"A five letter word for love” by Amy James is a heartwarming and engaging romance novel that follows the love story of Emily and John. The unique aspect of their relationship being their shared love for the word game Wordle adds a fun and relatable element to the story.

The characters of Emily and John are well-developed and likable, making it easy for readers to become invested in their relationship. Despite the challenges they face, such as their differing career paths and the decision to break up in order to pursue their dreams, their love for each other shines through.

The setting of the auto shop where John works as a mechanic and Emily as a secretary adds a charming backdrop to their love story. The author does a great job of incorporating details about their work environment and the dynamics of their relationship within the shop.

Overall, "A five letter word for love" is a touching and uplifting read that explores themes of love, sacrifice, and following one's dreams. The journey that Emily and John take to find their way back to each other is both heartwarming and inspiring. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a feel-good romance novel with a unique twist.

Big thank you to NetGalley, Amy James, and Harper Collins Publishing for the ARC of this sweet rom-com, A Five-Letter Word for Love. I have such a sweet spot for debut novels, and I typically navigate to them as I am looking for books to request. With that said, I am generously giving this book 3 stars because I do believe that the story was very heartwarming, but the execution wasn't stellar.

If the author was going for the "dear diary" vibe - excellent work, but I don't think that was the goal. With this being the "debut" for Amy James, I don't plan to judge super harshly because she is still figuring out her writing style. Here is what you can expect from A Five-Letter Word for Love:

Synopsis says that two people fall in love over their mutual love for the NYTimes popular daily game: WORDLE. If you aren't familiar, it's an app that gives the user a daily 5 letter word to decode. 5 chances to guess and depending on the letter, color, and placement it will tell you whether you are correct or not.

We meet Emily. She is a recent college graduate who finds herself deep in college debt from a degree in chemistry that she has no intention of putting to use. Too little too late she realized that she was not passionate about science or chemistry and now she is stuck in smaller than small town, Waldon, PEI working as a receptionist in an auto shop. In the midst of her woes, she discovers WORDLE and that is the highlight of her day. Emily spends all day writing down her "dream job" ideas and applying to jobs. Model Receptionist.

We meet John, JOHN SMITH. (Can I side-bar this to say.. I think the author did this on purpose to really sell us on his initial personality of plain-ness. Maybe I am wrong.) When I tell you we MEET John - it's heavy on the meet because we really don't know much about him at all and he is meant to be the main male character. We see John in Emily's POV. John is one of the two men that Emily works with at the shop.

In an effort to meet the enemies to lovers' troupe, John and Emily aren't even remotely friends. In fact, because he is so insanely hot (per Emily) she has tried to spark a conversation on more than one occasion, but the only vocab that John knows is "mm" not even "mmhm" I know. He is so dynamic! UNTIL ONE DAY while in the breakroom Emily and John find themselves solving the daily WORDLE at the same time. WHO KNEW!? It's discussed that they should definitely swap numbers to keep them accountable or something.

I think this book is less of a rom-com and more of a self-discovery plot. The love story, if you really want to call it that, was sweet, I guess. I think the real story here is following Emily's self-discovery and immense growth from this immature girl who was lost in a world of unrealistic dreams, while in reality only focusing on what other people might think of her life instead of what would make her truly happy to becoming a woman who loves herself and trusts herself and her judgement. A woman who doesn't need approval from anyone.

OH! THERE IS NO SPICE.

PS you didn't need to make me cry like that in the last few pages AMY. ;) Thanks again for the ARC.

Cute and Quirky debut novel! I am starting to really enjoy the creative meet-cutes that authors are coming up with. Defintly worth the read if you like wordle or just went through a wordle phase.

3.5⭐️ A Five Letter Word for Love is centered around Emily and her wordle streak, she is trying to make it a year. Who would have thought to make a book centered around wordle???

Emily is an interesting character, she is so worried about finding her dream job and not being considered a small town girl that she isn’t really living the life that she has.

I kind of love and hate John’s personality at the same time like every time he said “mm” I laughed but also wanted to slap him. But somehow John and Emily’s relationship worked and the banter was great!

