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thebiglittlelibrary's Reviews (622)
3 ⭐️ Really interesting world but I wasn't THAT invested
"You're the only mortal who thinks she can go toe to toe with a god, aren't you?"
WHAT TO EXPECT:
✨ fantasy romance
✨ gods and mortals
✨ he's the god of battle and storms
✨ she's gets trapped in his world and becomes his human anchor
✨ dislike to love
✨ slow burn
✨ 3.5/5
"You're the only mortal who thinks she can go toe to toe with a god, aren't you?"
WHAT TO EXPECT:
✨ fantasy romance
✨ gods and mortals
✨ he's the god of battle and storms
✨ she's gets trapped in his world and becomes his human anchor
✨ dislike to love
✨ slow burn
✨ 3.5/5
2.5 ⭐️ Cute but this story has absolutely nothing to do with Highland Games lol
"He wanted her smiles to belong to him. He wanted to kiss every freckle, name each one like a star."
WHAT TO EXPECT:
✨ rom-com
✨ scottish highland setting
✨ she's a city girl x accountant who inherited a run down cabin on a castle estate
✨ he's the local castle estate on-property manager determined to make her life hell so she leaves
✨ a not so meet cute
✨ insta lust
✨ denial of feelings/attraction
✨ dislike to love
✨ banter
✨ 2.5/5
"He wanted her smiles to belong to him. He wanted to kiss every freckle, name each one like a star."
WHAT TO EXPECT:
✨ rom-com
✨ scottish highland setting
✨ she's a city girl x accountant who inherited a run down cabin on a castle estate
✨ he's the local castle estate on-property manager determined to make her life hell so she leaves
✨ a not so meet cute
✨ insta lust
✨ denial of feelings/attraction
✨ dislike to love
✨ banter
✨ 2.5/5
4 ⭐️ A good ending to this series and now idk what to do with myself
4.5 ⭐️ Book Lovers is a book about book lovers, written by a book lover for book lovers.
Summary:
Nora Stephens is a fierce literary agent in NYC, but unfortunately, her work-obsessed nature has led to many failed romantic relationships. But the only relationship Nora truly cares about is the one with her younger sister, Libby.
So when Libby begs Nora to leave the city on a month-long trip to recharge, she packs her bags and heads to the small town of Sunshine Falls, North Carolina.
The last thing Nora expects is to run into anyone she knows. So imagine her surprise when a book editor from her past appears. Charlie Lastra is many things - broody, gorgeous, and a complete a$$hat - but he also might be the only person who can read Nora like a book.
My Thoughts:
I was blown away by Beach Reads and People We Meet on Vacation, so the bar was set incredibly high for this novel. And let me tell you, Emily Henry nailed it!!!!! This is the perfect romantic comedy! A must-read!
So what did I love about Book Lovers???
The writing is phenomenal. Emily Henry once again delivers a superior novel. It's clever, witty, and heartfelt, with extremely loveable and relatable characters. While there are some serious themes and topics, the story remains lighthearted and fun. Emily Henry is an absolute genius. And honestly, at this point, I would pay to read her grocery list because she's THAT good.
Nora's character and the premise are almost 'meta.' Okay, not sure meta is the proper word, but basically, Nora is a literary agent and very aware that in her romantic life, she would be considered the 'villain'. She's the driven, cold-hearted, evil girlfriend who stands in the way of her boyfriend, who is off spending time in a small town running a Christmas tree farm, from being with the charming baker/seamstress/innkeeper. Like, for real, Nora has been dumped a couple of times in variations of this situation.
Nora feels like her dating life is a trope. So what does Nora's sister do? Plans a trip for them to visit a small town and live out the fantasy of a small-town romance novel. It sounds cheesy, but it's hilarious to see Nora's view as the fully aware 'evil girlfriend' and how resistant she is to live out the cliche small-town romance in real life.
Nora's journey to self-acceptance is a treat. Nora has many ideas about the roles she plays in a lot of different people's lives: the cold-hearted career-centered ex-girlfriend, the protective mothering sister, a ruthless literary agent known as 'the shark'. But is that really who she is? I found her struggle with accepting/dismissing these roles to be extremely relatable. We all have ideas of who we are based on our friends, family, and society, but what truly matters is how we see ourselves. This quote specifically stood out:
"Just because not everyone gets you doesn't mean you're wrong."
