Battle of the Bookstores by Ali Brady is a delightful, bookish rom-com full of charm, rivalry, and heart. With lovable characters and a love letter to indie bookstores, it’s the perfect cozy read for book lovers.

REVIEW: Battle of the Bookstores by Ali Brady

Ryan manages a romance bookstore called Happy Endings that is connected to another bookstore called Tabula Inscripta (a literary fiction store) managed by Josie. When the building owner announces that he plans to consolidate the stores into a single bookstore, with only one of them able to serve as manager, the battle begins.

Battle of the Bookstores is a fun spin on You’ve Got Mail. I like that it is similar enough to recognize what it is referencing without being identical. This book celebrates indie bookstores and the love of reading. There are numerous fun book references and romance tropes mentioned throughout, providing book lovers with subtle hints here and there. I loved how the traditional role of owning a romance bookstore was flipped so that the male character runs it. The Battle of the Bookstores is written in dual POV, which helps the reader learn so much about each of the main characters. The different narrators in the audiobook were so good! Josie and Ryan are both lovable characters who are so passionate about books and their jobs. They have fun with pranks and banter together, which helps blur the lines between hate and love. Their relationship evolves throughout the story in a fun and engaging way. The book also explored some serious family topics, lending it depth and complexity. The side characters also added significantly to the story.

There were moments in the Battle of the Bookstores that seemed a little out there to be realistic. It wasn’t enough to affect my enjoyment of the story, but there were times when the lines of reality were crossed.

Overall, I really loved and enjoyed reading Battle of the Bookstores. If you are a fan of You Got Mail, enemies-to-friends-to-lovers, forced proximity, and bookstores, you will love reading Battle of the Bookstores.

Thank you, Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group | Berkley, for the free advanced copy for my honest review!

Thank you, NetGalley and Berkley Publisher for the ARC!

Ryan Lawson, manager of a romance bookstore, is challenged to have the higher profit margin against Josie Klein, manager of a literary fiction bookstore. The prize? Manager of the combined bookstore after the owner decides that it would be more profitable. Ryan is tall. Josie is an ice queen, complete with a severe bun. Enemies in business; enemies in taste; friends online? Okay, “You’ve Got Mail” — this millennial sees you 👀

What I Liked:
Ryan’s bookstore has two store cats, Hades and Persephone. The author cites real contemporary authors and books which, I feel, drew the reader in to something that felt like a rivalry we could see splashed on BookTok. I believe that many readers could think that Ryan is an unrealistic cishet male character. As someone with a true golden retriever partner, I feel that he is a fantastic MMC and truly partner goals. I enjoyed the depth of the character’s backstories and watching them grow from adversity. The author dropped the tropes you were reading as conversation points throughout the book too - which I just loved. There was definite chemistry between the characters and the light spice was *chef’s kiss* — I may usually like more spice than this but it was still enough to have me smiling and reading quickly.
I would recommend for any fan of romance with good depth in the characters’ stories. The depth and banter could rival Abby Jimenez.

4.5 stars.

I really, really enjoyed "Battle of the Bookstores" by Ali Brady! It's a cute, feel-good Hallmark-y type of read that would be perfect to bring to the beach or pool. I loved the main characters, Josie and Ryan. They are both flawed yet wholly likable characters who continue to learn throughout the story's duration. Their character arcs are excellent. Their rivals-to-lovers story really spoke to me for some reason. I just dipped my toe into this book right from the start and got fully immersed in the banter, the brains, and the bookish rivalry of it all. I thought that Ali Brady did a good job of selling the animosity between Josie and Ryan very well as they are forced to battle to see which of their bookstores will survive and which will be forced to close by their comically capitalistic villain of a landlord. Even when Josie and Ryan are bickering, their chemistry is off the charts good. I found this to be such a charming book. Though it is predictable, that didn't stop me from enjoying the ride to get to its conclusion. It's got a very "You've Got Mail"-type of vibe, plus some delicious spice. I could easily see this being turned into a film at some point. It's a well-paced, fun, fast, light read! Loved it!!

Thank you to NetGalley, Ali Brady, and Berkley Publishing Group for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

🎧:
𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙤 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝, 𝙄 𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙮! 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙨 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙖 𝙛𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙟𝙤𝙗 𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙫𝙤𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨.

💬:
“𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘉𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵, 𝘑𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘦 𝘒𝘭𝘦𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘙𝘺𝘢𝘯 𝘓𝘢𝘸𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘖𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨.”

🩷:
If you loved Em Henry’s “Book Lovers”, I think you will love this book too. BotB was the perfect blend of romance, slow burn, seamless writing, and loveable main characters.

🫶:
The authors did a wonderful job in writing characters that weren’t perfect, so they are very relatable.

💭:
They even made my least favourite trope enjoyable - I was unbothered by what would usually annoy me. Lol.

