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Book Lovers
(Review, Synopsis & Summary)

By Emily Henry



Book review and synopsis for Book Lovers by Emily Henry, a will-they-or-won't-they romance between a cutthroat literary agent and brooding book editor.

Synopsis

In Book Lovers, Nora Stephens is a workaholic, cutthroat literary agent living in New York who is dragged into a monthlong trip to the picturesque small town of Sunshine Falls, North Carolina by her younger sister. Nora is very familiar with all the tropes about small town transformations and rom-coms featuring protagonists giving it all up for a simpler life, but Nora likes her life and job in New York.

But when Nora runs into Charlie Lastra -- a handsome, no-nonsense book editor she knows from New York -- in Sunshine Falls, she finds herself questioning many aspects of her life and realizing that she doesn't know where this story is headed...

(The Full Plot Summary is also available, below)

Full Plot Summary

Section-by-Section Summary
See the Section-by-Section Summary of Book Lovers
Quick Plot Summary

Nora Stephens is a cutthroat literary agent in New York whose younger sister, Libby, convinces her to spend the entirety of August on a vacation to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina. Nora and Libby were raised by a single mother, who passed away when Libby was in high school. Nora has spent her whole adulthood making sacrifices for Libby's sake to help provide for Libby.

Sunshine Falls turns out to be the hometown of Charlie Lastra, a handsome book editor that she knows, who happens to be in town. He's also running the local bookstore, which his parents own, in order to help them out.

Together, Nora and Charlie end up editing a book written by one of Nora's clients, Dusty Fielding, while they're there. As they work together, Charlie helps Nora to be considered for an editor position, which is the job Nora originally wanted to pursue in publishing. Nora and Charlie fall for each other, but it turns out the Charlie is planning on staying in Sunshine Falls to help out with his family since his father is in poor health. Nora thinks a long-distance relationship would be too hard.

Meanwhile, Libby reveals to Nora that she's actually planning on moving to Sunshine Falls, and the trip was initially meant to try to convince Nora to move there as well. However, Libby ends up encouraging Nora to pursue her dreams of being a book editor in New York instead, not wanting Nora to make any more sacrifices for her.

The trip ends and Nora returns to New York. However, a few months later Charlie reveals that Libby has offered to take over running the bookstore and his father is doing better. He moves to New York and the book ends with him about to propose to Nora.

For more detail, see the full Section-by-Section Summary.

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Book Review

Book Lovers is Emily Henry’s newest bookish summer beach read, and it delivers on everything it promises to be. Summery, romantic, fun, and with endearingly bookish characters — there’s a lot to like about Henry’s latest release.

Our protagonist, Nora, describes herself as the type of woman that decidedly does not get the guy in romantic comedies — a steely-eyed, bleached blonde, workaholic literary agent who’s referred to as a “Shark” by others in the industry. Thanks to her younger sister Libby, she gets talked into taking a month-long trip to the small town of Sunshine Falls, North Carolina. There, she repeatedly has run-ins with Charlie Lastra, a book editor she knows from New York, who is also in town. As their chemistry starts to grow, Nora gets a taste of small town romance and begins to question various aspects of her life.

This book is easy to read and easy to recommend. It’s exactly what you’d expect from reading the description of it, and it doesn’t disappoint. I think the worst thing you could say about Book Lovers is that it is somewhat of a safe and unchallenging story, but I imagine if you’re looking for a cheery rom-com type story, that’s probably not a deal-breaker for you.

Read it or Skip it?

If you’re looking for a fun, summer read with book-loving characters in it, Book Lovers is a pretty sure bet. I had a good time reading it, and it was the perfect fit for getting into those summer vibes.

See Book Lovers on Amazon.

Book Lovers Audiobook Review

Narrator: Julia Whelan
Length: 11 hours 23 minutes

Hear a sample of the Book Lovers audiobook on Libro.fm.

Book Excerpt

Read the first pages of Book Lovers



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