Not my favorite Viola Shipman book - this one has a really bitter tone and it seemed like the author wasn't that into the story either. It's really slow starting, with a really strange beginning, and an obvious "mystery". Set in the book publishing world, it's a look into setting I'm not familiar with, but didn't enjoy.

Emma is a recent U of M grad and is trying to figure out her future - become a writer, something she's hidden from her family, or join the family publishing firm. She has gone back to the family cottage to mourn the loss of her grandmother, GiGi, and there she finds a family secret and hopes to use it to save her family's struggling book publishing firm. Her social media maven sister has other ideas.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for a temporary, digital ARC in return for my review.

Emma Page, daughter of a literary powerhouse couple from publishing longs to publish her own book. Emma's parents publish highbrow books but, Emma wants to write romance. Her parents would be aghast!
This book is a departure from many Viola Shipman romances. It's not a romance at all and it has an honest-to-goodness villain. Will this villain with a grudge to bear ruin Emma and her family's lives or will Emma be able to save her family and be able to write a happily ever after for herself and her family?

In Page Turner, Emma finds herself entangled in family drama, secrets, and unexpected revelations as she fights to save her family’s legacy. With themes of love, resilience, and the complexities of relationships, this story is an emotional rollercoaster that keeps you hooked from start to finish.

I read this book in one sitting—I simply couldn’t put it down! It’s one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. Emma’s journey, her relationship with Gigi, and the powerful family dynamics made this story truly unforgettable. I loved how the book explored how perception, lack of communication, and past wounds can hold us back from truly connecting—especially with family. The ending sealed it for me—watching Emma and her sister, Jess, finally come together and fight for their family’s future was so satisfying. This book touches on so much: love, resilience, and how hatred can eat away at us if we let it. It makes you feel seen, heard, and empowered—I’m sure every reader will find a character to connect with. I can’t recommend this one enough!

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to be an ARC reader for this incredible book!

Publication Date: April 8,2025

Thank you to Netgalley for this arc. I love the cover of this book and love books based off writing or books themselves. This book was everything I was looking for. Such a lovely read.

This book was a fun quick read that stayed true to the name “page turner”. Emma comes from a family of book loving elites who are renowned in their own field of interest in the book community but don’t appreciate Emma’s tastes in books. Her mother and father run a company, the Mighty Book, and her sister was one of the OG booktokers who can make or break the release of a book with her reviews. This book is all about self discovery and staying true to your own passions even in the face of judgement from others. It was filled with family drama and personal character development that keeps readers engaged. Definitely worth the read!

Seeing the back end of the industry as a reader/reviewer was so interesting! This was my first Viola Shipman book, and I will definitely be reading other works!

"Emma Page grew up the black sheep in a bookish household, raised to believe that fine literature is the only worthy type of fiction. Her parents, self-proclaimed “serious” authors who run their own vanity press, The Mighty Pages, mingle in highbrow social circles that look down on anything too popular or mainstream, while her sister, Jess, is a powerful social media influencer whose stylish reviews can make or break a novel."

The description had me hooked and didn't disappoint!

Viola Shipman’s The Page Turner is an engaging mix of family drama, literary intrigue, and self-discovery. At its heart, it’s a novel about embracing one’s passions despite external judgment, wrapped in a compelling, multi-layered story.

Emma Page has always felt like an outsider in her book-obsessed family. Her parents run The Mighty Pages, a struggling publishing house that values only highbrow literature, while her sister, Jess, is a powerful book influencer. Emma, however, secretly writes romance—the very genre her family dismisses. When she uncovers her late grandmother’s hidden legacy as a beloved romance author, she finds both inspiration and a shocking secret that could shatter her family’s reputation.

As Emma wrestles with her identity as a writer, she must also face a vengeful industry insider threatening to expose her family’s hypocrisy. What follows is a thought-provoking exploration of ambition, integrity, and the divide between literary prestige and popular fiction.

One of the novel’s standout elements is its behind-the-scenes look at publishing. Shipman delves into how books are chosen, marketed, and judged, shedding light on the lingering bias against commercial fiction. Many readers will relate to Emma’s frustration with literary snobbery and the undervaluing of books that bring joy to millions.

