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A review by inkhearted
How to Find Love in a Bookshop by Veronica Henry
3.0
This is (almost) exactly what you think it is. If you're looking for a light cozy feel-good read with tame romance, the book equivalent of a Hallmark Christmas movie, that is absolutely what you get here.
Emilia takes over her father's quaint bookshop after his passing and realizes this will be a bigger undertaking than expected. Meanwhile, the community, several of whom have deeply personal ties to the bookshop, rally around her as a developer tries to convince her to sell.
There are a lot of takes on this out there and this one is fine but not a standout. Instead of one strong romance at the core (unless you count the shared love of the bookshop) we have maybe five or six mini ones that we don't really have enough of to be that invested. Strangely, the protagonist's story gets lost among the other threads and is the least developed, feeling unearned. Every thread gets tied up in a bow afterwards.
There is absolutely room for this type of cozy, but I have a few recommendations for other takes on this:
The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan (Scotland, a mobile bookshop, a starting-over story and crackling romance.)
The Christmas Bookshop (bookshop + Christmas, a scrappy, layered protagonist, sister drama, and a sweet romance)
The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry (to be fair, not my favorite, but the main character is really something and if you want a weepie this will *really* give you that)
Bookshops and Bonedust (bookshop + fantasy with a lot of humor and memorable characters along with queer representation)
Emilia takes over her father's quaint bookshop after his passing and realizes this will be a bigger undertaking than expected. Meanwhile, the community, several of whom have deeply personal ties to the bookshop, rally around her as a developer tries to convince her to sell.
There are a lot of takes on this out there and this one is fine but not a standout. Instead of one strong romance at the core (unless you count the shared love of the bookshop) we have maybe five or six mini ones that we don't really have enough of to be that invested. Strangely, the protagonist's story gets lost among the other threads and is the least developed, feeling unearned. Every thread gets tied up in a bow afterwards.
There is absolutely room for this type of cozy, but I have a few recommendations for other takes on this:
The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan (Scotland, a mobile bookshop, a starting-over story and crackling romance.)
The Christmas Bookshop (bookshop + Christmas, a scrappy, layered protagonist, sister drama, and a sweet romance)
The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry (to be fair, not my favorite, but the main character is really something and if you want a weepie this will *really* give you that)
Bookshops and Bonedust (bookshop + fantasy with a lot of humor and memorable characters along with queer representation)