I really enjoyed this book, and I think the word that sums it up best is quirky. Easy to read, but not a fluff book; plenty of substance to keep me entertained and wanting to read just one more page before I put it down for the night. Definitely recommend.

I received an e-galley of this book from Net Galley for an honest review.

I am a sucker for books set in book stores or libraries so I was excited to read this book. This book is so much more than your typical quirky characters in the store setting though.  It actually deals with some very deep issues such as abuse, mental illness and foster care.  Even with all those heavy topics though, the book is filled with hope and love.  You grow to love the characters and root for their happiness along the way.  I liked how the author used flashbacks to describe the harder parts of the story.  A very good read!

Loveday Cardew spends her days working at The Lost for Words Bookshop. She considers books her sanctuary and has little to do with people. 
This delightfully quirky character has a secret though that slowly comes to light as the story unfolds.
As an avid reader, I could relate to parts of this novel and found it an utterly charming read.
I received an Advance Review Copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I liked the characters, but felt the ending was rather abrupt.  I would have liked to have heard more about her reconciliation with her mother, and how they moved forward.

Loveday Cardew's best friends are books. She tattoos the first lines of her favorite books on her body like a collection of fond memories she wants to keep close forever. She hides a secret about her past and never lets people past her defenses. Books don't judge. Books don't pity. She works in a bookshop, surrounded by the peace and feeling of safety the books give her. But, someone has found out about her past. And Loveday Cardew's quiet little world is about to tumble into chaos. 

I loved this book! As the story progressed and I learned more and more about Loveday....her past, her thoughts, her secret....I found myself sympathizing more and more with her. Sometimes the past keeps a tight grip on a person that takes years to loosen. I know this experience personally from my disastrous relationships with my birth family. For Loveday, she hides from her hurts and emotions and only loves books...until she lets her defenses down just a bit. And the world comes crashing in. So realistic. I also love the idea of getting tattoos of first lines of favorite books, or those with personal meaning.

I listened to the audio book version of this novel. Narrated by Imogen Church, the audio is just under 9 hours long. Church's voice is perfect for this book, and I loved the audio. Even with my hearing loss, I was easily able to hear and understand the entire book. 

This was a binge listen for me.....I couldn't stop once I got immersed in the story. This book is sad, hopeful, and beautiful. Despite how we remember our lives Before, there is always a life After. 

I absolutely loved this book and will be reading more by this author. I usually steer away from emotional fiction, but this story is beautiful. I have to admit that this book sat on my To-Read shelf for awhile before I worked up the courage to read it. I knew it would poke at the hurts still present from my own past...and I had to work up the courage to go there. I'm so glad I did.....totally rewarding experience. Full stars from me! 

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from St. Martins Press via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

This is a very enchanting book. Loveday, the main character, works in a bookshop. In her private life she is very closed off and her only real friend is her boss, Archie. She has worked at the bookshop for years starting when she was a teenager. Loveday has had previous romantic relationships which haven’t worked out so she is skeptical about starting a relationship with one of her new customers. She gradually warms up to Nathan but is still having a hard time trusting him or herself. Loveday has had a lonely existence for years. Her mother killed her father when she was a child and she went to a foster home. She struck out on her own as soon as she eligible to leave her foster home. As we learn more of her past we get a much better understanding of Lovejoy. Her confidence is further shaken when books that her mother owned start to mysteriously get dropped off at the bookshop. This conincides with when Nathan first appeared. Can she trust him? Who is dropping off these books and how did they get them? Her boss Archie is a great character in the book and is a great friend and protector of Lovejoy. The book is well written and is a pleasure to read.

This novel, was a very powerful story of a young woman, Loveday Cardew who struggled to trust life and herself after a tough childhood which started at age 10, where she ended up separated from her parents and then put into foster care. Growing up not trusting anyone and living in self imposed solitude doing what she liked best, reading and writing. Loveday never learned to really make a close friend, until at the age of 15 when she goes into a used bookstore seeking a job.

