As an avid reader I enjoyed this novel, BUT it just seems very similar to lots of others within its genre. A lovely read, nicely written but nothing out of the ordinary.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC. This is my honest review.

This book had my attention instantly with the premise of a bookshop holiday—this reader’s dream vacation! It did not disappoint.

Jude is a woman who has just taken the first big step of doing something for herself after years of taking care of the others in her life. It seems to be a turning point for her, but she finds herself unexpectedly adrift instead. Her planned vacation to a bookshop on the coast is her escape from the uncertainty and she is determined to make it the best two weeks of her life.

And then she meets Elliott. Elliott who is adrift in his own way and his very much unexpected appearance threatens to disrupt all of Jude’s hopes for her time away from home.

They start with a reluctant truce, a wary partnership and then so much more.

The story weaves in the history of the community, numerous unique and intriguing side characters, and a mystery too.

This was an enjoyable read—a lovely romance, charming lead characters, a book sprinkled with literary references and mouth watering bakes. Comfortable, cosy, and perfectly captivating. I’ll be looking for other books by this author.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. What a lovely read this was, great characters, great location and most importantly a really nice story. Loved it.

This is a nice book, good characters, intriguing story. It slows down in the middle but definitely picks up at the end. It's a good read to spend a rainy afternoon with.

Well pack your bags, pick your favourite books, and take yourself on a wonderful two-week holiday to run a bookshop! Sounds a perfect plan and this is just what Jude did! The Borrow a Bookshop Holiday is a magical story about grabbing life, taking chances and looking ahead to the future to achieve your dreams.

The Borrow a Bookshop Holiday is an enchanting and endearing story, set within the beautiful and delightful Clove Lore - the detailed descriptions of this wonderful harbour village are so comprehensive that we feel like we are actually there. I loved the setting and the community village life.

The characters were superbly depicted. I could imagine visiting the bookshop and chatting with Jude about books while devouring their lovely scones in the cafe and seeing Aldous!

As a booklover, I loved how the author intertwined lots of books throughout the story - very unique and very cleverly written.

For me, the book was an all-embracing fantastic romantic novel. Jude and Elliot were destined to be together and I was rooting for them from the start. Their future is only just beginning and I would love to know where they are in a few years’ time! I am hoping for a second book about Jude and Elliot!

I am sure this book will inspire many to follow their dreams, and even open up their own bookshop/cafe one day! Perfect combination, Perfect romantic read! Thank you, Kiley Dunbar, for another 5-star read! Your books are just the best!

This review is based on a NetGalley ARC provided in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion.

I loved the idea of being able to run a bookshop/cafe for 2 weeks. But the idea of a one bedroom studio and two people who don’t know each other, expected to share is a little hard to comprehend. Especially in the time we live in. I know it’s a story and everything about the village and the people sound Devine and definitely a place to visit. It’s just that it wouldn’t happen so dampened my enjoyment of this book a bit.

This romance is just cozy and sweet, and nothing else. Jude is a late bloomer whose recent relationship just blew up, and all she has left of it is a reservation at Borrow-A-Bookshop, where for a very reasonable fee a guest can run a small-town bookshop while living upstairs. Annoyingly, the bookshop is double-booked, and she’ll have to share it with Elliott, who is handsome and secretive. Oh, dear, what an inconvenience, there is only one bed. (The fictional vacation spot is definitely based on The Open Book, a real vacation spot in Wales.)

Have you ever dreamed of owning a bookstore? In a small, seaside town, you can be run an entire bookstore like it was your own for two weeks. The waiting list is almost two years long. Jude Crawley is 30 years old and seems to experiencing life a bit behind all of her peers. She loves her family, takes care of her Gran, but life has been lived mostly in books. A twist of fate gives her the push she needs to begin a journey to finding herself and her home. If mysteries can be cozy, then I think this could be a cozy romance. All the charm you could ask for.

The Borrow A Bookshop Holiday was the perfect book to satisfy a rom com type book craving! Jude is in her late 20’s and just graduated from college when she discovers her boyfriend is cheating on her and her gran that she cares for wants to move into a senior living community. The reservation for two for the borrow a bookshop holiday is now Jude’s chance for a change of scenery and an opportunity to find herself and discover her place in the world. Add in Elliot - a handsome, mysterious stranger showing up to help run the bookshop, and we have a quick, cute, and entertaining story!

