Book Lovers by Emily Henry

Description From Goodreads:

One summer. Two rivals. A plot twist they didn't see coming....

Nora Stephens’ life is books—she’s read them all—and she is not that type of heroine. Not the plucky one, not the laidback dream girl, and especially not the sweetheart. In fact, the only people Nora is a heroine for are her clients, for whom she lands enormous deals as a cutthroat literary agent, and her beloved little sister Libby.

Which is why she agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for the month of August when Libby begs her for a sisters’ trip away—with visions of a small-town transformation for Nora, who she’s convinced needs to become the heroine in her own story. But instead of picnics in meadows, or run-ins with a handsome country doctor or bulging-forearmed bartender, Nora keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. It would be a meet-cute if not for the fact that they’ve met many times and it’s never been cute.

If Nora knows she’s not an ideal heroine, Charlie knows he’s nobody’s hero, but as they are thrown together again and again—in a series of coincidences no editor worth their salt would allow—what they discover might just unravel the carefully crafted stories they’ve written about themselves.

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My Review:

This is the second book I've read by Emily Henry. The first book I read was Beach Read. Beach Read was good but nothing to really rave about for me. However, this book was so hyped up all over social media that I joined the wait list to borrow this book from my library.

I loved how the author chose to include a prologue. While it wasn't necessary it set the stage for both Charlie and Nora that I feel many authors don't really do any more. Especially since the first chapter takes place two years later. I really liked seeing a snap shot of Nora and Charlie before their wild adventure in Sunshine Falls, NC.

Nora I relate to a lot. While I am not a shark like her and make a lot of money, I do make a point to put work and a career first. I want to get to her place where I don't have to worry if I'll make rent or if I'll die of old age with student loan debt still. I don't date much because of it. Comfortably so. However, since she was already in that better place I was definitely rooting for her and Charlie. Nora's love language to me is acts of service and people misinterpret that as not caring or being too focused when it reality it just means you enjoy taking care of others and want to be taken care of in the same manner (Think I'm projecting here? Lol.)

I think what made me love Charlie so much besides how straight to the point he was is how much he understood Nora's love language and validated it so much. He didn't tease her about it in a mean or down putting way. He only teases her when he wants to see her smile and makes sure it's harmless or normalized. He also goes out of his way to make her laugh when he sees her internally freaking out.

I just really loved seeing how they understood and encouraged each other to be themselves. I also really enjoyed seeing them work together. I thought it was a fun and engaging process.

I'm sure many people will disagree with me for what I'm about to say but I really did not like Libby. I completely understand that she didn't want Nora to swoop in anymore to save the day, but she belittled Nora's life style any chance she got just because she wasn't in a relationship. Nora absolutely loved her life, yeah maybe she wasn't doing her dream job but she was content there and loved what that job brought her. She forces Nora to try and date locals and gets mad when it's Charlie just because he has a similar life style to Nora. Honestly, Nora did a lot better than me with handling all her sister's barbs and side comments because I would have had a break down much sooner. I honestly think Libby owed Nora a much bigger apology than the one she gave. I also get that Libby and Nora viewed their childhoods differently. I also have a sister and we have these conversations all the time now that we're older, however, I do not judge or belittle my sister for her choices. It's her life. Which I guess is also why Libby got me very heated at times.

Overall, I loved this book so much that I flew through it. I finished it in about four hours. It's entertaining and I adored both main characters. I was able to relate to them in a lot of ways. It's a great read if you're looking for a romance where they hype each other up and actually support each other. Also, no misunderstanding trope or fear of commitment trope which is amazing.