This book wasn’t at all what I thought but it turned out to be a good thing. The synopsis looked like a cute, flirty rom com between an author and a girl in the world of publishing. But with heavier topics like depression, racism, and wage disparity it definitely wasn’t as light hearted as I was thinking. However, the story worked. If anything, I think it gives readers a look into the ugly side of the publishing world. Like an job, there are definitely parts that are not picture perfect and I think Must Love Books did a great job speaking to that and providing hope for Nora, the main character.
I especially liked Andrew. His cheer and optimism were genuine and I know we all have an Andrew in our lives who we love in spite of their eternal optimism.

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Honestly, this book started out strong. However, the deeper I dove into this novel it wasn't the case at all. I was surprised with the heavy and dark topics that are discussed in the novel. I was just expecting a light and simple romance with an easy going vibe. Not a bad read but the pacing could be improved just abit more, it definitely kept me hooked at the start, wish it felt the same till the end. Thank you for the enjoyable read regardless

I want to start off by saying, I adored this book! The author dives into the depths of mental illness/depression and as someone that has depression, it felt so relatable. I had so many emotions when reading this, empathy, frustration, shock, happiness. To me, that’s what makes a great book.

I do wish there was more depth to Andrew and Nora’s relationship, but I was content with it and I enjoyed their banter.

I enjoyed the author’s writing style and I will definitely be looking out for her books in the future!

**Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review**
DNF on 14%
I could not care about where the story was going. Maybe just wasn't the right time for me to read It and I'll pick it up later, but for now I'm more into a light romance vibe, and this book felt denser.
From what I read the writting is good, It was just the plot that didn't hold my attention.

Spoilers!

Nora Hughes is in a rut, working as an editorial assistant for a floundering publishing company. After five years, she’s no closer to her dream of being an editor, and ongoing austerity measures have resulted in her being severely overworked and underpaid, especially after her salary is reduced beyond a sustainable level. In desperation, she agrees to freelance for a rival publisher and hides that fact from both employers. It’s inevitable that it’ll crash and burn. Meeting and beginning to fall for prized author Andrew Santos while, at the same time, using him to achieve her career goals is bound to end badly. If this story followed the predictable romantic tropes, readers would be assured of a HEA. However, Nora’s spiraling mental health raises the stakes and leaves the ending ambiguous but optimistic.

Andrew, who ranks himself at 10 of 10 on the happiness scale, is an absolute delight. He is thoughtful, protective (in a good way), and full of good humor, so it’s difficult knowing that his relationship with Nora is less than honest and bound to end with heartbreak. Nora is a complex character whose struggle with mental illness and misguided selfishness (motivated by survival) make it challenging to root for her, so readers need to be sympathetic rather than critical. The chemistry between them is tepid, especially with the total absence of any sexy scenes (other than a few kisses). Despite this, the hope is that Nora will eventually get the therapy she desperately needs, find a career path that’s enriching and fulfilling, and be able to reconcile with Andrew. They both deserve nothing less.

I thought this story had promise based on the summary, and I gravitate to books about books. However, I was somewhat disappointed not only by the slow pace, but by how dark it went with Nora’s depression and suicidal ideation. I don’t think it’s unusual, especially in today’s economy, for college graduates to take a “dream” job only to find that their expectations far exceed their reality. However, it’s the decisions they make (or fail to) about the next step in their career path that determine whether or not they’ll be happy pursuing something that takes up most of their waking hours.

Bottom line, it’s a good effort for this debut novelist, but expect women’s fiction rather than full-on romance.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Sourcebooks Landmark through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

I rarely (if ever) put a book down before I’ve finished it. But, I made an exception in this case. Must Love Books has such a great premise and I was in the mood for a little bit lighter fare. One can only read so many domestic thrillers before taking a break. The world of book publishing is fascinating to me and I know, like many competitive businesses, it can often be ruthless and unforgiving. So, I expected the story to have a serious side as well.

But, what I didn’t expected was the rather sudden swerve into the issues of suicide and suicidal thoughts. It almost seemed random and ill-placed. This topic wouldn’t deter me from reading a particular book, but in this case it didn’t feel right and, since I was interested a much lighter storyline, I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to finish Must Love Books.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

This is a new author, that I was excited to read. The book started out strong, but like many others, I struggled to finish this one, as partway through the book, the storyline starts to drag and is hard to finish.
The ending was pleasant and I am glad that I stuck with it. Still looking forward to trying another book by this author.