Thanks to #NetGalley, Kiley Dunbar, and Hera Books for the ARC of #TheBorrowaBookshopHoliday

The Borrow a Bookshop Holiday is a fun idea! I can see how many would opt for this unusual break from reality. I liked the story, the characters were mostly relatable and a good variety of them too!

I'll try not to dwell on the actual practical issues of unregistered volunteers/holidaymakers making and selling food to the general public, haha!

I've been to the place that inspired the author and can see the inspiration in the fitting homage! A lovely read.

Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

I must say I enjoyed the last few chapters of this book than the rest of it. The last few chapters were captivating, surprising and enchanting. Before these last chapters, I really struggled with finishing this because it was beginning to read like a run of the mill romance. However, the author proved me wrong, and I landed up being unable to put this book down.

Jude is a young woman stuck in a rut, she has been a carer for many years, but now her world is being turned upside down, through no fault of her own. She needs to find her way out, to find herself. Book-loving Jude books herself a “borrow a bookshop” holiday in Devon in order to give herself time to work out what her next move is. Only Jude finds that life has a habit of working itself out. For the better in Judes case.

I love the idea of borrowing a bookshop to run for a different type of holiday, maybe I will find one one day.

30 year old Jude finally finishes a university degree after giving up everything to look after her Gran. Life returns to normal at her parents bakery until she discovers her parents are selling up and Gran is off to a retirement village. Left wondering what to do with her life a booking she made a year or so ago leads to her spending 2 weeks in the "borrow a bookshop" now to me this is where it gets ridiculous the organiser finding out she is a lone guest books another guest (male) at the same time. Really!!!! Too total strangers sharing what turns out to be a one bed roomed property as if that would happen in the real world. She would be straight on to a solicitor wanting compensation. If you can get over that massive plot error it's a nice story he has a secret, they fall in love. Well written and not overly wordy

Reviewed on Facebook

The Borrow A Bookshop Holiday has the perfect way for book lovers to spend a fortnight. There is a waiting list for the adventure of running a beach side bookstore and its cafe for the two weeks. Jude and her boyfriend had been on the waiting list for a long time. Jude had just graduated from college and after the graduation ceremony, while waiting for her boyfriend to congratulate her, she catches him kissing another girl. Then her Grandmother that she had been the caregiver for, tell her that she is moving to a Senior Living Facility. This has her wondering what she is going to do with her life when the final shoe drops. Her parents are selling their bakery with the apartment above
It and retiring to go travel and enjoy life. So in a very short time, she has lost her boyfriend, her job as caregiver and her home. Fortunately her ex boyfriend calls to tell her that their has been a cancellation at the bookstore and they can go the following week. She decides that it is the perfect time for a getaway however she is going alone without the ex. While she is gone her parents move to the new smaller apartment snd head on vacation. Jude heads out with fear and excitement to her bookstore adventure. The bookstore is in a quaint little town with cobblestone streets. As she settles down for the night, a man enters the bookstore and climbs up to the apartment above. She refuses to open the door even after he had told her that he had been called to share the experience as she had come alone. He ended up going to sleep on the floor in the bookstore. The next morning after quizzing him about books she decides that he truly is a legit book lover so she agrees to share the experience. She is also very attracted to the very good looking man with the great body. After they spend several days running both the bookstore and cafe, their relationship develops.. However, he is very secretive about his past and then. They spend a very full two weeks with a lot of drama and secrets. This is a perfect fun book for any book lover. I highly recommend it.

