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.

pretty fun but i found that the biggest flaw was just how one-note a lot of the characters were, esp the antag. 3.5 stars, rounded up. tysm for the arc.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book did not work for me. At all. The FMC berates her family’s pompous attitudes and devotion to pretentious literature, yet the writing in the first 1/3 of the book is just that. Pretentious and trying way too hard.

The beginning was hard to get into due to the writing style feeling inauthentic. All of a sudden, the writing style changes to a more “commercial” style and it’s like a sudden case of whiplash. But hold on to your hats, because you will then be thrown into lengthy lecture style, shove it down your throat, lessons about love, family, and feminism. I am a feminist, but this gave me the ick.

The characters were insufferable, the bad guy really doesn’t get his “just desserts”, and his toxicity and sexual harassment is tolerated. Don’t get me started on the parents. The final nail in the coffin was what felt like a remake of the Barbie Movie monologue by America Ferrera.

I then made the mistake of reading the “author’s note”, which was another incredibly wordy rant and justification of points made in the book.

So many things just rubbed be the wrong way. I did, however, love the cover.

WOW! Another winner from Viola Shipman! This may be my favorite of his but I probably say that after each book he writes. Love the friendships formed and the importance of woman who support one another! Book lovers will love this book - it honors books in the best way!

My favorite Viola Shipman book to date. It is novel that's not just a love letter to books, but is also a powerful reminder of the strength of women. It's a story of the true meaning of family and having each other's backs no matter what. It's a story of staying true to yourself and believing in yourself.

Viola Shipman writes another page turner titled The Page Turner. Emma Page, a recent college grad is trying to find herself after college. Her family wants her to join their publishing firm. The family's relationship is challenged when a secret is revealed, but they come together to overcome the challenges they face. Family is family through t hick and thin. Another good one by Shipman.

I loved the premise of The Page Turner by Viola Shipman, but for me the book turned out to be anything but. By the time I got to 25% read, I was seriously considering putting it down. Likewise at 33%, 50%, and so on, all the way though the book. But I promised to read it, so kept pushing through, to my regret as it turns out.
There was very little I enjoyed about this book. I found the main character to be the irritating, spoiled little rich girl her family accuses her of being. I found the three members of her family to be almost as despicable as the villain. The only character I liked a bit was VV the literary agent.
Beyond the characters, this book is as snobbish and condescending as the publishing house parents are accused of being. It was like reading a series of lectures instead of interesting story - lectures on publishing, on the lives and challenges of women, on the state of Michigan, the importance of family, and more. I'd read non-fiction if that is what I wanted.
When I don't finish a book, it gets one star. When I wish I hadn't wasted my time finishing it, it gets 2. At least I didn't waste my money on it.
I do appreciate receiving the ARC of #ThePageTurner from #NetGalley. Especially when it's such an unreasonable price as $16.99 Canadian for an e-book.

A book within a book. In this case there are several books discussed within this book and I would be interested in reading all of them.
We meet Emma Page, a young woman fresh out of college trying to step out of the shadows of The Mighty Pages, her family own publishing house. We learn that Emma sees her parents and sister as elitist, but since she was raised by her GiGi she is exempt from this category. Emma is a young writer wanting to learn the world of publishing but from the author perspective, with a book of hers that she defines as women fiction, romance, chicklit, and something her parent's publishing house would never look twice at. But what happens when a pompous man, claiming to be the king knowing what women want and how to write their stories, threatens everything Emma knows and the family she may feel different from but loves fiercely.
The Page Turner was a cozy women's fiction novel that originally felt like a palette cleanser of a novel compared to others. However, it began to feel stagnant and superficial with the continuous nods to pop culture. Knowing that books are going to write about the here and now of today's society is expected, but it felt as though this book threw every reference it could think of in there, especially the beginning. The FMC became a little too whiny without an outlook of redemption; when it came it just seemed a little too neatly wrapped up. The books discussed within is what made this enjoyable. Yes, sticking it to the man in the end is always a winner, but to have it just simply completed without being a little gritty or more so not in just one scene, was only an all right outcome.
I did enjoy that if you read this book without knowing it was written by a man under a female's pen name, you would have never guessed it wasn't written by a woman. I would read more by Viola Shipman to see what their other novels are like.
Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing (Graydon House) for the opportunity to receive and review The Page Turner by Viola Shipman.

The Page Turner by Viola Shipman
Pub Date: 04/08/25
Harlequin Trade Publishing (Graydon House)
Goodreads review posted 03/02/25
Instagram review will be posted on my Bookstagram account Pub Day 04/08/25

The setting: Emma Page, a young romance writer, "...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." And so it begins.

Family secrets, black and white characters. Finding your own voice. Sisterhood--biological and otherwise.

I could have walked away at any time, but persevered.

On the positive side, I learned much about the publishing industry, publicists, book auctions, etc.-- but not enough to sustain my interest

I did like VV, a literary agent; I pictured her as Iris Apfel.

I figured out some of the plot/trajectory VERY early on--why not Emma? Although there was a twist I didn't anticipate.

"It's gauche to discuss numbers, my mother is fond of saying. "We have people for that." {I thought that was gauche!]

I wanted to like this book as so many readers did, but... I knew from the beginning that I was not going to like this book--just the wrong vibe; I often felt it was grating. It was an easy enough read, but I struggled to return.

And I thought the "feminist" [?] rant at the end of the book was a bit of an overload.

2. Find something better to read IMHO.

Note: I enjoyed the Personal Letter to Readers at the end of the book more than the book.

This was such a fun exploration of romance within the publishing industry, full of family dynamics, self-actualization, and lots of humor and heart.

This book offered an insider view of the perspectives of people in the publishing industry and what goes into deciding which books are published or not. Emma is a writer who has been working on her manuscript for a long time. Her parents don't approve of her career choice and what she chooses to write about since they are essentially literary snobs. After her grandma dies, Emma goes on a journey of self discovery and how to cope with grief. I thought the family dynamics especially the challenging ones were tackled with grace and I really loved this book and Emma's character growth.

I didn't love this one the way I do other works by Shipman. I think he was trying to do something a little different here, hence the eye catching cover, but it didn't quite hit the mark. He stayed true to his grandma's roots as he does it all of his books, but the characters were a miss. None of them were likeable and the writing just didn't have the normal charm.

The Page Turner by Viola Shipman is the story of Emma Page, who wants to write romance novels but is ashamed to because her parents own a literary publishing company and look down at romance writers. She discovers her grandmother's secret life and goes about trying to become a novelist on her own. After a slow start, this novel picked up and became a lot of fun! Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

A story centered around complex family relationships, and the ins and outs of the publishing world. Almost DNF this; didn’t really get into the story into about the 40% mark. It just didn’t feel like a story until then and then it was just so-so. Didn’t like any of the characters. Beautiful words but didn’t entertain me. A miss for me.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A young woman dreams of being an author while she uncovers secrets about her grandmother's past.

Thank you NetGalley for an early reading opportunity. I just finished your novel “The Page Turner” and a personal letter to readers, I absolutely loved it!!! This is the first time I have read a book by the author, I requested it in NetGalley because the description and concept called to me. This book was incredible; it made me feel so many emotions. It was so real and relatable to our world. I will be to recommending it to my friends! I came into reading it not know anything about the writer. I am here sitting in Missouri in my office tearing up because the writing hit so many spots. Thank you so much for making this book! As a therapist I use books to escape into words, to travel through the pages of other worlds and to shut my mind from my own thoughts. Once again thank you! This book has second chances, family, judgment, working passed trauma and so much more.