The Book Swap" was a delightful surprise! I expected a light rom-com, but it turned out to be much more. Tessa Bickers crafts a story that goes deep into the human experience, exploring themes of grief, loss, and healing with great skill. The book took me on an emotional journey, being both heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time.

The slow-burn relationship between Erin Connolly and her Mystery Man, developed through notes in beloved classic books, was incredibly rewarding. I also loved the authentic and touching dynamic between Erin and her sister Bonnie, which really resonated with me. As a fan of classic literature, I appreciated the references to timeless works that added extra depth to the story.

My only minor wish was for an epilogue to see Erin and James' happily ever after. But maybe that's just the romantic in me wanting a bit more closure.

Overall, "The Book Swap" is a wonderful story that will tug at your heartstrings, make you laugh, and leave you pondering life's mysteries. It’s a must-read for anyone who loves the magic of books.

Really did love the story line and the characters. It was a bit hard for me to get into the reading or grasp the story at first. I had to try a couple of times but once I did, I liked reading it. Not sure if it was the style of writing but something was off for me. Nonetheless, there is potential for this to be a great book!

Unfortunately this is a DNF for me @58%.

I really tried to stay with it but the writing is very disjointed. I had a hard time following along with what was actually going on? The POV jumps and time jumps - I never knew what I was supposed to be imagining going on?

The characters were not likable at all. I will admit, I was mislead by this cover and expected warmer, more comforting types of characters and instead found them jarring, rude and just all around rough.

This is not a light meet cute romcom- it's a group of friends that are kind of assholes to each other and it deals with heavier topics. The cover is pretty deceiving - I was expecting one thing and got something else entirely.


↬ ಇ The FMC, Erin is going through an extremely hard time after the death of her best friend. On top of that she loses her favorite book To Kill a Mockingbird that is heavily annotated and has her best friends last gift inside.

↬ 𐙚 The MMC, James finds her book at his local community bookshelf and it sparks an interest in him. Sending a message to her in his favorite book Great Expectations for her to find him and her book.



A huge thanks to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing | Graydon House and Tessa Bickers for the complementary digital copy -all thoughts/opinions are my own. 💐💖

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 Stars, rounded up

I love the premise of book lovers exchanging feedback and "love notes" in books. So, I went into this book expecting a second chance rom-com with hilarious one liners between the MCs. While there was a few LOLs, there were more tears as the dual POVs went through the grief of losing a friend, finding the right career path and making new friends.

When Erin accidentally donates her well-worn copy of To Kill a Mockingbird to the local "take-a-book, leave-a-book" library, it's picked up by none other than James, the boy she loved in high school. He reads her margin comments and decides to comment on them, returning the book with a recommendation to grab another classic that he's marked up with his margin comments. The fun thing is that neither of them knows it's someone from their past making these comments; they refer to each other as "Mystery Man" and "Margins Girl." The scene is set.

The book started off slowly and definitely picked up at the end when we start getting more background about what happened during high school (and why). Mix in the grief of losing a best friend, a family member with mental health challenges, extreme bullying, questioning career choices and you've got a great women's literature book. I'd say it was about 95% women's literature and 5% romance, so if that floats your boat, this book is for you!

I LOVED this book so much!! I was so upset when after the first chapter, I couldn’t open my copy on NetGalley. But I waited a bit and then was able to open it again. I am so happy that I was able to because I absolutely loved every minute of this book! I knew I would when I found out that the book revolved around a little free library book swap. It was a super cute rom-com and I found myself laughing, smiling, and crying all within the same chapter. I definitely recommend picking up this gem when it comes out soon!!

🐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐒𝐰𝐚𝐩 𝐛𝐲 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚 𝐁𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬🐝

Erin’s life is a mess. She’s trying her best in a job she doesn’t want and feels like what she does is never good enough.

On an impulse she quits, without a plan or any idea of what she’ll do now. Slowly spiraling into a cycle of gloom, she decides to get rid of some books. She donates them to a small community library and accidentally loses her favorite one: a very special annotated copy of To Kill A Mockingbird.

After multiple visits to the library the book appears, but now with some fresh annotations. This starts a book exchange with a new penpal, Mystery Man.

