🌈 Opposites attract
🌈 Small Town
🌶️🌶️🌶️

If you’re looking for a cozy, sweet, and spicy contemporary romance, Book People by Jackie Ashenden might be right up your alley. Set in the charming (and possibly fictional) English village of Wychtree, this story brings together opposites-attract energy, small-town vibes, and plenty of bookish goodness.

Kate, the heroine, is the embodiment of sunshine—cheerful, determined, and eager to make her new bookstore, Portable Magic, a success. Specialising in romance, cozy mysteries, and fantasy, Kate’s shop feels like a warm hug for genre fiction lovers. Enter Sebastian, her love interest and the village grump, who owns a rival bookstore catering to literary nonfiction. While they technically aren’t direct competitors, their clashing personalities (and Sebastian’s prickly demeanor) create immediate friction.

The story takes off when Kate discovers that Sebastian is reviving the village’s old book festival and hasn’t bothered to include her. Cue the reluctant partnership that forces them to work together—and brings their undeniable chemistry to the forefront.

The plot is light and predictable in places, with some familiar romance tropes (sunshine vs. grump, enemies-to-lovers vibes). However, the charm of a family mystery, Kate’s infectious optimism, and the slow thaw of Sebastian’s exterior make this a joy to read. Their romance has its complications, especially Sebastian’s baggage about his family’s supposed curse on happy relationships, which at times feels a bit overdone. But their connection is undeniable, and the eventual happy ending is satisfying.

This isn’t a groundbreaking romance, but it doesn’t need to be. It’s fun, heartfelt, and sprinkled with enough spice to keep things lively. If you’re a fan of bookish settings, sweet characters, and opposites-attract romances, Book People is worth a read. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on Jackie Ashenden’s future works.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I think all of us book obsessed people love books about books... that is why I was drawn to this book at first. Sadly, it wasn't for me. Hope all of you will enjoy it more.

Thanks to Netgalley for the copy of the book in exchange for an honest review

I did find it a little slow to begin with BUT once I got into it, I looooved it! I was literally hooked and couldn't put it down. Would definitely recommend!

Want to escape from reality for a while? This is the perfect, easy read. The perfect enemies to lovers rom com that is honestly laugh out loud funny. A grumpy main male character and a ray of sunshine female main character makes the perfect combination. Would recommend this book to anyone.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was slow at first but once I got into it I really enjoyed. If you are into romance with FMC & MMC don’t want to fall but end of falling this is the book for you.

Who doesn't love a book about books?

Book People is a delightful, feel-good read that pulls you in from page one. The story is easy to follow and laid out well, making it a perfect light read. Kate is a charming protagonist, and I loved the bookshop setting—who wouldn't want to visit a cozy store full of genre fiction? That said, I couldn’t quite warm up to Sebastian. His constant use of "Miss Jones" felt overly formal and irritating, and at times, he came across as an entitled, whiny character. Despite that, the chemistry between Kate and Sebastian kept me hooked, and the story had just the right amount of spice.

Overall, an enjoyable read with a satisfying, feel-good vibe!

Thank you to Net Galley and Headline Publishing for the ARC in return for my honest review.

Book people by Jackie Ashenden is a delightful romance set in a charming small-town, focusing on two very different booksellers with undeniable chemistry.
While book is marketed as an enemies-to-lovers story, it feels more like a gentle rivalry rather than actual enmity. Kate and Sebastian clearly like each other from the moment they meet, and their dynamic is more about navigating differences in personality and outlook than overcoming true animosity.
Sebastian, the male lead, was a bit insufferable at first. He came across as more frustrating than charming, but his character evolves nicely as the story progresses.
One of the most memorable elements of the book is the inclusion of secret love letters, which added depth to the narrative. These letters felt like love stories within the love story. They elevated the romance.
Though it doesn’t quite live up to its enemies-to-lovers billing, Book People is still an enjoyable and heartwarming read. All in all, it was a fun, easy read.
Thank you netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book early!

I love books about books. Specially when book lovers fell in love and the book plays a good rule.

And book related romance are my favorite. It's like fiction inside fiction. And even though it was a typical romance book, i enjoyed reading it.

Some issues but worth the read.

At first I was frustrated with our FMC cause she kept saying her last relationship ended, when really he was abusive and she fled. Not calling it abusive was really annoying me. Eventually I realised this was on purpose because she did not want to admit it. I did struggle because I feel like as a reader that should've been clearer to us.

This is a sweet, if tad bit frustrating, rivals to lovers, where he definitely fell first. But our MMC seemed abruptly ride for no reason, even after getting his side, his actions don't really make sense to me. Until half way through the book and you realise he's emotionally constipated. Overall the only criticism that held throughout the book for me, was that the FMC seemed like a manic pixie dream girl. Yes, she quirky and kind and sunlight incarnate and eternally optimistic, but there didn't seem to be anything other to her but that. It was a fun story to see the two of them get together, to see Kate find her family history and her strength, and Bash to get it through his thick head that maybe he's not cursed, maybe his actions caused his problems, as did the actions of those before him.

There were a few aspects that fell flat, or that probably should've been dealt with earlier. The plot twist while never stated outright until the end was obvious to readers. But overall I did enjoy reading this, and it was well written sans the above.