The characters are well-developed and authentic. Emma is witty, self-aware, and relatable as she navigates family expectations and her own creative dreams. Jess is a fascinating mix of confidence and insecurity, while their parents, though pretentious, are not without complexity. Their rigid ideals create tension, but their love for their work and family remains evident.

Shipman’s writing balances humor, warmth, and insight, making The Page Turner more than just a novel about books—it’s about self-acceptance, resilience, and the power of storytelling in all its forms. Whether you love romance, literary fiction, or simply a great story about following your dreams, this book is a must-read.

Main Characters:
-- Emma Page – recent college graduate with a major in English, inherited her love of reading from her grandmother GiGi, has her sights set on being a writer and wrote her first novel in college, enjoys more popular fiction versus the “pretentious” literary fiction her parents publish
-- Jess Page – Emma’s older sister, one of the original BookTokers, works as the social media influencer for their parents publishing house, her influence can make or break a new release
-- Phillip and Piper Page – Jess and Emma’s parents, authors who own and run the publishing house The Mighty Pages, refuse to publish “popular” fiction and think GiGi and Emma’s love of romance novels is a waste of time, they discourage Emma from reading GiGi’s favorite author
-- Marcus Flare – considered the world’s most preeminent romance novelist, Emma is disgusted by him and his writing and sees him as a sexist and misogynist
-- Vivian Vandeventer – goes by VV, head of her own literary agency VV Lit, rivals of Phillip and Piper
-- GiGi Page – recently passed away, Phillip’s mother, left the family her home in Michigan where Emma and Jess always spent their summers

I really wanted to love this book. It has everything a book nerd would want—people reading all the time, people who love to write, beaches, sunshine, romance novels, beach reads, and a peek behind the curtain of the world of professional publishing. What more could a book girlie want?

Shortly after Emma graduates from the University of Michigan, her parents host a book launch for Phillip’s latest novel at GiGi’s home in Michigan. All of their literary elite friends and colleagues are in attendance, including Marcus Flare, who Emma knows but doesn’t like at all. At the event, Emma picks up on some hints that her parents have something going on with Marcus that makes her suspicious, but she has no idea what it is.

Phillip, Piper, and Jess fully expect Emma to work with them at the publishing house, but Emma is determined to be a writer. When she discovers a plan to destroy her parents’ business, she has to choose between following her own dream or trying to take down the person who wants to take down her family.

The plot itself intrigued me, but the story fell down pretty quickly. Emma claims that her parents’ tastes are pretentious, but she acts exactly the way she claims to dislike. Phillip, Piper, and Jess look down on both Emma and GiGi’s tastes in reading material. They dismiss Emma’s desire to write, despite the fact that Phillip himself is an author and they have never actually read anything she’s written to know whether she has talent. Marcus Flare is comically evil, practically a caricature villain. All he needs is Snidely Whiplash’s handlebar mustache. The only character I really liked was VV—a strong, confident businesswoman who oozes personality.

There’s a secret that Emma and Jess discover in GiGi’s belongings almost 70% of the way through the book that I saw coming less than 20% in. For someone who was so close to her grandmother, Emma is awfully out of touch with her grandmother’s life. At one point, we learn that no one was ever allowed in GiGi’s home office, but when Emma is left alone in the house for two weeks, she doesn’t sneak into the office despite indicating that she had always been curious. Seriously, that’s the first thing I would have done with two weeks to myself. And Phillip and Piper tell Emma that they know she has written a book because they talk to her friends, but they keep discouraging her from being a writer. It just doesn’t make sense.

To top it all off, Emma went on and on about the romances that GiGi loved. Even the publisher’s description says Emma’s manuscript is a romance, but based on how it’s described in the book, it’s not a romance at all. “An ode to sisterhood, family, first love and first loss, a tribute to all the ways family shatters us and yet protects us.” That’s not romance.

The wrap-up at the end provided some nice closure, but it was a struggle to get there. I appreciated the author’s note at the end a lot more than I appreciated the book itself. I was so excited to read this one, and I left so disappointed. It was a miss for me.

The Page Turner takes you to Emma's summer home to Michigan, and during this book it did feel like home. This is the signature of Viola Shipman. They draw you in and you are immersed in the setting and the character's lives. Emma and the reader are taken back to some of her best memories with her grandmother. Emma is a writer and does not fit with her publishing family there in lies one of the conflicts in this book.

