I came into this book after having read a pretty heavy non-fiction novel. I was looking for a light, easy romance, and that’s what I got…kind of? Perhaps too light and easy, as Love at First Book is quite generic.

McKinlay relies on *tell, don’t show* which as a reader is not my preferred method of storytelling as I don’t find it very engaging or immersive. There were some quirks of the narrative that I found cringy (ex., using a single “Yum.” to describe food).

The character development displayed by the lead Emily felt too fast and unexplored. Some aspects of how her character changes, particularly her going from shy ramblings to overt flirting with Kieran in such a short time, seemed poorly explained and counter to what readers are told about her personality. How did she gain this confidence so fast? I wish I knew.

It is also not clear to me why Kieran was so taken with Emily from the first meeting. It read as insta-love/lust. Perhaps a dual perspective would have benefitted this book to shed light on Kieran as a character.

Siobhan was the most interesting character for me. I wish there were more Siobhan.

Overall, the book is too dependent on generic genre tropes. This book lands somewhere between 2 and 2.5 stars for this reader.

x forced proximity
x grumpy/sunshine

Despite my criticisms, I concede this is a cute story and may be what other readers are looking for in a book.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC.

Emily Allen is a librarian who gets an opportunity of a lifetime- fly to Ireland and help her favorite author, Siobhan Riordan write the final book of her favorite series from when she was a kid. She helps out in the family bookshop, The Last Chapter where she meets Siobhan’s grumpy Irish handsome son, Kieran Murphy. The last thing he wants is Emily helping his mom write this book.

I really enjoyed this! Grumpy/Sunshine Emily is a feisty one and their banter was amazing. Even though Kieran has his grumpy side you also see his softer side. I love some of the underlining meanings throughout this book; dealing with a narcissist parent and setting boundaries, anxiety disorder revolving around being a hypochondriac, and dealing with grief and self acceptance to receive love. A great love story for the book nerds.

Overall, I like this book and there were some touching moments at the end. I had some issues with the FMC because she moved away and essentially became a new person overnight. I would have liked to see a little more development there and a little more of her struggle. Her hypochondria was a humorous detail about her, but it essentially vanished in two days of arriving in Ireland. I needed a little more as to why the MMC, Murphy, was attracted to her. Murphy also mentions that Emma is attracted to Tig and not him, and we don't really go back to that. There may have been some truth to it, since Emma had already figured out that connection, so I would have liked some exploration of Emma's feelings there. We only get Emma's description of herself and it is very negative, so I would have liked more of how Murphy and others saw her. I felt Emma expected a lot of someone who was grieving and how she wanted comfort for her grief, which is far less significant than Murphy's. The Golden Rule for empathy is to not dump onto the people grieving and Emma should have taken the initiative to reach out to Murphy when she knew his response was due to grief and rightly feeling betrayed. It felt immature of Emma and made me want better for Murphy. This was an easy read and if you want to read about books and the Irish countryside, I would recommend it.

This was a cute story for anyone who enjoys a forced proximity troup or a beautiful stting. I really liked the main charactgers. I really like Emily. I also liked her persistance when it came to Kieran. I did not like Kieran at first. He got better as the book went on but I saw him for a long time as a grouch!. Really cute story and love the irish setting.

I really wanted to like this book because it's so ME - Emily movies from the US to Ireland to work at a bookstore and also work alongside one of her favorite authors. It's cozy, it's a book about books, and it has an enemies to lovers trope with the bookstore owner.

That being said, I could not get into this for several reasons. I feel like the characters were a bit underdeveloped. I didn't quite see the chemistry between the two main characters. The dialogue was quite cheesy and kept taking me out of the story.

Thank you Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of Love at First Book by Jenn McKinlay.

Let's set the stage...an American Librarian moves to Ireland to work with her dream author for part of the day then at a bookstore for the other half. Hot Irish Lad is the owner of the Last Chapter bookstore. He is broody, sarcastic and endearing. Emily Allen has never been assertive in her life, but dealing with Kieran Murphy brings out her sassy side. The story is set in a lovely little village with charming characters and beautiful scenery.

I loved this story. As a librarian it made my heart happy. I love all of the book references and the process of delving into a character and story. How is lives in your head waiting to come out.

This book made me laugh, cry, feel heartbroken and satisfied. All the feels. I will definitely be reading more of Jenn McKinlay's books in the future.

Thank you to Berkeley for giving me an access to an arc! Two of my favorite things: bookstores and Ireland, all combined is this very cute romance. This genuinely brought me a lot of joy and I cannot wait for others to read it. I’m excited to read whatever else this author writes.

Em came to Ireland to work for her favorite author and to escape from her abusive mother. Kier doesn’t want her around to disturb his mother but she fits into his life. ARC from NetGalley.

