I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

I loved the concept of this book! The Wordle aspect intrigued me a lot, especially as someone who plays the NYT games every day. I liked the small town aspect of it and definitely could feel the chemistry between Emily and John from the beginning. Overall, there were definitely things about each main character that made them slightly unlikeable. They came across a bit immature at times. I found it hard to understand John's character at the beginning. He didn't have much of a personality and seemed to take the "mysterious and quiet" vibe a bit too far. Loved the side characters! It was an enjoyable, easy read.

DNF. I thought the premise sounded cute so I wasn't to give it a try but ultimately, this wasn't for me. Emily was just... not a great character. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review.

I'm a bit scared to do a find and count for the word 'Wordle' in this book. I get it was the premise but it felt SO overused that even though I also do it nightly, I was getting sick of it and the idea of the game. The beginning and middle of this book had promise, she was starting to figure out herself, the museum scenes were cute, and she was starting to find her 'thing'. I even liked the relationship with John (didn't entirely get their relationship but could see it working). The grad school part was just odd to me - the break-up just because she applied to the decision to leave suddenly, him buying the house and it having nothing to do with her, it was all just odd and didn't make sense for the story and the characters. It felt a little like two books put together.

This charming grumpy-to-sunshine romance made for the perfect read on a cold, sunny day. Set in a quaint town on Prince Edward Island, the story delves into themes of ambition, self-discovery, happiness, and the pursuit of dreams. Emily, in her late twenties, feels as though she’s fallen short of her own expectations and is overwhelmed by the endless possibilities for her future. “There are thousands of things I could do with my life. Millions of different winding paths I could take.”

I loved the small-town setting, the heartfelt portrayal of caregiving for the elderly, and the emphasis on the importance of history—reminding us that it can be both meaningful and fascinating.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

The premise to this one was super cute, and while I did enjoy it, I felt like this story was missing something. By the end of it, it left me wanting. I don’t think I can exactly pinpoint what it was though.

Emily and John’s chemistry wasn’t world shattering, it was there, but barely. I enjoyed their interactions, John being that broody character that I usually enjoy in novels. I did feel he was a bit passive when it came to his relationship with Emily. And Emily, I honestly couldn’t connect with her character very much.

Thank you to Avon/William Morrow for providing me with an eARC for review. All thoughts are my own.

This book just wasn’t my taste. I liked the idyllic setting in a small town in PEI and some of the more quaint friendships described in the book. However, I found the style of writing somewhat grating (it read like a 20-yr old’s diary) and the central theme of the Wordle annoying — who takes HOURS to do a Wordle??? Maybe I just wasn’t the right audience for this one.

2.5 stars

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for the ARC 🤍

First off, what do you mean the MMC’s name is John Smith—aka the most generic (and Pocahontas-y) name possible? Also, Wordle?! This book should have come out years ago when that was actually relevant. The constant mention of it got old fast.

Why did the FMC go visit the neighbor in the first place? And why on earth would she agree to be a “caregiver” doing that much for only $250 a week—on top of her regular job and personal responsibilities? Then, for some reason, she volunteers at a barrel-making museum and suddenly wants to bring it back to life. What does any of this have to do with Wordle? Why date a man when the only thing you have in common is Wordle? She even has the audacity to complain about watching him race (spare me, yawn, kill me) when he went out of his way to help with the museum project she wanted to do—despite having zero interest in it. No wonder she doesn’t have friends anymore (which took her way too long to figure out). The more I read, the more unbearable she became.

But honestly, he wasn’t much better. He was clearly insecure about his job and life position, constantly battling this “second-rate fallback” mindset while arguing with her over having dreams and actually wanting to do something with her life. He even admitted that he’d want her to turn down an opportunity at The Met of all places.

The last 70–90% of the book is just her living out her once-in-a-lifetime internship—one she landed on a whim—while complaining and pining over the guy who literally wanted to hold her back from taking it.

