The premise of this is so fun. Marginalia as a meet cute? Sign me up! For me, the harder part was watching these two young people work out their history, their grief and trauma over losing a friendship and then a friend. Because of course the two people writing to each other in a book knew each other in high school.

I also have very little patience for books for adults that feature teens or any teen related stuff (preferring straight YA) so it might just me that preference that turned me off somewhat.

I dnf’ed at 11%, went on a walk and opened the book again because I could not not read it. The cause of my dnf was the opening of the book was a bit chaotic and difficult to understand. The company she works at is called Traitor and I understood it as the company was a Traitor for doing something to her. The book needs a warning before reading, it deals with grieving, death, bipolar disorder, manic episodes, there’s more I can’t remember. There was also the FMC who was really mean to the MMC, reasons are revealed later to make sense. The FMCs sister had the top half of her dress around her waist for some reason, for comedic relief?
When the actual book swapping begins around 20% is when I was into the story. Both MCs were going through hard times emotionally and passing notes through the book margins helped them get out of there funk. I enjoyed reading this part.

Wow. I absolutely devoured this book. It destroyed me and put me back together so many times.

This is a beautiful story about loss and grief and healing. It’s also full of joy and books.

I loved how everything was connected and portrayed. I felt so many things and I am so happy to have spent time in this world with these characters.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC. I really loved it.

The book swap follows Erin's life as she struggles with the reality of her aging parents. The story overall is a great one but the flow is off and makes it a hard book to get in to.

Definitely not the romcom I was expecting.

The pace of the book was way to slow to keep my focus and I struggled getting through the book. And the change of POV and time frame also made the book hard to understand.

Erin was a very hard character to connect to, and her growth was very superficial.

James was a decent MMC but not one that I would consistently tell others about.

I don’t think this was a bad book it was just all over the place.

Thanks to NetGalley, Tessa Bickers and Harlequin Trading Publishing for the eARC.

This book. All the feels. This did not feel like a debut novel. I love that the story involves notes left in books in a little library. It made me want to read the books mentioned again.

The story of the FMC losing her best friend and the aftermath of that had me crying so hard I had to stop reading.

The main plot of the book was a perfect blend of friends to lovers and enemies to lovers. I loved the growth of both the MCs and the exploration of following your dreams.

Looking forward to reading more from Tessa Bickers.

5/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for an eARC of this book.

i just thought this was so cutesy and girly. i gave it 3.5 stars because i think its like the perfect summer read. easy to follow and the characters are relatively likeable. plus the whole writing in a book plot line to each other ?? my favorite. will definitely be reading more of hers in the future.

Erin is at a crossroads in her life. The only thing keeping her head up is the mystery man she swaps annotated books with.

Gah!! This book had me in a chokehold. It is a classic British romance with so much angst that I found myself tearing up. Here's what I loved:

The books--As a book lover, I enjoyed all of the book references and insights. Hearing some of the annotations they had for the classics was great. You can tell Erin and James (and Bickers) are true book lovers!

The push and pull--This reads like a classic British romance movie. You don't get a whole lot of page time with the two together, but that made the pay off of the end so much sweeter.

The big sad--Yes, this book is sad but it's also an exploration of living the life you want to have. Both Erin and James have a lot going on in their lives. A lot of the book is them finding out who they want to be and how they can come to terms with what has happened to them and their loved ones.

Overall, this was a really good and emotional romance.

Thank you to the author and publisher for the gifted copy!

This was rather a depressing read. Both main characters seem to have very directionless lives with lots of personal trauma they have to work through. Erin can’t get over the death of her best friend three years ago. She doesn’t forgive her mother for some unnamed action that we don’t find out about until halfway through the book. James gave up his passion for writing to take a job in corporate training that he doesn’t really enjoy, but he’s good at it and is earning money. His mother suffers from severe manic depression and he feels the need to drop everything and travel back home to help his father take care of her when she has one of her depressive episodes. He feels sorry for his father who gave up what could have been a pop singing career in order to take care of his wife.

So there is a lot to be depressed about in their lives and in the book. The only bright spot is when they swap books at the little street book exchange. They write notes in the margins to each other, but they don’t know who the other one is. But it turns out that they knew each other in high school until some terrible event that broke them up.

You have to read a lot into the book to find out what all these secrets are. It’s all pretty terrible what James suffered as a kid as other students bullied him out of pure cruelty.

