The books own description says it is enemies to lovers but I think that is stretch...rivals to lovers sure. Small town....erm No, maybe I get that they're within a smaller community due to a indie shopping village / square type area....again bit of a strectch. Opposites attract...not sure they are opposites, they both own and run a bookstore!
The book is littered with reminders that our FMC is from the UK and living in the US, which is a little repetitive and felt like the author was trying to win over both sides of the pond with her knowledge and love of each country.
The concept that our FMC, Lexi is going to use Jane Austen type scenarios to get our MMC, Sam to fall in love with her is on a basic level manipulative and deceitful. However, taking into account many people and many books have done far sillier things to win someone over, I think ultimately the idea that Lexi plans to break Sam's heart is where I, as the reader could not forgive Lexi. The whole plan is a little deflated and Lexi owns up to it fairly quickly, at which point of course Sam is hurt and so cue our break up. There is some back and forth for these two and some growing for each character before they find a HEA but the story is pleasant enough for an easy read.

I received this e-book as an ARC through NetGalley. This is my honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The story follows two rival bookstore owners Lexi and Sam who are locked in a fierce rivalry. Lexi turns to tried and tested book techniques to get her rival to fall in love with her but it’s not just the business at stake but her heart too.

Overall I think I enjoyed it, the mechanics not so much as it was obvious quite clearly it wouldn’t be fair to play mind games on Sam given what he had been through (and she didn’t need to!). It was a little slow and disjointed in places with the viewpoints.

The plot reminded me of the movie, You've Got Mail with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks.

Tropes:
- Rivals-to-lovers
- slow burn
- closed door (slammed the door in my face) romance

The other reviews were right: this book could have been a LOT shorter. I thought that there was just too much on Lexi's woes of being the only single woman left in her friend group and how she was so lonely combined with too many in-depth descriptions on the intricacies of running a small business bookstore and her passion for reading books. It was all very "woe is me." I felt like more time could have been put on showcasing the chemistry between Lexi and Sam instead, which could have been more in the beginning.

I did find Lexi to be kind of living in her own world (or literary world) in which she thinks the way to seduce a guy is by getting him to go dancing (like at a ball) and playing the piano. But I guess in this case, it worked for her. She also lusted over Sam pretty much immediately, like noo, stay strong for at least a few chapters.

I felt like there was some implied unresolved tension between Erin and Lexi that was never explored. Although the ending seemed a little rushed, I did enjoy it - it wrapped everything up pretty nicely.

Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

i really really wanted to love this one but personally it just wasn’t for me. LOVE the jane austen quotes but honestly idk if the author is english or not but it really felt like an american had created this caricature of a british person for the female main character and didn’t really expand on it. the book goes on and on about the main characters ‘british teeth’ for some reason? and idk it all just felt a little forced, it felt like there was a mention of her being quirky and english and tea obsessed every 3 paragraphs. i did really like the writing style though, very descriptive and the setting was lovely, just didn’t feel right for me :) that’s not to say you won’t love it, definitely give it a go if you like bookish books because the references and themes throughout were super fun.
thank you to team avon and mia page for the arc 💓 xo

Lexi Austen and Sam Dickens, rival booksellers in DC. Lexi loves her shop, inherited from her grandmother. Unfortunately it’s not doing as well as it was, not since Sam bought the second hand bookstore and started selling new books. So Lexi comes up with a plan, straight out of the pages of the books she loves. She’ll charm Sam, an enemies to lovers tale, that he’ll be so distracted he won’t be able to concentrate on selling books.

Being a bookseller is tough. I wanted to like this book but I found myself skimming passages. For example conversations took so long as we get descriptions or segues or other distractions in-between. There’s overly long sections that don’t move the plot on throughout. Did I mention being a seller of books is hard. Lexi is single, the only single person in her friendship group, which is apparently the worst possible thing. This really annoyed me, I’m a fan of romance novels but not of outdated ideas like being a single woman is unbearable. I really wanted to like this story as I liked the premise but it just dragged. What I did learn was how difficult it is being a book seller. I learnt this multiple times.

A cute rom-com that's perfect for book lovers! If you enjoy a good rivals to lovers trope, then this one is for you. I did find parts quite repetitive, and although I did like Lexi, I personally didn't find her super relatable - hence why it dropped a couple of stars for me.

Nonetheless, this is a really sweet, enjoyable rom-com - definitely one to add to your summer TBR.

Thank you to NetGalley/the publisher for my e-ARC!

