Whatever magical touch Emily Henry has, someone needs to bottle it up -- she's knocked it out of the park again! Henry is a romance fan's dream writer, as she cleverly plays with established tropes and breathes new life into old archetypes. Nora is a New York shark: a Type A, hyper-competent, over-achieving literary agent whose every move is calculated to bring stability to her and younger sister Libby's lives after the devastating loss of their single mother a decade ago. That means keeping control, maintaining status, and not falling for guys who inevitably leave Nora for whatever doe-eyed Christmas tree farm heiress they met on vacation. When the sisters take a month-long trip to the sleepy North Carolina hamlet that served as inspiration for Nora's star author's last bestseller, Libby challenges Nora to participate in all the Hallmark movie small-town-romance tropes her ex-boyfriends have fallen prey to. But when Nora runs into work rival Charlie (the brooding, immaculately dressed male counterpart to her literary ice queen), things get complicated. I simply could not get enough of this novel and cannot wait to recommend it to every customer -- so swoony, so sweet, so heartbreakingly beautiful!

Emily Henry has done it yet again. I couldn't put this down to save my life. She breathes such life into all of her characters, and I love the literary references throughout. I will definitely be recommending this to everyone!

Emily Henry has yet to disappoint me. Character dynamics, intriguing settings, LMFAO-level banter? It's all there, it's all excellent.

This is Emily Henry's best work yet!! Such a beautiful portrayal of family, grief, what it means to fight for love. I adore books about books and book lovers -- the playfulness Henry has with existing romance tropes in this makes it such an enjoyable experience for a seasoned romance reader. The ending was perfect yet not what I expected at all. I fell in love with every single character, they felt so alive! Cannot wait to reread this when it is published and released into the world.

This was a perfect book. I honestly loved everything about it. The pacing, interactions with major characters and supporting characters, the setting(s). It was beautifully crafted and the perfect escape.

I absolutely loved this book! It is Emily Henry's best book so far. Everything that is cliched about Hallmark movies comes to life in this absolutely wonderful story! It left me wanting more!

thank you so much berkley publishing for this ARC!

5/5 stars


this book??? yea emily you’ve done it again! this story is a story i know i’ll grow with, i know i’ll go back to. the way that nora is the way that she because of everything she’s been through, you can really see how every event has affected her. and same with charlie! ugh and my man charlie! i love him fr! A MANNN and let me tell you their banter??? amazing! had me laughing along and smiling as i read! this story is amazing, i love it so so much!

I loved this book so much I wanted to read it again immediately after finishing it. Great characters, great references, great writing. I loved Nora so much because it's easy to write a "frigid" female character and have romance "change her ways" or melt the ice from her cold heart" Nora doesn't change because she doesn't need to-just because she's not gushy or overly emotional doesn't mean she doesn't care. I love all the romance trope parallels too-It's leans a little Stranger Than Fiction but it still really works. Great exploration of PTSD and grief too.

Only sad I read it so soon before it's release, because I want talk about it with all my friends AND that means a longer wait for her next book!

Emily Henry's romances always manage to be laugh out loud funny at times, while also deftly handling complicated topics like grief, adulthood, and the difficulties of deciding what to prioritize: love? career? family? Book Lovers is a love letter to the publishing industry, and a steamy, hilarious take on the Hallmark movie romance tropes.

I received Book Lovers as an ARC from Netgalley, and I’m so happy I did! This was such a sweet story! I loved reading about the relationship between Nora and her sister, Libby. If you liked Beach Read, I think you’ll love this book too!

1. This book made me ugly cry, laugh out loud, and smile like a crazy person.
2. I’m in love with Charlie Lastra (THE BANTER)
3. I’ll read anything Emily Henry writes for the rest of my life

Emily Henry blew it out of the park ... again.

