This was such a cute queer rom-com!! I absolutely loved the setting - a queer bookstore in Hay-on-Wye, which is a town full of bookstores! It really had the cozy small town vibes & I loved reading about the daily life of a bookseller! The interactions with the customers of a queer bookstore were so wholesome! I also adored the two main characters, and I really liked that the love interest was an author (bookseller x author?? so cute!!). I really liked their romance and I was rooting for them throughout the whole book. The story also includes some complicated family dynamics, which I think gave the book more depth and complexity and I appreciated that. Overall I think this was a perfect Christmas/winter read and I would highly recommend it!!

Look Up, Handsome by Jack Strange is a debut novel.

Quinn owns and runs 'Kings and Queens', a queer book shop, in the small picturesque town of Hay-on-Wye in Wales. When his shop comes under threat from a local developer, Quinn is unsure of where to turn for help.

Noah Sage made it out of Hay-on-Wye after a scandal involving his film star mother made his school life a misery. Now a successful romance author, he's a local success story - could he be what (or who) Quinn needs to help save his shop?

Quinn's huge crush on Noah won't be an issue, of course...

Unfortunately, this one wasn't for me. While I loved the setting, I found myself not really caring about Quinn or his shop. I felt like the shop was his entire personality, and I didn't know much about him other than that he was a gay bookseller with a crush on a gay author.

I had a similar problem with Noah - he was a celebrated gay author, but he was writing straight romance? And we expected him to come to bat for Quinn, a stranger, when he had never publicly stood up for his own mother when she was ostracised by the townsfolk for something out of her control?

By the time Matty came in to the story, I was ready to give up, but I wanted to see it through because it is a debut novel by a queer author, which I'll always try and support. Unfortunately, it continued to drag and took me several days to finish because I just didn't want to go back to it. In hindsight, I probably should just have DNF'ed it.

I think that the storyline with Noah's mother could have worked as the main story - I found her really interesting and I thought there were some great points made about the parallels between how women and gay men in the public eye are treated. I also loved the pop culture references.

I would, and will, read more by this author, because even though this one didn't work for me, I liked his writing style and I really liked the setting.

Sincere thanks to One More Chapter (who I won't tag) for granting me access to read this on Netgalley, apologies for not being able to leave a more positive review.

I was craving a sweet holiday romance and Look Up, Handsome delivered the goods. The setting of this book was wonderful. I’ve never visited Hay-on-Wye, but this book had such a gorgeous community atmosphere that made me want to be there myself.

Quinn, the owner of Hay-on-Wye’s only queer bookstore, is desperate to save his business from the clutches of his monstrous step father. The descriptions of the bookstore made me infinitely jealous of those who got to regularly browse the contents of the bookshelves. I need a bookstore like Kings and Queens in my life. The community that developed around the store, the important stories that were shared there, the support that the staff gave those who were exploring themes of gender and sexuality, and the way the customers came together to help save the business, were all so heartwarming.

I loved the romance between Quinn and Noah. Their relationship progressed slowly due to several obstacles that they had to overcome. I enjoyed their chemistry and think they were a wonderful pair. Yet, I have to be honest. It was Noah’s mother Hermione who stole the show. I absolutely adored Hermione and how her character progressed throughout the novel. I really appreciated the conversations around how women are treated in the media, and how Hermione has been misunderstood.

This is the perfect holiday romance for those looking for something feel-good that has a community atmosphere. Thank you to the publisher for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I wasn't sure about this book at the beginning. I found the wet pants 'drama' a little odd and unengaing. But, I was quickly won over by the cast of characters, the ethos behind the book and the history of Hay-On-Wye woven into the world of the story. I ended up enjoying the book and already have a friend in mind to gift this to as a Christmas read next year.

I liked the holiday vibes and fast pace of this book. The romance was really nice. This pageturner was a nice winter read

*DNF at 26%*

This was definitely…
a debut!

The writing wasn’t great and i feel as though the plot was dumped on me instead of actually learning about the characters and their predicaments. There was a lot of talk about zodiac signs and I find that I in-fact do not care if you’re a pisces and you cry a lot. Maybe you’re just a little bitch.

This gives very hallmark vibes and I’m sure it has it’s audience but I can’t let the bad writing slide to be able to finish or enjoy this

Thank you One More Chapter and NetGalley for the eARC of Look Up, Handsome! All opinions in this review are my own.

This was the Christmas romance I was looking for! I love how Quinn is bookshop owner and Noah is a bestselling author. I love that it is set in a town full of bookshops and how people come together to save Quinn's bookshop. I can't recommend Look Up, Handsome enough!

Intro

Hay-On-Wye is on the verge of losing its only queer bookshop, and the owner, Quinn, has no idea what he's going to do.

This close to Christmas, Quinn can't believe that he's being evicted by his own stepfather, and it feels like he'll need a miracle to make it through to the new year with his shop still in his possession.

Quinn had no idea that help would come in the form of Noah, a handsome and famous novelist who just so happens to be visiting his hometown for the holidays. Quinn will take all the help that Noah is willing to give, and he wouldn't complain if he happened to fall in love along the way.