I feel the ending was a little rushed, I kind of had me wanted to know a little more, but overall a good read!!

read if you like:
🔠 Wordle
👩‍❤️‍👨 romcoms
💁🏻‍♀️ meet cutes at work

summary:
This book is about Emily, a young adult stuck in a rut in a dead-end job with no romantic prospects. While working as a receptionist at an auto shop, she gets hooked on….of course Wordle. One day, she’s forced to ask her coworker John for help when she only has one guess left, and finds herself with something in common with the coworker she had hardly spoken to.

I couldn’t get into this book. It starts a little slow, and while I also love Wordle and love the unique approach to the romcom, it’s hard to listen to the play by play of someone ELSE playing it every day. Emily was also hard to relate to — I wanted to like her, but she was too socially awkward for me to really relate. While I think she’s supposed to be in her mid-20’s, her mannerisms and hobbies make her seem MUCH older, which makes it hard to really get behind her. The plot was cute though, and even though I didn’t love Emily, I found myself rooting for her and her volunteer work at the museum — mostly because it felt so hopeless!

While the book has a satisfying ending, I just couldn’t get hooked to the unconventional plot lines and the less than likable main character. If you’re someone that likes quirky lead characters though, this might be for you!

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and Net Galley for the ARC!

This was a very sweet and quirky read! The Wordle element was masterfully weaved into the plot, and also added a lot of comic relief. I would have liked a little more depth to the MMC, and their connection. Overall, it was a nice story about personal growth and the complexities of adulthood.

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.

Who would've thought to make wordle and make it romance? and it works!

I loved that you can connect with the FMC. I loved the relatability and vulnerability that she had feeling lost and trying to find herself. A Five-Letter Word for Love was such a fun and unique read! A couple bonding over Wordle was such a fun idea that I was excited to read this book right away! It definitely did not disappoint. I thought Emily was such an interesting character. I love her approach to the world and in a lot of ways I found her really relatable. It made her feel like such a real person for me and I couldn't help but root for her happiness both as an individual and with John and their dynamic. This book was absolutely adorable in so many ways and I think so many romance readers will love this cute and quirky romance!

A decent debut! The use of Wordle as a storytelling device was creative and surprisingly well done. I think my issues with this book are simply how lackluster the romance is and how insufferable the main character's internal thoughts can be. This book has a really great slow burn romance, but unfortunately when the characters finally get together, their relationship feels so surface level and boring. I kept waiting for the guy to get more depth, but it never ended up happening. We are stuck in Emily's head the whole book, and her internal dialogue can occasionally be ignorant and hard to stomach. Although most of it is alright, the few moments that suck really made me dislike her. The ending also felt a bit too convenient.

Overall, this was a pretty good book! Definitely toes the line between cute and cringe (and unfortunately ended on the cringe side for me) but not bad at all. I will definitely be checking out the author's next release!

Publication date: December 3rd, 2024

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I loved This book!

The two main characters work together at an auto shop and Emily has a dream and she still trying to figure out life and what she wants to do. John loves cars and is still figuring out his life and what his future looks like. I love all the side characters and i enjoy every moment of this book!

I highly recommend reading this when it comes out!

Thank You Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager

The publisher provided ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A heartwarming and humorous romance, this book tells the story of Emily, a quirky 27-year-old receptionist with a passion for Wordle, who unexpectedly finds love with her coworker John. Set in a small town on Prince Edward Island, Emily's journey of self-discovery and personal growth is both charming and relatable. While some readers might find the abundance of Wordle references excessive and Emily's character a bit flighty, her genuine sweetness and the slow-burn romance with John add depth to the narrative. The book's unique elements, such as Emily's interactions with her elderly neighbors, provide a refreshing twist to the typical romance plot. Overall, it's a delightful read that balances humor, romance, and personal growth, earning a solid 3.5 out of 5 stars.

