I gave up at 62% - I realize I got pretty far but kept waiting for some part of the story or the writing to grab me and realized it should have happened by this point?

Thank you for the chance to read early.

What american isn't doing to fall for a smooth british bookworm? If you're looking for a fun, spicy and sweet book for the upcoming season i recommend this fun book nerds dream.

This had a promising start, but ended up just being okay for me. I wasn’t overly invested in the characters but it was an entertaining story overall.

Love Walked In is a perfect romance book for book lovers about book lovers! I am a sucker for books in which the main characters have special connections to reading or book-related professions, so this has the ideal premise for me. Leo’s family bookstore is struggling after his grandfather’s passing, so Mari comes in to help bring life back to the store. Her and Leo are polar opposites, and strongly disagree on the changes she proposes. Eventually, they learn to work together and sparks begin to fly between the pair, but Mari’s time in London has a deadline.

The romance throughout the book was sooo good!! Mari and Leo’s banter is top-tier and I was hooked from their first meeting. I love their dynamic, how Mari pushes Leo out of his comfort zone and Leo takes care of her. My favorite scene was Leo helping Mari through her claustrophobia on the train.

Mari and Leo both carry so much hurt brought upon them by people they cared about and I loved how they slowly let each other in and built a fresh start. They each have a personal, emotional growth journey in the story and I was so glad they had strong support systems. The family dynamics were unique and really show how important familial relationships are too.

I couldn’t put this book down once I started and ended up finishing it in less than a day! Everything from the chilly British setting to all of the complex characters kept me locked in. I would definitely recommend to anyone who loves a bookish romance!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A bookstore, in England, with a hot grumpy British guy? Yes. Please.

This story ended up being deeper and more emotional than I expected. This isn’t just a sweet meet-cute between pretty people. Both Mari and Leo are dealing with a lot of unresolved feelings and trauma from challenging families to failed relationships. While their attraction was near immediate I appreciated that their relationship grew gradually. Though forced proximity always seems to speeds things a long a little bit, and an intuitive grandmother doesn’t hurt.

Seeing Mari and Leo come to grips with their feelings for each other and overcoming their own fears about opening up and accepting love was heartwarming and introspective. I did think Leo’s confrontation with Bex was a little too picture perfect but I think most of us know a great way to get over someone is to get under someone else. Mari becoming besties with her secret half-brother and the entire hidden parent storyline did feel a little contrived and second thought to the main plot and love story. It seemed like an easy way to give Mari more connections to England for the future HEA and be able to magically heal her childhood/family trauma without being able to confront a dead mom and a mysteriously missing step-dad.

Overall I did have a good time reading this and watching Leo’s sexual awakening was giving me the feet kicks and squeals I was hoping for. I’d say this is a solid 3.5 stars - nothing revolutionary but an interesting contemporary romance with emotionally complex characters.

There are three things that are important to me in a romance - do I love the characters, do I feel like I'm immersed in the chemistry between them, and does it feel at least somewhat believable? In Sarah Chamberlain's Love Walked In, I like the characters. I like the fact that they feel messy and human, which makes them believable. I believe they have chemistry, but I don't feel swept up in like I do when a romance author is really on point. Mari, a bookstore whisperer, heads to London from sunny California at the request of one of the owners of a bookstore that is struggling after the death of the primary owner. Outgoing and sunny, but deprived of solid foundational relationships, Mari overwhelms the shy and somewhat awkward Leo, who's lost after losing his grandfather and his marriage ending, but the two end up pairing up to try and revive the bookstore. The book ends up being way more about the two than it does the bookstore, but despite that, I didn't ever entirely feel like I understood what either of the pair was feeling about the way they'd been raised, or how they felt about each other. Mari immediately connects with Graham, one of the bookstore employees, but besides him and the occasional appearance by other bookstore character Catriona, there really aren't any secondary characters. And as the reader will find out, there is a reason why Graham has a more prominent role in the story. Leo's family makes a few appearances, as does his friend Vijay, but both his father and Vijay don't treat him very well. And Vijay's need to lean on his friendship with Leo for his own personal success and happiness has the potential to cause a major rift between Leo and Mari. I like the setting, and I liked the foundation that Chamberlain gave both of these characters, but I just wish that she'd done more with both of them to draw me into the story, and given me more secondary characters that would add some additional depth and provide more connection. It was a good book, and maybe I read it at a bad time when I'm feeling picky about what I want to get out of a romance novel. A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I feel like family relations played a bigger part in the plot than the romance. This guy was just a jerk at first and never really turned it around for me even after a sick hurt/comfort moment which is as close as it got. I liked the bookstore setting

Beautiful story. Loved how the relationship between Mari and Leo unfolded. Really enjoyable side characters and stories. Overall just a really lovely story.

Love Walked In
By Sarah Chamberlain
Pub Date: September 2, 2025

Mari Cole is best known for one thing: saving bookstores from closing. Having spent most of her life on her own, Mari finally has the chance to prove to the woman who first nurtured her love of reading that she can manage a bookshop herself. But Ross & Co. won’t be an easy rescue, the store is crumbling, and the partial owner has no interest in changing his grandfather’s legacy. She is in more than she bargained for.

Leo Ross has lost more than most in the past year. Fresh off a loveless divorce and still grieving his grandfather’s death, Leo has spent his life in the shadow of a man he admired but never quite matched. Stepping into his own future feels impossible, until a determined, happy-go-lucky American shows up determined to change his world.

