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A review by papercranestitches
Bookmarked by Piper Vaughn
4.0
*** 3.75 Stars ***
The first in a series of standalone books with intermingling characters, Bookmarked introduces readers to the fictional and extremely LGBT-friendly town of Heartsville, Illinois. With a few words (and helped along by Natasha Snow’s cover art), I found myself transported to a quaint little town where independently owned stores with old-fashioned signs line the downtown streets, and people are friendly enough to hold doors for each other and smile at total strangers just to see them smile in return.
Sorta like this:
Only with more of this:
And this:
Bookmarked is Mark and Shep’s story. I wouldn’t exactly classify it as enemies-to-lovers, but let’s just say that the earliest interactions between the struggling bookstore owner and the best-selling author who masks his social anxiety by pretending to be a standoffish a-hole don’t exactly inspire love at first sight.
Well, between the characters, that is. Personally, I found it impossible not to love Mark. The man’s smart, good-natured, close with his family and friends, and tenacious. Plus, he runs a bookstore. I can practically hear a choir of angels singing the Hallelujah Chorus in the background when I say those words, can’t you? And lucky for Shep, I’ve always had a soft spot for the gruff ones (especially when their bark really is worse than their bite).
Due in large part to Mark’s tenacity, these two eventually get a do-over and thankfully, things go a lot more smoothly the second time around. And by that I mean there were apologies and then bookstore hand jobs.
*pauses to fully appreciate the bookstore hand jobs*
The rest was pure, fluffy, feel-good reading combined with a playfully naughty streak that kept things interesting, so it’s no wonder Piper Vaughn continues to be one of my Top 5 Most Read Authors. Bookmarked is just the latest example of why I love their work so much.
I may not have a charming collection of knit sweaters and puppets, but after reading this story I think it’s safe to say:
An ARC of this story was generously provided by the author in return for an honest review.
The first in a series of standalone books with intermingling characters, Bookmarked introduces readers to the fictional and extremely LGBT-friendly town of Heartsville, Illinois. With a few words (and helped along by Natasha Snow’s cover art), I found myself transported to a quaint little town where independently owned stores with old-fashioned signs line the downtown streets, and people are friendly enough to hold doors for each other and smile at total strangers just to see them smile in return.
Sorta like this:
Only with more of this:
And this:
Bookmarked is Mark and Shep’s story. I wouldn’t exactly classify it as enemies-to-lovers, but let’s just say that the earliest interactions between the struggling bookstore owner and the best-selling author who masks his social anxiety by pretending to be a standoffish a-hole don’t exactly inspire love at first sight.
Well, between the characters, that is. Personally, I found it impossible not to love Mark. The man’s smart, good-natured, close with his family and friends, and tenacious. Plus, he runs a bookstore. I can practically hear a choir of angels singing the Hallelujah Chorus in the background when I say those words, can’t you? And lucky for Shep, I’ve always had a soft spot for the gruff ones (especially when their bark really is worse than their bite).
Due in large part to Mark’s tenacity, these two eventually get a do-over and thankfully, things go a lot more smoothly the second time around. And by that I mean there were apologies and then bookstore hand jobs.
*pauses to fully appreciate the bookstore hand jobs*
The rest was pure, fluffy, feel-good reading combined with a playfully naughty streak that kept things interesting, so it’s no wonder Piper Vaughn continues to be one of my Top 5 Most Read Authors. Bookmarked is just the latest example of why I love their work so much.
I may not have a charming collection of knit sweaters and puppets, but after reading this story I think it’s safe to say:
An ARC of this story was generously provided by the author in return for an honest review.