This book has all of my favorite tropes in a romance novel! It is beautifully written—the banter, perfect amount of spark, great chemistry. It’s enjoyable and fun.

'I can still hear his voice saying my name and it echoes inside me like a prayer.'

Book People by Jackie Ashenden is a dual POV enemies-to-lovers that focuses on Sebastian Blackwood and Kate Jones. When Kate breezes into Wychtree and opens a popular genre bookshop across the road from Sebastian's literary bookshop, its dislike at first sight. Despite Kate's attempts to make friends Sebastian doesn't like anything about Portable Magic, whether it's the books being sold, the window displays (with too many exclamation points!) or the fact that most of his customers seem to be leaving. But when Kate convinces him to let her be part of his literary festival, and they start to spend more time together, sparks start to fly. But with secrets in their pasts, can they break the curse and find happily ever after?

This was such a sweet read.

When I first found out about this book, the main thing that drew me in was the fact that there were feuding bookshop owners in a small town setting. I loved the way it was set up, the way that Kate and Sebastian interacted with each other was really fun. I love the sunshine/grumpy trope and with Kate and Sebastian it felt that had been turned up to 11. I found them both interesting and whilst at the start I wasn't overly keen on Kate, and preferred Sebastian at the end it was more the other way around.

The character development with Kate was so interesting, and the more you learn of her backstory and why she is the way she is, the more there is to love about her. At first I was a little bit like, I can understand Sebastian not liking her, she's taking all his customers from his already struggling business, and then pushing her way into the festival that he is trying his best to organise, and trying to take over all the events. But the more I read the more I found myself liking her, and understanding her. When she explains how her ex was making her feel the years they were together, it was so raw and honest, it really made me feel for her, and understand the way she she was, and when she was able to affirm to herself that she was stronger now it made me want to cheer for her.

Sebastian I really loved at the beginning. I have a bit of a soft spot for the grumpy characters, and I could fully understand where he was coming form, I would have been annoyed if any of that had been happening to me. I really liked the way he would refer to her as nothing but Miss Jones at the start, but after everything they shared the way he would still call her Miss Jones, it eventually got a little annoying. There were times where he was little bit 'alpha male she's my territory' and he can definitely be a bit of a drama king, which I personally am not a fan of, but the good qualities far outweighed the ones that I wasn't keen on.

I already really liked the plot when I picked up the book, but having a love story parallel one from their own pasts, made this book so much better than I thought it already was. I really enjoyed the mystery, and while there were parts you could easily guess, the reveal was still fun, and it was still made enjoyable. When I realised what was going on at the start of the chapters (it took me a fair few to realise what it was), it made me want to go back and re read all of them. I liked that in lieu of a chapter title, that was what gave you the hint of what the chapter was about, and it was so well entwined that it was seamless. Their romance seemed a little more lust than love at some points, but the chemistry between the two characters was just incredible.

The way that Jackie Ashenden writes is just breath-taking. There were so many points where I had to pause to just appreciate the way she writes. some of my favourites are 'We are the consequences of the choices our parents made and the choices their parents made and so on.' and 'A child whose love wasn't enough to save his mother or make his father give up the bottle.' and I could go on, but those two quotes in particular are my favourite.

All in all this was a very enjoyable read that I highly recommend, and a very easy 4 stars to give.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing the arc, all thoughts are my own.

An absolutely lovely romance for book lovers. Despite the characters narrating all their own flaws throughout the book, I found the rest of the story enjoyable and fun.

Book People by Jackie Ashenden is an enemies to lovers small town romance between 2 book store owners, Kate and Sebastian. Kate is new in town after inheriting a building after her mother dies and opens a new bookshop, while Sebastian’s bookshop across the street is in its 4th generation. Kate stocks more variety and modern books while Sebastian’s is more traditional and non fiction.

Sebastian is reviving a book convention in their small town, and when Kate finds out, she worms her way to be included and they work together to get the convention up and running and a success.

Sebastian has a lot of hang ups about his past and how the men in his family is not good enough on their relationships, which goes on for 95% of the book. It turns out their families are connected in the past when they find letter that were written by their ancestors.

Book People is an easy read and a palate cleanser, nothing groundbreaking but good if you need a break from content heavy books. The version I have is a very rough copy that had typos and was not formatted, which took away from the reading experience, but by time publishing date comes around, this will no longer be a problem.

