⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨✨ 4.5/5)

“I was terrified that you’d have some monster giant d!ck.” 🍆

“I know women and romance novels, want to be knotted or split up the center or get their backs blown out –– and good for them –– but this woman is ecstatic to see a penis that appears to be proportional and manageable.” 😂

I love Ali Brady, their book The Comeback Summer holds space in my heart & soul. It’s one of my fav books ever.

Their latest book Battle of the Bookstores could totally be finished in one sitting. The witty banter is so fun and who doesn’t love a #hefallsfirst trope!?!

Ryan was such a sweetheart and who better to melt the cold heart of Josie…his rival bookseller.

The characters in this book are so endearing…well all but one. I love how the “miscommunication” vibes in this one were unique to what I’ve read before…the characters issue with miscommunication got addressed in such a grown up way…what a breath of fresh air.

Another hit by @alibradybooks.

Ali Brady does it again! I have loved reading her books. A book about a bookstore? Sign me up! It did not disappoint. Add this to your summer reading list!

Short synopsis: Josie and Ryan are pitted against each other, both trying to save their bookstores.

My thoughts: This exceeded any expectation I could have. It was a love letter to all independent bookstores, book lovers, and romance readers in particular. Reading this made me really want to drive to my nearest bookstore and curl up on a comfy couch.

I adored the relationship growth between Josie and Ryan. Even though there was a rivalry placed between them, they were (mostly) mature about their own own priorities. I loved the dual POV and the friendship growth through the messages throughout.

Filled with laugh out loud moments, swoon, and character growth you won’t want to miss this!

Read if you love:
* Rivals to friends to lovers
* Jewish Rep
* Only one bed
* Bookstores and romance books

I enjoyed it. Thank you for the opportunity to read an advanced copy. Josie and Ryan are fun and loveable characters! I loved the plot of this book, so clever and well written!!

If I could give Battle of the Bookstores more than five stars, I would. I loved everything about it, from the snarky dialogue to the weekend trip to Maine to the laying in bed reading a most-anticipated ARC. I've been an Ali Brady fan since the beginning, and I love both of these authors individually, but as a team, they're absolutely amazing. I laughed, I cried, I dreamed of owning a bookstore. I could go on, but all I really need to say is this book is #enemiestolovers perfection.

This was such a beautiful, sweet, and very inspiring love story. I loved how the script was flipped for this one and it worked. The inspiration for this book is one of my favorite movies of all time, so it makes sense that I loved this book so much. I look forward to more books from these authors since they never disappoint.

Josie and Ryan both run indie bookstores with one shared owner. Soon the stores will be merging but only one manager will be needed. Who will win the spot and what happens if you fall in love while trying?
Sexy, smart and perfect for fans of enemies to lovers tropes.

Thank you for the free book, Berkley Romance!

In this book lover’s dream of a rom com, two bookstore owners are forced to compete to become the sole manager when the stores combine. Josie is the stoic and buttoned-up owner of the literary fiction store, and she immediately dislikes Ryan, the tall and outgoing owner of the romance bookshop. They sabotage each other’s efforts at first, while maintaining their sanity by chatting online in a book forum with a trusted book friend.

This is my first book written by this author duo, and now I feel like I need to go read their entire backlist. I absolutely adored this book. It was like a love letter to so many of my favorite things- You’ve Got Mail, the romance genre, bookstores, ARCs, the online book community, and so many references to well-known books and authors. I loved this fresh spin on the You’ve Got Mail storyline, and the first half reminded me a lot of The Hating Game (another favorite) as well. It felt very meta to read about these romance plot devices within a romance book! I enjoy when authors are clearly having fun with their audience and this book really feels full of love for the romance genre, readers, and book sellers. I highly recommend it for avid romance readers- you’ll have a great time!

Battle of the Bookstores by Ali Brady was an absolute delight! I loved every moment of it. The characters were incredibly likable, and I found myself rooting for them from the very start. The story was easy to read and had such a heartwarming, feel-good vibe throughout. It never got stuck in any slow parts—everything flowed so well that I flew through it in no time. There were a few moments where I couldn't help but cry, but in the best way possible, because the emotional depth really hit home. If you're looking for a charming and uplifting read, this one’s a must!

