A woman leaves a note for her crush in a book, which gets picked up by someone else. Miscommunication and confusion ensue. A sweet story!
After reading this, it made me want to leave some notes in books.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of Storybook Ending by Moira Macdonald. I enjoyed this book.

Westly is handsome. April is lonely. Laura is ready to open her heart and her life to new love. With many references to the movie "You've Got Mail", this bookstore romance sets up an unlikely love triangle. Unfortunately, I never got very interested or invested in the characters, so this one fell flat for me.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Cute story set in a book store. The biggest theme of the story is two people who are leaving notes in books in the store thinking it's certain people they are leaving the notes for. When they find out who the other person is it's a bit of a surprise for them both. I think the story has great friendship values. Not really any romance. I will always read a book with a bookstore setting and that is the biggest perk for this book.
Thank you to Netgalley, Moira Macdonald and Dutton publishing for e arc version.

This was a good book, it just wasn’t for me right now. I read way too much Romance so I started off thinking it had all the hallmarks of a contemporary romance. It does end happily, but not in any of the ways I expected. This is more a story of friendship, characters finding opportunities to change their circumstances and find happiness for themselves in their own way.

Set in Seattle around a fictional bookstore (or not so fictional). Westley is a book seller, and is Very Handsome. A customer, April, decides to ask him out, but does it by leaving a note in a book. Another customer, Laura, ends up with the note and we end up with a big mis-communication set up, poor Westley doesn’t even know he’s a part of it and April and Laura pass notes through a copy of Twilight (lol) each thinking they are getting to know Westley.

I admit… I got bored with the slow pacing and skipped ahead to see where this was all going. I won’t spoil it for anyone else though. I think if you enjoy a cosy fiction with lots of friends, kind people, cute book stores, you’d enjoy this.

This is the story of three lonely people who meet in an unusual way. April finds the clerk at her local bookstore handsome, but she is too nervous to speak to him directly, so she leaves him a note in a book. When she gets a return note, she assumes it is from Westley, but it's actually from Laura, who happened upon the note by chance. Each of the women thinks they are corresponding with Westley instead of each other.

I found this book to be completely charming. It was a little slow-paced as it took time to develop relationships over notes, but that didn't detract from the appeal and the lovely writing style. This is a great book to read while cuddled under a blanket with a cup of tea.

What a sweet book about community and connection. A miscommunication end up leading two ladies to each other in the sweetest and surprising friendship.

This book is a love letter to the wonder and magic of books, as well as to being brave enough to change your life. Not your typical HEA but a happily ever after nonetheless. It's probably the most obliquely romantic romance book I've ever read, and it's more of a journey of self-discovery rather than a romance-focused story. This is a new-to-me author but I would definitely read her again!

Since Covid, April has worked from home. While others at her company enjoy this perk, she misses the social aspect. In fact she is quite lonely. Finding herself attracted to the handsome guy at the used book counter of her local bookstore “Read the Room”, she decides on the old fashioned approach and put a note in a book for him to find. Unfortunately, things don’t go quite the way April planned.
Laura’s husband passed away five years ago and she doesn’t see herself in a new relationship, but is it time to move on? When she finds a note in her used book, she’s intrigued with the idea.
While both think the forthcoming notes are from Wesley, both are in for a surprise as poor Wesley is totally oblivious.
This book has a hint of “You’ve Got Mail” and once off the ground it was quite charming. It just took the long route getting there. Thank you to Penguin Group and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

The plot was interesting, how the characters living their own life all became connected the way they did. The story was a little slower in middle compared to the beginning and the end but not too bad

4.25/5 stars

This was a funny, heartwarming story. A comedy of errors/misunderstandings, female friendship, and team building set in a neighborhood bookstore and told from multiple perspectives.

April is a tech writer who works from home and is lonely for connection with someone other than her needy (and immature) brother. She basically develops a crush on an "extremely" good-looking clerk (Westley) at her local bookstore and being a bit intimidated in approaching him decides to leave an anonymous note in a book that he will see...except he doesn't, of course. Laura, a single mom who has given up on love, does and believes it be from Westley who she's conveniently not averse to. So ensues the beginning of a friendship between April and Laura based on notes passed back and forth through The Magpie Murders and The Hunger Games. Eventually they anonymously began emailing all the while each believing they were corresponding with Westley. Oh yeah, and in the middle of all this, a movie begins filming on location in the shop. Hijinks ensue and a heartwarming conclusion is reached.

While I loved the premise/plot of this book, it was the variety and personalities of the characters that held my attention. Westley, a bit clueless but lovable with it. April, a cheer worthy woman who we watch venture out of her shell to rejoin society. Laura, a bit bruised by love but inching toward trying it out again. The supporting cast are hilarious and getting their perspectives on life in the bookshop and with their co-workers is entertaining.

Very well done and thoroughly enjoyable.

