While working her receptionist shifts at an auto shop, Emily dreams of something more. However, she doesn’t know exactly what that is yet. During her shifts, she plays Wordle to keep up her 300+ day streak, but one day she gets stuck and has to ask her coworker John for help.

I loved the concept of this book and was excited to read it, but it unfortunately fell flat for me. There was way too much time spent talking about Wordle and their daily guesses took away from scenes that could have helped develop their relationship.

The biggest issue I had with this book is that their love story doesn’t really develop on the page. I had a hard time believing that she was even interested in John, considering her reoccurring commentary on him “settling” in his mechanics career. It felt like she thought she was better than him because her aspirations were in a big city with a university degree. In return, he seems incredibly disinterested in her, responding to most of her texts with “lol” and her grand gesture with “cool.”

However, I loved Emily’s connection with the PEI residents and her passion for the museum volunteer job. The development of the secondary characters, the elderly residents who Emily helps out, was one of the best parts of this book. I thought her relationships with them were really well developed!

Thanks to Avon, Harper Voyager, and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Emily is a bit lost in her adult journey and her daily Wordle is the only constant in her life. She’s working the front desk at a car repair shop on Prince Edward Island that is not her dream job. But there is the perk of the hot repairman John who also does Wordle. As Emily decides the direction she wants to take her life the people of PEI slowly make her realize happiness isn’t necessarily found in a big city.

This reflective and heartwarming romance encapsulates adult struggles in the most endearing way. I loved it!

The title of this book had so so much promise.

I didn't relate to the characters and the plot didn't grasp my attention. I'm sorry - I DNF it after a few chapters. I'm not posting this on goodreads because I don't want to decrease any stars for the author's sake. I know it might be more of other's cups of tea than mine.

This was such a good book. I loved the story and the writing so much. The characters were great and the story flowed smoothly. Will definitely read more books by this author in the future.

Let's get this out of the way up front. This book was rated entirely on *vibes*. Is it perfect? No (and it has more faults than most of my five star reads). But should you read it? Absolutely, yes.

Emily is having a quarter life crisis. She's finished college in a degree she regrets, and is working in a small town on Prince Edward Island because the rent is cheap and she found a job in an auto shop that pays her just enough to make some progress on those pesky student loans. But she's not passionate about anything. She wants to find passion. She wants to find her dream job.

The thing is, she's entirely insufferable. Her attitude is perpetually under-satisfied, always looking for the greener grass, no matter what is in front of her. She sees her college friend group thriving on their individual paths, but she's floundering and has no direction, and she doesn't even like those friends that much anymore.

BUT -- starting from a place of discontentedness leaves lots of room for growth, and the more room for growth, the more powerful an impact for the ending. Even though some of the threads of this story got kind of muddled from the 50-75% point (ish), the resolution made up for every other complaint I was holding onto as I read. The opening was also awesome, you just have to have a little faith that things will pay off by the time all is said and done.

It may also help that John is essentially my husband. Car guy, mechanic, racer, (yes those are all different), not a big talker, hunky, sweet when it counts, confident, steadfast, funny. I loved their relationship, but it's a little hard to see his side of it with how misaligned they appear to be.

The most sand-chewing part for me is that she's creating this life she actually really really loves in PEI, with or without John, but she's still just got it lodged in her head that she needs something better, that there's always something better. It may be the plight of Gen Z, at least a little bit. The idealistic social media generation. Y'all. Take a big breath and say it with me *gratitude*.

Like I said, in the end this book was absolutely worth it, with valuable themes I think many will embrace or relate to. I was sure this was going to be three stars, but then it just blew me away in the end. I cried several well-earned tears. Sleeper hit! Surprise gem! Diamond in the rough! Five stars from me!

I thought this was a cute concept, and I liked how the character used (horrible strategy, but still) words from her life to start her guesses each day, but unfortunately I found the characters unrelatable and unlikable.

I don’t think these two are making it long term, when her grand gesture was met with a “Cool.”

Thanks for the arc!

I wasn't sure what to expect with this book...I mean, a cozy Canadian town, auto shop receptionist, a grumpy mechanic, and....Wordle? Turns out, those were the perfect components for a sweet read. I couldn't get enough of John, but I was throughly enthralled with Emily's journey to figure out who and what she wanted to be. Author Amy James did a really wonderful job of weaving the importance of self-realization into this story, as well as challenging one's own preconceived notions. There were many parallels with Pride and Prejudice, in my opinion.

This is a delightful read for anyone who loves lighthearted, humorous, and heartwarming stories about finding love, self-discovery, and happiness in the unlikeliest of places, making it a perfect fit for fans of small-town romance, workplace romances, and anyone looking for a feel-good, uplifting tale.

