The Bookstore Keepers is a charming and heartfelt novel that expertly captures the magic of books and the small-town life surrounding a beloved independent bookstore. The story follows the lives of the quirky characters who work at and frequent the bookstore, with each chapter providing insight into their individual struggles, dreams, and connections to literature. The narrative is beautifully written, with vivid descriptions of both the physical store and the world within the pages of the books it houses.

The characters are well-developed, offering readers a diverse array of personalities, each adding depth and authenticity to the story. While the central plot revolves around the bookstore and its potential closure, the true heart of the novel lies in the relationships that unfold, both between the store’s employees and the regular customers who have come to see the bookstore as a second home.

Despite its slow pacing at times, the emotional depth and warmth of the narrative make up for it. Some moments may feel overly sentimental, but overall, the story is uplifting and relatable. The themes of community, love for literature, and the importance of preserving meaningful spaces in an ever-changing world are skillfully explored. It’s a delightful, feel-good read that will appeal to fans of character-driven stories, book lovers, and anyone who has ever found solace within the pages of a good book.

This is a short story featuring Johnny Lenox, a second generation ferry captain who is one with the water. His ferry boat travels the same waters that is father had piloted. His wife ,Isabel and her sister Sophie operate a bookstore.
The major theme is the enduring spirit of love that never really goes away , and the promises of life.
The author writes pretty sentences that probe the heart and feel like a hug. Her words are sentimental, observant and lovely, offering comfort and hope to the characters and the lucky readers.
I don't know why I have never read Alice Hoffman before, but this great discovery opens a new world of reading pleasure for me. I will be reading much more of her books.
I was provided an Advance Reader copy by the author and publisher. All opinions are my own.

As always, Hoffman creates a magical story linked through love and destiny, crafting relationships masterfully. While shorter and to the point, it kept me hooked and feeling satisfied from start to finish!

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon for the advanced copy of this book. Alice Hoffman is such a great writer, in my opinion, and The Bookstore Keepers doesn't disappoint. This is a short story, although I wish it were longer. I also didn't realize this was the 3rd book in a series. I'll be sure to read those now.

The is this the third story in the Once Upon a Time Bookshop Series. This story is not about the bookshop so much as it is the two sisters. One is dealing with her daughter, and the other is dealing with her husband's loss of a parent. Then there is a new dream to pull the family together and bring them all closer.

Alice Hoffman is a versatile and prolific writer and I love her writing whether it’s in the more serious literary historical fiction to the sweet family sagas like this one. This book evokes a lot of emotions from sadness, grief, loss, love and hope. It is about family and relationships centered around a bookshop that had been in the family for a long time.

Sweet and filled with love yet still some universal issues such as grief are here . Even though I’ve read some heavier stories already this year, my plan is to get in some that are filled with hope as this one is. It was just as lovely as the previous stories. I felt both happiness and sadness while reading this story, and I hope there will be several more stories because I want to know what happens next for the characters. Looking forward to the fourth in the series “The Bookstore Family” to be published in May, 2025.

This book is the 3rd in the series, Once Upon a Time Bookshop, and it (much like the first 2) did not disappoint by any means. Alice Hoffman is such an absolutely engaging and versatile author - the depth in which she writes and the way that she crafts characters is truly a remarkable feat. I really enjoyed sweet yet drama filled family sagas such as this book - it has all of the love and joy that one would expect, but also has a layer of grief and hope. That is very much the cycle of life - one dies, another is born, and it continues to repeat. Looking forward to the 4th story in this series next!

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for providing me with this e-arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

I read this book on the 2 month anniversary of my Dad's death which made me enjoy this a lot more than I thought I would. It was so sad but also so happy at the same time. I realized after the fact that this is a series and I will be reading the first two books very soon. Alice Hoffman's writing is so beautiful and a comfort for me to read.

This was a very sweet short story filled with so many emotions. I enjoyed the characters, setting and the book references. 3.5 stars

Thank you so much to NetGalley for allowing me to review this sweet short story for my honest review. I loved coming back to this series by Alice Hoffman and I highly recommend it. These short stories are beautifully written! I can’t wait to read more from Alice Hoffman.