I love Wordle and other NYT games so I absolutely had to read this book, and that cover is the cutest! After reading some of the negative reviews on this I was quite skeptical about reading it but I don't understand the negativity. I thought this was a charming, heartwarming read. The FMC, Emily is quirky and unserious and a bit flighty but that doesn't bother me. Emily somewhat reminds me of Luna Lovegood from HP in a way, she is super happy and sweet despite how others treat her and has no shame doing what she likes.

I agree with some of the other reviewers that there are almost too many Wordle references and it does go on a bit too much so I think some of that could have been edited out. I liked the romance but I think Emily was a bit judgmental with John when talking about the NY stuff and life aspirations and John was right for telling her off. Despite the third act "breakup" I am glad Emily did what was right for her and I liked the "happy ever after".

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was really interested in this premise, and I think the cover is SO cute, but unfortunately this wasn’t for me. The writing to be quite frank was not good. The book was mostly telling instead of giving the reader details. The character did not seem like a mid-20 year old and instead seemed like a high schooler (which has me wondering if this would have been better as a YA book).

The way the author wrote about wordle made it seem like she had never played it before, like when the MC would say she had yellow letters and then proceed to not guess a word with those letters. And for her to just give up the streak at the end was really disappointing.

3.5 ⭐️

thank you avon and harper voyger + netgalley for the arc!!!

i can not remember the last time i actually laughed out loud while reading a book. emily was such a lovable, brave, and weird (iykyk), character. i loved how it felt like she was chatting to us as she lived her daily life, not necessarily like i was in her head, which was such a refreshing perspective. we got to follow emily through her mid life crisis of sorts and see how everything unfolded; how she found herself and made a life full of purpose and happiness.

now i understand why this might be a book for everyone. first of all i would not recommend this book for the romance plot line, only because it wasn’t the main focus (didn’t pick up until 60% in). while emily and john did have their moments, if i’m being honest their relationship wasn’t the highlight of the book for me as i wasn’t super invested. the barrel museum, wordle obsession, and passion for caring for the elderly are all elements that some readers might find too quirky, but i actually really enjoyed reading about considering how uncommon they are in the books i usually gravitate towards.

even though this book wasn’t life changing, i would definitely recommend for anyone looking for a quick, fun read about a floundering twenty something who dreams big, yet finds joy in the little things :)

This was so bad in so many ways. I basically skimmed (or DNF) after 80%. I thought the title be cover was so cute and I was excited to see how this story would go. I cannot stand the FMC. She is so judgmental and self-centered. I don’t blame John at all for saying what he did or feeling how he felt. The story just felt messy and all over the place. The Wordle part of it felt like kind of in the story. She’d do wordle every day and then the next chapter would say “three days later” with no mention of wordle at all…. So how did she even get close to meeting her goal? Also, the job thing and small town life just felt like it didn’t connect well with her relationship ship with John. Also they jumped the gun WAY too fast. You spend 50% of the book reading about how they hate each other and then one date, one kiss and they’re already staying at each others place? Doesn’t feel genuine and just flat out weird. I would’ve loved to see some change happening in John too. Anyway, way too all over the place, too many random parts that didn’t flow together, and a bit boring at times.

I loved A Five-Letter Word for Love by Amy James so much. It’s about two people who fall in love over Wordle. I mean, 😍. That was all I needed to know. Say less, as they say. This was cute and wholesome and gave me all the warm and fuzzy feelings. I loved how normal these characters were. Emily with her thoughts and ramblings and John, a man of few words. Emily’s relationship with the elderly was sweet. Jim’s review for Emily made me clutch my chest with tears streaming down my face. ❤️ Adorable book. Just what my Wordle-loving heart needed. Thank you Avon, Harper Voyager and NetGalley for this eARC.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I expected this book to be a fluffy and cute romance with wordle giving two coworkers who dislike each other a second chance at connecting. However, this book had a lot of depth and I enjoyed Emily's journey of self-discovering and finding out what she wanted do with her life. Some readers said they found Emily annoying and while I can understand that, I do think she acts realistically for a 27 year who feels like her friends have all found their calling and path in life and she's still stuck in a small town working a job that has no room for growth. The relationship with John was slow burn and it felt realistic for two coworkers falling for each other after avoiding each other for nearly a year. It was fun to watch Emily and John learn more about each other and realizes that they may have judged one another too harshly and hastily when they first met. Emily builds herself a supportive community. I particularly enjoyed her relationships with her elderly neighbors/clients and one even made me tear up. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A Five-Letter Word for Love is a sweet romance following two coworkers as they start to get to know one another and sparks fly... thanks to Wordle. Honestly, I wanted to LOVE this book because I loved the concept, but I was a little frustrated by the way this book read more similarly to a YA novel than an adult romance. I love both genres normally, but to have an adult woman behaving as a teenager felt a little frustrating throughout the story. There was also quite a bit of over-explaining throughout the novel, especially in the stream-of-consciousness of trying to decide on Wordle guesses.

