Kate moves away to the village where her family used to live. She inherited a building where she opens a bookshop. A dream she always had. She went through a lot, her mother passed away and her relationship ended. So this is the perfect opportunity.

Across the street lives Sebastian. He also owns a bookshop. He “hates” Kate from the first moment he sees her. He’s planning a big book event. And Kate tries to connect with him. Then they discover some secrets about their great grandparents.

I loved Kate. She’s bubbly and fun. Sebastian is sexy and mysterious. But also very distant/secret. The story was well written. Some parts were fast, but other parts a bit slow. I thought I would love it more than I did, but it was still a enjoyable story. I rate it 3,5⭐️.

I read this book as an ARC through NetGalley.

Sebastian is a reserved man. Kate is bubbly and bright and…everything that Sebastian is not. She’s a beaming glimmer of sunshine, while Sebastian prefers to scowl and show no emotion.

The story is hinged on this story about their ancestors and I LOVED the ending. I don’t believe in writing spoilers in my reviews, but the ending is so so so so perfect.

The plot was so fresh and new and the way that Kate and Bas loved each other from the very first page was palpable for the readers, but to them, they hated each other. The side characters were great and world building sufficient!

The book did feel a little long in parts, but after finishing it, it felt necessary. The characters needed to work through things and they did it at their own pace. I didn’t find it to be annoying or anything because it didn’t last toooo long.

The ending was SO GOOD and this book was a great read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Headline Books for the advanced readers copy!

A book for book lovers who love to read romance books. Two rival book store owners have their shops across the street from each other and they can't stand each other. Classic story of enemy to lovers. A fun read!

Not for me. It's giving Beach Read rip off but poorly done. I can't put my finger on what was missing, the plot certainly was quite weak but I've read and enjoyed books with a flimsier plot. It just didn't grab me, and there were no stakes or characters I really cared about and therefore the romance wasn't much of a pay off.

Actual rating 3.5 stars.

So there are many things I loved about this book. I loved the plot, I loved the dynamic between our main characters, and I especially loved the mystery of the secret letters. While the mystery was a bit predictable, it really helped to lift this book from mediocre to a gripping read. I read this book in one sitting I just couldn't get enough.

Now for what made it a 3.5 rating. There was unnecessary conflict between our main characters that really took away from the story. I also felt the transition from enemies to lovers was very disjointed and affected the flow of the story. It felt like the author added in sex scenes just because and not for the benefit of the story. I personally think this book would have been better as a slow burn.

I received an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review by Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was pleasantly surprised with this book. I went into not knowing much about it. It was very cute with the rival bookshops and window decorating competition. I especially liked how Kate wormed her way into Sebastian’s festival. The ending was very quick to me with how they wrapped up all the loose ends. Overall, I’d recommend to a friend.

This was a super quick and cute read based on the ‘enemies to lovers’ trope set in a small town in the English countryside and is centered around our favorite thing, BOOKS! The characters steer heavily into tropes, but the story is well written and feels like a hallmark movie in all the best ways. If that is your vibe, then this is a book for you!
My rating: 3.5 stars

I’d like to thank NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this ARC.

**Spoiler warning**

The thing that grabbed me the most in this story was the parallel storyline about their great grandparents and their secret note passing affair. I would absolutely love to read a novella based on their story.

I loved Kate and Sebastian’s common ground of using books as a form of escapism and healing during tough times in their lives, since let’s be honest, all of us here are book nerds and have chosen to lose ourselves in a book. At times, their story felt a little lustful and less romantic in how their attraction was described. I wish Sebastian’s earlier point of view focused more on aspects of Kate’s warm charismatic personality rather than the ground shifting love at first sight vibes. Sebastian was also a little too alpha male, ‘Neanderthal-like’ for my tastes, but again that’s a trope that we see over and over again so it’s not to say it’s a bad thing it’s just not for me.

The story also at times felt a bit redundant and overly focused on the deep parallels between the storylines of the great grandparents, down to even their names, but hey sometimes this is exactly the type of vacation read we want.

When Kate finds out she’s inherited a building in the English village of Wychtree, she’s so excited for the fresh start it can give her. She recently left her emotionally abusive boyfriend and can now follow her lifelong dream of opening a bookshop. Only there’s already a grumpy (and HOT) bookseller in town who’s none to pleased to see her.

Sebastian is the fourth-generation owner of Blackwood Books, and desperately trying to keep the shop afloat after his father ran it into the ground. The last thing he needs is sunshiney competition across the street to put the final nail in the bookshop coffin. Especially since he can’t seem to stay away from Kate… When they’re thrown together to plan a book festival and uncover a long-lost love story, the plot truly begins.

