Erin is stuck in a job that makes her unhappy, so she quits. She's also missing her best friend, Bonnie, who passed away from cancer a few years prior. One day, Erin discovers a community library, which she decides to donate some of her used books to, not realizing she donated a book her best friend, Bonnie had given her. Upon finding the book returned, Erin opens it to find that the boy who borrowed it, responded to her notes she had written in the margins. Erin and the Mystery Man keep this up, writing back and forth to each other through the books. This book is filled with friendship, sibling rivalry and love, and relationships. It was a cute story to read.

It was a very slow book. I had to really push to finish this book. Both main characters were hard to like and I didn’t find myself rooting for either of them.

very lovely book I appreciate the change of scenery and the characters were very lovely to get to know. any book that has a them of books is my absolute favorite to read about. thank you for the advance read

I have posted my review to Goodreads and included the link below. I will post it to social media on @cocos.book.nook later this week!
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“To Erin. These extra wide margins are for you.” 😭 teary-eyed. One of the cutest ideas for a romance book! Tessa Bickers’ “The Book Swap” releases September 3rd, and you HAVE to read it! I’m so grateful to have received an ARC on NetGalley from Harlequin Trade Publishing 📖

A love story written in the margins of books from a little community library. This is quite possibly one of my most favorite romance books I’ve read! It was just so cute and touching, even though it dealt with really heavy topics. The characters felt so real and relatable in so many different ways. The slow-burn was everything, and the flashbacks were crushing—forming such a wonderful tale.

This book deals with a lot of hard topics. Cancer, bipolar disorder, bullying, suicide… but it handles every topic in a way that is touching through the story. Showing the guilt one might feel, or the struggle with grief you face.

While exploring the challenges and changes the characters were going through, there were so many beautiful lessons to learn as a reader. It reminds me a lot of the popular saying, “Be nice to your parents. It’s their first time living too.” ❤️ In this book, we see how we might be judging people for how we think they should be rather than realizing what they might be going through. When it comes to James and Erin, this applies to their parents, siblings, friends, and each other. Reading about how they realized mistakes, making changes in the many relationships in their lives, inspired me.

While reading this book, I could tell how much the author loves writing and reading. The way the characters loved literature, incorporating quotes from classics throughout, showed how passionate the author is about this!

I loved this cute romance, shed some tears, and hope you will too 🫶🏼

I love books about books, but sadly this one fell flat for me. The concept is really fun, passing notes back and forth by annotating in the margins of books and slowly falling in love while doing so. It reminded me of some other books I’ve read about falling in love while passing notes. I expected a lovely romcom, but that is not what I got. Erin was pretty insufferable. The first few pages are her whining about her failing to do her job, and it describes how she failed at it, but then she expects her boss to praise her for doing a fantastic job. It was a whole lot right at the beginning and it really set the stage for how much I would come to dislike her over the course of the rest of the book because she was so self-centered. The book was also overly descriptive in such a mundane way. So many details that I didn’t need to know or care about, I need to be able to imagine something as a reader. The one thing that this book did well was cover some heavy topics, but there were so many that it moved the book out of romcom territory for me. I’m all for trauma, but trauma dumping when I want something light and fluffy just doesn’t work. I did enjoy all the references to classic books, I just wish I would have enjoyed the book more overall.

I loved the premise of this - two people exchanging notes in the margins of their favorite books in a little free library. Turns out, these two have a shared history and we slowly learn more and more of their story throughout the book. It was a little slow at times and both characters had some really selfish tendencies, but we got to see some personal growth. The ending was really quite lovely, and ultimately made this a sweet second-chance love story. It tackled some really difficult topics (mental health, caretaker burden, grief, abandonment) and I think it was done fairly well. I found it a little less believable that they were in love when they spent very little time actually together in person, so I would have loved some sort of epilogue to see more of them together in the end. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review

This was a fun novel, with lots of bookish references, and characters with enough heart and depth to balance the sweetness of the plot. If you loved The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary, you'll love this.

This book was contained with such great emotional depth, that I felt incredibly moved with every page. Bickers writes her characters in a fantastic way. I hope people read this story as the writing and its characters stay with you after you finish the book. 5/5 stars for me.

