Book Review: Book Lovers by Emily Henry

Nora Stephens is that woman that appears to have a trademark, carefully planned life with boss marked all over it—the career as a cutthroat Literary Agent, the impeccable style, the whip-smart comebacks and creative drive. You could be mistaken for thinking she has it all, but there’s one thing that has always slipped out of her grasp: love. And Nora has tried. She really has. But, like clockwork, every man that she loves seems to up-and-leave her for the oldest trope in the book—the next best thing, the angel to her devil, the upgrade™. She feels that it’s her place in life, to be the woman from Hallmark movies that is so focused on her career that she literally drives her boyfriend into the arms of the charming lead heroine of the movie. The only thing she knows she’s the chosen one for is her clients, and that’s exactly what she focuses her all on.

So when her pregnant little sister Libby invites her on a month-long sister’s trip to one of the settings of a book-turned-movie Nora worked on—Sunshine Falls, North Carolina—Nora can’t say no. They quickly find that Sunshine Falls, however, is really the definition of a small town. Little-to-no WiFi, tiny stores with pun-inducing names, and not to mention seeing the same sets of strangers-turned-friends around town. And when Nora keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, an editor she had a previous disaster-of-a-meeting with in New York, she’s even more shocked to find that he lives in the very place he seemed so dismissive of. But through trope-worthy chance meetings, close encounters and tip-toeing toward romantic territory, Nora and Charlie—two people with so much in common, yet couldn’t be more different in some ways—are clearly meant to be more than their will-they-won’t-they, phone-interrupting-moments.

Overall, Book Lovers swept me into the setting of an idyllic, beautiful small town with love, family and books at the very heart of it’s story. I went a solid 20% before truly falling in love with the story, unlike some of Emily’s other books, but once I fell—I fell hard. Nora had some wickedly sweet character development and I adored the relationship she had with her little sister, Libby. I feel like Nora was such an incredible big sister to her, and actually looked out for Libby/was there for her always—my heart hurt a little (in the best way) at that. Charlie, as well, seemed more or less made for Nora, and vice-versa. Emily Henry has this way of writing so eloquently just how perfect two characters are for one another, and demonstrated it flawlessly in this book. This was, more than anything, a mosaic of slow-burn (and fiery) romance, tight sister bonds and what feels like a touch of genuine, summer magic. The easiest five stars.