There are so many things to love about this book! The simmering tension between Kate and Sebastian, the love letters they discover, the small-town love and vibes, all the fun characters. I went back and forth on loving/hating each character—sometimes it went a bit too far with Sebastian’s so-called inability to love. I loved how they learned about their family histories and grew closer in the process. Without saying too much, how could they not have figured out the family mystery much earlier in the book? That was the only real complaint I had.

Overall, this was the perfect read for book lovers and coziness, with some steam too!

Sadly not for me, this one. The wrong choice on my part. It’s too cutesie and schmalzy, I couldn’t warm to either character, I felt they were like walking cliches.
I enjoy a good romcom that has a bit of ‘meat’ on the bones of the story, this one did not, it’s just too simplistic for my taste. I’m sure it will appeal to many readers, just not this one. A DNF sadly.
My thanks Netgalley and the publisher for my advance copy of this book.

This was cute and I got caught up in the story, but found it a bit repetitive at times especially with Kate’s backstory. Sebastian’s sections were also a little alpha male for my taste

I wanted to like this so bad, with it being about rival bookshop owners and all, but this was just not it for me.

Why is Sebastian’s character so inconsistent? His voice in text messages goes from being normal and a bit moody to saying the most random stuff that’s not in line with his character! He’s basically against the whole idea of a relationship and is hiding his feelings towards Kate, for the majority of the book and then he just says randomly straightforward things that don’t fit his character.

I also did not get why he was embarrassed to be seen reading a book that wasn’t lit fic in public? Sir, you literally own a bookshop. I just think I got annoyed because I hate when people look down on other genres. Reading is reading people!! Let’s stop judging people for their taste in books.

This did get a couple points for mentioning The Murderbot Diaries though.

This wasn’t as bad as I’m making it sound, it was pretty cute at times, but I think overall I felt like the writing was a little inconsistent! That being said, I did read an ARC and a couple of these things could be changed before publication.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for a review!

Grumpy vs. Sunshine, enemies to lovers, rival bookstore owners, family mysteries. What is not to love?

Kate opens a bookstore across the street from Sebastian, leading to instant disdain as well as attraction. As Kate weasels her way into planning a local literary festival, they find intriguing letters hinting at a long last romance.

This was a cute read. It's spicy, but not overly so. I loved the way the two main characters' stories mimicked their great grandparents and how their lives intertwined. I also appreciated the love letters at the beginning of each chapter.

This was a solid read overall, hitting many high points. I would have loved an epilogue and more of what happened after the festival. I'd love to see sequels from other village characters, such as Dr. Dan.

Thank you to netgalley and headline eternal for this advance reader copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This one was cute! And fun! I think my favorite part was the setting. The mmc is the grumpiest grump which isn’t always my fav but I know I’m in the minority there. I loved our FMC! This is for fans of book lovers by Emily Henry, which is oneof my favs.

If you enjoy the rivals to lovers trope and liked Emily Henry's Book People, I would give this a try.

It's cute, funny and the characters are in a cozy town for a book festival. It's fun and enjoyable, with plenty of humor and heart. The rivalry between the two and them figuring out the family feud was interesting. The characters are fully developed, though get in their own way a lot.

The writing is lovely and flows nicely.

Would recommend.

This was a cute contemporary fictional novel. I liked it because it's a popular thing in the groups to talk about "Book boyfriends". It's very cool to see the idea come alive with this authors book.

3.5 rounded up. There's a little too much back and forthing on the "but what shall we do about actually HAVING FEELINGS????" but otherwise this is very charming. Could see many of the plot twists coming but it was actually fairly reassuring and fun to learn the backstories. Would like to visit small town England, with all its rival bookstores, but that's pretty much a given.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley.

This fun, quirky rom com was a perfect pick me up. I found myself laughing with the characters and the story is beautifully written. I would highly recommend this book for anyone who loves You've Got Mail.

this cover? cute. the romance was good, i do feel the ending was a bit rushed but still good nonetheless. i would definitely read more from this author.

I enjoyed this lovely romance about two people who start off as business rivals, and working through a self discovery journey, they find much more than hate and anger in their hearts.

Because I recieved this as an arc copy there are a lot of formatting issues that should be resolved by the time it's released. I also struggled with some of the UK sayings, being from the US, but nothing terrible.

Overall I recommend for a quick romantic read with some spice. It was extremely cute and the banter was great.

Will propel you to your happy place. A must read!… Feel-good romance… Truly heart-warming… Such a cute read! I started and finished in one day – what can I say?