The Bookstore Wedding
Alice Hoffman

‘Don’t say hello or goodbye. Don’t fall in love, don’t break my heart, don’t take me to dinner, don’t ask me who I am.’

This was a sweet little short story about life and the peaks and troughs that make up an existence. No life is perfect and set backs and disappointments are par of the course.

‘Life would slip away before you knew it so you had to live every day as if it was your last, for it just might be.’

Timing can be everything. Disasters always seem to be conspiring against their set plans and happy ever after.

‘They both knew that stories didn’t always end where you wanted them to.’

Sophie has to face the pain and mistakes of her past and present, and decide what it means for their future.

‘A year could go by quickly or it could seem to last forever, and this year had done both.’

What’s a wedding day superstition or saying you know?
I always heard, Marry in the Rain, Marry Again.

3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This short story is about Isabel & Johnny being together and planning to get married, except things keep causing their wedding to be postponed. I love the names of the baked goods they make. The short story wasn’t my favorite which is the reasoning for 3 stars. It just kinda felt all thrown together quickly and repetitive.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of The Bookstore Wedding.

I am absolutely obsessed with this book!!! I have never read a more sweet and darling book. This just melted me. It was phenomenal! Highly recommend!

EXCERPT: The original building had been a barn, built in 1670 by the island's founder, William Brinkley, who had lived alone with no other company for a dozen years. The sisters had added a bakery, and now on weekends there was often a line out the door. Their mother's secret recipes brought the crowds; people couldn't get enough of their favorites, especially I Must Be in Heaven Chocolate Brownies or Blue Moon Blueberry Muffins. Visitors came from Portland and Boston on hot summer days, and they continued taking the ferry over all through the fall. They sprawled in the grass with their new books and their sticky treats or made themselves comfortable in the old wicker chairs where Isabel and Sophie used to curl up to read when they were girls.

ABOUT 'THE BOOKSTORE WEDDING': Isabel, the long-lost Gibson sister, is finally back home on Brinkley’s Island, Maine. With Sophie and Violet, her sister and her niece, she’s got the family bookstore—and with Johnny Lenox, she’s got something even more special.

But even as life settles, not everything is falling into place. Isabel and Johnny have set the date three times, baked three wedding cakes, invited the whole island to three parties, only to have each attempt at matrimony fall apart at the last minute. Disasters seem to be conspiring against their happy ending, and Isabel is starting to wonder if their love is meant to be.

When family history comes back to haunt the Gibson sisters, Isabel knows that if she wants to make it down the aisle with Johnny, first she and Sophie will have to face the pain of their past and their present and decide what it means for their future.

MY THOUGHTS: A wonderful story about love, friendship and the importance of family.

The Bookstore Wedding follows on from The Bookstore Sisters, which does need to be read first, and there is a third novella in the pipeline, expected to be published February 2025.

This is more of a family drama than a romance, focusing on the relationship between sisters Isabel and Sophie, although it does have a romantic element to it.

I wish recipes were included, because the cakes sound amazing and enticing.

A brief and satisfying read, ideal for an afternoon at the beach or curled up in front of the fire.

⭐⭐⭐⭐+

#TheBookstoreWedding #NetGalley

THE AUTHOR: Alice Hoffman was born in New York City and grew up on Long Island. She currently lives in Boston.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Amazon Original Stories for providing a digital ARC of The Bookstore Wedding by Alice Hoffman for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

This was a quick and easy read. I did expect it to be a bit more light hearted and was surprised to have some heavy topics in such a short story. Overall, I really enjoyed it.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this.

One sweet, heartwarming cozy, easy going, captivating yet flowing bookish-wedding story where love finally wins at the end despite many challenges. A summer must read for all .

Cute short story! It is harder to connect with characters in such short stories but the author does a great job of helping readers to feel for these sisters. The love story is super cute and the relationships between the sisters and mother/ daughter were lovely to read.

I really enjoy this book - it kept me engaged from start to finish and I didn’t have any difficulty understand or relating to the prose. The characters were well developed and easy to like. I’d definitely recommend reading this book!