This is a story of her and the other characters ability to let down their guard and letting others in, learning through experiences and self expression. From books, to tattoos, to expressing oneself through poetry, dropping the fears of what was or what could be. In other words to be able to relate to your world and the circumstance around you.
This was another great story for me with rich and interesting characters, a book which has every emotion, and one that gives you hope.
I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this book.

Two words: UTTERLY FANTASTIC. "The Lost for Words Bookshop" is so well-written, the protagonist so endearing (tough, sweet, creative), the plot so fascinating, unpredictable yet relatable, that I am willing to say that the book is the best I've read thus far this year. I will be purchasing a physical copy of the book, as it is a story that is so wonderful that I want to have this book on my literal bookshelf. The author's vocabulary and love for words is apparent, yet not over-the-top. Her characters are perfectly developed, allowing each character a wonderfully unique quality, yet not turning them into caricatures. I just love this story, as will any reader who loves stories about characters who love stories. Running the gamut of emotions, "The Lost for Words Bookshop" is a true winner, and one I highly, highly recommend. Many thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley, who provided me with a digital copy of the book at no cost. I was not required to write a review, and the opinions stated here are my own.

Loveday Cardew is a closet poet (with many secrets tucked in there as well) who works by day in the Lost for Words bookshop. Her life is simple and secure if not a bit lonely. Books have given Loveday a way to connect to a world that has shaken her deeply- so where else would she meet the people who change her life the most, finally freeing her of the painful memories she has held close for years? 

The book is more gripping than it initially lets on and is well developed by the author. Loveday's secrets are revealed slowly to the reader in chapter flashbacks while complicated relationships in present day begin to test her inner strength and emotional vulnerabilities. 

Perfect for fans of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. 

Engaging and at turns gripping as Loveday's understanding of relationships, friendships and family is tested and reinvented. 

I received a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was completely unexpected in the most delightful way. I thought I was getting a cozy women’s fiction but instead got a delishiously nuanced and layered story.

Loveday Cardew is single, sullen and knows the only person she can rely on is herself. Well that is until she  finds a book of poetry at a bus stop and the owner of the books comes into her life.


Loveday is a product of her broken home, when at 9 years old her life completely falls apart she soon learns that she has to rely on herself to survive. As a 25 year old woman this means keeping everyone at arms length until she meets a guy who gets her, at first she lets hike get close but when reminders of her childhood start cropping up, the pain is too much to bare and she starts to push him and everyone else further away.

Stevie‘s review of The Lost for Words Bookshop by Stephanie Butland
Women’s Fiction published by Thomas Dunne Books 19 Jun 18

Often, when a book is published under different titles on opposite sides of the Atlantic, I find that the UK version appeals to me better. However, in the case of Lost for Words/The Lost for Words Bookshop, the more self-explanatory US title was the one that attracted my attention. And it’s the second-hand bookshop of the title where much of this story unfolds, the place where our heroine, Loveday Cardew, has worked since the owner caught her shoplifting a copy of Possession when she was a teenager (to be fair, she’d had her purse stolen, and had left the last of her pocket-change in the shop as part-payment).


Having grown up in foster-care and witnessed violence between her parents before that, Loveday has difficulty trusting people, yet is generous to a fault with those around her, whether she knows them or not. When she finds a poetry book in the street, she is keen to reunite it with its owner, which is how she meets Nathan Avebury, a professional magician and regular attendee at a local open mic poetry night. Loveday’s one previous relationship has not ended well, making her all the more reluctant to trust Nathan; nonetheless she begins attending the poetry nights and slowly gains the courage to read out her own works.

Loveday’s burgeoning relationship with Nathan seems to be headed for bigger things, when she begins finding familiar books in the boxes of new acquisitions she’s sorting through: not just titles and editions she remembers from her childhood, but the exact same copies that once sat on her and her mother’s bookshelves. Her suspicions fall on both Nathan and her ex-boyfriend, as well as on anyone else who might have encountered her estranged mother, and all the associated worry creates a rift between Loveday and Nathan that even Loveday’s kindly boss and his varied circle of eccentric friends and associates seem unable to repair.

