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Pub Date 18 Jan 2022 | Archive Date 01 Feb 2022
SOURCEBOOKS Landmark | Sourcebooks Landmark

Description

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill meets Younger in a heartfelt debut following a young woman who discovers she'll have to ditch the "dream job" and write her own story to find her happy ending.

Meet Nora Hughes—the overworked, underpaid, last bookish assistant standing. At least for now.

When Nora landed an editorial assistant position at Parsons Press, it was her first step towards The Dream Job. Because, honestly, is there anything dreamier than making books for a living? But after five years of lunch orders, finicky authors, and per my last emails, Nora has come to one grand conclusion: Dream Jobs do not exist.

With her life spiraling and the Parsons staff sinking, Nora gets hit with even worse news. Parson's is cutting her already unlivable salary. Unable to afford her rent and without even the novels she once loved as a comfort, Nora decides to moonlight for a rival publisher to make ends meet...and maybe poach some Parson's authors along the way.

But when Andrew Santos, a bestselling Parsons author no one can afford to lose is thrown into the mix, Nora has to decide where her loyalties lie. Her new Dream Job, ever-optimistic Andrew, or...herself and her future.

Your next book club read touching on mental health, happiness, and the peaks and perils of being a young woman just trying to figure it all out. Nora Hughes is the perfect heroine for anyone looking to get past their own chapter twenty-something and build their storybook life.

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill meets Younger in a heartfelt debut following a young woman who discovers she'll have to ditch the "dream job" and write her own story to find her happy ending.

Meet Nora...


Available Editions

EDITION Paperback
ISBN 9781728240732
PRICE $16.99 (USD)
PAGES 336

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NetGalley Shelf App (EPUB)
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Average rating from 632 members


Featured Reviews

I am not huge into romance but this sweet book really captures my heart. I would recommend it to anyone who loves books and has big dreams

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This was an enjoyable read! I was expecting more romance but I still enjoyed the serious WF elements. The book plot part of it coupled with self discovery really carried the story. My favorite part was her realizing that she doesnt need to have everything about her life to have a happy one. :)

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This book is a must for anyone in their late 20s, anyone in publishing, and anyone who got their childhood dream job and realized it isn’t everything you wanted. Characters were incredibly real; full of flaws and hopes. Enjoyed the book and will look out for this author in the future.

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Summary: In Shauna Robinson’s debut novel, she introduces the reader to Nora, a lonely 20-something who is unhappy with her job, her prospects, and her finances. Nora has worked at a business publishing house for the past five year - straight out of college. While she loves books and wants to work with books, this job is all administrative and not editorial at all as Nora had initially imagined. As the company begins layoffs and salary cuts, Nora’s favorite co-workers leave one-by-one. When Nora is offered a part-time position at a competing company, she jumps at the opportunity - in secret. Neatly trying to balance the burden of bills, a growing monster in her head, the secrecy of multiple jobs (none which she really enjoys), and feelings for a man who she absolutely cannot like, Nora takes us on a magical journey full of books and hope.

Plot: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The plot of the book was fantastic. I haven’t enjoyed a book this much in quite some time, and I truly felt a deep connection with this book. The author manages so many light-hearted and heavy topics in a beautiful way. The flow of the book was excellent. The ending was justified. The drama and flair were properly placed. There was enough romance without categorizing the book as romance, enough social justice without labeling it as a social justice book, and enough about mental illness without classifying the book as a book about mental illness. It was sublime in that way: the way this book intertwined all of these ideologies in a way that made sense for them all to co-exist without seeming forced.

Characters: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The characters were flawed. Nora was deeply, deeply flawed. There’s no question about that at all. She made bad judgement calls, she acted too rashly on multiple decisions, and she was too hard on herself. That’s what made the book absolutely fantastic. Reading this book and working through Nora’s character development and allowing these faults and wins to be written so beautifully: that’s what made this book top-notch. At no point did I feel frustrated with Nora’s decisions - even at their most flawed. Instead I rooted for her. I rooted for her happiness, and I rooted for her success. A reader cannot ask more than to read about characters who are worth rooting for.

Overall Score: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️
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Nora Hughes has been at her editorial assistant job for five years and has become frustrated with her lack of upward mobility and her measly salary. All of her favorite colleagues and mentors have moved on to other positions, and Nora has become disillusioned with the publishing industry, which is unfortunate, as books have always been her FAVORITE thing. When Nora receives a pay cut, she chooses to take on some freelance work for a competing publishing house and her web of lies and deceit begins to take its toll. Eventually, everything comes crashing down and Nora is forced to take a good hard look at herself and begin to figure out what she truly wants to do with her life.

I think most of us can identify with the feeling of being a young adult and not quite knowing what career path you want to take in life. I know I certainly can. I started as an elementary school teacher and ended up deciding it wasn’t for me, went to law school and now practice law. The feeling of hopelessness as you’re floundering around trying to figure things out is all too familiar. The author did a wonderful job of capturing that feeling of despair and the panicked feeling one feels when half-truths (or full-on lies) explode in your face. I thought this would be a light-hearted read, but for me it turned out to be a novel that really made me consider, even now, what additional things I might want to do with my own life. There were points in the book where I literally broke a sweat and bit my nails as I empathized with Nora and her plight. There were also some dark points where I wasn’t sure where this book was going to end up. This was a poignant, realistic story that I truly enjoyed.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I will publish this review to my book blog, Goodreads and Amazon closer to the publication date.

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