Really enjoyed this book, but I will say I needed more, like more from the characters, more from the story. I missed the the depth in the characters, the story sounded great but it feel short writing wise, some of the cringe chapters were just not easy to read, but again there was so much potential for this book to be more. The mental health rep could've been done so much better and more of! I loved the side characters, they were pretty fun to read about, and the added the oomph this book needed‼️
3.5 stars for the fluff factor of this book!!

Sometimes it seems that opposites attract and Kate and Sebastian take an instant dislike to each other as rival booksellers but also can’t help being fascinated. Book People lives up to its name with both characters reluctantly working together on revamping the town’s book festival. I found it a book that was easy to get swept along and was really sweet.

3-

Village setting, rival bookshops, old love letters and a mysterious affair that ties our two star-crossed lovers together through fate. Sounds promising.

Alas, this was not really for me. I didn't really buy into the reasoning for why Kate and Sebastian both had reasons not to be with the other - they didn't seem plausible. My great grandparents got divorced, my grandparents got divorced, my parents got divorced, but that doesn't make me think I'm fated to get divorced, or be unlucky in love, because.. well.. divorce is not genetic... So yeah. I know Sebastian's reasoning is slightly different but I still couldn't buy it.

Also, Sebastian kind of gave me the ick. Someone tells him at some point to be less werewolf alpha male, and sadly that's a pretty accurate description. I don't mind romantic heroes who are a bit mercurial, territorial and passionate, but this was just way OTT. For me it felt like Kate had the choice between domineering and manipulative and domineering and short tempered, which honestly both feel like bad options. It didn't help that Sebastian was described as having a hawkish face and super short hair early on, which made me imagine Christopher Eccleston with a buzz cut. No offence to Eccleston - he was delightful on Dr Who and The A Word, but that's not exactly sexy romance hero material.

Looking at this writer's back catalogue I can kinda understand that she isn't my sort of romance writer, but honestly the cover and the blurb make it seem way more like a cute romcom than dark and broody brushing up against shifter/vamp fiction.

It definitely had some cute moments, and the setting was great, but yeah overall not my thing.

SPOILERS BELOW






<spoiler> Even though you could see the surprise twist with Sebastian and Kate the first generation coming from miles away, I also still found their ending kind of weird. Even if their kids were technically adults it feels really cold and harsh to abandon them. Also Sebastian Jr's dad coming in at the end like a deus ex machina was a little uninspired.</spoiler>

This was a sweet, extremely well written story that captured me from the first sentence and made me wish it never ended.

book people is a dual pov following kate and sebastian who own rival book stores across the street from one another.

kate wants to connect with sebastian, but that’s the last thing he wants. to sebastian’s disdain, the pair find themselves having to meet in the middle to host an infamous book festival. what could possibly go wrong?

I really enjoyed the concept of how kate is this happy go lucky character who wants to bring the community together through books, and sebastian seemingly hates everyone and wants to keep himself to himself… until he meets his match.

if you love a dual pov, enemies to lovers story then book people is the one for you!

A really fun enemies to lovers romance read that will make you smile from ear to ear. Highly recommended.

The cover and the title of the book sounded really nice but I found the plot to be boring tbh. And the chapters also seemed really long. This is my first time reading something by the author so it also took me some time to really get into the book. The beginning wasn't very captivating so I was skimming through some parts. And I also didn't feel the connection between the main characters. Their relationship moved too fast and Sebastian's character was all over the place and Jate was annoying, which was not very appealing. The plot definitely had lots of potential but unfortunately I did not like the way the plot was executed.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review

Book People was a decent rom-coms with great potential. Grumpy x sunshine, book lovers, “enemies” to lovers

Some of my favorite tropes. But I will say I found the MMC Sebastian to be just a bit too unlikable. Their romance was a bit rushed especially after how much they actually disliked each other and how annoying they bother were. The plot was lacking.

It just was an okay book. I wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend but was not bad overall

I received a copy of this for my honest review

😍😍 This story had me swooning

Our FMC has left her narcissistic boyfriend of four years after also recently losing her mother. She has left the big city of London for her families small village - that she really only leaned about when she found out that her mother left her a building. When she moves in she knows what it will become - the book store she has always dreamed of owning. She didn't really expect to compete with another bookshop - or be so bothered by our MMC, the owner. He has lived here all his life as well as many other generations. His family has owned the books since the 1930s and after bad management from his grandfather and father, he is trying to save the shop. But now he has to compete with our FMC for sales - even though they sell different books. In his efforts to save the shop he brings back a literature festival - which she finds a way to get him to bring her in on - even though he doesn't want to spend any time near her. Helping with the festival they discover letters from a secret relationship, which leads them to learn more about their pasts.

This book was over in the first 100 pages and then It just was so unnecessary. The book lacked world-building and characterisation which I felt completely let the execution of the book down. So It just didn’t have the wow factor, it felt like a bit of a textbook romance and wasn’t anything special.
2.5

I wanted to love it. Who doesn't love a book about book stores?! But there was something just missing. I could not put my fingers on it but it was missing something.