If ever I've related more to a character in a YA novel, that character would have to be Merrilee. Never have I laughed and smiled my way through a story so much, simply because I got it. I could feel it because in some ways, I've lived it, maybe not as an adult but definitely as a teenager.

Merrilee is my book character soul mate. She understands it, romance, books, boys, and all.

It's been a long time since I wanted to stay up into the wee hours of the morning reading a YA book but this book changed all that. It captivated me and lured me in like a roaring fire and a hot cup of cocoa on a dark and stormy night.

Truly a fun and entertaining read suited for all ages and one I highly recommend.

Merrilee Campbell is the star of this young adult contemporary romance read in which this somewhat of a book nerd teen longs for romance like she’s read in the classics. Merri is transferring to a new school with her best friend and younger sister and hopes that this year will be different for her.

Starting our at Hero High Merri finds herself studying Romeo and Juliet in class and longing for her own Romeo when she meets Monroe Stratford. Not only is Monroe handsome but he quotes Shakespaere and goes for the grand gesture over and over again. At fifteen Merri thinks she’s found her true Romeo but before long she begins to see that the boys in her books are much better than real life.

Picking up this title I was under the impression it was a standalone young adult contemporary romance but since then the listing has been changed to show that this may be the first book in a series. The story is one that really was a bit over the top cutesy at times which made me think this one will probably be a favorite for the really young teens but a bit much for the older crowd.

In the first half or so of this one Merri felt a bit too childish to me but as the story went on she did seem to get a bit better along the way. The story had it’s funny moments but I do believe would have a much better shot at a wider audience had it been dialed back a tad bit. If it does become a series I’m not sure I would bother continuing on myself with the story.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

This ended up a much different read than I was expecting. I thought it was going to be a fun rom-com and in some ways it was, but it went a little deeper than that. I pretty much devoured this book, and found myself loving every minute of it.

Merrilee was such a sweet and darling character to spend a rainy day with. She is the ultimate bookworm, constantly casting her friends and family and pretty much any one she meets into the characters in the books she reads. She often goes into daydreams imaging her friends as these characters. But she is also a typical 15 year old, longing for and imaging her first boyfriend and her first kiss. But boys in books are always better than the real life version, right? She is a little bit on the impulsive side though, which gets her into trouble. She is surrounded by many friends and family that are well balanced and keep her from getting into too much trouble.

Some secondary characters that I particularly liked are her best friends Toby and Eliza. Toby is the boy next door, and they have a very close platonic relationship (although Toby yearns for more). Eliza is a science nerd and doesn’t quite get Merri’s fascination with fiction. They are both great friends and try really hard to keep Merri from to making a complete fool of herself, they always have her back so to speak. I also need to mention Ms. Gregoire her english teacher, who is a bigger influence in her life than Merri realizes.

Merri also has a great family, her big sister Lillian and younger sister Aurora. All three sisters are very different from each other, but they truly care for each other and look out for each other too. But they still squabble and have their issues. Her parents were good too, although there is one scene that bothered me. They confront her in front of her friends and peers about an incident at school that gets her in trouble. As a parent I would never embarrass my child like that. I would save a confrontation for a time when we were alone, no matter how mad or frustrated I was. But otherwise they were great, caring parents who were there when their kids needed them.

The plot is very hard to explain with out spoiling it. It is really something that needs to be experienced for yourself. Merri finds herself living her life in parallel to the books she is reading. Does that make sense? But even as she finds herself caught up in both her life and the books plot, I can’t help but notice the author making fun of tropes and cliches from YA novels. Such as in this quote:

“The way he looked at me made my throat dry and my knees weak. Two cliches I hadn’t really believed in before. My heart is racing, my cheeks were warm – four cliches! Was that what romance was? The moment you found out cliches were real? In that case, should I bite my lip and look up at him through lowered lashes?”

I often found myself either smiling or laughing out loud at some of the plot cliches and tropes. I can’t help but like a story that makes me laugh. A fun read and a nice retelling of Pride and Prejudice with nods to other great literary romances.

Merrilee Campbell thinks boys are better in books. While she immerses herself in Pride and Prejudice and Romeo and Juliet, she transfers to Reignald R. Hero High, and all her fantasies come true. A great comparison between classic literature and real life, Bookish Boyfriends is a must read!

