This book has very repetitive prose, dialogue that feels stilted and overly obvious, and the MMC was immediately hate able and he never really left that spot for me. Unfortunately, this was a huge miss for me, despite my love for bookbinding and book restoration.

I liked being able to learn about the bookbinding profession vicariously through the narrator and enjoyed the charming romance.

This was such a cute read. I loved the chemistry between Sera and Wes (aka. Toad).

Though the story was a bit predictable, I really enjoyed how the relationship between Sera and Wes built. It was a combination of enemies to friends to lovers and insta-lust. Both MCs had a lot of lingering trauma to work through, but I appreciated the way they were both upfront about what their limitations were when it came to relationships.

That said, it didn't take long for the head to arrive and that chemistry to be put to the test. There is some major heat between the MCs and it was fun to read these scenes.

I did think that there would be more of a witchy vibe, but I can see that coming if either Liberty or Poppy (Sera's friends) get their own books. I look forward to continuing the series if there are more releases to come.

Thank you to NetGalley, HARLEQUIN - Romance and Katherine Garbera for an early review copy. These are my honest thoughts.

Unfortunately I tried multiple times to get into this book and just couldn’t do it. I found the MMC to be annoying and premise of his meeting of the FMC to be strange.

I have to start this review by saying that the title had me a bit confused, but I ultimately wanted to read it because of the description.
A couple of good things about this book:
- it had some witchy magic/manifesting aspects to it that I really enjoyed.
- it had a lot of talk about books, and reading in general
- the supporting characters like Sera's friends were a really nice addition
- it has a very feel good overall arch to it

But it also had some things I didn't particularly enjoy too much:
- both main characters are very problematic and have a lot of issues, which in a way is nice because it portrays real people emotions in a sense, but I felt like their backstories and their issues were just way too present too many times, like sometimes it interfered with the flow of the story and it felt a bit too repetitive like yeah we get it, they have issues can we move on from it?
So it's pretty much for that reason that I'm giving it 3 stars and not more. I wish I could've liked it a lot more, but it unfortunately didn't hit the mark for me...

In any case, thank you NetGalley and publishers for the ARC in exchange of an unbiased review.

This book grabs you from the first page! A story of love, friendship, and hope. I hope there are more stories coming about Liberty and Poppy.

This was a sweet and quick rom com read. In which we get a job that's not common in rom coms a book binder. So it was nice to read a new take on a rom com.

Thank you to NetGalley and HARLEQUIN - Romance for the ARC of The Bookbinder's Guide to Love.

I did not enjoy this title. The writing felt flat and there was little plot. The characters had little personality, especially Wes, and the author tried to make up for it by constantly harping about their trauma. Trauma is not a personality. The instalove went against all of their trust issues and the third act miscommunication was so completely unnecessary that it destroyed what little interest I had in the characters.

The Bookbinder's Guide to Love by Katherine Garbera is a contemporary romance about love, books, friendship and the unexpected connections that bind us together. As a lonely foster kid, Serafina Conte sought refuge in handmaking journals—and writing her wishes within their pages. Now, in the quirky new age store she shares with her two best friends, Sera’s intentions have paid off. Her journals are in the spotlight—and rumored to manifest great things. Sera’s finally ready to be the leading lady of her life story. Until her plot hits a twist. After the death of her mentor, Ford Sitwell, all the loneliness and insecurity of her past returns. The only balm is the box of antique books he left to her. But Ford’s suspicious brooding grandson, Wes, is ready to think the worst of her—and get his grandfather’s books back! The first part doesn’t bother her. The second? Forget it. Sera won’t give Wes the books so easily. But it’s clear he’s seeking something more, an emotional connection no book can replace. So she offers a deal—work in her store for six weeks, and in return, she’ll help him get closure by sharing memories of his late grandfather. Yes, Wes seems grumpy, but actually he’s hot…and maybe kind? Deep down? And when desire and vulnerability work their charms, Sera begins to wonder if the best stories aren’t the ones you intend, but the ones that take you where you least expected.

The Bookbinder's Guide to Love is a well written romance with solid character and a good deal of character development for both Wes and Sera. I liked Sera's resilience and bonds that she has forged with her circle of friends. I thought Wes grew a great deal through out the book, and I liked the way he and his family evolved through the story. I thought Sera's circle was my favorite part of the book, and I want more of their back story, and their futures. However, while I enjoyed the read and have nothing specific to say that is negative about the book, it took me longer than normal to finish the read. About half way into the book it started to drag a bit for me and I did not have any urgency to pick it up and find out what happened next. This could totally be because of all the stuff going on in life- but usually I always look forward to time reading.