Thank you to Netgalley for a free copy in exchange for a review, and I am sorry for what's about to happen.

I really wanted to like this book, but I had to DNF. Here are my thoughts from what I read so far:
The heroine is too spunky, too special, too lucky and beloved, and with seemingly no reason. The male lead, too grumpy and misunderstood and targeting the female lead for arbitrary reasons. Yes I get it he is protective of his mother but this is ridiculous. Nothing new is done with these common concepts, they are just utilized at the base level and not elaborated on in any way.
My DNF is because I know exactly what is going to happen and exactly how it's going to happen.
I love tropes, but you need to make them your own, alter them enough that you are creating new substance. This reads like tropes were fed into AI and then given a cursory edit by a middle-schooler. The only definitive traits of this book are the setting: Ireland, and..... wow yeah no that's it.
I feel the editor did a disservice to the author by not encouraging them to deviate from their favorite fanfiction equation. This would actually be better as fanfiction, because fanfiction comes with a wealth of material behind it that makes us care about the characters. This didn't have that.
I am sorry to Jenn McKinlay, that is my true opinion and I hope they get another opportunity to stretch their writing muscles out of their comfort zone and challenging themselves to worldbuild and stretch those creative muscles.

Wow this book is a delight! It’s equally cozy, swoon worthy, and heartwarming. I fell in love with the whole crew of charming characters and their sweet Irish village! I grinned ear to ear through just about every page but it also made me get misty eyed a couple of times. Of course any book set in the UK is going to get extra love from me and now I NEED to book a flight to Finn’s Hollow to visit The Last Chapter and the tea shop and have Irish whiskey shortbread and go to the Top of the Hill pub and stay in Em’s cottage! If only these places were real, lol. 🥲 Thank goodness Jenn McKinlay blessed us an Irish whiskey shortbread recipe at the end! *sigh* This was just my perfect type of book. It felt like a hug, perusing a quaint and cozy bookshop on a rainy day, a steaming cup of tea. I couldn’t have loved it more!

✨ PUB DAY: May 14th! ✨

<i> Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this copy in exchange for an honest review. </i>

I hate to say it, but I actually DNF'd this. It already wasn't for me, and then I saw that the author stated that DNF'ing books doesn't mean you're allowed to have an opinion/give a rating. Sorry, but if I'm DNF'ing something there's a reason! I was intrigued by the premise and majorly let down by the writing style and characterizations. This all put a sour taste in my mouth, so I most likely won't pick up another one of her books.

I hope that others are able to enjoy it like I wasn't able to!

In this sweet romantic comedy, a woman named Emily accepts a job offer to be an assistant to her favorite author, Siobhan Riordan, and work part-time in a bookshop, and moves to a small town in Ireland to escape her overbearing, narcissistic mother. Siobhan’s son is the owner of the bookshop, and resents everything about Emily being there - he hates change, and he’s worried for his mother… and, of course, he’s extremely good looking (this is a rom-com, after all.)

If you took Emily Henry’s Book Lovers, transplanted it to an adorable small town in Ireland, and added a generous dash of Travis Baldree’s Bookshops and Bonedust, you’d end up with something like Love at First Book. You’ll fall in love with the people of Finn’s Hollow, find hope in Siobhan’s journey back to writing, and encounter heartbreak and betrayal as Emily finds family and belonging in Ireland. And you’re really, really going to want to try Brigid’s baking (I love that there’s a recipe for her Irish Whiskey Shortbread included at the end of the book!) Overall I quite enjoyed the story, and I’m already adding more of Jenn McKinlay’s books to my TBR!

DNF
I really wanted to like this book. Especially because it was getting such great early reviews. But I just couldn’t. I just couldn’t mesh with the writing style of this book. It felt not only too self inserty, but I felt like the author was holding my hand throughout the 20% of the book I did read. And by that I mean that there was a lot of telling. Even when there was great showing, it would be immediately followed up by telling the reader instead of letting us think and theorize what someone’s actions could mean for ourselves. Plus it wasn’t helped with the amount of internal monologues. I also didn’t love how it felt like the love interests initial interactions with the FMC did a complete 180 within the course of one chapter.
I know this book is definitely going to be beloved by others, as you can probably see from all the other reviews. However, for me, I just couldn’t get invested because of this particular writing style, and it became more obvious it’s you not me when I immediately picked up a different romance book and read that in one sitting. So yeah, this is definitely a not for me book, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a not for everyone book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing an advance reader copy of this book for my honest review.

This one slayed me a bit - it was everything I wanted and love in a good Contemporary Fiction / Romance read. I’m a big fan of those books that tilt more contemporary/ women’s fiction with a strong romance arc and this one fell right into that sweet spot.