This book reminded me that people may perceive me however they want, and there may be some truths behind it, but as long as I know who I truly am (and I love and accept it), that's all that really matters. And it was a beautiful thing to see Charlie give Nora the encouragement and support to do that for herself. ❤️
Shoutout to Charlie for being the perfect MC. I love this man! He starts off seemingly standoffish and arrogant, but you soon realize he's been judged and misunderstood by many, including Nora. And once she gets to know him, she discovers a witty, loyal, kind, supportive, loving man who loves checklists just as much as she does. I also adore that Charlie can read Nora like a book. In Charlie's eyes, Nora is perfect, and all he wants is for her to see what he sees. On a personal level, this really melts my heart because I struggle with self-doubt and my husband is just as relentlessly supportive as Charlie. Everyone needs someone like that in their lives.
The rivals to idiots to lovers, slow-burn romance is intoxicating. I love when two people dislike each other because of some misunderstanding, and then they discover they actually have things in common and enjoy each other's company, only to act uncomfortable because they aren't sure where they stand with one another until there's so much tension and it explodes in the form of a super-steamy kiss against the front door while their soaking wet because they were caught in a rainstorm. Yeah, all that happens in Book Lovers, and I ate that sh*t up!
The banter between Nora and Charlie is absolutely genius. I COULD NOT get enough of them! Not only do they have insane chemistry, but they are both extremely intelligent and witty, so the banter was off the charts! I cannot remember the last time I laughed out loud so many times. No lie, I kept track, and I lol'd 35 times total. Not just laughed or smirked, but laughed out loud. The part about the Bigfoot erotica had me dying!
Summary:
Nora Stephens is a fierce literary agent in NYC, but unfortunately, her work-obsessed nature has led to many failed romantic relationships. But the only relationship Nora truly cares about is the one with her younger sister, Libby.
So when Libby begs Nora to leave the city on a month-long trip to recharge, she packs her bags and heads to the small town of Sunshine Falls, North Carolina.
The last thing Nora expects is to run into anyone she knows. So imagine her surprise when a book editor from her past appears. Charlie Lastra is many things - broody, gorgeous, and a complete a$$hat - but he also might be the only person who can read Nora like a book.
My Thoughts:
I was blown away by Beach Reads and People We Meet on Vacation, so the bar was set incredibly high for this novel. And let me tell you, Emily Henry nailed it!!!!! This is the perfect romantic comedy! A must-read!
So what did I love about Book Lovers???
The writing is phenomenal. Emily Henry once again delivers a superior novel. It's clever, witty, and heartfelt, with extremely loveable and relatable characters. While there are some serious themes and topics, the story remains lighthearted and fun. Emily Henry is an absolute genius. And honestly, at this point, I would pay to read her grocery list because she's THAT good.
Nora's character and the premise are almost 'meta.' Okay, not sure meta is the proper word, but basically, Nora is a literary agent and very aware that in her romantic life, she would be considered the 'villain'. She's the driven, cold-hearted, evil girlfriend who stands in the way of her boyfriend, who is off spending time in a small town running a Christmas tree farm, from being with the charming baker/seamstress/innkeeper. Like, for real, Nora has been dumped a couple of times in variations of this situation.
Nora feels like her dating life is a trope. So what does Nora's sister do? Plans a trip for them to visit a small town and live out the fantasy of a small-town romance novel. It sounds cheesy, but it's hilarious to see Nora's view as the fully aware 'evil girlfriend' and how resistant she is to live out the cliche small-town romance in real life.
Nora's journey to self-acceptance is a treat. Nora has many ideas about the roles she plays in a lot of different people's lives: the cold-hearted career-centered ex-girlfriend, the protective mothering sister, a ruthless literary agent known as 'the shark'. But is that really who she is? I found her struggle with accepting/dismissing these roles to be extremely relatable. We all have ideas of who we are based on our friends, family, and society, but what truly matters is how we see ourselves. This quote specifically stood out:
"Just because not everyone gets you doesn't mean you're wrong."
