She held the book close to her and let the pages flutter, breathing in that paper and ink scent that made her heart swell. There was something about a book that brought such joy, but lately they seemed to be bringing a weight into her life that wasn’t welcome. Her job in the publishing world wasn’t what she had dreamed… it was resembling a nightmare more and more each day. The sense of doom loomed over her shoulder and she needed to discover a way out… she desperately needed to find that joy again.

Must Love Books shares Nora’s story, a woman working in the publishing world… but not the publishing dreams she thought she’d be experiencing. Desperate to find a spark of joy in her life, she’d do anything to find that happiness again.

I love a book about books, and this one took a bit of a different spin on that premise, focusing more on the publishing side of business books and nonfiction. The miscommunication trope was also a big part of this story, which isn’t a favorite trope of mine, but I still enjoyed the read. While this book had some very cute moments with hints of romance and flirtation, I must mention it deals with some heavy topics as Nora battles with depression and suicidal thoughts.

If you’re a fan of books about books and light romance, then you’ll want to give this one a read.

DNF at 30%

It seems like I'm not the only one who went into this book with different expectations set by the cover and the blurb.
What annoyed me the most was Nora's constant complaining and whining. I'm not saying that people don't feel trapped or hung up on their "dream job" and deal with lots of stuff at work, but to say she's "dreading" going into work stumped me. Nobody bullies her or she doesn't get any verbal abuse from customers like many of us do nowadays. She complains that she's not invited into the meeting (she didn't ask to be part of it because she feels like it would be presumptuous of her and she can't handle the rejection). She complains that everyone dressed up nicely and that IF she would have been invited, she would have dressed nicely too. Seriously?!
You could just dress nicely everyday if you really wanted to.

Then we get complaints about how she cannot afford to buy lunch out like many of the other people. Let me tell you that most of the people on this planet cannot afford to buy lunch out every single day... and you need to get your priorities straight. You're in your late 20's. Grow up.
All this just happened in the first 7% of the book.

I skim read through to 30% because I hoped it would get better. It didn't. I wanted to yell at her and tell her to find another job, even if it's not in publishing and read your books in your free time. I know that mental illness doesn't help you problem solve properly in situations and you can focus on the wrong things, but by god, this book and Nora as a character riled me up.

Thanks Netgalley for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Sourcebooks and NetGalley.

I adored this book. Nora was such a real character, and I loved reading her journey and growth.

The behind the scenes insight into a small publishing house were fantastic - especially for someone like me, who has a romantic view of what working in publishing would be like.

I liked all the supporting characters as well, making this world feel real, Beth and Andrew were favorites. Henry Brook - man back pats for everyone who has to deal with Henry Brooks in their lives.

I, unfortunately, judged a book by its cover and think I set myself up on a path of false expectations with this one. I was expecting a fluffy romance. It was not. It's more of a contemporary women's fiction book and the main character is definitely in a situation she does not enjoy. I had a hard time fully connecting with her story and the book also felt a bit slow to me. If you are going to read this one, know that it's a bit heavy and not a romance.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book!

Absolutely adored Must Love Books by Shauna Robinson! Thank you @netgalley for the ARC!

Nora Hughes is an editorial assistant at a publishing company. She is overworked, underpaid, and her work bestie just left for another job. Not only that, but she gets a pay cut because of the company’s struggles.

This book was extremely relatable. Nora isn’t fresh out of college, she’s been working at her “dream job” for years and is disillusioned, wondering what it is she wants to do with her life. I think a lot of us can relate.
Be warned though, this book does talk about anxiety, depression, and lying.

This book does have some romance, and the lead, Andrew Santos, is adorable 😍
Again, there is romance, but lots of heavy themes.

Nora is biracial and she mentions a few times on how often she’s the only Black girl at an event or in the room. Super important to call out, as she’s in publishing.

Overall, I loved this book. ❤️

I wanted so much to enjoy this book, but I felt it was so draggy at the start. I felt immensely sad and sorry for Nora , who struggled at a job with no career prospects, while simultaneously struggling with her mental health. I ended up DNFing this at approximately 50-60 pages in - I usually don't DNF books, which makes this a tragedy for myself.

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

When I saw the title and read the description I was thrilled to the bones. A book about books? Is it anything better than that? But then I have in on my Kindle and it was like... no. Like a huge, fat NO.

At first, It was boring. Like boring boring. Of course, I understand why we should read all the details about Nora's life, especially the financial sides, but c'mon... Who cares?! Let's please go forward to the books!

Then... It was no better. I see that author is focusing so much on giving as many details as possible to have to story in a frame, but I felt overwhelmed by the things that do not really matter.

