Summer Reading 2022: Book Lovers by Emily Henry

 

I'm chipping away at my summer reading pile, and I just finished Book Lovers by Emily Henry. I wanted to give her another chance after I read Beach Read a few years ago and had mixed feelings about that novel. Enough mixed feelings that I didn't read People We Meet on Vacation, her follow up. 

I'm happy to say I had a different experience with this novel. It could be I liked the characters much more in Book Lovers.  Nora and Charlie both live in New York City. Nora is a literary agent, and Charlie is an editor. They meet briefly to discuss one of Nora's clients. Charlie doesn't like the book, and Nora doesn't much like Charlie. Neither makes a good impression on the other.  

Fast forward two years later, and Nora is taking a month long vacation to the town of Sunshine Falls, North Carolina with her pregnant sister Libby. They are extremely close, but Nora has felt some distance in their relationship. Libby isn't happy with Nora's career taking all of her time; Nora is afraid their relationship may be damaged because of it. 

Nora runs into Charlie in Sunshine Falls. Oh--did I mention Sunshine Falls is the setting for the novel Charlie dissed two years before? And that novel was a HUGE hit? Surprise, surprise. Charlie actually is from Sunshine Falls. He's there taking care of his parent's bookshop and helping his father recover from a stroke. Charlie hates Sunshine Falls. They run into each other, and it's clear their short meeting two years before was just the start of something big. 

Nora and Charlie begin working on editing a novel that has the potential to be a blockbuster. They both know it and are completely in sync with each other about the work it will take to shape the manuscript and get it ready to sell. 

Nora and Charlie also are irresistibly attracted to each other, and their chemistry is off the charts! I'll say Emily Henry hit the nail on the head as Nora finds the little things about Charlie so darn hot. That's exactly how it works. I'm partial to my dude's dimples. They get me every time. I love his chin. Weird, I know, but darn it all he's got a great chin. Anyway...Nora and Charlie just are so good together. I loved reading their texts; they just get each other. Smart, snappy, sharp conversations that make their relationship very believable. 

Charlie's attraction to Nora is also so. well. done. I loved the evolution of their relationship. A great match; great dialogue. 

Nora's relationship with her sister Libby is a bit complicated, and Nora's quirks and issues get a deep dive into her past. Charlie brings out the best in her. 

A big theme in this novel is the idea of happily ever after, and how sometimes it doesn't always happen the way we want it to happen. Life is not a Hallmark movie; tough choices have to be made. Sometimes your happy is not the same happy for others you love, and you have to make a choice. It's also about loving someone enough to let them go so they can be happy. 

I'm not saying how this novel ends, because the journey is important. It's a good journey, however, and while this is a romance, it's also a story about family, sacrifice, personal happiness, and healing. 

Okay. So I'm onboard the Emily Henry train. Book Lovers was a great read, a solid romance, and an examination of being happy in your life versus just being okay in order to make someone else happy. 

Rating: 5/6 for two engaging characters: Nora and Charlie. Darn it all, Charlie sure is appealing! The story moves along at a good pace; all of the strands of this plot come together neatly. A good novel to take on vacation. 

Available in paperback, hardcover, ebook, and audio. 

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Summer Reading 2022: Book Lovers by Emily Henry

Ink & Sigil by Kevin Hearne

It's been many years since I've read Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid Chronicles series, so I was delighted to see he has returned to that world with this new series. I absolutely love contemporary fantasy that mixes in old magical elements, along with a sense of humor that makes me laugh as I read. 

Set in Glasgow, with a few stints in Edinburgh and other places, this novel stars the charming Al MacBharrais, a sixty-something sigil agent who is caught up in a mystery involving the Fae. 

A sigil agent works between the human world and the Fae world, making contracts that help keep both worlds apart, yet allow for some contact between the two when necessary. Sigils are handwritten symbols of magic, made with specially created inks. It requires years of apprenticeship and there are only 5 sigil agents around the world. Al owns a publishing house, and uses it as a front for his magical work.

