Audiobook Review: And Then There Was You by Sophie Cousens

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: And Then There Was You
Author: Sophie Cousens
Narrator: Kerry Gilbert
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Publication date: November 18, 2025
Print length: 352 pages
Audio length: 9 hours 10 minutes
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Library
Rating:

She’s found the perfect man . . . There’s just one big twist.

Stuck in a Production Assistant job and living at home with her parents after a painful breakup, thirty-one-year-old Chloe Fairway isn’t where she wants to be in life. The last thing she needs is to face the people who once voted her “most likely to succeed” at her upcoming ten-year college reunion. And she definitely doesn’t want to see her former best friend, Sean Adler, who is now a hotshot film director living the life Chloe dreamed of. Desperate to make a splash—and to save face in front of the man who might be the one that got away—she turns to a mysterious dating service.

Enter Rob, her handsome, well-read, and charming match, the perfect plus-one to take to her reunion. The more she gets to know him, the more perfect he appears to be. Could it be that this dating service knows her better than she knows herself? And can she overlook the one big catch? As Chloe reconnects with old friends, she begins to question everything she thought she wanted. Maybe, just maybe, revisiting the past is exactly what she needs to move forward.

After really enjoying my last audiobook by Sophie Cousens (Is She Really Going Out With Him?), I grabbed her newest when I saw it was available through the library. And while I enjoy her upbeat storytelling and the terrific narration by Kerry Gilbert, this romance had certain elements that just didn’t work for me.

Ten years after graduating from Oxford, Chloe feels like a failure. Once considered most likely to succeed, sure of a brilliant career ahead of her as an actress and playwright, Chloe now lives with her parents and works as the personal assistant to a highly unpleasant man at a mediocre production company. All of her old schoolmates have gone on to do amazing things, especially Sean, once her best friend and writing partner, now practically a stranger, who’s a big-time Hollywood director. With the reunion looming, Chloe’s instinct is to hide and avoid it all. A chance encounter with a friend who seems to be radiantly happy leads Chloe to an exclusive matchmaking company that promises to find her the man of her dreams, someone who’ll be perfect for her. And when Chloe meets Rob, they just click. He’s gorgeous, smart, and sweet… so maybe attending the reunion with this impressive guy on her arm will be just the confidence boost that Chloe needs?

There’s a catch, of course… and here’s where I’m going to insert a big, fat…

SPOILER ALERT!

I’m guessing Goodreads reviews will already have spilled the beans, but in case you don’t want to know, here’s where to look away.

Seriously!

I’m going to get into the details of what I really did not like about this book.

SPOILERS COMING RIGHT NOW!

Okay, you’ve been warned.

The reason that Rob seems perfect for Chloe is that… he is. Rob is an AI robot created to Chloe’s exact specifications, based on an exhaustive questionnaire that she’s required to complete as part of her intake at the matchmaking company. She (and we) have no idea what she’s signing up for until after she’s signed an NDA and is introduced to Rob, who instantly impresses her with his good lucks, excellent manners, and sensitivity. He’s everything she thinks she wants in a man… because he’s been built and programmed that way.

Taking Rob to her reunion seems like a crazy idea. And it is. Convincing herself that she could have a future with Rob also seems ridiculous. And it is. Chloe spends a lot of mental energy trying to figure out whether a robot boyfriend might be her best bet for a happy life. Meanwhile, the entire reunion weekend is rife with moments when Rob’s perfection or stilted manners or weird affect threatens to reveal Chloe’s secret and undermine everything she’s trying to achieve.

From the moment of the reveal about what Rob really is (somewhere around the 15% mark), I was kind of over this book. I stuck with it because I liked certain elements of the story — but this was very nearly a DNF. The sad thing is that I don’t think this story needed the robot storyline at all. Rob could have simply been a date-for-hire, and the plot could have played out practically the same way. The AI/robot piece is a distracting novelty that just doesn’t work at all.

It’s a shame, because there are other elements that are very good. Who can’t relate to the feeling that everyone else is doing better at life than you are? Or the anxiety of reuniting with people who were once the center of your world? It’s not exactly surprising that at the reunion, Chloe discovers romantic feelings for an old friend and learns secrets that change what she thought she knew about their past. This part was very good! I liked Chloe’s process of understanding her past, admitting where she’d made mistakes, and getting past the roadblocks that had her feeling stuck professionally and emotionally.

END SPOILERS

All in all, And Then There Was You has some very engaging bits and pieces that unfortunately get swamped by a ridiculous overarching storyline. Sticking with this book all the way to the end tried my patience, despite the great audiobook narration and the generally interesting, quirky characters. The clever and entertaining bits just can’t save an unconvincing storyline. My eyes hurt from too much rolling.

Purchase links: Amazon – Audible – Bookshop.org – Libro.fm
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25Mar2026

Audiobook Review: Grace & Henry’s Holiday Movie Marathon by Matthew Norman

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Grace & Henry’s Holiday Movie Marathon
Author: Matthew Norman
Narrators: Alex Finke, Jay Myers
Publisher: Random House
Publication date: October 14, 2025
Print length: 337 pages
Audio length: 8 hours 43 minutes
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Library
Rating:

A sentimental advertising creative and a blunt, no-nonsense bar owner find a second chance at love while binge-watching iconic holiday movies in this poignant and heartwarming romance, from the author of Charm City Rocks and All Together Now.

“Norman weaves nostalgic references to modern holiday classics . . . throughout this comforting romance.”—The Washington Post (Noteworthy Books of the Month)

The new year had barely begun when Grace White and Henry Adler both lost their spouses. Now, nearly a year later, the first holiday season since their “Great and Terrible Sadnesses” approaches. Although their mothers scheme to matchmake the two surviving spouses, it’s clear that neither is ready to date again. Yet no one understands what they are going through better than each other, and a delicate friendship is born.

When Henry sees an ad for a Christmas movie marathon—once an annual tradition for him and his wife—Grace offers to watch some films with him, despite her aversion to a few of his picks. Her two young kids, Ian and Bella, also join in whenever possible—bedtimes permitting, of course.

With each movie, Grace and Henry’s shared grief eases as they start to see a life beyond the sadness. But as they draw closer, other romantic possibilities leave them uncertain about their future together. Is their bond merely the result of loneliness and shared circumstances, or have they found something that’s worth taking a shot at . . . again?

Grace & Henry’s Holiday Movie Marathon was an unusual pick for me — I don’t tend to read a lot of holiday-themed fiction, especially when it’s not even the holiday season! And yet… the charming title caught my eye, and then the story drew me in.

Grace and Henry both suffered terrible losses at the beginning of the year: Grace’s husband Tim died after a fast-moving cancer diagnosis, and Henry’s wife Bryn died in a shocking plane crash. Now, as the holidays approach, neither is doing particularly well. Grace is busy with her two children Ian and Bella (and their hilariously-named dog Harry Styles), but she spends most of her down time in her Costco sweats talking with the version of her dead husband who lives in her head. Henry can’t bring himself to return to the home he shared with his wife, so he’s rented a mostly empty apartment but mainly hangs out in his parents’ basement playing Mario Kart.

