*“A Five Letter Word for Love”* by Amy James is a charming debut that follows 26-year-old Emily Evans, who’s living in a cozy house on Prince Edward Island while working as a receptionist at Martin Auto. Emily dreams of a creative career in a big city like London or New York, but for now, she’s stuck in a small town with a job that doesn’t quite match her ambitions. Her life consists of watching Heath Ledger movies, playing Wordle, and occasionally caring for her elderly next-door neighbor. When she gets to know John, a quiet mechanic who shares her Wordle obsession, their unexpected connection leads to a sweet romance. Despite her plans to leave, Emily finds herself volunteering at the local museum and coming up with ideas to bring in visitors, with John offering his help. Though Emily initially seems a bit self-absorbed, she proves to be kind-hearted, creative, and full of initiative. While the story is fairly predictable, the journey to a happy ending is delightful, with well-drawn characters and plenty of heart. Amy James’ debut is a heartwarming, feel-good read, and I’ll be eager to see more from this author in the future.

This review is from an ARC provided by NetGalley and Harper Collins Australia.

This was not a book I found myself invested in. It would have worked better as a novella or short story.

3 Stars A Five Letter Word for Love has a really cute premise which initially drew me in. Emily and her coworker John strike up an unlikely romance after bonding over a shared love of completing the New York Times daily Wordle game. This is a light and easy read. I wasn’t a huge fan of either main character and they seemed to be lacking some depth. But overall it was a fine read.

So cute. A little slow on the start but honestly I couldn’t put it down. Emily’s rose-colored glasses on life and her pursuit of a dream job gives her storyline a fun and fast-paced spin. The Wordle tie-in was also a cute addition. Her romance was sweet. More women’s fic than romance. Low on spice.

A great read. Emily meets Jack when she is living on Prince Edward Island, working as a receptionist in the garage where he works. They bond over wordle and soon it leads to more, but can she be happy with what has now? Great setting.

📖🎉 Pub Day Book Review

📱 A Five Letter Word for Love
By @amyjamesbooks
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

🔠Wordle
😡Grumpy coworker
👨🏻‍🔧car mechanic
💵Career uncertainty
💫Leaving to follow dreams
🏡Small town love
🇨🇦 Canada
💁🏻‍♂️He falls first
🐟 fish
🛢️ barrel museum
🗽 New York
🔥 slow burn

This book was a cute small town romance set in Canada. I absolutely loved the community in this book. Also, It made me pick up Wordle again. Read this for a quick, easy feel good romance. It’s out today so go grab your copy!

Thank you @netgalley @amyjamesbooks and @avonbooks for this Advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review.

#afiveletterwordforlove #amyjones #avonpublishing #happypubday #pubdaytuesday #december #decemberreads #netgalley #advancedreaderscopy #arc #bookreview #fourstarbookreview #fourstarbook

3 Stars A Five Letter Word for Love has a really cute premise which initially drew me in. Emily and her coworker John strike up an unlikely romance after bonding over a shared love of completing the New York Times daily Wordle game. This is a light and easy read. I wasn’t a huge fan of either main character and they seemed to be lacking some depth. But overall it was a fine read.

I keep going back and forth on my thoughts on this book. I found it to be a bit dull and lacked depth. The MMC had basically no personality and the FMC was all over the place. I had to keep reminding myself she was almost thirty because she came off as much younger. I honestly wouldn’t put this in the romance genre since there wasn’t much romance, imo.

I did have to force myself to finish just so I could get it done.

Thank you to Avon book for the ARC of this book! This was a fun quick and light read. It was sweet and I enjoyed both main characters and how they connected with each other. I will be looking forward to reading more from this author in the future. See below for a brief synopsis:

Emily has taken a job as a receptionist at an auto shop as an "in between" before she finds her dream job. She connects with John,ba mechanic at the shop, over Wordle and they forge a sweet relationship. Through the book she discovers the things in life that really matter to her.

This was an original story with quirky characters. I think the Wordle angle was so fun and a refreshing departure from a lot of books.

This was an enemies to lovers, coworkers, small town story, and a story of personal growth. Emily is a bit awkward and immature at first, but grows up some. John isn't as bad as he first seems.

There were some pacing issues here and there, but it was a cute story overall.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books for the ARC for review. These are my honest opinions.

This is an entertaining, well-written book. It was sweet, fun, heartwarming and held my interest. The side characters were great. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others.

I love a good book set in Canada! Also, I am a big fan of wordle, so this was extra fun!