I went into the story expecting more of a light hearted, fun romcom type vibe - and don’t get me wrong there is certainly some of that present as well. Our main MC, Emily, is an American librarian who decided to take a chance on herself and takes a once in a lifetime opportunity to work in Ireland as an assistant to her favorite childhood author for a year. Enter our other primary characters, Siobhan, said author and her slightly curmudgeonly and overprotective son, Kieran.

The story was beautifully written and I really felt like I was there in Finn’s Hollow experiencing the small Irish town and getting to know its residents. Emily, Kieran and Siobhan all felt so real to me - I connected with each and by the end they felt like old friends. I loved the depth of each character and the connections they shared with one another.

While the story started off in a lighter note, and had plenty of moments of levity, it definitely did not shy away from some heavier topics. These added extra depth and meaning to the story, but also left me emotionally gripped and a bit heartbroken.

I honestly loved this book - it was in turns charming, heartwarming and gutting. I haven’t cried like that while reading a book in a while. I hate crying and I tend to avoid sad books, but this one managed the right balance to keep me locked in and managed to maintain that hopeful note.

One I’ll certainly recommend and surely my favorite of the authors books I’ve tried to date. Thank you to NetGalley and Berkeley Publishing for the opportunity to read an early copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own and offered freely.

When I started Love at First Book I expected a fun rom-com about an American librarian running away from life in the states right into the arms of the grumpy Irish bookstore owner. What I was not expecting was to be crying in my bathtub at midnight.

I devoured this book, it had everything I could want in a contemporary romance. The main characters were so real. Em and Kier had such emotional depth they could've been some of my closest friends. They both went through growth in the book, with each other, themselves, and the side characters. The relationship between Kier and his mother was especially touching, While Em moved across the world to learn how to set boundaries with her mother. I found my self laughing at their wicked banter and Quote competition.
The small Irish town of Finn's Hollow was filled with so much beautiful imagery. The side characters are so funny and welcoming, you'll want to book a flight to Ireland to find such wonderful hospitality. You'll want to spend days at the bookshop eating pastries and drinking lots of tea just to widen your smile.
I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a heartwarming, inspiring, and genuine romance story.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for sharing this wonderful book's digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest opinions

I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS BOOK. it was so cute, so heartwarming, and so heartwrenching at the same time. I loved Em, Kieran, Siobhan. All the characters in this little village were so sweet and caring of Em. The ending was perfect and bittersweet. I would love some interconnected standalones or spin offs. it was just that good for me. (I'm a sucker for these types of stories). (I would also love to hear this as an audiobook).

Thank you so much to Berkeley and NetGalley for this advanced copy! I am a sucker for a few things: romance, a broody love interest, and an Irish backdrop. This book had all of that and more. I loved the setting and I loved the plot around finishing a novel with a famous author. Such a good background for a romance.

Sadly, the story felt a tiny unfinished to me at the end. There’s an entire plot about conflict with the MC’s mother that never feels like it gets a full resolution. The MC also deals with an anxiety disorder that I really loved seeing represented on the page but also just seems to fade away into the background.

Overall, this was a sweet romance to read in the spring and the descriptions of this tiny little Irish town were marvelous. I just wished everything was wrapped up in a more cohesive bow.

Love at First Book is the newest romcom by Jenn McKinlay. This fun romance set in an Irish bookstore continues the story of librarian Emily Allen from Summer Reading. Discover what happens when Em leaves her friends and mom in Martha’s Vineyard for a year in Ireland as a bookstore clerk and personal assistant to Siobhan Riordan, her favorite author. I was immediately drawn into this entertaining story that includes romantic tension and a childhood passion for reading a specific series.
McKinlay weaves together humor, family, and bookish fun in this rollercoaster romance. If you have enjoyed Summer Reading and other romcoms by McKinlay, you will like Emily and Kieran’s story too. Love At First Book is perfect for fans of Abby Jimenez, Emily Henry, and Katherine Center. Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

Love at First Book had a lot of potential, but I think for me it fell flat in a few areas....BUT - if you would like a cozy, rom-com that has you craving a nice cup of tea, this quick-read would be a good one!

thank you netgalley and berkely publishing for the arc!!

i made it 50% in, and unfortunately i had to dnf this. i really tried to push through, however i was just very bored the whole time. it was to the point where i was just skimming the pages. i wanted to like this seeing how it’s a cozy small town romance but that wasn’t the case. i didn’t feel any sort of connection to this story nor the characters. the writing style felt bland and was just very rough to read and get into. also the banter between the main characters felt very immature and childish seeing as they’re pushing 30 lol.

this just may not be the book for me and that’s okay!