This book has a really cute cover and synopsis! A man who owns a bookstore and a women who has a bakery? I wouldn't call this enemies to lovers, more of a strained friendship, but I liked the banter and surprisingly the miscommunication in this book. The first 10% of this felt a bit cringy, but then it got good and I was rooting for them. I really felt for both characters. Also I love their pets <3

Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. These opinions are my own.

This is a new take on forced proximity and workplace romance. Joelle and Max run adjacent shops, his a bookstore and hers a bakery. Their landlord decides to renovate their building, so they are temporarily stuck together in one small space.

I loved that this took place in Portland and enjoyed following Joelle and Max on their excursions through the city. And I equally enjoyed all the descriptions of the food and the books. This novel takes all my favorite things and puts them together in a single story.

It was dual POV, but with many more chapters from Joelle's perspective than Max's. At first I wished for a better balance. But as the book continued, I actually thought it was exactly correct. The chemistry between Max and Joelle is great. And his character is quite nuanced in a way that is believable.

I won't share some of my favorite things about this book because I don't do spoilers. But this book broke me apart and put me back together. I love Joelle's family so much and how they show up for her after she showed up for them. It helps me have faith in people.

4.5 stars rounded up

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC!

Boy with a Bookstore is a classic 'boy next door' story. Joelle owns a bakery, and she has a crazy crush on the bad boy Bookstore owner next door, Max. He comes into her bakery everyday to get his pastry and his latte. One day, she works up the courage to officially ask him out, and it goes horribly wrong. Joelle is mortified by the outcome of her attempt. Joelle and Max learn that they both have feelings for each other when they are forced to share a work space as their current building undergoes renovation. They do have lover's spats here and there, and there are a few obstacles aling the way. Will they make this a successful relationship? I enjoyed this book. I felt that it was a fast, easy read. And though I wish there was more to the plot, it was still good nonetheless.

Thank you so much for an advanced copy of The Boy with the Bookstore. This book was so fun!

Star Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Pub Date: September 6, 2022

I really liked this book, and it is 100% because of Joelle. I thought her character was amazing! She was kind, sincere, and selfless. Her commitment to her family was really inspiring, even if her commitment sometimes caused her problems. She also ALWAYS found the best in people, and I really liked that. Kindness is so often construed as a weakness, and Joelle had kindness in spades. I thought her kindness was a strength, and I honestly felt like the kindness she showed Max was sometimes undeserved at points in the book. But, she never wavered in her kindness and gentleness, and I just loved her! Her family was also so sweet.

Max, however, I didn't like, and honestly, I wouldn't have minded if they didn't end up together. I felt like he gas lighted her a lot, and he was honestly cruel to her at times. She was always kind to him in these moments (save one), and I thought that showed more about her than him. He was not my favorite, and I can't even use his traumatic past as an excuse for his cruelness. At the end, though, he redeemed himself, but not enough to make me root for him.

Despite not liking Max, I truly felt like Joelle was the star of this book anyway. My love for her character far outweighed my dislike for Max! I will definitely want a copy of this one for my shelves!

Oh, Max and Joelle…you kept me on my toes. I loved you, then wanted to shake sense into you, then wanted to hug you, and all over again! I loved going on their journey to an HEA, and the side characters were pretty awesome too!

Quick and cute read. The premise overall was fun but I found the plot was a bit repetitive. The main characters would fight because the guy lashed out- then his girlfriend would quickly forgive him. Still, it was an enjoyable read and I finished it quickly.

Thank you to the Author and publisher for this advanced copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Good not great solid book to read. The pets names might have been one of my favorite parts of the book or when she got "even" for an event in the book.

I would put this on the TBR when you need a pick me up book as it does have a HEA.

4.5
A bookstore and a bakery? The perfect combination and my dream! This was a delightful story about two small business owners that have a lot happen to them during the unexpected renovation process. Neither of them are perfect and that is apparent throughout the story but they are both genuine.

I really enjoyed this story and flew through it. It is a contemporary romance and should be read as such without taking the content too seriously.