This story follows Nora who landed an editorial assistant position at Parsons Press, sure that it was her first step towards "The Dream Job". Because, who wouldn't love making books for a living? But Nora ends up picking up lunch orders, annoying authors, for five years. With her mental health and financial support on the line Nora has to figure out a way to make ends meet and find a reason to keep going. And when Andrew Santos, a bestselling Parsons author no one can afford to lose is thrown into the mix, Nora has to decide where her loyalties lie

This book, when I read the blurb, reminded me so much of Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine (one of my all time favourite books) and I definitely wanted to give it a try! This book is definitely not a heartwarming and light-hearted book as it seems to be, it touches on mental health, what happiness is, and trying to find a meaningful reason to keep going everyday. I liked that Nora wasn't a completely perfect character, she was flawed and her desperation led to many bad decisions. This book was also not heavily focused on the romance as well which was great, since it didn't take away from everything Nora was dealing with. Andrew was also a great character in my opinion, just supportive and understanding and wish we got more if him. This book also dealt with important topics as racism and discrimination in the publishing industry with Nora and Andrew being mixed race.

My only negatives were that it was quite slow at times and the inner workings of how publishing works sometimes was tedious to get through. I definitely enjoyed this book but wasn't quite the 5 star for me, I wish we got a deeper understanding of the other characters and more about Nora's mental health which I thought could have been explored more.

If you're in the mood for contemporary I'd definitely recommend this! If you love books that deals with books and making books you'd like this, I also think if you're looking for a book dealing with mental health and not so heavy romance this is definitely one to pick up!

Cute, fun and quick read. Somewhat predictable but if you're looking for a quick book, with a character that overcomes how they feel about themself this is a good one to pick up

I will start off this review by saying what I liked. I thought the premise of the book was unique. The characters - Nora especially - were real and well-written. Plus, I enjoyed the banter and humor. However, there were several things that ultimately made this a DNF for me. The first thing was the pacing, it seemed incredibly slow. I couldn't get into it. Another issue I had was the cover and description. Both gave the impression that this book was a light-hearted, contemporary romance. Although the book did include some romance and fun moments, it was more about Nora's journey of self-discovery and her struggles, which were serious and heavy.

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks for the ARC.
For more reviews, please follow @literaturewithalatte.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review from the publisher, this has not altered my opinion of this book.

What book reviewer or lover hasn't thought about working in the publishing world? Honestly, I know I have many times, and a book that centers around a book lover who works in an industry surrounding books? Couldn't say no to it! And I'm glad that I didn't. While the setting behind the story was new, the concepts were so familiar: a job one loves that just doesn't pay the bills being the main one. It was a story all about a woman attempting to figure out her way in the world and struggling to not lose herself along the way.

As a reader, I saw the mistakes that Nora made along the way and winced at them, but also couldn't help but sympathize with her as well, which made it that much easier to connect with her and her problems. I will also just mention that I appreciated the ending not being a pretty bow ending, the realism of it was not lost on me. All in all, it was a good book, nothing super special, but a high recommendation for readers who love books and love to read about people who love books. 3.5 out of 5 because I just wasn't blown away by this quick read.

This is a cut above bookish romances. Nora’s struggles with her career and internal demons are real and relatable. I really like the insights into the publishing world.

This book started out strong, but I didn’t like Nora’s attitude. I’m someone who thinks positively and I’m excited to try new things instead of thinking “what if I don’t like it” and other negative thoughts.
Nora had contemplated suicide and was extremely lonely, and I felt both sorry for her and annoyed at the same time. Many of her issues could have been resolved if she’d just told the truth at the time.

Nora has always wanted to work as a book editor. She gets a job at Parsons, a publisher, but they only offer dry business books. Unfortunately, she has to take a demotion and takes a part-time job with a competing publisher to make ends meet.
In the meantime, she’s getting to know Andrew Santos, probably the most exciting writer Parsons publishes. They grow close, Santos is trying to improve her self-professed quality of life up to the 6.5 average, higher than Nora’s self professed 3. He needs to decide to stay at Parsons and Nora is representing them. I liked this character, he was supportive and caring.

This is not a romance book. The book ends suddenly, I was hoping for a bigger HEA payoff after all the angst. Also, Nora “stole” authors and sent them to her new publishing house, actions which would have landed her in serious trouble in real life, but she faces no consequences. What romance exists is implied in the end. I did enjoy reading about the ins and outs of publishing.
I gave this book 3 stars.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book.

Nora works at Parsons, a publishing a company, but isn't happy. She meets an author named Andrew Santos, and gets tangled in a web of lies with her job and relationships. In the first half or felt kind of cheeky, but was a bit slow. Then the second half get a bit darker, and took a hard turn with her mental health. I liked how things ended though, not all perfect and wrapped in a bow. I liked it more towards the end, but it still didn't fully engulf me into the story. It was a quick read though.

