Score: 5/5 Bookmarks

Steam Level: 🍆/5

Thank you to PRH Audio and Libro FM for gifting me a review copy of Book Lovers by Emily Henry.

This was definitely a case of wanting to savor the book, but binging the whole thing because I just couldn't help myself. Oh the dialogue. It was just so, so good. I was laughing my way through the book, until suddenly I was sobbing. How do you do this to me Emily Henry?

Nora is a literary agent in New York, and she's got a reputation for being a shark you don't want to mess with. When her little sister begs her to spend summer vacation in the tiny town of Sunshine Falls she agrees, because she can see how much Libby needs this. She doesn't bank on running into Charlie Lastra though. The two of them had a terrible first meeting, years ago, and have never gotten past it. Naturally, the more they are thrown together the more Nora gets to see another side of him.

And while Nora has always loved the excitement and energy of NYC, time away from the city is giving her space to get to know her sister again, and herself. Plus, Libby has tasked her with checking off some hilarious items on their summer bucket list.

I'm not sure if I've ever identified quite so much with a fictional character as I did with Nora. Her childhood, life with their single mom, desire to create safety and stability for everyone, her relationship with her sister, everything.

This is a romance book for sure, but it's also a book about family, and sisterhood in particular. I adored how the author poked fun at so many romance tropes, while also including them in the book, it was pure magic.

The audiobook is performed by Julia Whelan, who is one of my absolute favorite narrators. You'll recognize her from Beach Read, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and so many more amazing audiobooks! The audio is 11 hours and 23 minutes, but I flew through it in record time. You can download the audio now via the button below, or grab yourself a physical copy here.

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.