If you love enemy to lovers you will love this cozy read.
Fun and refreshing swoon- worthy vibes in a bookstore setting (one of my personal favorites 😍)

Even though the characters are polar opposite it works out and you get to see the relationship between them blossom into something magical.

Even though it was a bit predictable at times and there was some filler that wasn't really necessary for the plot the positives outweighs all that. Overall 3.5 stars from me.

When Jules returns home to help her aunt with the family bookshop, she finds that Roman of their rival family is opening his own bookshop across the street. What follows are the two trying to out compete one another. This was a Romeo & Juliet like story, but with bookshops.

The premise sounded interesting with the whole rival families and the enemies to lovers plot, but this one had a hard time holding my interest. There were parts I enjoyed and some parts that dragged for me. Overall, it was an okay read that had some cute moments.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this advanced copy. I am not a romance lover or reader. I thought the book was ok and a bit predictable. Today the least. It wasn’t horrible and I did read it. Normally I wouldn’t have.

This was one of my anticipated NetGalley reads and I have been waiting to get approved! I have never read any work by Poppy Alexander, so The Battle of the Bookshops was my introduction to Poppy’s work. I read this from NetGalley, and I’m very thankful. Here’s my review.

From the start, I realized this read was in third person, which 9/10 times, I don’t enjoy that POV, but once I got further into the book, I didn’t really mind it. What I did mind was the genocide joke. Our main character, Jules, compares her boss's declining of her request for leave to genocide. Although Jules did correct herself, it set the tone of the book for me.

The Battle of the Bookshops follows Jules as she returns home to help her Aunt Flo (crazy name, iykyk) with the family’s bookstore. After returning home, she realizes that a rival bookstore is opening up across the street. A romance between Jules and Roman begins to form, following the enemies-to-lovers, slow-burning trope.

It was a quick, cute romance that kept me reading until the last page!

This book is a retell if Romeo and Juliet had a baby with You Got Mail.
It is sprinkled with filial love and the perdurance of choosing a job that is truly one's passion. It has a side quest mystery problem that is very entertaining. I enjoyed how the author developed her characters to be real people with flaws and all. A slow-burn, enemies to lovers romance with no spice, this story focuses more on relationships and their impact on the lives of the characters.
This book would appeal to fans of Jesse Q. Sutanto, Falon Ballard, Ally Brady, and Katherine Spencer.

This was the cutest story I have read in quite a while! I've been on a reading slump and this was the perfect book to get me out! I loved every second of it! I thought the main characters were so captivating and I really fell for them really quickly! I had a blast reading this book from start to finish so I highly recommend!!

This wasn’t really for me (the Romeo and Juliet aspect was a little too obvious for me). The names being so similar took me out of it. I did enjoy the vintage book and witchy aspect of it.

This was such a cute take on you’ve got mail but with inserting 2 Indie chain bookstore owners.

These 2 couldn’t be any more polar opposite 1 romance themed and 1 literary fiction themed. The characters somehow worked with their dynamic and seeing their relationship blossom throughout it. I wasn’t quite sure where this story was going to go at first but I’m so glad I kept pushing through.

You get everything you expect in a rom-com…playful banter, enemies to friends to lovers , a cozy bookstore setting, swoon-worthy tension.

This book is a literal comfort read. Especially for the fall! Definitely good to cozy up on! Very enjoyable!

I’m so sorry to say it, but I really did not enjoy this book. I wanted to dnf it, but since it was an ARC (my first ARC) I decided to stick it through and I’m not very happy that I did.

To start - this entire book Jules talks about her relationship with her Aunt Flo and how much she means to her, but she didn’t come home for 10+ years?? I get not wanting to return to your hometown, but for family you have to?

I never felt any sort of chemistry between Jules and Roman. Jules hated Roman, thought he was attractive, and then like 5 pages later was in love with him?? It was very very insta-love, which sometimes I think can be pulled off, but I truly felt nothing between these two.

Jules was a very insufferable fmc and it seemed like the author was doing her best to make her seem miserable and unattractive? None of her clothes ever fit her, she’s got snot on her face, she’s done nothing with her life, her makeup is running, etc. like girl get a grip.

And the biggest sin of this book was that the cause of the third act breakup, which wasn’t revealed until 68% into the book, was in the bio of the book?? Miss girl you can’t put something in the description that doesn’t come out until the second half of the book.

Overall, sadly disappointed in this book because I really think the idea of it was so cute. Too Romeo and Juliet coded for me.

The Battle of the Bookshops had all the makings of a cozy, charming read, but it didn’t live up to its potential. Jules was frustratingly reactive, and her romance with Roman lacked chemistry and depth. The enemies-to-lovers arc felt rushed, and the emotional payoff just wasn’t there. I usually love bookish rivalries, but this one fell flat. The writing was uneven, the dialogue cliché, and the setting underdeveloped. A cute idea that sadly missed the mark.

This had all the ingredients for a charming book lover’s romcom — a crumbling, nostalgic bookshop, a feisty heroine trying to save it, and an enemies-to-lovers rivalry with the guy across the street (literally). The Battle of the Bookshops is sweet and cozy, and Portneath is the kind of seaside town that makes you want to pack a tote bag and wander around buying paperbacks and pastries.

That said, I struggled to stay fully invested. The premise was adorable, but the execution felt uneven. The conflict between Jules and Roman had its fun moments, but their chemistry never fully sparked for me, and the pacing sometimes dragged, especially in the middle. The stakes (financial and emotional) were high, but the tension didn’t always feel urgent.

