Take a photo of a barcode or cover
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Sexual content, Suicide, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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
Battle of the Bookstores exceeded my expectations so much!
This was my first Ali Brady book (I didn’t even know they were a duo until I started the book), and I had no idea what to expect, but this was a lovely book! I appreciated the communication between the characters, the exploration of genre biases in the reading community, and (of course) the chemistry between the leads!!
Josie and Ryan were so cute! Their banter barely changed from when they started hating each other to when they stopped, but the *tone* changed in a way that showed their comfort around each other. The same joke 50 pages earlier wouldn’t have landed as a joke, but as an attack. The same barb 50 pages later is endearing instead of infuriating. It’s so well done, and I had a blast reading it!
Read this if you love
🩵 books about books
🩶 epistolary elements
🩵 cats
🩶 emotional vulnerability
🩵 well expressed and respected boundaries
Thank you Berkley Romance for the free finished copy!
This was my first Ali Brady book (I didn’t even know they were a duo until I started the book), and I had no idea what to expect, but this was a lovely book! I appreciated the communication between the characters, the exploration of genre biases in the reading community, and (of course) the chemistry between the leads!!
Josie and Ryan were so cute! Their banter barely changed from when they started hating each other to when they stopped, but the *tone* changed in a way that showed their comfort around each other. The same joke 50 pages earlier wouldn’t have landed as a joke, but as an attack. The same barb 50 pages later is endearing instead of infuriating. It’s so well done, and I had a blast reading it!
Read this if you love
🩵 books about books
🩶 epistolary elements
🩵 cats
🩶 emotional vulnerability
🩵 well expressed and respected boundaries
Thank you Berkley Romance for the free finished copy!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Ableism, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a fun and breezy read. Josie and Ryan are rival bookstore managers: Josie’s bookstore specializes in literary fiction, while Ryan’s exclusively sells romance. They both lowkey resent each other, a dynamic that becomes even more toxic when the owner of both their bookstores tells them he is merging their stores and only one of them will get to keep their job. Josie and Ryan begin a fierce competition, but they don’t realize that they’ve been anonymously DM-ing other for months.
There were parts of this book that felt pretty trite to me, and although the characters were often tongue in cheek about the various tropes going on, sometimes it felt like a bit much. But overall, this was a really fun read. There’s a lot of talk of different books and authors and bookish things, which I enjoyed, and the characters are interesting and dynamic. I always love an enemies-to-lovers story, and it was enjoyable seeing the sparks fly between Josie and Ryan and both of them slowly reconcile their misconceptions about each other with the reality. Overall, I enjoyed this one!
Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Homophobia, Suicide
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
lighthearted
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Sexual content, Abandonment
Moderate: Ableism, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Homophobia, Car accident
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Death, Homophobia, Car accident, Abandonment
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book was ADORABLE! I always love a bookish themed book so of course this one caught my attention. I could picture the exact setting in Massachusetts and enjoyed it thoroughly. It took me a little bit like Josie and Ryan but getting more context to both of their back stories eventually had me attached. What I liked more than even their banter was the chat room connection. It all gave “You’ve Got Mail” vibes which did have me re-watching the movie a few days later. Also, the audio from Karissa Vacker and Brandon Francis was perfect! Absolutely recommend for a cute, feel good romance!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
4❤️ 3🌶️
Spicy Chapters - 25, 27, 30
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
✦Josie runs Tabula Inscripta, a literary fiction shop, and Ryan runs Happy Endings, a romance bookshop. Their landlord plans to merge their stores with the coffee shop in the middle pitting them against each other to be the manager of the new store at the end of the summer. May the best bookseller (ahem, biggest profits) win!
Josie and Ryan are also besties in an online forum for booksellers that is strictly anonymous. They have no idea they've been speaking to each other for years and falling in love with the enemy. I haven’t enjoyed something with such strong You’ve Got Mail vibes in a while, and this one hit the plot.
✦POV: Dual, first-person
Josie and Ryan grew on me. I thought they were childish in the beginning but diving into their motivations and past made them more likable and sympathetic. The banter in their online chats was fun to read and felt natural. I was shocked by some of Ryan’s reactions, and disappointed by some telling vs. showing.
✦Spice: Open door, romance over smut
A slow burn with well crafted tension which kept it interesting; they had obvious chemistry from the start, and it was fun to watch these enemies become lovers.
✩ I loved the bookstore family and the reason why Ryan became a champion of romance books. How it helped him navigate his own challenge warmed my heart ♡
🦸♂️ Hot nerd meets superhero ♥️
✨ Bookish and naughty pieces of flair
🥊 Workplace rivals
⚖️ Best friends online x Enemies IRL
🛏️ Only one bed
📏 Size difference
⚠️ Dyslexia and physical disability are sensitively represented. Read with care though, there are some anti-2SLGBTQIA+ and references to eugenics (not by MCs).
♡ This was a fun read with plenty of genuine laughs. I hope you love it as much as I did!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I got to read with thanks to Berkley Romance and the Berkley Influencer Hub for Underrepresented Voices.
Connect with me on Instagram for more bookish content!
Josie and Ryan are also besties in an online forum for booksellers that is strictly anonymous. They have no idea they've been speaking to each other for years and falling in love with the enemy. I haven’t enjoyed something with such strong You’ve Got Mail vibes in a while, and this one hit the plot.
✦POV: Dual, first-person
Josie and Ryan grew on me. I thought they were childish in the beginning but diving into their motivations and past made them more likable and sympathetic. The banter in their online chats was fun to read and felt natural. I was shocked by some of Ryan’s reactions, and disappointed by some telling vs. showing.
✦Spice: Open door, romance over smut
A slow burn with well crafted tension which kept it interesting; they had obvious chemistry from the start, and it was fun to watch these enemies become lovers.
✩ I loved the bookstore family and the reason why Ryan became a champion of romance books. How it helped him navigate his own challenge warmed my heart ♡
🦸♂️ Hot nerd meets superhero ♥️
✨ Bookish and naughty pieces of flair
🥊 Workplace rivals
⚖️ Best friends online x Enemies IRL
🛏️ Only one bed
📏 Size difference
⚠️ Dyslexia and physical disability are sensitively represented. Read with care though, there are some anti-2SLGBTQIA+ and references to eugenics (not by MCs).
♡ This was a fun read with plenty of genuine laughs. I hope you love it as much as I did!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I got to read with thanks to Berkley Romance and the Berkley Influencer Hub for Underrepresented Voices.
Connect with me on Instagram for more bookish content!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Sexism, Sexual content
Minor: Ableism, Homophobia, Suicide