The miscommunication between Josie and “Bryan” (Ryan IYKYK) isn’t glaring, nor is it a huge theme of the book, but I found myself thinking “C’mon just tell her already!!” *𝙫𝙖𝙜𝙪𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙙 𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙧𝙨*

𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
-𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩 🖤 🤍
-𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙭𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙩𝙮 🩹
-𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙙 🛌
-𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨 🗡️ ❤️
-𝙢𝙞𝙭𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙖 💻
-𝙙𝙚𝙥𝙩𝙝 𝙞𝙣 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙧 & 𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙩 🤌
-𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙨 📚
-𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙙𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙥𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 & 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙩𝙝 💪
-𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙗𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧 🗣️

My favorite trope is enemies to lovers and let me just say, I loved their banter !! I loved that they are bookstore rivals. Their character development & relationship development ( going from rivals, to friends to lovers was really beautiful to see! & let me just say I really did adore Ryan, in my opinion this love story was more than just a cute romcom, the emotional depth it had was amazing. & the epilogue!!!10/10 Would recommend !

From the witty banter to the overall arc of battling bookstores, I felt like I really enjoyed the character development for both Josie and Ryan. Normally romcom retellings can be really daunting by Brady's way and voice made a classic even more beloved in this modern retelling. Josie is the pinnacle FMC that I hope to read of more, especially in regards to how she always kept herself guarded and never showed all of her cards, a feeling I resonate with all too well. I think Ryan did balance her out in the best ways and I'll be thinking of this read for days.

A great addition to the contemporary romance genre for book lovers and book sellers alike! Using tropes like enemies-to-friends-to-lovers and One Bed, this You’ve Got Mail inspired romance makes reference to other beloved books and community in-jokes that make the reader right at home. A lovely, light read.

A bit predictable but this sweet story follows a fun journey from enemies to friends to falling in love, with lots of playful and funny moments. It does ends with a warm and happy epilogue.

Oof way too cheesy. Maybe the narration made it more so, but I’m not sure even reading it in print could save it. The book name dropping became really cringey, too try hard, and it kept taking me out of the story. It had so much potential (and such a cute cover). I seem to be in the minority though 🤷🏻‍♀️

Thank you to NetGalley, Berkley, and Ali Brady for an e-ARC of Battle of the Bookstores!

Josie and Ryan love books and own bookstores, but that’s where their similarities end….or so they think. They are forced to compete when they learn that their shops will be merging and only one of them will keep their job. Their clashing styles create tension, but unknowingly, they’ve also become close online friends through a book forum. As real-life rivalry and virtual friendship collide, they discover that they might have more in common than they thought.

I screamed when I saw that I got an eARC for this. I was SO excited!! I thought that this was a sweet read with a book lovers dream enemies-to-lovers trope! I loved that Ryan was the one who owned the romance bookstore and the backstory was super cute.

Ryan and Josie both have complicated backgrounds that make it hard for them to trust and easy for them to be defensive when they feel like they are being attacked. I loved watching them grow as individuals and together in their friendship/relationship. They carry a lot even when they don’t need to and they are loyal to a fault.

I’ve been reading a lot of books with You’ve Got Mail vibes lately and I think it’s time for me to have a rewatch because it’s one of my favorite movies. If you love a cheesy rom-com with a swoon-worthy MMC, then this is the book for you!

I was really excited to dive into this thanks to the bookstore competition premise and those charming “You’ve Got Mail” vibes. Unfortunately, the enemies to lovers angle didn’t land for me: it felt too serious and intense given the context. While I appreciated the foundation, their conflict seemed overblown.

My favorite parts were the anonymous communications between Ryan and Josie. Those exchanges were cute and engaging. On the other hand, I found their cryptic withholding of personal details a bit unrealistic especially for two people developing a connection. I get why the author kept things mysterious (it drives the plot), but in real life? It felt like a stretch.

That said, the story was easy to read, and I blew through it faster than I expected. I also appreciated the identity reveal as both Ryan and Josie handled it thoughtfully, showing emotional maturity. I liked how self aware they were about their personal traumas and how those shaped their interactions. Bonus points for bending gender stereotypes: Ryan working in a romance bookstore was a pleasant twist.

Overall, if you enjoy a strong, intense enemies to lovers trope this one delivers. If you prefer a lighter, more gradual build, you might want to skip it.

Don't get me wrong, this was a super sweet book and it definitely pulls at your heart strings if you're a book lover. It also has some great banter, which i love! BUT it was so hard for me to get into.. I felt myself being a little bored up until the 40%-ish mark.

The plot follows booksellers Josie and Ryann who are both managers of rival bookstores next to each other. They CANNOT stand each other- that right there is what sold me because i EAT UP a rivals to lover every single time. I did love the little moments of forced proximity in there too. It was cute and charming (a little spice in there too).

