This was cute! I love a good enemies to lovers theme and I loved Jules and Roman in this book, but I do feel like it was a little rushed. The characters could have had more interaction to build that romance, this is definitely one of those slow burn love stories. The one thing I really enjoyed is that even though this is more of a cutesy story, the story of Jules and Roman was really compared to Juliette and Romeo and the Shakespeare references throughout the book really made it feel deeper I guess? I did enjoy the whole across the street bookshop battle, the feel good plot, and the ending was icing on the cake. I love how these characters came together the second half of the book, I just wish the first half didn’t feel so rushed.
Thank you for the ARC! 🫶🏼 if I could give half stars, I’d say 3.5 overall.

Fun plot, quick read. The adjectives were… plentiful and the ending was rushed. Would be a great little beach or airplane read.

Thank you NetGalley for this book. Unfortunately, it was not for me. It was not my style and I was just not interested overall. I wish I did like it because it’s a fun premise. But I didn’t. Someone else might love this book though.

Ultimately, the biggest issue this book had was pacing. The beginning felt incredibly slow, and the FMC honestly was not likeable. I struuuuugled through this book (started and stopped it no less than 8 times). It wasn’t because I wasn’t interested in the premise, but I just couldn’t get into the way the story was paced or the writing style.

Set in the quaint seaside village of Portneath, the story follows Jules Capelthorne as she returns home to help her great-aunt Florence revive their struggling family bookshop—only to find a sleek, modern competitor has just opened across the street. That competitor? Roman Montbeau, her childhood rival and heir to a competing bookshop legacy.

As a reader, I loved the cozy setting and the sense of nostalgia that came with every scene in the bookshop. Aunt Flo completely stole my heart—she’s vibrant, witty, and adds so much heart to the story. While the enemies-to-lovers arc between Jules and Roman was sweet and satisfying, I did feel the romantic development could’ve used a bit more tension or buildup; their transition from rivals to romantic partners felt a little too quick at times.

Still, what stood out most was the community spirit and the heartfelt celebration of books and family legacies. It’s a feel-good story with plenty of warmth, and I think readers who love small-town charm and bookstore settings will really enjoy it.

very cute and fun read! definitely felt like it lacked a bit of depth but I enjoyed the overall premise and always love rivals to lovers!

I’ve tried multiple times to get through this book and I just can’t. I’m having a hard time connecting with the characters or storyline.

Thank you so much for this ARC! I really enjoyed the concept of the Romeo and Juliet vibes in this book, but unfortunately it was not for me. It was pretty hard for me to get into and I found myself liking the last 30%. That being said, I really wanted to enjoy the other 70%. This book definitely might be for others, but it just did not resonate with me.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an early copy of The Battle of the Bookshops!

Overall I gave this a solid 3 stars. I liked it, but didn’t love it.

I thought it was a cute and light read. It was well written and I really enjoyed the characters. It was a tad predictable with what you’d expect for a Romeo/Juliet and enemies/lovers vibe. It started off a little slow, but picked up after a while. I didn’t get a strong feel for the chemistry between Roman and Jules, but I loved Flo and the independent bookstore angle.

There was a lot of descriptive imagery for even the little aspects, but it did feel a little overdone at times.

1.5 stars. Love the cover art. The setting is great and Aunt Flo is such a comforting character. But this story is bad. The "romance" between Roman and Jules is laughable. I didn't care about any of these characters (except Flo). I'm not a fan of Shakespeare or Shakespeare retellings so I'm not the target audience. I wouldn't have requested access if I had known about the Shakespeare part. If that's your thing you might enjoy this book. Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC

Thank you Netgalley and Avon Books for the e-arc!

I really wanted to enjoy this book, especially with it being my first arc but it simply was not doing it for me.

Firstly, the first page alone that mentioned her boss possibly comparing the fmc’s want to leave early to a genocide was… a choice. I genuinely don’t know how this wasn’t something pointed out by sensitivity readers. I didn’t mind the modern Romeo & Juliet retelling but the author’s constant bringing up on Romeo & Juliet kept taking away from the fact that this was, well, a modern retelling. As for the writing, it felt kind of clunky and it was really difficult to easily digest it.

Like I said, I really wanted to like this so much more. I got 51% through but it didn’t grab my attention and I kept feeling like we were taking too long to get somewhere in the book.

This was hard for me to get into. Based off of the character names, I got Romeo and Juliet vibes. I do love an enemies to lovers trope. It was overall a cute read, but I do feel like it kind of lost sight of the plot/storyline. The title was a what intrigued me most about reading this book. This is the first I’ve read from this author. I would be open to reading another from this author.

I ended up really enjoying this novel, but it was very hard to get into in the beginning. Once I got to about 60% through the book, I could not put the book down! I loved the spin on Romeo and Juliet, but I wish the story got moving a little quicker.

This book has some Romeo and Juliet vibes, following the story of Jules and Roman whose families have been feuding for centuries. They now have bookstores opened directly across from each other. Who will win out?

This book unfortunately fell quite flat for me. I really was not invested in their story at all. Roman in particular really gave me nothing to go off of. I felt more for the group dynamic of Jules and her Aunt Flo with their assistant in the bookshop, Charlie trying to figure out a witchy family mystery. Overall it feels very American of me to say that I just needed more from this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Battle of the Bookshops was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I was initially excited with the “You’ve Got Mail” type storyline, but quickly found this is written more as a Romeo and Juliette retelling, minus the messy tragic ending. I’m not a big fan of retellings in the first place, I tried not to think about it, but there were multiple R&J references to our mc’s throughout. The pacing was a bit slow for my taste, the author tended to be very descriptive, but regardless, writing was beautiful. The romance felt a bit bland but I loved the relationship between our FMC and her great aunt. She was a feisty one!
Thank you to NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my thoughts.

