After recently losing her best friend to cancer Erin is struggling and it is not the first time she has struggled in her life (for example she had to change schools after her mom left her dad for another man) but this one seems different - Erin is lost. She quits her job and cleans out her room hoping to feel better, but she realizes that she threw out her prized copy of To Kill a Mockingbird, with all her notes in the margins. When she runs to the Little Free Library to get it back, it’s there - and her notes have responses to them as well as a new marked up book waiting for her - Great Expectations, and her relationship with Mystery Man begins. But it turns out that Mystery Man is someone with whom she has a fraught history, and if she realizes it’s him the feelings bubbling up may go away.

There are a few issues that the author tried to tackle in this one - grief, depression, mental illness, and familial obligation to name a few - I felt like there was just a lot but I do think the author handled them well, I just felt overwhelmed at times digesting them all while reading. I’m not sure I ever really liked or understood Erin or her relationship with James (Mystery Man) but I appreciated her growth through the novel. This is very much in the same genre of the Lucy Gilmore books where novels are characters in the story and I will always appreciate a book about books. While this novel is about two adults, I felt like their personalities were very much stuck in their teen personality (until the end of the book) and for parts of the book (and I’m not talking about the flashbacks) I felt like I was reading a novel about two teenagers. Looking back I think that was my issue with the novel, the immaturity of the main characters was a bit hard for me to read and while it was a novel about stunted people and their growth, their starting place was so far from where they needed to be ii was not always enjoyable as a reader.

3.75 stars

Thank you to Graydon House and NetGalley for the ARC to review

Erin Connelly is at a cross-roads after experiencing the loss of her best friend and finally quitting a job she hates. After de-cluttering her apartment, she mistakenly donates her beloved and annotated copy of To Kill a Mockingbird to a little community library. Upon returning there she’s relieved to find her book, but finds it with new annotations and an invitation in the margins to read a second book. From there the story turns to one of exploring grief, mental health, forgiveness, and love through the lives of Erin and her book pen pal.

I expected a light-hearted romance based on the description alone, so I was surprised find themes of bullying, mental health, loss, and forgiveness. I love a second chance romance and the nod to some great classics. While I loved the story, I couldn’t connect with the FMC and much preferred some of the side characters. I found Erin’s struggle with taking-perspective and finding empathy for others made it difficult to sympathize with her character.

I received an ARC for this and can I just say…this book was adorable. I have such an amazing love for literature and words on pages - and even though I haven’t read any of the “classics” mentioned in this book - I was captivated by the love the two MC shared for words too! As a debut novel, I was honestly surprised at how much I liked this book and connected to it. If you’re looking for a cute and cozy read that’s going to evoke some emotion, this is the one for you.

The below review will be posted on my Goodreads account (link below) and my Instagram account bookrecs_byalyssa
Review posted on Goodreads 8/12/24
Review posted on Instagram 8/13/24

This was such a sweet, heartfelt, emotional, and tender read. At the very core, this book is a story of love. A story of love in all its’ different forms, especially the love between friends, spouses, parent and children, siblings, and how to deal with such love when the person it is meant for is no longer living. This book brings about these topics of love while also mentioning many different sensitive subject matters, and does so in a tender, gentle context. These sensitive subjects include loss of a friend, grief, depression, bipolar disorder, and illness in those closest to the main characters. “The Book Swap” alternates between Erin and James POV’s while they navigate current life struggles, daily challenges, and their self-discovery, along with their love of literature. This entangles the character’s past and present together in a new and wholesome fashion. Erin’s added communication, throughout her and James’ story’s, to ‘Mystery Man’ via the book margins of literary classics, adds another level of intrigue to this sweet story. A story which centers around the past vs. the present, feelings of love and loss, and navigating emotions and reconciling differences in the name of forgiveness.
This novel mentioned both literary classics as well as a more recent, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky. The mentioning of this book throughout the novel gave me all the warm fuzzies as the previous friendship between characters was likened to those in that novel. “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” was a book I especially enjoyed at a similar age to the characters mentioned in the novel and gave a wholesome, nostalgic feeling to reading this book. It helped bridge the gap between difficult subject matters and the characters emotions to such while adding wholesome, emotional personification of the joys of friendship and importance of the relationships to those closest to us.
“The Book Swap” is a book that I am very grateful to have read and is a sweet book about friendships, love, family, self-discovery, and at the very core, books! This book deserves 3.5/5 stars for the sweet plot, nostalgic feeling of discovering and rediscovering the love of reading and all things literary, and includes relatable, funny characters that bring readers all the emotions from heartbreak to warm fuzzies!

Thank you to Tessa Bickers, Greydon House and Netgalley for a wonderful early read.

