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A review by booksrlush_
Book Lovers by Emily Henry
4.0
This was my first Emily Henry so maybe my thoughts will change after having read her other works but I gotta be honest I really loved this book. I was hesitant going in because of the hype surrounding this author but because this is a self-destruct book I knew I wanted to read it before I was forced to give up and god I'm glad I did because now I want to read this author's other work and that might not have happened if I had to unhaul this from my selves unread.
We follow Nora Stephens a shark as she's known to most people in her life, career driven and ready whenever disaster strikes. We pick right at the start when Nora is getting dumped just before heading to a meeting to try and sell her clients new book. straight away we meet the two characters we are going to eventually fall in love with a root for. Charlie Lastra also has a reputation for being a shark and the first encounter between these to wills is uncomfortable for both of them.
Enter Libby Nora's sister together they encapsulate the grumpy x sunshine trope which a loved seeing in a none romantic setting. Libby wants to get away and have some time with Nora before baby number three comes along. The problem? she's chosen sunshine falls a small down depicted in Once the book Nora wanted Charlie to edit, the one he didn't like, the one that became a bestseller. Nora feels like she's always the woman who is left for the small-town romance like every relationship she's had has been a stepping stone for them to go off and find love in some trope-y never happens unreal life but seems to happen to her exes way. Nora is not impressed but she'd do anything for her sister so off they take to small-town sunshine falls a far cry from New York City.
The relationship between Nora and Libby was great I do wish we got more time exploring Libby's character apart from Nora but never the less it was nice to see this sisterly bond come through on the page. Their mum was an aspiring actress who struggled through New York City with two girls in tow this is a main vein of their relationship. Nora's always felt responsible for Libby and when their mother dies she takes on the guardian role for her younger sister. Seeing through Nora's POV we can see the devotion she has for her sister but it can also come off as smothering. Libby is a grown woman with two children one on the way and a husband and it sometimes felt like Nora treated her with kids' gloves. Later on in the story, we get to see Libby's side and how her relationship/memory with her mum is different than Nora's and that she's felt guilt over Nora feeling like she needs to be her parent. I would have liked to spend more time getting to know Libby outside of Nora to really drive home how Nora's feelings may have been well founded at a time but when inevitably she has to step down a realise Libby is her own person who can handle her own shit.
This book was a slow burn, in sunshine falls Libby comes up with a list of things she wants her and Nora to do, pet a horse, save a local business and one of them includes dating a resident. Oh shock, horror guess who grew up and is now staying in sunshine falls Charlie. The reasons come as to why he didn't like the book Nora brought to him and it makes sense the author Dusty wrote of a small town that does exist but isn't reality and it makes sense it would hit Charlie's nerve considering he's never felt like he quite fit into this small town life. We go around in circles finding out about the town and the people there and I wish we got more of the character who live there if we has just gotten more from them it would have easily felt like stars hollow from Gilmore Girls Unfortunately the characters just weren't built up enough to be exactly that vibe but ahh the potential was defiantly there.
I really enjoyed the romance it was sweet in places and sexy in others. I could tell Charlie was written for Nora completely I would have liked him to have just a little more personality that didn't quite fit into Nora's because it would have made him more interesting on his own. That's just me being picky though because I did really enjoy the chemistry they had. The sexy scenes are well-written and come off great because of the chemistry. Of course, there are issues that arise just like in any romance but what I really liked about this one was the third act break up trope was done well. it made sense and wasn't about miscommunication which I'm not a huge fan of. There was a brief date with Shepherd who literally would have been the romantic interest if this was a small-town romance but that ended quickly and never even really felt like an option it did drive home the fact that although this book is set in a small town it's about to city lovers who fall in love.
I originally after finishing this book gave it a 5 star but after writing this review and sitting with my feels I'm bumping it down to a 4. I loved the setting and the banter which was just done so well. When Libby and Nora, Nora and Charlie conversed it felt naturally witty and even has me chuckling a lot. (Ex: Nora sends Charlie Bigfoot Erotica which is a running joke throughout that has me chuckling)
I just wish some characters got more developed and instead of spending time going back and forth from work to Libby I wish we got to see more of the townspeople. Maybe if Nora was with Libby when she was planning and helping the town that could have been a way to see more but because we spent most of the time in Nora's head we only got to see from her POV and yes as her character is a shark it makes sense a lot of time spent on her work and I didn't enjoy the parts of her and Charlie going through Dusty's new book editing it together but that could have been cut down to show us more of the life in this small town.
