the concept and setting were promising, but unfortunately, I found it hard to connect with the characters, both fmc and mmc. While there were moments of charm, they personality felt underdeveloped and distant, which made it difficult to empathize with their journey. the no dialogue parts felt like background noise rather than integral parts of the story. Overall, the lack of compelling character development left me feeling detached, and by the end, I struggled to stay invested.

Kate and Sebastian are INCREDIBLY amazing characters! I absolutely loved their chemistry! This was a sweet, extremely well written story that captured me from the first sentence and made me wish it never ended.

Book People by Jackie Ashenden is my ideal rom com. Sebastien is exactly the kind of hero I love - he's grumpy, he's set in his ways, he can be a total a-hole - and he's hot hot hot. Kate is definitely the sunshine to his grump, and it's her cheery personality and persistence which draw Sebastien out of his self imposed emotional exile.

Throw in a historical mystery, tons of sexual tension, and ample bookish references and this book is just....*happy sigh*

I would happily spend the afternoon in Kate or Sebastien's bookstores. Preferably reading a book THIS good.

I absolutely loved the story of Kate and Sebastian… and Kate and Sebastian the first. The concept of history repeating itself and love prevailing is wonderful.

An idyllic setting in a village with rival bookshops run by equally attractive owners who have chemistry off the charts. Sebastian is cautious about being with a woman nearby as he doesn’t want history to repeat itself, Blackwell men are unlucky in love and he wants to avoid attachment at all costs. Kate arrives like a whirlwind, like pure sunshine and blinds Sebastian, he becomes especially frustrated with her when she opens a bookshop just over the road from HIS bookshop which has been in his family for generations. It’s the classic enemies to lovers, they give in to the attraction and agree it will only be one time, an outlet of sorts…. As if! One night leads to more, more leads to “casual”, casual leads to confusion and an ultimate confession of feelings from Kate, and of course Sebastian runs for the hills… but a well timed visit from his father gives him a kick up the bum and Sebastian realises he can have it all, and the happily ever after they deserve comes their way.

It’s a delicious, fun, and very enjoyable read.

I received an ARC from the publisher and NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I have read dozens of Jackie Ashenden’s books across a range of romantic genres and I think this is one of her best. The prose flows so easily and is totally engaging. The hero and heroine - Sebastian and Kate are fully fleshed out characters who really grabbed my interest from the start and maintained it to the very last page.

The theme of books, their importance and their necessity runs through the story beautifully. This is a story by someone who loves books and written for readers who are similarily inclined.

I highly recommend this - a fabulous reading experience with an emotionally satisfying storyline and characters you can care about.

This book was so lovely, the writing is beautiful and I enjoyed it more than I expected to. As a book lover any book that has books in the title or is about book lovers is automatically added to my TBR so when I saw this book I had to request it. The writing in this book was so lovely it felt poetic like I was reading love letters about two characters finding their way to each other despite everything that they’ve been through. The grumpy x sunshine is definitely there, even after everything Kate went through she was bright and friendly. Sebastian on the other hand tried his very best to stay away from her and from any kind of emotion with his family’s history. The inner thoughts of these two characters about each other had a hold on me like nothing I’ve ever experienced and I fell in love with them too. I adored the way Sebastian healed something in Kate that she had lost from her previous relationship and the way he thought about her skyrocketed my expectations for a relationship. The way Sebastian lifted her up and protected her the way that she needed the entire time was so sweet and Kate brought life and sunshine into Sebastian’s life giving him someone to love and care for. One of my favourite things about romance books is characters who swear to never fall in love finding someone who fits so perfectly into their lives and that’s exactly what happened. There was never any doubt that these two would fall in love with each other, they both just needed a little help seeing that they fit together and that falling in love wasn’t a bad thing. The way these characters were in denial about how deeply they felt for each other and pretended that they could be casual when it was clear to everyone there was something more had me impatiently waiting for the big declaration of love and I was not disappointed. The historical mystery in the background of the book was also so beautiful and heartbreaking and had me hooked! I loved the little snippets at the beginning of the chapters and it felt like getting two stories in one. This book wrapped up so beautifully and the way everything came full circle was truly an experience.

Wow!! This book was so well written. I loved the characters and the dialogue between them. It felt like an old early 2000s romcom, in the best way. I will definitely check out more by this author!

Thank you NetGalley for a pre-release of Book People.

I absolutely LOVED this book. If you love You’ve Got Mai - you must read this novel!!