This is another lovely read from Kiley Dunbar with the added beauty of being a love story for book lovers. Jude had been living her life for other people since she was only 17. At that tender age, she became the caretaker for her grandmother. She's resigned to her role, and doesn't begrudge it, but it's still difficult to see her peers grow up and strike out on their own while she stays home with her grandmother. Throw in a relationship that wasn't at all what she thought it was, and Jude is definitely in a rut.
Gran decides to move into a retirement home, leaving Jude, for the first time, to decide her own path in life. She ends up in a delightful Devon town called Clove Lore, where she can run a bookshop and its little cafe for two weeks. Of course, it wouldn't be a good romance unless a mix up has a single man unexpectedly show up to be her bookselling partner for that time.
Dunbar has a knack for creating dreamy settings that are just as romantic and endearing as her wonderful characters. Clove Lore and the little bookshop are a dream come true for starry-eyed book lovers. Jude herself was an absolute delight. The love she has for her family and her best friend, Daniel, makes her very easy to cheer for.
I would have liked to see a bit more interaction between her and Elliot before things took off for them, but overall, this is a warm, cozy, book that just makes you feel good. It's left me dreaming of escaping to a cozy bookshop by the sea myself. What a gorgeous thought.

A lovely gentle romance set in a beautiful seaside village. I liked the characters, the donkeys and the dog! Running a bookshop, even if only for two weeks, is many a reader's dream, but throw a handsome troubled stranger into the mix and nothing runs quite as smoothly as expected. The villagers are funny, the heroine likeable and the secret that keeps them apart is eventually revealed. An enjoyable read.

I absolutely loved this book. From the very beginning I knew I'd love it from the references of some of my favourite books. I love a book that's about other booklovers, and Jude is definitely a book lover. Its this, as well as family matters, that lead her to the bookshop holiday. I adored the setting, the characters and the story. I didn't want to put this book down and could of quite happily devoured it in one sitting if life allowed for such luxuries. I don't want to give away any spoilers, but oh my gosh I was almost in tears towards the end. This was the perfect escapism, especially in the times we are living in right now. This was also the first book from Kiley that I have read, so now I'm eager to read more.
Thank you so much to Net Galley and Hera Books for the advanced reading copy of such a fantastic book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, so much so I read it one day!!. This definitely a feel good read. I found myself in the seaside town feeling the wind on face as Jude dragged her suitcase up the steep hill to the Little Bookshop.

I love this book!!!

2.5 stars
ARC provided by Kiley Dunbar, Hera Books, and Netgalley.
I'll keep the review short and crisp.

"I don’t just mean the stories inside books, I mean the books themselves and the unfathomable loveliness of holding them in your hands , poring over the handwritten inscriptions and pretty bookplates, sniffing the pages and wondering who owned them before you. If I wasn’t needed at home – and if I had endless money, as opposed to next to no money – I’d do nothing but tour the world’s bookstores and treat myself to treasured first editions and scruffy, well-thumbed, neglected paperbacks from years gone by."


Let's talk about pros first, shall we?
1. The idea. Oh, my Goodness! This. Is. Every. Reader's. Dream. Talking about my favourite book with random people and acquainting them over books, a cup of coffee, and a plate of cookies. I'd do anything right now to go on this venture, away from this tedious and gloomy year-long lockdown.
2. Eliot. Oh! He is such a kind hearted, sweet, even swoon-worthy. I really liked him for who he is.
3. The secret. Something I haven't read in a long while and sure as hell, it was heartwarming.

Now, cons:
1. Ooh, Jude! She is delusional and mostly an arrogant bitch. I couldn't care for her less. Sometimes, she would crawl into my skin and I had to put down the book for a good amount of time.
2. Spilling the ends of some books in not so subtly way. Even if the entire world has read 1984 , I haven't, and I don't want anyone else to spoil the book for me. And, there are more books talked with their spoilers in the flow, I chose to ignore a major part of the novel whenever there was a book mentioned. Whether or not, I wish to read them.
3. The initial quarter or so of the book could easily be crammed down into a few chapters, they felt like a drag to me. I was on the verge of DNFing it, if not for the theme of the novel. I was desperate to know how the shop functions but it felt only flat later.

All in all, I read it for the sake of reading of the book and enjoyed the journey. But, I can't deny the setting or the idea of borrowing a bookshop for a fortnight and running it as my own, I loved it. I think the execution could've been better and maybe, the book wasn't entirely for me.

A lovely light read for anyone looking for a charming distraction from our present sombre world. If you are a bookworm or have ever dreamed of having your own bookshop, then this is the read for you.

I received an advance copy of, The Borrow a Bookshop Holiday, by Kiley Dunbar. I love Kiley's book and this one is no exception. Imagine going on vacation/holiday and running a book store. That is pretty much every book lovers dream.