I loved Archie, the bookshop owner, by the way. He’s one of those characters who will spin impossibly tall stories, only for them to later turn out to have been almost entirely true. And when disaster strikes yet again, it’s Archie’s kindness and forward planning that ultimately saves the day for Loveday and helps her both reconcile herself to her past and see how to achieve the future she deserves.

Told through various intertwining timelines, this is a rich and complex book, in which Loveday’s character and past history are only very slowly revealed. Some aspects of her life are told also through her poetry and Nathan’s, and in the end it’s a love of both poetry and other forms of literature that binds the characters together. I can’t wait to discover more by this new-to-me author.

Grade: A

As a lifelong reader, I can definitely identify with Loveday Cardew, bookshop owner who is more comfortable with books than with most people. When secrets and strangers enter her world of books, is it possible for her to step outside of her comfortable world, into adventure? Sensitive and poignant, this is a very readable book.

The story unfolded in layers and I had a hard time putting it down, it had a wonderful strong female character that was trying hard to find her way in this world and to overcome some big obstacles. It touched on mental illness, domestic abuse and reluctant but lasting and strong friendships. I found it touching, sad, inspiring yet uplifting at the same time. As a book lover and librarian, I can't begin to describe how this book made me feel except that I realize that my love of books was deeply enriched by reading this story!

I really like Loveday and her courage to face life with the childhood she experienced.  She starts working in a used book store and has Archie, the owner looking out for her.  She loves her old books and writing poetry.  One day she finds a book laying on the street and puts a notice in the window.  Enter Nathan into her life, willing to help her face the past and start thinking about a future.  But someone is putting books on the step of the York bookstore and everyone has a significant meaning in her hidden past.  Will she be strong enough to face this challenge with Archie and Nathan's help?  Great story.  I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This was a truly lovely book about books and bookshops and the ways they can help and heal.  I really enjoyed it.

Loveday is a very independent girl who works in a bookshop in York.  She doesn't just work there, her life is there.  She likes books more than people and is suspicious of other people's motives until a magician named Nathan comes into the shop one day and slowly but surely brings her out of the shop and into the world.