When Henry’s mom asks him to pop over to Grace’s mom’s house to “fix the internet” (which isn’t working due to a sneakily unplugged modem), Henry and Grace are helpless in the face of motherly matchmaking. Neither are interested in being fixed up or even considering dating again, but they do recognize that they might actually fit together as friends. As they talk about holiday movies, they find common ground, and soon, Henry is popping by for family movie nights, and then hanging out with Grace and the kids to help with Ian’s art projects, free captive mice (don’t ask), and discovering a mutual friendship that helps them all start finding a little joy in their lives.

I suppose most people would shelve this as a romance — and yes, of course there’s an underlying romance brewing slowly between Henry and Grace. But that, to me, isn’t the main point. The story overall is much more about loss and grieving, about the process of remembering and letting go, about finding ways to move on when everything you expected for your life is taken away.

The narrative is organized by the movies Henry and Grace watch, together and separately, as the holiday season advances. There are plenty of fun little references to a wide range of holiday (and holiday-adjacent) movies, from Die Hard and Edward Scissorhands to Love Actually, The Holiday, The Family Stone, and more. Point-of-view chapters shift between Henry and Grace; the audiobook has a narrator for each, and both are terrific at voicing the lead and supporting characters and adding humor (and sadness) as the story progresses.

I found both characters’ stories to be quite moving, each loss awful in its own way. Grace is forced to carry on for the sake of her children and does a wonderful job, but there’s a sadness in their home that they can’t quite overcome. Henry’s loneliness is different yet also deep and real. It’s easy to see why these two need one another, first as “grief buddies”, then as friends, to get through the worst of times — or even just normal days when a sudden memory or association can knock them out of orbit. Their ability to understand one another’s pain forms the backbone of what becomes a beautiful support system.

I also appreciated how well both Grace and Henry are supported by their families and friends. While their well-meaning mothers may be pushing a bit too hard for them to get back into the dating world, it’s clear that the people who love them want to help — somehow — and are often stuck on how to do it.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that Baltimore, the book’s setting, feels like a living, breathing character in this charming story. Grace and Henry have rich, deep connections to the city and the community, and it comes to sparkling life on every page.

All in all, I truly enjoyed Grace & Henry’s Holiday Movie Marathon. The holiday spirit, the sense of fun, and the straightforward treatment of loss and grieving all contribute to making this sweet book feel like something special. The audiobook delivery is terrific — but in whatever format, I think this is a book well worth picking up and experiencing.

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18Mar2026

Audiobook Review: One & Only by Maureen Goo

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: One & Only
Author: Maureen Goo
Narrator: Jeena Yi
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Publication date: February 3, 2026
Print length: 364 pages
Audio length: 10 hours 32 minutes
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Library
Rating:

In Five Years meets a millennial The Joy Luck Club in the adult debut from the author of YA Reese Pick Throwback— a funny and fresh love story of a woman thrown a curveball by fate, and the family secret that will make her question everything.

She’s seen what her happily ever after looks like. And it’s not him.

Cassia Park believes in soul mates. Fated love stories. It’s her family business, after all—for centuries, from Korea to Los Angeles, Park women have peered into clients’ past lives to find their one true love, their fated. This magical secret is why One & Only Matchmaking has a 100% guarantee…for everyone but Cassia.

For ten years, Cass has been searching for her fated, a man named Daniel Nam. But he’s still nowhere to be found.

And so, on the eve of her 40th birthday, Cass decides to do something for herself. She impulsively has a fling with Ellis. He’s twenty-eight, indecently handsome, and not destined to be the love of her life. But she’s surprised by their connection and their fling feels like something more—up to the moment he introduces her to his boss…Daniel Nam.

As she battles between fate and chance, head and heart, a family secret is revealed that will make her question everything she’s ever known. Cassia will have to decide if she’ll follow her fate…or make her own.

Before jumping into the review, can we just talk for a minute about how weird the blurb is? “In Five Years meets a millennial The Joy Luck Club“?? Is that the marketing team’s way of saying this book has some woo-woo elements plus it’s about a multi-generational Asian family and the main character is about to turn 40? I think these blurbs that try so hard to compare a book to other books have now stretched themselves to the breaking point. Anyway…

One & Only is a recent Read with Jenna pick, and since I’ve had good experiences with many of that book group’s picks (see my post about celebrity book clubs), I thought I’d give the audiobook a try.

In One & Only, the concept of meant-to-be is given quite a workout! Main character Cassia is about to turn 40, and has yet to meet her one and only… although she knows exactly who he is, or at least, she knows his name. Cassia works for the One & Only matchmaking company in LA, a family business run by her grandmother which carries out traditions that go back centuries within her Korean family.

To their customers, One & Only is a hugely successful matchmaking business. They even offer a guarantee and boast of a 100% success rate! They use the ancient art of face-reading to understand who someone truly is and then find the perfect match for them — but what they never tell anyone is that the women of their family also have a gift: As they read their clients’ faces, they get visions of their past lives which show them their “fated” — the person they’re destined to be with, and whom they’ve loved throughout shared lives together. Cassia has the gift as well, and as the only woman of her generation in the family, she knows that the business’s future rests on her having children to carry on the gift… something that seems frustratingly out of reach.

Ten years earlier, Cassia finally agreed to have her grandmother read her face and reveal her fated, and Cassia has known his name — Daniel Nam — ever since. But after a decade of searching, she’s still unable to find him. Meanwhile, she’s had a string of short, uninvolved romances. Why bother giving her heart to anyone when she knows her future lies with someone else?

And then Cassia meets Ellis. He’s a younger man with a lovely energy and personality, and the two click right away. They spend a passionate weekend together, and their chemistry is obvious. But when Cassia runs into Ellis on a work retreat, their new relationship comes to a screeching halt, because Ellis’s boss is Daniel Nam. Yes, that Daniel Nam. Adopted as a child, Daniel grew up with a different last name, and only recently added his Korean surname to his public persona.

Cassia does feel a connection to Daniel right away… and he’s so much better a choice for her — at least, on paper. And he’s her fated! She owes it to herself and to Daniel to pursue this, so she dumps Ellis and begins dating Daniel. And it’s good… for a while. But every time she runs into Ellis, there’s a pang over what might have been, and a nagging sense that maybe her fated doesn’t quite fit her life after all.

As the story progresses, we see Cassia attempt to forget about Ellis and focus on her meant-to-be life with Daniel, but there’s an element of unease. If Daniel is her fated, why does she still have feelings for someone else? Also, Cassia discovers months into her relationship with Daniel that they’re not on the same page about a huge issue, which is confusing and distressing: If they’re perfect for each other, why doesn’t this critical piece match up?

There’s a lot to appreciate about One & Only, especially the dynamics between the women of the Park family. Cassia’s grandmother is a force to be reckoned with, and her great-aunt and aunt are entertaining and dynamic too. The love between the generations of women is fierce and protective. Cassia’s mother died when Cassia was eight years old, and she was raised by her grandparents, who showered her with love and did their best to nourish a broken-hearted little girl.