Thank you Berkley and NetGalley for this early eARC!

The authors have put their spin on the classic, You’ve Got Mail to create this wonderful story!

Ryan and Josie are polar opposites, she needs structure and organization whereas he is more free spirited. Both have such a love for books and fiercely protect their store in a battle that is thrust upon them by their owner, who is wanting to combine both stores and the coffee shop and only keep one manager for the bookstore. Come to find out they are both a part of an online forum for bookstore managers, and have cultivated a deep friendship.

This was a super cute read!

Very funny and romantic! I love it when the two characters of a novel have instant chemistry, it makes their journey towards romance enjoyable to read. The book did lose me a little bit in the middle with the conflict, some parts made me cringe. The ending does somewhat make up for that. Overall, I did enjoy these character's journeys.

Super cute cover, romance, and book stores? Sign me up, immediately!!! I thought this was so much fun. I giggled so much.

First, thank you so much to Tyler at Berkley Publishing for always dropping amazing titles into my inbox!

I'll be totally honest this one had a bit of a rough start for me. I wasn't sure how I felt about the writing, in the beginning there's acronyms and just certain phrases used that just really turned me off...but I skimmed over that and kept going to see if I could get to the 'good parts'.... and oh man I'm so glad I kept going!

This book had me all misty eyed and grabbing my heart by the end. I just loved it.

We follow our FMC, Josie and our MMC, Ryan who are both booksellers on the same block. Both of their small indie bookstores are owned by scummy business man Xander or Xavier and he's trying to save some coin and in order to do this one store and staff must go. Whoever has the most sales in the quarter will be deemed the winner and the other flat out on their ass...

Who will prevail?

Besties! This was the cutest! It makes me want to go back to every cutsie rom-com I've trashed and reread them bc maybe I was wrong!


Anyway, this was everything I wanted and didn't expect it. It gave all the sweet You've Got Mail vibes with the cutest online conversations between these two. I burst out laughing on multiple occasions lol I have to go through my kindle for quotes in just a little bit.

I found myself pining for these two to get together and hoping that it would all work out. Josie was such a relatable character. She's the older sibling, and her mother wasn't the best growing up so Josie really stepped up and basically raised her younger sister. She's so caring and giving.

Growing up that way did cause Josie to close off a bit, she's always struggled with trusting people intimately and in general - which makes all the sense because of the way her mother was with her revolving door of relationships growing up. She never really felt like she had anyone she could wholeheartedly count on.

Ryan is the absolute sweetest! I wasn't really sure how I felt about him to begin with. The way the author describes his character is a little all over the place and I had a hard time nailing down wtf he actually looked like physically - extremely basketball player tall, broad shoulders, always wearing cardigans? Romance reader? Clark Kent/Superman vibes? LOL. I couldn't place this guy. For a while I really felt he was a little too feminine for my tastes - not trying to offend anyone, it's just very rare to find a man as obsessed with romance novels as this one was lol.

But he really ended up winning me over. Omg he might be one of my favorites in a while. He's the freaking sweetest and the most caring and he's a man who's on top of all the other goodies, he's very well spoken and good with his words. Our FMC isn't the only one you can win over with words lol. Loved him.

I wasn't a fan of a side character being named Cinderella.. and not a pet.. like a person. That was a bit cringe but I started to just ignore that that was her name at some point lol.

The pacing was really good, I found that the story both touched on some sensitive and relatable topics such as insecurity, childhood trauma, relationship trauma... just some real good stuff in here with positive messages on top of all the sweet goodness of the romance.

I absolutely adored this journey with Josie and Ryan and now I look forward to picking up some of the other cute covered romances I've seen from Ali Brady.

Highly recommend for all my bookish besties that love a good epistolary romance with laugh out loud moments that warm your heart!

💖Enemies to Lovers
💌You've Got Mail Vibes
💖Dual POV
📚Sweet & Spicy
💖Slow Burn
📚Cozy & Bookish
💖Only One Bed
🐈Bookstore Cats

Expected Release Date - 06/03/25

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for the complementary advanced digital copy, all thoughts are my own.

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This book brings together everything I love about romance with a perfect blend of literature. Ryan and Josie were fun to read about and their story development was fantastic! Highly recommend Battle of the Bookstores!

