4.5/5 - Battle of the Bookstores by Ali Brady is an enjoyable, opposites attract, enemies to lovers, slow burn, love story with the texting buddies enhancing the confusion and awareness. This rivals to lovers, secret pen mates, and work place romance that is a love letter to bookstores, especially indie bookstores. The plot is a remembrance of the movie, You’ve Got Mail; be prepared to fall in love with these characters.

Josie Klein and Ryan Lawson have two things in common: they both love books and each manages a bookstore. Ryan manages Happy Endings a romance only bookstore, where he has worked for over a decade. Josie mangers Tabula Inscripta, a bookstore focuses on literary fiction. In between their stores is a café, Beans. When the owner decides to merge both bookstores and threatens to keep only the highest performing manager, the gloves come off. Aas things heat up in this high pressure competition, each turns to their online BookFriends forum and their newfound anonymous friendship for comfort. Little do they know, they are already sharing their lives with each other in that online book forum. At first there is sabotage and insults between them but they realize they need to combine their knowledge to make the store more profitable. I was impressed with the way Ryan’s dyslexia is incorporated into the story, in a realistic way, without becoming a label.

My favorite aspect though, is that it tells the ultimate love story between book and reader. Every mention of a review, a blurb, an ARC, etc. made me excited that I was able to recognize most of the books and authors mentioned. The books and the dueling bookstores definitely tried to steal the show, but Ryan and Josie were still able to find their happy ever after with a forever kind of love.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book prior to purchase.
#NetGalley #Berkley #BattleOfTheBookstores

This book was just so perfect! It’s my new favorite from Ali Brady, and it makes me smile every time I think about it.

I have a soft spot for books about books and book lovers, so Battle of the Bookstores had my heart right away because it features two rival book sellers, Josie Klein and Ryan Lawson, who both manage bookstores on the same street in Boston. Josie’s store specializes in literary fiction, while Ryan’s is romance only. When the owner of both stores decides he wants to combine the two stores into one store but only keep one manager, he sets up a fierce competition between Josie and Ryan. Whoever turns the most profit by the end of the summer will be the last manager standing.

Aside from being opposites in what kind of books they sell, Josie and Ryan are also opposites in so many other ways as well. What neither of them realize, however, is that even though they clash in real life, they have actually struck up the most amazing online friendship through an anonymous bookish forum where they chat about books and make book recs to each other. If you’re familiar with the Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan rom-com You’ve Got Mail, this book has a similar vibe and I was just so here for it!

I loved everything about this book — the competition element, the banter, all of the cute romcom moments, quirky side characters, and of course the shoutouts to all things bookish, but I think my favorite part was just watching these characters grow so much throughout the book, especially as Josie and Ryan really start to explore their feelings for another and realize what has been right in front of them the whole time. It added just a layer of emotional depth that really stayed with me after I finished the book.

5 Gold Stars for the newest Ali Brady Book!!!!

As a romance bookseller, this book was simply perfection. It felt like a love letter to romance books, readers, and indie booksellers wrapped in a spicy little bow. It has "you've got mail" vibes, enemies to lovers, and jewish rep! What's not to love!!!

Thank you to Berkeley, Penguin Random House, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book!

It took some time for me to understand and like Josie's character. Despite that, I was totally sucked into the concept and the story. It was the perfect rivals-to-lovers narrative. I loved Ryan from the beginning as a fellow romance lover. His breaking of stereotypes was wonderful to see.

I feel like these two characters contrasted each other well. All of the side characters were also excellent propellants for the narrative.

There is a lot of miscommunication in this story. If you dislike that trope heavily, this is probably not the book for you. I felt it did the trope well, but I will admit it is not my favorite trope.

This book does contain open-door spice that can be skipped without missing too much plot.

I received this book as an ARC from the authors. My review is honest and voluntary.

My heart!!! What a wonderful read this was!

Ali Brady is an author duo that I’ve loved the past couple of years! I’ve been very fortunate to have received all of their books from NetGalley (thank you @berkley lol)

This was a little different than their other books but they crushed it!! The “You’ve Got Mail” vibes but maybe it 2025. The enemies to lovers + forced proximity = chefs kiss!! 👩🏻‍🍳💋

All the literary love and the ins and outs of being a book lover, no matter what genre, is represented in this book and I just really love that. The spicy scenes were spicing too lol.

Ugh do I need to open a book store now? 😂
Counting down the days until I get to meet Ali Brady at Romance Con and celebrate with them!!!

For all the fans of You've Got Mail and The Hating Game! This book was FUN! I loved the twist that HE was the romance enthusiast and she was the hater! Also, the banter was great! This book had so many romance novel and author references and they were a fun surprise! A great book for lovers of rivals to lovers!