Cassia’s grief related to her mother’s loss is a dominant theme throughout the book, as are some of the mysteries surrounding her mother’s life. Yvette was a rebel, an artist who chose to pursue her own path and not follow her elders into a life in the matchmaking business. More crucially, Cassia has known all her life that Yvette chose to marry someone she met in college, who wasn’t her fated… and who left her and Cassia because he couldn’t handle fatherhood. Cassia’s core beliefs are tied to this family history. See what happens when you ignore your fated?

Of course, the truth is more nuanced. Late in the book, Cassia tracks down the father she’s never known, and learns more about his years with her mother. Starting to heal this broken part of her life is a major step that gives Cassia fresh perspectives on her own choices — including finally acknowledging that she has more options than she once believed.

Cassia’s actions related to Ellis and Daniel can be troubling at times. She handles neither relationship particularly well, and I wished she’d been more honest with both about her reasons for ending and starting things with each of them. Her behavior toward Ellis feels particularly problematic. He’s a cinnamon roll character, totally sweet and caring and giving. Cassia dumping him in order to immediately start dating his boss is cruel. The fact of Daniel being her fated is Cassia’s excuse to herself for her behavior, but it’s just all so painful and awkward, not helped by going with Daniel to company events where this uncomfortable love triangle is on full display.

In real life, Cassia definitely wouldn’t get the happy ending she gets here… but given that this is a romance, we know she’ll find her way to true love by the final pages. The book takes a bit of a hand-wavy approach to settling the issue of fateds and past lives and reconciling this with Cassia’s choices. Honestly, I didn’t quite buy the matchmaking company’s business model or their astonishing success rates, and felt it might have helped readers suspend disbelief if we got to spend more than a few minutes with other matched couples, to get a sense of how finding your fated translates into building a relationship and a life together.

Despite not entirely loving the entire matchmaking storyline and feeling really uncomfortable with some of the love triangle scenes (including one near the end where Cassia behaves very badly), I found the plot overall to be engaging and unusual. The generational aspect and the focus on the impact of Cassia’s mother’s death on her life add depth to the story and provide some of the deepest emotional impacts.

The audiobook narration by Jeena Yi is lovely. She brings a lot of spirit to the narrative, and lets us really feel what Cassia is going through. I also enjoyed her portrayal of the older women in the family — they truly sparkle.

One & Only held my interest and made me care about the characters. The storyline feels fresh, I really enjoyed the vivid depiction of the LA setting, and the family dynamics greatly enrich the romantic framework. This is a nice option to pick up for a mix of entertaining set pieces and deeper emotional experiences.

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1Mar2026

Audiobook Review: Is She Really Going Out With Him? by Sophie Cousens

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Is She Really Going Out With Him?
Author: Sophie Cousens
Narrator: Kerry Gilbert
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Publication date: November 19, 2024
Print length: 368 pages
Audio length: 11 hours 42 minutes
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Library
Rating:

A hilarious love story about a disillusioned divorcée who agrees to let her children play matchmaker.

Columnist Anna Appleby has left her love life behind after a painful divorce. Who needs a man when she has two kids, a cat, and uncontested control of the TV remote? Besides, she’d rather be single than subject herself to the hell of online dating. But her office rival is vying for her column, and no column means no stable source of income. In a desperate attempt to keep her job, Anna finds herself pitching a unique angle: seven dates, all found offline, chosen by her children.

From awkward encounters to unexpected connections, Anna gamely begins to put herself out there, asking out waiters, the mailman, and even her celebrity crush. But when a romantic connection appears where she least expected it, will she be brave enough to take another chance on love?

In this feel-good romance, 37-year-old Anna is trying to bounce back from divorce — which is especially hard now that her ex has moved his much younger girlfriend into his home, yet can’t be bothered to do the kids’ laundry or make sure their homework is done when they’re with him. What’s more, Anna’s career as a columnist is at risk when Bath Living is acquired by someone more focused on profits than on great writing. Anna’s new publisher wants her column to be edgier and more personal, and she just doesn’t know if she has it in her. But, her annoying (and attractive) coworker seems to be angling for her column space, and she’s determined not to let him win… so she pitches one last desperate idea for a new dating-themed column.

After trying online dating, with the expected awful results, Anna wonders if it’s possible to find romance in real life anymore. Her kids are eager to set her up, and a concept is born: Anna will go on seven dates, with people selected by the kiddos. What could possibly go wrong?

From a fishing trip with a painful ending to a Regency encounter to a setup with the grumpy widower next door, Anna goes on a series of dates — some ending with awkwardness, one proving that you should never meet your idols, and one that results in an ill-advised tattoo. None are exactly successful, but they do make for entertaining column material.

Meanwhile, the office rivalry with Will goes from barely tolerating each other as coworkers to something much more NSFW… but Anna doesn’t see a future with Will, who seems to be destined for jetsetting career success while she is firmly tied to her roots in Bath. But they do have undeniable chemistry, so even as she continues to date according to her kids’ whims, she can’t help but wonder if there’s any possible scenario where she and Will could actually have more than casual hook-ups.

Is She Really Going Out With Him? is a charming look at the ups and downs of reentering the dating scene after marriage, with an engaging, bright main character who’s a delight to get to know. A devoted mother, Anna struggles to balance her home and work commitments, and can’t imagine ever putting herself first… but through the dating experiment, she’s reminded of experiences that bring her joy, such a rediscovering her creative, artistic side and finding an upbeat, life-affirming new friend when she least expects it.

One of the many pleasures of this book is seeing Anna coming out of her dates with new connections — not in terms of romantic partners, but finding people to engage with outside of her worlds of home and office, and finding ways to break out of her routine in a way that benefits all the people in her life.

Of course, the romantic storyline is important too, and while I was initially skeptical about reading yet another enemies-to-lovers story arc, this is a good one! There are plenty of reasons why Will and Anna shouldn’t work, and while it’s clear from the start that their pairing is the book’s endgame, it’s quite fun to see the ups and downs along their path to figuring it all out.

The less said about the 3rd act break up, the better: It’s one of my least favorite tropes — the old “breaking up with you for your own good”, with a smattering of “pretending never to have cared so it’ll be easier for you to walk away”. Fortunately, this part flies by pretty quickly and honesty prevails, but still… this was the only part of the book that annoyed me.

The audiobook narration by Kerry Gilbert is light and whimsical, with the humor very well captured by her character voices and delivery. I enjoyed the listening experience very much — it kept me engaged and entertained.

All in all, Is She Really Going Out With Him? is a lot of fun, and I look forward to trying more by this author.

Any favorites to recommend?

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31Jan2026

Audiobook Review: Anne of a Different Island by Virginia Kantra

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Anne of a Different Island
Author: Virginia Kantra
Narrators: Kathleen McInerney and Will Collyer
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: January 20, 2026
Print length: 368 pages
Audio length: 10 hours 54 minutes
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Library (audiobook); ARC via NetGalley (ebook)
Rating:

A woman learns to be the heroine of her own life in this heartfelt novel inspired by Anne of Green Gables by New York Times bestselling author Virginia Kantra.

