I tried to start this, but I got a bit interested in reading reviews first and realized this is not only a slow burn which isn't really for me, but that it's more contemporary fiction focused on subjects like loss and I'm not in that headspace when I want a romance so for me this will be a unfortunate Dnf. Whoever is reading this review don't let this suede you away from trying this one out! It's just not for me!

I was expecting a cozy book about books with romance, but it's not really that. More than romance, this book focuses more on themes like loss, dealing with the past, and growing as a person. The thing is, I didn't connect with these characters at all, which is a bummer. I see a lot of people enjoying it, which is great, I wish I liked it more.

I love the concept of pen pal via book swap and the way that the author intertwined the two characters kept me very interested! I was slow to warm up to this one, but as the plot got thicker with connections I could not stop reading!

The Book Swap had an interesting premise but I got lost in which characters were real or deceased. Love the literary sprinkles and references for reading addicts who are back again. Wished more to grab me into this book.

This book is different than what I expected it to be ! I was excited by the premise of a relationship developing through annotated pages of classic literature but it really handled a lot of heavy topics like terminal illness and bullying that I just wasn’t anticipating. I think if you’re a huge fan of classic literature, have read a lot of the classics so you would understand and appreciate the references, and don’t mind a slow burn romance, this would be really enjoyable for you !

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for the advanced copy !

This was a fun read for me. Erin and James both love books, and we get to follow their story through the notes left in the books they read.
Interesting concept and the writing flowed easily.

Beautiful , laugh out loud, and well written - 3.5 Stars

This was so cute!! Every book girls dream is to meet a guy throught book annotations! James is such a sweetie too so that made it even better. I love how this book portrays grief and the message of the book. I cried three times and I thought this book had a perfect ending. I rarely give out 5 stars to NetGalley books but this one was beautiful and I really enjoyed reading it.

I wanted so much more from this book! I just finished reading and I must say that it didn't grab me as a "romance" novel. Almost the entire book is the two main characters, Erin and James, working through their past feelings and history. Erin has a lot of growing to do. She always blames everyone else for what happens in her life - including James and her mother. She doesn't take ownership of her actions and doesn't show any empathy for anyone else. She suffers from recurring bouts of depression, to which I believe many of us can relate. James also has much to learn as he tries to navigate life as an adult with a mother that struggles with mental health. He also lacks self-confidence in the one thing that he wants more than anything else.

I found the premise of the book swap at the little library to be incredibly full of promise. It could have been developed into a beautiful "romance", but it turned out to be more of a chick-lit or personal growth story for me - I am unsure which type of book it was meant to be, so maybe it turned out to be exactly as the author intended. If you take away the expectations of a romance, this book has its merits. I especially enjoyed the questions Erin and James started asking and answering at the end of the books. It gave insight into the characters and allowed them to open up and share their feelings in a non-threatening way, so we could witness the discovery of their true selves. It would have been nice to see some sparks or chemistry in the few scenes where they interacted in the physical world. It was kind of difficult to buy this budding relationship from the written exchanges in the books alone. I guess, overall, I was expecting this to be more of a romance. I did enjoy the swapping of the books and the notes inside the books. It was a cute read, but I wanted more chemistry in order to be invested as a reader.

**Thankyou to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for an ARC in exchange for my honest review**

I enjoyed this book however it did not come across as a romance to me and I didn’t want it to. Because the characters are so involved in their own lives and their own personal growth for the majority of book and aren’t truly interacting, it makes it difficult to believe they are involved romantically by the end.

THAT BEING SAID: I think romance aside this book tackles personal growth in a way that is beautiful. The way that grief and family trauma can tear people apart and how people build that community back together can be tricky to write about, and I think it was done very successfully.

But for me, I wish the ending was just James and Erin forgiving each other and start a new friendship in adulthood. Their “relationship” didn’t feel earned even though their connection and their history / bond did.

(And that’s not to say you can’t discuss deep issues AND be a romance book, I would never trivialize the genre like that. THIS book I just don’t think accomplished that.)

That book started off pretty slow. It has two main POVs. I really enjoyed the second half it made me cry more than once. No spicy, but lots of love.

4.5/5 stars - I loved this book! Based off the premise alone, I knew this would be right up my alley.

While it did take me a little while to get into it, I became pretty emotionally invested in the two main characters about 1/3 of the way through. I really loved the literary references throughout the story and especially loved how the author used them to build the two MC’s relationship. I think the idea of two people swapping books they found in a little library and communicating through their annotations is really clever and I could tottttally see this story being adapted into a film.

I think the author handled the depiction of what it’s like to grow up with a bi-polar parent well and it made me really relate to and adore James - I was rooting for him from the beginning! However, I did have a harder time relating to Erin and felt like her character was a bit immature. Towards the end of the book I did begin to warm up to her and felt very satisfied with the ending.

Overall, I think this was a really cute and cozy story and I am excited to read more from Tessa Bickers!


Thank you NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the ARC!

It’s giving modern day “you’ve got mail” in every book readers dream. I enjoyed this book despite struggling to get into it initially but then quickly devoured it

I wish I had a physical copy of this book to highlight and annotate. It has been a long, long time since I’ve read a fictional story that has made me feel so many things at once, had so many moments of reflection, touched so many parts of my heart. There aren’t enough words to explain how much I loved this story. It left me inspired to write and chase after my dreams. It made me cry several times. It was more than I expected, and everything I needed it to be. I will DEFINITELY buy a physical copy and read this book again.

