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.

Thank you to NetGalley & Avon and Harper Voyager for this ARC in exchange for an honest review! I think most people should be confident that they'll find A Five-Letter Word for Love by Amy James to be a really enjoyable, cute, and easy to read romance! I know I did! You know exactly what you're getting based on the summary, and honestly I think this book might even exceed expectations! It's a quick read, and if you're like me you'll be able to do it in one sitting!

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. John was great too! Their dynamic was so well-written. I loved the set up and their growth a lot. I loved how goofy and teasing and fun they are! And as I said, I thought the Wordle connection was really cute! What I really appreciated about Emily and John is how they felt so genuine and grounded. There was no overreactions that felt out of place or solely for the sake of drama. Everything really felt like it was coming from two people who wanted the best for each other, while needing to sort out what that means for their own lives and their relationship. And I enjoyed that!

There are also a lot of great side characters in this book and I appreciated the roles they played in the story. I also thought the dialogue was a great aspect of the book! Very well-crafted in my opinion. The narration was very interesting and it did work for me but I could see some people not finding it as enjoyable. It's very much like we are in Emily's head, in the moment with her, and like she is addressing us as the audience at times. I thought it really suited the story and her personality, but make sure you consider your own individual tastes for narrative styles. Also this book does have Emily take the time to explain the rules of Wordle, so fair warning if you already know then that section might feel slow. And Emily is not an incredibly strategic Wordle player. Again it suits her personality really well, which you'll discover as you read, but if you are very passionate about your word games perhaps you might find this vexing? Just a fair warning.

Ultimately this is a pretty straightforward, simple, and sweet romance, and if that's what you're looking for I think you'll be pleased!

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon for providing a DRC of this title.

I could see this book being a hit for a lot of readers, but I don't think the first-person, breaking-the-fourth-wall, confessional style worked for me. The characters (especially the FMC) read a lot younger than their years, and I actually wonder if I would have enjoyed this one more if it had been written as a YA. I'd still recommend it for Wordle-loving patrons or readers who don't mind some immaturity in their lead characters.

I really tried with this book but there was nothing I found enjoyable.

This book revolves around the game wordle and it got repetitive and annoying very quickly. There were pages dedicated to Emily figuring out the word for the day and her strategy in trying to figure out some words was so exaggerated and inaccurate. Also, wordle doesn't use plurals, which the first page makes reference to her losing her streak to *bowls* which could've been easily swapped with another word with a quick google search. (It seems like I'm being very nitpicky but considering that this is literally the main crutch of the book, it's a bad look)

Emily is going through a self-discovery journey but she has absolutely no redeeming qualities. She's so elite and judgy about John just because he's (seemingly) the quiet type. He's car-obsessed and Dominican((which is only mentioned 4 times. The second time was about how he went to visit his grandparents in the DR and the fourth time is just backstory about his dad being in the Dominican Republic, which is where het met John's mom and that's literally it.) and she can't stand him because he's not like her. His Latino heritage wasn't exactly acknowledged at any point. The word Latino is never used.

The cringe, fourth-wall breaking narration was something I tried to get through and managed but it reached peak levels of cringe and made Emily feel younger than 27. I had the hardest time wrapping around her age because she was having adult problems but her thought process felt so pick me and cringe type of 'oh, I'm quirky' that it was hard to feel any sympathy to her struggles.

Also, going into something about my first point. Her obsession to solving wordle is obsessive to the point that it's concerning. She's on a date and completely ignores the guy to try and solve it. NSP's 'I don't know what we're talking about' was the first thing that came to mind when I read this. And that was funny.

This was not.

Thanks again to NetGalley and Avon via HarperCollins for the e-arc of this book to read.

I understand what the author was trying to do with this book. I love the concept of it, but I feel like it could have been better. Nothing stood out or made me want to continue reading. I didn't care for or really relate to the main characters which I'm sad about because I loved the idea of this book. The author was able to show amazing character growth in Emily and John was decent. I feel like even though this book is kind of revolved around wordle it's a bit TOO much.

Emily has some big aspirations for her life. She has her "dream job" requirements all picked out, except she's not sure what job she wants for her dream job. She feels like she's meant for something bigger than her small town, like New York City or Boston, somewhere with lots of people and exciting new adventures. While trying to figure this out, she's on a three-hundred day Wordle streak, which she bonds with John over, a mechanic at the shop she receptions for. Over the course of the novel, Emily finds herself falling in love with her small town and the quirky residents, helping out her elderly neighbors and volunteering for the local barrel museum.
This novel is all about Emily trying to find herself, and it's refreshing to read a book about someone how doesn't have her life together. The romance between John and Emily was very cute, I felt the secondhand awkwardness through the pages while they were trying to navigate each other.