I highly recommend this book.  Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Must-read women’s fiction: Books by Molly Harper, Karen White, Emily Giffin, Karma Brown and more
By: Leigh Davis | July 26, 2018 12:00 am 
So little time — so many books! This month we have double coverage of women’s fiction recommendations with both June and July books. So let’s dive in!
Little Big Love by Katy Regan
What it’s about:
Ten-year-old Zac Hutchinson collects facts: Octopuses have three hearts, Usain Bolt is the fastest man on earth.But no one will tell him the one thing he wants to know most: who his father is and where he went. 
When Zac’s mother, Juliet, inadvertently admits that his dad is the only man she’s ever loved, Zac decides he is going to find him and deliver his mom the happily ever after she deserves.
But Liam Jones left for a reason, and as Zac searches for clues of his father, Juliet begins to rebuild what shattered on the day that was at once the happiest and most heartbreaking of her life. 
Told through the eyes of Zac, Juliet, and grandfather Mick, Little Big Love is a layered, heartfelt, utterly satisfying story about family, love, and the secrets that can define who we are.
The right stuff: Zac is adorable! Complex family relationship is compelling, and point of view creates an ideal story. A winner!
The Lost for Words Bookshop by Stephanie Butland
What it’s about:
Loveday Cardew prefers books to people. If you look carefully, you might glimpse the first lines of the novels she loves most tattooed on her skin. But there are some things Loveday will never, ever show you.
Into her hiding place – the bookstore where she works — come a poet, a lover, and three suspicious deliveries.
Someone has found out about her mysterious past. Will Loveday survive her own heartbreaking secrets?
The right stuff: Marketed as a bibliophile delight, and it is true! Loveday will capture your heart as you become engrossed in the story of her guarding her own heart — from disappointment and betrayal. Wonderful backdrop romance as her Prince Charming helps break down the walls.
The Lido by Libby Page
What it’s about:
Rosemary Peterson has lived in Brixton, London, all her life but everything is changing.
The library where she used to work has closed. The family grocery store has become a trendy bar. And now the lido, an outdoor pool where she’s swum daily since its opening, is threatened with closure by a local housing developer. It was at the lido that Rosemary escaped the devastation of World War II; here she fell in love with her husband, George; here she found community during her marriage and since George’s death.
Twentysomething Kate Matthews has moved to Brixton and feels desperately alone. A once promising writer, she now covers forgettable stories for her local paper. That is, until she’s assigned to write about the lido’s closing. Soon Kate’s portrait of the pool focuses on a singular woman: Rosemary. And as Rosemary slowly opens up to Kate, both women are nourished and transformed in ways they never thought possible.
The right stuff: This book has been compared to Fredrik Backman’s A Man Called Ove because of its heartwarming theme of multigenerational relationships. It’s a marvelous flashback romance and features a developing one. There’s also a Goliath theme — a little guy against big business.
Ain’t She a Peach by Molly Harper
What it’s about:
An Atlanta ex-cop comes to sleepy Lake Sackett, Georgia, seeking peace and quiet—but he hasn’t bargained on falling for Frankie, the cutest coroner he’s ever met.
Frankie McCready talks to dead people. Not like a ghost whisperer or anything—but it seems rude to embalm them and not at least say hello.
Fortunately, at the McCready Family Funeral Home & Bait Shop, Frankie’s eccentricities fit right in. Lake Sackett’s embalmer and county coroner, Frankie’s goth styling and passion for nerd culture mean she’s not your typical Southern girl, but the McCreadys are hardly your typical Southern family.
The right stuff: The funeral home and bait shop combo is pure quirkiness, and it works! Frankie’s eccentricity is too droll. Plenty of romance. Southern idiosyncrasies at their most amusing.
The Late Bloomers’ Club by Louise Miller
What it’s about:
Nora, the owner of the Miss Guthrie Diner, is perfectly happy serving up apple cider donuts, coffee, and eggs-any-way-you-like-em to her regulars, and she takes great pleasure in knowing exactly what’s “the usual.” But her life is soon shaken when she discovers she and her free-spirited, younger sister Kit stand to inherit the home and land of the town’s beloved cake lady, Peggy Johnson. 
Kit, an aspiring—and broke—filmmaker thinks her problems are solved when she and Nora find out Peggy was in the process of selling the land to a big-box developer before her death. The people of Guthrie are divided—some want the opportunities the development will bring, while others are staunchly against any change—and they aren’t afraid to leave their opinions with their tips.
Time is running out, and the sisters need to make a decision soon. But Nora isn’t quite ready to let go of the land, complete with a charming farmhouse, an ancient apple orchard and the clues to a secret life that no one knew Peggy had. Troubled by the conflicting needs of the town, and confused by her growing feelings towards Elliot, the big-box developer’s rep, Nora throws herself into solving the one problem that everyone in town can agree on—finding Peggy’s missing dog, Freckles.
The right stuff: Miller does a wonderful job of showcasing the complex relationships we have with our siblings and how to lose the judgment and accept differences. Great sense of community, too!
