Thank you to Berkley and Penguin Random House Audio for gifting me review copies of Better than Fiction by Alexa Martin. I’ve been a huge fan of Alexa since the first time I read her Fumbled series. I’ve gone on to read them a couple more times, and been lucky enough to chat with her online a time or two. So when I say I was thrilled to get a copy of her latest book, that’s really understating it.

Plus, it’s set in Colorado (where I live) so even before I turned the first page it had already won some brownie points with me. It’s so rare to find a romance, that isn’t about cowboys, set here.

Drew Young isn’t a bookworm. In fact, she’s the opposite. She even believes that the movie is always better than the book. (How dare she). She loses her grandmother, and in the midst of her grief, she has to work out how to run the bookshop she’s just inherited from her, in an effort to keep her grandmother’s dream alive.

Jasper Williams is a hopeless romantic, and a bestselling author. Drew and Jasper meet at his book signing event and he becomes determined to turn her into a book lover. He makes her a bookish bucket list, and in return, she shows him around the local Denver scene to help him research a new project.

As they go on all these local adventures and explore together their connection grows. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows though, there are some toxic familial relationships, and Drew’s grief isn’t linear—she has good days and bad.

The characters that Alexa writes are always complex and feel so reel you’ll swear you’ve actually known them all your life, not just read about them recently. It’s a common theme through all of her books, but she writes female friendships so damn well. I want every one of her characters to be my IRL bestie. Plus, if I ask really nicely, can I join the Dirty Birds Book Club? Pretty please? The Dirty Birds are a group of her grandmother’s friends, and some of the wickedest old ladies you’ll ever meet. Naturally, I’m in love with them.

Nicole Lewis was the narrator for the audiobook and she’s performed some of my favorite fiction and non-fiction audiobooks of late. She did a stellar job on this book too, and it’s a quick listen at 8 hours and 47 minutes. So if audiobooks are your thing, you can download it here.

If Better Than Fiction isn’t already on your ‘to be read’ list, you need to change that pronto. You won’t regret it.

Synopsis:

As a self-proclaimed book hater and a firm believer that the movie is always better, Drew Young didn't anticipate inheriting her grandma's bookstore, the Book Nook. She's in way over her head even before the shop's resident book club, comprising seven of the naughtiest old ladies ever, begin to do what they do best--meddle.

Bestselling author Jasper Williams is a hopeless romantic. When he meets Drew at his Book Nook signing event, he becomes determined to show her the beauty of reading. He curates a book bucket list in exchange for her help exploring the local Denver scene for his current manuscript. From river rafting to local restaurants, Drew begins to connect with Jasper in a way she only thought happened in fiction.

When messy family ties jeopardize the future of the Book Nook, Drew is caught between a bookshelf and a hard place. She's reminded that real life isn't always big dreams and sweeping romance. But Jasper is the plot twist she never saw coming and he's writing a happily ever after just for them.