Thank you Net Galley for allowing me to receive this book for an honest review.

THE LITTLE VILLAGE OF BOOK LOVERS by Nina George is my latest effort to try something outside my usual genres.

The story is narrated mostly by Love with a few other characters like Fate and an Olive Tree as well as 3rd person narration. It centers around a girl, Marie-Jeanne who grows up in an unusual family and can see love in the form of glowing "Southern Lights" on them, but cannot see any on herself.

This felt very much like a fable. There was a lot of commentary inside the story given by various entities.
I had such high hopes for this book since I read Nina George's Little Paris Bistro and enjoyed it.

This was a a sweet story but I felt like it was missing something. It dragged and I was waiting for it to pick up.

I have to say it was just ok for me and was hoping for more.

This story was written in a poetic manner. This was my first book by Nina George and I wasn’t sure what to expect. It was whimsical and endearing with touches of magic. That being said, I did find it hard to connect to the characters so it didn’t hold my attention.

The Little Village of Book Lovers
By Nina George
Published by Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine
7/15

This was such a sweet book and a refreshing change from what I’m normally reading. It also caught me at a time when I needed to read something inspirational and comforting.

Marie Jeanne was orphaned as an infant and during that time Love visited her and begins to follow her throughout her life. Mare Jeanne has the unusual ability to see marks of love on others, but begins to question if and when she will be marked by love.

The setting of the story was magical and the people Marie Jeanne encounters are quirky and decent people. This was one of those stories where I wanted to just walk into the setting and spend a few days. I also loved that books were at the center of Marie Jeanne’s world and she influenced those around her to take up reading.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for allowing me to read an advance copy. I am happy to offer my honest review and recommend this to other readers.

This book is a bit slow, but also dreamy and steeped in magical realism. Definitely suited for those who love being swept away in a dream rather than an action adventure. I loved it and look forward to reading others by the same author!

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy!

I loved the setting of this book, and it was poetically and beautifully written. However, I struggled with staying interested in this story, and I'm not sure whether it was the choice of narrator, or the story itself.

I found all the different perspectives, especially inanimate objects, to be creative, but a little jarring.

If you're a huge fan of the original book, I think it'd be a great, but I wasn't so it didn't carry over.

While I really enjoyed The Little Paris Bookshop, The Little Village of Lovers did not hold my attention. It was a bit sappy for my preference. I am glad it was a short book. Otherwise, I would not have finished it.

The Little Village of Book Lovers is a charming story of love. Told from the point of view of love, and following Marie-Jeanne a little girl who has the ability to see love as a glow on people. This book is filled with stories of love in many forms, and frequently connected with books delivered throughout French villages by the bookabus. I have not read other books written by Nina George, but I did enjoyed this book, thank you to netgalley and Random House, Ballantine for the advanced copy, all opinions are my own.

Having fallen in love with Nina George’s The Little Paris Bookshop, I immediately needed to get my hands on this book. Narrated by Love, the wide cast of characters throughout the book have you garnering life lessons and wisdom with each character you meet. While Love narrates, the main character, Marie Jeanne, discovers she has the gift of seeing the marks Love leaves on people. This gift allows her to help put soulmates together when a special light glows as they are near. The descriptive paragraph leave you is a lyrical trance. The slow nature of the book brings an ethereal aspect to the book that I adored. If you love mobile bookshops, the concept of falling in love, and the complexity of love, you have found the perfect book for yourself.

I would have thought a story about books set in France would be a five star read for me. However, I did not like the way the book flowed, stopping and starting with side explanations of love, of various characters. The appreciation for the impact of reading and books was a theme I could stand behind, but it was lost to me in the very details that could have made this a favorite. Set in Nyons, Marie-Jeanne is fostered by Frances and Elsa after the death of her mother. Frances is the most interesting character, a handyman who becomes the book bus owner and driver after learning about what books can do. Not a fan of this one, although I enjoyed the author’s previous books. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

3 French stars

This is my third book by Nina George, and they all have French settings and flair. This time we are in a small village, and we meet a cast of characters, including Love himself.

Marie-Jeanne is an orphan but dearly loves her foster parents and a magical tree. She realizes that she can see little glows of light on people where Love has touched them, she also can see strings that connect one heart to another.

Her foster father begins a library bus service and soon he’s got more people reading literature. Marie-Jeanne loves working on the bus and can’t resist matchmaking along the way.