I really enjoyed most of the characters and how the plot and characters were developed. I did not enjoy Marcus' character but I do not think I was supposed to. I would love to meet Emma and Gigi in real life though as they were characters that I could connect easily with.

I feel this book is a commentary on the publishing business, the power of relationships and women.

Thank you Net Galley, Viola Shipman and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the opportunity to preview this novel and the opinion shared are my own.
The Page Turner is expected to be released April 8, 2025.

While it started with an interesting premise - a recent college graduate aspires to be a romance novelist, but she feels perpetually stuck under the clouds of her pretentious literary parents. Unfortunately, the story is slow to take off (like there is very little movement in the story until you hit the 60% mark). I never really connected with any of the characters and therefore struggled to get through this. At least the cover was really cute!

Aspiring author Emma Page spends her days writing what she hopes to be the next bestselling novel. Under the scrutinizing eyes of her publishing house CEO parents and already published sister, Emma struggles to find her place in the family. When her and her sister find something that overthrows everything that comes of the publishing house and publishing houses instead the two of them get to work trying to save the family business.
If you liked Yellowface or are interested in book publishing in general, you should definitely give this book a try. The generational mysteries, the beautiful lyrical writing, there’s a little bit of everything scattered throughout the book. I guarantee that you won’t want to put it down.
I especially appreciated the authors note at the end of the book. I’m not going to spoil anything, but the author using her grandma’s name as her pen name as tribute to her made me want to tear up. Especially after reading about Emma and her grandma.
Thank you to NetGalley and Graydon House for an eARC of this book.

4.5 stars rounded up
This is a really interesting book for me to review because of the experience I had while reading it. I got my ARC copy months before its publication date (April 8, 2025), but I started to read it way back in October thinking it was being published in November and they usually request reviews to be posted close to the pub. date. Then I realized I'd confused it with two other books that were being published in November. I was about 25% through, but I had no problem putting it aside and reading other books instead. I really wasn't into it at all.
Fast forward and April looms closer, so I tell myself I have to finish that book. I was not excited about it, so imagine my surprise when I started reading again and LOVING it this time! Timing can be everything for a book. It certainly was for me with this one. I absolutely loved this love story to books and what they mean to us in our lives. I have to say that during the time I had put this book aside I watche a Netflix series that takes place in a publishing company for much of the storyline (Younger) and I think that helped me immediately feel more connected with this storyline because the family owns a publishing company.
I also loved the author's letter to his (Viola is a pen name for a male author who honors his grandmother through his writing in her name) readers at the end is very touching too.

Thank to #Netgalley and #GraydonHouse for this arc of The Page Turner in exchange for my honest opinion

3.5 stars. This started off terrible. I thought to myself that this would be the fastest I've ever DNFd a book. Instead I went to Goodreads to read some reviews and decided to stick with it. Things improved at about 20% and I'm glad I kept reading. Emma is really young and she's very opinionated. Some of the things she says are ignorant garbage but some are beautifully wise. The family dynamics are interesting and I love the strong bond Emma had with her grandmother. The cottage is a lovely setting. You also learn a lot about the publishing industry which was fascinating. I loved VV. She's a great character--smart and outrageous. The scene at the end on The Today Show was really cringe. Aside from the first 20% and the cringe scene at the end, this is a good book. Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC.

Ok so it took me a few chapters to get invested but when I did, it was unputdownable.

I loved the commentary on the publishing industry, genres of books, elitism, misogyny in the book community, family relationships.

The character relationships gave me whiplash. One sentence they were condescending and tense and the next, they would do anything for each other. And then they came together and it wasn’t tense again. Whew. BUT I understand That was part of the point.

What really infuriated me was the ending. On one hand, I understand That is the realistic outcome in life because *the patriarchy* BUT it totally goes against the genre to not have Marcus get his just desserts and justice served. I would Have loved to see the misogynistic ahole get what was coming BECAUSE it would not be what happens in real life. I wanted To see his books get demolished and his true self come to light. Ugh.

Dive in to the crazy and unhinged world of family and publishing in the new release from Viola Shipman. If you're a fan of Hannah Ellis or Jennifer Weiner this will for sure fall in your wheelhouse. Just get through the first 15-20%. Shout out to NetGalley, Viola, and Graydon House for the eARC!