This was a sweet romance made for the bookish girlies! I always love a romance that hits on heavier themes (death, bullying, infidelity, mental illness, etc). I was surprised to learn that this was Bickers debut! I feel like she has such a clear voice and it is one to watch! Can't wait for whatever she writes next!

3.5 stars rounded up.

So…this book is definitely heavy and I really wasn’t expecting that, which is fine…I just feel like I should have gotten in the right headspace to tackle it first. There are multiple trigger warnings in this book: death, mental illness, extreme bullying, cheating…

And while there was definitely a romantic aspect, I do not classify this book as a “romance”. I actually think the romance part of this book was secondary to the main characters’ personal journeys and growth. The main characters who are so in love by the end of the book barely talk to each other and all the in-person interactions they have are pretty awful. I didn’t feel the romantic chemistry here and I think maybe the author should have taken a little more time to explain their history. Also details about what tore the characters apart in the first place were revealed slightly too late in the book.

The FMC was totally unlikeable…but that actually didn’t bother me like it normally would because all of the things I took issue with about her were pointed out by another character…and I feel her unlikeable-ness actually helped readers to see her growth.

One fun thing about this book was the emphasis on a love of books. I love books about loving books. 😊

This was an emotional journey and overall I really enjoyed it. I just think that readers should be aware of what they’re getting into – it’s not a light read.

“The Book Swap” is not your typical rom-com. It has a unique backstory between the characters, which adds to the plot. Through their anonymous-at-first interactions, you get to learn about each one of them and what makes them who they are. I really enjoyed reading this book.

Thank you so much to the publisher and to the author for my eARC. All thoughts are my own.

What a delight! I so enjoyed this story and slowly finding out the drama and heartbreak between James and Erin. There were so many relatable moments as well as sadness and grief. Bickers did an incredible job balancing the humorous moments with tender moments between both Erin and James, but also their loved ones. James' relationship with his dad was just so sweet to read about.

I personally love using LFL so this was so fun to read about a LFL similar to a favorite movie of mine, You've Got Mail.

Thank you NetGalley, Tessa Bickers, and Harlequin Trade Publishing/Graydon House for granting me access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

WOW! I am utterly blown away that this is a debut contemporary romance!! The author's exceptional storytelling makes it feel like work of a seasoned writer. The Book Swap resonated with me on a deeply emotional level, taking me on a journey from laughter to tears and everything in between. I have cherished every moment spent absorbed in their pages. So get ready for a story of second chances and new beginnings, a slow burn romance that is a love letter to both books and life! What truly captivates me about this author's book is her masterful handling of emotional, relatable, and heavy topics, all while expectedly balancing humor in lighter moments. Through it all, she infuses an abundance of love, care and heart into her storytelling , creating a narrative that is profoundly moving and utterly heartbreaking. Please understand that this is far from your typical romance. It delves into weighty themes such as life, love, loss, grief, forgiveness, healing, and mental illness, The story is character-driven, featuring truly authentic characters, and culminates in an immensely rewarding and totally uplifting conclusion. I absolutely adored this book so much!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Synopsis:
Still reeling from a recent tragedy, Erin Connolly knows she needs to start living again but has no idea how. When she accidentally donates her favorite book-To Kill a Mockingbird-to a local community library, she's devastated. However, a week later, the book reappears with fresh notes in the margins and an invitation in a copy of Great Expectations to meet her newfound pen pal. A life-changing conversation begins between Erin and her Mystery Man, written only in the margins of beloved classic books. As the book exchange continues, they follow each other through the pages of their favorite novels, opening up and forming a deepening friendship and possibly something more.

Unbeknownst to them, Erin and her pen pal share a history neither has guessed. Faced with painful reminders of the past and the one person she swore never to forgive, Erin finds herself at a crossroads that could change her life forever.

In summary, this is an emotional rollercoaster read that will tug at your heartstrings, so be sure to keep your tissues ready. However, the tears and anguish outweighed by the hopeful conclusion, making the journey well worth the emotional investment. If you're seeking a story that celebrates the power of books and the magic they hold within their pages, this is the book for you! I wholeheartedly recommend this book and I eagerly anticipate reading more novels by this author⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️!!!!

