Book People is an enemies/rivals to lovers, grumpy-sunshine romance.

I wasn't sure how I felt about this book at first. I almost DNF it because of the beginning.....Honestly, Kate annoyed me at first. She moves into the small village and opens up a bookstore right across the street from Sebastian's bookstore, which steals half his customers and she doesn't understand why he's annoyed/hates her. Then, he has an idea of having a book festival to help his now dying bookstore. Kate finds out about it and pretty much says he needs to include her shop or she's having a festival the same time as his and again is stealing half his customers. I would have been angry and not talking to her as well. But I'm glad I stuck with it and kept reading, because I did end up loving it at the end.

While I didn't love or get Sebastian's and Kate's chemistry in the beginning...because there wasn't any. If it wasn't for the dual POV, you would have never known they even liked each other....I did love them together towards the end. I loved the backstory of Sebastian's great grandfather writing secret love notes back a forth to a mystery woman. That's pretty much what kept me reading. To find out who the mystery woman was and by then I started to fall for Sebastian and Kate together also.

Overall, It's a super cute, cozy romance. Read if you like:
📚Rival bookshop owners
📚Enemies-to-lovers
📚Small-town setting
📚Grumpy-sunshine
📚Forced proximity
📚Dual POV

Thank you Netgalley and Headline publishing for this eArc in exchange for my honest review

OMG this book was so good. I love an enemies to lovers and this one did it for me. Kate and Sebastian were soooooo right on so many levels. Rivals who realize there is a fine line between love and hate. THE KISS? bye the kiss had me going crazyyyy. read this! its so cute n fun, would recommend

A book, about book lovers who own bookstores, fall for each other and while that happens they host a book festival and uncover old letters about old family members.

A literal dream. I’m sorry but I would love to live in a small village and own a bookstore and fall for a fellow bookstore owner in the same village.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it was so different to any books I’ve read and I was hooked on every aspect of the story.

The banter, the romance, the tension, just everything was done so well!

‘Of course she loves it. This woman doesn’t need a bed. A bookshelf is fine…’

I really wanted to love, but it felt short a little bit for me. I think it was trying to be Book Lovers by Emily Henry. Still not a bad read.

This was super cute! Love bookish books, they just hit. Plus the small town, forced proximity? I knew I was gonna eat this up before I even started.

Jackie Ashenden is a new to me author and it was so lovely! I'm a sucker for a grumpy MMC but it has to be done right, they can't be too mean or standoffish or else it's just offputting. Sebastian was the perfect kind of grumpy MMC, the kind that makes you swoon. 4 stars for this book!

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Book 99/100: This book has everything I want in a book: literary references, enemies to lovers, family secrets, small town vibes, a book about books and bookshops! I loved it!

Thank you @netgalley for my copy!

#bookpeople #bookpeoplebook #portablemagicbookstore

This was a cute and enjoyable read, a lovely end to 2024! It was a nice romance with the grumpy x sunshine trope and although it took me a fair amount of time to read, it was still good.

The characters are well developed, for example the two main characters; Kate and Sebastian, each have their own backstories, motivations and reasons why they act as they do. Sebastian is the grumpy, broody, insufferable at first MMC we love. Kate is the cute, funny, happy FMC we love. This is a slow burn romance, and it is sloooow, which I get, but sometimes slow burn can be TOO slow.

I really liked the premise of the book, two people owning bookshops opposite each other, becoming rivals and have petty windows display wars. It’s a very cosy and cutesy read, a little predictable in some parts but still throughly enjoyable. There were moments that felt kind of slow, not the romance, just the story in general, I found myself skimming and having to go back to actually take in the words.

Overall, despite the minor pacing issues and the too slow romance, everything else was incredible. A good book if you love slow burn, grumpy x sunshine and small town romances.

"Book People" by Jackie Ashenden is a delightful enemies-to-lovers romance with a charming setting. The witty banter between Kate and Sebastian, the rival bookstore owners, is a highlight, and their slow-burn attraction keeps you hooked. The story is a heartwarming celebration of books and the communities they foster, making it a perfect read for book lovers.

I especially enjoyed the unexpected twist involving a shared family secret, which added an intriguing layer to their already captivating relationship.

Thank you NetGalley, Headline Eternal, and Jackie Ashenden for the early access copy of Book People.

Book People is a dual point-of-view romance told by the perspectives of Kate and Sebastian. Set in a small town, Kate returns home to her roots where she opens a genre based bookstore opposite Sebastian’s literary bookstore. With heated exchanges by rival bookshop owners, the two must figure out how to work together for an upcoming literary festival. With high tension, literary references, and a small town mystery, Book People was hard to put down.

Book People will be a great fit for those who are fans of:
Dual POV’s
Enemies-to-lovers
Small-town setting
Grumpy-sunshine dynamic
Forced proximity

This is a fun romcom for book lovers who enjoy cozy bookstores, romance, and family secrets. I recommend this book for those who enjoy the enemies-to-lovers trope. Thanks to Netgalley for the arc!

So cute. I love a book about books or a bookstore or writers. This book hit a couple of those. And it was a rom com. Cozy vibes and banter

Imagine a small village. It has a very traditional bookshop that has been in one family for generations. It prides itself on being serious and is run by a Darcy like owner.