What to expect:
⭐ Cat + Mouse games
⭐ Single POV
⭐ Cast of insane meddling secondary characters that will drive you crazy!
⭐ A Beautiful story of finding yourself after death of an integral family member
⭐ Underlying story of reconnecting as a family
⭐ A cozy cottage on the coast of Michigan

My Thoughts:
STICK WITH THIS. I say that because woof Part 1 I really struggled to find my way. I read and re-read a lot of the story at the beginning feeling a little lost along the way. Some of it felt written VERY academically, less like a story which is why I don't do a lot of non-fiction. It just isn't my absolute favorite form of story telling. Also this is my first Viola shipman book. I didn't know anything going in about the author or previous books.

All that to say I AM SOOO team Emma + the journey she takes in this story! The story as a whole, where they go, the crazy secrets her and her sister Jess find out about along the way AND how Part 3 unfolds! Hold on to your HATS! Once I pushed through the start I was immersed 100%! I needed to know how it all played out! I needed to know if she herself allows her own dreams to come to FULL fruition. More than that as a Michigan born + bred gal, with a business degree from the University of Michigan, I desperately needed to know what happens to the family cottage and their safe place!

This story on a personal side for the author (Wade) seems a bit of telling their own story. Reflecting on his own grandmother (Viola) and some of her stories and journey. This feels like a bit of a personal story, very reflective in that it feels deeply emotional to the writer. I adore how much the Grandmother is a focus of the story and brings so much love, warmth and color. It made me love this story so deeply.

The post script authors note might have been the biggest highlight of the story. It was beautiful.

Synopsis:
Emma Page grew up the black sheep in a bookish household, raised to believe fine literature is the only worthy type of fiction. Her parents, self-proclaimed “serious” authors who run their own vanity press, The Mighty Pages, mingle in highbrow social circles that look down on anything too popular or mainstream, while her sister, Jess, is a powerful social-media influencer whose stylish reviews can make or break a novel.

Hiding her own romance manuscript from her disapproving parents, Emma finds inspiration at the family cottage among the “fluff” they despise: the juicy summer romances that belonged to her late grandmother. But a chance discovery unearthed from her Gigi’s belongings reveals a secret that has the power to ruin her parents’ business and destroy their reputation in the industry—a secret that has already fallen into the hands of an unscrupulous publishing insider with a grudge to settle. Now Emma must decide: As much as she’s dreamed of the day her parents are forced to confront their own egos, can she really just sit back and watch The Mighty Pages be exposed and their legacy destroyed?

Viola Shipman is a new author read for me although she has many books published. It was a fun lighthearted read with some twists and turns. You may even learn a few things you don't know about publishing a book and become inspired to write a novel yourself.

Emma Page has recently graduated college. She still doesn't know what she wants to do with her life but she knows it involves books. She's got her first manuscript finished but is it good enough to submit to a publisher? And which publisher would she submit it to her? Certainly not The Mighty Pages, they would never publish the fluff she likes to write. Also, The Mighty Pages is owned by her parents and she definitely isn't ready for them to read it.

Everything would be better if her grandmother Gigi was still around. They have always shared a love of books. At least she grabbed a few of Gigi's old romance books to read before her parents tossed them. But it's time to stop day dreaming and reading all day and commit to a career and stop wasting her degree. But is there a future for Emma at The Mighty Pages? She wants to be excited about books and she's not excited about the books her parents publish.

This book should have had everything to love- set in the literary/publishing world, Lake Michigan cottage scene, young, independent lead character, and family dynamics. Unfortunately… it just didn’t work. It felt all over the place. To start- I didn’t like a single character at all, they were all pretentious and spoiled. I wasn’t on anyone’s side. And then SUDDENLY- once they had a battle to fight, everyone was on the same team- and it was all tied up with a little ribbon. It felt… unbelievable. And not in an impressive way. Just… not believable. I wanted to like this, I did!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this advanced copy.

I have read many of Viola Shipman’s previous novels so I was excited to read The Page Turner. I almost stopped reading it about 1/4th of the way in. It was just not very interesting and somewhat boring. The story did get better towards the end but it was very hard to keep going to get to that point. I did not find any of the characters to be enjoyable or relatable. They all seemed to be very much into themselves. Even the writing was not up to par with his other novels.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC! If you are reading Viola Shipman book you know there will be strong women, the importance of family & relationships, and resilience.