A boom about books. Yes please a book lovers dream! Loved this romance! Highly recommend!! Loved the male and female main characters

I really liked the swapping of books via a little free library and the notes written in the margins. I thought this was going to be a cute bookish romance but it really wasn’t as there was hardly any romantic angle between the two MCs in my opinion. I found myself not really connecting to Erin and just wanted more. I think James’s heart was in the right place but he certainly was a little loss. I liked that it was dual POV so that helped but the abrupt flashbacks were a little confusing at times.


Thank you publishers and netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest feedback

Unfortunately, this didn't work for me. I tried to read it at least three different times and it was really boring. I'm pretty bummed because it sounded great.

Thank you to NetGalley for an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

DNF. Not gonna try anymore, it was making me feel like going on a slump and I didn’t want that. I tried, but it was so confusing, the characters were not well described and Bonnie you didn’t even knew at first what was for the mc

I absolutely loved this story however please be aware that it dives deep into grief, life after the loss of a loved one to cancer, mental health, career and financial pressures, and most importantly being yourself. It’s beautiful and the characters are interesting. Your heart will be breaking and mending all at once.

# The Book Swap
# 10/9/2024 ~ 10/10/2024
# 4.5 / 5.0

unfortunately, this was a miss for me. this book was very boring, with an exceptionally slow start. also, the cover is very misleading as this is not a romcom at all

thank you netgalley and harlequin trade publishing for the arc.

I heard about this book in one of my FB groups. It's not my typical genre, but I love visiting Little Libraries and loved that premise and decided to take a chance on it. I'm glad I did because I loved the book! I did struggle with both the MMC and FMC at times. They were both very selfish and had a hard time thinking about other people, but it seems they were both able to get it together in the end. I would recommend this for a cute, light read.

As a school librarian who loves romance, The Book Swap by Tessa Bickers was such a fun read! The premise was cute and refreshing, and I really enjoyed the way the characters connected through their shared love of books by annotating them.

The chemistry between the main characters was strong, but I wish their relationship had a little more time to develop. Even so, their banter was fun, and the slow-burn romance was totally worth it in the end.

I loved how Bickers worked in literary references naturally, which any book lover will appreciate. The side characters, though, could’ve used a bit more depth—I would’ve liked to see them play a bigger role in the story.

Overall, The Book Swap is a charming, bookish romance that’s perfect for anyone who enjoys serendipitous connections and the magic of reading. Four stars!

Approaching this as an ode to book lovers I had very high expectations. Sadly, not all of them were met. The dual POVs and timeline jumps were quite confusing and took me out of the story. Also I was expecting more of a romance from this but it seemed secondary. I did appreciate it tackling deeper issues like grief, etc, but I guess this just wasn't what I was expecting.

Perfect for fans of “Gilmore Girls”! This book was SO good! I found this book to also be the perfect fall read. Get a comfy blanket and a hot drink and cozy up to these characters. As a book lover (Huge surprise right?) and a To Kill A Mockingbird lover this book hit all the marks! A fun and light read that will keep you interested until the very end.

The Book Swap was emotional and romantic, with a great plot. I was not ready to feel as hooked as I did with this story, but this slow burn romance really clutched to my heart. This book held many things:

- Small town
- Real characters with flaws
- Emotion
- Grief and loss
- Pen pals

While I didn't realize the book would be so emotional, it was a beautiful depiction of loss and moving on with life, while reconciling with the past. It isn't the most typical romance, but really shows the reality of life and how it isn't all pink and roses, but a series of both heartbreaking and beautiful events that make you, you.

Important to know going in: The description and book cover makes it seem like this is a RomCom. It's not, and the romance isn't a major focus of the book, though it is one of the major plot points.

It's more of a novel of finding oneself through grief. Erin and James used to be friends. They lost that friendship and find a way back to each other by the end. They are both dealing with the grief of losing their best friend Bonnie, who passed away 3 years ago. They are also both dealing with family issues. Erin has a troubled relationship with her mom and stepdad, and James is helping to care for his mother with severe mental health issues. They both come together again through a shared love of books as penpals through a shared community bookshelf.

