Cute rom-com vibes, I love a good bookstore romance. This is the second one I've read this year, and this one might be my favorite. I love that this was a bit of a slow burn as well. Love Poppy Alexander's books! Would reccomend to anyone who loves Rom-Com's and enemies to lovers.

The tension and slow burn between Jules and Rowan was perfect!! The whole rival families both having book stores? Absolutely loved!! I had such a fun time reading this and cant wait for it to come out so I can recommend it to everyone!!

3/5⭐️ this was such a cute, quick read! The Battle of the Bookshops by Poppy Alexander tells the story of Jules who returns home to help her Aunt Flo with the family bookshop, Capelthorne’s Books; when she returns to her hometown she discovers that the rival family in town has opened a bookshop right across the street. The romance between Jules and Roman was an enemies-to-lovers, slow burn 🔥.

Poppy Alexander does a great job at writing really likable characters. I loved her voice and tonality throughout this book. I just wish Roman and Jules had more interactions in the first half of the book.

Some aspects of the storyline seemed really random and rushed to me. There was a lot going on in the background that I think could have been taken out. I feel like the editing could have been a bit better for a more cohesive story and flow. Overall, a nice quick read. Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for the ARC.

Jules Capelthorne goes home to her seaside hometown of Portneath, Devon, England, to help her elderly aunt and hopefully keep the family bookstore in business. What does she find but a competing bookstore just opened by wealthy family nemesis Roman Montbeau. And the hate is on!

I loved the premise of this book, and the Romeo/Juliet references were clever and cute. There were some great scenes, and I could really feel the magic of the bookstore and the love between Jules and Aunt Flo. But I had a tough time with the story because of the characters. I didn’t feel any chemistry between them. Roman is a slimy weasel who kept secrets and had almost no backbone to stand up to his horrible father or ever make difficult decisions. I just couldn’t warm up to him, and couldn’t understand how Jules could accept his actions. This was the rare romance where I was not rooting for the characters (other than Aunt Flo). I am sorry I didn’t like the book better.

This book was so fun to read! It is a cozy little rom com and an ode to independent bookstores! I think this book is perfect for people who are looking to escape the horrors of the world for a little while. This Romeo and Juliet story was very tongue-in-cheek, and I thought the references to Shakespeare were well-done.

This was a very quick read but it didn’t hold my attention much. It’s still a decent read.
Thank you netgalley for the arc!

This one had you've got mail vibes and I'm here for. I'm a sucker for dueling bookshop so to speak. It was quick fun read.

This was a bit too cringey for my taste. From the setting and names to the overall plot was just predictable and eye roll worthy. It wasn’t a bad bad read but just did nothing for me.

A sweet, heartwarming and cozy read. Loved everything about this. Easy and quick to get through. Great for anyone that feels like they are in a book slump.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

First off, why was there no mention anywhere of this being a Romeo and Juliet re-telling? It caught me off guard when I started the book.

But not only is this a Romeo and Juliet re-telling, but the play is mentioned by the characters multiple times? I really did not like that this is a Romeo and Juliet re-telling, in a world where Romeo and Juliet, written by Shakespeare, exists. Again, this threw me off and took me out of the book.

In terms of the story itself, on paper, there is nothing wrong with it, but the execution is very rushed. That goes for both the plot of the book (saving the bookshop) and the relationships (Jules and Roman interacted a handful of times in the first 50% of the book, but were somehow in love after their first date? They don’t know each other!!!).

A lot of depth was missing from the story all around, which ties into it feeling very rushed. I would’ve liked to see Jules and Roman’s relationship build naturally and them actually get to know each other. I would’ve liked to see the book shop ACTUALLY get saved instead of it just happening in a summary in the epilogue. Also, side characters would just pop in and out, like Freya who was Jules’s best friend in the first half, but that we never saw in the second half despite them living down the street from each other.

Overall, there was potential with this story, but in practice, almost every aspect fell flat and needed more work.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for an advanced eARC for an honest review.

I wanted to like this one since it was a Romeo and Juliet retelling, but sadly, it fell flat for me. I liked the premise of the two MCs feuding through their respective bookshops, but the chemistry between the two felt nonexistent. Once they were finally together, everything felt rushed—mostly because of the other subplots happening in the book. There was too much emphasis on the Bridget Capelthorne story and not enough on the romance between Roman and Jules.

Cute little romcom! Lighthearted and easy to read. Keep you entertained. My first book of hers but excited to read more!!

This was such a cute fun read. I had issues with the pacing and missing the romance between the two characters. Overall 3.5 stars!

I just finished The Battle of the Bookshops by Poppy Alexander. Wow, what a great book. It was a five star read!

The dialogue was brutal and the premise a bit childish… I really tried to enjoy this but I just could not get over the juvenile nature of the writing and storyline.

While I love forbidden romance and slow burns and am a fan of Romeo and Juliet, something about this retelling didn't catch my attention as I had hoped. It ended up being a DNF about a third of the way through.

Great for those who love a literary-themed story! This will be a winner with book groups (especially if they include librarians or bookshop workers).

DNF @ 65% -- I tired so hard to push through with this one and it just wasn't working for me. The story moved forward so slowly. There was absolutely no chemistry between the couple. The only interesting character was the dead witch from 1656.

You should read this book if you love the following:
-Romeo and Julet Retelling
-Rival Bookstores
-Enemies-to-Lovers
-Slow Burn

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately Battle of the Bookshops was quite underwhelming over from characters that felt poorly developed to a bland romance and an ending I found frankly stupid. I didn’t care for the FMC but I didn’t despise her like I did the MMC who said some things I found disgusting. A positive I did find was the bookshop atmosphere at the beginning of the book which gradually faded as we dealt with issues never truly resolved.