And then? The ending felt abrupt.

RIP Jim. GFY Shelley.

I did not like how Emily’s move to New York went down. I think the move back was handled badly, and I was left with the feeling that Emily gave everything up to be with a guy. I understood the attempts in the book to demonstrate that this wasn’t the case. The internal monologue about how she understood she could still be happy if she stayed in New York and the plans she made with the museum and her elder care business were clearly meant to demonstrate she was making a decision that worked for her, but it didn’t quite get there for me. She didn’t stay long enough in New York to give it a proper chance to make that decision, so it just felt forced to me and an unnecessary conflict when we all knew she would end up back home.

I enjoyed the story for the most part, just the ending felt lazy. I plan on checking out other things by this author.

This is a cute read. It drew me in quickly and I zipped through it in hours. Overall, it's a fun quick read.

It has a coming of age feel to it where Emily is trying to figure out her live. She has a degree in science that she no longer wants to use. She's living in a small town in Canada working as a receptionist at an auto shop. Her joy at talking to and helping the elderly is clear. Her love of the old barrel museum is too. But she dreams of some big city job that will release her "happy life". I didn't really agree. I yelled at her often as it was clear she was building a happy life there in Walden, she just seemed to think her big city dream would make her more happy. As someone who never went through anything like that growing up, I couldn't relate to Emily. Sometimes she seemed way to young for her age. I did like that she finally though deeply about Jim's words and let that guide her.

I did like John. Yeah, he didn't have everything he wanted but he was well on his way to getting there. He understood himself and frankly Emily better than she did. His demeaner at the beginning of the book was strange but I quickly got it after a bit. Their common love of Wordle was a great way for them to start opening up to each other. I liked how that was a theme through the book.

The ending was a bit predictable but nonetheless satisficing. This is a delicious evening of reading.

"A Five-Letter Word for Love" by Amy James is a charming contemporary novel set on Prince Edward Island. It follows Emily, a receptionist with a passion for Wordle, and her reserved coworker, John, whose shared puzzles spark an unexpected connection. Blending small-town warmth, personal growth, and found family, this book offers a heartfelt and unique take on love. While the romance is subtle, its depth and humor make it a delightful read for fans of character-driven stories.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishing company for this Advanced Readers Copy of A Five Letter Word for Love by Amy James!

📚A Five-Letter Word for Love
🖌️Author: Amy James
🖋️Publication: @harper360ya
📝P.g.: 364
🗂️Genre: Romantic Comedy

4/⭐️

📌Summary:
Twenty-seven-year-old Emily doesn’t have a lot going well in her life right now. She dreams of a creative career but works as a receptionist in an auto shop. She longs for big city life but lives in a small town on Prince Edward Island. She craves a close group of friends but is stuck with irritating, car-obsessed coworkers.

What Emily does have is a 300+ day streak on the New York Times Wordle. But one day, with only one guess left and no clue what the answer is, she’s forced to turn to one of her irritating, car-obsessed coworkers, John, for help—and in doing so, realizes that he might not be so irritating after all.

As they make their way, word by word, toward a 365-day streak, Emily is drawn into a surprising romance that will take her outside of her comfort zone—and challenge everything she thought she knew about happiness, success, and love.

📌Review:
This was such a cute read. The tropes, Friends to Lovers and slow burn are chef’s kiss. It was so heartwarming to see Emily slowly fall in love with John.

An inspiring cute love story.

📌Thoughts:
I liked the author’s writing very much and I want to read more from her.

🌷I would like to thank @harper360ya for the free copy.

This book was soooo cutie. I love the small town vibes and the characters were just charming. As an avid Wordle lover, this book was practically made for me. I could heavily relate to not knowing what I want to be when I grow up. I feel like I'm floating just working jobs until I find one that sticks. That being said I loved the way our main character faced this problem. The slow-ish burn made me crazy but in the best way possible. Heavily recommend.

