Book Review: Book Lovers by Emily Henry

Title: Book Lovers

Author: Emily Henry

Series/Standalone: Standalone
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Adult Fiction, 

Pages: 377

Publisher: Berkley

Year Published: 2022

Format: Paperback Copy (Own it)

"One summer. Two rivals. A plot they didn't see coming...

Nora Stephen's life is books- she's read them all- and she is not that type of heroine. Not the plucky one, not the laidback dream girl, and especially not the sweetheart. In fact, the only people Nora is a heroine for are her clients, for whom she land enormous deals as a cutthroat literary agent and her beloved little sister Libby.

Which is why she agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina, for the month of August when Libby begs her sister for a sisters' trip away- with visions of a small-town transformation for Nora, who she's convinced needs to become the heroine in her own story. But instead of picnics in meadows, or run-ins with a handsome country doctor or bulging-forearmed bartender, Nora keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. It would be a meet-cute if not for the fact that they've met many times and it's never been cute.

If Nora knows she's not an ideal heroine, Charlie knows he's nobody's hero, but as they are thrown together again and again- in a series of coincidences no editor worth their salt would allow- what they discover might just unravel the carefully crafted stories they've written about themselves."

My Rating: 5/5

I'm slowly working my way through Emily Henry's work and some people are not the biggest fan of this one which is surprising to me. What's not to love, a sibling dynamic that is loving boarding on toxic, a love interest that fully understands the black cat energy. A small town, where they're expected to be excited about, but admit to themselves they love a space that many people don't stick around in. I felt that this is my second favorite of her work, coming in just behidn People We Meet on Vacation. Can't wait to read more.

Sidny

Book Review: Happy Place by Emily Henry

Title: Happy Place

Author: Emily Henry

Series/Standalone: Standalone

Genre: Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Romance

Pages: 400

Publisher: Berkley

Year Published: 2023

Format: Audiobook (Own Physical Copy)

"Harriet and Wyn have been the perfect couple since they met in college- they go together like salt and pepper, honey and tea, lobster and rolls. Except, now- for reasons they're still not discussing- they don't.

They broke up six months ago. And still haven't told their best friends.

Which is how they find themselves sharing the largest bedroom at the Maine cottage that has been their friend group's yearly getaway for the last decade. Their annual respite from the world, where for one vibrant, blue week they leave behind their daily lives; have copious amounts of cheese, wine and seafood; and soak up the salty coastal air with the people who understand them most.

Only this year, Harriet and Wyn are lying through their teeth while trying not to notice how desperately they still want each other. Because the cottage is for sale and this is the last week they'll all have together in this place. They can't stand to break their friends' hearts, and so they'll play their parts. Harriet will be the driven surgical resident who never starts a fight, and Wyn will be the laid-back charmer who never lets the cracks show. It's a flawless plan (if you look at it from a great distance and through a pair of sunscreen-smeared glasses). After years of being in love, how hard can it be to fake it for one week... in front of those who know you best?"

My Rating: 3.75/5

This was a harder one for me to get into. I do love a good second-chance romance, but something about this one just wasn't for me. Maybe it was the fact that they had been together so long previously, or some of the tropes used within that, but it was hard to not be frustrated with the female main character. While I appreciated the ideas presented throughout, it was just ok for me.

Thanks for reading,

Sidny

Book Review: Beach Read by Emily Henry

Title: Beach Read

Author: Emily Henry

Series/Standalone: Standalone

Genre: Romance, Contemporary, Fiction

Pages: 361

Publisher: Berkley

Year Published: 2020

Format: Audiobook

"A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters.

Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast.

They're polar opposites.

In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they're living in a neighboring beach houses, broke and bogged down with writer's block.

Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She'll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he'll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (obviously). Everyone will finish a book and no-one will fall in love. Really."

My Rating: 3/5

There were a few things that kept me from loving this book. I liked the concept, and I quite enjoyed Emily Henry's writing style. But the romance, while fun just wasn't all I wanted it to be and I couldn't ever quite get over the main character's name. What really took me out of the story was one of the sex scenes and the setting it took place in (if you know you know). I look forward to continuing to read her works, this one just wasn't the same hit as the last one I read.

Thanks for reading,

Sidny 

Book Review: People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

Title: People We Meet on Vacation

Author: Emily Henry

Series/Standalone: Standalone

Genre: Contemporary Romance, Adult Fiction

Pages: 364

Publisher: Berkley

Year Published: 2021

Format: Audiobook

"Two best friends. Ten summer trips. One last chance to fall in love.

Poppy and Alex, Alex and Poppy. They have nothing in common. She's a wild child; he wears khakis. She has insatiable wanderlust; he prefers to stay home with a book. And somehow, ever since a fateful car share home from college many years ago, they are the very best friend. For most of the year they live far apart- she's in New York City and he's in their small hometown- but every summer, for a decade, they have taken one glorious week of vacation together. 

Until two years ago, when they ruined everything. They haven't spoken since.

Poppy has everything she should want, but she's stuck in a rut. When someone asks when she was last truly happy, she knows, without a doubt, it was on that ill-fated, final trip with Alex. And so, she decides to convince her best friend to take one more vacation together- lay everything on the table, make it all right. Miraculously, he agrees.

Now she has a week to fix everything. If only she can get around the one big truth that has always stood quietly in the middle of their seemingly perfect relationship. What could possibly go wrong?"

My Rating: 5/5

I have tried many friends-to-lovers style romance books. I always find that I can't relate to them. For those who may not have read previously, my husband and I were best friends for 6 years before we started dating, so you might say this is a trope I want to relate to. This one is exactly how I felt leading up to my relationship other than the fact that we weren't adults when we were best friends. I loved the changing setting, the characters and the different emotions throughout the years. It was so well done. It's one of my new favourite contemporary romances for sure. 

Thanks for reading,

Sidny