What an amazing book. Presented as a romance, this book focuses first on Nora, its protagonist, and how she has to manage her current mental health state at a very crucial moment in her own career. Full of complexities around professional life, and your own happiness, priorities in life, the struggles and insecurities of being in your twenties, the lie of the perfect job.
It feels like a very important novel to read, it carries a message of realistic optimism amongst the highs and lows of corporate jobs, of trying to define your own passions in life, that the path you believed the one isn't always a guarantee of your future enjoyment and happiness, that dreams can change and you need to be able to change with them.
the story is great, the romance is very much cute, the relationship and banter feels very sincere. I'd loved to see the character of Andrew a little bit more, explore his own complexities towards the end and how he went on processing his own role in the life of Nora.

I liked this book but I didn’t love it and it’s not one that I would necessarily run out and recommend to people. The best way to describe this is that if I’m loving a book, all I want to do is read it and if I’m not reading it I’m thinking about when I will and getting annoyed and ‘life’ getting in the way of me and the story. I didn’t have those feelings with this one.

Here’s what I did like;
Both the main characters were people of colour. Nora is biracial and Andrew is Filipino.
It’s set in the publishing world, which was fun and interesting but also eye opening.
Nora was relatable with her career struggles, mental health, friendship fears, money worries and so much more. It was just a realistic portrayal of life, that it isn’t always sunshine and roses.

What I didn’t like;
It felt a bit slow but that could be because Nora isn’t sunshine (and that’s okay) but for me it felt like a cloud was hanging over the book and the reading experience.
This one is personal to me, and contradicts one of the positives above, but it sort of hit too close to home for me. The career struggles, intrusive thoughts, aimlessness, not feeling like enough - they’re all things i had struggled with so reading about them just made me think about them more, which on the one hand was reassuring and made me feel seen but on the other hand, it was exhausting.

The book did end of a positive note, the MCs were likeable, even if you questioned some of Nora’s decisions you could understand them, and there wasn’t unnecessary conflict just for the sake of it.

I also appreciate any author that writes trigger warnings in their book blurb or at the start of their book. More of this please!

As you can see, I’m kinda conflicted but that’s okay!

Nora has been an editorial assistant at a publishing company for five years. When she first applied for the job at Parsons, it seemed like a dream job: working with books, helping authors. But the realities of the day-to-day work combined with the fact that Parsons puts out boring business books, along with the recent frequent cuts to staff, have sucked any potential “dream” out of the job. When her close friend decides to leave the company for a better option, Nora feels particularly adrift.

When her salary, already barely enough to cover her living expenses, is cut, Nora is desperate. So she takes a part-time side job at a rival publisher, an ethically questionable but financially necessary move, and her life gets pretty complicated. Nora hopes to be able to move over to the rival publisher — and potentially work in fiction — if she can prove herself. But the unnerving balancing act gets even more complicated when bestselling author Andrew Santos gets thrown into the mix. He befriends her at Parsons, and their relationship turns into more than friendship.

But she can’t tell him the truth about what she’s doing; she could lose her job(s) and their budding romance.

Nora feels overwhelmed, out of her depth, and stalked once again by the demons of depression and even suicide. She’d thought she was on the path to a dream job, but now nothing seems right, or within reach. And as much as she likes Andrew, and as good as he is to her, she feels she can’t have a healthy relationship with him because she feels in such a fog. As Nora’s unbalancing act topples, she feels lonely, scared and depressed, but she also begins to find just how many people are truly there for her and willing to help her find her way.

Must Love Books is a novel that brings readers right along on that tough journey of young adulthood where it seems everyone else has it together and knows where they’re going but you. It touches on mental health and the need to lean on kind friends and to take advantage of professional help. It’s a sweet and real story that many will be able to relate to.

Books about book lovers are always so fun to me. While this one mentioned more nonfiction business types book than ones I would read, I still enjoyed it. Nora is someone that I think all office workers can relate to, to an extent, and I really found myself rooting for her. I wanted more of aresolution, but this was a good fast read ⭐⭐⭐💫.

Must Love Books by Shauna Robinson is a debut novel about Nora, an editorial assistant at Parsons Press. She is underpaid, underappreciated, and experiencing mental health problems on top of it all. When Parsons Press cuts her salary, she takes a second job, which just puts more pressure on her. Through it all, Nora keeps going; and even though she makes many mistakes along the way, she also learns a lot about herself. This story was very touching and realistic, and I really enjoyed how truthful it was. Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

This was such a cute and heartfelt read. I was expecting more romance but it was still and enjoyable story