I kept reading so I could find out these secrets, but I can’t say that I liked Erin all that much. She droops around her apartment after quitting her job without a backup plan. She has sex with her useless roommate. She’s mean to her mother. And it takes her a long time to do anything to change her life. I rather lost patience with her. I had more sympathy for James. He’s in a really tough position and it’s not quite clear why he feels so strongly about Erin. We’re never shown why she’s with it.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

A reason to live, love and forgive.

The Book Swap is about Erin (fmc) and James (mmc.) It is a duo pov romance story about Erin losing her favorite *annotated* book to a little free library which James then stumbles upon and picks up himself. From then on, Erin and James go back and forth - reading and annotating a book and asking the other to meet them in their next read.

A funny, heartwarming romance with second chances, grief and possible new beginnings The Book Swap is a perfect book for those who love books about books.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, finishing it in one days time I couldn’t get enough of Erin, James and every character in between! Reading a book about two characters who love books just as much as I do, it made me feel connected to them easily. My rating lands at 4/5 stars since I loved the way the story flowed and how things weren’t ever just sunshine and rainbows, it felt realistic while also having that “fantasy” illusion too it.

I went into this book thinking that this would be a cute romantic read due to the original description, but there are harder topics in this book that are now outlined (for some of the editions) to give the reader a better understanding of what is covered in the book.

Erin, the FMC, is navigating the death of her best friend Bonnie and this is a big topic throughout the entire book. She is also grappling with abandonment issues related to her mom. Ex friend/crush from highschool, James, who is the Mystery Man (sorry) and second POV in the book, is dealing with his mom who struggles with bi-polar disorder and a soul crushing career path. Their stories are woven together by a neighbourhood library when they start communicating to each other through the margins of classic novels.

This book had a lot of potential to be a five star read. Two people finding themselves and each other in the margins of books that mean something to them…adorable. Unfortunately it was trying to do a bit too much in too short of a time frame, especially with the hard topics. I found it really difficult to care about Erin. She was selfish and rarely reflected on how her actions made other people feel. Between the two, James was definitely a more likeable character and tried really hard for his family. I didn’t find a moment where I wanted them to end up together in the end as a couple, maybe a rekindled friendship.

If you love literary references and tougher topics with your romance this might be a great read for you. It’s available September 3, 2024.

page&pour rating: 3 star

Thank you Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the opportunity to read The Book Swap and share my opinions.

☕️✧˚ ༘ ⋆𓍢ִ໋☕️✧˚ ༘ ⋆𓍢ִ໋☕️✧˚ ༘ ⋆𓍢ִ໋☕️✧˚ ༘ ⋆𓍢ִ໋☕️✧˚ ༘ ⋆𓍢ִ໋☕️✧˚ ༘ ⋆𓍢ִ໋☕️✧˚ ༘ ⋆𓍢ִ໋☕️✧˚ ༘ ⋆𓍢ִ໋☕️✧˚ ༘ ⋆𓍢ִ໋☕️✧˚ ༘ ⋆

~ rated 4.5 stars ⭐

This book took me a little bit to get into, like a good few chapters before I really got invested in the story. I ended up absolutely loving the book, but I'd like to give a heads up that this isn't necessarily just a pure romance/fluffy romance even if the cover looks like it. (highly suggest to please check the trigger warnings before getting into this book - and the author actually puts the trigger warnings pretty much at the beginning of the book).

Imo, this story was more about the relationships between people (platonic, family & etc.) and I couldn't help but fall in love with the characters because they felt so real. I can be brutally honest and say that the main characters frustrated me multiple times but I think I appreciated the icky side of being human. I also think the timing of when I read this book worked out really well, b/c it felt like something I wanted to hear.

The story took a while if I'm being honest, but I really did enjoy it. I liked how slow burn everything was, and I'm a major sucker for the whole notes between the main couple. A few of the lines in this book actually made me want to read some classics so I love that as well.

thank you netgalley & the publisher for sharing this book with me <3

Thank you to @Harlqeuin Trade Publishing @netgalley for a gifted eARC of this book! 

