Happy July!

I hope you are all well and enjoying summer so far. I am sure you know that I took a couple weeks off after my birthday but we are back and more inspired than ever.

Obviously we have to kick things off with a little book review of what currently holds Third spot in my list of favourite books of the year so far. I can’t wait to share my top 10 books of 2023 at the end of the year and see what has changed.

Synopsis:

One summer. Two rivals. A plot twist they didn’t see coming….

Nora Stephens’ 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 lands 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 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 Thoughts:

The thing is if you have been around a while you will know I have such a strong love hate with romance novels. We know I love a dark romance but I struggle with the stereotypical rom com books even though they can be some of my favourite books to read.

This gets thrown out of thought here, this book highlights everything I despise about romance novels, flips it on its head and makes me fall in love with the genre all over again.

Reading this book was easy. Our main female character screams and shouts about all the things that she dislikes about romance and shes a literary agent for god sake. Not only that but in places I really felt like she was inside my brain pulling my thoughts out and placing them on the page.

She has the worst luck when it comes to relationships and is super close to giving up and then all of a sudden our little chaotic male comes storming into her life all be it in a capacity that confuses everyones brain.

They irritate each other but she does not back down from an argument. Despite this the gentleness he shows her, especially when it’s so obviously needed had me head over heels for this man.

One of the things that Book Lovers does so well is that it felt like a Hallmark movie (come christmas season I am all over these) but it was so easy to picture it all in my head. Which is something we utterly adore from a good book.

Nora is and will stay my favourite character why because she reminded me in so many different ways of myself. (really channeling main character energy here I know).But she is a woman who loves the city, loves being independent, is career orientated (my goals may change but that doesn’t) and she is childless and its something that despite all her friends around her having this ‘fairytale’ life she is so okay with. I love that this made all of this feel super normal and more importantly and SPOILER ALERT she doesn’t have to change herself shock horror. Charlie likes her just the way she is. (name the book/film reference).

I am going to stop for the risk of spoilers but Charlie is my favourite grumpy but not grumpy main character I have read in awhile. I love that he can read Nora like a book but never makes her feel bad for it.

Star Rating:

Have you read Book Lovers? What did you think?

Love always,

Gee xoxo