She believed life could follow a plotline—until the story she was living unraveled.

Anne Gallagher has always lived by the book. Anne of Green Gables, that is. Growing up on Mackinac Island, she saw herself as her namesake; the same impulsive charm, the same wild imagination, even the same red hair (dyed, but still). She followed in Anne Shirley’s fictional footsteps, chasing dreams of teaching and writing, and falling for her very own storybook hero.

But when a string of real-life plot twists—a failing romance, a fight with the administration, and the sudden death of her beloved father—pulls her back to the island she once couldn’t wait to leave, Anne is forced to face a truth no story ever prepared her for. Sometimes, life doesn’t follow a script.

Back in the house she grew up in, Anne must confront her past and the people she left behind, including Joe Miller, the boy who once called her “The Pest.” It’s time to figure out what she wants and rewrite her story to create her own happy ending. Not the book version. The real one.

Anne (with an E!) is a 24-year-old high school teacher who enjoys inspiring her students by making sure they find the books that might change their lives. She lives alone, waiting for the day when her doctor boyfriend Chris is ready for them to move in together. Anne dreams of being a writer, but meanwhile, everything is fine, and her happy ending seems within reach.

And then, her life more or less implodes. Anne’s beloved father dies — the man who was always her greatest source of love and support, the man who first put a copy of Anne of Green Gables into her hands, the man who always seemed to appreciate Anne’s nonstop chatter and big dreams. Going back home to Mackinac Island for the funeral, she is wracked by guilt over not visiting more, and has to deal with the sense of abandonment she feels when Chris chooses to stay behind to take care of a patient rather than going with her.

Back on the island, Anne at first is reminded of her own isolation. Her mother isn’t emotionally accessible. Anne has never quite repaired the distant relationship with her childhood best friend. Her father’s former apprentice and business partner — who nicknamed her the Pest when she was a child — seems to always be around, apparently closer to her parents than she herself was. By the end of the funeral, Anne can’t wait to get back to her “real” life in Chicago.

But when a parent complaint leads to a temporary leave from work, and Chris makes a unilateral decision about their future, Anne retreats back to Mackinac for the summer to take a break, recharge, and take stock of what she really wants. And the longer she spends on the island, the more she starts to see the potential of a good life back where she started from, especially as she reforges relationships with the people who matter most to her.

Anne of a Different Island is, obviously, filled with references to and inspiration from Anne of Green Gables, but it’s not a retelling. Anne Gallagher holds up Anne Shirley as her idol (she even has a tattoo of a favorite Anne quote, “tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet”). The Anne of this book shares Anne Shirley’s optimism and imagination, and uses the Anne books as a point of reference when she feels lost in her own thoughts and quandaries.

Seeing Anne find her place on the island is heart-warming, and while we may figure out long before Anne does that (a) Chris sucks, (b) her old school sucks too, and (c) she really can have a future on Mackinac, it’s still sweet to see how Anne finally realizes all this too. The romance with Joe is mostly a slow-burn, as each deals with the baggage of former relationships, but there’s really no doubt that they’ll work it all out eventually.

The story is mainly told through Anne’s point of view, with a scattering of Joe chapters mixed in. The narrators do a nice job of voicing the characters and their friends and neighbors; Kathleen McInerney is particularly charming as she brings out Anne’s quirkiness, self-doubt, and irrepressible brightness.

One thing I really loved about this book is the emphasis on how reading can change lives. We get the sense that Anne is an amazing teacher. She reaches her students through books, and makes sure that they have access to books that can open their eyes or speak to their inner fears and needs. I was pleased that teaching remains a focus for Anne throughout; even though she finds more time and commitment for writing, she never views teaching as just a fallback until she makes it as an author.

Anne of a Different Island is a sweet, lovely story that made me yearn for a little island community of my own… and reminded me that it’s about time for me to revisit the world of Anne of Green Gables.

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1Oct2025

Austen-inspired two-fer: A pair of mini-reviews

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Somewhat accidentally — I really didn’t plan for this to happen! — I ended up reading two light, cute, Austen-inspired romances during my recent vacation. Both were lots of fun. Let’s dive in!

Title: Emma of 83rd Street
Series: For the Love of Austen, #1
Authors: Audrey Bellezza and Emily Harding
Narrators: Brittany Pressley and Teddy Hamilton
Publisher: Gallery Books
Publication date: May 23, 2023
Print length: 384 pages
Audio length: 10 hours 40 minutes
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Library
Rating:

In this witty and romantic debut novel, Jane Austen’s Emma meets the misadventures of Manhattan’s modern dating scene as two lifelong friends discover that, in the search for love, you sometimes don’t have to look any further than your own backyard.

Beautiful, clever, and rich, Emma Woodhouse has lived twenty-three years in her tight-knit Upper East Side neighborhood with very little to distress or vex her…that is, until her budding matchmaking hobby results in her sister’s marriage—and subsequent move downtown. Now, with her sister gone and all her friends traveling abroad, Emma must start her final year of grad school grappling with an entirely new emotion: boredom. So when she meets Nadine, a wide-eyed Ohio transplant with a heart of gold and drugstore blonde highlights to match, Emma not only sees a potential new friend but a new project. If only her overbearing neighbor George Knightley would get out of her way.

Handsome, smart, and successful, the only thing that frustrates Knightley more than a corked whiskey is his childhood friend, Emma. Whether it’s her shopping sprees between classes or her revolving door of ill-conceived hobbies, he is only too happy to lecture her on all the finer points of adulthood she’s so hell-bent on ignoring. But despite his gripes—and much to his own chagrin—Knightley can’t help but notice that the girl next door is a woman now…one who he suddenly can’t get out of his head.

As Emma’s best laid plans collide with everyone from hipster baristas to meddling family members to flaky playboy millionaires, these two friends slowly realize their need to always be right has been usurped by a new need entirely, and it’s not long before they discover that even the most familiar stories still have some surprises.

Not all contemporary Austen retellings work — the emphasis on marriage can be jarring in a supposedly modern-day setting. And yet, Emma of 83rd Street manages to tell a familiar tale in a way that’s amusing and nicely tailored to today’s world of online dating, high-pressure jobs, and dressing to impress.

The Upper East Side is a natural location for rich, spoiled Emma Woodhouse. Sure, the designer name-dropping gets a bit tedious — but that’s Emma’s world, and feels right for who she is. She’s flighty and meddlesome, thinks she knows what’s best for everyone, and seems to be pursuing a master’s degree in art history mainly for the fun of it… but underneath that shallow exterior, we get to see Emma’s kind heart and her devotion to her friends and family.

I liked that the original cast of characters from Austen are repurposed here in ways that fit the story, given new names and occupations, but remaining true enough to certain essentials to make them recognizable (and fun to spot).

The Knightly relationship has a bit less of an age difference here… and yes, he can be overbearing, but the chemistry with Emma works well, and the progression to romance feels mostly organic. (We see it coming well before either of the characters do.)