This is a super adorable book with a wonderful title! I loved reading about Merrilee as she starts her new school, Hero High, and finds herself in the mix with some crazy new friends, old friends and one fantastic English teacher. I loved the way that the story has Merri obsessed with books and those great romantic reads! As the year begins, Merri's English teacher introduces them to Romeo and Juliet and she realizes that she may have found her own Romeo on the first day of school! I loved the conversation about R & J (since I teach it to my freshman) and I thought it was very clever the way in which the author mirrored Romeo and Darcy in this story. Merri's realization that Romeo may not be the hero she was looking for was well written and pulled out all of the traits I discuss with my students. As the story continues on, Merri and her parents have struggles, she has issues with her younger sister, boy friendship/relationship issues and of course her obsession with all things romantic in books. This is a fun read, great for middle and high school students. I just adored it! Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

I went into this expecting really cute and fast read and that is exactly what I got. Now when I first started this I was a little worried I wouldn't like it. While I enjoyed some of the characters the first 25% had some issues for me but once I continued on I realized why it was like that and then flew through the rest of the story. So I am giving this 4 stars for the second half of the book alone. I also definitely plan on reading the next book because I still have questions that I really hope get answered in another book.

Loved this!! It was really cute and a fun read. I loved how creepily obsessive Romeo was - because, really, he kind of is, especiallly when she didn’t reciprocate his feelings. Super enjoyable and I rooted for the main character. I loved all the little details from Pride and Prejudice and Romeo and Juliet - it was really fun to see how many I could Spot!

I really, really wanted to like this one. After all, it was seemingly made for me. First of all, that title. Second, it opened fairly early on with a Beauty and the Beast reference. Third, it is a Pride and Prejudice retelling. Pride and Prejudice retellings are my absolute guilty pleasure. Basically, all an author has to do is slap that description one the back of their book and I’m picking it up, much to my friends chagrin.

But, here’s the thing. If a book is going to be targeted as a contemporary YA, there’s one thing I need—no, demand—of my contemporary novels: it has to be realistic. Bookish Boyfriends fell short of that.

First, it was way over the top. Merrilee is attending a co-ed school for the first time, and she cannot believe she’s going to be in classes with boys. She’s dreaming about them in their uniforms and is hoping to find her own “hero at Hero High.” Honestly, it was like throwing a girl who had just escaped from a fifteen-long desert excursion into an all-you-can eat buffet. The poor boys at Hero High didn’t stand a chance. She is described as a romantic (okay, I can get behind that), who believes that she is Juliet reincarnated and those closest to her are modern day adaptions of other Romeo and Juliet characters (um. Come again?) Her best friend, Eliza, has a set of absentee parents, who are scientists and journey the world. They apparently have no problems with having their daughter switch schools just because her best friend is doing it, but they leave her behind with an ever rotating set of grad student babysitters and requirements to log everything she does: food, exercise, sleep. If she has even a fifteen-minute interruption in her sleep schedule, she has to log pages upon pages of paperwork on why that was.

And then there is Monroe. An inspiring actor, his words and actions were meant, presumably, to be dramatic and over-the-top, but in the end it just felt….smarmy. As someone who was in musical theater in high school, I can’t imagine any of the guys in the plays acting like this to get a date, and if they did I can guarantee you I would have been running away.

If this isn’t enough for you, there were a few instances throughout the book where it couldn’t decide if it was really a YA contemporary novel or if it was meant for a different life. Fairly early on in the book, Merrilee watches her teacher’s coffee cup turn from steel to sparkling, as if it were covered with rhinestones. And for as many books as I’ve read, as many books as I’ve obsessed over, not once did I think I was a book character come to life especially when I was FIFTEEN.

The second half of the book was...decent. I didn’t hate Fielding once I got to that point. He became less of a caricature of his literary equivalent (which was, again, way over the top during the first meeting he had with Merrilee). Once I got to see more about him, I actually—gasp—could see his point, and I started to root for him in a few spots.

Overall, I was left with more questions than I cared for, especially for a standalone book. There could have been a lot of potential to give me the feels, but there was too much focus on the wrong characters. As much as I wanted to like this book, this one just wasn’t for me.

This got a little too ridiculous for me! I think younger readers would enjoy it but it didn't suit my tastes as much as I hoped. I didn't finish it.

I got this as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

I have to say that I am not really fan of all things romance in the YA genre. It sometimes show in my reading habits. So I am going to leave off the rating on this one. I feel like the romance being modeled off of Romeo and Juliet and later Pride and Prejudice is what threw me off.

I do have to say that boys are almost always better in books though which is why this intrigued me in the first place. If you are wanting something fun to read this would be a good rec for that.

