Overall I enjoyed this, but found it a bit slow going at times. Joy was a lovely character, and I always like a story with a bookshop in it. I think we all secretly wosh we ran a bookshop!

A wonderful story taking the reader to a small Irish town, meeting the characters who are so well described.

I loved this. I really enjoyed the way the author brought all the characters together, and they really are a lovely bunch. I really liked Albie, full of wisdom.
The ending was a little predictable. I knew straight away who the culprit was. This does not take away the enjoyment of the story.

A glorious escape to the most perfectly imperfect bookshop in Ballycove, via Paris, hidden family secrets, infidelity, beautiful paintings and a rare book discovery. Perfect poolside reading.

The Bookshop Ladies - The brand new uplifiting story of friendship and community for 2024 by Faith Hogan is sweet, heartwarming and a wonderful read for your summer vaycay (or stay-cay)

Captivating, compelling and utterly relaable, I could not put it down

Thank you to Netgalley,
Aria & Aries | Aria and the author Faith Hogan for this ARC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own

Sinking into a new Faith Hogan novel is one of life’s pleasures and this best-selling Irish author is back with an irresistible tale of love, secrets and the ties that bind that is a struggle to put down: The Bookshop Ladies.

Joy Blackwood was flabbergasted when her French art dealer husband had left a valuable painting to a woman called Robyn Tessier who lives in Ballycove, a small town on the west coast of Ireland. What was Robyn’s connection to Joy’s husband? Why did he leave her this priceless heirloom? And why did he never mention anything about this woman to her? Determined to uncover the tangled threads of this mystery, Joy wants some answers, so she heads over to Ballycove to find out the truth. However, little does she realise that in Ballycove she is going to find far more than what she initially expected…

Robyn runs an unprofitable bookshop in Ballycove in the most chaotic way possible. Not only is her professional life in dire straits, but she is suffering from an unrequited crush and is desperate for advice about how to turn her business around. Joy quickly begins to get to grips with the local community – and ends up putting the mystery behind her husband’s legacy on the back-burner. The more time she spends in Ballycove, the harder it becomes to tell the truth about her reasons for being in the small town.

When Joy finally musters up the courage and drops her bombshell, little does she realise that her presence will transform life in Ballycove forever and have serious repercussions for everyone in town – including her…

Written with humour, wisdom, honesty and heart, Faith Hogan’s The Bookshop Ladies is a first-class page-turner I couldn’t stop myself from devouring. A superbly told tale from a master storyteller about life’s unexpected surprises, the importance of community and starting over, The Bookshop Ladies is an uplifting, emotional and inspirational read full of characters that bounce off the pages and straight into your heart.

A superb novel from a writer who is consistently on top form, The Bookshop Ladies is the latest surefire bestseller from Faith Hogan you are going to love.

An intriguing and entertaining story, where you can lose yourself in the descriptions of the setting. Will Joy ever be able to come to terms with her beloved husband's ultimate betrayal.

I was asked t0 review this book by NetGalley- This is a lovely warm hearted read, centering around 3 ladies whose lives are connected but unaware at the time. There is a death of a spouse, and betrayal.
All of the ladies find themselves gathered in Balleycove in Ireland.

The author writes a good story with a good twist at the end.

Recommended read this summer

I enjoyed this book very much. A lovely story that was well written and engaging.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

Joy Blackwood, although American, has lived in Paris with her art dealer husband most of her life. They couldn’t have children but in his deathbed he confesses he’s got a daughter and in his will he’s left a painting to her, Robyn in Ireland. Joy decides to take it to her Robyn runs a bookshop that’s not doing too well. Turns out her mother is the artist of the picture Joy sorts out the bookshop. Robyn’s boyfriend turns out to be not the man she thought he was it’s a wonderful life story. Couldn’t put it down

A really lovely read.
After one of our main characters looses her husband, her world spirals round with the information he leaves her.
As we follow her from Paris to Ireland, we learn lots about family and friends and how communities come together.
I love the sense of family in this story, how families are not just made through blood, they are made through love and friendship.
The setting is perfect and written in a way that you will feel you are there, walking amongst the book shelves, the streets and characters in this book.

