Book Lovers in SpecFic Buddy Reads

Aug 27, 2022 Bradley rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance, 2022-shelf

So. Let me get my personal elephant out of the room. I was pissed throughout this book because I thought this was going to be a rom-com featuring two lovers of books who wind up loving each other. I wanted to read tons of easter eggs and nods to the greats (Heathcliff doesn't count) and just roll around in nerdy goodness while getting that sexytime on.

So what happened with that elephant?

*I WAS BAIT-AND-SWITCHED*

There was hardly any bookish goodness. An Agent and an Editor fussing over a fictiona ...more

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Aug 27, 2022 Trish rated it really liked it · review of another edition

So I was in the mood for a romance.

Nora is a big-shot literary agent in NYC with what nowadays constitutes as a "traumatic event" in her past (spoiler alert! it's not actually that big of a deal). She's living a good life and loves her little sister to death.
That little sister, Libby, is exactly who tells her to go on an adventure in a small-ass town in the middle of nowhere after Nora's latest break-up.
You see, the sisters have been raised on nothing but books, sexy lingery, and skin-care produ So I was in the mood for a romance.

Nora is a big-shot literary agent in NYC with what nowadays constitutes as a "traumatic event" in her past (spoiler alert! it's not actually that big of a deal). She's living a good life and loves her little sister to death.
That little sister, Libby, is exactly who tells her to go on an adventure in a small-ass town in the middle of nowhere after Nora's latest break-up.
You see, the sisters have been raised on nothing but books, sexy lingery, and skin-care products so Libby hopes that her big sister might find a romance worth of ... well, a book like this. *lol*
Thus, they embark on a road trip to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina. There, her pregnatn sister thrusts a bucket list into her hands.
The problem? Instead of meeting a sexy lumberjack and having unrealistically hot and steamy sex, Nora keeps running into Charlie Lastra, an editor from NYC with which she had a not-so-nice business meeting once.

Thankfully, Charlie was not portrayed as the World's Greatest Asshole in one chapter only to be transformed into Prince Charming the next. He also wasn't a permanent asshole. He was simply blunt and honest. It's a pet peeve of mine when there are unrealistically 180° changes in people. Because after a certain point, it's not people putting a mask on, but people actually being detestable little shits.

Anyway, their interactions and conversations were very nice and I liked the slow burn. However, what I would have liked more of were books. Sure, we sometimes got references to literary characters and books rom Nora's and Libby's childhood, but considering the title, I expected a bit more.

The "twist" about why Shunshine Falls etc. was also a bit ... well, not far-fetched exactly, but not too realistic either. Then again, Nora's whole living situation was, too, considering that we're talking about contemporary NYC. ;)

Nevertheless, there were some really cute moments and sometimes even ones where sparks flew so the book did what it had promised. ...more

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Dec 18, 2022 Christina Pilkington rated it it was amazing

Emily Henry is the only romance writer that I read. Maybe that will change in 2023, but I rarely like romance books. I only started reading Emily Henry's romances a few years ago, when I picked up People We Meet on Vacation as one of my BOTM finalist books. I had planned on just selling it to a local used bookstore, but thought I'd give it a chance and read it first.

And I loved it!

I think her books work for me because so far the plots have really interested in me. In People We Meet on Vacation ...more

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May 31, 2022 Lindsay rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance

Wonderfully written romance book with some clever dialogue between the leads.

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Jun 17, 2025 Shane rated it it was ok

You've seen my previous books, I'm not really a romance reader but this one came recommended (along with lab boredom and spotify premium pulling through). I think overall it was a decent book in terms of language and basic plot. I'm not going to deny that there's character development there but it felt a bit 2D and followed the classic trope Nora (the narrator) criticises at the beginning (maybe that's the point?). It's bubblegum for the brain but I haven't been hooked on the romance genre. ...more

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May 31, 2024 Cindy rated it really liked it

Shelves: audiobooks, fiction

A contemporary romance featuring an ambitious literary agent who has made sacrifices to help raise her sister and sees herself as something of a trope: the bitchy career woman in the city who keeps getting dumped for the pie-baking country farm girl. This self-aware character, Nora, is dragged to a small town by her very pregnant and married sister, Libby, in order to execute a multi-part checklist (Ride a horse! Save a struggling local business! Date a local!) to see if Nora can find her own fl ...more

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Jun 07, 2022 Jorid Sørli rated it liked it

Shelves: audiobook

I don't usually read romance, but the book theme lured me in. It was ok, but atleast 25% too long. ...more

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Jan 17, 2023 Lulu rated it it was amazing

Shelves: romance, books-read-in-2023

A really well-crafted romance novel about two people working in publishing, who meet not in their home in New York, but in a small town that is at the heart of one of the main character's client's bestsellers. I really loved the characters, and the romance was satisfying. I especially like that the conflict at around the 80% mark was not contrived or based on misunderstanding, but very real difficulties that are hard to overcome.

I ended up reading it all on a plane ride, so absorbed that I could ...more

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