3.75 ⭐️

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review!

Savannah, an editor for a prestigious publishing firm, is writing her own romance novel… but no one can ever know. But what happens when she accidentally leaves her manuscript at work? She comes back to find that someone made edits in the margins of her pages! So the question lies… who?

It was super cool to see the other side of the publishing world and I, as a reader, don’t get to see. This story was a slow slow slow burn, but I really enjoyed it, and I was smiling throughout it!

Savannah has a secret--she's written a novel that she wants to have published. The reason it is so secret is that she is an editor for a publishing company that doesn't "do" fluff, Pennington Publications. Their market is higher tier literary fiction--not romance.

Will Pennington has been brought in to stop the financial bleeding from toppling the Pennington empire. He's the son of the owner of the company and he recently left one of the big publishing houses in New York to help save Pennington.

This book gives a peek into the parts of the publishing world that aren't all hype and glitz. It gives a nitty-gritty behind the scenes look into the actual process of getting a book from inside someone's head to actual words on paper bound in a nice, neat package for the consumer.

Some of the plot lines that flesh out this novel include Savannah's over-achieving younger sister who polices everything Savannah eats, drinks, and every step she takes; all while planning her wedding to Savannah's former boyfriend, Ferris. Throughout the book, Ferris is portrayed as a nice guy overall, but still the fly in Savannah's ointment. It is not until the very end that his true, slimy colors are revealed.

When Savannah drops her manuscript during one of the weekly meetings, someone picks up the pages and reads them, giving her harsh, but not un-due criticism of her writing. She decides to ask for help from her mystery editor to get her manuscript ready for submission in forty-four days. That's all the time the publisher she's chosen for her book has to give Savannah for the book.

I am not sure why Will took such an interest in Savannah, nor what the original attraction was. He seemed to seek out her advice on things at the publishing house when she was not one of the premier editors for the company. She was definitely not one of his mother's pet editors and was rather on the outside of the inner circle. It was surprising that Will took Savannah's opinions to heart and made sweeping changes within the company based on those opinions.

The romance was very understated throughout the novel and when it did show up, it was very sweet. Melissa Ferguson knows just how much humor to add into the mix to make her novels enjoyable reads.

Thomas Nelson and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review and I am surprised at what Thomas Nelson allowed in this book to be categorized as Christian Fiction. While it's a minor part of the plot, Ferris and Olivia (Savannah's sister) living together is rather unexpected. Still it is a four-star book. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

Savannah Cade is an Assistant Acquisitions Editor for a small, high-brow publishing company called Pennington Publishing in Nashville. The owner, Ms Pennington, frowns on populist writing such as romance, Sci-Fi, westerns etc, preferring non-fiction titles. Whilst Savannah is very good at her job, she has a secret, she has been writing her very own romance novel! One day, when Savannah retreats to her secret bolt-hole hidden behind a cabinet in the ARC room she finds that someone has read her manuscript and made scathing comments on it.

Savannah's personal life is a bit of a car crash. She broke up with her long-term boyfriend, who promptly asked out her younger, thinner, more successful, more driven sister Olivia and they got engaged within three months. Now Savannah is reduced to renting her sister's spare room and pretending to be happy about house-sharing with her ex. Also her sister is obsessed with exercise and has started an annual Steps-4-Life Step-a-thon to raise money for charity which means she interrogates Savannah about her daily steps.

Then things take a downturn professionally when Ms Pennington's son William leaves his fancy publishing house in New York to run Pennington Pub with his mother, amid rumours that the business is performing badly. Then a well-respected editor of a romance publishing house who had expressed interest in Savannah's manuscript tells her that the novel needs a lot of work before it could be published, and she only has a few weeks before she retires. Savannah is devastated by the news, but the editor's comments are very similar to those made by her mystery reviewer. Can she persuade the mystery reviewer to give her further feedback so that she can whip her novel into shape?

I have commented so many times this year about the number of re-imaginings of You've Got Mail I've read this year, this is in a similar vein. Savannah gets over her dislike/fear of William Pennington quite quickly and they become friends, but she is also drawn to the wit and vulnerability shown by her mystery reviewer, who she thinks is a colleague called Sam, even though in real life Sam never seems to have the spark of his review comments.

This was just lovely, I really loved the mystery reviewer's comment that Savannah can have one character with a fancy name but not both, because its not opera. I can also sympathise with Savannah reading the Word of the Day and then trying to work it into everyday conversation. It's funny, sweet, charming and I read it in a single weekend when I had much more urgent books to read because it was more appealing than the rest of my TBR pile :)

Highly recommended.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

What a delightful book! Melissa Ferguson is a go to author for me. When I saw the title of this book and read the description, I was so anxious to read it. It did not disappoint. This book was sweet and fun with moments of laugh-out-loud humor. It was entertaining and hard to put down. I liked the main characters, especially Savannah who was a bit quirky.