We follow Nora Stephens a shark as she's known to most people in her life, career driven and ready whenever disaster strikes. We pick right at the start when Nora is getting dumped just before heading to a meeting to try and sell her clients new book. straight away we meet the two characters we are going to eventually fall in love with a root for. Charlie Lastra also has a reputation for being a shark and the first encounter between these to wills is uncomfortable for both of them.
Enter Libby Nora's sister together they encapsulate the grumpy x sunshine trope which a loved seeing in a none romantic setting. Libby wants to get away and have some time with Nora before baby number three comes along. The problem? she's chosen sunshine falls a small down depicted in Once the book Nora wanted Charlie to edit, the one he didn't like, the one that became a bestseller. Nora feels like she's always the woman who is left for the small-town romance like every relationship she's had has been a stepping stone for them to go off and find love in some trope-y never happens unreal life but seems to happen to her exes way. Nora is not impressed but she'd do anything for her sister so off they take to small-town sunshine falls a far cry from New York City.
The relationship between Nora and Libby was great I do wish we got more time exploring Libby's character apart from Nora but never the less it was nice to see this sisterly bond come through on the page. Their mum was an aspiring actress who struggled through New York City with two girls in tow this is a main vein of their relationship. Nora's always felt responsible for Libby and when their mother dies she takes on the guardian role for her younger sister. Seeing through Nora's POV we can see the devotion she has for her sister but it can also come off as smothering. Libby is a grown woman with two children one on the way and a husband and it sometimes felt like Nora treated her with kids' gloves. Later on in the story, we get to see Libby's side and how her relationship/memory with her mum is different than Nora's and that she's felt guilt over Nora feeling like she needs to be her parent. I would have liked to spend more time getting to know Libby outside of Nora to really drive home how Nora's feelings may have been well founded at a time but when inevitably she has to step down a realise Libby is her own person who can handle her own shit.
This book was a slow burn, in sunshine falls Libby comes up with a list of things she wants her and Nora to do, pet a horse, save a local business and one of them includes dating a resident. Oh shock, horror guess who grew up and is now staying in sunshine falls Charlie. The reasons come as to why he didn't like the book Nora brought to him and it makes sense the author Dusty wrote of a small town that does exist but isn't reality and it makes sense it would hit Charlie's nerve considering he's never felt like he quite fit into this small town life. We go around in circles finding out about the town and the people there and I wish we got more of the character who live there if we has just gotten more from them it would have easily felt like stars hollow from Gilmore Girls Unfortunately the characters just weren't built up enough to be exactly that vibe but ahh the potential was defiantly there.
I really enjoyed the romance it was sweet in places and sexy in others. I could tell Charlie was written for Nora completely I would have liked him to have just a little more personality that didn't quite fit into Nora's because it would have made him more interesting on his own. That's just me being picky though because I did really enjoy the chemistry they had. The sexy scenes are well-written and come off great because of the chemistry. Of course, there are issues that arise just like in any romance but what I really liked about this one was the third act break up trope was done well. it made sense and wasn't about miscommunication which I'm not a huge fan of. There was a brief date with Shepherd who literally would have been the romantic interest if this was a small-town romance but that ended quickly and never even really felt like an option it did drive home the fact that although this book is set in a small town it's about to city lovers who fall in love.
I originally after finishing this book gave it a 5 star but after writing this review and sitting with my feels I'm bumping it down to a 4. I loved the setting and the banter which was just done so well. When Libby and Nora, Nora and Charlie conversed it felt naturally witty and even has me chuckling a lot. (Ex: Nora sends Charlie Bigfoot Erotica which is a running joke throughout that has me chuckling)
I just wish some characters got more developed and instead of spending time going back and forth from work to Libby I wish we got to see more of the townspeople. Maybe if Nora was with Libby when she was planning and helping the town that could have been a way to see more but because we spent most of the time in Nora's head we only got to see from her POV and yes as her character is a shark it makes sense a lot of time spent on her work and I didn't enjoy the parts of her and Charlie going through Dusty's new book editing it together but that could have been cut down to show us more of the life in this small town.