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this book!!

What a great book!! It had me hooked from page one! I couldn’t put this down. I finished it in one sitting. I enjoyed the storyline and the characters. This was a first for me by this author but it will not be my last!!

What a cute romance novel for book lovers ! I really enjoyed this one so much and look forward to more books from this author in the future. I loved the enemies to lovers romance. So much banter and tension between Kate and Sebastian. I loved the mystery of the old love letters and how it all came to play out and how it ended.

Thank you Netgalley and Headline Eternal for the digital arc in exchange for my honest review.

I found Book People to be a charming love story and a really easy read. Set in a small village, its atmosphere is cozy and comforting. The notion of running away to open a book store is the dream honestly!
The two characters, Kate and Sebastian, are both really intriguing and interesting people. Learning about their pasts and all the ways it affects their presents helps pull you through the story.
I did find the writing style a little repetitive sometimes, especially between chapters where it seemed we’d retell a situation occasionally unnecessarily. The enemy part of this enemy to lovers story was a little over the top but it’s was fun and I enjoyed it all the same!
While the ending was a little predictable it was still a satisfactory read and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it!

First off this book takes place in England, i didn't know and it's something I appreciate knowing before I read a book- especially with the locations, slang, pop culture/history reference etc..i like to know before reading it to decide if i want to go ahead. This one i continued regardless cause I had started it and I'm glad I did it was a good book - Sebastian and Kate own rival book stores across the street from one another - hes stodgy she fun, he's set his ways she's whimsical - together (well Kate inserts herself) they put on a book festival and in the process discover a shared family history- and trt to heal their hearts from past issues to move forward its a very good book with a very good twist at the end glad I read it and didn't quit

3.5 stars

Jackie Ashenden’s rival-to-lovers in the form of competing bookshops across the street in a small English town is quite a delicious and easy read, though there’s bit of twist as always, to this burgeoning relationship that neither protagonist is willing to call a ‘proper’ one.

But a book festival is coming up and after a rocky start, Kate and Sebastian have to put their heads together, while dealing with an attraction that, to them, is unwanted yet undeniable, based on some family history that starts off as a bit of a mystery. But chemistry as always, wins out, until they hit a road block in their effort to pull the festival together.

In the end, we learn that there’s quite a bit of mirroring of both their stories and their great-grandparents, seen perhaps most obviously in the uncanny repetition of the naming convention and the surface similarities of their circumstances nearly a century later. And while not really delved too much into, it seems almost to hark back to the naming confusion deliberately engendered in ‘Wuthering Heights’, as though that so-called tragedy is doomed to repeat itself many generations later.

Should a tale then have so much impact on present-day events, that both present-day Kate and Sebastian are quick to draw some sort of connection more than they should have perhaps (the latter being the more guilty one), as though their behaviour is directly shaped by those circumstances?

Nonetheless, Sebastian’s insistent reasons for staying deep in denial get tired quickly; they are as stubbornly and simplistically repetitive as much as he tries to paint everything as the past influencing the present as the primary reason for why he should not yearn for any connection or relationship with others. Yet Kate’s own vacillation between wanting him and not wanting a relationship (then getting annoyed when their friends-and-benefits situation is not really given proper status) did get quite grating at times; in many ways, she is as quick to absolve as well as to judge what she thinks is to blame for their presently-stuck situation. Like Sebastian, painting people as ‘good’ and ‘bad’ comes as quickly for her as it does for him.

There were so many parts I liked about ‘Book People’ as much as there were parts that I frowned upon—creating conflict for drama’s sake in terms of characterisation felt like the biggest bit for me though. But if I were to think a little less…and sit back and enjoy it a bit more, it’s a great afternoon read.


*ARC courtesy of Netgalley

I love a good grumpy character and Sebastian is the grumpiest. Kate and him could not be more different and it makes for dynamite chemistry. I loved the fact that this was literally a story for the ages with the revelation that their great grandparents had been lovers and passed notes through books. This was so well written!