The Bookbinder's Guide To Love (ARC)
Katherine Garbera
3⭐️

Pub Date: 1/23/2024

Oh man! Loooooooots of spice in this book! Again, I don't know if I can consider this "true" enemies to lovers because they want to jump each other right away at the beginning of the book even if they "supposedly" hate each other. It's too thirsty for my liking. They already talked about sleeping with each other on DAY 1 of meeting each other 🙄 I skimmed and skipped chapters on this book because the spice just overwhelmed me. They did it so many times and each of them spanned almost a chapter each. This is not necessarily a bad thing. I know people love spice. I just needed more than that.

The plot itself is fine, nothing that's really too pressing. No high stakes even with the conflicts. And even then, the true conflict came about at 90% of the book. I was worried that it wasn't going to finish well. And I was right. It ended too abruptly.

There's really nothing more I can say about this book. The spice overshadowed everything else. I'm definitely not the target audience for this. But if anybody is looking for a quick, lighthearted, spicy book, this may be a good one for you!

I had some high hopes for this book but it feel flat on a few levels. Any time there is miscommunication in a book, I am internally screaming at the characters and it kind of takes away from the story. Thank you Netgalley for this book

This is a sparkling romance with magic and books.. the main characters have a problem with each other initially, but as they get to know each other, you start to see the Sparks fly. It’s heartwarming and has banter and plenty of romance. If you are just looking for a fun book to read this is the one for you.

This is a fun rivals-to-lovers-to-friends-to-something-more story. I appreciated the parallels between Sera and Wes’s pasts. It was interesting to see a story that explores the idea of growing up in a broken home versus foster care. Sera and Wes both have some serious baggage, which led to an erratic progression of their relationship.

I loved Sera’s found family, especially her friendship with Poppy and Liberty. I'm looking forward to reading their books.

It was really cool to get an insider peek at the bookbinding/book repair process.

Note: I’ve seen a lot of people describe this as “witchy” and I feel the need to clarify. Sera and her friends are into tarot, intentions, and recharging crystals during certain moon phases. They often threaten to curse people who tick them off. Certain townspeople whisper that they are witches. However, I would not classify this as fantasy or paranormal romance because these practices are all depicted as more ritual than actual magic.

Quick Summary: A charming calico romance

My Review: The Bookbinder's Guide to Love by Katherine Garbera is a gen-fic romance novel filled with see saw emotions, intensely passionate exchanges, and astonishing moments of clarity. The novel presents itself with an interesting mix of happy, sad, revealing discoveries. Essentially, it's a story about trust, love, acceptance, forgiveness, reconciliation, and growth.

About the Book: Bookbinders who have both lost a key figure in their lives assume an enemies to lovers position. The more time they spend together, the more they move towards healing, wholeness, and family/community.

My Final Say: There were so many takeaways from this book. It was filled with symbolic messages and words of encouragement written in everyday language. It was in the said and in the unsaid. I liked it. I couldn't help walking away with this:

1)The influence that history and life experiences have on us doesn't mean we have to relegate ourselves to an isolated existence. There will always be room for friendship, for hope, and for love.

2) Our imperfections tell a story, but they don't have to define us. We can be so much more (or less), depending on how we choose to face them.

3) Dealing with grief can be a balm or a burden.

Other: I was not expecting the insta coupling thread. While it was included in this story, the story could have stood up without it, in my opinion. With that said, I can see that each episode likely helped in terms of peeling back character layers where emotions and relational connection were concerned.

The Magic (coded so as to avoid spoilers): The connecting factor that tied all three lives of the primary characters - Sera, Wes, and Ford - together was in the books and in the bookbinding. (The tattered journal that belonged to Sera and the cherished RC copy from Wes' family represented everything.) From their foundation, threads extended outwardly to include family and friends.

* I know books tend to hit differently with each reader. I think this book will appeal to some readers but not so much to others. Readers should try to look past some of the crude language and the repetitious phrases. Instead, they should try to see the crux of the story...it reveals a special kind of magic.

Rating: 3.5/5
Recommend: Yes
Audience: A
Status/Level: 💬
Pacing: ⏳

Appreciation is extended to the author, to the publisher (HARLEQUIN, Afterglow Books by Harlequin), and to NetGalley. Thank you for the opportunity to review this title. The words I have voluntarily shared are my own.

This is an enemies to lover Romance with a lot of steam, as well as some important character growth as the two main characters learn to not run away from love, and also try to deal with their grief.

Sera is an owner of a shop that sells books and her handmade journals. She is reeling from the death of a beloved friend, an elder named Ford. In comes Ford's grandson, Wes, who is at first very rude to Sera because he's hurt his grandfather left Sera some precious books. They actually don't stay enemies for very long. What begins as a lot of attraction early on becomes a hookup and then they become friends. Wes starts working for Sera for six weeks, and things escalate emotionally from there. I do like the two of them together even if it seems a bit predictable. This definitely follows all the tropes of Romance, small town included. I wish I could have seen more character development with Sera's best friends, and I do think the author is setting up for more in this series with the friends. I look forward to seeing how these storylines build.

