Publication Date: 3rd May 2022
My Rating: ★★★★.5
Blurb:
Nora Stephens’ life is books—she’s read them all—and she is not that type of heroine. Not the plucky one, not the laidback dream girl, and especially not the sweetheart. In fact, the only people Nora is a heroine for are her clients, for whom she lands enormous deals as a cutthroat literary agent, and her beloved little sister Libby.
Which is why she agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for the month of August when Libby begs her for a sisters’ trip away—with visions of a small town transformation for Nora, who she’s convinced needs to become the heroine in her own story. But instead of picnics in meadows, or run-ins with a handsome country doctor or bulging-forearmed bartender, Nora keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. It would be a meet-cute if not for the fact that they’ve met many times and it’s never been cute.
If Nora knows she’s not an ideal heroine, Charlie knows he’s nobody’s hero, but as they are thrown together again and again—in a series of coincidences no editor worth their salt would allow—what they discover might just unravel the carefully crafted stories they’ve written about themselves.
**Spoiler-Free Review**
I received this book from Penguin Random House via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I requested this book because I have absolutely adored Emily Henry's previous two books and I've been looking forward to this one since I heard about it.
First thing's first, I loved this book. Nora is a wonderful character - she's incredibly witty and I loved her dry humour. I also really liked that we got to see this badass, powerful woman and how good she is at her job, but we also saw her insecurities, especially about how others perceive her. It's so important that we see more of the double-standard that's expected of women in the working world to be strong but not too strong, or else you're a threat. Emily Henry captured this feeling perfectly and it was brilliant seeing that Nora never gave up anything to be herself, both in her personal life and home life.
The banter between her and her sister was also on point throughout. I really enjoyed the intrigue throughout the book about Libby and her life as well; it really kept me turning the pages to find out what would happen next. The list was a great addition and I always love when contemporaries add challenges like this with their characters. I liked the small town setting romance mixed with hints of why the main character loves the city - it really felt like a breath of fresh air to see the two sides to it.
Sadly, the book didn't quite get 5 stars like her previous ones but that's because I felt like we didn't see quite enough of the love interest to get as fully invested in him as we did with her previous books. That might just be a me thing though! The romance overall was still well done and I did really like the way Nora and Charlie interacted with one another when they were together, I just wish we'd seen a bit more of it.
Overall, this was a fantastic adult contemporary for anyone who needs a good laugh and wants to see the small-town romance flipped on its head. I will 100% be picking up any future books from Emily Henry and I highly recommend you try this one out.
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