I'm so glad I didn't listen to the negative reviews and read this for myself!

While this book is not the cute romance it portrays itself as, the story is still amazing! At it's core its a book about growth, the challenges of being an adult and navigating the complications of life (aging/sick parents, death of friends, sibling relationships beyond childhood).

I ADORED Erin and James' stories and how they intertwined. It was also a beautiful story of how two friends dealt and navigated the death of a close friend so differently and how that ultimately affected their adult view of relationships.

The "book swap" aspect of the book was so sweet. It was giving off the same vibes as the movie "serendipty" (although the premise of the book swap was different).

I think this book was a great read that just needs a newly updated synopsis to portray the book in the most accurate light so that it finds the right readers. :)

"You've Got Mail" but with books.

Tessa Bickers debut novel, "The Book Swap", is a delightful book about falling in love through books for people who love books.

Erin Connolly's life has been rocked by tragedy. As she's trying to cope, she accidentally leaves her treasured, annotated copy of "To Kill A Mockingbird" in a free library. Desperate to get it back, she returns to the library to find it has been returned and new notations have been added by a Mystery Man. The Mystery Man invites her to meet him in the pages of another book which he has left behind. And so the conversation begins. Erin and the Mystery Man exchanging books and building a relationship in the margins. Then comes the question, do they leave this in the margins or do they reveal themselves and embrace the risk that comes with it.

"The Book Swap" was a creative take on the "You've Got Mail" concept in making the books the medium for the conversation. Once I got into the characters stories, I could not put this one down. Great for fans of Mhairi McFarlane, Beth O'Leary, Abby Jimenez, Katherine Center, and Sally Thorne.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for allowing me to read this book prior to publication.

This was very cute! I really enjoyed the premise of the book and loved the second chance romance aspect. I feel like my main issue was how cheesy it was and that the FMC was a little too selfish (yes, that was discussed later but I wish it was earlier)

Not the romcom I expected but i enjoyed it nonetheless. I loved the notes in the books I think that was the sweetest.

Thank you for the arc netgalley

DNF at 52%

I really tried to stay with this book but I was expecting a cute rom-com and that isn't what this book is. A lot of heavy topics and not as light hearted as expected.

I really loved this one. Books with grief tend to speak to me, especially when they're so real and hopeful like The Book Swap. Definitely recommend this one.

First off this book made me cry. Second off I would gladly read it again to cry a second time. It was a mix of happy tears and sad tears dealing with the topic of letting go of someone. Erin is mourning the loss of her best friend and her new Pen Pal helps her to find happiness again. Their journey through books and the way they open up and find themselves was so well written. I loved everything about their story.

This title was sadder and more melancholy than the cover suggests. While I appreciate the effort to tackle challenging subjects, it just didn't really work to place it in the middle of a romance novel.

"The Book Swap" by Tessa Bickers is a delightful and heartwarming tale that explores the magic of literature and friendship. The concept of a book exchange brings a charming sense of community, as characters connect through their shared love of reading. Bickers’ engaging writing style and relatable characters make it easy to become invested in their journeys. The themes of discovery and transformation resonate throughout, creating an uplifting atmosphere. Overall, this novel is a cozy celebration of books and the bonds they forge, perfect for any bibliophile.

This was a great book. I love books about books lol. This made me laugh and it was such a cute book. I would highly recommend reading it.

BOOK SWAP has a charming “You’ve Got Mail” vibe, and I found myself rooting for them right off the bat. The struggles that come with exposing and addressing old hurt, viewed through the lens of adulthood made this book so relatable.

This was so, so cute. It’s one of those books that you start reading and then just can’t put down because it’s adorable.

I loved the secondary love story in this, the platonic one with Bonnie. It really enriched the power of this story for me. Such a joyful read.

The Book Swap is a debut book by Tessa Bickers that I totally enjoyed! Erin meets her Mystery Man when she accidentally leaves her favorite annotated copy of To Kill a Mockingbird in a Little Free Library. The book ends up back in the LFL a week later with new notes in the margins. From there starts a swapping of classic literature between two lonely souls communicating between the pages of these books. This novel was totally enjoyable and deals with such issues as second chances, mental health, death of a friend, bullying.

Thanks to NetGalley and Grayson House for the advanced digital copy of the book.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy of The Book Swap. It was a light, quick read with an enjoyable premise but in that I felt like it was rushed. This was a slow start for me and by the time I got into it, it didn’t feel like much had happened.

A very cute and sweet story! Takes you on an adventure!! Slow start though. Love the writing and imagination!

I didn’t get to finish this book, I got a new Amazon prime account and my kindle deleted everything associated with my previous account including all of my downloads and I only just figured out why it wasn’t appearing whenI tried re-sending to my kindle multiple times. Now I’ve finally found the source of my problem and changed/updated the kindle email and can now download books again. It really messed up my reviews for all of the books I’d requested over the past few months, I apologize. I liked what I was able to read so that’s what I’m rating.

This story had its moments, but the premise felt too thin to warrant an entire book. I liked the little free library aspect and the romance was sweet but I just didn't connect with this one.

𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞! 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝑺𝒘𝒂𝒑 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝒀𝒐𝒖’𝒗𝒆 𝑮𝒐𝒕 𝑴𝒂𝒊𝒍, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬, 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬.

𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐄𝐫𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞—𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 (𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝑻𝒐 𝑲𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝑨 𝑴𝒐𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒃𝒊𝒓𝒅) 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲. 𝐒𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝—𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐚 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐬. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬, 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞.

𝐈 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝! 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 (𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐓𝐁𝐑 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤). 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫’𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤—𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭!

𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝑜 𝒯𝑒𝓈𝓈𝒶 𝐵𝒾𝒸𝓀𝑒𝓇𝓈, 𝒢𝓇𝒶𝓎𝒹𝑜𝓃 𝐻𝑜𝓊𝓈𝑒, & 𝒩𝑒𝓉𝒢𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒜𝑅𝒞! 𝒜𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝓅𝒾𝓃𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝑜𝓌𝓃.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy of The Book Swap. It was a light, quick read with an enjoyable premise, and I especially appreciated the focus on the featured books within the story. However, I ultimately rated it 3 stars, as the storyline sometimes felt more melancholic than expected, falling short of the romantic comedy vibe I was hoping for. Additionally, the character development for James and Erin was a bit slow, which made it harder for me to fully connect with them

Okay this book is actually SO. CUTE. Are you kidding me? While I don't really read "classics", I think it's super cute that the main characters kept this friendship going based on all these old books! (I have read TKAM though and think it's really cool that it's what brought them back together) I feel The Book Swap also does a good job of blending heavy topics with the more lighthearted things.