Pub date: 9/3/24

The premise as well as the book cover drew me in to want to read this debut book. But unfortunately for me it fell flat. And maybe for me part of the problem was my expectations that this would be a fun lighthearted romcom but it is not. The book is a slow burn and also handles darker themes of grief, mental health, cancer, and more. For the first 20% into the book I wasn't quite sure where the plot was going. The writing felt choppy and the timeline throughout the book wasn't quite clear to me. The POV as well as the timeline would jump and at times I still didn't know WHEN in the story that chapter was supposed to be occurring. I honestly wanted to DNF this book as I was not interested in the plot or the characters aside from the moments dealing with the book swap/book exchange. 

I did enjoy every single moment with the little free library, the books being exchanged, and the annotating within the margins. Seeing someone fall in love with themselves and lives by reading the annotations someone else wrote was magical. From there, I also enjoyed that they started writing questions and getting to know each other on a deeper level, However, those chapters were really the only ones I found myself enjoying in this book.

Living and loving after loss. This book was interesting and heartwarming but it didn’t completely engage me.

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC.

Thanks a million to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this beautiful, touching story.
 
This had me from the start! I knew as soon as I read the blurb that I would love it. I wanted to stay in this book for a long, long time. It was, truthfully, a beautiful and moving read. Everything a book lover wants and more!
 
This made me want to find a little library book exchange and find a pen pal myself! What a meet-cute that would be! Swoon.
 
James and Erin’s story touched me in so many ways. While their history was hard to move through, they found their way to their happy ever after. The way James loved Erin, everyone deserves to be loved like that. pure, undying love.
 
Not only was the romance lovely, but the characters themselves had so much personality! I think it’s important to take their struggles and remember for yourself that everything will pay off one day. You can’t stop moving, and you can’t give up! You will find your way, just not on your own time. They worked through some of the toughest things individually; they had a long, bumpy journey of self-discovery, and their struggles only made me love this story so much more because I could see myself in these characters.
 
Ultimately, I gained a lot of wisdom from this story, and I am so thankful to Tessa Bickers for giving me a new sense of comfort and sharing her exquisite work with us. I will be reading this many, many times over. It changed my life, and that is such a special thing—to read someone’s work, the words imprinted on their soul, and find yourself a little more between the pages.

Oh I so wanted to enjoy this but I ended up DNFing this one. I found the FMC to be so unlikable. This felt super disjointed to me.

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing for the eARC!

The main reason this book caught my eye was because the premise was nothing like I'd heard before. I think I speak on behalf of the entire bookstagram community when I say there's nothing better than discovering a Little Free Library in your community or eve someplace you've never been before. They're a great opportunity to practice some community self-care and it's a low-barrier way to access literature in your neighborhood. While I had high hopes for this unique romance, I was left a bit disappointed. Personally, I felt like the plot was being pulled in way too many directions. I mean within the first quarter of the book you discover that Erin doesn't have the best relationship with her mom, she hates her job, her friend died, she's seeing a therapist, and her love life is a dumpster fire. I think the plot would've been better off if Tessa Bickers just picked one or two ideas and stuck with them. Another important factor to me in any romance book I read is the chemistry between characters. Even though the two main characters have history together (questionable history at that), they don't have any flirtatious or sexy energy between them. On the topic of being sexy...where's the spice? This is definitely a personal preference of mine, but I wish there was a tad bit more action than just a kiss or two at the very end of the book. I just wish this book had risen to meet my expectations.

This is such a beautiful story. I enjoyed the unique concept of it. I love how the main characters are bookish people like me. This has a little of everything. Some cutesy rom com scenes but also some deep topics. I definitely enjoyed this book and think everyone should give it a try!

A second chance romance that deals with grief, loss, and forgiveness between two people who share a love of books. The miscommunication and stubbornness of the main characters who refuse change were pretty frustrating in the beginning. But, as someone who also loves annotating my books, I loved the storyline of “the mystery book club”! This was the slowest of slow burns but still an enjoyable read! (and a lil European London vibe is always a plus!)

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing and Tessa Bickers for the gifted copy for an honest review! ◡̈

Don't let this cover fool you! This book covers some heavier topics and had me balling my eyes out at one point!

Erin suffered a major loss and hasn't fully moved on from it and just isn't happy with where are life is at the moment, then losing an item that she holds dearly leads her to someone she never knew she needed.

James has had an exceptionally hard life, he tries his best to maintain his work home balance, but he still feels like his life is lacking.

This was an amazing debut novel that covers love and grief and mental illness. It packs a punch! One of my favorite reads of the year so far! Thank you Net Galley for this amazing ARC!