I struggled to finish it, so, unfortunately, I cannot give any recommendation about this particular book.

I did not finish this book.
DNF'ed it at about 80-90 pages in.

Honestly it was the characters, I did not get along with how they were written, how they were talking and it was just.... not it for me.
I really liked the concept and I might pick up the book again if I come across an audiobook of it.

I initially assumed this was going to be a romcom but it is more about a young woman discovering what she really wants in life. There is some romance but that is not the central theme. Nora is working for a publishing company in a dead end job. Her hoped for dream job in publishing is not happening and she needs to make some serious life decisions. She is also struggling with depression and has suicidal thoughts so she definitely needs to dig deep and make some big changes in her life. This was an interesting book by a debut author.

This was such a heartfelt novel and I really liked Nora. It was enjoyable to read and I really liked it!

Thank you to NetGalley for the reader’s proof copy of this book. This was an enjoyable, thoughtful story about a woman in publishing who is going through a career and life transition. The main character, Nora, wrestles with depression and suicidal thoughts about the future and how she will survive. I really appreciated the realistic and honest portrayal of someone who isn’t sure how they will keep paying bills, what they want to do career-wise, what really makes them happy, and whether the struggle is worth it. I did not find this a light-hearted “chick lit” book, as other reviewers have mentioned, it dealt with serious topics and did not solve everything with an HEA. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has struggled to find direction in their lives.

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill meets Younger in a heartfelt debut following a young woman who discovers she’ll have to ditch the “dream job” and write her own story to find her happy ending.

At first glance, Must Love Books looks like a light-hearted and fluffy read. And in some ways, it is that. In most ways, however, it isn’t, and I don’t mean that in a bad way. There’s a depth to this book that I did not expect, used as I am to covers that sort of give away the game. What can I say? Darker covers often mean darker books, that’s the name of the publishing game.

Deeper, however, doesn’t mean bad. It also doesn’t mean this is a hard book to read, not at all. But it is the kind of book I didn’t – couldn’t read in one sitting. There’s something about sitting in the uncomfortable feelings a book brings out. And, I think, Nora’s troubles will look increasingly familiar to an entire generation that just went through a pandemic and had to rethink their soul-sucking job and the depression that both the world we’re living in and the aforementioned job bring.

Perhaps, a year ago, when I was Nora, when I felt like her, this book would have been too much for me. As it is, the book was a level of catharsis I did not expect in a read I picked up because I enjoy both Women’s Fiction and romance. And though I’ve focused a lot on the heavier parts, because I think they’re important, I will say that the book treats all these topics with care, and that as heavy as the topics are sometimes, there’s always the right balance of humor that will allow you to sort of laugh at yourself.

That is, of course, if you’re at the point where you can.

Because I feel like that’s the thing that will make or break the book for you. Must Love Books deals candidly and frankly with depression, not as an afterthought, but as the main issue affecting the life of main character, Nora. For some, that will be refreshing. Entertainment has a way of sweeping mental health issues under the rug and bringing them to the forefront can only be good for people who are there and don’t know how to put their feelings into words.

However, some will also look at this book and find it is not the escape they wanted – perhaps needed. That is understandable too. No book is for everyone. No book should be for everyone. Trying to please every person is the only surefire way of please absolutely no one.

Me? I both enjoyed, and at times, felt called out by Must Love Books. It wasn’t what I expected at all, but what I found in these pages, a story of pushing yourself and stepping out of your comfort zone, wasn’t a bad story. I might not have picked up this book had I known it was going to end up being what it was, and that would have been a loss.

There are a lot of romances – good ones, out there. There are very few books willing to look at depression the way Must Love Books does. And, whether that’s what you want to read right now or not, that’s still a win.

Must Love Books, Shauna Robinson's debut novel, explores themes of career, identity and fulfillment. Nora is an editorial assistant, a "mere publishing peasant," who makes some spectacular career mistakes and, as a result, must put her life back together. She has no real authority, no work friends remaining in the wake of mass layoffs and departures, and, as a half-Black woman in an all-too-white field, no future in sight. With meager pay, she's barely scraping by as it is. When a freelance gig with a rival publishing house opens up, she decides to work both jobs in order to make ends meet and give her résumé a boost.