This is so charming, and will be catnip for "book people" with lots of references, both to the romance genre and the book world at large. Well developed characters, great conversations, and excellent chemistry.

You have a cute enemies to lovers literary romcom, that I absolutely devoured. Two bookstore managers find themselves competing for the same promotion.

I loved this so much, I laughed, cried, related heavily, adored the book and author references. Slow burn romance gets me every time, and I was so excited for them to get past their differences and work together. This had “You’ve Got Mail” vibes, which is one of my favorite movies.
The perfect read for summer for all the book girlies, readers will see themselves in this book. Easily one of my top reads of the year, and I will absolutely be recommending this to everyone I know.

“They won’t judge you for spending the whole day in pajamas crying over the death of a character” man am I feeling called out. Readers feel so deeply and truly connect to the characters. The way I loved Josie and Ryan, I had so much empathy for them and was heavily invested.
I can’t wait to own a copy of this to annotate and go back through it again!
-Slowburn
-Dual POV
- Enemies to lovers
-Cozy romance

This was a cute romance read for book lovers! There was so many conversations had about bookish topics that made me feel like I was having a conversation with one of my book besties. I loved the black cat/golden retriever energy between Josie and Bryan. …I mean Ryan 😆

Absolutely adorable. Look, not everyone can write a book that treads the You've Got Mail path this closely, but it is a JOY when people like Ali Brady can pull it off! As a former bookseller, I loved the two main bookseller characters. I was really happy with how each character's development arc ended. I thought they showed so much growth.

This was cute but not my favorite by them, which is sad because I usually give their books five stars. Josie was a hard FMC to like in the beginning; she was very pretentious, judgy and sometimes just mean. Enemies to lovers is typically my favorite trope but it felt very immature here and somewhat unwarranted. I felt like attraction came out of no where - it made no sense for Josie to be hating Ryan one second and offering to go meet his entire family the next. On the other hand, Ryan was a great character and I liked that he had dyslexia, I liked the representation and it added depth to his character. As we got to know the characters more, I definitely enjoyed the second half way more than the first and liked how everything wrapped up at the end.

This is a book for extreme book lovers and while I am one of those, the references to current popular books and authors felt like a lot. The average reader reads around 12 books per year, so if you're reading one book or less a month you're not going to understand a lot of the references in this book. While I understood them, it also just felt like too much - it almost pulled me out of the experience and made me go wow, another one? In my opinion, books should be written for everyone, not a small niche group and because of these aspects, I feel like it's not fair for me to tell my followers on bookstagram to read something with a million references that will not be understood or appreciated.

I loved the Jewish representation in this one and how it was sprinkled throughout. However, I listened to the audiobook and some Jewish words were pronounced so incorrectly it made me go HUH? I know this review is for the book and not audio but I had to mention it. Who doesn't know how to say Hanukkah?? Rugelach I can kind of understand, but how did no one tell the narrators how the "ch" sound works in Hebrew? It was weird.

I'm around a 3.5 on this one!

If you tell me a book has You’ve Got Mail vibes, I am in. This felt like a refreshed version of one of my favorite rom coms. As someone who loves a good bookstore, I want transported into this book.
Josie and Ryan are definitely an opposites attract. They both have their own hang ups and expectations when it comes to life and love. When they’re told the bookstores are combining, they find out only one of them can come out on top. The battle in the title definitely comes through in funny mishaps and miscommunications which were funny. I enjoyed watching the romance unfold and the love of books and bookstores shone through.

4.5⭐️
Thank you to Berkley for my arc. All opinions are my own.

Battle of the bookstores

This book is for the readers and booksellers!! This ended up being a really cute read! In the beginning I wasn’t really invested and the characters were kind of annoying 😭 I know this was done on purpose, but I hated all of the cliche’s even though they were reversed (MMC works at romance bookstore, FMC works at “snobby” literary bookstore). I also didn’t mind the modern-day book references at first, but they got old super quick. When violet sorrengail was mentioned I was DONE. I feel like including references to book characters that not everyone knows doesn’t age well, and doesn’t make a book timeless! There was also a lot of talk about tropes and arcs and it just wasn’t something I particularly enjoyed reading about.

Anyway when the main characters actually started getting along, I definitely enjoyed this book more! I didn’t think they had a lot of chemistry, even with their online personas, but it was still cute. The spice was pretty good too!! Overall I enjoyed this but I probably will not be buying a physical copy!