DNF at 25%. I tried to read this book but I could not get into it. It felt a tad too cheesy.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Voyager for an ARC of this book for an honest review.

A Five Letter Word For Love written by Amy James unfortunately was NOT for me. This book is based on the New York Times game Wordle, which I absolutely love doing every morning, so of course I had to pick up this book based on the concept and that adorable cover thinking I would love this book, but it wasn't for me at all. Once again I fell victim to the pretty cover, don't get me wrong the concept was intriguing and made the story interesting, but this book fell short for me for many reasons. If you haven't done Wordle yet, I totally recommend giving it a try because honestly it's just fun to me. I think it's super cool that an author wrote a book with the Wordle concept instead of like Tiktok or any other modern pop culture references, but I'm sad this one didn't work out for me since I kind of did have high hopes. I gave A Five Letter Word For Love two stars for a few different reasons, Wordle was mentioned wayyyyy too many times for me, the characters absolutely had no character growth, they were a bit too whiny at times, the romance felt rushed, and the ending ended a bit abruptly with no answers. I know other people really liked this book and that's completely okay, but it just didn't work out for me, but I'm still going to recommend this book because I know other people might like it, so do yourself a favor and go grab a copy of this book immediately.

THANK YOU TO NETGALLEY AND AVON AND HARPER VOYAGER FOR AN ARC OF THIS BOOK IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW!!!!!!!!

"Love isn't a substitute for happiness".

"You will never be happy if you think too much".

Wordle
Six tries to guess a five letter word. When you make a guess, the letters will turn gray, yellow, or green.
Gray means that the letter isn't in the word at all.
Yellow means the letter is in the word, but you have it in the wrong place.
Green means that the letter is in the word and you have it in the right place.

Emily Evans is a twenty seven year old woman who doesn't have a lot going well in her life right now. Emily doesn't have a career set in stone nor does she know what she wants to do with her life. Emily has a low paying job as a receptionist at an auto shop. Emily has a bachelor's degree in science, but doesn't know what to do with that degree just yet. Emily also has $26,000 in student loan debt from her bachelor's degree in science and chemistry. Although Emily doesn't have any particular interest in cars, she works a nine to five Monday through Friday as a receptionist at Martin Auto where she answers the phone, checks people in for their car appointments, processes their payments, tidy up the break room, and empty the garbage cans. Then we have John Smith, well there's not much to say about John. All he constantly talks about is cars, he's pretty rude to Emily and his customers. John made me want to rip my hair out, his communication skills were so icky, like dude try being nice and people won't be so irritated with you all of the time. What Emily doesn't know is that John does Wordle as well. During their lunch break, Emily and John start doing Wordle together.

Emily and John, where do I even start with these two? Their stupidity and lack of communication skills made me laugh because how can two grown adults be so ignorant? They were both whiny at times, instead of acting like they were in their late twenties, they both felt so childish to me. Emily has a three hundred plus day streak with Wordle, but one day with only one guess left and no clue what the word is, Emily turns to John for help where she learns that John also does Wordle everyday. Emily wants to make John her Wordle Work Buddy whether he likes it or not, DAMN, Y'ALL, JUST COMMUNICATE!!!!!!! Fast forward, John and Emily now have a Wordle friendship, plain and simple, but if you ask me it's more like a Wordle alliance. Should we even talk about their romance? Well, I guess I should since their romantic life revolves around Wordle. Their romance just gives me the ick to be honest. Emily and John have sex on their second date in John's truck. The sex part doesn't really bother me, but the fact that they work together and don't even talk to each other, and then their second date they are already doing the dirty in a damn truck after their second date after acting like complete strangers to one another.

As a Wordle player myself, I really love the premise of this novel. Unfortunately, I wasn't really feeling this romance. John had no personality and was pretty dull. She had more chemistry with the 96-year-old man she was caregiving for. What I really enjoyed though, was our main character Emily's relationships with literally everyone else in the town, and I even got a little emotional near the end.

3.5 * rounded up to 4.

"...𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦, 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯."


I would say that I overall really liked this book! It was a bit slow at the start for me, but I definitely got into it as the book went along!