The first book I have read by Faith Hogan, but I will be adding her to my list...
The book is an uplifting story brimming with secrets and hope as the characters set on their paths of self-discovery, healing and belonging.

The book is set in Ballycove Ireland and Paris. the book was all about community, joining in and not judging people by their covers!

Set in a quiet town in Ireland, Robyn has just taken the plunge and taken over the crumbling local bookshop when glamorous stranger Joy arrives in town. Offering Joy a volunteer job, they hit it off but all is not as it seems. Joy has come to seek out Robyn having discovered she is the secret daughter of Joy's late husband. Add Robyn's mum Fern into the mix and we have three strong women who form friendships until Joy's truth emerges, threatening their foundations. A lovely story of relationships. secrets and books. #netgalley #thebookshopladies

When Joy’s husband Yves suddenly dies, he leaves her with a bombshell to deal with! A trail of secrets start to unravel, leading Joy to Ireland to deliver a painting left by Yves in his will!

Robyn runs a bookshop in the quaint Irish village of Ballycove and as their paths entwine, Yves’ untimely death brings Joy, Robyn and Fern together. And together, they make the bookshop a success, also find hope and future happiness along the journey.

What a joyous book! Like a warm, comforting hug! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to @ariafiction @headofzeus for providing this book in return for an honest review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own. OUT NOW!

The Bookshop Ladies was a very different read than my ‘usual’ reads. But when I read the book description I was so curious about this story that I just had to get my hands on it. And soon after I started reading I found myself intrigued by the main characters Joy, Robyn and Fern. We read the book through different point of views, different times, and in different places which was a bit hard to figure out at times. But there was just something about the writing, that made me want to keep on reading.

This book is filled with love, family and friendship. And I enjoyed most of this book. The moments when Robyn was working in her bookshop, the small town life in Ireland and the writing itself. It made me want to keep on reading. At the same time there was a moment in this book that impacted Joy’s relationship with her husband and I really didn’t like that. It’s life though! Probably really realistic as well.. but it didn’t work for me. And left me with a bitter taste.

But the way this author wrote this book was impressive. I enjoyed the small town, cozy feeling I got while reading this book. And even though I had trouble keeping track of the time changes at times, I was entertained and determined to keep on reading. Although this book might not have been my favorite, I am curious about this authors other books.

A beautiful read telling the story of three remarkable women Joy, Fern and Robyn and their lives which are entwined. The plot centres around a bookshop which is being run at the moment by Robyn and the lengths her mother and especially newcomer to the town Joy go to to make it a success.

Robyn Tessier, the young new owner of a chaotic used bookstore in Ballycove, Ireland, doesn’t really know what she’s doing, but she loves books and hopes that will be enough. Her mother, Fern, is an internationally renowned artist going through her own personal drama. Joy Blackwood, an American by way of Paris, shows up at the bookshop hoping for a quick visit but instead leaves as Robyn’s first (volunteer) employee.

The three women create the triad of stories in The Bookshop Ladies by Faith Hogan, where friendships are formed, secrets are revealed, and most importantly, people are forgiven.

Shy Robyn has loads of ideas of how she can improve the shop, but has neither the time nor the money to do so, nor an inclination to talk to the few customers who do visit. Joy, who has business experience, gets drafted in to help, but still is carrying around a secret that might ruin everything. Fern arrives in Ballycove with a broken heart and devoid of any creative spark to continue her artistic career.

Faith Hogan has returned to Ballycove for her tenth novel. Like her earlier books, the descriptions are vivid, and the urge to move to Ireland and be surrounded by charming people with lyrical accents is high.

This is an endearing tale shows the importance of friendship and family, but also the caustic nature of a long-held secret. Above all, it allows the reader a chance to escape into a sweet bookshop, and what could be more pleasing than that?