I feel like it's hard to come by a unique romance that puts books and an author at the center of its story but with The Book Swap, Tessa Bickers did just that. Erin is at a point in her life where she desperately needs a change, whether she will admit it to herself or not. Fed up with her manipulative boss who berates her in front of her entire team while also denying her the ability to go to a memorial service for her best friend, she quits. Suddenly she's not only lost but free falling - jobless, thrown together with her estranged mother, confronted by her ex and the cooling off of her FWB arrangements with her weird flat mate. Erin needs to make a change in her life and oddly she finds it through a conversation she starts with a mystery man in the margins of books they swap at a free neighborhood library. Filled with classical literature references and chronic illness and death challenges this second chance romance explores what it means to find your soul mate when you are not ready to share your reality with them.

What to expect: second change romance, slow burn, lots of classical literature references, a little neighborhood library as a "co-star", hidden identity...

TW/CW: parent with PBD who exhibits both a depressive and manic episode throughout the book, discussion of cancer, death of a friend, estranged parents, cheating (discussed not by main characters)

4/5 stars

I think people who are looking for a new twist on Melissa Ferguson's Meet me in the Margins or Emily Henry's Book Lovers will enjoy this romance.

The Book Swap's cover immediately caught my eye. I initially thought it would be a cute rom com, but it turned out to be much deeper than that. The author did an amazing job writing these characters. Also, this book is definitely a love letter to classic books. I highly recommend The Book Swap if you like slow-burn romances. Thanks to the publisher for the arc and I'll share my full review closer to the publishing date.

4/5⭐️

“So very possible to feel grief and love, all at once.”

Erin Connelly has remained in her grief over the loss of her best friend, Bonnie, for over three years. Erin finally starts to live for her dreams and clean up her life when she accidentally donates To Kill A Mockingbird, her favorite book filled with annotations and postcard memento from Bonnie to her neighborhood’s version of a Little Free Library. Thankfully, her annotated book is returned to the library with new annotations and an invitation from a Mystery Man to continue “meeting in the margins” via book swap.

Their swap entangles with Erin and Mystery Man’s respective life journeys with grief, family dynamics, personal growth, and mental health while bringing them closer together in the margins of their favorite books. When revealed they are not strangers but estranged friends, can they heal their past and become something more with who they've found within the margins?

While I anticipated a romantic comedy, I was given something much more. How grief and mental health were touched on was written beautifully and accurately. I loved the idea of meeting in the margins, and it has given me a fresh perspective on annotating books. I wished for a bigger conversation between Erin and Mystery Man about how their conflict was resolved and how they found their way back to each other. The transitions throughout the book at times did feel abrupt but I did not feel this took away from the plot but briefly interrupted the flow.

Overall, congratulations to Tessa Bickers on a fabulous debut novel and I look forward to reading more from you in the future!

Side note:
The perception of this novel's synopsis gives the impression of a romantic comedy. I do not fault the author but the marketing of the book. The themes discussed in this book could be heavy for some readers thinking this is a romantic comedy. I would encourage the book's description to be rewritten with trigger warnings to find the readers this book is meant for.

Thank you, Harlequin Trade Publishing- Graydon House, NetGalley, and Tess Bickers for a copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review. I will provide links to reviews upon publication date!

Tropes:
Dual POV
Second chance
Childhood friends to enemies
Pen-pal

TW:
Mental health (Bipolar/Depression)
Terminal Illness (Cancer)
Grief
Childhood bullying

I found this book very disappointing, which was sad. Part of my problem was the ARC format- it was difficult to read with added spaces in the middle of words and very unclear who's POV we were in. I found the characters also difficult to like. Usually i can't wait to pick up the book i am reading but i found myself unattached to the story. I would potentially be willing to give this book another go and may still pick up a copy and see if its better in print.

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this ARC of The Book Swap.

Bravo @tessabickerswrites on your first novel! As a bookworm, I am obsessed with this book, absolutely obsessed. I don’t know if it’s because I resonated so much with characters navigating through mental health struggles within their family or what it was but this book just made me feel so many things. I was a bit annoyed with Erin at times for not giving James a chance to explain himself but thinking about it more, I understand she was hurt and then dealing with her grief. Grief is something every single person deals with differently and I shouldn’t judge Erin for how she dealt with hers.

This book was so much more than just a romance but I’ll always be a sucker for a happy ending. His book dedication 🥹🥹🥹🥹.

I really hope this is one of many books @tessabickerswrites published because she did a phenomenal job.

The Book Swap is available in the US for purchase on September 4, 2024. You can preorder the book from Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-book-swap-tessa-bickers/1144489618?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaYOicQ_jFawUVCWNh94bNU_y0ozZoIZo7Gn4a3E6jcHaFiMhQMbBKngB-M_aem_wB_MgGXnwKB_1yPH4bF7LQ

This was a fun book, and I really appreciated the opportunity to read it! I will recommend this book.

The synopsis for this book caught my eye and I was so happy to receive it as my very first ARC! It's something that fans of Divine Rivals and/or You've Got Mail would enjoy. The first few chapters start slow to set the scene of where the main characters are in their lives so once they start trading books at the little library, it really gets interesting.

The individual characters' backstories and the exploration of their personal struggles and endeavors. I almost cried near the end of the story. While this can be categorized as a romance, it really is about grief, forgiveness and taking risks in life.

