3.5 stars rounded to 4.
Book People by Jackie Ashenden centres around some fun rivalry between Blackwood books and Kate's bookstore across the road selling things like romance and thrillers and all kinds of genres. As Sebastian sells a different kind of book, ones I probably wouldn't buy, he feels a little superior and also resents Kate opening a bookstore opposite him

So the wars begin, however it's not long before these enemies are becoming something else. Kate is just out of an emotionally abusive relationship and Sebastian continues to believe that the men in his family are totally inept at relationships. He has built up a whole story about it.

They find some commonality when they discover some old letters between their great great grandparents. They were Kate and Seb too. This adds a bit of mystery although the reader is able to put two and two together I think long before the now living Kate and Seb do.

It is written in alternating chapters in the first person by Kate and Seb - present day.  I don't usually like first person narrative, however the back and forth helps see both points of view.

I enjoyed the book, it didn't totally wow me, but the bookish setting, the two characters and their own individual histories kept me reading. Of course it has a happy ending. It is mainly set in a small town in England, however the final chapter has  been set in New Zealand, and was a nice touch to end the story.

I love an enemies to lovers book and when it involves 2 bookshop owners it’s magical.
This book is well written as you enjoy multiple POV. Being able to see what’s going on in the head of both main characters allows you to really bond with them, as you follow along on their journey.
The plot flows nicely and the added suspense of the letters keeps you invested in the storyline.
I loved this book and would happily recommend it to anyone who likes these tropes.

This was fun, spicy, banter filled and all around a lovely little rom-com. If you enjoy enemies to lovers, this will be a hit!!

This novel circles a lot of tropes (enemies to lovers, grumpy sunshine) without actually landing. There isn’t enough backstory to make their relationship- both initially as enemies and eventually as lovers- believable. Our guy is too grumpy. Our girl is too bubbly. It all leans too hard into the tropes without enough substance for me to become invested.
There is a fun subplot involving love letters from the past, and at times I was more interested in that plot line than our main one.
Overall, this was a miss for me.
I received a NetGalley arc of this story in exchange for my honest review.

This book has everything a romance reader could want!! Small town, book store owners, a book festival where to rival bookstore owners have to work together? Absolutely perfect!! I loved this! It was funny and romantic and I loved the pacing!

Book People made me realize that I actually don't mind small town romances.

I usually find them boring but in this case I was amazed at how much I liked it. It was cute overall although I think this one won't stick with me for a long time because of the whiny mmc.

This one was kind of uneven for me! I don't love first person POV from a character who is very self-loathing, so the chapters from Sebastian's POV were frustrating. It felt a little too fast-paced, but it was definitely a fun one!

Great synopsis but fell a little flat for me. Didn’t care for the male main character enough to wish for them to be together either

2 stars

I absolutely hate to say it, but I didn’t really enjoy this one. The premise is super cool: Kate and Sebastian each own bookstores located opposite of each other in a small town. Sebastian’s store is legacy, while Kate only came to town recently. For reasons unbeknownst to her, he seems to despise her… because he’s super attracted to her. Yes, you read that right. He also said, “I never dip my pen in the company ink – or the village ink, to be precise.” Let that sink in. Pen means exactly what you think it means. It’s giving high school, sorry.

So, the plot is great, Sebastian maybe not so much, but I could relate to both his and Kate’s love for books and reading (I have a feeling most of us readers will), but then why didn’t I like this? Well, it was quite insta-lovey and the communication on Sebastian’s end was really bad. They also went from 0 to 100% after one kiss and despite repeatedly saying they ‘shouldn’t do this’, they still went ahead—and I personally didn’t like how they went about it. In combination with sometimes ick-inducing writing, the book unfortunately didn’t work out for me as much as I’d hoped it would.

I enjoyed this book even more than I expected to! From the start, you can be fairly sure how it will end, but this is not about the destination but the journey. The chemistry between Kate and Sebastian sizzles and I felt my heart strings being pulled more often than I had anticipated - I felt deeply for both characters and really cared about their back story and the relationship which develops between them.

This is a love story to books and bookshops and their significance in the community and to each and every individual. The cover suggests frilly chick-lit, but this was more about passion and life and how, as humans, we interact - for good and back.

There is an secret love story which weaves around Kate and Bas' story. Again, I felt it was slightly predictable, but it was still important and I was impatient for each detail to be revealed.

Wonderful, thought-provoking read, which entertained and amused and moved simultaneously. Don't miss this one!

This is such a fun romance! I love the cosy small town vibes, and I wish I could visit the bookstores in real life. I also like that the feud between the main characters is pretty realistic, with Kate being offended by Sebastian's rude behavior and Sebastian seeing Kate as the competition.

This book was easy to read and i really enjoyed the subplot of the romance between their great grandparents. Sebastian was kind of rude and whiny but he did grow on me.

Thank you to Headline and Netgalley for giving me this chance to read an Arc of this book. I absolutely LOVED! Such a unique love story. Loved the banter between Kate and Sebastian. This was perfect.