This is the second Ali Brady book I have been lucky enough to receive an ARC for. The first, Until Next Summer, received a glowing 5-star review from me last summer. I was excited to jump into their newest release and was hopeful for another 5-star reading experience.

The premise of the book would have hooked me had I not already been a fan of this author. Two rivaling bookstore managers with polar opposite reading interests? Love it! While the bookish aspects of the premise hooked me, it was also a big downfall for my reading experience. Battle of the Bookstores uses lots of buzzy reader words (STFUATTDLAGG, "book boyfriends", omegaverse, etc.) and popular author name drops (Rebecca Yarros, Sarah J. Maas, etc.) throughout the entire book. It made the book cheesy to me and gave it a fanfic-esque quality that I was not a fan of.

The two MCs, Josie and Ryan, I quite enjoyed. One of the only issues I had with the characters is that I could not picture Ryan to save my life. I feel like the authors threw together all the MMC traits they could think of into one. A romance book conglomerate hottie. A big, massive dude (who hates being tall btw), who seemingly never works out but is super toned, but is a cardigan and TORISTESHELL glasses aficionado. While I am sure people like Ryan exist, I just couldn't get a coherent mental picture.

As I got towards the end of the book, I had my fingers and toes crossed that the dreaded third-act breakup would be left out. I am happy to report there is no third-act breakup in this book!

While Battle of the Bookstores had some issues, I enjoyed reading it too much to give it anything under 4 stars. It is just a silly, goofy time, with a hint of seriousness here and there.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for sending me an ARC of Battle of the Bookstores in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts above are my own.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

• enemies to lovers
• online epistolary
• great characters

For book people, by book people. 🥰 A modern twist on You've Got Mail. This one packs a lot of literary references, witty banter, and fun tropes! If Ali Brady writes it, I read it.

🗣 Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book via gifted eARC! All opinions are honest and my own.

Book Review
📖📖📖📖
Thank you to @netgalley and @berkleypub for this ARC, released on June 3rd!
I enjoyed it. I did. I love a good competition and Josie and Ryan battle it out to become the soul manager of their combined bookstores.
I was all in, until the end. I loved the way these two main characters grew to enjoy each other’s company. I loved the cast of characters in Ryan’s bookstore and the solidarity of Josie in hers. I loved Beans, the coffee shop that connected the two spaces.
The end was just too hokey for me. I found myself wanting to just skim right through it. I DIDNT! Who would ever! But I thought about it.
I did enjoy this book. Anything written about books, selling books, authors, you name it… it’s for me. I’m just not a fall in love and everything is roses kind of reader.
#bookstores

Super cute romance with the normal character types flipped on their head. Ryan owns the romance store, has a bunch of cats, drinks sugary coffee drinks while Josie owns the fancy literature store, drinks her coffee basically black, and doesn’t really believe in romance. I was hooked from the beginning, and I loved the references to other authors and novels from real life. The third act break up was a nice change too, because they were adults the whole time and talked about what they wanted!! A romance novel that doesn’t involve the classic miscommunication breakup but still sells the big issue to be solved in a meaningful way?? Amazing!!

This was an adorable romance about 2 bookstore owners. I loved how vastly different the two main characters were & the whole hate to love premise. Overall super cute & perfect for summer!

The Battle of the Bookstores by Ali Brady is a total win for romance readers and book lovers alike. Centered around two rival bookstore owners one charmingly stubborn woman and one frustratingly attractive man this story delivers the perfect blend of enemies-to-lovers tension, small-town charm, and emotional depth. Only one book store can stay and whoever has the best sales by the end of the summer gets to stay.

The chemistry between the leads is undeniable. Their banter is sharp, their backstories add real heart, and the way their relationship unfolds is both fun and surprisingly moving. Ali Brady does a brilliant job balancing light, feel good moments with deeper themes like grief, second chances, and the power of community. I even teared up a little bit reading this.

this book pushes gender norms in the best way. I loved how each shop was so different but I could see myself shopping and finding something in each one. I really enjoyed the events that each shop came up with. There was very much a you got mail feeling to this book which I loved! Seeing the difference from Josie and Ryan on and off screen felt like something I could relate to. Plus the wedding scene will be living in my head rent free.

And of course, the setting is a dream dueling bookstores, quirky locals, a staff you can’t help but fall in love with and book store cats what more could you ask for.

This one had me smiling, swooning, and rooting for love (and literature) until the very last page. This book went by so fast. It did not feel like it was over 400 pages! A must-read for fans of smart, heartfelt romance with a literary twist. 5 stars!

Thank you, NetGallery, the author and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review

I love this author duo, but sadly this one was a bit of a flop for me. I really liked the idea of a man managing a romance bookstore, that was a fun twist, and the storyline had potential, but it just didn’t quite work for me. It’s told in dual POV and has a little spice, but overall it didn’t hit the way I hoped.