Other than that, the book was enjoyable. It was tender, the chemistry felt a little lackluster but was still present, and the premise was fantastic! I loved the small-town quirks, and I think quite a few readers will really love this one!

This book was absolutely adorable in so many ways. Cute romance centered around Wordle? Sweet but Snarky main character? A surely old woman who I might emulate as I age? All good things, all good things.

I also liked that this book was not solely focused on the romance plot - it was the main character growing, grappling with her expectations for her life versus what brought her contentment, dealing with friendship changes like we all do.

I usually don't care for books that are written from the first person perspective but I found that I didn't mind it in this book. It is a sweet, close door romance which is also a bit different from the smut I usually read, but like I tell my kids different doesn't mean bad! (And having spent a plane ride trying to hide the smut book I was reading from my seatmate, I can appreciate a good close door romance even more now!)

A super-cute and realistic premise: a small-town girl and her co-worker bond over Wordle. It starts as small conversation, then moves to texting, & continues to build. All the while, she’s trying to figure out what she wants from life and if she can be happy staying where she is.

I liked Emily & John together because they both showed each other different perspectives of life, relationships, friendships. Their conversations felt natural and the build-up was sweet. A solid Opposites Attract situation.

That being said, I would have loved this to be dual POV and get into John’s head. There was so much of Emily inner thoughts and I think seeing how John was handling Emily’s anxiety/doubts/etc would have been good.

Along those lines, almost all of what we know comes directly from Emily’s thoughts: why she’s there, her background, where she wants to go, why she doesn’t like X or Y…her story isn’t woven into the plot, the author just tells us what we should know. There was a lot of potential, but it’s a book where it’s all “tell” and no “show” & it kind of takes the fun out of reading and discovering the characters.

Overall, I won’t re-read but I may recommend depending on what the person is looking for.

"He kisses like he talks, slow and lazy, and I press myself against him, feeling a sort of arching deep inside of me."

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon for this eARC.

I'll be honest, I wasn't a huge fan of this book. The story follows Emily who is working as a receptionist for an auto-shop in a small town in Canada. She spends her days playing Wordle, volunteering, and taking care of the elderly. However, she dreams of a big city life with her dream job. However, when the day comes that threatens her 300+ day wordle streak, she has to turn to her irritating coworker for help. And soon she starts to realize John may not be so irritating after all. Soon Emily has to face the differences between what she thought she knew about happiness, love, and success, and what is her reality.

"Tomorrow will come, whether I'm miserable about it or not."

Listen. The concept of this book may seem uninteresting to some. And honestly looking back I should probably have realized that the plot wasn't going to be too involved given the premise. However, the idea of a Wordle romance was so cute to me as someone who loves Wordle. However, this romance was so pointless in my opinion. I didn't understand Emily's desperate need to look down on the small town life, because even if she wasn't meant for that slow life, she didn't have to discredit what other people may find enticing about it. So then the romance takes off about 50% of the way through, and the third-act conflict just irritated the heck out of me. The only reason this book gets 2 stars is because of John. Because if he had been fleshed out a little bit more, I feel like he would have been the perfect quiet, broody love interest. I also liked that it was closed-door.