The Boy with the Bookstore is a perfect bookish rom com! Joelle, a baker, has been crushing on the owner of the neighboring bookstore owner, Max, since his store opened. When their landlord announces renovations though, the two are forced to share a workspace it turns into the potential for a recipe for disaster. This has a lot of Kiss My Cupcake (by Helena Hunting) with the enemies to lovers vibes. I loved having both Max and Joelle’s perspectives and loved that underneath the rivalry, the two really cared for each other. I think their conflicts felt super genuine and honest and while I think Max shut down a little too often, I also think he was really relatable in his struggles. He is so charming too. And I liked the grump/sunshine trope through this. Joelle too is such a wonderful female lead. She’s quirky and kind and just gives her everything to her customers and family. It’s just all very endearing. And the side characters are so well developed too. There is some great steam, amazing chemistry, and wonderful banter. I binged this book in a day and it’s just a great bookish romance!

This one got spicy from the start. I loved all the inner pining for each other from the beginning. I do think Max laid a little to into the mean guy persona, and honestly Joelle was way more forgiving than I would have been since they were so new to any sort of relationship. I loved the forced proximity due to renovations, the struggles to save their stores, Joelle is your resident introvert that doesn't realize how beautiful and loved she is, Max is your tattooed misunderstood tough guy. I love how they saw past those descriptions and helped each other realize they are more than that as well. Joelle definitely struggles with her family and trying to help them out a lot more than they need, I like that in the end her family finally made her stop though I wish they had done it so much sooner. Joelle finally felt the freedom to be happy and go after things she wanted like Max and realized that they both needed their stores but also each other.

A baker and a bookstore owner, there is so much to love here. Joelle runs the bakery next to Max's bookstore and she has been crushing on him for a while now, but everytime she gets close to letting him know, she trips over her words and embarasses herself. Max thinks Joelle is adorable, especially when she gets flustered. When things just start to heat up between them, their landlord throws a wrench in their plans and forces them to share a space while their spaces are renovated.
Max has a lot of baggage from the past and he can't seem to let it go. Joelle has had family drama in the past but her family is so tight knit now that it looks like they are perfect. Max is broody because he can't see through his own pain to come out on the other side and he takes it out on Joelle at times.
There was so much that I could have loved about this book, but ultimately it fell flat due to the lack of chemistry I felt between Joelle and Max, how secretive Max was, how Max would lash out at Joelle when he was hurt and how quickly things were resolved at the end of the book. There was this underlying pain and trauma that Max experienced but at the end of the book he was just, "over it" and healed for the most part. It was confusing to me.
Even with the depth of trauma, I felt the book was very light and I read it very quickly.
Thanks to Sarah Smith, Netgalley and Berkley for an early copy.

If you are looking for a very steamy book, then The Boy with the Bookstore is for you! Smith combines all my greatest fantasies into one novel. One day I’ll own my own bakery and a charming, beautiful man will open a bookstore directly next door. I love the bookstore/bakery premises in books and The Boy with the Bookstore combines both.
Joelle owns her own Filipino bakery, and every day at 7:45am Max Boyson comes in for an ube latte and croissant on his way to work. Max rents the space next to the bakery for his bookstore and has been coming in daily for over a year. Joelle swears she is going to ask him out, but often gets in her own head and says very awkward things (I relate Joelle!). Very quickly this book speeds up. Friends to enemies to lovers to enemies…Joelle and Max’s relationship takes multiple twists and turns throughout the book. Like literally their relationship changes on the flip of a dime.
After a fight, Joelle and Max are informed by their landlord that they will have to share a small space as their building gets remodeled. This creates a lot of tension between the characters and adds to some spicy interactions. Are the close working quarters too much for the two? Or will this only add to their desire of one another?
Joelle’s family is one of my favorite parts of the book. They are such a loving and supporting group of people. I learned quite a bit about Filipino food and culture which I thoroughly enjoyed. The witty banter between the characters was also well done. I was not a huge fan of Max and his temper. Joelle was such a kind and caring person and I felt she forgave Max a little too quickly numerous times. Some of the interactions between the two seemed a bit quick and out of nowhere but fit with the enemies to friends theme. The book has a nice mix of romance (super steamy if I didn’t mention that already) and deeper familial issues to add interest for a wide range of readers!

This was such a cute story.

Bookstore boy meets bakery girl. They like each other but different things come between them.

