Right from the start this book draws you in and makes you want to know more. You instantly fall in love with Savannah and her go getting personality. The entire cast of characters are just so lovable and warm. Just the perfect rom com to get lost in,

I really wanted to love Meet Me in the Margins... The cover, title and synopsis all hint at a romcom but it's not really... the "romance" starts around 70% of the book, and despite a HEA, nothing really happens. I'd say the main theme is self-worth. Also, while I would compare the writing to some good English authors I've read, I think it really clashes with the setting, but that may be just be who's having a hard time. Although, this book really was a bookworm dream!

TW: body shame, toxic relationship (family, ex)

Thank you for the free ebook copy in exchange of an honest review.

In a recent attempt to increase my awareness of new and upcoming releases in the book world, I created a NetGalley account. As a publishing student, I think it’s important to know what’s trending right now. And let’s face it — as a book lover, I couldn’t imagine anything more exciting than advance copies.

I didn’t expect to be approved for much, and I certainly didn’t expect to fall in love with the first book I read, but sometimes you get lucky, right? I got very lucky.

Summary: MEET ME IN THE MARGINS by Melissa Ferguson is a story about Savannah Cade, an assistant acquisitions editor at Pennington, a small publishing house in Nashville, Tennessee. The CEO of Pennington is very particular about what the company publishes: nonfiction and literary fiction. Highbrow works. Ms. Pennington would sooner walk the Arctic tundra in a bikini than publish commercial fiction, much less romance. Savannah has been given the chance of a lifetime — the top romance editor in the biz wants to read Savannah’s romance manuscript.

After a close call at a staff meeting, Savannah stashes her manuscript in the secret tower room of the old Victorian house that serves as Pennington’s office. Later, she is shocked and hurt to find that an anonymous editor has marked up her hidden manuscript… and not been particularly kind about it. But with a submission deadline fast approaching, Savannah begins to rely on this mystery editor, and as they exchange notes in the margins, she begins to wonder if they might take their relationship beyond friendship — and off the page.

My Thoughts: The premise of this book hooked me immediately — the blurb compared it to You’ve Got Mail meets The Proposal and I was IN, and what I found did not disappoint. If I’m being honest, this book may have been written *for* me. It takes place in a publishing house that’s not in New York City (my dream), it has a strong leading lady who isn’t afraid to be true to herself, and it’s a romance with all of the swoon and none of the spice. Savannah even explores the idea that romance isn’t all about physical attraction, which is something I really appreciated reading in a romance.

As a romance, this book delivers, even without a ton of actual romantic relationship happening. It’s almost entirely build-up, but we get to see Savannah really connect with Will, the love interest, and we learn a lot about both of them as characters as they get to know each other. Will is totally dreamy in a buttoned-up, smirky, secretly sensitive kind of way, but I appreciate that this book is so much about Savannah finding herself. She comes into her own as a publishing professional, she finds her voice as a writer, and she patches up old wounds with her family — she just happens to fall in love on the way.

All in all, I loved this book. I loved it so much that I DMed the author on Instagram to tell her that I loved it. And now I’m telling you: if you love books, work in or have ever wanted to work in publishing, go nuts for a slow-burn romance and a secret turret room, pre-order MEET ME IN THE MARGINS from your local bookstore now!


Rating: 5/5

The formatting on the book was terrible on my kindle and very hard to read.

That being said I tried to ignore it and get into the book but the story didn't hook me in enough so it was a bad combination unfortunately.

I'd rate this 3.5 stars. I wanted so badly to like this book just a little bit more than I really did. The premise of this book has so many things going for it - I love the bookish setting, references and surroundings. I absolutely adore the book nook that she finds in the ARC room. There's so much about this book that is right up a book lovers alley and I was so excited to get the opportunity to read it.

I struggled with the characters and the romance, or lack there of really. I didn't really feel any of the tension or build that I was expecting to feel between Savannah and William. Their relationship arc fell a bit flat for me. There was definitely good dialogue and supporting characters. Some scenes felt a little choppy and confusing, and I'm honestly not sure exactly what the primary conflict was supposed to be.

I did find myself pulling for Savannah to get her situation figured out and I was mostly happy with the ending and how the majority of the plot lines were addressed. Overall, it felt like the plot wandered a little bit and there was so much potential to really lean in to the workplace romance angle of the storyline, but it really just skimmed the surface.

I was really excited to read this book but it just didn’t happen. I just didn’t feel anything about this book, the characters, the plot, nothing.
Not my cup of tea.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for this ARC.

I thought back Meet Me in the Margins by Melissa Ferguson was so cute! Normally slow burn romances aren't typically my cup of tea because I want steam right away but I liked how this was played out I liked that the characters took their time to get to know each other. Definitely recommend!

This novel is a delightfully pithy and cute slow-burn romance.