I gave Book People 3⭐️ and 2🌶️

I absolutely loved this book! Kate and Sebastian had great chemistry. It was a great opposites attract romance with a great dose of spice and chemistry. Highly recooked.

I really loved the concept of this story and had to give it a try. I’m so glad that I did. I loved the setting, the conflict of competing book stores, the instant connection, the mystery behind their relatives. It was a fun read!

Kate ran away from her abusive relationship with Jasper and moved to Wychtree from London. Kate's mother, Rose, died of cancer 2 years ago and left her some property in Wychtree. Kate decided to use the property to open up her own bookshop on the main floor and live in the small loft upstairs. She opened up her bookshop across the street from Blackwood Books, what could go wrong?

I would rate this book 3 stars. The story line was good but got pretty repetitive at times. I enjoyed Kate's recognition of the abusive relationship, getting out, and her ability to be unapologetically herself in her new town. Sebastian's honesty was refreshing but I hated how emotionally stunted he was.

Thank you NetGalley and Headline Eternal for the ARC.

This book is very "middle of the road." It is neither good nor bad. I did not dislike it, the story and characters were fine, but I kept finding myself looking for anything else to do, rather than continue reading it. In the book, there is a character who won't read any book that does not catch his attention within the first two pages. By this rule, this book would have been abandoned quickly.

Kate moves away to the village where her family used to live. She inherited a building where she opens a bookshop. A dream she always had. She went through a lot, her mother passed away and her relationship ended. So this is the perfect opportunity.

Across the street lives Sebastian. He also owns a bookshop. He “hates” Kate from the first moment he sees her. He’s planning a big book event. And Kate tries to connect with him. Then they discover some secrets about their great grandparents.

I loved Kate. She’s bubbly and fun. Sebastian is sexy and mysterious. But also very distant/secret. The story was well written. Some parts were fast, but other parts a bit slow. I thought I would love it more than I did, but it was still a enjoyable story. I rate it 3,5⭐️.

I read this book as an ARC through NetGalley.

Sebastian is a reserved man. Kate is bubbly and bright and…everything that Sebastian is not. She’s a beaming glimmer of sunshine, while Sebastian prefers to scowl and show no emotion.

The story is hinged on this story about their ancestors and I LOVED the ending. I don’t believe in writing spoilers in my reviews, but the ending is so so so so perfect.

The plot was so fresh and new and the way that Kate and Bas loved each other from the very first page was palpable for the readers, but to them, they hated each other. The side characters were great and world building sufficient!

The book did feel a little long in parts, but after finishing it, it felt necessary. The characters needed to work through things and they did it at their own pace. I didn’t find it to be annoying or anything because it didn’t last toooo long.

The ending was SO GOOD and this book was a great read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Headline Books for the advanced readers copy!

A book for book lovers who love to read romance books. Two rival book store owners have their shops across the street from each other and they can't stand each other. Classic story of enemy to lovers. A fun read!

Not for me. It's giving Beach Read rip off but poorly done. I can't put my finger on what was missing, the plot certainly was quite weak but I've read and enjoyed books with a flimsier plot. It just didn't grab me, and there were no stakes or characters I really cared about and therefore the romance wasn't much of a pay off.

Actual rating 3.5 stars.

So there are many things I loved about this book. I loved the plot, I loved the dynamic between our main characters, and I especially loved the mystery of the secret letters. While the mystery was a bit predictable, it really helped to lift this book from mediocre to a gripping read. I read this book in one sitting I just couldn't get enough.

Now for what made it a 3.5 rating. There was unnecessary conflict between our main characters that really took away from the story. I also felt the transition from enemies to lovers was very disjointed and affected the flow of the story. It felt like the author added in sex scenes just because and not for the benefit of the story. I personally think this book would have been better as a slow burn.

I received an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review by Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was pleasantly surprised with this book. I went into not knowing much about it. It was very cute with the rival bookshops and window decorating competition. I especially liked how Kate wormed her way into Sebastian’s festival. The ending was very quick to me with how they wrapped up all the loose ends. Overall, I’d recommend to a friend.

This was a super quick and cute read based on the ‘enemies to lovers’ trope set in a small town in the English countryside and is centered around our favorite thing, BOOKS! The characters steer heavily into tropes, but the story is well written and feels like a hallmark movie in all the best ways. If that is your vibe, then this is a book for you!
My rating: 3.5 stars

I’d like to thank NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this ARC.