Thoughts

I really thought that I would love this cozy, Hallmark feeling, read. The story had potential, but too many things missed the mark for me. Most notably, I didn't feel any chemistry between Noah and Quinn. Obviously for a romance centered story, this is bad news. I feel like they had a few awkward and dry conversations, and started to call that falling in love. I didn't even really buy that they would have had chemistry as friends. I was constantly waiting to feel a connection growing between the two of them in a way that would be at all noteworthy, but I finished the book without feeling any kind of spark that would have made me actually care about the relationship.

Another thing that was tough for me was that the plot felt very repetitive at times. Quinn would panic about losing his shop, plan an event to raise community awareness, and then wait for Noah to show up, either at the event or at Quinn's apartment after.

I feel like a lot of the repetitiveness was hard to get through because the author tended to do a lot of telling instead of showing. This also felt like it diluted the chance of a good Hermione/ghostwriting subplot, which I would have loved to go deeper into.

Overall, this one missed the mark for me because I didn't feel connected to any of the characters. It had good potential, but ultimately fell short of execution.

Such a fun read! Loveable main characters, beautiful location and wonderful storytelling. Thank you, Jack for a hearty romance!

Many thanks to the publisher and the author for providing me with the eARC.

Enjoyable christmas read, loved the characters of Quinn and Noah. Set around a book shop and small town comforts. It was a fantastic debut book that had me wanting to know what happens next.

Thank you so much for this holiday read! I absolutely love any LGBTQ+ reads for the holidays and this was no exception. It will go on my December repeats list for sure.

I absolutely loved this!

I actually read this while on holiday in Hay-on-Wye and it captured the setting so beautifully.

I did love Quinn a lot, but I struggled to connect to Noah - I think potentially being dual POV would have been effective to help readers connect to Noah a little more.

That being said though, it was a heart-warming read and worth it for the setting alone!

Thank you so much to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the arc. 🫶🏻

Although this was not my favourite queer holiday rom-com read, it was a good one!

Hay-on-Wye, a small town famous for its bookish history and present-day attractions, is definitely one I'd like to visit. Quinn, owner of Kings and Queens, the town's only queer bookstore (in a historic church nonetheless! love that!) is under threat of eviction from developers restoring the town's historic castle wanting to renovate the old chuch as part of the restoration/tourist attraction. To make matters worse: they want him out by Christmas Eve...

I typically prefer dual-POV in romance but I think being told from Quinn's POV only was a positive, and I think the writing style/Quinn's inner-monologue would suit audiobook narration really well. I loved how central the bookstore was to the plot, Quinn's friendship with Ivy, the display of community support for Kings and Queens, and the subplot involving our love interest's mother and her past. Unfortunately, I really didn't care much for the Noah, said love interest, or feel the chemistry between them; a slow burn romance saved me here.

Also, wtf is wrong with working at a bookstore when you're 30, Harold?!

Content warning for death of a parent (past, off-screen), death via car accident (past, off-screen), discussions of being filmed sexually without consent, family conflict around the holiday season

This festive LGBTQ+ romcom was a hit!. The story follows Quinn, the owner of a struggling queer bookshop, and Noah, a romantic novelist stranded in town during a snowstorm. Tropes include forced proximity and grumpy/sunshine. There is a natural blend on humor, romance, and Christmas vibes making it a delightful holiday read!

Sincere thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was so excited for this when I found out it involved a queer bookshop and Christmastime! I loved the vibes in this book and found Quinn so relatable. I would definitely recommend for the holiday season!

I adore the premise of this--an MM bookstore rom-com set in HAY?! Yes, please. However, I didn't love the book as much as I'd hoped, mostly because the love interest grated on me for awhile. I also didn't fully gel with the narrative/author's sense of humor, which is a stumbling block for me with a lot of contemporary rom-coms.

This was a cute MM romance between a book seller in a small town and an author from that town who made it big. The book seller is fighting not to be Evicted from the store by his step father.

The cast of characters is great. I always love good friends and family side characters. The only weak spot was the ending. It was the ending the book needed, but some of the wrapping up of the issues came in really unbelievable ways.

Really cute premise with a cosy setting but the writing and characters fell very flat for me. I just didn’t like the main character at all and the dialogue felt unnatural

DNF @25%. I really wanted to like this book - the premise sounded fantas, I'm always on the lookout for more queer romance, and the fact that it's set in Wales made it even more exciting. But the writing was just chaotic - we're constantly jumping from one thing to the next, and there's too much telling rather than showing. Plus, I didn't really feel that the characters had any depth as individuals, or chemistry together.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy of this e-arc

I am always quite skeptical of holiday related books as I feel like some have no depth. This one does though which has me hooked throughout. Immediately Quinn had a physical attraction to Noah which I think was handled well and they didn’t cross any lines that they shouldn’t have.

It was an impactful read that shared many people’s stories in relation to sec and sexual orientation.

A solid 3.75 stars from me