One big problem, Marie-Jeanne can’t seem to find her own love glow or her soulmate. Will she finally find her one true love?

I enjoyed this one with elements of magical realism and the French setting. While it can be read as a stand-alone, it ties into her earlier book “The Little Paris Bookshop.”

As an infant, Marie-Jeanne was touched by Love. After being orphaned she was raised by Elsa and Francis, who made his living making deliveries for the villages in the area. As Marie-Jeanne travels with Francis to deliver Bibles an idea comes to him. He could use Louis the Third, his van, to deliver books to the people of the area as a mobile library. The idea is dismissed by the local mayors. If people are reading they are not working. It will also put ideas into the heads of their wives and daughters. It is Vida, a hotel owner, who saves Francis’ idea. He should be talking to the women of the area. Before he knows it his idea takes off.

Love’s touch has allowed Marie-Jeanne to detect a glow from the people around her. It is a phenomenon that only she experiences. The light becomes stronger as people connect with others, but when she looks at herself there is no glow. If there is no one to bring a glow to her she decides to dedicate herself to the happiness of others. While Elsa has always kept her feelings to herself, there is a glow when she talks to Francis. She often berates him and shows little affection, but Marie-Jeanne has seen the glow and knows better.. she is determined to strengthen their relationship. This is a charming story that shows how books can change lives and allow us to grow. It is narrated by Love, which gives it a magical quality that will enchant this story’s readers. I would like to thank NetGalley and Random House - Ballantine or providing this book for my review.

What is love and what do books have to do with it? It turns out - everything. And that's a message I can get behind. The Little Village of Book Lovers is the most perfect non-sequel-sequel and Nina George takes us back to France, but this time into the fictional title we meet in her first book - meta - but oh so perfect.

For more reviews and bookish posts visit: https://www.ManOfLaBook.com

The Little Village of Book Lovers by Nina George is a magical realism novel taking place in the 1960s, France. Ms. George is an award-winning German author, who has more than 25 published books under her belt.

Love, a magical entity, visits a small village in France in the 1960s. Love gets attached to a baby orphan, Marie-Jeanne, and their destinies are forever linked.

As Marie-Jeanne gets older, she realizes she can see the marks Love left on people as glowing lights on their bodies and begins playing matchmaker. As she grows up, she helps Francis, her father, begin a mobile library which is also used to bring soulmates together.

I’m a sucker for books about books, but it took me almost half the novel to get into this story. Even though I have enjoyed magical realism before, this one didn’t work for me, and I found the non-magical aspects of the story much more engaging.

The Little Village of Book Lovers by Nina George could have been a fantastic short story. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of fluff in it which was supposed to be profound but took me out of the narrative I enjoyed.

The characters are all written very well and grow within this short story. To me, that showed how good of an author Ms. George is. I enjoyed Marie-Jeanne’s “superpower” of seeing when a person is in love. The little matchmaker was endearing and worked wonderfully with her using books to bring people together.

I really wish that the musings of Love, Logic, Fate, an olive tree, and Death would have been less, or altogether gone. It would have been a wonderful novel, full of wonderful people, locations and books. In fact, it could probably have been twice the size, and twice as enjoyable employing just those aspects of the narrative.

Bottom line, I enjoyed immensely half the book which talked about the small village and didn’t really care for the spiritual part. I though the attempt to juggle these two worlds left little room for any plot, and the conflicting life of its main character. For more reviews and bookish posts visit: https://www.ManOfLaBook.com

The Little Village of Book Lovers by Nina George is a magical realism novel taking place in the 1960s, France. Ms. George is an award-winning German author, who has more than 25 published books under her belt.

Love, a magical entity, visits a small village in France in the 1960s. Love gets attached to a baby orphan, Marie-Jeanne, and their destinies are forever linked.

As Marie-Jeanne gets older, she realizes she can see the marks Love left on people as glowing lights on their bodies and begins playing matchmaker. As she grows up, she helps Francis, her father, begin a mobile library which is also used to bring soulmates together.

I’m a sucker for books about books, but it took me almost half the novel to get into this story. Even though I have enjoyed magical realism before, this one didn’t work for me, and I found the non-magical aspects of the story much more engaging.

The Little Village of Book Lovers by Nina George could have been a fantastic short story. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of fluff in it which was supposed to be profound but took me out of the narrative I enjoyed.

