Book Lovers by Emily Henry
- Oct 27
- 3 min read
Published back in 2022, Emily Henry's novel Book Lovers is now a New York Times Bestseller and an Amazon Editors' Pick for Best Romance. It has very high scores on both Amazon and Goodreads (above four stars for both). It is also in development by Tango Entertainment to be made into a feature film though it is still early in the process. It deals with vomit, medical content, grief, abandonment, and the death of a parent.
Nora Stephens never expected to be the villainess in her own story but she, as a literary agent, knows books. Which means that she knows how the story goes: boy in a fast paced city job meets fast paced city girl. boy and girl fall in love. boy gets sent to a small town in enter state here to acquire the local boutique bakery for his big corporate baking conglomerate. boy meets bakery owner (can be substituted by bakery owner's daughter). boy realizes that he's never really known what love was before now and decides to save the small town bakery, leave the city and his fast paced city job behind, and live in the small town with the bakery owner (can be substituted by bakery owner's daughter). Nora knows this story well because SHE is the fast paced city girl and she has been left by not one, not two, but three boyfriends and counting for the small town bakery owner (you get the drift). But she loves the city and loves her fast paced, high maintenance, always working life because she loves her job and she loves her clients. However, when Nora's sister Libby, tired mother of two (nearly three) children, needs a break and asks Nora to spend a month in North Carolina with her to reconnect before the baby comes, Nora accepts the offer. Libby is bound and determined to get the full small town treatment before they leave (she even has a checklist) and if Nora happens to find her own happy ending with a ruggedly handsome pig farmer with biceps for days (can be substituted by lumberjack) then even better. Nora doesn't really expect for all of Libby's fantasies to come true but what she really doesn't expect is to find fast paced New Yorker Charlie Lastra (and Nora's most recent career nemesis) in small town Sunshine Falls, North Carolina.
At this point, I'm starting to feel a bit forlorn because I only have so many Emily Henry books left to read. I have enjoyed all of her books thus far and Book Lovers does not break that streak. I. Loved. It. Sunshine Falls is a small town full of local restaurants with eccentric locals that love a good pun. But it is not just sunshine in Sunshine Falls, it has its fair share of cons as well, making it feel like a realistic place. Nora and Charlie are possibly my favorite couple in any of Emily Henry's books (move over Miles in Funny Story) and they are so well developed as characters. Emily Henry's writing is, as always, funny and lighthearted, full of quippy remarks and quick witted snark but so wonderfully descriptive and genuine that it feels effortless. The story was fast paced but not rushed and the storyline was great. I didn't want to finish it but I really loved the ending, too.
Book Lovers by Emily Henry gets five stars from me with a spice rating of 2. Fun and funny but still with real substance. I'm trying to pace myself before I have nothing left of hers to read and will have to wait impatiently until she releases something new.
For more from Emily Henry, see her website at https://www.emilyhenrybooks.com/
Pairs well with cacio e pepe and camping under the stars at least once.
My favorite quotes: "You can tell she's evil because her hair is an unnatural blonde, slicked back a la Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct. And also, she hates Christmas decorations."
"I'm a grown man, Nora. I can buy my own Bigfoot erotica, thank you very much."
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