THIS BOOK!! I loved it so much. The characters, the plot, the tropes, the bookish community references, the secondary characters. All of it and I couldn’t put it down. Josie and Ryan story is the enemies to friends to lovers story I needed at the time. To read about the ins and outs of running a bookstore was pretty cool. I found it so relatable how important books were to them both and how much reading helped them when they were kids. I was the kid reading everywhere growing up like Josie. The romance 🥹 Ryan is going to be a great addition to so many people’s book boyfriend list. The slooowwwww burn 🔥 was written so well. The vibes were everything I wanted them to be. A true love letter to the book community and especially if you’re a romance lover.

omg i ADORED this book!!! ryan and josie are so fun and i loved the enemies... to lovers aspect. also, just their love of books, and the love story between books and readers was everything! but ryan? he reads romance books. HELLO? THE MAN READS ROMANCE BOOKS. 😏 and he's patient too. yes, you heard that right. and josie is seemingly uptight, but the girl has been through so much and deserves the world.

i was trying to read through my tears at the end of this book too. it was SOO GOOD. like an immediate 5 stars for me. the whole cast of characters was a such a good time and i genuinely loved josie and ryan's personalities.

thanks so much berkley pub for this arc of battle of the bookstores!

Picture this: I sit down to read “just a few chapters” of this book at 9pm. Suddenly, it’s midnight, I’m sobbing in my bed, and have a desperate need to rewatch You’ve Got Mail for quite literally the thousandth time. So am I a little biased? Yes, and I’m thrilled about it.
This book was exactly what I was hoping it would be. Bright, fun, sassy, heartfelt, and a love letter to Nora Ephron. The banter was exceptional, the setting was equal parts cozy and hectic, and the plot was a perfect nod to You’ve Got Mail with a fresh take.
If you’re looking for a sweet and spicy romance book with less-than-perfect main characters who work through their problems, this is the book for you. If you’re looking for a book that’s all about being a reader and the impact that has on your life, this book is also for you. And if you day-dream every single day about working at an indie bookstore, you should’ve probably already pre-ordered this from your favorite local bookseller!
Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for the free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

2025 is, apparently, the year of bookstore romances, with a slate of these releases set in bookshops between warring owners, booksellers, customers, etc. I think Battle of the Bookstores by Ali Brady really rises to the top of the list.

Josie and Ryan work at very different bookstores, hers focuses on literature, and his on romance. When the owner of the stores decides to merge them, they must make their case for who will be the best manager for the one store left standing. With an adorable touch of You've Got Mail, Battle of the Bookstores is one of the sweetest books I've read in a long while and I cannot wait to see what Ali Brady offers up next.

Thank you berkley romance and prh audio for the gifted copies!

This book was SUCH a fun time and is rivals to lovers done right! Josie and Ryan manage two different bookstores on either side of a Boston coffee shop, Josie’s full of serious literary fiction and Ryan’s is romance only. When the owner of all the buildings on the street tells them his plans to combine their stores into one with only one manager, he sets off a competition to see who can make a bigger profit in the next few weeks. They soon are both planning various events and promotions to try to boost their sales, trying to outdo the other even as the walls quite literally crumble around them. But as their rivalry heats up in person, unbeknownst to them they both seek solace, friendship, and maybe something more from the other in an anonymous online book forum.

I really enjoyed this book! It gives You’ve Got Mail vibes with how much they hate each other in person and really enjoy each others company when they don’t know it is the other person. I loved how this hidden identities element showed how much they really had walls up around each other in person but actually had so much more in common than they thought.

The characters were a lot of fun in this, and I loved how the authors did a bit of a flip with them in having the FMC be the more serious book reader and the MMC love his romance novels. It was such a fun spin! Josie was such a strong FMC - she has so much on her shoulders and she is just trying to make things work. She as up some major walls and doesn’t let people in easily. Ryan is a dream and I love how Ali Brady handled his dyslexia in the book. He is so patient and understanding in this, and seems like such a joy to be around! Also he and his cats stole the show.

This book is filled with tropes, but is written as a love letter to readers. I had SO much fun with all of it and I know other book lovers will get a kick out of it! The banter was so funny, it had emotional depth, and the spice was just right!

🎧: The audio was really enjoyable! Karissa Vacker and Brandon Francis read for the MCs and I love this duo! I was able to easily binge this one on audio - it’s 9.5 hours long and the narrators just suck you into the story. I read it in one day on audio because they were just so good!

Rival bookstore managers Josie and Ryan are forced to compete when their shops are merged. As tensions rise between the uptight literary fiction lover and the laid-back romance loving guy, so do unexpected sparks, both in person and anonymously in an online book forum, where neither realizes they’re falling for their sworn rival. Love might just be the ultimate plot twist.