I was so pleasantly surprised by this little book! For some reason I went into this expecting a cute contemporary rom-com, but it ended up being so much more. While there are a few quippy and humorous lines, Tessa Bickers does a really beautiful job of touching on incredibly relatable themes such as grief, mental health, healing and forgiveness. This one is just so much more than your typical romance. I literally felt so many different emotions while reading this one.

From the beginning I just knew Erin & James' story was going to be so cute, secretly writing to each other in the margins of books they pass to each other through their local little free library! I was immediately wrapped up in their story and loved each POV slowly giving us more and more of their history. I loved experiencing them not only find each other, but also themselves through their sort of pen pal relationship. The overall character development and growth was such a joy to read.

Both of our MCs definitely struggle with being suck in the past, constantly reflecting back and struggling to move on. At times I found this a little frustrating to read, but ultimately I felt it made sense for the characters, and they had to learn to forgive and move on in order to really find themselves. I would have loved some sort of epilogue for Erin & James! After experiencing their story I just wanted a little bit more of them.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC for my honest review.

I enjoyed reading The Book Swap by debut author Tessa Bickers. It delved into grief, bullying, mental illness (parent), and healing. It was more heavy hearted than most of the romance books I read so please be mindful if you have any triggers with death or mental health.

I would read another book by Tessa Bickers.

This was such a cute book! Normally thrillers are my thing but I wanted to try something new and this was great! Such a cute and original plot. I was on the edge of my seat hoping for a happy ending! Thank you for allowing me to read this!

3.5* I went into this one expecting a lighthearted romance but it was a lot more than that! Yes, it was a slow burn romance but it also included a multitude of topics including loss, grief, bullying, sickness, family, healing, friendship and more! There were lots of references to classics and if you are someone who annotates your books, you'll definitely want to check this debut novel out!

Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I wasn’t sure I was going to like this book based on the first couple pages, but I’m sure glad I kept reading! I finished this in less than a day because I just couldn’t put it down! The characters were so real and raw—they were all obviously crafted with the utmost care and detail. I don’t want to spoil anything, but I will say the plot unraveled with precise timing and in pieces tied to the past at just the right moments.
My heart broke at least three times for James and Erin, both separately and together. The process of grief is real and different for each person, and this was a clear message in the book. To have a front row seat to their grief was difficult but honest.
The different characters’ lives wound so neatly together, and the minor characters were few but necessary. I enjoyed the full development of Erin’s and James’s lives and was glad the book swap was only part of this story; we needed to know their full stories to fully appreciate the book as a whole. The use of classic books was clever and interesting as well.
The reader is given a variety of issues to relate to throughout the story, and I found myself really pondering some of the life lessons and how I connected to them. I enjoyed this book and will be recommending it to my reading friends.

I loved this book. What’s not to love about people who love books?! A great debut from this author. Cannot wait to read more.

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc.

Thank you, NetGalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for my honest review.
Book Swap made me laugh and cry and I cried pretty hard towards the ending. I really related to James more so than Erin, which is odd since it is a romance. I felt more connected to James. I understood the struggle he has with his mom and how much of a strain that has put on other relationships in his life.

I also felt for Erin but in a different way. Everyone copes differently with death and she just floated through life only looking back. She also had her own issues with family she was dealing with too.

I'm giving this one 5 stars because I thought it was witty and heartfelt. It wasn't so much a romance, as it was just with connecting to other people whether it be people you're related too or friend. It's about how those people help us get through the rough times so we can truly enjoy the good ones by looking foward and not back.

Erin Connolly knows she needs to start living, but has no idea how. When she accidentally donates her favorite book—a heavily annotated containing a memento that was forgotten to a local little community library, she’s devastated. The book is returned back to the library with fresh notes in the margins, along with an invitation in a copy of Great Expectations.

But Erin and her pen pal have a shared history that neither of them has guessed. Faced with painful reminders of the past—and the one person she swore never to forgive—Erin finds herself at a crossroads. One that could change her life forever.

A book-lovers dream! References to the following classics can be found in The Book Swap:
• TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
• GREAT EXPECTATIONS
• WUTHERING HEIGHTS
• MANSFIELD PARK
• THE GREAT GATSBY
• MIDDLEMARCH
• BELOVED
• ON THE ROAD
• THE BELL JAR