This book is such a love letter to indie bookstores and to books of all kinds. Josie and Ryan each manage indie bookstores separated by the local coffee shop. Their store and their reading tastes could not be more different: Ryan runs Happy Endings, an eclectic romance only cozy store,with a colorful staff. Josie runs Tabula Inscripta, a very literary, pin neat bookstore by herself. When the owner of the building that houses all three businesses decides to combine them into one store, they are shocked. Especially since he declares that only one of them will be the manager, and to decide their fate they must compete for sales for the next few months, most profitable store wins.
The authors throw every possible trope against these two, mixes in a little Nora Ephron, and serves up a delightful story. It celebrates reading, romance, literature, booksellers, found family, and being yourself- even when you’re afraid.
**Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book.**

Josie Klein and Ryan Lawson have two things in common - they love books and each manage a bookstore. When the owner decides to merge both and threatens to keep only the highest performing manager, the gloves come off. But as things heat up in this high pressure competition, each turns to their online BookFriends forum and their newfound anonymous friendship for comfort. Little do they know…

A love letter to the reader in all of us, this incredibly sweet and swoony take on You’ve Got Mail is an instant love.

While this is quite different then Ali Brady’s other books that lean more into the women’s fiction element, it still features all that they are best at. This includes the most lovable characters, settings to get lost in, and romances to obsess over.

Josie and Ryan somehow manage to top Meg and Ryan here. Josie is a wholly realistic and relatable character, struggling with the weight of the world on her shoulders, but desperate to let her hair down and be loved for who she is. Ryan is, well he’s the dream book boyfriend, literally. Seeing him process the development of their relationship, as each new experience shifts and challenges his thinking, was not only entertaining but emotionally satisfying as well. I also love the way dyslexia is incorporated into his story in a way that is realistic, but doesn’t become a label.

There are moments that this story is a little bit cutesy, but honestly, I enjoyed those scenes as much as those with more emotional depth, and loved the balance ultimately struck between the two. And the spice….fire. if you are a fan of steamy open door romance, this book features a few doors-off-the-hinges scenes, but in a really tasteful, non gratuitous way.

My favorite aspect though, is that it tells the ultimate love story between book and reader. Every mention of a review, a blurb, an ARC, etc. had me in my feels. This book is very, very meta but in the best way. And being able to recognize all the books and the authors mentioned was the cherry on top. The books and the dueling bookstores definitely tried to steal the show, but alas, our hero and heroine still won the day.

So how do you know if I ultimately really loved a book? Well the answer to that lies in the question of whether or not I will reread as soon as it releases on audio. And the answer to that, my friends, is most certainly yes.

Read if you like:
▪️books about books
▪️enemies to friends to lovers
▪️dyslexia rep
▪️forced proximity
▪️one bed
▪️epistolary format
▪️open door
▪️You’ve Got Mail

Thank you Berkley Romance for the advanced copy.

4.5 stars. The only reason this wasn't a full five stars was that I felt the story to be overly cutesy for the first 25-30%. However, in true Ali Brady fashion, this story delivered rom-com magic, emotional depth, and quality chemistry. This book is absolutely a "book lovers book." It is rich with story and trope references that any avid reader couldn't help but adore. Also, extra shoutout for the dyslexia rep. As an educator who works with students with dyslexia, I will say this was an accurate depiction.

This was such a fun bookish enemies to lovers romance! I will never turn down a competition between rival bookstore managers, and this one delivered with plenty of banter, tension, and flirtation—a total delight!

Thanks to Berkley for an advanced copy of Battle of the Bookstore by Ali Brady.

This was a fun enemies to lovers/rival bookstore love story that will have you wanting to go to your nearest bookstore.

While some of the plot was a little logistically unrealistic, and Josie was a little too pretentious and insufferable, overall, I enjoyed this romance.

This was a love letter to bookstores and there are all types of books for different readers in a fun romance.

I loved the Boston setting and this will make the perfect beach read!

Firstly, the cover drew me in right away. Two opposing book store owners is such a cute dynamic that you don’t see a lot. I like that it was the male bookstore owner who advocated and pushed for romance books and especially his reasonings behind getting into romance in the first place. Overall, it was a cute book! The conflict felt repetitive sometimes but I still rooted for the couple throughout.