Honestly, this was a good read. The enemies to lovers was light, and the characters seemed good together. I liked how the MMC was very comfortable in his own skin and place in life, and while the FMC was comfortable in her skin, she was very blatantly not happy with her current job status (which, I feel like is a fair feeling to have sometimes). Her floundering to find her niche was stressful, but I think it was a realistic pursuit and a realistic path that she took, so I am not sure that I can fault her.
Did the ending seem a bit too perfect? FOR SURE, but I wish other books had more happy endings like this. Basically, parts of this were a stretch, but I like the organic, peaceful relationship the characters have and the way that different career pursuits were navigated.
I think I would recommend this to others for a fun, easy read!
Also, while I was judging the FMC’s wordle technique, I very much so have taken some tips from this story 😂

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advanced electronic copy of this book! I truly appreciate it!

A cute and quirky love story with unique characters and a beautiful journey of self-discovery. I liked seeing our main character develop different relationships with so many people.

4.5⭐️ this book has a very niche audience and that audience is me. I’m a wordle fanatic, and I absolutely loved this story (despite the last page infuriating me).

I loved how Emily and John were so different, but were able to bond over wordle and get to know each other deeper than the facade they both put up.

This is a grumpy sunshine, small town romance, and also a story of personal growth. I really related to Emily chasing her “dream job” and finding her way while moving so far from home so I think this story really resonated with me for that reason.

Ultimately, I loved seeing her find her passion, community, and purpose throughout the novel. I also loved her relationships with Jim, Mrs. Finnamore, Trey, Rose, and Kiara.

If you love playing wordle, I think you’ll really appreciate this story!

A Five-Letter Word for Love by Amy James is a captivating, heartwarming and humorous romance story that was completely and utterly adorable.
A fun and lighthearted story with the best characters.
I truly enjoyed reading this one.

A Five Letter Word For Love by Amy James

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

Pub Date: Today!!!

A Five Letter Word For Love is centered around Emily and John who both work in an auto shop and form a friendship when he notices her playing World. The friendship then turns into more as Emily starts to bring John out of his shell.

I absolutely adored this concept and was super excited when I received the ARC! While I have rated it 3.5 stars (round up to 5 on GoodReads), I did enjoy this book. I enjoyed how Emily and John communicated through their Wordle guesses. I loved all of the side characters (except Shelley…IYKYK). Emily and John are a clear grumpy x sunshine. Emily is so sunshine-y that I probably wouldn’t like her if I knew her in real life. But I enjoyed these characters because their story felt normal. They weren’t extraordinary, they were just people who have jobs and are figuring things out as they go.

My reason for rating this a 3.5 ⭐️ instead of a solid 4 ⭐️ is because the pacing was a little off in the beginning and around the 75% mark. Slight adjustments would have made a huge difference. It was still a quick an easy read that I read in 2 days and made me laugh.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for an e-copy of A Five Letter Word For Love!

Publication date: December 3rd, 2024

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I adored this book!

A Five-Letter Word for Love by Amy James is a charming and intelligent tale of friendship, self-discovery, and the complexities of young love. The protagonists work together in an auto shop and are particularly engaging. Both of the main characters play Wordle on their breaks at work but don't get along until they find out they both play Wordle and need help with it.

Emily harbors a dream and is unraveling her life's aspirations and she is creative, while John, with his passion for cars, also navigates his future. The side characters are equally endearing, and I loved every moment spent with this book!



Thank You Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager

The publisher provided ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed the realness of feeling like there are so many different paths in life, and sometimes you choose one, and it's not quite right, but it all works out in the end. James was a funny MC, with his dryness and lack of emotion. He is the perfect opposite of Emily, who is whimsical and wears her emotions on her sleeve. Their story feels very realistic in the first half with them getting close and building their relationship over time.
Sometimes I think that the pace was a bit back and forth with being slow at the beginning and then speed up and slowed down at random times throughout. I loved the side characters and their meddling in the story because it is just the best when you don't just love the main character but also fall in love with the entire cast of character.
The book didn't feel modern and maybe thats because I associate Wordle with 2020 and the pandemic and its just too soon to have that sort of setting but if I kinda just ignored that and focused on the setting of small town of Prince Edward Island it was quite good.

I was really excited to read this book , the cover and title are really cute . The book had me hooked in the beginning but towards the middle I started to get bored and felt really repetitive with the wordle concept. I also felt like the female main character was so brattt towards everything and almost selfish in a way .. it made me feel bad for the male character.

This book had such a cute unique concept! I've never heard of authors incorporating these kinds of games into books so i was so excited; unfortunately it was a let down because the writing was really hard to get through and read. It felt like it was written by a wattpad author. Overall this book was a huge disappointment from the high expectations I had set for it.