First person romance is one thing, but the breaking of the fourth wall for the narrator to talk directly to the audience from the get go? Nope. I'm sure it works for some folks, but it really keeps me from getting into the story. It's very *record scratch* I bet you're wondering how I ended up this sistuation. I alos just couldn't get behind the main character. She's kinda annoying and rude.

My Wordle loving heart wanted this to work for me, and it didn’t.

I love Wordle. I’ve played for over 2 years, and unfortunately lost my streak last year when I was on vacation and didn’t have wifi for a couple days, so I’m right around 300 days for my streak - just like the character in this book. So I was so intrigued!

In the first chapter, the character (well, the author) is basically explaining how to play and what the colours all mean, as well as a bit about her streak because she’s at 300 days. She said she lost on kayak and squat but got to 50 days and the word that day was bowls. Bowls is never going to be a Wordle word, it’s a 4 letter word that was made plural and not a 5 letter word and that type of word will never be used. So I was already a bit hesitant because like, this is in her explanation paragraph of the game and it’s already giving incorrect information. But then she’s playing for day 301 and starts with Dough, says she got a yellow H, and then immediately goes with Pesky… after saying yellow means it’s in the word but somewhere else and then there’s no explanation on how she maybe just wants to get extra letters or whatever instead of using it. I’m sure I’m being too judgemental but I feel like if you’re going to write a book involving Wordle and explain in the book how to play, giving 2 bad examples simply just took me out of how the rest of the book might be written.

Thank you to the publisher & NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy of this book! I voluntarily read this book, and all thoughts and opinions are my own. I do hope this book finds its audience, because I am bummed it wasn’t for me. Because it really probably was just that I care far too much about Wordle.

⭐️3.5

This was an enjoyable read. I did feel though that it was lacking a depth that you see in five star romances. That being said I devoured this book in one sitting. Emily isn’t my favorite heroine but the other characters make up for it. If you’re looking for a quick easy read then this is the book for you!

this book was so funny and i loved the characters. i was not really sure what to expect going into this book, but was not disappointed.

Before I begin, I would like to thank Amy James for allowing me to read a Net Galley ARC of her upcoming book, A Five-Letter Word for Love, which will be available on December 2nd, 2024.

Emily is twenty-seven years old and has a lot of dreams. She wants to live in a big city, have close friends, and a career in a creative field, but now she works at a small-town auto shop in Prince Edward Island with annoying coworkers that only think about cars. All Emily has to look forward to is playing Wordle and keeping up her 300+ day streak. However, one day she only has one guess left without any idea what the answer could be so she asks one of her coworkers that is obsessed about cars, John, for help. As she starts hanging out with John more, she realizes that he might not be as annoying as she originally thought. Soon Emily finds herself involved in romance that will make her question what it truly means for her to be truly happy, successful, and to be in love.

This was a great story. You have Emily, a sweet and spunky young woman that craves close relationships and a career that allows her to express her creativity. You have John, who seems gruff and solely focused on cars, but is very charming and kind. Jim and the other senior citizens were wonderful, as well as Rose and her husband. I personally would love to go to that museum and Prince Edward Island in general. I found the struggles that Emily was dealing with relatable and intimidating. Emily did make mistakes, but that made her human, and I cheered her on throughout the book. Overall, if you like small towns, great banter, found family, complex characters, puzzles with sweet and spicy romance, then I highly recommend this book. Here’s the link for more information: A Five-Letter Word for Love: A Novel - Kindle edition by James, Amy. Contemporary Romance Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

This was a cute concept, but I felt it lacked in the execution. There was a lot of tell, not show, especially when it came to the main relationship. We spent about half the book building their relationship, and then they got together and were immediately comfortable and dare I say, boring? Like, we never really got to know John on a deeper level nor did we see their relationship blossom, Emily just told us that it was. I think part of the disconnect was the first-person writing style, but hearing all of Emily’s inner thoughts made me not like her at times. I understood her feeling about wanting to do something important with her life, but it quickly became extremely elitist and hard to read. There was so much potential with the small town and quirky cast of characters, we were just lacking any real depth in their relationship. When I read romances, I expect the relationship to build in importance so that the characters help each other grow. John’s presence in the book could have easily been removed and she would have gone on the same personal growth journey, which is disappointing.

