Book Lovers by Emily Henry


Publication Date: May 3, 2022


Plot: 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.

MY THOUGHTS:

This was my first Emily Henry book, and I was NOT disappointed!! This one has been on my TBR since it was first announced, and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it.


Charlie Lastra is truly the kind of book boyfriend I adore. He + Nora really are something special together, and separately too. I saw so much of myself in Nora, and I loved relating to her throughout the book. She’s organized and a workaholic, but she’s also fierce, funny, and loyal. Also, how about the fact that there is finally a female protagonist out there that doesn’t want children?! I love a big happy ending as much as the next person, but it was nice to see that happy endings come in all shapes and sizes. This one is a bit slow to grab you, but once it gets you, you won't be able to put it down!

☆ Rating: 4/5 stars 

FAVORITE QUOTES


“Those were the endings I found solace in, The ones that said, Yes you have lost something, but maybe, someday, you’ll find something too."


“Nora.” He just barely smiles. “You’re in books. Of course you don’t have a life. None of us do. There’s always something too good to read.”


“Is there anything better than iced coffee and a bookstore on a sunny day? I mean, aside from hot coffee and a bookstore on a rainy day.”


“Maybe love shouldn’t be built on a foundation of compromises, but maybe it can’t exist without them either. Not the kind that forces two people into shapes they don’t fit in, but the kind that loosens their grips, always leaves room to grow. Compromises that say, there will be a you-shaped space in my heart, and if your shape changes, I will adapt. No matter where we go, our love will stretch out to hold us, and that makes me feel like … like everything will be okay.”


“Sometimes, even when you start with the last page and you think you know everything, a book finds a way to surprise you.”


“The last-page ache. The deep breath in after you’ve set the book aside.”


“That’s the thing about women. There’s no good way to be one. Wear your emotions on your sleeve and you’re hysterical. Keep them tucked away where your boyfriend doesn’t have to tend to them and you’re a heartless bitch.”


“That’s life. You’re always making decisions, taking paths that lead you away from the rest before you can see where they end. Maybe that’s why we as a species love stories so much. All those chances for do-overs, opportunities to live the lives we’ll never have.”


“She wonders whether what comes next could ever live up to the expectations. She doesn’t know. You never can. She turns the page anyway.”


“Life in New York was like being in a giant bookstore: all these trillions of paths and possibilities drawing dreamers into the city's beating heart, saying, I make no promises but I offer many doors.”


“Some books you don’t read so much as live, and finishing one of those always makes me think of ascending from a scuba dive. Like if I surface too fast I might get the bends.”


“Maybe it’s possible to have more than one home. Maybe it’s possible to belong in a hundred different ways to a hundred different people and places.”


FAVORITE QUOTES


“Those were the endings I found solace in, The ones that said, Yes you have lost something, but maybe, someday, you’ll find something too."


“Nora.” He just barely smiles. “You’re in books. Of course you don’t have a life. None of us do. There’s always something too good to read.”


“Is there anything better than iced coffee and a bookstore on a sunny day? I mean, aside from hot coffee and a bookstore on a rainy day.”


“Maybe love shouldn’t be built on a foundation of compromises, but maybe it can’t exist without them either. Not the kind that forces two people into shapes they don’t fit in, but the kind that loosens their grips, always leaves room to grow. Compromises that say, there will be a you-shaped space in my heart, and if your shape changes, I will adapt. No matter where we go, our love will stretch out to hold us, and that makes me feel like … like everything will be okay.”


“Sometimes, even when you start with the last page and you think you know everything, a book finds a way to surprise you.”


“The last-page ache. The deep breath in after you’ve set the book aside.”


“That’s the thing about women. There’s no good way to be one. Wear your emotions on your sleeve and you’re hysterical. Keep them tucked away where your boyfriend doesn’t have to tend to them and you’re a heartless bitch.”


“That’s life. You’re always making decisions, taking paths that lead you away from the rest before you can see where they end. Maybe that’s why we as a species love stories so much. All those chances for do-overs, opportunities to live the lives we’ll never have.”


“She wonders whether what comes next could ever live up to the expectations. She doesn’t know. You never can. She turns the page anyway.”


“Life in New York was like being in a giant bookstore: all these trillions of paths and possibilities drawing dreamers into the city's beating heart, saying, I make no promises but I offer many doors.”


“Some books you don’t read so much as live, and finishing one of those always makes me think of ascending from a scuba dive. Like if I surface too fast I might get the bends.”


“Maybe it’s possible to have more than one home. Maybe it’s possible to belong in a hundred different ways to a hundred different people and places.”