Zwei Buchläden, zwei völlig unterschiedliche Menschen – und trotzdem funkt es! Kate liebt cozy Romance, Sebastian schwört auf anspruchsvolle Literatur. Ihre Läden liegen direkt gegenüber, ihre Ansichten könnten nicht gegensätzlicher sein – und doch entwickelt sich eine Liebesgeschichte, die eigentlich nicht funktionieren dürfte.

Das Buch ist eine kleine Liebeserklärung ans Lesen und zeigt, wie unterschiedlich Buchfans sein können. Die Rückblicke in die Vergangenheit der Buchläden geben der Story Tiefe, während die schlagfertigen Dialoge und witzigen Nebenfiguren für Leichtigkeit sorgen.

Manchmal dreht sich die Handlung etwas im Kreis, aber insgesamt eine süße, charmante Romance – perfekt für alle Bücherliebhaber!

Jackie Ashenden has been a long-time favourite author of mine, especially for some of her earlier more erotic romances. Book People is a small-town contemporary romance about two rival booksellers, but there are some interesting family secrets that add some mystery and atmosphere to the story, making it a very enjoyable and entertaining read.

Kate Jones has inherited a property in Wychtree, England, a picture-perfect English Village. As a former book editor, she’s always wanted to own a bookshop so she’s opened one herself, named Portable Magic. She stocks all kinds of popular fiction and rotates her window display regularly to feature a fiction genre. Across the street is another bookshop, Blackwood books, run by Sebastian Blackwood. It’s been passed down through his family and stocks non-fiction and literary novels, more high-brow affairs than what Kate’s got.

Sebastian is not pleased, to say the least, that there is another bookshop in their small town. After all, even when residents wanted some popular fiction, they’d always order it through him. But now they are going to Kate’s store instead, costing him sales. And it’s been a financially stressful time lately, not helped by having a rival bookshop to contend with. Plus Kate is just so annoyingly beautiful and friendly and charming – nothing at all like Sebastian’s reserved character.

But the two bookshop owners can’t keep out of each other’s circles for too long, especially when Kate hears that Sebastian is organizing a literary festival that she wants to be a part of. And when Sebastian’s headliner drops out, he has no choice but to accept Kate’s help with arranging another guest author, regardless of how he feels about her personally. And how he feels is …complicated.
As Kate and Sebastian plan the festival, they also get to know each other and Kate discovers Sebastian isn’t as cold as he looks. In fact, things between them get quite heated. And when they discover some historical letters that contain hints of a forbidden romance, they work at solving the mystery of the love affair together, discovering a window into a shared past. Can these two rivals find a way to help both their bookstores and get their own happy ending?

I was charmed by this story from the outset! Enemies to lovers and opposites attract tropes blend well together and that’s what we have here for Kate and Sebastian. I loved the idea of two bookstores that cater to different customers collaborating together to ensure the survival of both, and the sexy romance between Kate and Sebastian unfolds at a brisk pace once they admit their attraction to each other.

I also really liked the historical mystery that they work on together. Each chapter begins with a quote from one of the letters of the couple involved in the forbidden romance. Learning about the couple who wrote the letters helps Kate and Sebastian come to terms with some of the more tragic events that have shaped their own lives. The overall result is a page-turning, enjoyable story that I’m happy to recommend to bibliophiles and contemporary romance readers who like a little mystery with their romance.

This review will be posted at All About Romance and feedback updated with the link.

I truly love any book written about book lovers/book shops/ author rivalry etc. This was a cute lighthearted read but I kinda wanted to slap Sebastian and felt their hate turned to lust way too fast. But still, and easy read.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Headline Eternal for this eARC; the review is my own.*

I very much want to rate this book a full 4 stars, but I'm going to have to give it 3.5 because of content (see Notes). That said, I really did enjoy reading it. I seem to really love books about people who love books. It's not just a story about rival bookshop owners falling in love (though it most definitely is that); it's about two people helping each other realize that they're worthy of love while learning about the history shared between their ancestors.

Sebastian (32) and Kate (?) are a grumpy/sunshine pairing. They don't seem like they should work, but they do, and they balance each other out quite nicely. It was fun watching the people in the village watch them, and I can 100% imagine everyone gossiping about them and their "secret" non-relationship when they weren't present.

I liked the main and supporting characters, and the dialogue flowed naturally. I could imagine this would make a great movie and can see a lot of the scenes play out in my head (like Sebastian storming into Portable Magic and ordering everyone out). This is the first book I've read by this author, but I'll check out what else she has.

Note: Some swearing, but a lot of f words. A few open-door sex scenes.

What a delight this book was!

I love anything that's based in England - I always get the visual of cozy little towns, and this village was painted in that exact light.