If you enjoy a feel-good, clean rom-com, you definitely want to check this book out.

***Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review***
A perfect book for librarians and book lovers! A sweet romance with enough angst and shenanigans to make this a delightful read.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. If you like a cute and lighthearted romance with a slow burn this book is definetely for you. Yes, it is a bit cliché but that’s expected from these type of books and I found myself laughing more than cringing during the most part. The main character, Savannah, is likable and the love interest is certainly someone you have a risk falling for. The storyline is predictable but still enjoyable and fun to read. The main character is relatable without having the annoying ”I’m not like other girls” trate. Overall, this was a fun read and I would recommend it. I wish it was possible to give half stars, if it was it would have gotten a 3.5 instead of a 3.

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

I was excited to see a new book by Melissa Ferguson. After about a three year reading slump I picked up her other book, The Cul-De-Sac War on a whim earlier this year and it helped me fall back into reading. I could not pass up the opportunity to read Meet Me in the Margins.

Meet Me in the Margins follows Savannah as she handles her editing job at a highbrow publishing house, Pennington, while trying to write her secret romance novel. When she leaves her manuscript in a hidden book nook in their ARC room she returns to find edits from a mystery editor. Initially Savannah took the edits as harsh criticism but after a turn of events with her potential publisher she now needs to adapt and learn to work with her mystery editor to get her manuscript published. But during the weeks of back and forth their notes slowly start to turn into something more.

Meet Me in the Margins was a refreshing and fun story. The plot is engaging and funny and feels like you are sitting down to watch a comfort rom-com. There is no smut, which is actually very refreshing in the current market and it felt light and fun. Watching Savannah grow and develop as an author and in her own life was incredible and her determination is admirable.

I wish we could have gotten more time with Will to fall in love with him like she did and that we had seen a few more interactions between them. I felt a little disconnected from their story and more connected with her journey to get her work published.

Overall, it was a great read and definitely lands on my bookshelf of all my comfort reads.

I read this in one sitting, a lovely fall day. This was a sweet romance with a lead character in Sav that felt so relatable. Lovely and well paced. A great story to lose yourself in.

<i>*Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review *</i>

<b>3.75 stars </b>

As I've said before, I am definitely a sucker for a bookish romance, and this one did not disappoint! Meet me in the Margins was engaging and witty.

We follow Savannah, an editor who is also an aspiring author, as she tries to navigate her personal life and figure out who the editor who has mysteriously been commenting on her manuscript, which she had hidden in the ARC room of her office, is.

The plot was a bit cliché and predictable, but overall this was enjoyable enough for that to be forgiven.

I do wish we'd had more time of our two MCs together, as this was definitely a very very slow burn.

The premise of this book was charming and original and sure to pique the interest, if not win the hearts, of anyone involved in the world of writing, editing or publishing.

The writing style is witty and descriptive with many characters, a memorable setting, and fleshed out side stories and backstories. This style may appeal to some looking for a slower-paced read, but for me made the story stall and meander a bit too much. It was difficult to tell at times whether the main aim of the book was to be a romantic comedy or an immersive story into the world or publishing. I wish it could have been both, but it ended up being neither.

I felt there was some good material here that, ironically, was just in desperate need of some ruthless editing. The whole tale manages to be overly meta yet entirely lacking in self awareness. This was a miss for me, but could perhaps be a win for others.

I had a bit of trouble getting my bearings for the first chaper or so, which is unusual for me and therefore, I thought, worth mentioning. Beyond that, however, it's quite charming, with the added bonus (in my opinion) of not indulging in the overly smutty.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle by Thomas Nelson— Fiction, Thomas Nelson and #NetGalley for my honest opinion.

Cute book that is quite enjoyable.

This was SO cute. You've Got Mail is very much a comfort film, I always toss it on when I'm struggling and it feels like settling into a cozy blanket. Meet Me in the Margins has the same effect. This book is super charming, very sweet, and relaxing. This book isn't super fast-paced, but instead moves slowly and realistically - I know some readers won't love that, but this made it perfect to read over the course of an evening while relaxing.

Overall this is great, and I can't recommend it enough.

Meet Me In The Margins is such a fun and cute book. It had similarities to You’ve Got Mail and captured the warmth and cuteness so well.