I really liked the characters - Joelle and Max. I liked how they both held onto their feelings for each other for a while. I liked how they finally got together after a few hiccups. And I liked how supportive they were of each other.

This was a cozy and easy read. (3.75)

This was a pretty cute, mostly soft romance featuring bakery owner Joelle and bookstore owner Max, who have been renting store fronts next to each other for more than a year and also secretly, quietly pining for each other. When construction to their building forces them to share a retail space, their recent sparks of attraction get a little complicated, mostly because Max is pretty emotionally constipated (for reasons that are explained in the book) and Joelle is a bit too eager to make everyone happy but herself. I have liked everything I've read by Echavarre Smith, and this was no exception. I liked the build up and the sort of rollercoaster of their romance, even though the downs got a little intense at some points. My favorite characters were definitely the pets - Max's dog and cat and Joelle's hamster.

This was a super cute book. It was a fast read and the characters were super likable. I will read more by this author because it was such a quick, easy read.

A baker, who is a shy and quirky baker, and a bookshop owner who is oh SO handsome come together when their landlord announces renovations to their neighbouring stores. Both Joelle and Max are forced to share a store and the grumpy sunshine, frenemies to lovers turn up.

I really struggled with this book. On one hand, I loved the setting of a bookshop and cafe, but then we got to see the characters…. Max was an idiot (to put it plainly). He had a massive temper and really used his words to hurt Joelle. While Joelle wasn’t exactly perfect, I wished we had seen her and Max’s relationship happen a little differently because they both deserved so much more.

Big thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for a chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Joelle, aspiring baker, owner of the bakery cafe next door to the hot, tatted bookstore owner Max, has put her dreams on hold to help out her family’s financial situation. With her heart of gold, the ability to see the good in people, her year-long pining for Max goes answered because it turns out, Max likes her back. With a building renovation is set in motion, and Max and Joelle are forced to work in a communal space, will the forced proximity heighten the pressure and tension? Or, will they weather this storm, and be together for real?

Because I’m Filipina, I was all for the Filipino baked goods, y’all! The mention of ube latte influenced me to get an iced ube latte, which turned out to be so darn refreshing in our east coast summer heat. ANYWAY, I loved how this story centered more around family, and being there for them. And how Max complimented Joelle’s good heart. It might’ve made more sense to have kept the entire story in Joelle’s POV though, since Max’s part in the story was not nearly as big as hers. Overall, I enjoyed it!

This book was a cotton handy sweet mostly fluffy read. I love books about bakeries and bookstores, and so I jumped right on this one.

Joelle put her dreams on hold to help her family after a crisis, and Max is a super cute loner who owns the bookstore next door.

I struggled with Max and his hot and cold attitude towards Joelle. I understand he was under a lot of stress and not dealing well with family stuff, but I just wasn’t sold on him or the chemistry between him and Joelle.

Overall though this was a cute easy read.

Thank you Netgalley for this eARC.

A hot guy with a bookstore? Yes please. But there were too many issues with this story and these characters for me to get behind their HEA.

Joelle Prima  and Max Boyson have neighboring stores. Max often starts his day at Joelle's coffee shop and Joelle and her family frequent Max's bookstore.  In the last year and a half, there has been a bit of subtle flirting going on and one kiss leads to quite the heavy petting session. Joelle is hoping that this is the beginning of the relationship of her dreams but it all comes crashing down when her landlord announces renovations to their building.

The landlord moves Joelle and Max's businesses into a smaller garage area around back of the building. Both businesses need to scale back in order to fit together in this smaller area and while neither are happy with the situation, Max seems to be taking out his frustrations on Joelle.

I had a lot of issues with this story right away. Where to start...okay, let's start with the fact that Joelle put her post-graduation plans of culinary school on hold. This is because a money manager stole all her parent's, Aunt's and Grandmother's savings so Joelle gave the money set aside for culinary school so that her family had a nest egg. Everyone in the family has been working overtime for the last few years to rebuild their family funds. First, good for them working together towards their collective future. Getting their money stolen sucks. But here's my issues, Joelle's family doesn't need her to work to support them.  Her parents are abled-bodied (and probably my age) and still have time to work for their own retirement.  So why doesn't Joelle get a student loan and go to Culinary School?   I am certain that culinary school is cheaper than a Yale degree.  Many people have to finance their own way through post-high school education.  Getting a student loan is actually quite common so why does it seem outside the realm in this story?   I have read many stories where a character needed to give up their dreams in order to support their family due to a death or some other health issue.   Joelle didn't need to walk away from her dreams.  Her parents, aunt and even grandma were still working.  Maybe she couldn't afford to go to Paris after finishing, but was it really Joelle's responsibility to help rebuild her parent's retirement fund while they were still working and abled bodied? Shouldn't she be working towards her own retirement once she begins working full-time?  Her family constantly thanking her for her sacrifices seems over the top especially since Joelle already owned her own business--a coffee shop--was was making food.  Wouldn't that have been her plan after culinary school anyway?