Thank you so much to NetGalley for the ARC for my honest review <3

- The description for this pulled me in and I was definitely not disappointed! The banter was so much fun and the change from banter to flirting felt so authentic and very well paced. While a bit predictable, the side plot was a sweet addition to the storyline and made for extra layers and depth to an already relatable and emotional story to be told. This was definitely a hug sent to book lovers, showcasing the importance and solace that being surrounded by books and stories can bring, especially that of which is the stories you choose to write for yourself.
- My only criticisms I have for this book are:

***SPOILERS HEAD***

1. I do wish we were given around 20-30 more pages to the end of the story with details surrounding their relationship.
2. More talks of Kate's decision to stay and her feelings towards that since right before the ending, we got an inner thought process of her not wanting to make someone her entire world again and lose herself in someone elses life choices (as to not repeat her relationship with her ex). I understand Sebastian is ofcourse a different man than he, which would make sense for her feelings to change about everything, but I wish we got a bit more of an explanation for that and how she navigates that in a healthy way for herself and their relationship!

After escaping a controlling relationship, former book editor Kate returns to the small town where her mother grew up to open a bookshop in the building she inherited, apparently her great grandmother ran a tea shop in the building. She and her single mother led a peripatetic life during her childhood but bookshops always represented comfort and an escape. Kate's bookshop embraces genres, manga, romance, sci-fi, cosy mysteries - you name it. The only fly in the ointment is Sebastian who owns the highbrow bookshop directly opposite Kate's. She's tried to be friendly, but he refuses to even speak to her, he's even petty enough to rearrange his window displays deliberately to outdo Kate's.

Sebastian keeps himself to himself, his family has had the bookshop for several generations but his father and his grandfather's addictions have left the family bookshop deep in debt, and Kate opening a rival bookshop opposite him has only exacerbated the problem. Sebastian's family is unlucky in love, both his great-grandmother and grandmother left their husbands, and his own mother died when he was still young, which is why Sebastian knows he is destined to be alone. Sebastian is trying to revive the town's literary festival to (hopefully) bring some much-needed revenue to his shop. But when disaster strikes and his keynote author pulls out a week before the festival only Kate can help him save the day.

Kate is on good terms with a popular author from her editing days, a woman whose bestseller appealed to both populist and highbrow readers, if they can find a lure to encourage her to attend their small festival it will make it a winner and Sebastian has just the thing, a bunch of love letters between his great grandfather and an unknown woman.

I really enjoyed this romance because well books! However, I felt the mystery was a bit obvious to the reader, and the ending felt a bit rushed (like I'm 95% through the book and they haven't made up yet), which is odd because I've complained about the last few books by Lucy Score where the couple seem to get together about 35% into the book and then there's a lot of filler until the inevitable 'misunderstanding'.

Other than that, I will definitely look out for more books By Jackie Ashenden.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

Set in a small town where everyone knows everyone else's business, Book People is about rival book shop owners Kate and Sebastian. Kate is returning to the town her family are from after leaving an abusive relationship and falling in love is definitely not on her agenda.

Book People is described as a love letter to book lovers - and while it definitely is I was also surprised to find there was a little mysterious element added in there. It's quite easy to see where this element was leading to but I still loved to see it unfold. I found it bittersweet and moving.

Sebastian's own self esteem being knocked by his history got a little annoying - he's the grumpy to Kate's sunshine. But I read the novel with that ache in my chest that I get from reading a good novel with the right amount of angst and tension.

Book People made my heart hurt in more ways than one - from feeling angst, to feeling wistful to feeling happy sad at the ending. I loved this!

Thank you to Netgalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Enjoyed the book! Loved the rival bookstore trope, and while it was predictable, it was very romantic fun in its own right. I loved the parallels between Kate and Bas… but again predictable yet cute.

The writing style was not my ideal — the dialogue for me fell flat, and the non dialogue portions seemed all internal thoughts, not exposition. Sebastian as a character pissed me off to no end, ALL THE WAY until the very end. But I loved Kate.

I also would have loved a little more closure (like a bonus scene or epilogue) regarding Kate and the editing, Kate and Sebastian, Sebastian’s dad, Lisa’s story and happy ending.

But still, enjoyed it!

Book Lovers is the incredibly sweet tale of two rival bookshop owners, Sebastian and Kathryn, in the English countryside. Sebastian is a fourth generation bookseller of serious fiction, while Kathryn recently opened her own genre fiction shop. The two come together when planning a local literary festival after they discover some hidden love letters.

Like any book lover, the setting of rival bookstores grabbed me right away. The book is a spirited defence of genre fiction, especially romance, and the joy and sense of community that it can build. The two leads have incredible chemistry and the book touches on themes such as what it means to craft your own narrative and ending. The book was lovely and I would recommend to friends.

A bookish book about book lovers? Gimme 20! 🤭

Every time I see a book about bookshop owners I run to read it and let me tell you, this one is really good 👍🏻