I was hoping this would be so much more than it was.
I really didn't enjoy it and do not feel comfortable recommending it to anybody. This book had the potential to be so great in the book community...

15 year old me would have loved this book. It took a bit of getting used to at first because in the beginning it didn't seem like the main character had much depth to her. However, Merilee really grew on me and I really ended up loving it later in the book when I could recognize the parellels in Merilee's story and Romeo/Juliet and Pride and Prejudice. Cute story and one I think younger teens will enjoy.

This book is not what I thought it was and I am not interested in providing a review.

I really loved the concept of this and the writers tone was fantastic, however, I found it a little confusing to follow in places. There were quite a lot of characters and the link to Pride and Prejudice was very tenuous. However,character development was fantastic and you did grow to love them.

I felt this read more middle grade than YA. The main character was very immature, but if she was written as 13 instead of 15 it would have made more sense

Noteworthy experiences while reading this book: Interesting a book about book boyfriends!

Check out author's other books? Maybe
Recommend this book? Yes if this is your thing

Notes and Opinions: This book was very cute and by cute I mean cute cute!! It had some great writing and a pretty good plot and a great message about books! The only real issue I had with this one was that I just didn't connect with it. I thought that the characters although fully formed and workable that they just didn't mess with me well. We didn't spark. The story just didn't have enough going for it for me to die hard love it either. I think this one would work for a great spring or summer book. Read it by the beach or the pool and just read something fun.

Go Into This One Knowing: Cute story

Ahhhh Bookish Boyfriends. Where were you when I was fifteen?

Bookish Boyfriends by Tiffany Schmidt is a retelling of the classic Austen story Pride and Prejudice with a gentle nod to other great works of literature. Besides being a love story it is a story about great love throughout the history of novels.

Tiiffany Schmidt has captured the perfect tone for this entertaining YA novel. Her main character, Merrilee is a heroine for the feisty teen who happens to also get swept away quite easily. It is such an adventure being on her journey into the deep realms of private school as she tries (and at times, fails) to navigate the socially accepted behaviour with her clumsy and entertaining faux pas’ to keep the reader and indeed Merrilee on her toes.

Bookish Boyfriends is probably one of the better retellings of Pride and Prejudice that I have ever read. It is such a warm book that makes you less embarrassed about falling in love with fictional characters.

Bookish Boyfriends by Tiffany Schmidt is available now.

For more information regarding Tiffany Schmidt (@TiffanySchmidt) please visit www.TiffanySchmidr.com.

For more information regarding Abrams Kids (@abramskids) please visit www.abramsbooks,com/abramskids/.

This was really cute and I think both fans of the classic books mentioned and readers who haven't read them can still enjoy this. It had plenty of character growth, great family dynamics, and definite friendship goals. If this turned into a series where the main character of each book started living out a modern day version of a classic chosen just for them, I would definitely read it.

Let's be honest, we've all experienced heroes and heroines who grab you by the throat and just won't let go. Heroes and heroines we wish were real. Heroes and heroines that, if you found in real life, you'd grab onto and never let go. For Merrilee, it's about to become very real.

When Merri starts at a new school, she's not expecting to find a boyfriend. After all, who could measure up to the heroes in her favourite novels? But from the moment she starts reading Romeo and Juliet for her English lit class, her own life begins to reflect the text. There is something just a bit magical about her English teacher and suddenly Romeo is becoming a less and less romantic hero and more a deranged stalker. What's Merrilee to do but switch books and watch her life unfold in a new direction.

I love this book. Merrilee is an interesting heroine. Her reputation for being a dreamer hides a sharp mind and I love how much she cares about her family and friends. The unfolding of the story was just this side of magical and I loved the literary references. I look forward to the second book.

This book was good! It had really good writing, a decently developed plot and some fascinating notions towards the importance of books and what they can give an individual, and how sometimes life can be just like a book (or not)!

The only issue I had with this book was that it just didn’t gel with me for some reason. I can’t explain why - it just didn’t sit well with me. I didn’t really feel like I knew the characters or could relate to them in any way, and I didn’t find the story gripping enough to compel me to thoroughly devour it like the synopsis made me think I would. I truthfully think this is a case of “it’s not you, it’s me”, with this book. I loved the writing, I loved the plot, the characters were decent... there was just something that didn’t click with me, and I think that’s okay. Books are supposed to click with us.

I did like this book however and would love to give it a shot again when I fancy a gooey contemporary; when I truly want to escape. I wholeheartedly recommend you check this out if the premise sounds like something you’d be interested in!