I was feeling a little prudish over Max and Joelle's first kiss. Joelle was trying to work up the nerve to ask Max to go for drinks. Suddenly she kisses him, and their make out session ends with Joelle in his lap and a lot of grinding.  An ill-timed phone call stops this from going further.  Would have had sex in Max's tiny office with customer's outside?   It seemed awfully fast when Joelle was just wondering if she was misreading his flirting as Joelle didn't look like the women he usually dated. She was questioning his attraction but never thought to pull back and put on some brakes when he starts rubbing her intimate areas.  Maybe he's the kind of guy who takes up any woman's offer from free sex.   She hasn't seen Max with any one woman for more than a few dates.   She doesn't seem to know Max very well.  He is just flirty, hot guy with a bookstore who talks about his pets.  Is he husband material or a psychopath?

Most importantly here, I have big issues with Max's attituded. I understand that Max didn't have a great childhood. His parents suck and Max has a hard time with relationships. Max tells us he doesn't really have any friends. His parents are trying to get in touch with him at the same time that this move takes place. So Max is overwhelmed first by the unwanted contact from his parents and then being forced into a smaller area. Max seems to be taking out his frustrations on Joelle.  We kind of accept this since we did have a chapter from Max's point of view where we see that Max is very attracted to Joelle and can't understand why he was being such a jerk to her.   But does this really excuse his behavior?

Some of their issues with misunderstandings but some were definitely generated by Max. Looking at this potential relationship from the outside, all I am feeling is do you want to get in a relationship with someone who is going to take out all their outside frustrations on you?

I am almost surprised over the fact that Max, who had a horrible family, didn't latch onto Joelle when he was welcomed so warmly by her family. Ever since Max opened his store next to Joelle's, her family has been kind to him and supportive. If he wasn't the hero of this story, I could see him jumping into a relationship with Joelle, whether or not she was his type, just to be included into this giving family unit.

Hell, even the idea of a landlord making thousands of dollars of improvement into a building with two thriving businesses who aren't complaining of the conditions seems bizarre, and neither one questions this.  The landlord doesn't even consult with them on these renovations.  Shouldn't Joelle have a say in what her new space will look like?   And while Max is bitchy about having to squeeze his business into the shared space, the landlord could have simply shut him down for the duration of the renovations.  Again, it's all negative with Max.  Also, what goes better together than books and coffee?  Well, books and anything, but two stores that are perfect for joining are books and coffee.  That why B&N added coffee and snacks to some of their stores.   This shared space should have been beneficial to both businesses.

Unfortunately, this story hit too many negative boxes for me to get beyond our introduction of sweet Joelle and sexy, hot Max to overlook their collective issues.

The Boy With The Bookstore by Sarah Echavarre Smith
Publication Date: 09/06/2022
Date Read: 07/10/2022 - 07/14/2022
Format: eBook (NetGalley)
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: NA
Characters: Max Boyson and Joelle Prima
CW: discussion of childhood trauma & parental neglect.
Rating (❤️/👍/🤷‍♀️:👎/❌): 👍
Spice: open door
Would I Recommend?: yes

I’m happy to have gotten to read this, it was really cute and was easy to read. It’s dual POV. The spicy scenes were good. It was very insta-love, they’ve both had crushes on each other for ages. The story definitely sucked me in right away. It does get a little angsty at times with Max’s past and his relationship with his mother. It was a good balance.

My only complaint was that sometimes Max I was a little too much of a hot head. He made up for it but it was a lot at times. Otherwise it was a good romance. How can you go wrong with a bakery / bookstore combo?j