Reviews - Battle of the Bookstores

1.12k reviews for:

Battle of the Bookstores

Ali Brady

4.04 AVERAGE

richara's review against another edition

4.0

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

lissettem's review against another edition

5.0

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

A result great read. Enemies to friends to lovers to couple, loved it so much!

Loved the story line especially the online chatting!

justacatandabook's review against another edition

3.25

emotional funny hopeful informative reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

This is a cute story, though it takes a while to really ramp up.

Ryan and Josie are both booksellers on the same block. They've never really interacted until their boss decides to combine their stores and eliminate one of their managerial positions: only the manager whose store makes the most profit over the summer will survive. This instantly turns the two into rivals, putting easygoing Ryan up against uptight Josie.

Josie turns to an online bookseller forum for solace and comfort -- with no idea that the person she's pouring her heart out to is, in fact, Ryan. (This is a very cute You've Got Mail touch.)

Ryan sells romance, managing a team of quirky characters while Josie peddles literary fiction and prefers to fly solo, with only a little help from her younger sister. Both have childhood issues that affect their outlook on life. At first, the story is a bit frustrating as they just seem to yell at each other, but once we get to know them both more, it takes more shape and complexity.

The book plays with romance tropes, especially since Ryan deals with them every day. It sometimes tries a little too hard to be funny, but often succeeds. This is a book for book lovers, for sure.