Thank you NetGalley for the digital ARC of this book.

A witchy, witty, wickedly sexy romance about love, books, friendship and the unexpected connections that bind us together…
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Always enjoy a multigenerational friendship and one that brings two people together. Serafina had a unique shop and I just loved listening to the book binding and the magic that she put into each item.
The death of her elderly friend and him leaving her some items gets his grandson Wes to come knocking. He's very skeptical at first then I'm pretty sure he falls first. But they are so used to being alone that they push each other away. I guess there's some miscommunication which my God this space hates it's like miscommunication isn't a real life occurrence. I'm so tired of hearing people dismiss books cause of it.
This one was a cute, grumpy sunshine in a witchy new age bookshop.

Thank you harlequinpublicityteam and harlequinbooks for my #gifted copy.

The book instantly drew my attention because I am a bookbinder! A romcom featuring bookbinding? Sign me up! 💖

And Katherine does an excellent job with the descriptions of the bookbinding process. The way she described the process was easy to understand for someone who doesn’t bind (hubby read it and said it made sense) and for me I was impressed by the accuracy. Obviously she either binds herself or she put some research in when writing this book! ✨

The main characters, Serafina and Wes, may start as enemies but there is tension and attraction between them right off the hop. I haven’t read a good insta-attraction book in a while but this one was goooood. I found I was reading as quickly as I could just so I could see how their relationship developed faster! 😂

The pace of the plot is good and the overall storyline is fun to read as well. There is some spice but it’s not overly gratuitous and I’m kinda here for that. I honestly just really enjoyed this book! 💖

The book shop talk in this book is really what kept me going. I loved the way K. Garbera made me feel like I was right there in the WiCKed Sisters Bookstore. The bookstore itself was a new age bookstore, with a tea shop. The relationship between the two main characters, Sera and Wes, begins wrought with angry tension that quickly morphs into very strong sexual tensions. I enjoyed the way the friendships developed between the other characters. Their lives definitely take a back seat in the book but yet they're there being formed throughout the story. One of the main strengths of the bookstore is Sera's creating journals with the idea that you label your journal with a wish, and it will come true as you use your journal. I loved the aspect of book binding and bringing an old book back to life with new bindings. When Wes and Sera go to an auction that has a huge amount of books, I so wanted to be right there digging through those books with them!
The Bookbinder's Guide to Love definitely has new age and cozy magic/witchy vibes with the sexual scenes being a bit spicy. I'm giving 3 stars.
Thank you to NetGalley, Katherine Garbera, and Afterglow Books by Harlequin for allowing me this arc e-version to review.

A little witchy and lot whingy, this one didn’t end up being for me.

I would say this book was 78% inner monologue, switching POVs between the lead characters. I found myself skimming for dialogue and realizing there wasn’t much happening outside of the constant brooding. It ended up creating a book that was basically one long miscommunication trope.

I’m sure there’s a group of readers out there who eat this up. I’m just not one of them.

STORY: ⭐️⭐️
SMUT: 💦💦
SPICE: 🌶️🌶️

Thank you yo NetGalley and the publisher for my free copy. These opinions are my own.

In The Bookbinder’s Guide to Love, Sera owns a cute, witchy store with her two best friends. When her handmade intention journals go viral, the store becomes more successful than they could ever dream! After the death of her elderly friend and mentor, Ford, Sera finds out that he left her some meaningful books. This causes Ford’s suspicious grandson, Wes, to confront her about their friendship. Wes is also a book lover and restores books for his career, so they strike up a mutually beneficial relationship - Wes will help Sera make journals for her busy store if Sera will tell him more about his estranged, late grandfather.

There are a lot of things I loved about this book! I thought the store and the witchy vibes of the Sera and her friends provided a fun backstory. I love the confidence they have to really lean into the magic they’ve created! I thought the friendship between Sera and Ford was sweet. I actually wish we’d gotten a closer look into their relationship. I did find the immediate focus on physical attraction between Sera and Wes a bit much in the beginning. It made me question the emotional connections in the book and it felt a little out of place for me in the midst of their grief over Ford. Sera and Wes’ connection did start to feel more believable to me in the second half of the book! There were quite a few opportunities for some good spice, but I thought they fell a bit flat and felt repetitive.

This seems like a small thing, but it distracted me throughout - The author uses abbreviations and modern slang in the actual body of the book, not in dialogue or text conversations (ex. “FFS” which I had to look up and “sus”). It brought me out of the story and felt out of place in that context for me.

Overall, this was a cute story! I’m always down for a sweet and spicy romance with some witchy vibes!

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher Harlequin-Romance for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!