Book Lovers: The Sunday Times bestselling enemies to lovers, laugh-out-loud rom com about two publishing rivals Paperback – 12 May 2022

From this book lover to Book Lovers: to me, you are perfect. It is full of feeling and side splitting humour. It has loveable characters and a cosy small town vibe; all the better to get emotionally attached to. With every chapter flowing flawlessly into the next, and no shortage of themes, Book Lovers was exceptionally difficult to put down.Henry writes beautifully about how life changes, never to be the same again; accepting the pain of that and embracing the hope of new memories and exciting adventures. At the heart of it all, is the bonds of family and what makes home, home.Furthermore, the characterisation of Nora was impeccable. She’s a workaholic, struggles to become emotionally attached (in all of her ex-boyfriends opinions) and cares more for pragmatism instead of whimsical romance. Henry takes character traits typically reserved for a villain in the romance genre, and gives them the limelight in a very refreshing and satisfying spin.As for the romance… Charlie and Nora’s chemistry sizzled off the page. They illustrated a very believable portrayal of an initial liking filled with banter and flirtation, into kindred spirits and love. They intellectually challenged each other and emotionally unravelled and supported the other, all of which provided fluffy feels, so many laughs and made me smile like the Cheshire Cat lord knows how many times. You know a romance delivers everything it ought to when the reader is left thinking: where’s MY Charlie Lastra????All in all, Book Lovers delivers a perfect contemporary romance. It’s a humorous and emotional warm hug of a book. I thoroughly loved it.

This is the first of Emily Henry's books I've read and it didn't disappoint!I loved Charlie and Nora so much, they are so perfectly matched, even though they are basically the same underneath, just looking for love and understanding in a world that seemed to be very lacking for them in that respect and they found it in each other.Charlie was such a sweetheart, nothing like the brash and cold person he let the world think he was in the beginning.And Nora wasn't a cold person either, just one who had buried her grief from losing her mother and her first relationship as deep as she could, so she could get on in life and look after her sister. Feeling those feeling would have meant her world came crashing down and she just couldn't do that, Libby was still a child and someone needed to hold it all together and get them out of trouble, and naturally that fell to Nora who somehow managed to just take it in her stride.But Charlie, he somehow found a way of showing her she could feel it and that its okay for her to just be herself cause he would be there to catch her if she fell and similarly she showed him, he wasn't the wrong person he had always felt like he was to everyone around him, like he didn't fit in or belong, she showed him he was the perfect person, for her ❤️Throughly enjoyed and I'm looking for to reading more from this author.

I absolutely loved this book, such a cute, romantic and laugh out loud story.

This review contains spoilers.I have a better title for this book: Mommy Issues.I don't get the hype, and I honestly tried. It was so highly recommended that it left little doubt about the brilliance of the story.While I appreciate the witty back and forth between Nora and Charlie, by half of the book I was convinced Nora didn't have chemistry with herself, let alone a third party. She's such a melodramatic character, lives and breathes for Libby (I'll get to her later), Nora is a classic Miss Fix-It who loves her job and has terrible mommy issues. She's educated and career driven and yet she hasn't left New York in ten years! Also for a woman boasting about the closeness with her sister, the two just never actually communicate or know each other.How did so many readers felt "seen" through Nora, I'll never understand. Maybe some big sisters can relate wiith the sense of responsibility she feels towards her little sister but that's it. What else about her is relatable? She refuses throughout the book to think anything outside how her own mother lived her life, and makes the same mistakes again and again.I found her shallow and annoying.Charlie is a great character...at first. By the second half of the book, he's besotted and cheesy. He had a great background, potential to become this book's unlikely star and then he becomes unrealistic. I liked that he put Nora first but it should've ended with their unspoken goodbye. That's the ending I would've loved to read.Furthermore, he talked way too much while groping Nora, and not like dirty talk which would make him hot.Libby. UGH. She can't decide what she is. Sunshine? Whiny? Her whole plan is just... ridiculous. Three weeks away from her family, and pregnant, to prepare her 30 yo sister for the next step in HER life. Bleh. I couldn't stand her or the way she called Nora "Sissy".Also, while some lines are funny, the author tried so hard to make this hook hilarious and some of it came off forced.It clicks all the small town clichés in a way that makes you roll your eyes, and just strains to cover pretty much every book trope known to mankind. The word trope is also mentioned about fifty times in the book.It's okay for a vacation read that won't really trouble you ever again because it's kind of boring and predictable.