While I love the concept of this book, I found it difficult to connect with the characters and their relationship. It just didn’t have the depth I need to really fall into a story.

Ugh, I really wanted to like this more. The overall conceit here is really cute: two co-workers who otherwise have nothing in common bond over Wordle and fall in love. However, neither character was particularly interesting to me and I had a hard time rooting for them. Firstly, the MMC is incredibly flat. At the start, he is rude and silent but then suddenly becomes nicer because she asks without any struggle to change his ways? I don't buy it. Also, his characterization is so flat. The author has given him some interesting quirks (loves racecars, owns fish) but no motivation behind them (what got him into mechanics vs driving? Why does he keep tropical fish?). Instead, he is serves as a bland backdrop for the FMC's love/hate relationship with small-town life. Meanwhile, the FMC is totally lost about what she wants to do other than something "creative" and live in a big city. Then it turns out that she really loves taking care of older people, which seems more inline with her characterization and disposition than anything creative. I wish that had been the thing she stuck with instead of splitting her time between that and museums. The whole museum thing seemed designed to create a reason for her to leave town, and then she actually DOES like it but still bails on all her big city dreams to be with the most milquetoast man in Canada who was kind of a dick with her for not settling? Nah. It was one too many things. Overall, I did find the writing charming and the side characters delightful but I do think this would have been served by the MMC POV to seal the deal about why he likes her and why its worth it for them to stay together.

A Five-Letter Word for Love by Amy James is not just a love story for romance readers; it is a love letter to Wordle players everywhere. The Wordle game play in the book lightened up the more serious themes of self-actualization and what we should--or shouldn't--sacrifice for love. This book would be an excellent book club pick, with lots of discussion about Emily's journey to figuring out her "dream job" and her subsequent choices, as well as John's reactions to them. One of my favorite passages was the moment that Emily made her decision, and the epiphany that she had at that moment. This is a sweet story of romantic love, life choices, and found family that will be sure to warm your heart this winter.

Many thanks to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the chance to read and review this e-galley.

I was torn between giving this book a 3 or a 4 and I think I can settle on a solid 3.5. This book was just ok. I just could not bring myself to like the main character, Emily. I feel like she made everyone around her feel like she was better than them, their dreams too small and not as grandiose as she thought that everyone should be. John was happy in his life, he may not have dreamed of being famous or doing big things but he was a good guy. Overall, it was fine but I didn't love it.

As a wordle lover, the cover art and premise instantly took my interest. I really tried to love this book, but it was just not working out. The romance felt lacking, forced and shallow. I found the MC irritating at times. Had to DNF.

Emily Evans, our main female character, is a twenty seven year old woman who doesn't have a lot going well in her life right now. Emily doesn't have a career set yet & she also doesn’t really know what she wants to do with her life in all honesty. She works as a receptionist in an auto shop, where John, our main male character, works.
He is literally obsessed with cars. It’s always “oh blah blah car this” or “blah blah, car that”.
Emily has a 300+ day streak going for her on Wordle & what she doesn’t know is that John does, too. During their lunch breaks, they start doing it together..
Emily realizes that John isn’t so irritating and starts feeling the feels.
Side bar note:
Wordle:
•Six tries to guess a five letter word. When you make a guess, the letters will turn grey, yellow, or green.
•Grey means that letter isn’t in the word, yellow means it is but it’s not in the right spot, and green means it’s in the word & it’s also in the right spot! John is rude and grumpy & Emily just seems kind of ignorant. Their miscommunication KILLS ME! Like just talk to one another. Like yall are adults, because yall are?!
If you're looking for a super spicy & deep romance, this ain’t the one for you, fam. It was cute, but nothing super spectacular IMO.
Tropes:
🏠 Small Town Romance
🧑‍🔧🛞 Work place romance
🔥 Slow Burn
🩷 Clean Romance (mostly-ish)
Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, & author for a copy of this digital ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own!