Thank you Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for this arc.

I really wanted to like this book. I was so excited for the premise, which was very You’ve Got Mail, and I hoped that the Romeo and Juliet vibes would be a minimal addition and more of an homage to the play that made it slightly different than the movie.

Unfortunately, I think that the addition of the Romeo and Juliet theme did a big disservice to the book. Naming the characters in obvious Romeo and Juliet parody made the book feel like a joke, and the characters themselves mention Romeo and Juliet MULTIPLE times in thought and in conversation. It was just so heavy handed that it made any situation the characters got into feel unimportant.

This also was less enemies to lovers and more enemies to I guess we’re kissing now but he’s still a jerk. There felt like zero lead up to them suddenly being in love with each other, even though he was actively destroying her family’s livelihood. He also could not have cared less about hurting her for way longer into the story than felt right.

Ultimately, the best thing this book did for me was inspire me to watch You’ve Got Mail again. A+ movie, I just wish the book was better.

The book title captured me with the intrigue of battling bookshops as well as by being set in a charming English village (one of my favorite settings). She mixed in a bit of history with an ancient book find in one of the bookshops as a subplot. The author did a great job at writing really likable characters as well as a few less likeable characters. Unfortunately, some sections of the storyline seemed rushed (the ending) and others with a jerky pacing but perhaps this can be smoothed out in the final editing.

I would read another book by Poppy Alexander.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

bookish girliesssss this is for YOU!

Rivals-to-something-maybe?, a seaside town, a crumbling legacy bookshop, and a whooollleee lot of family drama. The Battle of the Bookshops gave heart, heat, and some seriously hilarious auntie energy, Aunt Flo, I love you Diva!

The vibes? Immaculate. The tension? Delicioussss. The enemies-to-bookshop-owners pipeline? yeaaaaa.

Was it predictable at times? Sure. Did I care? Absolutely not. Did I eat this up??? yeaaaaaa

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC

I was intrigued by and excited to receive a Romeo and Juliet book! I did ultimately decide to DNF this book. The Battle of the Bookshops started out strong (sarcasm) with a genocide joke in the first paragraph. The “joke” being that asking to get off work early is equivalent to genocide in her boss’s mind. While the main character’s internal thoughts admonishes herself for thinking that- the joke is still written in the book. And it was a rather distasteful joke.
‘Aunt Flo’ is a common term amongst teenage girls referring to menstruation. When I first saw the text from Julie’s mom saying “need urgent help with Aunt Flo. Life and death.” I thought it was strange that a mom was texting her daughter asking for help with her period. This is not necessarily something I take issue with about the book, just thought to note.
“And now he was back. Great. Because she needed extra complications like a hole in the head…” I’m not sure if this is a common phrase in other parts of the world, but this reads as a suicide joke. This reads as another distasteful joke, and I’m only 3% into the book.
Now at this point I already have a bad first impression of the book so I was extra critical while reading. I did not like the writing style and I also didn’t like Julies being a ‘not like other girls’ girl- her wearing a ball gown while everyone else is in jeans, and Roman being into it, gave me the ick. Additionally the big issue she had against him was her thinking he laughed at her for having toilet paper on her shoe… 12 years ago… Jules needs to grow up and move on.
The family’s hating each other never gets explained (up until the point I stopped). “For reasons that Jules could barely remember and perhaps never really knew”- maybe it gets explained later from Romans POV, but the readers should know why there is bad blood between the families, even in the briefest explanation. And they should know early on in the story, in my opinion. This felt like lazy writing.
I did like Roman as a character and liked that the story was dual POV.
I am writing my review here, I will not be leaving a review on Goodreads or on social media because I do not have much to say that reflects well on the book. Thank you for the opportunity to read and share my feedback.

This is, without a doubt, the best book I’ve read this year!

Jules Capelthorne has spent her life cherishing the bookshop in Portneath, a place woven into her childhood by her beloved great-aunt Flo. But when Flo’s health begins to decline, Jules temporarily leaves her junior publishing job in London to return to Portneath—only to find that the bookshop, much like her aunt, is in dire straits. On the brink of bankruptcy and in need of extensive repairs, the shop’s future looks uncertain. It quickly becomes clear that Jules must stay, leaving behind her publishing career to help restore what once felt like home.

To complicate matters, Roman Montbeau—the infuriating heir to the wealthy family that owns half of Portneath—holds the fate of the bookshop in his hands. The longstanding feud between the Capelthornes and the Montbeaus runs deep, and as if to twist the knife further, Roman’s family has opened a rival bookshop just across the street from the century-old Capelthorne establishment.

While the title initially drew me in because of my love for books, the novel exceeded all expectations. More than a simple love story, it masterfully weaves history into the narrative, adding richness and intrigue that kept me captivated. The characters are deeply engaging, their stories unfolding like puzzle pieces that make turning every page irresistible.

In my opinion, this book absolutely deserves to be adapted into a movie—its vivid storytelling and dynamic characters would be incredible on screen!

Thank you, NetGalley, for giving me the privilege of reviewing this artfully written book.