This book reminded me that people may perceive me however they want, and there may be some truths behind it, but as long as I know who I truly am (and I love and accept it), that's all that really matters. And it was a beautiful thing to see Charlie give Nora the encouragement and support to do that for herself. ❤️
Shoutout to Charlie for being the perfect MC. I love this man! He starts off seemingly standoffish and arrogant, but you soon realize he's been judged and misunderstood by many, including Nora. And once she gets to know him, she discovers a witty, loyal, kind, supportive, loving man who loves checklists just as much as she does. I also adore that Charlie can read Nora like a book. In Charlie's eyes, Nora is perfect, and all he wants is for her to see what he sees. On a personal level, this really melts my heart because I struggle with self-doubt and my husband is just as relentlessly supportive as Charlie. Everyone needs someone like that in their lives.
The rivals to idiots to lovers, slow-burn romance is intoxicating. I love when two people dislike each other because of some misunderstanding, and then they discover they actually have things in common and enjoy each other's company, only to act uncomfortable because they aren't sure where they stand with one another until there's so much tension and it explodes in the form of a super-steamy kiss against the front door while their soaking wet because they were caught in a rainstorm. Yeah, all that happens in Book Lovers, and I ate that sh*t up!
The banter between Nora and Charlie is absolutely genius. I COULD NOT get enough of them! Not only do they have insane chemistry, but they are both extremely intelligent and witty, so the banter was off the charts! I cannot remember the last time I laughed out loud so many times. No lie, I kept track, and I lol'd 35 times total. Not just laughed or smirked, but laughed out loud. The part about the Bigfoot erotica had me dying!
4.75 ⭐️ My favorite Lynn Painter story! I ATE this up!!
"Fuck love and relationships, I just want to be with you because you're my goddamn favorite person."
Synopsis:
Sophie and Max meet when she hires him to be the objector at her own wedding. Months later, Max asks Sophie to join him as an objector at another wedding, and from there, they form a partnership. Both are anti-love and anti-relationship, but as Sophia and Max's friendship blossoms and chemistry sizzles, will they be able to deny their feelings for one another?
WHAT TO EXPECT:
✨ romantic comedy
✨ he runs his family construction business and a professional wedding objector
✨ she's an HR director who hires him to object at her wedding since her fiance cheated
✨ "let's be wedding objectors together"
✨ they are both cynics and very anti-relationship
✨ "we're just friends"
✨ idiots to lovers
✨ insane chemistry
✨ he falls first
✨ amazing banter
✨ calling each other by their last name
✨ open communication
"Fuck love and relationships, I just want to be with you because you're my goddamn favorite person."
Synopsis:
Sophie and Max meet when she hires him to be the objector at her own wedding. Months later, Max asks Sophie to join him as an objector at another wedding, and from there, they form a partnership. Both are anti-love and anti-relationship, but as Sophia and Max's friendship blossoms and chemistry sizzles, will they be able to deny their feelings for one another?
WHAT TO EXPECT:
✨ romantic comedy
✨ he runs his family construction business and a professional wedding objector
✨ she's an HR director who hires him to object at her wedding since her fiance cheated
✨ "let's be wedding objectors together"
✨ they are both cynics and very anti-relationship
✨ "we're just friends"
✨ idiots to lovers
✨ insane chemistry
✨ he falls first
✨ amazing banter
✨ calling each other by their last name
✨ open communication
4 ⭐️ This was so stinking cute!!!!
"You once told me you thought you were a lot of nots. I want you to know that to me, you're everything."
WHAT TO EXPECT:
✨ Pacific Northwest setting
✨ small town romance
✨ he’s a big city chef struggling with burnout
✨ she’s a small town teacher who finds happiness in the smallest things
✨ grumpy x sunshine
✨ instant attraction
✨ friends to lovers
✨ slow burn
✨ fake dating
✨ adorable banter
✨ 2/5
"You once told me you thought you were a lot of nots. I want you to know that to me, you're everything."
WHAT TO EXPECT:
✨ Pacific Northwest setting
✨ small town romance
✨ he’s a big city chef struggling with burnout
✨ she’s a small town teacher who finds happiness in the smallest things
✨ grumpy x sunshine
✨ instant attraction
✨ friends to lovers
✨ slow burn
✨ fake dating
✨ adorable banter
✨ 2/5
3.5 ⭐️ An pretty enjoyable audioboook
WHAT TO EXPECT:
✨ sci-fi romance
✨ post apocalyptic earth
✨ human FMC and robot MMC
✨ forbidden romance
✨ evil robot warlord
✨ intriguing world building
✨ 2.5/5
WHAT TO EXPECT:
✨ sci-fi romance
✨ post apocalyptic earth
✨ human FMC and robot MMC
✨ forbidden romance
✨ evil robot warlord
✨ intriguing world building
✨ 2.5/5
5 ⭐ Did I really just give an alien erotica story 5-stars? Yes. Yes I did.