You had me at a You’ve Got Mail retelling, and Ali Brady sealed the deal! This book was pure perfection from start to finish. Set just 15 minutes from my home, the Boston references made it feel like a love letter to my own neighborhood! I just wish those bookstores were real!

What truly won me over were the characters. Ali Brady knows how to write compelling leads, and Josie and Ryan absolutely delivered. Their journey from rivals to friends to lovers was so well done, and Ryan’s thoughtful, caring nature was a woon-worthy. The dual POVs were fantastic, and I was especially impressed by how well Ryan’s voice was written. And I loved the bookish chats and waiting for Josie to catch on!

Every nod to You’ve Got Mail, every bookish mention, every quirky side character (except that one grumpy owner), and even the adorable cats, added so much charm. With steamy scenes, a book convention, and a dream-worthy HEA, this was the ultimate love story for book lovers. And those bookstore date jokes? Unforgettable (iykyk). This one’s a must-read for your summer TBR!

Thank you to the authors, Berkley Publishing, and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Enemies IRL, lovers online? This romcom delivered!
What happens when your biggest rival in real life is also your anonymous online book bestie? 🤯 This story was SO much fun!

The dynamic between “RJ” and “BookshopGirl” had me smiling the entire way through, snappy banter, clever competition, and a shared love of all things BOOKS! Watching their relationship unfold in dual timelines, face-to-face tension vs. anonymous online chats, was the kind of slow-burn twist I enjoy. I can see something was brewing, but when it all clicks together, it gave the cheesy grin effect!

One of my favorite things was how deeply this book tapped into the soul of a true reader. The random bookish thoughts, the comfort of rereading favorites, the joy of connecting through stories, so relatable to my book loving heart!

🎧 The audiobook was fantastic! The narrators completely nailed the personalities and emotional tension. The transitions between chat convos and real-life moments were smooth, and I felt fully immersed from start to finish.

If you’re into rivals-to-lovers with a heavy dose of heart, nerdy joy, and bookstore drama, you’ll fly through this one. A fun, feel-good love letter to readers everywhere.

I believe this is my fourth book by this dynamic writing duo, and they just keep getting better and better! They made my romance-book-loving heart smile with this one. 🩷

Rival bookstore owners Josie and Ryan have never seen eye to eye; in fact, they don’t really like each other. When they are forced to compete to see who will be the manager once the two stores are merged, it takes the rivalry to a whole new level. Besides their love for books, they couldn’t be more different, and even their love for literature is something they battle over. Soon they realize the tension between them feels… awfully hot, like why can’t I stop looking at them hot.

It's a good thing they both have their anonymous online book buddy to turn to, vent to, and find solace in during this stressful time.

While this definitely has some spice, I loved the humor that was added in, especially as it all circled back to books! With tons of book talk, sassy banter, fun emails, and some emotional depth that got me attached to my new favorite booksellers, I couldn’t put this one down!

Thank you @alibrady and @berkleypub for the gifted ebook via #NetGalley.

Thanks so much to @berkleypub and NetGalley for the free advanced early reader of Battle of the Bookstores for this review.

Review: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My very first retail job was working in a bookstore at our small town mall. At 16 I fell in love with spines of books. Still to this day I marvel at end caps and table displays of books. I say this as the title and cover Battle of the Bookshops drew my eyes forward and I knew this would be a perfect read that would remind me of my younger days in the bookstore.

Ali Brady has authored a book that is familiar, light, interesting, and laced with rivalry. My review is four stars. She’s brings laughter to the page as two competing characters find themselves pushed together by circumstances of work and anonymous online chats. Fans of the movie, You’ve Got Mail, will enjoy this new twist on an iconic story. Perfect for a cozy summer read. Warning: you may find yourself strolling through your local bookstore and enjoying the atmosphere after reading this one.

Bookish Tropes:

Dual POV
Slow Burn
Rivals to Lovers
Opposites Attract

This book is "You've got Mail" in book form! I absolutely adored the story and the online conversations between our leading couple were so cute. I laughed out loud many times throughout reading.

Ryan and Josie could not be more different. Ryan is an outgoing romantic at heart who embraces chaos in his romance bookstore. Josie is closed off and orderly with her literary fiction bookstore, everything has its place. I found myself rooting for the two of them to get together, knowing that they would rub off on each other in the best way, providing beautiful character growth.

Josie is the older sister. She had to be the mother in her family as hers constantly was unavailable and unfit to raise her younger sister. She took on the burdens that should never be placed on a child's shoulders and it affected her professionally, mentally and emotionally. She truly loves her sister and she gave up so much to make sure she was happy and never felt like a burden. It was an admirable story to give our otherwise walled off FMC.

