3.5 stars

Emily embarks on the adventure of her life. A bored librarian, she’s offered her dream job as assistant to her favorite childhood author who hasn’t published in a decade. When she arrives at the cozy Irish village, she finds herself thrown into the company of Kieran, the author's (Siobhan’s) grumpy son. Intent on forcing his mother to rest, Kieran does everything he can to prevent Emily from helping Siobhan write her final book. But sparks fly between the librarian and the Irish bookstore owner and Emily is forced to choose between helping the woman she’s always admired finish the book she can’t wait to read or falling for the man who fights for her in a way no one ever has.

Love at First Book will make you cry, laugh, swoon, and cry some more. This is not your average rom-com. It deals with mental health, toxic and complicated family dynamics, grief, and a crushing fear of change. For every moment of sunshine, there is one of rain, but I promise, this story is not to be missed.

Emily is a main character every book nerd can relate to. She and Kieran often flirt through book quotes (and there’s a scene that’s basically Strip Poker: Literary Quote Edition) and find each other again in fiction. I appreciated the depiction of her anxiety but would’ve preferred it to be a larger part of the story rather than a detail the author could slip in at convenient points. Every disorder is different and the author portrays the anxiety attacks themselves well, however, I felt like Emily’s anxiety only appears when it enhances a scene rather than being something she had to constantly deal with. Unfortunately, mental health can’t be turned off when it’s not convenient for the plot, so I would’ve liked to see Emily’s anxiety portrayed more consistently.

That being said, watching Emily come out of her shell and learn to stand as her own person was wonderful. I liked that she struggled with conflict but was never afraid to speak her mind. Her view of herself transformed over the course of the novel, yet she remained kind and caring without being weak. The book in general normalized asking for help and going to therapy for both genders, which is always a positive.

I adored Kieran (our broody love interest). He’s complicated without being unnecessarily cruel, brooding without being basic, and so humanly flawed. The “enemies” portion of the enemies-to-lovers narrative was actually reasonable and didn’t make Kieran into a horrible person without a soul (always a benefit). He wasn’t cruel for the sake of cruelty and none of his behavior was justified with the repulsive “boys-will-be-boys” thing. Yay for no internalized (or externalized as the case may be) misogyny! Kieran respected women, consent, and boundaries, a startling rarity for the trope.

His relationship with his mother Siobhan drove the story as much as the romance and remains one of the best complicated family dynamics the romance genre has to offer. Family is as important to Love at First Book as the romance is, creating a layered and complicated narrative. I truly felt for every character in the story and could understand their position, even if I didn’t agree with it.

As for the writing, it was engaging and well-developed. Emily had a clear voice separate from that of the author, which I appreciated. The pacing was slow towards the beginning but excellent after the 100-page mark. The dialogue was fast and hilarious, balancing catchy lines and realism perfectly. If you love reading, romcoms about reading, crying and laughing at the same time, and grumpy Irishman out to steal your heart, Love at First Book is most certainly for you.

This is SO very cute!! Of course as a librarian I'm drawn to cute romances about librarians and bookish people. The main character is so fun and likeable, and her love interest is just enough gruff and grumpy to be annoyed and also love him.

Everything felt a bit too on the nose for me with this book, which is the difference between a romance being charming and contrived and this one fell on the wrong side for me

Thank you to NetGalley, Berkley Publishing, and Jenn. McKinley for this digital arc. This one was super fun and flirty! Strangers x lovers trope in a small town bookshop while assisting a writer finding the energy to finish a fun series everyone is dying for the concluding book to finish the adventure of their favorited character. I really liked both characters and loved how Emily connected and helped with Kir - struggling to open up. Such a good story for readers who enjoy books about books! :)

McKinlay attempts to have anxiety and hypochondria representation but in both cases they fall not just flat, but untrue. Like, someone who has only experienced an anxiety attack by reading the dictionary definition.

This is written like a formula: a cast of 15 or so characters each fulfilling a certain type and flaw, a few awkward flirting scenes, a few more even more awkward and unrealistic open door scenes, cue drama and grand gesture, finale.

I liked the author/author assistant plotline. That could have been an incredible literary fiction novel in itself rather than a subplot in a romantic comedy.

Basically, it's an off brand Hallmark holiday movie with c-list actors.

Thanks to Berkeley Publishing and NetGalley for an e-arc to read and review.

Emily is a former librarian who moves to a small town in Ireland to help her favorite author, Siobhan, work through writing the last book in her famous series. Kieran is Siobhan's son, and doesn't think Siobhan should stress herself by forcing herself to finish the series.