A beautiful, heartwarming and heartbreaking story. Loved all of the book references. Lots of wisdom on the meaning of life and what’s truly important. Sad I finished it so quickly!

Many thanks to NetGalley, for granting me an ARC in exchange for an honest review

I really wish I could give this a higher rating! There was just a lot of content in this that I usually try to avoid. But if you look past that, I LOVED this book so much! It reminded me of one of my favorite novels of all time, Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer.

Both Erin and James and going through grief and other hardships, but they are able to bond and communicate through books at a little local library. Though they have no idea who the other’s identity is! This makes things interesting, because Erin despises James in real life. I absolutely loved this concept, and how both of the characters were bookworms! This book covered heavy topics, and a lot of tears were shed, but it also made me smile. I will definitely read more from Tessa Bickers, if she ever writes another book.

THE BOOK SWAP by Tessa Bickers is a moving, heartfelt, ode to friendship, love lost and found, and of course, the power of stories. I really enjoyed this book! Quite a lot of territory is covered in this story including many forms of illness, pursuit of ones calling, building and sustaining friendships and the search for love. Bickers navigates some heavy territory with gravitas. This is a must read for lovers of literature.

And finally, as if my TBR wasn't long enough, now because of Mia Page I have to add Middlemarch and Great Expectations to my list. I would not be exaggerating when I say that the analysis of some of these literary titans would be useful for English teachers and professors to reference in their teaching of these works!

This is the perfect type of new release for our store to bring in because of all the references to the classics, which we carry by the armload as a used bookstore!

This book truly surprised me! I was expecting a cute romcom novel, but what I got was heartfelt novel that felt genuine between two people who are dealing with their own battles in life trying to navigate their futures.

The book starts off with our female main character Erin who is dealing with grief accidentally giving away a copy of her favorite book “To Kill A Mockingbird” that is heavily annotated to a little library near her house, which leads to our second main character James who is also dealing with his own struggles of grief and hardships comes in and takes the book noticing that it’s heavily annotated and decides to add his own notes to the margin, hoping that the owner of the book will see it. Before he returns the book he asks Erin to meet him in the pages of “Great Expectations”…

This leads to a whole journey of them essentially being penpals throughout the pages of these classical novels, which was really fun to see and along the way you see how much of an influence they have on each other and just how much they really needed this little gift from the universe to help them heal.

The best part about this book was that the two main characters actually have a history with each other and throughout the book you find out how they know each other and what happened between them that has led to who they are in present day. I wouldn’t say the novel is heavy on romance because it is truly a slow, slow, slowwwww burn but when you finally do get the connection between the two main characters, it felt very sweet and very deserved. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I thought the ending was perfect. 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trading Co for an ARC in exchange for my review

Publication date: September, 3rd, 2024

Thank you for this ARC! Overall, I love the premise of this book. I felt the description of many things were very accurate and painted a great picture for the reader. For example, the author did a great job at really conveying toxic workplaces! I really had a hard time connecting with the characters though, and that made the book a difficult one to get through.

I actually really loved this book. I thought it was just going to be a cute rom-com that I would breeze through, but I took my time and felt all the feelings this book delivers.

We are following Erin as she processes grief, guilt, shame, failure, abandonment. Most revolve around the death of her best friend Bonnie. You can see her many coping mechanisms for each feeling. She can be a bit self absorbed at times, which I’m glad she gets called out for, but when we are going through hard times it’s very easy to happen.

James is going through his own stuff at the same time with an unfulfilled career, trauma from past bullying, and a mother with mental illness who blames him for every bad thing that could happen.

What starts as a mistake turns into such a cute storyline. While purging her room, Erin accidentally donates her favorite book, with something sentimental inside, to a little free library. This book had been written in as she used it for school. The book is taken but then returned with notes written back and an invitation to read another book that he has read and taken notes in. This goes back & forth over many books, and a relationship of sorts begins to bloom.

When James finally finds out that the mystery woman is in fact Erin we find learn about their past together. They were best friends, who secretly loved each other, along with Bonnie. During one of his times of torment from school bullies, in order to get away, James says something that ends up ruining Erin’s life and she never forgives him. He on the other hand has never stopped loving her. When she finds out her mystery man is also James, she adds more reasons to hate him. So much more happens but this review can only be so long.

This book follows the two of them as they grow in their careers, life, and in their relationship with their families. I loved watching them move past their hurts and really learn what love is. Only then could the time be right for them.

I loved all the other characters as well and would love to see spin off books about them, especially Cassie & Joel.

*Thank you NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, Grayson House Publishing, and Tessa Bickers for the advance copy. What a great debut novel!

I got teary-eyed a few times, which truly means a lot. This book was beautiful! There were so many moments where I laughed, but also moments where I cried. Deep meanings within this book about grief, a loved one having depression, loss of friends, changing careers, and just truly finding out what you want to do in your life to make yourself happy.... but also learning to forgive. It's such a beautiful story and so well written. I was truly invested in all of the characters' lives and how they were woven together so neatly. I will absolutely be checking to see if this author has more books as I plan to devour all of them now! Perfect, deeply moving, and a beautiful ending to wrap it all up!

I received this from NetGalley and Graydon House to read/review. All of the statements above are my true opinions after fully reading this book.