As the weather gets warmer and vacations beckon, relaxing into a witty and charming novel like Book Lovers by Emily Henry can help you wile away the hours on the beach or in the camp tent. Who wouldn’t appreciate a story with a protagonist like Nora Stephen who loves books but is convinced she’s doomed to be the villainess of every small town romance story? If you want more like this, try one of these stories for romantic bibliophiles.
If you like the small town feel, No Words by Meg Cabot is perfect. Part of a series set in Little Bridge, a fictional island off Florida, this entry stars Jo Wright, a children’s author. She agrees to come for the literary fest only because she believes her arch-enemy, best-selling writer Will Price, is not there. When the two meet up, sparks fly as the book events get underway.
Desperate to jump start her career, editorial assistant Izzy agrees to track down writer Beau Tower and get him to deliver his long overdue book. By the Book is a modern re-telling of Beauty and the Beast. Beau agrees, but only if Izzy will meet him each day for a month to provide inspiration. A rocky relationship goes from quips to kisses with emotional reveals along the way.
Nina Hill is an introverted bookstore employee who is convinced she has everything the way she wants it – a house full of books, a comfortable reading chair and her cat. When a newly-discovered family crashes into her life and a handsome rival on the trivia teams shows interest, Nina begins to see not everything can be found between book covers. The Bookish Life of Nina Hill packs both romance and emotional epiphanies.
Another fun series is The Bromance Book Club. A group of men use romance novels as their “manuals” to inspire love and mend fences. There’s emotional baggage to be worked through before they can straighten out their feelings and start taking chances. In this beginning to the series, even a famous baseball player can’t have it all. He loves his wife but realizes he’s messed up their relationship so badly she wants to divorce him! With the help of his book club, he’s determined to win her back.
Evie Starling is getting out of Chicago! In Much Ado About You, she winds up taking a vacation in a sleepy English village and working her dream job in a bookstore. Throw in a sexy farmer and the quirky inhabitants and you’ve got deliciously frothy fun and romance.