And just to be nit-picky: you don’t need to explain Wordle in so much depth. If someone is picking up a romance about Wordle, I feel like they have a basic understanding of the game at minimum, so you don’t need to explain the meaning of the colors every time the characters play.

This novel was just so cute! I really loved watching Emily choose her dream. The banter was fun, I laughed out loud through most of the book and loved the sweet little town of Waldon. Definitely recommend!

There is so much more to this book than Wordle. However as a fan of the game it is a fun and unique little antidote that adds some extra fun to the story. Emily is floundering in her late twenties, comparing herself to university friends she's more or less fallen out with. She discovers to find her own happiness, means paving your own path even if that takes you away from what you thought you always wanted. There's a lot to love about this very cute story. It had me emotional at times, hopeful at others, and laughing out loud too. Strong writing and debut from Amy James, I can't wait to read more from her.


A note to the publisher, there was a small Wordle related typo in chapter 21 her opening word is LIKES and she says it's all gray, however the word ends up being TRAIN and therefore the I in her starting word would have been yellow.

If you’re searching for a read that captures the essence of love in all its complex and captivating forms, Amy James’ "A Five-Letter Word for Love" is the book you need to dive into. This novel is a beautiful exploration of relationships, self-discovery, and the transformative power of love, all wrapped up in a narrative that will tug at your heartstrings.

This story centers around Emma, a young woman who’s navigating the tricky terrain of love and loss. Emma's journey starts with a cryptic crossword clue left by her late grandmother, leading her on a quest that intertwines past and present, bringing to light old secrets and new beginnings. Amy James crafts a protagonist who is both relatable and inspiring, making Emma’s highs and lows feel intensely personal.

The cast of supporting characters is just as engaging. There's Jake, the enigmatic neighbor with a penchant for puzzles, who adds a layer of mystery and charm to Emma's life. And let's not forget Aunt Liz, whose no-nonsense attitude and fierce loyalty provide both comic relief and heartfelt wisdom. Each character is thoughtfully developed, contributing to a rich, multifaceted narrative.

Amy James’ writing is a blend of lyrical prose and sharp, witty dialogue. She has a knack for creating vivid imagery and emotionally charged scenes that stay with you long after you've turned the last page. The way she interweaves the themes of love, loss, and healing is nothing short of masterful.

At its heart, "A Five-Letter Word for Love" is about finding love in unexpected places and learning to trust in the journey, even when the path is unclear. It’s about the connections we forge and the courage it takes to open our hearts, despite the risks. Emma's story is a poignant reminder that love, in all its forms, is the answer to many of life’s puzzles.

This book is a must-read for anyone who enjoys a story that is as thought-provoking as it is heartwarming. Amy James’ ability to capture the nuances of love and the intricacies of human relationships makes "A Five-Letter Word for Love" a standout in contemporary fiction. Whether you’re a fan of romance, family dramas, or just great storytelling, this novel will not disappoint.

In conclusion, "A Five-Letter Word for Love" is a beautifully written tale that explores the many dimensions of love with grace and sensitivity. Amy James has created a narrative that is both timeless and timely, filled with characters who feel like old friends. So, cozy up with a blanket, brew your favorite cup of tea, and get ready to be swept away by a story that will warm your heart and stir your soul.

You pretty much get what you came for here. A competent romance with actually more Wordle involvement than you would think is possible. The one thing that separates this book from most others I’ve read in the genre is that it is shockingly normal. Like this is a life a normal person would lead with normal arguments and normal dates. I did find myself getting attached to the side characters, but unfortunately the female and male main characters are a bit boring. But normal. I prefer a bit more whimsy and banter.

Thanks to HarperCollins and NetGalley for the ARC :)

As always, I liked the small town element to this, and the connection to older communities and their stories. The central relationship was cute. If it can be considered a small-town romance, the romance part was very light. And I have read more enthralling books about PEI.

The main voice in this book felt very juvenile to me (ex: saying she kinda messed up, made a big mistake by drinking two glasses of wine too quickly the night before). But she’s not a juvenile in age, and the book is not YA. Her struggles and general thought processes were just immature.

Also, I simply cannot understand, and even fully disagree with, her Wordle strategies so much that it fully got in the way of appreciating the novel. Who receives results from the first line, and then doesn’t use the results to inform the second line?? She just chooses a totally random (basically) other starting word, that sometimes even uses letters she knows are not right. I just couldn’t get past that.

Nevertheless, thank you NetGalley, for the arc.

Rom-com story where coworkers in a small town auto shop fall for each other over Wordle! He is never going to leave town and she has big dreams to leave for a big city.

Thank you to NetGallery and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.