As she continues a journey through some beloved classics she will start revisiting the past that has haunted her, and now she will ask herself WWBD? (What would Bonnie Do?)

This novel is a very dense story. It explores some difficult topics that may be triggering for some readers. However, it is also infused with empathy and honesty. It offers a deeply emotional perspective on grief and its lasting effects, even years after a loss.

For me it was hard at times to read this but I think its a great story. I actually think it would make a great movie. I enjoyed the book exchange and loved the references to The Perks of Being a Wallflower. The notes made me think of Dash & Lily, so if you like that, you’ll enjoy this book. There’s not a lot of romance in it, so do not read it expecting to be a romance novel or you’ll be disappointed. It is more about the friendship than the feelings they had for each other, but it was beautiful as it is.

Trigger warnings:

Terminal illness
Mental illness
Bullying
Emotional abuse
Death
Grief

I rate this book 4/5.

Huge thanks to @netgalley and @tessabickerswrites for the ARC.💖

This book started out great and had much promise. Unfortunately, as it went on, I found myself unable to mesh well with the main character and grew distant from the story. I did not finish reading the whole book around 50%.

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for allowing me access to the ARC.

I am not quite sure what to say to this one. I really liked the main guy, James. His character was great, as well as pretty much all the secondary characters. I just couldn't be a fan of the female lead, Erin. She seemed really dysfunctional, irrational, and I actually started liking her less as time went on. She peaked early with quitting her job and after that it was downhill for her character for me. Made it hard to like the book. But changing the things I didn't like about her would have unraveled the plot so I'm not sure how it could have been different.

the story in this was TOOO MUCHH I loved it! the references, the characters, the love… obsessed!! highly recommended

I absolutely loved The Book Swap! If you love books, stories about books, great family/friend relationships, romance.... you will love this book too! I couldn't put it down and cannot wait to read more by Tessa Bickers!

I tried. I really really tried to enjoy this book. I think the story is an incredibly cute concept and I wanted so badly to love it. However, I struggled with the POV switches and the pacing. If the POV/past experiences had been a bit more clear upon starting the chapter that would’ve made it so much easier to get through. At the end of the day it was just not for me.

I had high hopes for this. I was as thinking it would be something like Emily Henry’s “Book Lovers” but I just couldn’t get into it. I had to DNF. It was just so slow and I couldn’t figure out the plot.

I really enjoyed this debut novel! The plot and relationships were SO complex. It wasn’t just about a romantic relationship, but the bonds between friends, siblings, and parents, too. There was a LOT going on, but the way all the relationships weaved together was so intriguing. Main characters Erin and James were both very flawed, but I appreciated that their growth was evident by the end.

Two things I loved about this book:

1️⃣ The way Erin + James could learn and recognize so much about the other person by how they annotated and what they wrote in the margins. How we look at books can reflect how we look at life.

2️⃣ The theme of forgiveness, and diving deeper into both sides of a story before we make up our minds about what happened.

This book did take a little time for me to get used to the writing style, (I think partially because of the way things are worded in the UK) but the story was so engaging, it didn’t stop me!

read if you like:
+ debut authors
+ friends to enemies to lovers
+ second chance
+ dual pov
+ books about books
+ classic novel references

I am surprised by how much I loved this! While I expected a fluffy romantic comedy, what I actually got was a very moving story about grief and learning to live for the good things, because life is too short to have any regrets.

I really loved this premise. After actually donating her beloved copy of “To Kill a Mockingbird” to a little free library, Erin is desperate to get it back. One day it appears, and someone has added to her annotations and left a gift in the form of another book, annotated and waiting for her comments. Thus begins one of the most adorably heartwarming meet-cutes! However, the past has a funny way of catching up with you when you least expect it.

This book is a very slow burn, and I appreciate that not everyone will enjoy that! It’s also not what I anticipated when I picked it up, but it surprised me in the best way.

Something about the characters really resonated with me. I, too am in my late twenties and am evaluating what makes me happy. My job is not one I am particularly passionate about and I for sure feel a bit stuck in a (comfortable) rut. I want to take more risks! Both Erin and James are the same way.