I loved the cast of characters and can't wait to read about future adventures. A hobgoblin that loves to steal whiskey, an office manager that has a special talent for fighting, and assorted Fae that keep things complicated. Oh, and did I mention Al has a curse on him? If he talks to people, eventually they hate him--as in turn purple with rage and try to kill him. So he's forced to use a text to speech phone to communicate with anyone he wants to keep in his life. An ongoing theme for future novels is Al's pursuit of whomever cast the curse, and finding a way to remove it. It's cost him dearly over the years, and he's done with it. 

I enjoy science fiction/fantasy, and it's been a bit since I've read anything. It was just what I needed to get me reading after weeks of not being able to concentrate. Pure fun, a good plot, endearing characters and plenty of magic. I look forward to reading more about Al and his associates. 

Rating: 5/6 for a promising start to a new series. Featuring a cast of characters both human and Fae, along with hobgoblins, ghostly dogs, and other mythological creatures, this is an enjoyable romp through a world full of magic mystery, and good whiskey. 

Available in hardcover ebook, and audio.

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Ink & Sigil by Kevin Hearne

Be Frank With Me by Julia Claiborne Johnson

This was a delightfully funny, tender, and dare I say sweet novel that I was sad to finish.  When I read a book that completely engulfs me, I have a hard time letting it go.  That's how I feel about this book, and I can tell you that this novel has one of the most memorable characters I have met in all my reading years.   

Alice works for Isaac Vargas at a publishing company in New York City.  Mr. Vargas' star client, M. M. Banning, hasn't written a word since her blockbuster bestseller in the late 1970's.  Now it's 2009, and M.M. Banning (Mimi) has lost all her money to a bad ponzi scheme, and has to write again in order to support her son and herself.  Alice is sent to California to stay with Mimi and her son Frank and keep distractions away from Mimi so she can finish her second novel.  Sounds pretty simple, right?

Frank is one of my most favorite characters.  He captured my heart within a few pages of meeting him.  He's nine years old, moving into the fourth grade, and is not a typical child.  Frank is a treasure trove of old Hollywood movie trivia, and he wears clothes that belong to the 30's and 40's.  Yes, this is a child who wears top hats, monocles, and zoot suits to school, at home, and everywhere else.  No t-shirts and jeans for this child.  Alice may not touch any of his things, and she cannot touch him without his permission.  He may at any time hold her hand, or hug her, but never the other way around.  

His mother, Mimi, is equally eccentric, and while a devoted mother, has issues of her own.  She locks herself away in her room, and won't allow any disruptions as she types her novel on an old fashioned typewriter  that belonged to her dead brother.   And there is Xander, who pops in and out, has a magical way of keeping Frank from having meltdowns, and fascinates Alice with his piano playing.  

It sounds like an interesting cast of characters, and it is.  Frank is an endearing little boy; a genius misfit who hates going to school because he has no friends and doesn't fit in.  His dialogue is spot on:  brilliant, witty, and so funny.  Mature beyond his years, yet a boy who only wants to spend time with his Mom.  
Mimi is a bit hard to know; she spends most of the novel locked in her office, typing away.  She's sharp and unfriendly to Alice, but you can tell there's more to Mimi and she's developed a protective armor to keep hurt at bay.  Xander is just a mess, yet at the same time provides the backbone to this oddball little family.  

There have been many comparisons to Where'd You Go, Bernadette;  this novel is similar to it and The Rosie Project in that the main character is not your average person with average problems.  Frank really is the central character in this story, told from Alice's perspective.  It is a great mix of funny, laugh out loud, teary-eyed moments that make this one of the most interesting reads this year.  For sure it will be in my top ten favorite reads of 2016.

Rating:  8/10 for introducing me to Frank, a young man who captured my heart.  

Thank you so much to Harper Collins for the advanced copy.  
This book is available in hardcover, e-book, large-print, and audio.

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Be Frank With Me by Julia Claiborne Johnson