Book Lovers

 By Emily Henry

Berkley     2022

377 pages     Romantic Comedy

I don’t usually choose romance novels to read. However Book Lovers was our book club choice for August. And surprisingly, I enjoyed it for the most part because it was so skillfully written. Great characters, delightful setting, and interesting plot devices. Also because it has been a best seller since it came out in May, and I was curious about it. The NPR reviewer had this to say, “Book Lovers by Emily Henry is both a tribute to and takedown of this cultural form by a star of the summer beach read. Her playful and clever contemporary romance — her third — pokes holes in many of the assumptions that surround small towns in popular culture.”

Nora Stephens, the narrator of the book, is a New Yorker through and through. She has had various love affairs, all of which have ended up disasters with Nora being dumped. Her younger sister, Libby, however, is married and expecting her third child. After their mother’s death, Nora finished raising Libby and they have an extremely close bond. Libby comes up with a suggestion that she and Nora take a vacation alone together to the small town of Sunshine Falls, just outside Asheville, North Carolina.  Nora is a book agent and knows that she will have to work while on vacation. She very soon begins to suspect that Libby’s marriage may be having trouble and that is why she wanted to leave for a while. Oh, and by the way, Sunshine Falls is the setting of the last book Nora was the agent for.

Surprisingly, when they get to a rental house high on a mountain in Sunshine Falls, Nora finds Charlie, a book editor that she has had a rather unfortunate meeting with over a book edit. What is Charlie doing in this small North Carolina town? They are very attracted to each other, and thus the plot begins.

There is a familiar trope in romance fiction that hard-edged city people go to small town America to rest and renew. Love and romance can come in quaint, lovely small towns. The Kirkus reviewer says that “Henry never falls into the easy trap of vilifying either small towns or big cities, allowing her characters the room to follow their dreams, wherever they lead.”

Book Lovers is character driven, and the reader identifies quickly with the beauty of the setting and the beauty of the love between sisters as well as the love between Nora and Charlie. The theme of the love of reading, books, and book stores runs through the entire book, including a list at the end of Nora and Libby’s best books. I was very impressed by how Henry wove everything together. I will be leaving North Carolina behind for a while—this was my second North Carolina book in a row, following the mystery The Last to Vanish.

Here's a cute article about how Emily Henry vacations and her favorite Midwestern cities, including Grand Rapids, Michigan.