Both characters do a lot of learning and growing, and they help each other along in this journey without even realizing it. I think their shared history adds so much to this book. While Erin was almost a savior to James when they were younger, James also provided Erin with a friend who understood her obsession with books.

Erin and James are both dealing with a lot of grief and past trauma. They’re both grieving Bonnie and James is grieving the slow decline of his mother. I actually can’t count the number of times I was genuinely in tears reading this book. Let me tell you, Bonnie feels like a friend to me. Like, I feel like I also lost a friend.

I enjoyed Tessa Bickers’ writing and plot development a lot! It actually reminded me a bit of Emily Henry’s books. And I would be remiss if I didn’t add that this book is inspiring me to go back and re-read some of my favorite classics!


A huge thanks to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing / Graydon House and Tessa Bickers for the ARC!

Thank you Harlequin Trade Publishing & NetGalley for the ARC!

This book had so much promise but sadly fell flat for me. I loved the premise, I just did not connect to the characters at all. I found them all frustrating and irritating. I hope to read more by this author in the future, but this one didn't do it for me.

Thank you again for the ARC!

The plot of this book was what first pulled me in, who wouldn't want to read about a romance involving a little library? And it ended up being more than a romance, there was so many relatable and serious topics in this book and I could see a lot of myself in Erin. The way the story was intertwined was good and made me what to snap the characters out of it so they could have the happy ending that they deserved!

I love the title of this book and the cover ! I adored all the book references in it, especially the Wuthering Heights references. It was a very quick read for me and kept me entertained the whole way through. I even shed a few tears at some parts, which is not the norm for me. I would recommend it for fans of romance and literature. Such a great book for book lovers. I look forward to reading more of this author's future works.

Thank you Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the digital arc in exchange for my honest review.

Actual Rating: 3.75/5 stars

I loved the premise of The Book Swap— two characters processing their grief, traumatic pasts, and loss through a little library book exchange in London. Personally, I absolutely thought the exchange of notes in the book margins was romantic, especially since I’m a sucker for any type of notes/letters left between characters.

I did feel that the plot could have had a little bit more development, but I still enjoyed the book overall! A great debut novel by Tessa Bickers!!

Thank you again to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing/Graydon House for a chance to read and review an advanced copy of this book!

After a traumatic childhood, James lives a fairly self-contained life shuffling between his London life and his hometown when his bipolar mother hits her manic phases.

Still grieving the loss of her best friend Bonnie, Erin is distraught to lose her annotated copy of her favourite book. A week later it returns, marked with fresh comments from a mysterious correspondent.

'The Book Swap' is a tender and poignant slow-burn story of grief, mental health and trauma filled with two well-rounded and compelling characters. Erin is prickly, full of unresolved anger and guilt, so her growth is incrementally slow. She will frustrate but when she finally learns to let go of her anger, it is fulfilling. James is chasing financial success so he never has to live like his parents, with his father giving up pop stardom for his mother, becoming a pizza delivery driver. I really loved his journey.

I adored the way they expressed themselves through the margins of the books. This book was also a love story to literature and how it can help us heal, or find comfort when life is not so great.

While I am happy without an epilogue, given everything the characters went through to get to their happy ending, I would've loved a time jump, or perhaps the resolution happening a bit sooner so we can see a bit more into their future.

Thanks to Harlequin Trade Publishing/Graydon House and NetGalley for the ARC.

Still grieving after the death of her best friend, Erin is devastated to lose another friend, a treasured copy of her favorite book To Kill a Mockingbird - complete with detailed, personal notes - in a tiny community library (Americans call them Little Free Libraries). When she revisits it, the book is gone, and still gone, and still gone, until it suddenly reappears with new notes from another reader and an invitation to read a donated copy of Great Expectations - also complete with personal notes. A thrilling new relationship begins. But of course there is much more to Erin's life - work, family, friends and the blow grief and depression have brought to her life. And the new book friend also has his problems, and the two's ties turn out to be more complicated than just books.
Much more than just a romance, the story is about grief and friendship and forgiveness, and love of books, of course. Engaging characters and a smooth plot make for a very enjoyable read.