I gave Love Walked In 4 out of 5 stars. It’s a fun, charming read, and I especially loved the dynamic between Mari and Leo. This isn’t your typical “romance in a bookshop” novel — it stays true to the characters’ emotional journeys and doesn’t fall into predictable tropes. It left me smiling and rooting for them all the way through.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read Love Walked In!

I love the grumpy/sunshine trope and this one did not let me down! Both characters are flawed, lovable, humans who experience growth as they learn to love themselves and trust each other. The side characters are equally engaging and the family storylines added depth to the story.

I enjoyed Sarah Chamberlain's debut The Slowest Burn last fall, so I jumped right away when I saw the arc for this.

Mari and Leo's relationship didn't exactly start like a storybook meet-cute. Leo wasn't very welcoming of Mari. He was still mourning his grandfather's death, his family's bookstore is hanging by a thread and there's pressure in keeping their legacy, and he's feeling jaded after his divorce. While he wasn't happy of Mari's presence at his family's bookstore, her sunshine personality ignited something in him. Then there's Mari, the American, ray of sunshine excited to live in London and rescue a dying bookstore. She's independent, determined, and ready for her London adventure. As much as she loves reading romance, she doesn't do love because of her tough childhood. She doesn't let anyone get too close, doesn't do long-term relationships. So why was it Leo making her second-guess her fling-only rule?

I like how Mari and Leo's relationship progressed and watch them slowly fall for each other. Leo was a book boyfriend come to life for Mari; he showed her that she deserves to be love despite her past relationship experiences. Mari added color and sunshine to Leo's life and re-awakened his passions. They're opposites, but they just work and exactly what each other needed.

As much as Iike this story, there a few things that bothered me: 1) Leo's supposed close friend Vinay pressuring him to sell the building, and 2) Mari's father-daughter reunion towards the end-might just be me, but it was weird? I don't know if it was just the execution of the writing.

Overall though, I still really enjoyed this book. Sarah Chamberlain romances is slowly becoming a favorite.

>>> Opposites attract
>>> Forced proximity
>>> Set in London
>>> Bi-sexual representation
>>> Jewish representation
>>> A love letter to indie bookstores.

Thank you to @stmartinspress @youhadmeathea for the arc!

This is such a feel good book! Both MCs carry so much emotional weight (trauma), and watching them both learn and love and grow and forgive and come together made me feel so damn good. This is the authors sophomore novel and if she continues with this writing streak, I’ll happily read everything she writes. Thanks to St. Martin’s for the ARC.

3! Love Walked In is Sarah Chamberlain’s sophomore novel, out September 2025! It’s an opposites-attract romance between a book whisperer and a bookstore owner trying to save his store.

After reading the synopsis, I was hooked and so excited to dive in. Unfortunately, it ended up falling a bit flat for me. That said, I did really enjoy the banter and chemistry between the two main characters. I’m a complete sucker for an opposites-attract romance—there’s just something about two people who think they’re too different for each other, only to realize that’s exactly what makes them work. Leo is a brooding British man, and Mari is a bubbly burst of energy. At times, the British vs. American contrast felt a little overemphasized, but it didn’t totally take away from the experience. Watching them slowly move from strangers to friends to something more was sweet—it’s definitely a slow burn.

Where it didn’t quite work for me was in their individual character arcs. We're told they’re growing, but I didn’t really see that growth in their actions. The writing was okay, but the tone of the book felt a little off, which made this more of a decent-than-great read for me.
Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

While Love Walked In is crafted with care and carries a narrative that might resonate with many, it left me feeling somewhat indifferent. It's not that the book is poorly written or riddled with flaws—far from it. The writing is competent, the characters are decently developed, and the plot unfolds at a steady pace. However, it simply didn’t capture my interest or evoke any strong emotions. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with Love Walked In, it simply wasn’t my cup of tea. A decent read, perhaps, but not one that left a lasting impression. A library rental at best for me.

Thank you, St. Martin’s Press, for providing this book for review consideration through NetGalley. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

I just finished a great book. Love Walked In by Sarah Chamberlain is out this summer. Pick it up! This is one you won’t want to miss!

I enjoy this authors writing. It gives me comfort. This is a cute workplace romance. There is the grumpy sunshine trope. The MMC quickly warms up there. This is a sweet story but there is spice in it.

if this was the version of love I walked into, I'd walk right out.

✰ DNF 20%, literally the most abrasive and disrespectful male love interest I have ever read. he grabs her. hard. (that's a direct quote). there is no good reason for rough housing someone without their consent. he tells her to "f*ck off" when she delivers a bit of tough love. he is completely resistant to all of her good advise and recommendations. the use of grumpy x sunshine and enemies to lovers as tropes in contemporary romances is out of control. authors: it is not a means of condoning disrespectful and problematic behavior.

thank you to st. martin's press for the ebook arc in exchange for an honest review, but unfortunately this wasn't for me

platform: netgalley ebook arc

This is a cute fall book! I liked the FMC, but she was a bit too whimsy. If you look a really true sunshine book, this is a good choice!

This book was amazing. I couldn’t put it down and am writing this at 5:30 in the morning because this book is worth the dark circles under my eyes. I loved the whole premise of the book, the characters were swoony, the subplot was intriguing, and the romance was perfect.

This one is cozy, sweet, and sexy! Leo is a dream and makes me want a British boyfriend asap. Absolutely adored this one.