Battle of the Bookstores
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4.4 • 21 Ratings
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
INSTANT USA TODAY BESTSELLER
A LibraryReads Pick
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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Author duo Alison Hammer and Bradeigh Godfrey, writing as Brady (The Beach Trap), gently riff on You've Got Mail in this cute but predictable rom-com. Chaotic Ryan Lawson runs Happy Endings, a romance-only bookshop in Boston that will soon be merging with Tabula Inscripta, the neighboring literary fiction bookstore managed by uptight Josie Klein. When Ryan and Josie learn that only one manager will survive after the businesses combine, competition ignites. Ryan and Josie trade heated barbs and attempt to one-up each other with book events. Meanwhile, both characters take solace in conversations with an anonymous internet friend, though neither realizes they've been messaging with each other. The authors throw a kitchen sink worth of tropes into their plot and winkingly comment on them through romance loving Ryan, who's genre-savvy enough to recognize that he's in an enemies-to-lovers scenario with Josie—especially when they're forced to share only one bed. It can feel a bit like the authors are going down a checklist, and as a result the plot becomes somewhat rote, but the leads are charming and it's easy to see how carefree Ryan helps soften Josie's sharp edges. Readers looking for a light and sweet love story will want to check this out.