Holy wow. This one had me swallowing a few tears, but in the best way possible. Nora is the best kind of heroine, in that she's opposite of the usual romance novel heroine. She's the hard, over-passionate workaholic (and a shark literary agent) who isn't ashamed of it. She loves the city, refuses to compromise her goals for anyone else, spends too much time on her cell phone, and all the while, she knows happy endings aren't for people like her. You know, it's funny because I was watching The Holiday right before I read this, and it's actually a bit comical how much like Cameron Diaz's character is like Nora. They both never cry. They're both successful and unabashed. They are proud of the commitment to their jobs. On top of all of that, Nora is a big sister, and she takes the roll seriously, in that everything, and I do mean everything, is about her little sister Libby.

Enter Charlie, a cut-throat editor who is just a little too much like Nora. Their first meeting is actually pretty awful in the best way when Charlie insults Nora's favorite client's most recent book.

Fast forward (I don't remember how long) when Nora's sister drags her to a trip to a location of said author's book (the book Charlie hated) -- only to find you-know-who at every corner -- and you can guess it. Nora is wondering what fuckery is this, that Charlie of all people is here in this very small, very remote town after hating the book. The best part? She keeps running into him. Again and again. Much banter ensues. I'll leave it at that.

While this book tackles the romance beautifully, it also tackles the "why" behind Nora and her choices in such a brilliant way, in that she doesn't change the parts of her that she loves -- the parts most romance novels (and guys) would scoff at. This quote says it perfectly:

"Maybe love shouldn’t be built on a foundation of compromises, but maybe it can’t exist without them either. Not the kind that forces two people into shapes they don’t fit in, but the kind that loosens their grips, always leaves room to grow. Compromises that say, there will be a you-shaped space in my heart, and if your shape changes, I will adapt."

Anyway, I absolutely adored this book. It kept me rooted until the very end, which many novels do not these days. I find that romance loses tension for me after a certain point (once a little too much is resolved) but ahhh I could not sit this one down. On top of that, I wanted to burrow into her prose. Beautiful in every sense of the word.

I was such an enormous fan of Beach Read that The People We Meet on Vacation was a bit of a letdown. Book Lovers is back to Beach Read form. Fun, smart, relatable characters with enough Nora Ephron-esque snappy dialogue and fun locales.
I also loved the little bit of inside baseball details on the publishing industry.

Wow. This was a SOLID romance book. From the first page, Nora and Dusty had some of the best written banter I've ever read between two love interests. It was witty, it was quick, and it was unique. The "go to a small town and find love" trope with a bit of a twist. I loved seeing representation in Nora for girls who like the city, working a lot, not wanting kids and who want expensive things. Every character was enjoyable and the ending came together so nicely while still being surprisingly unpredictable. I can't even think of anything critical to say. (Although, the part in Dusty's book where the nameless cat is out in the rain was almost exactly the scene with the nameless cat out in the rain in Breakfast at Tiffany's).

I have read Beach Read, People We Meet on Vacation, and now Book Lovers. I believe this is Emily's best work yet.

The bookish references and quotes alone are atmospheric, making the book a total bookish aesthetic. I wouldn't say I connected with characters but instead loved the book world itself—what a gem.

As a true 4w3 and a lover of suffering, a part of me wanted the book to end on 'I am Heathcliff.' I wanted that suffering. But I also understand this is a romance novel, and HEA has its charm. And charming it was!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me access to this Advanced Reader Copy :)

I was not as charmed by this Emily Henry as I was her other two! I think my biggest issues were the wild implausibility and the fact that the miscommunication trope being used for Nora and Libby was...so annoying.

You can always tell it’s an Emily Henry novel if a) there’s a dead parent, or if b) there’s a very particular brand of banter between the main leads. (the banter basically being them dissing each other but in a loving (??) way.)

We all fell in love with Bech Read and then People We Meet on Vacation went on to become the must read book of 2021. Now everyone is eagerly anticipating Book Lovers (i mean, presales are already sold out at a few retailers) and now after having read it, I’m certain that Book Lovers is going to be an even bigger hit.