Ryan comes across a bit all over the place at first. It was hard to figure out how I felt about him, but as the book goes on his personality starts to get more depth and balanced and he really grew on me! He is caring and has such a big heart, even at his own expense. He is good with words despite his struggles and strives to better himself. His backstory didn't come across as fleshed out as Josie's did but even his own past shaped him. He is the youngest in a family of over achievers and felt like he had too much to live up to.

The pacing of the story was decent. It flowed pretty naturally and the characters had enough time as rivals before the relationship started to shift into something more. The book didn't hesitate to focus on sensitive topics and the author did a great job at fleshing them out while still showing there is a light at the end of the darker tunnels. These moments balanced the romance story very well.
The pacing was really good, I found that the story both touched on some sensitive and relatable topics such as insecurity, childhood trauma, relationship trauma... just some real good stuff in here with positive messages on top of all the sweet goodness of the romance.

This is my first book by Ali Brady and I was pretty satisfied with what I read!

Thank you to Berkley and Netgalley for a free copy of this book. All thoughts were given with no requirements and are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for the eARC of Battle of the Bookstores.

This is my first Ali Brady read, and I didn’t realize this is a pen name for co-authors.

So obviously this book had all the very best You’ve Got Mail vibes!! LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT!!

This book was smart, fun, and surprising. The authors wrote in their acknowledgments that this book is a love letter to indie bookstores and I 100% agree! I would also say this book does an amazing job of portraying book genre biases (in this book: lit fic vs romance) and age biases (what ages can/should read romance, younger generations vs older generations in book discussions) amongst book lovers.

This book had Jewish representation and disabled person representation.

Battle of the Bookstores was a quick read with smooth writing and great pacing.

Each character was well developed and interesting. The MMC, Ryan (or Brian :-)) was refreshing and supportive and completely his own person. The FMC, Josie was bookish and insecure, and her responses and reactions seemed so real and down to earth.

The bookstores were written vividly, I felt like I could sit in one of the plush chairs in Happy Endings and watch the drama unfold!

The tension and spice were well done, I’d give 2/5 🌶️

I will definitely be reading some other books by these authors and would definitely recommend as a great summer read!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. A retelling of You’ve got Mail (and this must be a thing now, because I think this is the third I have read this year), this was cute, and I really enjoyed how it was a love letter to independent book sellers and book. It felt impossibly long though, and the sex scenes felt icky and meh.

Thanks to Berkley Publishing and Net Galley for this Ali Brady ARC. Going into I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel. The first couple of chapters I was worried that I wasn’t going to care for the FMC. I am so glad I kept reading. This book pulled me in and I finished it in a day! Josie and Ryan are characters you can root for and at the end of the day, you want them both to win this battle! I would definitely recommend this book for a fun read and good vibes. Heartwarming read for sure!

Josie Klein and Ryan Lawson, fellow bookshop neighbors, despite their proximity to their bookstores, haven’t formed any type of a friendship. Josie’s shop favors more elite books, while Ryan’s exclusive sales of romance attract a different clientele.

The competition intensifies when the owner of both bookstores decides to merge the shops, leaving one of them as store manager and the other without a job. Josie and Ryan embark on a strategic battle to emerge victorious.

May the best bookseller win.

From the very beginning, Josie and Ryan appear to be complete opposites. However, as the story unfolds, their shared love for books unexpectedly binds them together, surpassing their wildest imaginations. Amidst this newfound connection, the looming threat of losing one or even both of their jobs looms large, casting a shadow over their budding romance.

One thing that I really enjoyed about this story was how relatable it was to me as a book reviewer. There were countless comparisons, such as whether someone reads as a hobby, or do they view it as their job, or what tropes they find in books. There was even a reference that if Josie had to rush to write a book review, she would do like she did in high school, Google reviews, and use them to cobble together enough information to compose a book report. That stuck out to me because sometimes in review chats, this questionable scenario comes up.

Their anonymous humorous email exchanges added levity to the narrative. But there was a serious emotional edge to this story. Of course, with the romance blooming between Josie and Ryan, but with other relationships in their lives. Lastly, the romantic scenes were intense (a bit much for me), but it was easy to root for this couple to succeed, in love as well as in life.

Many thanks to Berkley and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing the ARC.

This book was such a delight. With a rivals-to-lovers trope and a You've Got Mail subplot, I was drawn into the bookstore world inhabited by Josie and Ryan. I loved seeing the passion both of them share for their respective stores and the raw intensity of their rivalry, even if they had been pitted against each other unwillingly. Both characters were incredibly dynamic and I thought it was an excellent trope subversion to have Ryan be the romance reader and Josie the highbrow lit fic lover. It made the dynamic that much more interesting between the two of them.