A running complaint I have with contemporary Austen retellings is that it can be jarring to see well-loved characters — even modern-day versions of them — hopping into bed together, and that’s true here as well. I could have used a bit less of the details! She may be wearing today’s couture, but she’s still Emma Woodhouse! Closed door would have been better, is all I’m saying.

Overall, Emma of 83rd Street is quite a lot of fun, and the audiobook version’s narrators bring the characters and dialogues to life.

This is apparently the first in a series. I’m on the fence right now about continuing — the wealthy New York setting could get old after a while, I’m afraid. We’ll see; for now, these are on my TBR:

Title: The Austen Affair
Author: Madeline Bell
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Publication date: September 16, 2025
Length: 336 pages
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Library
Rating:

Two feuding co-stars in a Jane Austen film adaptation accidentally travel back in time to the Regency Era in this delightfully clever and riotously funny debut

Tess Bright just scored her dream role starring in an adaptation of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey. It’s not just the role of a lifetime, but it’s also her last chance to prove herself as a serious actress (no easy feat after being fired from her last TV gig) and more importantly, it’s her opportunity to honor her mom, who was the biggest fan of Jane Austen ever. But one thing is standing in Tess’s way—well, one very tall, annoyingly handsome person, actually: Hugh Balfour.

A serious British method actor, Hugh wants nothing to do with Tess (whose Teen Choice Awards somehow don’t quite compare to his BAFTA nominations). Hugh is a type-A, no-nonsense, Royal Academy prodigy, whereas Tess is big-hearted, a little reckless, and admittedly, kind of a mess. But the film needs chemistry—and Tess’s career depends on it.

Sparks fly, but not in the way Tess hoped, when an electrical accident sends the two feuding co-stars back in time to Jane Austen’s era. 200 years in the past with only each other to rely on, Tess and Hugh need to ad-lib their way through the Regency period in order to make it back home, and hopefully not screw up history along the way. But if a certain someone looks particularly dashing in those 19th century breeches…well, Tess won’t be complaining.

A wickedly funny, delightfully charming story, The Austen Affair is a tribute to Jane Austen, second chances, and love across the space-time continuum.

The cover of The Austen Affair is what first caught my eye… and then I read the synopsis, and had to laugh out loud. An Austen retelling with time travel?? Yes, please!

In this entertaining story, Tess Bright is in England for the filming of Northanger Abbey. Playing Catherine Morland is her dream role, and also a tribute to her late mother, whose love of Jane Austen was a constant for Tess throughout her childhood. Mired in grief, Tess has all but tanked her career, and this film may be her very last chance to prove to herself (and all the vicious naysayers) that she’s worth taking seriously.

Filming does not get off to a good start, thanks to tension (and not the good kind!) with her costar, Hugh Balfour. Hugh is an uptight, classically trained Method actor who thinks Tess is flighty and chaotic, and doesn’t believe she knows her Austen from her elbow. When a freak electrical accident flings them back in time 200 years, Hugh and Tess are forced to rely on one another as they attempt to fit in in their new setting, convince Hugh’s ancestors that they’re who they say they are, and figure out how to get back to their real lives.

Tess and Hugh seem ill-suited at first, but as they adapt to their new circumstances, their animosity peels away. Each is revealed to have more depth than the other originally perceived, and their forced proximity turns into friendship, understanding, and a sense of support and respect.

The time travel conundrums are quite fun, as is Tess’s delight at finding herself living out her Regency-era dreams, down to the bonnets and gloves and games of whist. While there’s a lot of silliness on the surface, we see how Tess’s grief is a constant for her, and how living in Austen’s world helps her find joy in remembering her mother.

I didn’t necessarily buy everything in this story, especially Tess’s insistence that the universe and/or her mother intentionally caused the time travel… but overall, the romance, the family complications, and the focus on Jane Austen really work well.

The Austen Affair is a sweet, engaging, funny book with a warm heart. Sure, the time travel mechanics are worthy of a few eye-rolls… but this is romantic fiction, not sci-fi. Suspend your disbelief, and just go along for the ride!

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Purchase links:
Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.

Emma of 83rd Street: Amaz o n – Audible – Books h op.org – Libro.fm
The Austen Affair: Amazon – Audible – Bookshop.org – Li b ro.fmSave

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11Sep2025

Book Review: Road Trip with a Vampire (My Vampires, #3) by Jenna Levine

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Road Trip with a Vampire
Series: My Vampires, #3
Author: Jenna Levine
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: September 23, 2025
Length: 416 pages
Genre: Contemporary romance/fantasy
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

A vampire who can’t remember his past and a witch with secrets of her own hit the road in this zany, cross-country romantic comedy from beloved author Jenna Levine.

Reformed bad witch Grizelda “Zelda” Watson had hoped to never see another vampire again when she slipped away to sunny California for a fresh start. She’d grown tired of them and their nonsense ages ago. But when a vampire with amnesia unexpectedly shows up on her doorstep with a letter from her old friend Reggie, and asks for her help, she can’t say no. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Peter Elliott is tall and gorgeous, looks great in yoga shorts, and has the kind of dark hair and surly expression Zelda’s been a sucker for for hundreds of years.

Peter isn’t completely harmless—he is fanged, after all—but he’s harmless enough, and soon becomes the only person in Zelda’s new life who knows the truth about what she is. If she can help him decipher the cryptic notes in his journal, the only clues to his lost memories, she might as well try before sending him on his way.

But when an alarming message from Peter’s past coincides with a clear sign that Zelda can’t keep running from her own, they embark on a cross-country road trip for answers—only to find what they’re looking for in each other.

Road Trip with a Vampire is the final book in author Jenna Levine’s My Vampires trilogy, and its silly vibe makes this book a fitting wrap-up to a fun, extremely un-serious vampire romance series.

Here, the main character is Zelda, aka Grizelda Watson, aka Grizelda the Terrible — a 400-year-old witch (who appears to be about 30, thanks to witchy immortality) now living in a small Northern California town and running a yoga studio. Zelda’s “terribleness” was less about being scary and more about pulling the craziest pranks she and her vampire buddies could come up with… but after a prank went wrong ten years earlier, she’s left behind her old life and wants nothing more than to enjoy her calm, witch-and-vampire-free life.

All that changes when a gorgeous man shows up at the yoga studio one night. Zelda immediately learns some key facts about him: 1) he’s a vampire; 2) he has amnesia; and 3) he was pushed in her direction by their mutual friend Reggie (the vampire love interest in My Vampire Plus-One, the 2nd book in the series).

Zelda takes pity on Peter and offers him temporary shelter and a job, even though she’d promised herself to keep vampires out of her life. When Peter gets a threatening letter demanding that he show up in Indiana to meet with his employers (whom he doesn’t remember), Zelda decides to go with him on a road trip. They’ll stop at locations mentioned in his journal, the only possession from his former life that he seems to have, to see if anything jogs his memory, and meanwhile, she’ll test the limits and requirements of her magical powers, which have been building up dangerously lately and which she needs to find a way to safely manage.