DNF @ 40%

This book is just tangible proof that the enemies-to-lovers trope is significantly difficult to pull off in romance books. I wanted to give it some grace, which is why I read so far into it, but the thing is- they were never enemies (shocker). Yes, they have rivalry due to them both owning bookstores right across the street from one another, but they are not enemies by any means. The MMC tells the reader in his first or second chapter that he wants the FMC. Please say it with me: they are NOT enemies!

I also just couldn't get past how childishly they treated each other at the beginning. I'm not quite sure how old these characters are supposed to be, but they are definitely a few years into their adult years and yet they're acting like high schoolers. If I had to endure him calling her "Miss Jones" one more time, I think I would've gone nuts. Maybe I have gone nuts after reading so much of this book.

Now, this is not to say that this book is bad! I just personally did not enjoy it but I can definitely see the charm that it has. If I liked the characters a tad more I probably would have continued with the book. I just truly wish the enemies-to-lovers trope wasn't so hard to execute.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange of an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Headline for providing me with this e-ARC in exchange for honest review

Stories about books, bookshops, readers in a small village intrigue me so much that I know I definitely want to read them immediately.
Same with this one, from the title, the cute cover, and the summary caught my attention immediately.

But this time, it just failed me. Main characters caught up in their 'not-so-secret' fling like almost immediately. They've been in contra for 6 months, and the next day, they're in the same bed.
This book is just not for me, I guess. I like my romance to slowly build up, fukk of yearning, which in this book try so hard to portray the yearning and fail.
Sebastian is such a no for me. I hate Sebastian so much. Bye.

Book People is an enemies-to-lovers rom-com that’s perfect for fans of bookish romances! 📚💘 Kate, a spirited bookseller, and Sebastian, her grumpy, highbrow rival, clash over their literary tastes while navigating a small-town literary festival. The grumpy-sunshine dynamic is done especially well, with their chemistry crackling through witty banter and heartfelt moments, making their transition from rivals to lovers utterly satisfying. ✨🔥

The romance is steamy and engaging, though some secondary plotlines, like the literary festival, could have been more developed. Still, this charming, trope-filled story delivers plenty of laughs, sparks, and heart. 💕 A solid four-star read! ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I received an ARC copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a review.

I wanted to like this book - the synopsis sounded fun and the beginning seemed to hold promise. Unfortunately, I DNF’d this book at 35%. I tried for a month very hard to get through it, but, in the end, I just couldn’t.

I found the writing style to be boring on top of a plot that dragged. Nothing of substance happened until about 30% in, but by that point the author had lost my attention and I couldn’t find the spark to keep going. The characters are both irritating - they are pretentious in different ways that make them unrelatable, and together they seem incompatible.

Overall, this just wasn’t the book for me.

Book People is a cozy romance for fans of The Book Swap or Better than Fiction by Alexa Martin. This book grew on me. It was a but slow to start and took a minute to like the characters but I ended up really pulling for them. They say this is enemies to lovers but I didn't really see Sebastian and Kate as enemies. Even the characters admitt it was more that they hated their attraction, not each other. This book is like if Mr. Darcy had grief/daddy issues and didn't want to fall for Jessica Day. It sounds weird but really worked. The central postcard mystery was romantic. I appreciated these characters acted like adults and talked things through.

I appreciated Kate's sentiment when she said she something like, 'I don't need a man to save me, but it's lovely when one steps in to help shoulder the burden.' (Not a direct quote.) Loved the small town vibes. Love that she rescues him. Loved their close friends. Would make the cutest Hulu miniseries. 4 stars Thanks to Net Galley and Headline Eternal for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book had a plethora of my favourite tropes so it was an easy one to love for me. Enemies to lovers, grumpy sunshine, a bit of mystery and a bit of spice. Oh and it's entire plot is based on book shop owners so it's a win win win!

I loved the build up with Sebastian and Kate, and I loved the little snippets of the past letters, and the storyline between two secret lovers from many years ago. It was a sweet book and handled the serious topics that were the undercurrent of character trauma with the respect and care it deserved.

I flew through the book, whilst with most romances they can be a bit predictable - this one revealed information to you as you were reading so it let you - the reader- have information just before it dawns on the Characters.

A great read, thank you Netgalley!

3.5 Stars rounded up to 4

This story follows Kate and Sebastian, two "competing" booksellers who reluctantly work together on a book festival to bring people into their small village and boost their businesses. Our characters unlock family secrets along the way, and parts of themselves with it. The story does bring its own quality in how the characters navigate their family histories and their own pasts.

I will admit, the beginning was a little difficult to get through as our MMC Sebastian is completely insufferable and standoffish, it's almost painful; it seems like this pairing would never work, but Kate's insistence and patience with the situation carries the story along. As the story develops we get to know Sebastian at the same time as Kate and he character does become more authentic as it develops.

It was an overall refreshing read and I'm glad I stuck with it. The pacing was good, the characters were consistent, there were some points that felt thrown in towards the end and there were a few unanswered questions towards that I wish we had a little more time to delve into. This book might've been the first one I've finished this year wishing there was a novella or something more at the end. Seeing them figure out their relationship whilst the whole village is gossiping about them sounds rather amusing!

Thank you netgalley and headline eternal for an arc in exchange for an honest review