2.5 ⭐️ Disappointed because I wasn’t expecting a sad, angsty Emily Henry book
"Our love is a place we can always come back to, and it will be waiting, the same as it ever was. You belong here."
WHAT TO EXPECT:
✨ new england beach house setting
✨ second chance romance
✨ fake dating (ex fiances pretending to still be engaged)
✨ friends to lovers
✨ one-bed
✨ forced proximity
✨ open door romance with minimum spice
✨ flashbacks / dual timeline
✨ single pov
✨ found family
✨ friend group drama
✨ angst, sadness, heartbreak
✨ miscommunication
✨ omissions of feelings
✨ HEA
✨ tw: breakups, mental health, depression, perfectionism, burnout, high expectation parents, sick parent, death of a parent
My Thoughts:
This is a hard one for me to rate, so I’m settling on 3-stars for now.
Let me preface this review by saying I am a HUGE Emily Henry fan! So much so that I own multiple copies of all her books as hardcovers, paperbacks, and Uk editions. I love her stories and I was so excited to get an ARC. But sadly, I didn’t like this one very much.
On one hand, this was well written, the storyline about friendship was lovely, and there’s a lot of depth to each character.
However, because of the title and fun cover, I went in expecting a fun, heartfelt rom-com. Instead, I got a sad, painful, grief-filled story that feels more like women's fiction than romance. It read more like a depressing Colleen Hoover book but without the sex. Any sort of positive experience I had while reading was fleeting and replaced with angst due to the nature of the story. I only felt reprieve during the flashbacks of the main couple when they were happy together. The rest of the time, I anxiously waited to learn what caused the breakup. But they don’t discuss their breakup (which was due to a lack of communication and the MMC making stupid assumptions) or get back together until the last 10% of the story, and even that isn't fully settled till the last few pages.
Was this a bad story? No. I think Emily Henry is a talented writer, and this one dove deep into mental health, what it means to find yourself, and how friendships change. But this book was marketed incorrectly, which set the wrong expectations and ultimately made this read a disappointment.
But now that I know what to expect, I'm going to do a re-read to see if my rating/review changes. Stay tuned.
Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing an e-ARC copy in exchange for an honest review! As always, all opinions are my own.
My ranking of Emily Henry books:
1. Beach Reads
2. Book Lovers
3. People We Meet on Vacation
4. Funny Story
5. Happy Place
Favorite Quotes:
From now on, dark cliffs, wind racing through hair, cinnamon paired with clove and pine - all of it will only mean Wyn Conner to me. A door has opened, and I know I'll never get it shut again. Regency era or not, in a lot of ways, he ruins me.
-----------------------------
"Will we still be friends after this," I'd whispered, and he smiled as he told me, "You've never been just a friend to me."
-----------------------------
"I tried so fucking hard to let you go, to let you be happy, and when I see you, I still feel like - like you're mine. Like I'm yours. I got rid of every single piece of you, like that would make a difference, like I could cut you out of me, and instead, I just see everywhere you're supposed to be."
-----------------------------
"Love means constantly saying you're sorry, and then doing better."
-----------------------------
"I love you," he says into my mouth, and I wish I could swallow it, like that would let me keep that sound forever, this moment forever.
My nose burns. My voice crackles. "Don't say that."
"Why not?" he whispers.
"Because those words don't belong to me anymore."
"Of course they do. They belong to you before I ever saw you. They belong to you in every universe we're in, Harriet."
-----------------------------
Want is a kind of thief. It's a door in your heart, and once you know it's there, you'll spend your life longing for whatever's behind it."
-----------------------------
I'd rather have you five days a year than anyone else all the time I'd rather argue with you than not talk, and whether we're together or we're not, I'm yours, so let's be together, Harriet.
-----------------------------
"Our love is a place we can always come back to, and it will be waiting, the same as it ever was. You belong here."