We both needed to leave town for a while. I had a car, and he needed transportation. And while I could take care of myself if trouble arose while I was away, I couldn’t tear out someone’s throat with my teeth if the occasion called for it. The handy thing about traveling with a vampire was that they could.

What follows is a silly escapade full of strange roadside attractions (singing animatronic chickens are involved), intense sexual attraction, and hints of Peter’s past that may possibly overlap with the history Zelda has tried so hard to leave behind.

The plot of Road Trip with a Vampire is pretty much just what you’d expect — and yes, there are plenty of standard romance tropes, including the ever-popular just-one-room/just-one-bed scenarios.

When Peter’s memories come back and secrets are revealed, there’s both a showdown with bad guys and the obligatory 3rd act breakup — but this is a happy book, so nothing terribly dire actually happens and it all works out in the end. There’s even some goat yoga!

As with the other My Vampires books, the rules are a little loose — which is fine for a book that emphasizes fun over logic. Still, the stickler in me still gets annoyed when a vampire has stubble after a long night and seems to have developed crows-feet. How? Why? Make it make sense!

My other quibble, which has been consistent throughout this trilogy, is that the sex scenes are more explicit than they need to be, and feel jarring in contrast to the otherwise light and breezy tone of the books.

That aside, this book is entertaining and a quick read, and it’s fun to reconnect briefly with characters from the previous books. Road Trip with a Vampire could probably be read as a stand-alone, but I think skipping the earlier books would mean missing out on some of the context and the general “rules” (and I use that term loosely) of the supernatural world of this series.

My recommendation? Start with book #1, My Roommate Is a Vampire, and if you enjoy the campy, silly tone, keep going!

The My Vampires series:

My Roommate Is a Vampire
My Vampire Plus-One
Road Trip with a Vampire

Purchase links: Amazon – Audible audiobook – Bookshop.org – Libro.fm
Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.

26Aug2025

Audiobook Review: Rich Girl Summer by Lily Chu

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Rich Girl Summer
Author: Lily Chu
Narrators: Phillipa Soo & Steven Pasquale
Publisher: Audible Originals
Publication date: July 10, 2024
Print length: n/a
Audio length: 10 hours 6 minutes
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Audible download
Rating:

Fake heiress. Real secrets. One sizzling summer she’ll never forget.

Event planner Valerie Peng never planned on spending her summer sipping champagne at a lakefront estate, dodging suspicious socialites, or pretending to be anyone’s long-lost daughter. But when a very public, deeply mortifying mishap lands her in hot water—and her career in a hot mess—her uber-wealthy older client makes her an offer she can’t refuse: come to his glamorous summer home and pose as the long-lost daughter he believes his conniving family has hidden from him. In exchange? Time away from her actual life…and the chance to help uncover a long-buried secret.

But Cinderella needs some magic for this big of a makeover. Enter Nico, her client’s maddeningly perfect right-hand man. He’s organized, meticulous, impossible to read, and infuriatingly handsome. But even though he claims this scheme is a capital-M Mistake, Nico’s the only person she can trust to have her back. As they navigate a world of eccentric matriarchs, class divides, and private family feuds, their chemistry is as undeniable as it is ill-timed.

Caught between pretending to belong and unexpectedly finding where she truly fits in, Valerie’s summer is about to get far more complicated than she ever planned.

I’m always delighted when a new Lily Chu book drops as an Audible Original. Rich Girl Summer is yet another fun romp, with relatable characters, out-there circumstances, romance, and in this case, lots of summertime, sunshine-y vibes.

Main character Valerie is a talented event planner. She’s created her own company, Ad Astra, which specializes in creating highly curated and personalized celebrations of life. By all accounts, she’s excellent at what she does. When she’s hired to manage the celebration of life for the recently deceased patriarch of the wealthy Badgerton family, Valerie knows this event could really catapult her business to the next level, and is determined that everything go perfectly.

Unfortunately, a less-than-competent assistant and an ill-timed attack of food poisoning lead to disaster. The event goes viral, but not as Valerie had hoped. Her business may be on the brink of utter ruin. And then she’s approached by Roger Badgerton, who’d originally hired her. She expects reprimands and threats, but instead, is shocked by what he says: She’s physically similar to his long-lost teen girlfriend, and he’s learned since his father’s passing that the family paid her off to leave town and cut ties with Roger when she discovered she was pregnant. Roger is furious and heartbroken about his family’s deception, and also desperate to find his daughter, who would be roughly Valerie’s age.

His proposition: Valerie will spend the summer at the family’s lakeside estate, where he’ll introduce her to the family as his long-lost daughter. All she has to do is be there, interact with the family, and hopefully unnerve someone enough to start spilling the beans about the past. It sounds crazy, and Valerie’s first instinct is to refuse — but her business has dried up, she has no prospects, and Roger is promising to promote Ad Astra at the end of the summer and get her back on her feet. What could go wrong?

Sweetening the deal is the fact that Nico, Roger’s personal assistant, will be spending the summer at the estate too. He’s kind, uber-organized, very attractive. Valerie wouldn’t exactly mind spending more time with Nico…

Rich Girl Summer mixes summer breeziness with more personal moments, as both Valerie and Nico have plenty of family dysfunction and baggage to deal with — all while keeping up the charade of Valerie being Roger’s daughter. It’s highly entertaining to see her trying to fit in with the snooty, rich Badgertons, while also playing amateur detective and seeing what clues she can pick up about which of Roger’s siblings might have been involved in the deception all those years ago.

I appreciated seeing Valerie and Nico’s romance unfold. They each have major personal obstacles to overcome in order to move forward with a healthy relationship, and the story convincingly portrays their progress, their attempts to communicate in a healthy way, and ultimately, the way they support one another in dealing with their family issues.

Valerie is upfront about being a people-pleaser right from the start — and it made me want to give her a major wake-up call. Seeing her inability to say no in situations where she absolutely should have is frustrating — but it’s part of her character development arc, and the narrative makes us sympathize with Valerie’s struggle despite wishing she’d show a little more spine early on.

My main quibble with the audiobook is that the Badgerton family is large, with many siblings, spouses, and children, and I felt like I needed a cheat sheet to keep the characters straight. This wouldn’t be a problem if there were a print edition, but Rich Girl Summer is available only as an audiobook for now. It would be nice if Audible offered a family tree as a PDF extra!

Narrators Phillipa Soo and Steven Pasquale are just as terrific as you’d expect! Phillipa Soo has narrated all of Lily Chu’s audiobooks so far, and she’s a delight to listen to.

Rich Girl Summer is currently available only through Audible. Her previous novels were released the same way, and then released in paperback about a year later. As I’ve said in previous reviews of her books, I always look forward to new Lily Chu audiobooks. The Comeback and The Stand-In remain my favorites, but you can’t go wrong with any of them!

Purchase links: Amazon
Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.

8Aug2025

Title twins two-fer: Battle of the books about battles between bookstores

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Two new releases with titles so close to being identical that I’m constantly having to check to see which is which!