EXCERPT: . . . she'd had such plans when she'd started out. She'd dreamed of having this shop full of beautiful books, of having literary events and a book club meeting here every week. She imagined hosting talks by interesting people who might not get a chance to be heard elsewhere. She planned to organise the whole children's section with the rocking chair and a few ancient eiderdowns she'd had cleaned for children's story times. She envisioned parents arriving and dropping their children off while the adults browsed the shelves in peace and quiet for half an hour, picking up something interesting to lose themselves in once they had tucked their young ones in at night.
Why on earth hadn't she done any of that? Why indeed? Later as she turned over the sign on the door to let the uncaring public know the bookshop was closed for the evening, she sighed. Maybe old Albie was right. Perhaps, taking on someone to help out would allow her time to think. At the very least, it might give her time to make some sort of action plan and get things moving in the right direction.

ABOUT 'THE BOOKSHOP LADIES': Joy Blackwood has no idea why her French art dealer husband has left a valuable painting to a woman called Robyn Tessier in Ballycove, a small town on the west coast of Ireland, but she is determined to find out. She arrives in Ballycove to find that Robyn runs a rather chaotic and unprofitable bookshop. She is shy, suffering from unrequited love for dashing Kian, and badly in need of advice on how to make the bookshop successful. As Joy gets drawn into the dramas of everyday life in the town, she finds it more and more difficult to confess why she really came, let alone find the truth about the painting she brought with her. When she does finally summon up the courage, it sets the cat amongst the pigeons in the close-knit, friendly community she has come to love.

MY THOUGHTS: The Bookshop Ladies is one of those books where I fell in love with the characters and their various problems, and when I closed the cover for the final time, couldn't figure out if I was happy for the characters, or sad to see them go. A little of both, I think.

It was lovely to be back in Ballycove, to see a few familiar faces (The Ladies Midnight Swimming Club gets a mention) and meet some new ones.

Joy is a lovely heartwarming character. Despite having lost the love of her life and discovering, with his dying breath, that Yves has a daughter, Joy finds herself liking this shy, reticient young woman who seems to have bitten off more than she can chew business-wise.

Ballycove is a (mostly) friendly place. Old Albie, Robyn's great-uncle, is a delightful character, still very much in love with his deceased wife Peggy. He is one of those people who seem to know just how to bring the best out in everyone. His son Leo is the opposite - surly, grumpy and definitely not welcoming! But very talented.

Fern, Robyn's mum, is a talented artist who seems to have lost her spark and who runs home to Ballycove to lick her wounds when she faces a personal life crisis. She and Joy (I love the French spelling Joie used occasionally in the text) are on the road to becoming close friends when Joy reveals the real reason she came to Ballycove, the true connection between the three women is revealed and the friendship is shattered.

There are so many heart-tugging moments in this truly beautiful story. Secrets are revealed; there are relationship issues to be ironed out; and an ailing business to be revived. A book about the importance of community, friendship and perseverance.

The Bookshop Ladies is a gently compelling read, an emotionally satisfying read. I hope we will be going back to Ballycove in the future. There is unfinished business there.

⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

#TheBookshopLadies #NetGalley

THE AUTHOR: I have worked in all sorts of jobs, as a fashion model, an event’s organizer and in the intellectual disability and mental health sector. The constant throughout has been a love of books! I have read and written all of my life.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Aria & Aries via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Bookshop Ladies by Faith Hogan for review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own personal opinions.

I loved this book. It had me intrigued from the start with the painting and the mystery daughter. Ballycove sounds like a lovely place and I'd love to go there (but I fear it is fictional!) This is an emotion-filled story and will tug at your heartstrings. Highly recommended.

Free courtesy of Netgalley

Another new Author for me and I absolutely loved it. I really didn't want this book to finish.

Joy had her world turned upside down when her husband revealed he had a daughter, just before he died. He had left his daughter a painting, which Joy decides to deliver herself.

After travelling to Ireland, she gets to meet her step-daughter but doesn't reveal who she is. Robyn has just opened her own bookshop and it's not going well, after a mix up and offering Joy a volunteer job in the bookshop, they become closer. They work together to make the bookshop work.

There are many ups and downs throughout the book, especially when Joy meets Faith, Robyn's mother.

I loved the characters and it showed all their vulnerabilities as well as their strengths. It shows that families come in all shapes and sizes

I would recommend this book, as it is beautifully written ❤️