Hallmark meets Harlequin in "Book Lovers," a fun, witty (and occasionally quite steamy) rom-com of a novel by Emily Henry, the author of "People We Meet on Vacation" and "Beach Read."
Platinum blonde "shark" Nora Stephens has a demanding career as a literary agent in her native Manhattan, and a beloved younger sister, Libby, who is a married mother of two. Four times, Nora has lived through the "small-town love story," in which she's dumped when her boyfriend decides to leave the big city (and her) for a sweet gal in the hinterlands.
She meets handsome, scowling, black-clad editor Charlie Lastra at a business lunch to pitch her client Dusty's novel "Once in a Lifetime." He doesn't like Nora, or the book, saying the setting is unrealistic, but at another publisher "Once in a Lifetime" becomes a huge hit.
Two years later, pregnant Libby asks Nora to take a long vacation to the book's bucolic setting, Sunshine Falls, N.C. While lovely, it isn't quite like the novel's depiction. Libby makes a list of 12 things for Nora to do, including go on at least two dates with locals, skinny-dip and save a local business. While trying to entertain her exhausted sister and deal with frequent communication from neurotic Dusty about her latest novel, Nora keeps running into the scowling Charlie, who's actually from Sunshine Falls.
Henry offers an enjoyable and often humorous read, with sparkling dialogue, poignant back stories for the characters and enough twists to keep things interesting. Even if, like Nora, readers have a pretty good guess how a book is going to end, they'll likely be charmed along the way.
Marci Schmitt is a Star Tribune editor.
Book Lovers
By: Emily Henry.
Publisher: Berkley, 384 pages, $27.
LOCAL FICTION: Featuring stories within stories, she’ll discuss the book at Talking Volumes on Tuesday.