The characters are all written very well and grow within this short story. To me, that showed how good of an author Ms. George is. I enjoyed Marie-Jeanne’s “superpower” of seeing when a person is in love. The little matchmaker was endearing and worked wonderfully with her using books to bring people together.

I really wish that the musings of Love, Logic, Fate, an olive tree, and Death would have been less, or altogether gone. It would have been a wonderful novel, full of wonderful people, locations and books. In fact, it could probably have been twice the size, and twice as enjoyable employing just those aspects of the narrative.

Bottom line, I enjoyed immensely half the book which talked about the small village and didn’t really care for the spiritual part. I though the attempt to juggle these two worlds left little room for any plot, and the conflicting life of its main character. The novel ended in a hurry, and I think many readers would miss its most important point about Marie-Jeanne’s life.

3 out of 5 stars. Good book, but not what I was expecting.

I was hoping this book would be a beautiful combination of The Dictionary of Lost Words and The Matchmakers Gift. However, it came off a little 'cozier' than I wanted.

The story follows a girl who is blessed by Love, who can see the connections between people and attach them in order for their love to grow. Set in the 1960's France, Marie-Jeanne convinces her father to form a roaming bookshop so she can make love matches around the area. Like in all matchmaking stories, while she can find love for everyone else, but Marie-Jeanne cannot find love for herself. This was a bookish Hallmark movie, you know what is coming, you can quote the scenes before you get to them. Its great if you are in the right mood, sadly I was not in that mental place.

Thanks to Netgalley and Ballantine books for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Special thanks to Random House Publishing, Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

This is a perfect book if you are a). Italian because there are many Italian words b) if you love to read about love. c) if you love to read about books, which I do, just not much of a fan of (see b.) And a. I am Italian so not much I cant say bad about that.

This book is about Jeanne Marie who can see glowing parts on people, particularly if they are in the vicinity of each other, so she hops on papa's "bookabus" mobile bookstore and goes with him villageafter village and the books are tied to the people she has helped meet her match.

Very quaint, just not for me. 3 stars

The Little Village of Book Lovers is the story of Southern Lights, the book mentioned in the Little Paris Bookshop. It follows Marie-Jeanne, a girl who can see the marks of Love on people in the form of a glowing light. She wonders what they are as no one else seems to see them, but she can't find the mark on herself. She uses that talent to try and bring people together but also wonders if she'll ever find her own soulmate. She helps her foster father with his mobile library and uses the books to inspire people and to connect them. Overall, a somewhat philosophical take on the forms of love and the importance and influence of books. This one reads more like a novella or a short collection of related stories, with a somewhat mystical element.

Marie-Jeanne is an orphan fostered by interesting parents, Elsa and Francis. This interesting story is in the first person and that person is Love. Such an interesting concept! A story written from the vantage point of Love. Love also has relatives who are Fear, Fate, Patience, etc.

Overall it’s a story about Francis starting a book bus, where he goes into the remote village offering the people to subscribe to borrowing books. At first Francis would speak to the men to share about the book bus. But theodene men all had other things to be doing than listen to Francis. One day an older woman suggested he speak with the women instead. The women are more open to reading and learning. They can also be more convincing to their men.

The book bus became a very popular regular going around the community. So popular that Francis started a second and later a third book bus! People learn about others in their community based on what they were reading. Until a book wrap was made to conceal what others are reading. Less judgements could be made if people don’t know what others are reading!

This was an interesting book. With there being so many characters and places I started to get confused. Maybe I should slow down while reading. Or maybe I should read less while sleepy. I give this book 4 out of 5 tiaras. Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for access to this work.

This book felt like walk in French country side in late 1960s. It is cozy, lazy, relaxing summer Sunday afternoon when all chores are done and the mind wanders all around the world. This is narrated in first person by love! Other featured characters are olive tree. This is primarily story of Marie-Jean and others in small town of Nyon…on their journey to be a book readers and ultimately book lovers.

This was an interesting, well-written book. It's about what love is, how it is expressed, felt, sought and experienced. Overall I did enjoy this book.

Pure Magic!
How can you resist a book about love narrated by Love? Not me. I thoroughly enjoyed The Little Paris Bookshop, so couldn’t wait to read The Little Village of Book Lovers.

The cover is so inviting, the story Nina George weaves is charming, the characters are “lovable’ and it’s set in a remote village in France 🇫🇷 (Mon Dieu) I loved this book on love (and books 📚)

Thank you Nina George, Random House- Ballantine Publishing, and NetGalley for this lovely book. All opinions are my own.