Kate has fled London after ending a long term relationship with her narcissistic ex-boyfriend. She was left behind a property in the village her family grew up in for generations. With a chance to start over, she opens her book store. What could go wrong? Oh, that's right, there's a grumpy bookseller that owns a shop right across the way from her. Sebastian comes from a long line of booksellers and he can't believe bubbly Kate has opened a shop across the way. He's not one for people and quite reserved so when they cross paths and have to work together, how will it pan out?

I adored the difference in their two shops and how moody Sebastian was about Kate's bubbly personality and how she was always peopling.

The added bonus of this book was the history of their families that they discovered together! Honestly, this book could easily be a film, it read that way to me. Great chemistry, great banter, some emotional moments, too. I do wish the last 25% or so didn't move so quickly but I get it, we can't make books last forever.

Thank you Netgalley and Headline Eternal for the free eARC!

Well, I loved the hell out of this book. A true Sunshine to Grumpy trope with the most delicious tension throughout as these two rival bookstore owners in a small English town fall for each other.

Sunshine Kate Jones and Grumpy Sebastian Blackwood own rival bookstores directly across the street from each other. His is highbrow, literary and stuffy; hers is playful, genre and full of life. He can’t stand her. She thinks he’s an arrogant bastard. But his bookstore is in trouble and the book festival he’s planning is in jeopardy when the headliner he planned pulls out. Enter Kate F*ing Jones, who insists she and her bookstore be included in the festival. And, much to Sebastian’s surprise and dismay, she just might save his festival, his bookstore and him.

Read this book. Buy this book. I hope you love it just as much as I did. ❤️

A steamy romance between rival bookstore owners who hate each other? Sign me up!

This books premise is highly marketable and intriguing, unfortunately the story itself fell a little flat for me. I was not a fan of Sebastian which made it hard to root for their relationship which moved really quickly. Overall, the romance just kinda missed the mark for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Headline for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This charming, quirky romcom was the perfect pick-me-up! I found myself laughing along with the characters, completely swept up in their story. Kate and Sebastian were *incredible*-their chemistry crackled on every page, making their enemies to lovers dynamic even more addictive.

The grumpy x sunshine trope mixed with rival bookshop owners in a cozy small-town setting? Absolute perfection. The book festival subplot was a fantastic way to force them together, leading to so many fun, tension-filled moments. Plus, the subtle mystery element added an extra layer of intrigue.

Beyond the romance, the characters were beautifully developed, making their journeys feel real and relatable. Kate’s past relationships brought a deeper emotional weight to the story, handled with just the right touch.

If you love *You’ve Got Mail* or bookish romances in general, I *highly* recommend this one-it’s sweet, well-written, and completely unputdownable!

Thanks to NetGalley and Headline for an Advanced Reader Copy - pub date 1/28/2025. You want enemies to lovers? Here you go. This one is very much that trope with a dressing of books, a quaint English village, and a smattering of family history mystery. Oh, and some serious emotional baggage and work. Because our heroine Kate has retreated to Wychtree to rebuild herself after losing her mother to cancer and realizing that she had also lost herself to a narcissistic douche-bro-boyfriend. Naturally, she has a lot of work to do and she's doing it in the building inherited from her mother, starting her dream genre bookstore Portable Magic. Unfortunately, it is opposite the rather more elitist Blackwood Books and its owner Sebastian who, while hot, is not a friendly person.

Of course, as we expected, one of the reasons of his super grumpy to her super sunshine is because he is crazy attracted to her. What we could not have expected is that he believes in the Blackwood Men's Curse (ie their women always leave them) with his whole chest. Yeah. I know. He's got work to do, too.

Personally, I would have been more upset with Kate strictly from a "are you a dope?" standpoint. Who opens another bookshop directly across from the already long-established one in a small village? I don't care if you do GENRE and think the other store only does high brow. Do a little research, woman! At least she admits that she barely put any effort or thought into location and consequences and research beforehand. Points to her for honesty.

Honesty is a big theme in this book and it is a good one. Especially for a romance novel. Both characters do a pretty good job of being honest with each other EXCEPT for the whole "I've fallen for you thing" but they get points for trying.

All in all, I am torn on this book. Parts of it were wonderful and the sweet family mystery (while I 100% figured it out early) was a nice little extra tidbit. Facing broken families and acknowledging generational trauma and kicking a narcissist to the curb were also excellent points. However, the two main characters are hit or miss. Like I said, I really hold it against Kate for barging in with her bookstore and then being surprised Pikachu over Sebastian being less than welcoming. That said, Sebastian is incredibly rude. Then there's his Alpha Male behavior which is kind of creepy at times (but hilarious when his BFF literally calls him out on it by name). Also if I had to hear one more time about the Blackwood Men's Curse...

So I think your mileage will vary on this one, depending on how you like your tropes. Tall Dark and Grumpy meets Buxom Blonde and Sunshiney. Your Baggage Could Work With Mine. Fate Is A Funny Thing. You see it, right? :) For me, it was a generally fun read but probably won't be a re-read.