My favorite parts were Savannah’s reaction to critiques on her manuscript. Every writer knows what it feels like. It was so true to life, I smiled the whole time.

Savannah is an assistant aquistion at a publishing firm.It's slow-paced and not as exciting as I thought it was going to be.

A delightful and unexpected romcom, perfect for fans of Sophie Kinsella! This is a funny, romantic story with plenty going for it, and I highly recommend!

A 4.5 star review.

I was sent this book in return for an honest review, and I'm so glad. This is chick-lit when it's at its best. Fun, engaging, relatable and with a bunch of book talk that meant it was right up my aisle.

Other people have made the comparison to "You've Got Mail" and for good reason. While the two stories are very different, the general idea (falling in love with somebody through writing) and atmosphere is very much the same. However, "You've Got Mail" is one of my all-time favourite movies, so that's just an added bonus in my book... no pun intended.

While some of the characters were perhaps a tad one-dimensional, others were very relatable, and I really grew to love Savannah as she tried to navigate the waters of a new boss and attempting to edit her own manuscript, while still having to live up to her family's expectations.

Of course I had seen the ending a mile off, but that's to be expected with this genre. I still enjoyed the ride very much, and really appreciated that it didn't fall into some of the same traps that books like this often do (being vague to avoid spoilers...).

At times laugh-out-loud funny, this was one of the best new reads of the year. I'll definitely want to add this to my physical library as well.

This is a cute rom-com novel. The main characters and their story are enjoyable. It's not one of the best I've read lately, but it's still worth the read.

MEET ME IN THE MARGINS by MELISSA FERGUSON is a hysterically funny romantic comedy with a great mixture of characters and an interesting message running through it regarding what really makes up a worthwhile life.
The story takes place at Pennington Publishing where the protagonist, Savannah Cade, works as Assistant Aquisitions Editor. She is a master at multitasking, but never does enough to please her hyperactive and bossy younger sister Olivia, who is looked upon by her family as perfection personified, and, to make it worse, is engaged to Savannah’s ex boyfriend!
Pennington Publishing is strict about the books they publish due to Ms Pennington’s aversion to anything she deems unworthy, such as romance. She rules the office with a rod of iron and it seems at first as though her son William, who has left a prestigious publishing house in New York, is cut from the same cloth as his mother.
I love the witty repartee between the characters and the messages between Savannah and her secret editor who visits her hideaway and comments in the margins.
What a really enjoyable read - a true breath of fresh air!
I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from Thomas Nelson. The opinions in this review are competely my own.

Thank you to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I'm so excited to write this review, because I have finally discovered a new favorite rom-com author! For the longest time, Sophie Kinsella has been the queen of rom-coms for me. I've read dozens of other rom-coms over the past year, looking for an author with the same humor, engaging plot, and romance. Luckily, I've finally found her. Meet Me in the Margins is just as good as any Sophie Kinsella novel, which is my gold standard. I am now looking for Melissa Ferguson's previous books and adding them to my TBR right away!

Meet in the Margins by Melissa Ferguson is an amazing, funny rom-com featuring writers and editors. The story revolves around Savannah, an assistant editor at a publishing press that only publishes serious books. Unfortunately, she's secretly a rom-com writer and has been working on her very first manuscript. One day, she hides her manuscript away in her company building, and when she retrieves it, someone has written notes all over the margins. But who is this mysterious editor? Could it possibly be the son of her boss, William Pennington, who has just started working at her company?

Here is a comedic excerpt from an opening chapter:

"I was in the middle of yet another breakup with Ferris when I read one of [Trace Green's] books. And became hooked. Hooked. Flew through all twenty=four of his novels in the span of two months and spent the next three wandering around morosely, craving more. Everybody thought my slump was because I missed Ferris. But no, it wasn't. Not that time. I mean, of course, the breakup was hard, but it wasn't nearly as heart-wrenching as the fact that there were no more Green books to read. The reality that I was going to have to wait a whole nine months before another of his releases was almost too much to bear.
...
The whole experience of stumbling into his books made such an impression on my life that I went down to the registrar's office, set one of his books on the counter between me and the registrar's assistant, and declared I wanted to change majors. No more nursing for me. My life was going to revolve around words."

Overall, Meet in the Margins is an absolutely amazing rom-com that will appeal to fans of Sophie Kinsella or Anne Bell. One highlight of the book was the humor, which was laugh-out-loud funny. Another highlight of the book was the addition of a "goal" in the plot. I love when rom-coms have goals and deadlines, and Savannah's goal of receiving advice and revising her manuscript so that it can be published was very interesting. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of rom-coms in general, you won't regret checking out this book when it comes out in February!