I enjoyed seeing both of their journeys play out. I just wanted to see more of their romance, as that's what I was expecting. If you go in realizing it's not really a romance, it's a very lovely story.

I obviously love books so any time I see a book about books I want to read it immediately! This one has me hooked from the beginning.
I really loved how the FMC and MMC connected and got to know each other through passing notes in books. I do think it’s true that sometimes we can be more ourselves when we are talking to a stranger than someone who knows all our ups and downs.

I really liked how real this book was. Every character was flawed in some way. Erin, the FMC, wasn’t my favorite but I felt for her. She was dealing with a huge amount of grief on top of just being young and not knowing what she’s doing with her life. Her character was believable but still infuriating. She was very judgmental and unforgiving, even to herself. James also had some issues but I liked him. I think they both had pretty valid reasons for being the way they are and I’m glad they found some peace near the end.
I also have to add that all the side characters were really great. Cassie and Joel were my favs. I really loved the storylines with each of their parents too.

If you’re looking for a romcom this isn’t for you. There is romance but this is definitely more about grief, forgiveness, and finding yourself. I actually really enjoyed it.

3.5⭐️. 0🌶️

This is a story about grief, forgiveness and second chances. The characters were very human and in a lot of things I saw myself related to what they were going through.

Erin and James start to exchange annotated books without knowing that is one another. They have a past story where the relationship and friendship they had back in school didn’t ended up in the best terms. Erin lost her best friend and has lost the motivation to keep going on with her life. That is until one day she misplaced a book annotated by her and James finds it. From that day forward they started to exchange annotated books.

These help both of them to find a new meaning in life and to start working towards their dream job and to take a step back and realize that not everything is what it seems.

I love the aspect of them exchanging the annotated books with their thoughts, it was so cool I wish I had a bookish friend that I could do that with. I don’t write in my books but after reading this I might try and start annotating them.

James was my favorite character it seems that he did the most growing as a character. Erin was not my favorite I feel that by the end of the book she still has some more growing to do. Plus she was not a very good friend by the end of her best friend’s life she was not there when she needed her the most.

When Erin accidentally gives away her copy of To Kill A Mockingbird that holds a prized possession from her late friend who recently passed Erin is devastated. But when she discovers her book returned with new notes from another reader she is intrigued. Wanting to learn more about this other reader Erin and the other reader continue to exchange copies and notes of other literature classics. As Erin begins to fall for this Mystery Man she has been writing to she reconnects with an old high school acquaintance and they begin to work through their difficult past. Could Erin be falling for two different guys or is it really just the one?

With sensitive topics such as cancer, clinical depression and bullying this book can be emotional at times, but with the growing supportive relationship between the two confidants it has a sweet heart that makes it an enjoyable read!

I love books about books, so I went into The Book Swap expecting a romcom about two book lovers. It ended up being more serious, with heavy depictions of grief, loss, mental illness, bullying, and dysfunctional parenting. I had to shift my expectation and then did enjoy it overall. Though there is a romance component, it feels more about the individual journeys each character is on; it's a very slow burn and no steamy scenes are included. I liked the love for literature apparent in the characters and the interesting selection of the little free library as their matchmaker.

Reminded me of a cuter more British version of Meet me in the Margins. Loved the premise, it was more somber than I expected and it gave Emily Henry vibes

Thank you NetGalley for the arc!

2.5 stars from me. I struggled with this one. I thought the F protagonist was absolutely horrid throughout the book!

I'm not going to lie I thought this was going to be a rom com based on the cover and even the description. I didn't realize I was going to be dealing with such a level of grief that the heroine is dealing with. And no the blurb only said recent tragedy that in of its self is to vague. And I'm generally a fan of enemies to more. This in the same bit that it was a romance was hate to slightly less hate. I think if it didn't look like like a rom com and was marketed more as women's fiction I would have come never liking it better.

I really wanted to like this book because it looked really promising but this one was a miss for me. It was really hard to follow at first, and I ended up re-reading a lot. Because of the slow plot I found myself getting distracted fairly often while reading. I also did not care for the main characters at all and they felt unlikable and immature. While this may have been a miss for me, others might enjoy it.

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing, Graydon House and NetGalley for the gifted copy.