Still, there’s plenty to enjoy here if you’re in the mood for a gentle, bookshop-set escape with cozy vibes and a hopeful ending. Readers who enjoy second chances, small-town settings, and a good underdog story might find this a comforting read — even if it didn’t completely sweep me off my feet.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

This was a really cute and easy read. The small-town setting and bookshop rivalry made for a fun story, and the characters were likable. Some parts were a little predictable, but overall it was cozy and enjoyable. A nice choice if you’re looking for something light and heartwarming. Four stars.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for the opportunity to read "The Battle of the Bookshops" in exchange for an honest review.

It was a fun quick read. Nothing too deep and a nice beach read. A cute adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. Solid 3.5 stars but I rounded up because I liked it and I think some of the reviews are way to harsh.

This book got my attention for the premise & got better throughout. The dialogue was a bit unbelievable at times & took me out of the story occasionally. I don’t feel that the characters had too much character development other than carrying out the enemies to lovers trope.

I did love Aunt Flo & her relationship with Jules. I love a book about books & appreciated the bookstores. I hate to say I did love Roman.

I appreciated that the book wasn’t overtly spicy or explicit. I love a setting in the UK loved that too.

Overall, not the most fleshed out story I feel like I’ve ever read but it was an easy romance to digest.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for the opportunity to read "The Battle of the Bookshops" in exchange for an honest review.

A loose retelling of Romeo and Juliet with a modern twist. It had potential and the storyline was promising. With two families who have been feuding forever, Jules returns home to help her Great Aunt Flo with their long standing, local bookstore and Roman, who decides to open a brand new bookshop right across the street. Roman's bookshop is an immediate success, meanwhile, Jules and Aunt Flo struggle to breathe new life into theirs. Unfortunately, despite the adorable plot line and beautiful cover art, this book missed the mark entirely. Jules was impossible to like, entirely pessimistic, complains about everything, and was holding onto a decade long grudge over a piece of toilet paper stuck to her shoe. The prose did not flow and the rapid perspective shift midway through a chapter gave me whiplash. The writing comes across as incredibly pretentious and ridiculously coated in bias. It also felt as if no thought went into naming the characters because "Aunt Flo", well, to most Americans that name is associated with menstruation and Jules' boss having the surname "Farquarson" reminded me of Lord Farquad from "Shrek". It completely pulled me away from the storyline. Jules and Roman went from enemies to lovers so quickly, it didn't feel real. Again, the idea of this story is adorable and may be for someone else but it felt poorly plotted and just wasn't for me.

While I didn’t love this book, I still think that it has its charms. I really enjoyed the cozy bookshop setting, the witchy historical side plot, thought the characters grew within the story and were well developed, and the Romeo and Juliet retelling was very nostalgic for me. I just wished I had felt Roman and Jules’s tension and had more buildup between them. I struggled with the first half of this book but really liked the second half a lot so I give this 3.5 stars, rounding up to 4 because it was a heartwarming book.

3.75 Stars! Honestly, the frequent switching of POVs, combined with the third-person narration, threw me off at times. It was a bit confusing to follow. The repeated Romeo and Juliet references also pulled me out of the story; they were mentioned so often that they started to feel more distracting than thematic.

That said, once I got immersed, I really enjoyed the world. It was cute and charming, and the characters had compelling conflicts. Watching them slowly fall for each other was genuinely fun. The grimoire plot didn’t unfold the way I expected, which left me frustrated for a while, but thankfully, it resolved in a satisfying way.

I think I would have rated the book higher if the Romeo and Juliet parallels had been toned down. Maybe I was just feeling extra picky while reading, but parts of the story still had me kicking my feet with how adorable they were.

If Rowan’s POV had given more insight into the goings-on at Portneath Books, I probably would’ve bumped my rating up to 4 stars.

Some things I noticed ~
"Jules had fond memories of him from her childhood, when she had had various crushes on other children's father, not having one herself." I think "had had" could be cut down to "had" for clarity.

There was some weird quotation usage that had me confused
Charlie deflated, looking worries. "Dunno,: he said. "If anyone can put a value on it, he can. "But, thing is when stuff goes into an auction, anything could happen." -> It just felt like Charlie was talking for that whole segment and I don't know if extra quotes for "but, thing is..." is necessary? I just felt confused that's all.

There was this odd transition that had me staring at my e-reader for moment just slightly taken out of the book.
"We could could him Charlie's short for 'Charlotte,' maybe" Jules suggested
There was a distinctive small inside the crowded hall: a mixture of wet wool, fresh paint, and an unmistakable overlay of old book.....

Anyways, that conversation felt cut off. So the transition to talking about walking into the auction event place just felt odd.

Overall I liked it, those were just some things that stood out to me.

The premise of the story - and Romeo and Juliet tie in - was cute and fun, but the pacing and way it was told weren't the best. First, the book was too long. There were too many side plots and they didn't really come together that nicely. Also, Jules' reason for hating Roman to start was kind of silly and definitely juvenile. And the way they finally got together was just sort of abrupt - there wasn't much build up and he never really apologized. The ending was sweet, but I felt like I wanted more from some of the side plots. Overall - it was cute and I'm glad I read it, but it could have been better.

I was initially very excited for this one but as the story continued it stayed very surface level and I felt like the main characters had no depth. It was insta-love at its finest and although it wasn’t bad it would not be at the top of my list of books to recommend.