Savannah Cade works as an assistant editor for a stodgy publishing house that only produces the finest literary works and non-fiction. Her boss’s son has come to help out at the publishing house, because they’re losing money and cutting employees left and right, and Savannah is worried that her job might be at stake. Meanwhile, Savannah is secretly writing a romance novel–one that would make her own publishing house embarrassed to be associated with–which she has an editor at another publishing house interested in. When she leaves her manuscript in a secret room in the publishing house and returns to retrieve it, she finds notes in the margins–harsh critiques of her story that would require a massive rewrite. Furious, she ignores them, but when she sends the book to her editor, she rejects it, making some of the same criticisms. Desperate for help to achieve her dream, Savannah makes a written plea to her mystery editor, who agrees to help her out and to continue to provide her invaluable feedback. What Savannah doesn’t expect is to start developing feelings for this mystery man as they continue to write notes to each other. But which of her coworkers could he be?

Savannah Cade is the definition of a relatable protagonist. There’s nothing remarkable about her. She’s adequate at her job, she has hopes and dreams, and she’s a bit of a doormat where her family is concerned. Her ex-boyfriend, who she dated for eight years, is now engaged to her sister, and she’s living with the two of them. Her sister is obsessed with fitness, and she has Savannah participating in a step challenge. (Who doesn’t have a relative who’s fixated on getting their daily steps in?)

There’s quite a bit of this book that resonated with me personally. I’m a book reviewer, a librarian, and an author, and references to advanced reader copies and scenes set at the librarian conference (which I think was a wink to ALA), gave me the warm and fuzzies. I was reading an arc of a book talking about advanced reader copies in an authentic way, and it all felt very meta, which turns my brain into a pretzel, so I’m going to move on to the rest of my review.

The book doesn’t start off strong, and I did have a hard time getting past those first few chapters, but I’m glad that I did! By the twenty percent mark, I was hooked and I fell in love with the story and the author’s sweet writing style. It’s ironic that a book in which the protagonist is having her romance novel critiqued, with the mystery editor telling her that she started at the wrong place and her beginning is weak, had a weak beginning itself.

This book is a sweet, slower-than-molasses burn romance. It’s clean with no profanity or violence, and I realized after starting the book that this is a Christian publisher, but aside from the fact that it’s a clean read, I wouldn’t have been able to tell that.

The book has some important themes and messages that make this verge into the realm of women’s fiction, not just romance. The novel serves as an important reminder presented in a fun way: Don’t lose track of what truly matters in life, what you really want, and what really makes you happy, and focus on your dreams!

Thank you for the author and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book!

If you love a romance, books and the world of publishing this is for you! A lighthearted swooning romance that creates from the margins of a manuscript until it kindles feeling that go over the paper.

Cute, fun, fast paced rom-com story with loads of book smells. I wanted to crawl into the hidden room of ARCS!!!

Savannah's clumsiness and quirkiness had me smiling and laughing. I related to her in so many ways, especially with her tripping and hating the fact that she had to wear heels to work, haha. William gave me the hard exterior, but mushy marshmallow interior vibes and loved their little awkward banter.
One of the things I really didn't like and couldn't get over in the story was Sav's sister Olivia. I really disliked her, haha. I won't go into too much detail because spoilers, but one thing that REALLY bothered me was who she was engaged to. I couldn't ship that. BOO!

Thank you to Thomas Nelson Fiction for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is very cute. I love Savannah and William and I think they have SO MUCH promise! I wish we got more of their little jokes in the manuscript and just time with them together. I could tell they had chemistry, but it just didn’t fully develop as much as I would have liked. The premise of the book is so good though. Publishing company, secret editor, a secret ARC room that Savannah described as a place of dreams and I truly believe it would be if I ever saw one in person! I loved the twist with the ARC room at the end as well, that wasn’t something I was expecting.

Oh, Savannah. You can't help but feel awful for her, given that her boyfriend dumped her and is now engaged to her sister and her parents are thoroughly engulfed in toxic and false positivity about the situation. Meanwhile, Savannah's manuscript needs work if she ever hopes to have it published, and her new boss seems rigid and cold. Meet Me in the Margins is a fun tale of how Savannah plugs ahead despite all the obstacles and creates a happier life for herself.

The content is likely sometimes a little too specific to publishing and to Nashville's music scene, so some readers may find parts of the story unclear, but overall this novel was a fun read. Additional comments will be shared directly with the publisher.

I enjoyed this book well enough. The romantic banter was cute and the feelings of writing and querying a book were absolutely on point. However, there wasn’t enough of the couple actually being focused on in the book for me to get fully invested. There was basically no implied romance until maybe 40% and it didn’t get very flirty until about 70%. I needed more and didn’t get it. I also felt it was very unrealistic that she’s still working as an editor at the same publishing house that publishes her book. I highly doubt they’d allow that. But overall, this was fun, light, and a quick read.