This is a sweet love story, and it's definitely about Em finding the best place for herself in the world, where she feels comfortable and happy and safe. She comes from a harsh upbringing with a narcissistic mother who refuses to believe she's a problem. Finding the people she does in Ireland, even with the animosity from Kier, feels like a much better space for herself. I like that she's found her people, and that she feels like she's found "home."

I will say that, after reading the ARC, I wish there was better resolution with the mother. She essentially has an altercation by phone with her mom, but there's no mention of her blocking the mom, or whether they're still talking, or if the mom has continued to harass her best friend. Three mom stops being mentioned about halfway through, and every time Em gets a "someone is coming" kind of feeling, I was anticipating that her mom was going to show up on her doorstep to raise hell. But it didn't happen. She also talks about how Siobhan gives her the maternal affection she's always craved, but still nothing about her own mom. I feel like there's definitely a loose end there.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy via NetGalley in return for sharing my thoughts on this book. Thanks to the author and publisher for this opportunity!

I could not put it down! Open-door romance with grumpy and sunshine main characters in a quant little town in Ireland. The book addresses some heavy topics like growing up with a narcissistic parent, child abuse, grief and grieving. I loved the Irish setting, not to mention that most of the book takes place in beautiful cottages or a dream-worthy bookshop. I would highly recommend for anyone looking for an Irish romantic adventure!

This is a sweet escape to Ireland!

I enjoyed this book for many reasons, which I’ll list below. There are a couple of things that gave me pause in terms of recommending to everyone (though I would recommend it overall)

What I enjoyed:
1. I loved the small-town Irish village setting with a rich cast of characters. It’s a perfect cozy read!
2. The romance was sweet- Grumpy/Sunshine, slow burn, small amount of descriptive steam
3. The side characters are so interesting as well- I loved seeing each of their personalities and how they connected to the larger story. And found family is a prominent theme that I enjoy.

What I didn’t love:
1. It’s written in first person from the female main character’s perspective. It’s handled well, but I prefer 3rd person for romance novels, and it’s nice to get a dual perspective. I really wanted to know what was going on with him, too!
2. The book is based around the author of a famous series of youth novels. I wanted to dive more into that world as it’s important to the story in many ways, but it was only mentioned here and there. I understand space is limited- I just wanted a bit more!
3. Please check trigger warnings before reading- I don’t want to be specific to avoid spoilers, but do use care if illness, mental health, and toxic relationships are difficult subjects for you. The author did a nice job of handing each of the hard areas, but I would have liked to know a bit more about some of the topics before I chose to read the book!

Overall, I would recommend this book to most people I know. It’s lovely!

Thank you very much to Berkeley publishing and NetGalley for the advance read copy!

I really tried getting into this book but I felt that I have read so many like it before. It didn't make me want to continue reading it.

This was really cute! I like that you could tell what the author likes and is interested in by the references made in it. There's a lot of good ones. The banter is also quite good.

Unfortunately, this one isn't going to be a favorite of mine! The characters, plot, and dialogue felt very underdeveloped. I had high hopes, but it unfortunately fell a little flat!

I came into this book after having read a pretty heavy non-fiction novel. I was looking for a light, easy romance, and that’s what I got…kind of? Perhaps too light and easy, as Love at First Book is quite generic.

McKinlay relies on *tell, don’t show* which as a reader is not my preferred method of storytelling as I don’t find it very engaging or immersive. There were some quirks of the narrative that I found cringy (ex., using a single “Yum.” to describe food).

The character development displayed by the lead Emily felt too fast and unexplored. Some aspects of how her character changes, particularly her going from shy ramblings to overt flirting with Kieran in such a short time, seemed poorly explained and counter to what readers are told about her personality. How did she gain this confidence so fast? I wish I knew.

It is also not clear to me why Kieran was so taken with Emily from the first meeting. It read as insta-love/lust. Perhaps a dual perspective would have benefitted this book to shed light on Kieran as a character.

Siobhan was the most interesting character for me. I wish there were more Siobhan.

Overall, the book is too dependent on generic genre tropes. This book lands somewhere between 2 and 2.5 stars for this reader.

x forced proximity
x grumpy/sunshine

Despite my criticisms, I concede this is a cute story and may be what other readers are looking for in a book.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC.

Emily Allen is a librarian who gets an opportunity of a lifetime- fly to Ireland and help her favorite author, Siobhan Riordan write the final book of her favorite series from when she was a kid. She helps out in the family bookshop, The Last Chapter where she meets Siobhan’s grumpy Irish handsome son, Kieran Murphy. The last thing he wants is Emily helping his mom write this book.

