally cut my losses by waving the white flag. Their lack of business planning in opening the bookstore was one thing I could not get past.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is one of those books that reminds me of why I like to watch reality tv. I was LIVING for the drama and the gossip between this group of friends. There so many levels of their friendship and it's relevant in how this story reads. I enjoyed the writing that Michelle shared in The Bookshop Sisterhood, too.

There were things about this book that I liked and some things I didn't. When it started I liked the fact that these ladies had formed a friendship that lasted quite some years and were able to bond over books and other things and it also seemed that because of this bond they were there for each other in times of need. I also liked that when they bickered they were able to make up quickly, for the most part, like sisters would. I enjoyed the references to other books/authors throughout the book since they were opening a bookstore after all which made it a little relatable and realistic.

The drama that came up in their lives I felt at times was unnecessary because with the exception of Leslie, the other three basically brought the drama upon themselves. Also, Yasmeen was way too naive and gullible for me and I felt Toni's situation was drawn out more than it needed to be. Overall I did enjoy the book and how it came together but I felt the ending was a little rushed. I would have liked to see some more expansion into the closure of the ladies' drama and to see what happened once the Bookstore was finally owned by the 4 of them especially since the rest of the book had been very detailed.

The entanglement into the web of drama is unreal and so gravitating.
You know you are always told not to gossip but I appreciate the good drama in this book. Now please don't bring it into my real life. lol
I was expecting a comfy found family novel and I was thrown into the lake without a paddle but I made it ashore and the swim was so fun!

If you are looking for a fun read full of d-r-a-m-a please pick this book up and give it a chance! Didn't disappoint at all.

This was my first Michelle Lindo-Rice novel and it won't be my last!
Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for allowing me to read an advanced digital copy of Michelle Lindo-Rice's novel.

There were things about this book that I liked and some things I didn't. When it started I liked the fact that these ladies had formed a friendship that lasted quite some years and were able to bond over books and other things and it also seemed that because of this bond they were there for each other in times of need. I also liked that when they bickered they were able to make up quickly, for the most part, like sisters would. I enjoyed the references to other books/authors throughout the book since they were opening a bookstore after all which made it a little relatable and realistic.

The drama that came up in their lives I felt at times was unnecessary because with the exception of Leslie, the other three basically brought the drama upon themselves. Also, Yasmeen was way too naive and gullible for me and I felt Toni's situation was drawn out more than it needed to be. Overall I did enjoy the book and how it came together but I felt the ending was a little rushed. I would have liked to see some more expansion into the closure of the ladies' drama and to see what happened once the Bookstore was finally owned by the 4 of them especially since the rest of the book had been very detailed.

Thank you to the publisher Harlequin Trade Publishing/MIRA and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I really wanted to enjoy this book more! I loved the book description and the premise (women owned bookstore) but unfortunately it didn't deliver in the way I hoped and it was almost a DNF for me. I thought in parts it was trying too hard to bring too much complexity into what could simple have been a story of enduring friendship. I also had hoped that the actual bookshop would have been a larger character! There were some inaccuracies that needed cleaning up ie) the colonoscopy - not that was that major but kind of changed how I felt about reading the book - almost like I couldn't really trust and delve deeply into the story. Thank for the opportunity to review this book.

My thanks for the ARC goes to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing | MIRA. I'm voluntarily leaving a review.

Genre: Women's Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Books About Books, African American Fiction
Spice Level: References to sex and some sex on page
Language: I don't remember any swearing

*THE BOOKSHOP SISTERHOOD* explores friendship.

There are four main female characters—the white woman is described as having a blonde bob and we know through inference the other three women are black. I loved how these four have been such good friends for about two decades.

Problems are heaped upon these friends: marital strife, partners not stepping up, illness, financial woes, getting lied to, and more. Sometimes the women do not handle the stress well and lash out at each other. Some of the things said are rough. I would have a hard time forgiving my friends if they ragged on me like this.

I also like the thread of the dream of owning a bookshop together that weaves through the story. There are also elements of faith and forgiveness that took some turns I didn't expect. I liked how the women expressed their faith because it was authentic and subtle.

If you want to read about a group ride and die friends, this is the perfect book for you!

Happy reading!