This is Book 2 of Once Upon a Time Bookshop Stories

I read this book directly after Book 1 as both of these books together are 70 something pages and are a very very quick read.

I loved these books. They had everything I wanted!
The characters were very well done as was the setting of the book. I loved the descriptions of the marshes and the harbor, also the fact that the bookshop is fixed and finally up and running with the addition of sweets.

I also enjoyed how both sisters grew into themselves and got over what used to weigh them down.

My only complaint is that this series is not longer. I just wanted to be in their world a little bit longer.

* THANK YOU TO NETGALLEY FOR PROVIDING AN ARC FOR THIS BOOK

This was a short and sweet read.
Really enjoyed this one in between those thriller reads!

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this through you.

A story about family relationships and believing in love. I went into this expecting a quick, light, romantic read, but I quickly discovered this was heavier than that. For such a short story, there is a lot of sadness, including illness and death. I wish I would have known that going in. There are also lots of moments of joy and happiness, but the sadness was a bit overwhelming for me.

Thank you Amazon Original Stories and NetGalley for the digital ARC.

These little novellas from my all-time favorite author are such a tease! Like looking in a pastry shop window filled with amazing treats and can only have a tiny sample. Love everything she writes! A story with close sisters is special.

This was a very short, very sweet love story. Though there was sadness, it still felt uplifting. Heartwarming and lovely, I recommend. Thanks Netgalley for the chance to read the ARC.

The Bookstore Wedding is a short story by Alice Hoffman, published under the Amazon Original Stories banner. A family tragedy when she was ten saw Isabel Gibson determined to avoid the pain of losing who and what she loved, by denying it. Less than a decade later, she headed for New York, leaving behind Brinkley’s Island, her father, her sister, Sophie, the family bookstore, and Johnny Lennox.

Twelve unfulfilling years on, the Once Upon A Time Bookshop is still there, and Sophie, widowed mother of Violet, needs a hand running it, having broken her leg. Isabel returns with her dog Hank, who makes his approval of Johnny Lennox very plain. After a while, Isabel stops fighting it and gives in to his persistent proposals. But three planned weddings have failed due to circumstances beyond their control. Surely the fourth time will be lucky? Sad, sweet and heart-warming, this is Alice Hoffman romance at its best.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley

The Bookstore Wedding is the second short story in the Once Upon a Time Bookshop Stories by Alice Hoffman. My only complaint with these short stories is just that - they’re short. I really enjoy this series and would love a full length book or even a trilogy. I think this story was only 27 pages. It’s about a magical bookstore, family, love, and life. Simple and yet I can’t help but devour these little stories.

I received an advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for a review and opinions are my own.

The bookstore wedding was a short and sweet book. I would rate it a 6/10.

I liked how the emotions in the book were noticeable. I also liked the characters of the 2 sisters and how close they seemed to be.

I didn’t really think the book’s storyline had enough depth and I felt the pacing of the story felt a bit slow in places, which made it difficult to stay fully engaged.

While the book wasn’t my favorite, I feel it might be better appreciated by people that love short light romantic reads

This was a cute short story about sisterhood, family, friendship, and love. I really enjoyed the story and I even got teary eyed when reading certain parts. I also got frustrated everytime something happened with the wedding but ultimately I liked it and I found the ending cute and fitting even if it was predictable. Sometimes these kinds of short, easy, and light reads are needed and I'm glad I got able to read this one.

Wonderful, sweet, and beautiful.
Alice Hoffman has the ability to pack so much into just a short story and this one was no different.
I was so excited to return to Brinkley Island with some beloved characters and cannot wait for one more.

This was a sweet story about friendship and love and family. I have not read the book it's based on so it was a little hard for me to connect with the characters, but overall it was a good, cozy read.

This story follows the Gibson sisters in Maine. Isabella and Danny try to get married various times; however life happens. Will they finally get married? There’s a touch of sadness in this book. I liked that this was an easy read and was heartwarming. I just did not become attached to the characters or the story and that may be becuase it is a short story. Nonetheless it is a cute story.