The Lost Queen of Crocker County by Elizabeth Leiknes
What it’s about:
Crocker County crowns a new Corn Queen every year, but Jane Willow’s the one you would remember. She can’t forget Iowa, either. Even though she fled to LA to become a film critic years ago, home was always there behind her.
But when a family tragedy happens, she’s forced to drive back to Crocker County. The rolling farmlands can’t much hide the things she left behind: the best friend she abandoned who now runs a meatloaf hotline, the childhood front porch that sits hauntingly empty, and that fiasco of a Corn Fest that spun her life in a different direction. 
Before Jane can escape her past a second time, disaster strikes, and she will have to find a way to right her mistakes and save herself from her regrets. An unflinchingly love letter to the Midwest that unfolds through a celebration of movies, this ferociously endearing novel brings home the saving grace of second chances. 
The right stuff: Pure delight for film buffs. Riveting story of small-town girl transformed into mocking, skeptical sophisticate until she returns home and finds the courage to forgive herself and “make it right.” Strong multifaceted heroine. Wonderful “Believe So” theme.
All We Ever Wanted by Emily Giffin
What it’s about:
Nina Browning is living the good life after marrying into Nashville’s elite. More recently, her husband made a fortune selling his tech business, and their adored son has been accepted to Princeton. 
Yet sometimes the middle-class small-town girl in Nina wonders if she’s strayed from the person she once was.
Tom Volpe is a single dad working multiple jobs while struggling to raise his headstrong daughter, Lyla. His road has been lonely, long, and hard, but he finally starts to relax after Lyla earns a scholarship to Windsor Academy, Nashville’s most prestigious private school.
Amid so much wealth and privilege, Lyla doesn’t always fit in—and her overprotective father doesn’t help—but in most ways, she’s a typical teenaged girl, happy and thriving.
Then, one photograph, snapped in a drunken moment at a party, changes everything. As the image spreads like wildfire, the Windsor community is instantly polarized, buzzing with controversy and assigning blame.
At the heart of the lies and scandal, Tom, Nina, and Lyla are forced together—all questioning their closest relationships, asking themselves who they really are, and searching for the courage to live a life of true meaning.
The right stuff: Giffin combines today’s relevant themes of boys will be boys, the impact of social media and the MeToo movement into a compelling read.
Dreams of Falling by Karen White
What it’s about:
On the banks of the North Santee River stands a moss-draped oak that was once entrusted with the dreams of three young girls. Into the tree’s trunk, they placed their greatest hopes, written on ribbons, for safekeeping—including the most important one: Friends forever, come what may.
But life can waylay the best of intentions….
Nine years ago, a humiliated Larkin Lanier fled Georgetown, South Carolina, knowing she could never go back. But when she finds out that her mother has disappeared, she realizes she has no choice but to return to the place she both loves and dreads—and to the family and friends who never stopped wishing for her to come home.
Ivy, Larkin’s mother, is discovered badly injured and unconscious in the burned-out wreckage of her ancestral plantation home. No one knows why Ivy was there, but as Larkin digs for answers, she uncovers secrets kept for nearly fifty years—whispers of love, sacrifice, and betrayal—that lead back to three girls on the brink of womanhood who found their friendship tested in the most heartbreaking ways.
The right stuff: This one is everything you’ve come to expect from a Karen White book. Strong female friendships, a second chance at love and a great family mystery! (See an excerpt on HEA from Dreams of Falling.)
The Life Lucy Knew by Karma Brown 
What it’s about:
After hitting her head, Lucy Sparks awakens in the hospital to a shocking revelation: the man she’s known and loved for years—the man she recently married—is not actually her husband. In fact, they haven’t even spoken since their breakup four years earlier. The happily-ever-after she remembers in vivid detail—right down to the dress she wore to their wedding—is only one example of what her doctors call a false memory: recollections Lucy’s mind made up to fill in the blanks from the coma.
Her psychologist explains the condition as honest lying, because while Lucy’s memories are false, they still feel incredibly real. Now she has no idea which memories she can trust—a devastating experience not only for Lucy, but also for her family, friends and especially her devoted boyfriend, Matt, whom Lucy remembers merely as a work colleague.
When the life Lucy believes she had slams against the reality she’s been living for the past four years, she must make a difficult choice about which life she wants to lead, and who she really is.
The right stuff: An imaginative (and horrifying) plot of memories that are not truly memories. Strong romance and a true happy ending!
Leigh Davis is a former contributor to Heroes and Heartbreakers. When she is not reading, she’s usually outside throwing balls to her insatiable dogs. She loves hearing and talking about great books. You can connect with her on Twitter and Goodreads.
MORE ON HEA: See more posts by Leigh
Elizabeth Leiknes, Emily Giffin, Karen White, Karma Brown, Kate Regan, Libby Page, Louise Miller, Molly Harper, Stephanie Butland, women's fiction, Recommended reads, Top stories