I also loved the references to classic literature like To Kill a Mockingbird, Pride and Prejudice, and The Perks of Being a Wallflower. They add another layer to the relationships in the story and how characters think, but you don't have to have read them to understand and follow the story.

Any book that includes mentions of the classics grabs my attention. The premise of this story is an exchange of annotated books from a little library box. Erin is an avid reader who visits a little library to donate some of her books to declutter, but she mistakenly leaves one of her favorites, To Kill a Mockingbird with marginal notes and an important postcard from her friend Bonnie. When Erin realizes her error, she regularly returns to the library hoping her book will be returned. When it is with answers to her notes and additional marginalia, a friendship/romance blossoms between her and this “mystery man.” While on the surface, this read appears to be standard rom- com fare, it also touches on grief, belonging, and the search for meaning in a modern world. This novel itself isn’t a classic, but I would recommend it to readers who like a little more plot involvement in a rom-com.
Thanks to NetGalley and Graydon House for the advanced copy to read.

I was maybe not the perfect audience for this book, as the writing seemed more immature and I thought the layout was just kind of confusing overall. I found myself a little lost on what was actually going on at times. I had a soft stop for the mmc, such a sweetie, but unfortunately not a top romance for me.

Review posted to Goodreads 8/11/24

tw: death, suicide, terminal illness, bullying, mental health illnesses (may not be a complete list)

I'm not too sure how I feel about this book. It's an emotional read about grief and loss, while also a story about platonic and romantic love. The book follows Erin and James who meet again in the margins of her favorite book when she accidentally donates it to her local little library. Thus begins their relationship on paper that spans the majority of the book, where they share their past mistakes and present fears, all without knowing they have a shared history.

The story is heartbreaking at times, especially moments where Erin processes her grief. The romance aspects are slow to fruition, with dual POV of the main characters. Although I did get emotional reading the book, I'm not sure I fully enjoyed it. Something was missing for me, and I think it had to do with the main characters. I did not find myself rooting for them or attached to their character/development.

My rating: 3.75⭐️
Thank you for the arc!

I would've loved to read this book as it sounded cute and romantic but unfortunately, the copy I received didn't work.

An interesting read about love, loss, friendships, and navigating the hardships of life.

Erin was a complicated and troubled character. She is experiencing tremendous grief after the loss of her best friend. One day she stumbles upon a neighborhood library and thus begins the main part of the story.

James’s character is more likable. He’s dealing with his own troubles and grief but is less selfish compared to Erin. My heart ached in several parts for the bullying he endured in school.

This book is well written however the characters were not my favorite. Also I was expecting more romance?

Unfortunately I had to DNF. This one wasn't for me. The dialogue was a bit juvenile and I couldn't connect to any of the characters. Also, the prose was a bit too clunky for me.

This was a debut novel!? Well dang. I am terribly impressed. The depth of the character stories is insane, and while I thought this was a rom com, I am not upset that it was also rather heavy. And when I say heavy…I mean… there could be tears. The trauma that both of these characters have endured is something that most people cold never imagine and yet it was very clearly not far-fetched or overly dramatized. The repercussions of this trauma also reasonably plays out in their adult lives. I don’t think I ever questioned why either of them made the decisions they did, and that is saying something for the general world of romance literature. The pain they have experienced was effectively portrayed so that you understand their actions, and in my case, with no judgement. The growth in this book is very prominent throughout. The evolution of the friendships and family dynamics make this incredibly well developed. We all know I love a good set of side character friends, and this book is more than satisfactory, including friends met through life circumstances that grow into deep relationships, as well as, family members who know the main characters and care deeply for their well-being. While the book is incredibly sad and heart-wrenching at times, there is clearly more than enough love here, too. While this will sit heavy with me (possibly for a while), I am incredibly glad that I read it. I will be on the lookout for more books by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for allowing me to read an advanced reader copy in return for an honest review

Think You’ve Got Mail, but with a little free library. 😍 This book is a love letter to other great books, and to all the classic romances in them. It was so easy to fall in love with Erin and James, to root for them both, and to cry for them at times. This story was so relatable, very raw at times, and yet incredibly hopeful. I don’t want to spoil anything, but I will just say that this is definitely a book I will read again. ❤️ 5 ⭐️

Thank you NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publication and Tessa Bickers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 rounded up. The Book Swap is a cute story where Erin accidentally donates on of her cherished annotated books to a community library and finds herself exchanging books filled with notes with a stranger. They continue to communicate via book notes and eventually add questions to get to know each other. Only it turns out not to be a stranger.

I wouldn’t consider this a romance, I would have said Women’s Fiction, so that threw me and left me waiting for more relationship focus than we ended up with.

The book has some tough topics: mental health, grief, cancer death, toxic workplace, cheating and complicated family dynamics.

Erin could be pretty frustrating so I’m glad she recognized a few behaviors from therapy, her sister and James and could grow from them.

James was sweet but also had some qualities that contributed to a tough family dynamic, it was great to see him start to resolve that.

One thing that threw me off (other than this being considered a romance) was when the book exchange first happened - we read all about Erin getting the book back before James had even found the book.