I really enjoyed this! Grumpy/Sunshine Emily is a feisty one and their banter was amazing. Even though Kieran has his grumpy side you also see his softer side. I love some of the underlining meanings throughout this book; dealing with a narcissist parent and setting boundaries, anxiety disorder revolving around being a hypochondriac, and dealing with grief and self acceptance to receive love. A great love story for the book nerds.

Overall, I like this book and there were some touching moments at the end. I had some issues with the FMC because she moved away and essentially became a new person overnight. I would have liked to see a little more development there and a little more of her struggle. Her hypochondria was a humorous detail about her, but it essentially vanished in two days of arriving in Ireland. I needed a little more as to why the MMC, Murphy, was attracted to her. Murphy also mentions that Emma is attracted to Tig and not him, and we don't really go back to that. There may have been some truth to it, since Emma had already figured out that connection, so I would have liked some exploration of Emma's feelings there. We only get Emma's description of herself and it is very negative, so I would have liked more of how Murphy and others saw her. I felt Emma expected a lot of someone who was grieving and how she wanted comfort for her grief, which is far less significant than Murphy's. The Golden Rule for empathy is to not dump onto the people grieving and Emma should have taken the initiative to reach out to Murphy when she knew his response was due to grief and rightly feeling betrayed. It felt immature of Emma and made me want better for Murphy. This was an easy read and if you want to read about books and the Irish countryside, I would recommend it.

This was a cute story for anyone who enjoys a forced proximity troup or a beautiful stting. I really liked the main charactgers. I really like Emily. I also liked her persistance when it came to Kieran. I did not like Kieran at first. He got better as the book went on but I saw him for a long time as a grouch!. Really cute story and love the irish setting.

I really wanted to like this book because it's so ME - Emily movies from the US to Ireland to work at a bookstore and also work alongside one of her favorite authors. It's cozy, it's a book about books, and it has an enemies to lovers trope with the bookstore owner.

That being said, I could not get into this for several reasons. I feel like the characters were a bit underdeveloped. I didn't quite see the chemistry between the two main characters. The dialogue was quite cheesy and kept taking me out of the story.

Thank you Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of Love at First Book by Jenn McKinlay.

Let's set the stage...an American Librarian moves to Ireland to work with her dream author for part of the day then at a bookstore for the other half. Hot Irish Lad is the owner of the Last Chapter bookstore. He is broody, sarcastic and endearing. Emily Allen has never been assertive in her life, but dealing with Kieran Murphy brings out her sassy side. The story is set in a lovely little village with charming characters and beautiful scenery.

I loved this story. As a librarian it made my heart happy. I love all of the book references and the process of delving into a character and story. How is lives in your head waiting to come out.

This book made me laugh, cry, feel heartbroken and satisfied. All the feels. I will definitely be reading more of Jenn McKinlay's books in the future.

Thank you to Berkeley for giving me an access to an arc! Two of my favorite things: bookstores and Ireland, all combined is this very cute romance. This genuinely brought me a lot of joy and I cannot wait for others to read it. I’m excited to read whatever else this author writes.

Em came to Ireland to work for her favorite author and to escape from her abusive mother. Kier doesn’t want her around to disturb his mother but she fits into his life. ARC from NetGalley.

Thank you to Netgalley for a free copy in exchange for a review, and I am sorry for what's about to happen.

I really wanted to like this book, but I had to DNF. Here are my thoughts from what I read so far:
The heroine is too spunky, too special, too lucky and beloved, and with seemingly no reason. The male lead, too grumpy and misunderstood and targeting the female lead for arbitrary reasons. Yes I get it he is protective of his mother but this is ridiculous. Nothing new is done with these common concepts, they are just utilized at the base level and not elaborated on in any way.
My DNF is because I know exactly what is going to happen and exactly how it's going to happen.
I love tropes, but you need to make them your own, alter them enough that you are creating new substance. This reads like tropes were fed into AI and then given a cursory edit by a middle-schooler. The only definitive traits of this book are the setting: Ireland, and..... wow yeah no that's it.
I feel the editor did a disservice to the author by not encouraging them to deviate from their favorite fanfiction equation. This would actually be better as fanfiction, because fanfiction comes with a wealth of material behind it that makes us care about the characters. This didn't have that.
I am sorry to Jenn McKinlay, that is my true opinion and I hope they get another opportunity to stretch their writing muscles out of their comfort zone and challenging themselves to worldbuild and stretch those creative muscles.