I read this book in between my intense thrillers and I enjoyed it pleasantly. How can a book reviewer not like a book with a bookshop in its title?!
Loveday Cardew loves books more than people as books don't care. And Nathan's entry into her shop and into her life changed her and she is forced to delve into her past.
The story by Stephanie Butland has dual timeline, which reveals the layers of Loveday's life. She is well supported by secondary characters which makes this book a pleasant read with slightly grayer undertones.

I really enjoyed "The Lost for Words Bookshop. People who loved "Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine," and "The Music Room," will also enjoy Butland's book. I certainly did. I enjoyed the character development and Archie was a favorite character of mine. Butland revealed enough, but not too much, of the mystery behind Loveday to keep the reader engaged and turning pages. The pacing was well-done. 

I hope this is made into a movie, I would love to also see it on screen.

"I like books because they don't care." 

Every so often I like to mix it up. I generally stick to my psychological thrillers and murder mysteries, but after a while, all that gloom can get to you and storylines can become repetitive and you just need a break. The Lost for Words Bookshop was that break for me, and it was an excellent choice. It was exactly what I needed to step away and center myself. 

Loveday Cardew is a lover a books... people... well... not many have a place inside her world, not like the words found in the books she reads. Words that can eventually make their way permanently onto her skin if they're lucky. But people... they often seem more complicated, and men, who had time for that? 

I'd read enough fiction to know that relationships were:

- well disguised as the best thing ever
- complicated
- doomed to failure, most of the time
- usually comprised of a winner and a loser 

Sometimes however, fate has a different plan. When a young man, Nathan comes into the shop to claim a lost poetry book, the chemistry is undeniable. Try as she might, Loveday cannot deny there's something there. There's just one problem. Loveday has a past that's she's not willing to share. Only her past doesn't seem to want to stay there. When books from Loveday's past, books with meaning are brought into the bookshop where she works she begins to question everything. 

The novel is told from Loveday's POV, but from alternating timelines. As we're taken into the past, slowly, we begin to truly understand this troubled soul. Loveday didn't always have such a unfavorable outlook on people and the world around her, but when the trust of an innocent young mind is compromised well, that does something to a person. 

The essence of this novel is in the words of text we read everyday to the characters that impact our lives. I recently had a discussion with a co-worker about the "friends" in my life. I jokingly said "Oh my friends come and go, each day, week, month, I find new ones, some are unsavory, some are witty and full of banter, some you want to invite over to dinner, others are downright psychotic." He looked at me completely puzzled and said "What are you talking about?" and I replied "They are characters from the books I read, they are my only friends at times." It's the truth though. There are so many characters that we have all come across over the years that just jump right off the pages that we wish we could snap our fingers and make them appear. To find a place for them in our everyday lives. I've got to say, Loveday is one of those characters. She became my friend for a brief point in time while she shared her story. Until we meet again Loveday!

I want to thank NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Stephanie Butland for allowing me the chance to read this novel in exchange for my review. A wonderfully delightful read!

In The Lost for Words Bookshop by Stephanie Butland, the writer crafts a love story for bibliophiles. This is a story that honors the love of books. Protagonist Loveday Cardew prefers books to people, which many readers will empathize with. As the book unfolds, readers will peel back the layers on Loveday and learn more about her and why she leans on books so heavily. The secondary characters in this book are well-developed and engaging. All in all, this book is one to check out.