The FMC is slightly unlikeable (snobby) at the beginning, but that's done on purpose as part of her character arc. LOL I mean, don't get me wrong, I absolutely GET needing to follow a dream and see what's out there (I have my own debt to show for it) - but I'm definitely glad she came to her senses 😅

❤️ Prince Edward Island, Canada
🛢 Opposites Attract
❤️ Wordle
🛢 Chasing Your Dream Job
❤️ Found Family
🛢 Small Town Romance

A big thank you to @avonbooks, @harpervoyagerus and @netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for this review!
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The vibe of the book was very informal, which I liked. I think given the, somewhat cringey, premise, the informal tone and the breaking of the fourth wall made it all feel cohesive. I also appreciated there not being any serious traumatic back story that is furthering the plot, and instead continued with the largely light story. I read this very quickly, and it was the perfect afternoon audiobook to listen to while I baked cookies. That being said, I thought the romance plot was generally lacking. I didn’t feel the chemistry between Emily and John, particularly because while I know John’s character was intended to be subdued, I instead found him to just not have a lot of depth. Some points when he was refusing to engage with Emily, instead of being shy or charming, instead came across as rude or uninterested. I would’ve loved a more indepth development of their relationship, and more of a focus on it, instead of the vast majority of the book being about Emily’s day to day at the museum.

That being said, I really loved all of the side characters of the story, and the town of Waldon. I also loved the random barrell museum, and it felt very reflective of the funky museums that rural small towns have.

Overall I would definitely read a book by this author again, as it was a very easy, light book.

I honestly just didn’t like this story. Emily was an entitled brat and I know this was meant to be about her growth and figuring out what she wants but I honestly just could not back up any of her decisions.

John was a great blue collar representation of a man who loves his job and doesn’t feel lesser than for being blue collar and I loved that.

Ultimately the big decision in the book just pissed me off and left me with no respect for Emily at all.

If it were up to me, she would not have gotten her HEA.

⭐️

This was a sweet, quick read despite falling a little flat on the “romance”. This felt more like a slice of life/self discovery journey not so much a romance novel as the relationship felt like a secondary plot point. The setting was cute and the supporting characters were fun. It made me laugh out loud a couple times.

1/5 🌶️ one brief open door scene with minimal detail.

🏠 small town romance
💞 slow burn
🚗 workplace romance

Thanks to Avon for an early reader copy!

Cute. Just cute.

Emily is working as a receptionist at an auto shop, it’s not her dream job, but it’s a job. She’s on a WORDLE streak and making improvements to her world everyday. Enter in not unattractive coworker John who also does WORDLE…

If you’re looking for a character to like and root for and a love story to go “awwww” to this is the story for you.

Thank you AVON and Harper voyager and NetGalley for the ARC.

Twenty something Emily is looking for her dream job. She doesn’t know what it is, but she knows it’s going to be in a big city doing great things.

For now, she’s the receptionist at an auto body shop in a small town. Her friends from university have all found their dream jobs and have families. Her new friends are geriatrics, who she starts helping out as a side hustle.

One thing she is consistent with is her daily Wordle. She’s in a streak and she’s determined to get to 365 days. Another thing also consistent is her contempt for her grumpy coworker John. They have a mutual dislike for each other, until they find something common. Wordle.

Emily is slowly finding her place and working towards happy. All she needs to decide is where is she the happiest.

I enjoyed this book. The story kept a great pace. The characters are likable. The banter is real and fun. The story is a slow burn that doesn’t fizzle out.

3.5 - Cute little story. I think the character building in it was its weakest point, especially regarding the MMC. In single-POV romance books the author needs to work extra hard to make the other character feel complete and complex; this story struggled to make me care about John. I did think they were adorable together.

I never want to see or hear the word “Wordle” ever again after this book…

Thank you to the publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley!

This was… not for me. I am so disappointed because I am an avid Wordle/NYT games player and was really hoping for something fun and sweet and romantic and this was just annoying and boring. Emily is far too naive to be as judgemental as she is and John Smith is as flat and one dimensional as his name would suggest.

I’m so tired of bumbling FMCs in their mid to late twenties who are just absolutely clueless. I understand being at a loss for what to do with one’s life and feeling overwhelmed by the lack of direction at that age - it happens to us all - but paired with her childish inner monologue and high horse attitude I could not find it in myself to feel any sympathy for her. And John is literally that meme of “is he my Mr. Darcy or is he just mean to me”. At every chance he gets he tells Emily how weird she is and makes fun of her interests (in his defense it’s well deserved) and their chemistry seemed to come solely from proximity and being the only single people under 65 in their town.

The Wordle aspect was obnoxious. Emily plays like a maniac with no method to her madness. Also the words always being so simple like HAPPY and SCARF lead me to believe the author was not around when KNOLL and PARER were the solutions.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. All of the opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I liked that this story is written from Emily’s point of view, like she is having a conversation with the reader. I laughed and cheered with her and for her as the story progressed. I liked the small-town, friends becoming more like family vibe of this book. I appreciated how everything came together, and the author did seem to leave everything open enough for there to be a follow-up. If there is, I would enjoy reading more of Emily and John’s story.