This book is basically a love letter to every type-A bad bitch who has a 10 step skincare routine, never leaves the house without looking flawless, and is . Nora’s basically Sandra Bullock’s in the proposal or Parker Posey's in You've Got Mail. She's every bad city bitch who gets dumped by her boyfriends for the overly sweet seemingly perfect small town woman in every romcom. Nora was completely different from any main character we’ve seen from Emily Henry but it was so easy to sympathize and fall in love with her.

Let’s not forget about our man Charlie. Y’all Charlie!! Listen, men written by Emily Henry just hit different. Gus and Alex are ultimate book boyfriends and Charlie just joined that list. All you need to know is that this man is a brooding editor, who owns a capsule wardrobe, has a sharp wit, and is described as having the most amazing eyebrows. Picture a young Chris Pine. Exactly!

The banter between Nora and Charlie had me cackling AND swooning at the same time. I think that’s what makes me love this author's writing so much. The dialogue between her characters is always witty and funny, but yet still realistic. No one does banter better than Emily Henry (imo).

But if I’m being honest, while the romantic relationship between Nora and Charlie is everything, the real star of the show was Nora’s bond with her sister Libby. Prepare to laugh and cry. The way Nora would do anything and everything for her younger sister really touched a nerve with me and made me tear up a couple times. In my defense, it's virtually impossible to read one of her books without becoming a sentimental bitch.

and finally…
Hot take! Perhaps? Maybe??…we’ll see… *ahem* I loved Book Lovers even more than People We Meet on Vacation!! I KNOW!! but y’all it’s that good. I mean Beach Read is still my number 1 favorite but this is a close second.

(If I had to rank all of Emily Henry’s books it’d go: Beach Read, Book Lovers, A Million Junes, When the Sky Fell on Splendor, People We Meet on Vacation, Hello Girls, and The Love that Split the World)

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher!!!

Another stellar book by Emily Henry; this will without a doubt be THE book of the summer 2022. Nora was an absolutely wonderful protagonist, her cutthroat but vulnerable nature truly shown through in this book. As well as her love for her Peloton bike. Charlie was also just the perfect match for her, the two of them are 100% on the same level as Henry's other favorites--January & Gus and Poppy & Alex. Emily Henry has such an excellent sense of humor that is always present in her books and allows her voice to shine through. I have been following this author since before Beach Read's release, and it is always such a joy to see what she will come out with next. Readers should anticipate another fantastic book that will be the perfect companion for vacationing this summer, maybe even to a place like Sunshine Falls.

First of all, I just want to thank Berkeley Publishing, Net Galley, and especially Emily Henry for giving me this absolute gem of a book.

I’m a tried and true Emily Henry fan and will be to the day I die (seriously…I would read this woman’s grocery list), so I already knew going into Book Lovers that I would like it. But….I didn’t expect to fall head over heels in love with it. Yeah…I know…silly me… it’s Emily Henry and she can do no wrong.

Book Lovers is marketed as a contemporary romance but trust me when I say it is so much more. Not only does it explore what it is to be a successful, career driven woman in today’s world through its main character Nora Stephens, it also explores how those qualities can impact every single part of our life including relationships whether they’re platonic, romantic, or familial. My absolute favorite part of this book was the relationship between Nora and her sister, Libby, and the good and bad that comes from being so close with your family.

Now this isn’t to discount the romantic interest, Charlie Lastra, at all, because trust me when I say he is as close to the perfect love interest as you can get. What I loved about Charlie is that he doesn’t feel like your typical “man written by a woman.” He feels so authentic and real. There is no pandering to make him more palatable. What you see is what you get with him. Same as Nora.

To put it simply, Emily Henry puts crack cocaine in her books. Reading this book was like watching a movie that you didn’t want to end. I laughed. I cried. I laughed-cried. 5/5 ⭐️

Emily Henry is a romance goddess, and this book was no exception. Nora and Charlie were incredibly swoony, and I loved the overall feminist message in this one. Rom-com lovers, you need it.