My sincere thanks to the author, NetGalley and Penguin Group / Dutton for providing the free early arc of Storybook Ending for review. The opinions are strictly my own.

Storybook Ending is a great book for anyone looking for a cozy litfic book that tells the story of friendship, taking a chance, and the idea that things will always work out how they are supposed to. With three POV’s I was pleasantly surprised how individual and unique each character was and had a distinct voice.

April is overrrr working from home. She misses being around people and takes fate into her own hands when she leaves the cute bookseller at her neighborhood bookstore a note in a used book she leaves at the counter.

Instead of Westley finding the note, it ends up in Laura’s hands. Laura is a busy, widowed, working mom who’s ready to get back out there.

Both women think they’re writing to Westley, rather than each other and Westley has absolutely no idea about any of this.

It’s a low stakes, friendship romance that surprise, surprise, has a ✨story book ending✨

The pace was a little slow at times and the inclusion of random emails felt disjointed but I enjoyed the light heartedness and the friendship that the two women found. We need more stories about adult friendships🫶🏻💕

Thanks to #netgalley, the publisher and the author for this e-arc! It’s out now!!

I was excited for this book because of the bookish vibe but it was honestly a bit of a let down. I didn't really feel drawn to the characters and I found myself bored at times. Thank you NetGalley for my ARC!

I thought that this was a cute twist on the typical Nora Ephron rom-com with the bookstore setting. I thought the first half of the book was good, because you got to know the characters and understand their background and where they were coming from. But it also moved a little too slowly to keep my attention hooked. But I pushed on, and after about the halfway point, things got rolling more and it was fun to see how all of the characters backstories and each of their individual friends started to interconnect. I did enjoy the ending and loved the idea of true friendship and solid relationships being the ultimate reward.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this Advanced Reader Copy. All opinions are my own.

This book is so cozy and wholesome. I really enjoyed the different perspectives and having information as the reader that the characters didn’t have. The entire book you really just wonder how things are going to play out, and I wasn’t disappointed with how it all came together at the end!! The ending was fairly quick but very satisfying and tied up all of the loose ends well.

My only complaint is that I felt it dragged on occasionally; some events/character traits were really harped on and mentioned multiple times that I didn’t feel needed reiterated. Other than these mild pacing issues I thought the story was super enjoyable. It definitely made me wish I could go work in a bookstore!

This was a very sweet story about friendship and really enjoyed the concept that was told. It had that feel that I was looking for and enjoyed the idea of a anonymous note. The characters were so well written and enjoyed the overall concept of their world. Moira Macdonald has a strong writing style and enjoyed the concept of this book.

The best part about this one was the found family in the end. The process to get there though was definitely a struggle. The amount of second hand embarrassment I felt while reading this one plus the cringe of no one speaking to one another made this one a bit less enjoyable than I had anticipated. The MMC was not very well fleshed out as, aside from his looks, I don't know why anyone was so obsessed with him. I think I would've enjoy this story a lot more if it was just about the friendship between the FMCs and had nothing to do with the MMC.
 
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Storybook Ending was a cute story. There were a multitude of characters to keep straight and a lot of buildup to the real story. But once it got rolling I could not stop reading. April and Laura both think they are missing something in their lives. They think they are starting a romance with a cute book store worker. But no, they are really communicating with each other. My favorite part was the ending. If you need a cozy read, this is it.

I really liked the premise of this book. The execution, sadly, was not for me. My main issues had to do with the like ability of the characters and the somewhat purple prose style of writing.

As someone who also works from home like April and is single I initially related to her but as the book progresses and it is ALL she can talk about I quickly lost interest and empathy. Both April and Westley are, in a word, boring. They know they’re boring, they lament their own boringness multiple times and it is a primary initial plot point. I understand the premise of a lackluster life leading to stepping out of their lanes so to speak but lord they could do that and be a bit less dry than sawdust in June.
Because of my issues connecting with the characters I had to digest only a few chapters at a time, which is rare for me. Laura was the better character, although honestly I liked the side characters best.

I would have rather seen a story just about the unlikely friendship and unusual beginnings and then about the workplace romance on two separate planes. Intertwining them didn’t work the way I wanted it to. Overall it wasn’t for me unfortunately.

A few additional notes:
Every single damn character is prone to overthinking. By a lot. Sometimes a comment on your flannel is just a comment my dude.

Westley and his knowing he is attractive while also somehow not understanding how/why he is attractive annoyed me to no end. The two concepts cannot coexist. And his “romantic backstory” was, frankly, infuriating. Did *not* help his character like ability at all.
And the whole everything falls into his lap and he works for nothing thing is not endearing at all. Picture poor little rich kid trope but this time is poor little pretty boy…

Thank you PENGUIN GROUP Dutton for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

A lovely story of missed connections, mistaken identity, secret correspondence, and new friendships. New, unexpected friendships and a fabulous bookstore setting make this book an absolute treat to read!