**Spoiler warning**

The thing that grabbed me the most in this story was the parallel storyline about their great grandparents and their secret note passing affair. I would absolutely love to read a novella based on their story.

I loved Kate and Sebastian’s common ground of using books as a form of escapism and healing during tough times in their lives, since let’s be honest, all of us here are book nerds and have chosen to lose ourselves in a book. At times, their story felt a little lustful and less romantic in how their attraction was described. I wish Sebastian’s earlier point of view focused more on aspects of Kate’s warm charismatic personality rather than the ground shifting love at first sight vibes. Sebastian was also a little too alpha male, ‘Neanderthal-like’ for my tastes, but again that’s a trope that we see over and over again so it’s not to say it’s a bad thing it’s just not for me.

The story also at times felt a bit redundant and overly focused on the deep parallels between the storylines of the great grandparents, down to even their names, but hey sometimes this is exactly the type of vacation read we want.

When Kate finds out she’s inherited a building in the English village of Wychtree, she’s so excited for the fresh start it can give her. She recently left her emotionally abusive boyfriend and can now follow her lifelong dream of opening a bookshop. Only there’s already a grumpy (and HOT) bookseller in town who’s none to pleased to see her.

Sebastian is the fourth-generation owner of Blackwood Books, and desperately trying to keep the shop afloat after his father ran it into the ground. The last thing he needs is sunshiney competition across the street to put the final nail in the bookshop coffin. Especially since he can’t seem to stay away from Kate… When they’re thrown together to plan a book festival and uncover a long-lost love story, the plot truly begins.

There are so many things to love about this book! The simmering tension between Kate and Sebastian, the love letters they discover, the small-town love and vibes, all the fun characters. I went back and forth on loving/hating each character—sometimes it went a bit too far with Sebastian’s so-called inability to love. I loved how they learned about their family histories and grew closer in the process. Without saying too much, how could they not have figured out the family mystery much earlier in the book? That was the only real complaint I had.

Overall, this was the perfect read for book lovers and coziness, with some steam too!

Sadly not for me, this one. The wrong choice on my part. It’s too cutesie and schmalzy, I couldn’t warm to either character, I felt they were like walking cliches.
I enjoy a good romcom that has a bit of ‘meat’ on the bones of the story, this one did not, it’s just too simplistic for my taste. I’m sure it will appeal to many readers, just not this one. A DNF sadly.
My thanks Netgalley and the publisher for my advance copy of this book.

This was cute and I got caught up in the story, but found it a bit repetitive at times especially with Kate’s backstory. Sebastian’s sections were also a little alpha male for my taste

I wanted to like this so bad, with it being about rival bookshop owners and all, but this was just not it for me.

Why is Sebastian’s character so inconsistent? His voice in text messages goes from being normal and a bit moody to saying the most random stuff that’s not in line with his character! He’s basically against the whole idea of a relationship and is hiding his feelings towards Kate, for the majority of the book and then he just says randomly straightforward things that don’t fit his character.

I also did not get why he was embarrassed to be seen reading a book that wasn’t lit fic in public? Sir, you literally own a bookshop. I just think I got annoyed because I hate when people look down on other genres. Reading is reading people!! Let’s stop judging people for their taste in books.

This did get a couple points for mentioning The Murderbot Diaries though.

This wasn’t as bad as I’m making it sound, it was pretty cute at times, but I think overall I felt like the writing was a little inconsistent! That being said, I did read an ARC and a couple of these things could be changed before publication.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for a review!

Grumpy vs. Sunshine, enemies to lovers, rival bookstore owners, family mysteries. What is not to love?

Kate opens a bookstore across the street from Sebastian, leading to instant disdain as well as attraction. As Kate weasels her way into planning a local literary festival, they find intriguing letters hinting at a long last romance.

This was a cute read. It's spicy, but not overly so. I loved the way the two main characters' stories mimicked their great grandparents and how their lives intertwined. I also appreciated the love letters at the beginning of each chapter.

This was a solid read overall, hitting many high points. I would have loved an epilogue and more of what happened after the festival. I'd love to see sequels from other village characters, such as Dr. Dan.

Thank you to netgalley and headline eternal for this advance reader copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own.