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…
My Review
Jules Capelthorne gets a desperate call informing her that her Aunt Flo needs her help. She takes a few days off from her London publishing job and heads to her hometown of Portneath. Things are worse than she thought when she hears that her family’s 100-year-old bookshop is being closed down by the evil Montbeaus. The Capelthornes and Montbeaus have been feuding for years and now the Capelthornes are going to be left with nothing to their name.
Jules takes matters into her own hands. She does all she can to make the bookshop profitable, but every time she turns around something gets in the way. This time, Roman Montbeau opens a huge bookstore directly across the street from her much smaller shop. There’s no way she can compete with the big, beautiful Montbeau bookstore, but she refuses to give up.
Roman has made it clear that he is determined to close down her aunt’s store and be the sole bookstore in the small town. Jules remembers a much younger Roman who tormented her and is now, apparently, continuing their family’s feud.
This has some aspects of Romeo and Juliet’s love story. Two feuding families. Neither side willing to give in.
The characters each have well developed personalities, but I didn’t think the relationship was as well developed. I had a hard time figuring out why Jules liked Roman so much. After all, he was willing to leave her Aunt Flo with no shop and no place to live. I thought they fell in love a bit too fast considering their differences.
Aunt Flo was by far my favorite character in the book. My heart went out to her, and I loved her relationship with Jules.
I have a soft spot for stories connected to bookstores and libraries. So, this grabbed my attention as soon as I saw the description. There were a few spots that I felt slowed the book down, but then it did pick up.
It’s a fun premise. I just needed more of a build up as far as the romantic relationship goes. I needed more motivation as to why these two were in love and so quickly.
I’d be interested in reading more by this author. I will check out her backlist and future releases.
For reading challenges:
NetGalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge 2025
FTC Disclosure: I voluntarily reviewed a free Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.
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