It looks like battling bookstores are all the rage… or at least, the hot topic of summer 2025, as both of these new books seem to prove.

I’ve read them both. Neither ended up being a stellar read for me, but I have a clear preference between the two. Which battling bookstore book comes out on top? Read on for my thoughts!

Title: Battle of the Bookstores
Author: Ali Brady
Narrator: Karissa Vacker, Brandon Francis
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: June 3, 2025
Print length: 432 pages
Audio length: 9 hours 32 minutes
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley; audiobook via library
Rating:

Rivalry and romance spark when two bookstore managers who are opposites in every way find themselves competing for the same promotion.

Despite managing bookstores on the same Boston street, Josie Klein and Ryan Lawson have never interacted much—Josie’s store focuses on serious literature, and Ryan’s sells romance only. But when the new owner of both stores decides to combine them, the two are thrust into direct competition. Only one manager will be left standing, decided by who turns the most profit over the summer.

Efficient and detail-oriented Josie instantly clashes with easygoing and disorganized Ryan. Their competing events and contrasting styles lead to more than just frustration—the sparks between them might just set the whole store on fire. Their only solace during this chaos is the friendship they’ve each struck up with an anonymous friend in an online book forum. Little do they know they’re actually chatting with each other.

As their rivalry heats up in real life, their online relationship grows, and when the walls between their stores come tumbling down, Josie and Ryan realize not all’s fair in love and war. And maybe, if they’re lucky, happily ever afters aren’t just for the books.

This was one of my most highly anticipated summer reads, given how much I enjoyed this author duo’s previous three books. Sad to say, Battle of the Bookstores just doesn’t measure up.

This story about rival bookstore managers — one manages a romance bookstore, the other a store focused on literary fiction — embraces pretty much every trope under the sun. It’s done in a cute, self-aware sort of way (the characters talk about how they’re living out the enemies-to-lovers trope, for example). The story also includes the stereotypical extremely tall male love interest, fake dating, just one bed, corresponding with someone online without realizing they know each other in real life, and so much more.

On the plus side, the focus on reading, books transforming lives, and getting to truly know a person by reading the books they love all really appeal to my book-loving soul.

However — what I loved about the other Ali Brady books was the strong focus on friendships and family dynamics as the central storyline, with romantic plots being more secondary. Here, the romance is all there is. Honestly, we barely get to know anyone else in either main characters’ lives, and all issues and considerations are secondary to their enemies-to-friends-to-lovers story trajectory.

Add to that some over-the-top sex scenes and awkward lines (“My pants grow tight in anticipation”), and I just couldn’t get past the sense that this story was somewhat (to use one of Josie’s put-downs) run-of-the-mill.

The audiobook wasn’t fabulous either — the narrators are okay, but a few mispronunciations (like saying the CH in “Chanukah” like the CH in “cheese”) felt like sheer laziness to me.

Overall… Battle of the Bookstores get a lukewarm “meh” from me. Which makes me sad — as I’ve said, I adored Ali Brady’s three previous books and recommend them wholeheartedly!

Title: The Battle of the Bookshops
Author: Poppy Alexander
Publisher: Avon and Harper Voyager
Publication date: August 19, 2025
Length: 336 pages
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

A charming literary-themed novel about a young woman determined to save her great-aunt’s beloved bookshop from extinction by the shiny new competition—which also happens to be run by the handsome son of her family’s rivals.

The cute, seaside town of Portneath has been the home of Capelthorne’s Books for nearly a hundred years…

The shop, in the heart of a high street that stretches crookedly down the hill from the castle to the sea, may be a tad run-down these days, but to Jules Capelthorne, the wonky, dusty world of literary treasures is full of precious childhood memories. When her great-aunt Florence gets too frail to run it alone, Jules ditches her junior publishing job in London and comes home to make the bookshop’s hundredth birthday a celebration to remember.

Jules quickly discovers things are worse than she ever imagined: The bookshop is close to bankruptcy, unlikely to make it to its own centenary celebration, and the lease on the building is up for renewal. With a six-figure sum needed, the future looks bleak.

To make matters worse, the owner of the property is the insufferable Roman Montbeau, from the posh, local family who owns half of Portneath. The Montbeaus and Capelthornes have feuded for years, and Roman has clearly not improved since he tormented Jules as a child. Fresh from a high-flying career in New York, he is on a mission to shake things up, and—unforgivably—proves his point about Capelthorne’s being a relic of the past by opening a new bookshop directly opposite—a shiny, plate-glass-windowed emporium of books.

Jules may not be able to splash the cash on promotions and marketing like the Montbeaus, but she’s got some ideas of her own, plus she has a tenacity that may just win the hardest of hearts and the most hopeless of conflicts.

Let the battle of the bookshops commence…

I did NOT realize this was going to be a Romeo and Juliet retelling before picking up the book (guess I didn’t read the synopsis very carefully… Montbeaus and Capelthornes, indeed!). I still would probably have requested this ARC, but might not have groaned out loud once I realized the central plot device.

In this battling bookstores book, Jules’s family has run Capelthorne’s Books for one hundred years, but it’s getting shabby around the edges. And now the wealthy Montbeau family has opened up shiny new Portneath Books right across the street — and what’s worse, they own the land on which Capelthorne’s stands. It seems that this small town isn’t big enough for two bookstores, but which will prevail?

Jules wants to hate Roman Montbeau — for everything his family stands for, for his perceived snobbishness, and for trying to ruin her aunt’s business — but she’s also had a crush on him since they were teens, and it appears that he’s felt the same way all these years. Jules and Roman go from business adversaries to lovers in the blink of an eye, but they still have to contend with centuries of animosity between their families.

I did so want to like this book! Sadly, it was pretty much a bust. Jules and Roman have no chemistry, and we only know that they’ve fallen in love because they tell us so. There’s no discernible build up or early sparks or any sign of growing feelings. Very unconvincing.

I also intensely disliked this moment of high drama (spoiler: there’s a fire) when Jules seems intent on fulfilling her role as a Juliet stand-in:

It was too hard to breath, too hard to keep going. Roman must have perished, and Jules knew, in that moment, life without him was impossible. She was done.

I’m sorry, what? I just can’t…

Meanwhile, the families’ feuding and backstory is a yawn, mainly just a device to shoehorn in the Romeo and Juliet theme. Some intrigue about an antiquarian book found on the Capelthorne’s premises seems to be meant to add excitement — but again, it’s just not particularly convincing

There’s a sweet, small-town-UK vibe to the story, and the village and its people are rather charming. A nice setting doesn’t compensate for lack of an interesting plot. Unfortunately for me, I have two other books by this author in my Kindle library (grabbed based on cute covers and steep price drops) which I now doubt that I’ll want to read.

So which book comes out on top in the battle of the bookstore battle books?Save

Save

Battle of the Bookstores by Ali Brady

Is this a perfect book? No.

Is it this author duo’s best book? Again, no.

But, in the battle of the bookstore battle books, this is the one that kept me entertained, had a fun, upbeat tone, and made me care about the characters and their silly competition (and their romance).