What a charming, cute and fun book. I adored the premise (who doesn’t love a good slow burn You’ve Got Mail story?), the main characters had great chemistry together and I enjoyed Savannah’s growth as the story progressed. While I would’ve loved more interactions with the two main characters, I’m still satisfied with the book and its ending.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book!
I got excited about this book just from reading the plot! Plus, who doesn’t love a book about books?! Meet Me In The Margins is such a fun and charming story. I really enjoy romances like this one with a bit of mystery. Savannah was also super relatable with her clumsy-ness and quirks, which is always something I enjoy in a book. This story gave me flirty-pen pal vibes with the idea of this mystery editor. It was also super fun to feel like I was behind the scenes at a publishing company.

3.5 rounded up to a 4.

Uuugh. Ugh. This was looking like a five star read for me once I hit the halfway point.

I adored the plot idea. It was unique and adorable. But I found myself wishing for more. More romance, more conversations between savannah and will, more notes between editor and writer.

It was hard to feel that connection between savannah and will because they didn’t talk much throughout the whole book and then suddenly there were feelings. Will I could understand a bit more because he would hint at flirting in their convos, but for savannah idk.

I loved the writing and writing style, however. So that’s a plus!!

* Thanks to NetGalley for this arc *

<i> First of all, thank you to Netgalley and Thomas Nelson for the e-Arc. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own </i>

<i> Meet Me in the Margins </i> was very cute and a good read for book lovers. It's meta romance about Savannah, an editor who moonshadows as a romance writer trying to get her book published, and her mysterious editor who leaves her accurate notes on the margins.

The mysterious editor wasn't that mysterious and one of the reasons this book didn't fully work for me was that it required a massive suspension of disbelief to get through the selling point that Savannah truly didn't know who was leaving those helpful, on point, savvy editorial notes for her. Every reader will know it and not just because it's the premise of the book. Even if you went in without knowing that <spoiler> Will, the new VP, and handsome guy she keeps running into is her mysterious editor</spoiler>, you could guess. It all fits.

And yet, even if Savannah is a bit too slow to get to the only logical conclusion, the journey is a sweet one. There are plenty of funny and cute moments and the story has a HEA, which is really all one needs sometimes.

I do wish the characters had been a bit more fleshed out. Sometimes they read a little like cliches or interesting background stories were teased but never developed. I would have liked to see more of those stories played out. Sometimes we were in Savannah's head too much to the detriment of space for character growth.

I enjoyed the setting of the publishing house, but a pet peeve was seeing Savannah pitch her book directly to the editor, no agent in between, when we all know that's highly unlikely. But oh well. It can't all be perfect.

Overall, a cute romance that's not one bit spicy but it's quite sweet.

4.5/5 stars (rounded to 4)

I received an ARC of this book, and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

Savannah Cade works for a small publishing company that only publishes prestigious books. However, she is secretly working on a romance novel that, if discovered, would likely get her fired. One day, she is forced to leave her manuscript behind in the secret room at work. When she returns, she finds that someone has left notes down the margins. At first she is offended, but she quickly realizes that she needs help editing it. As she and the mysterious editor write notes back and forth, Savannah begins to search for the anonymous person.

This book was so cute! I loved the concept and knew I had to read this! Savannah's notes with her editor often made me laugh, as did pretty much every scene Lyla was in. I really enjoyed the ending and thought it wrapped things up nicely!

I did have a few issues with this book but nothing major. The whole "mystery editor" thing went on for much longer than it needed to, and there were a few things I felt weren't really resolved/explained. I also didn't enjoy the subplot going on with Savannah's family.

Overall, this book was fun and wholesome! I think aspiring/current authors might relate to some of Savannah's struggles--she can't figure out TikTok, her only newsletter subscribers are her parents, and she mourns the losses of characters that had to be cut from her manuscript. I would also recommend this to those who enjoy a clean, contemporary romance that is mostly fluff.

There’s no doubt about it. Savannah Cade’s new boss now knows her secret. The question is, what will William Pennington do about it?

Savannah has the chance of a lifetime—to get her manuscript into the hands of the editor-in-chief for the most successful romance imprint in the industry. The problem? Savannah is an editor herself, but at a house where the publisher (aka William’s mom) believes a love of fiction—especially romantic fiction—is beneath contempt and grounds for firing. So after accidentally spilling her manuscript on the floor and giving her new boss a glimpse of its contents, Savannah stashes it in the secret room only she knows about.

Except the secret room isn’t a secret anymore. Someone’s been reading her manuscript and leaving edits in the margin. Who is the mysterious editor? Will he keep her secret safe? And will his edits turn out to be just what her manuscript—and her heart—need?

With witty dialog, a delightfully imperfect and self-doubting heroine, and glimpses into the inner workings of publishing life, Meet Me in the Margins is smile-out-loud, page-turningly wonderful!

*I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

#MeetMeInTheMargins by Melissa Ferguson is a fun, sweet and witty rom-com with sympathetic characters. I loved the main characters and their interactions which were very When Harry Meets Sally.
A great read for those looking for a light-hearted romance.

Thank you to #NetGallery and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for a review