If this book has one not so great quality, it is the pacing. This book is over 400 pages long, and the plot dragged in a few places. I feel like there's somethings that could potentially be cut to make the story more concise and readable. But it's not a huge issue as I still loved the story.

Big win for Ali Brady!

Thank you to the publisher for the free book!

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Josie and Ryan manage neighboring bookstores and have to navigate unexpected attraction when they compete to see who will remain manager of the merged store.

I’ve been a fan of Ali Brady and their books since THE BEACH TRAP and this one is no different! It’s their first single-relationship romance (as opposed to a book with two separate relationship pairs, as in their first three romances) and I thought they did a great job navigating that shift and creating a fantastic and sweet couple to root for. This book is a love letter to books and bookstores and I am SO here for that in every possible way.

This is such a classic set of tropes that I eat up every time and thoroughly enjoyed here. Ryan’s grand gesture towards the end had me in a puddle (as did that EPILOGUE) and I really loved him as a character. I also adored the entire supporting cast and found family (and the bookstore cats!) The name dropping of books and authors was super fun and I LOVED the mini UNTIL NEXT SUMMER cameo!

All in all, a super fun read that is perfect for all the book lovers out there to pick up this summer!

CW: Mentions of abandonment/child neglect

A bookish romantic comedy with no 3rd act breakup?! YES!! I loved this enemies-friends-lovers story with major You’ve Got Mail vibes. Definitely recommending this one.

Thank you to Berkley for the advanced copy. All thoughts are my own!

I had a great time reading this fun romance of two rival bookstore owners competing against each other. It was a bit cheesy at times and there was a lot of modern day references as well as a desire to include ALL the romance tropes when they weren’t exactly needed. I think about 20% of this book could have been cut as there were certain scenes that didn’t add to the overall story arc.

However, Josie and Ryan’s banter was adorable and this truly felt like a love letter to romance readers, so I think others will absolutely love this one.

Certain authors have become summer staples for me, and the co-authors known as Ali Brady are for sure on that list. Their newest book, Battle of the Bookstores, is a delight.

Josie Klein is a literary fiction connoisseur who finds comfort in order and in unraveling the challenges present in her favorite genre. Her bookstore, a Boston landmark, features carefully curated books for the discerning reader.

She’s less than impressed with her competition. Ryan Lawson manages the romance bookstore that’s two shops down, just on the other side of a coffee shop. Ryan, the youngest of a slew of boys, has defied expectations his whole life: he’s a tall guy who never played basketball; a strong man who drinks the most bougie of coffees; a male reader who loves romance. Ryan’s deep connection to his bookstore started when the owner, his mentor, helped him to learn to love the genre.

The two would be, perhaps, content to disagree—from a distance—if they weren’t forced into proximity by the man who purchased the coffee shop and its flanking bookstores. He’s decided to unite the spaces and put it all under the management of just one of them. The manager who will stay will be determined by a competition: who can make the most money in the months leading up to the stores’ unification.

Josie and Ryan’s initial meeting sets up a confrontational relationship that only worsens as the competition grows. What complicates their story is that they—unbeknownst to them—have been developing a close companionship through private DMs on a booksellers’ chatroom. While sparks fly (and not in a good way) when they’re face to face, they turn to each other for comfort and care online.

What follows is a beautiful, enemies-to-lovers romance that delves into Josie’s and Ryan’s backstories with care and nuance and also highlights everything there is to love about books and reading and defying expectations about who-should-love-what. I saved this one for the start of my summer break, and I’m glad I did: I didn’t want to do anything else once I picked it up. Ali Brady delivers the fabulous summer read I’ve come to expect, with the perfect balance of romance and humor, depth of character and compelling plot. Now the wait until their next novel begins…

I always love a summer Ali Brady rom com and they knocked this one out of the park! This one just went straight to the top of my list as my favorite!

It focuses on two rival bookstore managers, Josie, who focuses on serious literature, and Ryan who runs a romance only bookstore. The owner of both bookstores wants to combine them into one, and whoever sells the most books at their respective store will be the manager of the new store.

The twist is these two book lovers have met in an online forum, becoming fast “friends”, not knowing who they are in real life. Cue all the nostalgia of one of my favorite movies, You’ve Got Mail. 😏

I loved the fact that Ryan ran the romance bookstore. The audio was great and had me laughing out loud. I loved the realness in their “ anonymous” conversations online.

It would make a great beach/pool read!