"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."
Book Lovers is my favorite Emily Henry book so far. I've also read People We Meet on Vacation (★★★) and Beach Read(★★★), but Book Lovers takes the cake. I love that the main character, Nora, is portrayed as the anti-heroine. She has been dumped several times for the sweet, quirky, small town heroines that frequently pop up in romance novels and she could not be more opposite. She describes herself as the cold, uptight, corporate woman who gets left behind in all of the Hallmark movies and I loved the refreshing point of view.
🍴 Books+Bites 🍴
Nora is a vegetarian and her standard order, when she can get it, is a goat cheese salad and a dirty gin martini. While a goat cheese salad does sound delicious, I couldn't help but notice the unique cookies she baked while vacationing with her sister in Sunshine Falls. When I first saw corn-lime cookies described in Book Lovers, I wrinkled my nose thinking "are there chunks of corn?" I looked them up and to my relief the "corn" comes from cornmeal and they looked delicious!
"The corn-lime cookies are ready by the time Libby’s up, and we eat them for breakfast with coffee. “You are just full of surprises,” Libby says, and pretends not to notice that the cookies are lumpy and burnt at the edges."
I used this Corn-Lime Cookie recipe from the Noble Pig. They were so, so good! My entire family loved them and I will definitely be making them again. The cookie itself is reminiscent of shortbread, but it has a subtle lime flavor and the texture of the cornmeal comes through. It's the tangy glaze that really takes this cookie to the next level though. My mouth is watering just thinking about it! Two ingredients and you have the most flavorful glaze. I'm already thinking about other baked goods I can slather it on.
The book blurb (and countless reviews) suggest to me that the cutthroat literary agent, Nora, and the surly book editor, Charlie, hate each other and that this book is a hate-to-love romance. I disagree. They may not have gotten along wonderfully at their first meeting, but there is a big gap between their first meeting and the next and by that time it seems like Nora is interested in Charlie right off the bat. The ensuing witty remarks via email and texting are hilarious and are quickly followed by several more run-ins that result in dialogue that frequently had me laughing.
“We’re going to Poppa Squat’s.”
“Maybe you’ve heard of it,” I say.
“It was on a very exclusive BuzzFeed list.” Slow nod. Dark, gut-melting eyes. Holding his gaze feels like public indecency. “ ‘Places That Sound Like They’ll Definitely Give You Diarrhea While Really They Only Just Might Give You Diarrhea.’ ”
“That’s the one,” I agree.
Nora and Charlie have quite a bit in common including being misunderstood by the outside world and it seems to bond them almost immediately. So, no, in my opinion it's not a good example of the enemies-to-lovers trope, but a good romance nonetheless.
I loved Nora's character. The idea of a heroine that would typically be viewed as the villain getting her side of the story told is great. It was a breath of fresh air from all of the "sweet, quirky, little" heroines I've been reading about lately. I liked that she was ambitious, organized, and put together and I really liked that she met someone who didn't try to change her into someone completely different. We see some needed growth and change from Nora, but not because the love interest made her see the error of her ways which is refreshing.
**Spoilers Below**
Unfortunately, one of the things that irritated me early on was the relationship between Nora and her sister, Libby.
"The more she insists everything’s fine, the more sure I am that it’s not. But as has been the case for years, she’s just shuttered at the first sign of worry. This is how it is. She never asks for help, so I have to figure out what she needs and how to get it to her in a way she feels okay about accepting. Even with her wedding dress, I had to pretend to track down a sample sale and get a damaged dress at a discount, when actually I put it on a card and smudged some concealer inside the bodice myself. But with this—I don’t even know where to start."
I know their codependent relationship is a plot point (one that is, thankfully, addressed and resolved in the end), but it still really annoyed me. They were both hiding stuff from each other and mildly resenting each other and it took a month long vacation and a move to bring out some honest feelings. Every time Nora talked about how she needed to ensure Libby's happiness, I felt the need to roll my eyes. I also wasn't a huge fan of Libby sneaking around and being evasive. Were we supposed to be worried about her marriage, her health, her kids, her pregnancy? I don't know. It was all just a bit distracting. As a matter of fact, I feel like the sisters' relationship frequently took center stage and those portions dragged for me.
I don't want to end on a negative note so I'll go back to the things I enjoyed. I thought the activity checklist was fun and I enjoyed watching Nora step out of her comfort zone to complete the tasks. I would have enjoyed hearing even more about her accomplishing the items on the checklist. I also loved the honest love for books strewn throughout - discussions of books, the book shop, the editing process, the entire town trying to be like Dusty's book. It was all a nice touch.
I already read the book and did like it but now I will try the corn lime cookies!
ReplyDeleteYes, a must try and perfect for summertime!
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