‘You’ve got mail’ had a baby with a small bookstore and it is beautiful! I adored this book. It was hopeful at times and oh so sweet 🥹. I found myself wishing it was longer honestly since it felt so well paced and ended far too soon in my opinion. Precious, romantic, and full of genuine laugh out loud banter. This is an easy summer read that would be great to pack along for the beach or a road trip! The vibes were cozy and witty, making the stress of my day fall away between its pages. Truly wonderful! I’ll be sure to look out for future Ali Brandy titles now!

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

Josie is the organized and uptight manager of Tabula Inscripta. Ryan is the kind and laid back manager of Happy Endings. Both bookstores have stuck to their own clientele and genres of books. Until now. The owner Xander is merging the two bookstores, and the new store can only have one manager. Whoever sells the most books in the allotted time will end up with the position. Josie is determined to take Ryan down, after all she reads big literary works and Ryan just sells romance. She finds solace her online relationship with fellow bookseller RJ.Reads. After slowly realizing there is more to Ryan than she originally thought, Josie comes up with a plan that will hopefully let them both keep their jobs. But Ryan has been keeping a secret from Josie. He’s RJ.Reads. Will Josie be able to save their jobs and accept that Ryan is RJ.Reads? Or will she let her fears stand in the way?

I became a fan of Ali Brady after reading The Beach Trap and this book did not disappoint! I found the characters both lovable and relatable. Josie wanting to have control over all her aspects of life after growing up in a chaotic, unstructured environment. Ryan feeling like he can’t trust himself after giving his all in a failed relationship. These vulnerably sweet characters will capture your heart, as well as all the bookish humor.

Enjoyed the main characters and the fun banter. The many book recs were fun and reminded me about some books I had wanted to read. The nod to "You've Got Mail" was cute.. Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley for the advanced reader copy!

Managers of two independent bookstores separated by a coffee shop are competing against each other to run the whole shebang in Battle of the Bookstores by Ali Brady.

The eccentric landlord of both bookstores decides to knock down the walls and create one bigger space. The problem is that one bookseller only sells romance, while the other focuses on more literary works. The story is told through the alternating chapters of each protagonist.

Ryan and Josie are the respective managers, and when they meet, things could have gone a whole lot better. Josie seems to have a chip on her shoulder and does better alone. Ryan is never happy after their contentious interactions and always strives to do better. He also has a secret, and it could further alienate Josie when she finds out, especially since they have a truce to work together to convince the landlord that he’d be better off keeping both of them. They are forever talking about books, and I enjoyed some of their insights and banter.

The story has twists and turns, with multiple narratives unfolding. There’s also family drama, some steam, and snarky words. Josie and Ryan seem to take one step forward and many more back. Their online friendship on a book site started innocently, but Ryan figured out who he was talking to. She, however, doesn’t have a clue, and he’s slipped a few times in their interactions. The back-and-forth messages were an interesting addition to the story, adding the needed details and information. But what will happen when the truth is revealed?

Ryan’s grand gestures are a nice touch and over-the-top romantic. I love how they sometimes compare their lives to romance books and their tropes. There’s nice closure with a twist and a happily ever in the epilogue one year later.

Battle of the Bookstores is filled with romance, books, and characters who belong together, even if it takes them a while to realize it.

The review is posted on NovelsAlive.

Such a cute storyline, very likable characters, loved the bookstore setting, humorous banter, plenty of spice and romance. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a feel-good romance.

Wow! I loved Battle of the Bookstores! I went into this thinking it would be a cute cozy romance and don’t get me wrong it totally was, but this book was so much more. The characters were so real and their traumas were relatable. (Just call out all of us older sisters ,why don’t you?!!) What a love story!! This was funny and so romantic. A true enemies to lovers. The bookish references throughout were amazing. And being an indie bookshop owner this was so on point!!!

Loved it and will definitely be stoking this in my store!

I look forward to a new Ali Brady book every summer and Battle of the Bookstores was just the perfect book to bring me out of my reading slump! It's has You've Got Mail vibes and that's one of my favorite movies of all times. This book also really makes me want to open a bookstore some day!

There are two bookstores on the same street in Boston--Josie manages Tabula Inscripta, a bookstore that sells more highbrow fiction while Ryan manages, Happy Endings, a bookstore that sells only romance. They've peacefully coexisted until one day the owner of both stores decides he wants to combine both bookstores along with the cafe in between them and keep only one manager. Josie and Ryan are instantly enemies in person and each interaction between the two gets more hysterical than the last. What Josie and Ryan don't know is that they're essentially besties in an online chat group for booksellers.

The book is a love letter to the book community, to readers, to booksellers, to bookstore owners, and it's done in such a relatable way in my opinion. I loved the playful banter between Josie and Ryan and the epic enemies to lovers storyline. I also loved the attention to diversity in this book!

Thank you Berkley for the e-ARC!