Imagine that a new bookshop opens and that it is right across the street. It is run by an Elizabeth Bennett like young woman. She stocks all of the genre books that a reader might dream about. She also offers many types of meetings and activities.

Imagine also that there is going to be a book event that these two may need to both embrace. And…imagine sparks flying in what is justifiably described as a “spicy” romance title.

Add to all of this, a collection of love notes from the traditionalist’s great grandfather and a mystery woman. They refer to each other as H and C-Wuthering Heights anyone? They add some intrigue to the plot.

Mix all of thesetogether to find an enjoyable read that will appeal to its intended audience. There may not be suspense but there most definitely is fun in these pages.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Headline for this title. All opinions are my own.

I was drawn to this book because I love to read and I seem to be choosing books that are about book sellers, librarians and writers lately. I enjoyed the enemies to lovers troupe, with two book sellers as the main characters, at the beginning but then it just seemed to drag on a bit. It was much more complicated than a simple enemies to lovers but just went on too long in my opinion.

Thank you Net Galley, Jackie Ashenden and Headline Publishing for the opportunity to preview this title. The opinions shared are my own.

Book People is expected to be released on Jan. 28, 2025.

Something about this book just didn’t click with me. I loved the premise, a book about books but just found the main characters very two dimensional. I really didn’t like Sebastian and found Kate to be a bit of an airhead. I really enjoyed the small back story of the great grandparents but that wasn’t enough to save it for me.

I had a difficult time choosing between giving 3 or 4 stars, but overall, I just personally wasn't quite as into it as I'd have hoped. I didn't particularly warm to either Kate or Sebastian, although they are both likeable characters.

Having said that, this is a sweet romance (with a dash of spice) that will appeal to any fellow book lovers. I did really enjoy Ashenden's writing and look forward to reading more of her work.

If you like a small-town, bookish romance, then this is the book for you!

Book People gets off to a good start, but I didn’t feel like it offered anything new or especially interesting. This is a rivals to lovers story with some steaminess, but it didn’t do much for me.

I love book themed books. I love small town romance. So this one was a win for me! Cute banter and all. My first book by this author and I was impressed!

Hot, steamy and sensual! Book People is a smutty romance about two rival booksellers in a small village. We navigate their enemies to lovers journey as they work out how to plan and deliver a literary festival. Kate Jones is our sunshine character - bubbly, bright, and innovative who just can't understand why Sebastian Blackwood, the towns aloof and reclusive literary snob, doesn't like her.

I was hooked by the characters and the premise from the get go. I loved seeing how the main characters communicated and how their relationship changed across the book. The two ultimately complimented each other perfectly! My only gripe being the "alpha male" behaviour that Ashenden loves to write about gets ramped up too far at times in this. While it makes sense for one of the characters to be like this, it isn't really in character for the main lead.

A throughly engaging romance and a fantastic read!

Book People by Jackie Ashenden is both an enjoyable enemies to lovers romance and a love letter to books themselves.

Book People is the story of Kate and Sebastian, rival book sellers in a small town setting (already sounds good tight?!). Kate is looking for a fresh start after leaving her job and abusive ex in London, following the death of her mother. Despite everything she’s been through she’s strong and determined, very much the sunshine to the grumpy Sebastian, who feels himself cursed by the Blackwood name to live alone and so has chosen to close himself off. Yet the pair are forced to work together in the name of reviving the villages literature festival. In doing so they uncover a mystery that brings them closer together, and really can one steamy kiss really hurt?!

There are so many well known and well loved tropes going on in this one, we’ve got:
📖 small town setting - Wychtree is the type of village where everyone knows your business and gossip travels fast
📚 opposite attract/grumpy sunshine
📖 rival bookshop owners - their love of books flows through the pages
📚 enemies to lovers - though it’s clear they’ve each been attracted to one another from the start but fighting it
📖 (spoiler alert) the ex receiving a good punch from a very protective (though somewhat possessive MMC)
📚 a great romantic subplot with the discovery of some lost letters - this whole storyline was one of my favourite parts of the novel

I enjoyed this one and it was certainly a quick and easy read. The building chemistry between the MCs was good and worked well. I preferred Kate out the MCs, she felt more real and had more to her. Sebastian was a decent enough MMC but I found him to be a little more flat and more of a caricature, he was rather repetitive in his brooding; he worked better when with Kate than when on his own.

I really enjoyed the build up to the festival and how much Ashenden’s love of all things books shone through. Overall this was a solid read that I enjoyed.

Book store rivals.
Enemies to lovers.
Say no more.

Owning a bookstore is a dream, and to read a story of someone owning a bookstore is like eating an entire bag of candy. Really good candy, ok.
I enjoyed this one! It followed two bookstore rivals who have shops across from each other. Kate, owner of Portable Magic, is the sunshining neighbor to Sebastian, owner of Blackwood Books. Reluctantly, (on Sebastian's end) they both wind up working together in planning a book festival for their town. Along the way there is banter, angst, a mystery of love letters, and the enemies do become lovers.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for giving me a chance to read this arc. Above is my honest review, and will be posting it to Goodreads. See below for link.