The Bookstore Keepers follows two sisters and their families in an isolated community. Together they run a bookstore built in their family home and they have found a life of peace after turmoil has struck both of them. This is a very short read and it wasn’t clear in the blurb that you probably need to read other books first. I think my main issue was that all of the characters were surface level because I haven’t met them previously. I think the author relies on the existing works in this universe and fails to breathe life into The Bookstore Keepers.

I also didn’t like that the author relied on an old faithful tear-jerker to make this short story memorable because there wasn’t a lick of emotion to be found otherwise. One of the male characters views were also pretty gross.

Quick, enjoyable read that is the third in the series. You must read the other two first or you will feel a bit lost since the author doesn’t have enough time to really explain the back story. It definitely left me wanting more, so I can’t wait to read the fourth installment.

I love these novellas. They are never long enough and always make me cry. As always this author has left me wanting more of the bookstore and not only the sisters but the whole family.

Alice Hoffman does not disappoint. I love reading her insight, writing, and point of view. Even though it was not my favorite by her, it was still a solid and worth it read.

It's the first time I've encountered Alice Hoffman's writing style, and it's super sweet, but I feel this is too short. I'll definitely check some of her other works.

This was a sweet short story ARC I got as a read now on Netgalley. I didn't realize until I started reading that this was #3 of a short story series written by the author for Amazon kindle originals. I didn't feel like not knowing the backstory was a hindrance though as I was able to acclimate well to the setting and the characters. Alice Hoffman writes beautifully and the characters even for such a short story were really dynamic and I found myself aching with them and feeling the same feels they were experiencing.
At its core, it is a story about two sisters who run a bookstore out of their old cabin on an island off the coast of Maine. I wanted to visit that fictional bookstore in the worst way! Their story in this installment is tried by grief and loss and letting go which seemed to be the theme. Themes of sisterhood and friendship and motherhood and partnership also run throughout.
This is more "women's fiction" than I tend to enjoy, and there weren't really any traces of Hoffman's signature magical realism but I did enjoy this sweet story and am interested in reading the first two to get the background. Alice Hoffman really does stand the test of time and still writes things that are relevant and beautiful. I will keep reading anything she writes.

Set on a small island off the coast of Maine , this beautifully written short story is about the endurance of love, family ties and the art of forgiveness. The Gibson sisters, Isabel and Sophie have been estranged. With Isabel Irving in New York and Sophie remaining in Maine, Violet, Sophie’s daughter contacts her aunt to ask for help with the family bookstore which now belongs to the sisters following the death of their parents.

Very short and very sweet I listened to the audio version of The Bookstore Keepers and enjoyed every minute of a this lovely tale. I label this a good for your soul enjoyable addition to the books Ive savored by Alice Hoffman. Four stars from beginning to end for this one. My thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Original stories for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review. It was published on February 18 2025 and is available now.

The name Alice Hoffman rang familiar, but I couldn’t come up with any title I’d read. Turns out, I actually read 2 books by her, The River King and A Probable Future, in 2008 and 2011, so it’s been a while! This novella is the proof that there’s some truth in the proverb “three time’s a charm”. While I had been moderately enthusiastic about the two novels, I enjoyed this one a lot more!

The story is set on a Maine island, with a bookshop managed by two sisters. One sister has a growing daughter, the other has a partner who recently lost his father. There’s love, family, grief… I cared about them all. There’s lots of emotions, but as it was just a short story, I found it was rather contained and not too overwhelming. I read that there are other stories with the same characters, and I would love to read some more about the bookstore keepers!

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley. I received a free copy of this book for review consideration.

I thoroughly enjoyed all these short stories and really wish they'd been full length novels.
I am a huge fan of the author and her writing and can't wait to see what comes next.

Alice Hoffman books are always a good time. I do think this series needs to be read together and would be great as a weekend read to allow for the full depth of story and plot. I will never skip a read from this author.

I don’t know where I’ve been hiding, but I didn’t realize this was a short story (very short) to finish out a series. I really felt the lack of not having read the others. Even though I could follow along easy enough, I had this feeling that there was sub-plot or hidden connections that I was missing. Even with that feeling, I could appreciate the depth of the author’s writing.