WHAT TO EXPECT:
✨ new england beach house setting
✨ second chance romance
✨ fake dating (ex fiances pretending to still be engaged)
✨ friends to lovers
✨ one-bed
✨ forced proximity
✨ open door romance with minimum spice
✨ flashbacks / dual timeline
✨ single pov
✨ found family
✨ friend group drama
✨ angst, sadness, heartbreak
✨ miscommunication
✨ omissions of feelings
✨ HEA
✨ tw: breakups, mental health, depression, perfectionism, burnout, high expectation parents, sick parent, death of a parent
My Thoughts:
This is a hard one for me to rate, so I’m settling on 3-stars for now.
Let me preface this review by saying I am a HUGE Emily Henry fan! So much so that I own multiple copies of all her books as hardcovers, paperbacks, and Uk editions. I love her stories and I was so excited to get an ARC. But sadly, I didn’t like this one very much.
On one hand, this was well written, the storyline about friendship was lovely, and there’s a lot of depth to each character.
However, because of the title and fun cover, I went in expecting a fun, heartfelt rom-com. Instead, I got a sad, painful, grief-filled story that feels more like women's fiction than romance. It read more like a depressing Colleen Hoover book but without the sex. Any sort of positive experience I had while reading was fleeting and replaced with angst due to the nature of the story. I only felt reprieve during the flashbacks of the main couple when they were happy together. The rest of the time, I anxiously waited to learn what caused the breakup. But they don’t discuss their breakup (which was due to a lack of communication and the MMC making stupid assumptions) or get back together until the last 10% of the story, and even that isn't fully settled till the last few pages.
Was this a bad story? No. I think Emily Henry is a talented writer, and this one dove deep into mental health, what it means to find yourself, and how friendships change. But this book was marketed incorrectly, which set the wrong expectations and ultimately made this read a disappointment.
But now that I know what to expect, I'm going to do a re-read to see if my rating/review changes. Stay tuned.
Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing an e-ARC copy in exchange for an honest review! As always, all opinions are my own.
My ranking of Emily Henry books:
1. Beach Reads
2. Book Lovers
3. People We Meet on Vacation
4. Funny Story
5. Happy Place
Favorite Quotes:
From now on, dark cliffs, wind racing through hair, cinnamon paired with clove and pine - all of it will only mean Wyn Conner to me. A door has opened, and I know I'll never get it shut again. Regency era or not, in a lot of ways, he ruins me.
-----------------------------
"Will we still be friends after this," I'd whispered, and he smiled as he told me, "You've never been just a friend to me."
-----------------------------
"I tried so fucking hard to let you go, to let you be happy, and when I see you, I still feel like - like you're mine. Like I'm yours. I got rid of every single piece of you, like that would make a difference, like I could cut you out of me, and instead, I just see everywhere you're supposed to be."
-----------------------------
"Love means constantly saying you're sorry, and then doing better."
-----------------------------
"I love you," he says into my mouth, and I wish I could swallow it, like that would let me keep that sound forever, this moment forever.
My nose burns. My voice crackles. "Don't say that."
"Why not?" he whispers.
"Because those words don't belong to me anymore."
"Of course they do. They belong to you before I ever saw you. They belong to you in every universe we're in, Harriet."
-----------------------------
Want is a kind of thief. It's a door in your heart, and once you know it's there, you'll spend your life longing for whatever's behind it."
-----------------------------
I'd rather have you five days a year than anyone else all the time I'd rather argue with you than not talk, and whether we're together or we're not, I'm yours, so let's be together, Harriet.
-----------------------------
1 ⭐️ I swear my p*ssy sewed itself shut while reading this.
I hate this book so much that I don’t even want to write a review. It just kept getting worse the more I continued so I fully read till 30%, skimmed till 77%, and had to jump to the end.
***SPOILERS****
Here’s everything wrong with Maxen (Ash) Colchester aka the creepy, self-absorbed predator, I mean, President:
1. He has an intense make-out session with a 16-year-old when he’s 26 years old. But after learning she’s not 18, he keeps kissing her and says, “Why aren’t you eighteen.”
I hate this book so much that I don’t even want to write a review. It just kept getting worse the more I continued so I fully read till 30%, skimmed till 77%, and had to jump to the end.
***SPOILERS****
Here’s everything wrong with Maxen (Ash) Colchester aka the creepy, self-absorbed predator, I mean, President:
1. He has an intense make-out session with a 16-year-old when he’s 26 years old. But after learning she’s not 18, he keeps kissing her and says, “Why aren’t you eighteen.”