Do you love books? Do you love small town vibes? This book might be one to check out! I enjoyed this cute story and small town vibes are my favorite. Two bookstore rivals have some heat!

I found these two disproportionately intense. Very 0-100. The build up and chemistry just wasn’t there for me outside of Sebastian’s moodiness and horniness.

Kate and Sebastian are rival bookshop owners. Kate is outgoing and always with a smile on her face while Sebastian is more grumpy and definitely doesn't like Kate or what she's doing with her shop. When Sebastian re-start a book festival for the town, Kate force herself as one of the organiser to lighten up the program with more activities geared toward a wider audience. Sebastian can't avoid Kate anymore, and the two start spending more time together, which reveals there is more than meet the eyes to their reciprocal hate.

I was attracted to this book by the rivalry between the bookshops and couldn't wait to see the romance. While I enjoyed it, I found the story to have a more serious vibe and the romance was not as explosive as I usually like it. It was still good and I enjoyed both the characters' personal growths and the development in their relationship as well.

Kate, the owner of the cozy bookshop Portable Magic, “came to Wychtree to find her joy again after her mother’s death and four years in an awful relationship.” But what she found across the street is an enemy. Sebastian Blackwood, owner of the highbrow Blackwood Books bookstore, filled with award winning and rare books, classics, and TRUE crime (not cozy mysteries), refuses to speak to or acknowledge her, which is especially annoying because, as she says, “he is annoyingly hot.”
Both of them are trying to make enough sales to keep their bookstores alive, as they share the same dream of running a successful bookstore. Sebastian doesn't want to lose the family legacy of the bookstore, and Kate is trying to make a new life for herself after her mother's death, while she also seeks to uncover why her mother left this town when she was a baby. Meanwhile Sebastian is trying to hide from everyone the secret genre of books he loves most…

A romantic dramedy absolutely perfect for anyone who loves enemies-to-lovers fiction set in a small English town, or anyone who ever dreamt of owning and running their own bookstore.
“…with a book I was never lonely, and with a book I was never afraid. With a book I had friends and adventures, and I lived in a castle or in a tree or in an underwater city…”

I received this ARC from Net Galley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are mine and do not necessarily reflect that of the publisher, author, or affiliates.

This was an enjoyable book, although I wasn't expecting the raunchy parts to be quite so detailed! It was a sweet light hearted romance book. I liked the added historical mystery element also.

Kate Jones left her big-city publishing job and emotionally constipated ex to open a genre-based bookstore across the street from the only other bookstore in town. Sebastian Blackwood only sells "serious" works of literature, yet when Kate Jones moves in, both his business, and his no-dating-anyone-in-town rule are threatened. When Kate finds out Sebastian is planning a literature festival for their small town without her, she decides to confront him and his passive-agressive, genre-hating window displays.

As much as I enjoy the grumpy/sunshine, he reads literary she reads genre set-up, I struggled to slog through Book People . When compared to other trending contemporary romance titles, I felt the leads fell flat, with protagonist Kate often coming across more like ML Sebastian's manic-pixie dream girl instead of a fully fleshed out character in her own right. Book People had all the makings of a cheesy Hallmark movie, but sadly lacked the charm.

We love books that are about characters who love books, in this fun romantic comedy we meet Kate and Sebastian who sweep their chemistry in every bookish reference they make even when they have a rivalry.

This grumpy/sunshine in the small town with a clear big love of books is perfect for anyone who loves to have an amazing time.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this ARC.

I can’t do it. I wanted to. I wanted to love this book. I’m a huge sucker for enemies to lovers but there’s no enemies in here. Just a man who is gate keeping book shops and acting like a grown child. He’s so insufferable and just wants nothing more than to act superior. He hates her so much and yet can’t stop talking about doing things to her. Nah. DNF’d at 25%.

I enjoyed parts of this, but overall it didn't feel memorable. It took me longer to read because as I got further into the story, I just wasn't super invested or excited to pick it up.

I did not enjoy this book. From the beginning, it’s clear the MMC needs therapy - and not in a hot, broody, morally gray way. He’s trying to convince himself he’s not attracted to his neighbor slash rival, but does so through misogynistic ways. The FMC is coming out of a toxic relationship, and there’s a lot of parallels drawn, intended to make our MMC look better - but even that’s not enough to redeem him.

At no point does it get better - there’s little plot, there’s no logical build up between the characters (goes quite literally from all to nothing), and there’s a lot of needless miscommunication.

Also, there was one pretty big “plot twist”, but it was pretty obvious early on, which was frustrating from a reader perspective.

*4.5 stars*

I absolutely loved this one! I was entertained from the first page, I enjoyed the dynamic between the two main characters and it had an interesting plot point - besides the relationship between the two MCs- that really kept me reading! It’s not often that I find myself liking a romance novel from beginning to end and this one did! Maybe I’m entering my romance era 🤷🏻‍♀️

Thank you to @netgalley and @headlineeternal for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review!