The blurb of this book sounded really appealing, it certainly gave off "You've Got Mail" vibes. Sadly however the two do not compare. This book started off well with the set up of two warring bookstore owners however the pacing was off, the dialogue unrealistic and it was repetitive. The book was way too long for the story we get and much of that is the over-explanation of what was going on. Every little thing the main character does is spelled out and too much effort is giving too unnecessary details. With some serious cutting this book may be good but as it stands it is a definite miss.
I received an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I liked it but it also was a kind of book that I had to make myself read. It is quite slow and there’s not a lot of plot sadly. The characters are lovely and the story is cute though don’t get me wrong. I just had higher hopes for this book. It’s a light read though if you enjoy slow burn romance.

The start of this had a lot of promise but by about half way through I was bored, and there was still a lot to go! A nice premise and it did start well, but pace was slow and I lost interest. Left a tad disappointed.

I wanted to like this a lot.

However, it didn’t really keep me reading from the start. The British/ American bit was a lot overkill.

I didn’t love it. I really wanted to because it sounded right up my alley. But it was boring. I wanted to dnf but I pushed through.

I’m gutted, I loved the description of this book but just couldn’t get along with it and ended up DNFing

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for an ARC of this book. I had high hopes for this book. I usually love bookish romances. This did not do it for me. I did not like the main character Lexi. I found some of her behaviour quite sketchy and it did not sit well with me. I could not connect with the characters and found myself quite bored with the book. It was 25% too long. I would not have finished it had it not been an ARC.

This is a really fun read, which I thoroughly enjoyed. A modern day You’ve Got Mail, with rival bookshop owners who find their own happily ever after.

I really wanted to get into this book but I just wasn't able to.
The plot was pretty inconsistent and I wasn't in love with the main characters.
I wish it was formatted a bit better; it would have been easier to read.
Thanks to Netgalley & Avon BooksUK for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m so sad I didn’t enjoy this book

From the off it fell really flat for me and the writing seemed a bit all over the place, not much flow.

I wasn’t a fan of the constant Austen references and the incessant need to remind the reader of her British roots was a bit of an overkill

Unfortunately I did DNF at 20% but I’ll definitely look out for more from Mia in the future. I always give an author another chance

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!
This had lots of potential but didn’t quite deliver. The characters were honestly a bit annoying and the plot felt rushed at times, sluggish at others. The enemies part felt contrived and yet later on the mmc was actually a dick but apparently it was fine by then? Idk.
A bit overkill on the missing Britain/Americans are so different bit too.

Lexi Austen runs a book shop in Washington DC and has done merrily for a while, until Sam Dickens takes over a local second hand book shop and directly challenges Lexi's business... And her heart along the way.

This is not a straightforward enemies to lovers plot, it's a little contrived at the start but it definitely heats up. The characters are likeable, if a little shallow at points. I really enjoyed the book store setting, even with the business struggles, it's an nice idyllic idea that will appeal to keen readers!

Overall, I enjoyed the book - more so towards the end but the start felt clunky, the middle a little slow and then the end too short! An enjoyable read nonetheless I would look out for more by Mia Page

I didn't enjoy this book as much as I thought I might. It was somewhat predictable, overlong and had a lot of repetition. Set in Washington DC but with more than a nod to the main character's Britishness. I must admit that I didn't take to either of the main characters, Lexi and Sam, both sporting literary names Austen and Dickens respectively and running rival bookshops. I found they rather annoyed me but having said that I think the book would appeal to some hence 3 stars.

2.8/5 ⭐️
2/5 🌶️

Lexi is an adorable owner of bookstore, sorry bookSHOP–she's British and we are gonna hear about the cultural differences of America vs UK–in D.C. who is frustrated (ahem sexually) by a competing bookstore owner, Sam.

I really liked the Austen references, the enemies to lovers concept, and actually her Britishisms (although I will admit, I felt by the end it was kind of annoying. Mostly because it was the same observations about how we make tea.) I love the setting of DC and wish we saw a bit more of her friendship with Erin, her roommate. Looking back, it was very odd to me there wasn't more there. It was like her friend was getting married and Lexi is the maid of honor, but they had VERY little interaction and I forgot she was getting married since there was literally no wedding planning they did together.

I really didn't like how long this was. Maybe it wasn't long, but it certainly FELT long. And I was very confused about Lexi's real feelings. She is like, oh I hate this Sam guy, but there was no reason for us to believe or even understand why she hated him. Maybe hated him being competition I guess.... but there was very little sexual tension for me with them. He seemed very nice–in fact, too nice to be enemy for sure, and too nice in situations where Lexi said or did something rude. (Not including bants.)

But then he DID do some incredibly dickish things like... Idk, steal all her ideas for the shop?! And then she doesn't call him out on it?

There did seem to be a lot going on story wise with her shop, then her piano lessons, then their competing, then their "breaking" up, getting back together for literally 15 min then breaking up again, not to mention her missing London, and her sister oh and then his ex coming back into town...

There were still some spelling errors, which I can forgive, but not "muscles and frites," that seems like there was a lot missed in proofreading. At least in my copy.

**Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK sending me this ARC!**