As with any set-up that requires lying to every person one may encounter in the course of a day, the situation works for a brief time--until it eventually blows up in Nora's face. Though the novel includes elements of romantic comedy--Nora starts to fall for an author she works with--it ultimately proves much heavier than that, as Robinson explores how career and identity can be linked, how money locks Nora into a life she hates and how depression can escalate into something much larger, whispering "what if?" in the darkest moments of the night. "It was internalized now," Nora reflects, "this idea of fulfillment." While Must Love Books moves toward a happy ending in some ways, it is in this murky questioning that it shines: How does one define fulfillment? Is it okay to settle for a good-enough life? Nora learns that these are not questions with easy answers--but that maybe the questioning is the most important part.

Must Love Books is insightful into the book world and the unexpected path's life can take you down, when at first, your dream job isn't all it's cracked up to be.

The book begins with rather sardonic tones and you get the feel for the type of company Nora works for, straight away. It draws you in with the sense of humour and a relatability I am sure many readers will see within their own jobs and businesses. It begins with Nora interviewing perspective candidate - Kelly at publishing company Parson's Press. This was, she decided, 5 years ago, to be her dream job and landed the post of Editorial Assistant, when she was all young and less jaded, with a love of books, even when younger, when she enjoyed Judy Blume's "Just As Long As We're Together" (a book I myself also remember fondly and still own a copy of"). Fantasies of what she would be doing had gone through her head and she sees a bit of this in "bright-eyed" Kelly across the table as she is on the look out for a replacement to fill the hole that friend, Beth would leave when she move onto pastures new. Nora seems to wish she could do the same. 

The book is interesting. It has quite a cutting edge and brings readers a huge dose of reality to swallow that brings a real eye-opener; it's nonetheless entertaining throughout. Between that and work, the book is incredibly believable and relateable as a woman's dream job isn't what was expected and tries a different tact, especially when things at work go from bad to worse with the job itself and the office politics, which makes living and working needlessly hard. So, she tries out for a job at new start-up company - Booktap, which sounds hip and relaxed and the complete opposite of Parson's, to see if her happy-ending could exist there or at Weber, but the question is, whether she really wants it, if she was offered. It's an interesting book in that it goes through quite a lot of how people feel when applying for a new job and the feedback from interviews is spot-on too. It's also about a woman trying to discover where she fits best in the working world. It's a book that would appeal to any person of working age, looking for a change in their lives, especially if they've "been there, done that, and even going through it again" as you'd really get a feel for this and perhaps identify with it.

It's a great life adventure to see what path Nora does take and what she discovers. There's some romance along the way too. It carries with it an important message, that sometimes not everything works out as you think it would, but you still survive.

I love all things books so I thought this one would be right up my alley, but unfortunately I didn't love Must Love Books. It was a bit too slow moving for me and without feeling connected to the main character I really struggled to finish this one sadly.

I certainly sympathized with Norah and her struggles in life, feeling stuck and trying to figure out who you are and where you'll fit, but sadly it wasn't enough to hook me.

Thank you to Net Galley and Sourcebooks for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

If you have ever questioned how much you enjoy your job and whether it is the right one for you, then you are going to love this book. Nora thinks she has gotten her dream job working for a publisher, but things have been slowly going down hill at Parsons Press. And now, there are layoffs and Nora is getting her pay cut again. Then she meets author Andrew and everything in her life changes. This was so cute and funny! And any book that's about books will always pull me in!

This book came as a total surprise for me. Not necessarily a romance, though–like Honey Girl, this debut is more like a women’s fiction about having a quarter-life-crisis that happens to involve a romantic relationship. The main character Nora struggles with what most Millenials/later Gen Z’s are currently dealing with; unfulfilled in their work-life and tying their goals for happiness to the work they do. This leads Nora into a deep depression while in the midst of being severely underpaid, exploring a possible romance with author Andrew Santos, and trying to find reasons why she wants to even live at the moment. Much darker than anticipated, but a mentally-cleansing read that reminds you it’s okay not to be okay.

When Nora"s dream job turns out to be a drag, AND she receives a pay cut, she decides to moonlight with a rival publisher, just for a little while, to make ends meet. As she struggles to balance both gigs without anyone at either place finding out, she gets stretched thinner and thinner until ultimately her two worlds collide. This was sweet and engrossing (I read it in a couple of days on vacation), and this book has zero spice, for those looking for romcoms without a lot of heat.

This is such a beautifully written, moving novel with layers. I loved this glimpse into publishing, loved the love story, and most of all loved being inside the mind of our MC. A fabulous debut.

But I really did enjoy it, if I'm treating enjoy in a sense that does not mean "make me happy." It was a cathartic read, one that would have had me crying a year ago, and now, with me coming up on a year since I quit the job that *should* have been my Dream Job because it was crushing me heart and soul and I could not take the underhanded pettiness of it all, I only teared up. Because I've been there.