Also, the Ali Brady book clearly revels in a love of books, with the characters engaging in endless swooning over their favorites novels and authors and characters, and with plenty of terrific mentions of great books. The Poppy Alexander book is sadly lacking in this area, which is downright odd for a book about bookstores.

As I mentioned right from the start, Battle of the Bookstores is not my favorite Ali Brady book — I adored their three previous novels, and wholeheartedly recommend any or all of them. But, as a light piece of summer entertainment, this book is sure to please booklovers with a soft spot for book-centric love stories.

Final verdict: If you’re looking for a bookstore battle book for your summer reading, check out Battle of the Bookstores by Ali Brady!Save

28Jun2025

Audiobook Review: Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Great Big Beautiful Life
Author: Emily Henry
Narrator: Julia Whelan
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: April 22, 2025
Print length: 432 pages
Audio length: 12 hours, 2 minutes
Genre: Romance
Source: Purchased
Rating:

Two writers compete for the chance to tell the larger-than-life story of a woman with more than a couple of plot twists up her sleeve in this dazzling and sweeping new novel from Emily Henry.

Alice Scott is an eternal optimist still dreaming of her big writing break. Hayden Anderson is a Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud. And they’re both on balmy Little Crescent Island for the same reason: To write the biography of a woman no one has seen in years–or at least to meet with the octogenarian who claims to be the Margaret Ives. Tragic heiress, former tabloid princess, and daughter of one of the most storied (and scandalous) families of the 20th Century.

When Margaret invites them both for a one-month trial period, after which she’ll choose the person who’ll tell her story, there are three things keeping Alice’s head in the game.

One: Alice genuinely likes people, which means people usually like Alice—and she has a whole month to win the legendary woman over.

Two: She’s ready for this job and the chance to impress her perennially unimpressed family with a Serious Publication

Three: Hayden Anderson, who should have no reason to be concerned about losing this book, is glowering at her in a shaken-to-the core way that suggests he sees her as competition.

But the problem is, Margaret is only giving each of them pieces of her story. Pieces they can’t swap to put together because of an ironclad NDA and an inconvenient yearning pulsing between them every time they’re in the same room.

And it’s becoming abundantly clear that their story—just like the tale Margaret’s spinning—could be a mystery, tragedy, or love ballad…depending on who’s telling it.

Emily Henry’s books are quintessential summer reads, and her newest, Great Big Beautiful Life, is no exception. In fact, this book features an historical element that her books typically do not, and at least for this reader, the result is a richer, deeper experience than I’d originally anticipated.

Margaret Ives, the descendant of the powerful, legendary House of Ives, is the last remaining heir to the Ives media empire, which grew from the success of Margaret’s great-grandfather in exploration and mining. By the time Margaret was born, her family controlled the media, had influence everywhere, and was known for its scandals as much as for their wealth and power. But as we’re told, Margaret disappeared from the public view decades earlier, and no one has heard from her since. Still, the public fascination with the Ives family has never truly faded, and speculation continues to bubble up over what really happened to Margaret and her late husband, the wildly popular singer Cosmo Sinclair (dubbed the “Poor Man’s Elvis”).

When writer Alice Scott follows an anonymous tip and locates Margaret, now in her 80s and living alone on a small island off the coast of Georgia, she submits a book proposal and Margaret agrees to hear her out. But when she arrives at Margaret’s door, she finds another author has been invited as well — Hayden Anderson, whose previous book just won a Pulitzer. Alice is dismayed, but Margaret is quick to inform them that they’re both in the running: She’ll meet with each of them, separately and for equal amounts of time, over the next 30 days, after which they’ll each get a chance to make their pitch, and she’ll choose one of them to write her story. Alice isn’t happy with the set-up, but this could be the opportunity of a lifetime, much too good to walk away from. After signing detailed NDAs, Alice and Hayden are in, and they begin their interviews with Margaret.

As the novel progresses, we get chapters focused on Margaret’s story, where we learn her family’s twisty, hidden past — where they started, how their fortune grew, and the fights, scandals, affairs, and mysteries that plagued them ever since.

Meanwhile, Alice and Hayden go from competitors to something like colleagues — unable to share the details of their interviews (those NDAs!!), but still giving one another encouragement and support through their mutual, bizarre process. As they spend time together, their professional respect turns into friendship and attraction, and while they initially resist, their feelings grow in a way that can’t be ignored.

The structure of Great Big Beautiful Life is a lovely balancing act, bringing interest and forward momentum to both Margaret’s story and the contemporary romance between Alice and Hayden. I must admit, however, that the further I got in the book, the more I wanted to stick with Margaret! She’s a fascinating character with a deeply engrossing family story — if only the book about her life were real, I’d absolutely want to read it!

The romance elements are nicely done, although at some point I lost a bit of patience for the will-they-won’t-they dynamic, as well as the somewhat odd insistence that they not sleep together until after the book proposals are done and Margaret makes her choice… because what this actually means is that they become very heavily sexually involved, but refrain from intercourse. Ummm… from my point of view, this is a very silly distinction. But okay…

Alice’s family life and her challenging relationship with her mother comes into play, as does Hayden’s own family background. They have hurdles to overcome if they want a future together, and meanwhile, while they can’t share the details of what Margaret has revealed to them, each has the feeling that she’s not being entirely honest with them. But why agree to a biography and then lie about key elements?

I listened to the audiobook version, narrated by the amazing Julia Whelan — and through her storytelling, the characters and events absolutely shine. She’s an incredibly gifted narrator, and has an uncanny knack for convincing me that I’m listening to individual people, not one person voicing multiple characters. Her depiction of Margaret is especially lovely and powerful.

I really enjoyed Great Big Beautiful Life, and highly recommend it. As I mentioned, I wasn’t quite as invested in Alice and Hayden’s contemporary storyline — it’s a good enough romance, and I enjoyed it, but some of the tension between them felt unnecessary. (However, I did appreciate that the obligatory 3rd act breakup actually made sense and felt like it was based on a realistic, unsolvable problem). For me, Margaret’s story is the true heart and soul of this book, and it’s wonderful. I would happily spend much more time exploring her secrets, her triumphs, and her heartbreaks.

To sum it all up… Great Big Beautiful Life is a wonderful reading and listening experience! Don’t miss it.

Read-alikes:

Great Big Beautiful Life has themes and story arcs that reminded me of a few other terrific books I’ve read — so if this book appeals to you, consider one of these as well:

If you like the poor-little-rich-girl aspect of the story, try… The Thirteenth Husband by Greer Macallister: Historical fiction about an heiress with an incredible life full of scandals and excitement.
If you like the idea of an elderly woman with a secretive past getting two people to vie to discover the truth, try… Drop Dead by Lily Chu: Lighthearted romance featuring writers competing to discover a famously reclusive woman’s secrets, following clues scattered throughout her outrageously lavish estate.
If you like a story about celebrities living in the public eye but hiding secrets, try… The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid: The secret stories behind a Hollywood star’s many marriages, finally revealed in the star’s late-in-life interview with a journalist.

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