SUMMARY

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.

Image and summary from Goodreads.

REVIEW

This is the first Emily Henry book I have ever read. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this (well listening to it on Audible). One of my bookish goals for the year was to listen to more audiobooks so this helped to start checking that off my list. The audiobook was well done and I found the narrator’s voice to be easy to understand still even at the 2.0x speed that I listened to this. 

I was trying to find a read that would get me started for the year after reading my first philosophy book (no reviews for that as it’s not something I would normally pick up). This also helped check it off my physical TBR as it has been on it for a while. 

It took me just over a day to finish listening to the audiobook as I was at work and even while at work, I was a little upset that I had forgotten my headphones so I could continue to listen to this. It took a couple of chapters to get into but once I was in, I was hooked. 

The way that Emily Henry got me to feel about each of the characters in the book is rare. I really resonated with Nora and the way she was dedicated to her family and her job. I really wish that I had someone to beg me to go on a month long vacation to Sunshine Falls with them. To be honest, I need the vacation too hahaha.

The “Shark” as they call Nora agrees to go on a month long vacation to Sunshine Falls in North Carolina with her younger sister Libby. Nora has read all the tropes about small town romances and experienced a few heartbreaks because of them. Nora and Libby make a list of all the things that happen in small town romance novels and try and check all the items off their list. They do the whole makeover that most FMC do in romance novels to the whole save a struggling business. 

I loved the dynamic that Nora and Charlie has as well as the bond she has with her sister Libby. Nora’s self-discovery was much needed for her after sacrificing her wants to making sure her sister was always taken care of after their mother’s passing. From turning down an editing interview, trying to financially help her sister and always making herself available to her clients, Nora really seemed to struggle with a work life balance (I guess I also struggle with the work life balance too). 

From the moment Dusty (Nora’s client) sends the very first rough draft of her latest novel to Nora we really see how Nora struggles to see herself portrayed as the main character in Dusty’s book. Charlie was there to help Nora see her insecurities as strengths and how alike they were in that sense. 

Charlie though was a character written with a lot of depth and I loved how he was written. He really helped Nora with her self discovery and was what she really needed in the end. 

I gave Book Lovers a 4 star rating and cannot wait to read another Emily Henry Book.

-Rachelle

I’m on Instagram at @rachellesbookshelf