Book Lovers: A Review

Book Lovers follows Nora, a work-a-holic literary agent in New York City, as she goes on a sister's trip to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina with her sister Libby. While in Sunshine Falls, Nora keeps running into the brooding, book editor, and literary rival, Charlie Lastra(and yes...he’s hot!). Is this a typical enemies to lovers story? Does Nora learn to love the small town lifestyle and leave NYC behind? The adventure was quite a fun ride!

This was my introduction into Emily Henry’s writing and I have to say I was quite impressed. I haven’t spent much time with romance focused books, and with many more romantic-comedy films under my belt I was worried that Book Lovers would often go to where the movies go and dumb things down for the reader. While following a typical romantic-comedy formula of “big city person goes to small town and maybe finds love”, with Emily’s well paced writing, quick witted humor, and some “spicy stuff” that will leave you breathless, it didn’t feel like the same old romantic-comedy story.

This was an absolute slooooow buuuurn romance by every sense leaving you just absolutely squirming in your seat waiting for the two characters to finally just sink into each other. With such well written “spicy scenes” it gave you a little without giving too much away leaving you begging for more. The exploration of sibling dynamics between older and younger siblings as they navigated the death of their mother, and how one takes on a paternal role when left without a parent added a nice emotional history to Nora and Libby’s relationship. The small town setting leaned a little bit more into the typical trope territory and gave me a very “Stars Hollow” from Gilmore Girls vibe having some wonderful pun themed establishments (Mug + Shot being my favorite), but it never felt too hokey.

Overall this was a wonderfully written, deliciously digestible read that was a fantastic introduction into the romance genre, for me. I’m excited to explore more of Emily Henry’s work (I am awaiting Happy Place in the mail as I write this). I loved the characters, story, and setting, but I think I would have liked to see more exploration of their lives in New York City. I give "Book Lovers" a solid 4 out of 5 stars.

- F.A.