Title: Book People
Author: Jackie Ashenden
Publication: May 6, 2025
Publisher: Headline Eternal
Genre: Romance/Comedy
Pages: 4384

Amazon |  Barnes and Noble |  Goodreads  |  Author Website

SYNOPSIS: (From Goodreads)

When Kate, a fledgling bookseller, decides to open a bookshop that celebrates the kinds of genre fiction she loves to read (popular and fun!), she’s surprised to find that not everyone in the town is as excited as she is.

Least excited of all? Sebastian, owner of the highbrow bookshop across the road, who has rules for everything: the kind of books he sells, the clothes he wears, and the people he dates (no-one local).

When the pair find themselves working together on the town’s literary festival, their growing attraction becomes harder and harder to ignore. Professional rivalry aside, just one steamy kiss can’t mean anything, can it?

REVIEW:

I always love a good RomCom. I also love books and bookstores. So a RomCom about books and book stores? Sign me up instantly! Ashenden had my attention before I even opened the book! I just wish the inside was as hooking as the outside.

I want to start by saying the story is cute. It would make a really good movie too, which I do not say often about books, because the books are always better. The writing style was good too. Ashenden clearly is talented. I just could not get into it. I struggled to be hooked. It took me entirely too long to read this book because I kept putting it down and reading something else and then coming back to it. I, of course, knew how it was going to end because its a RomCom. You know there is bound to be a happily ever after of some sort. So knowing the ending and the story not hooking me, I just really struggled to want to keep reading.

Even with that said, I think there are many who would really love this book. It’s that enemies-to-lovers story that we all love and I’m sure many would enjoy it. I strongly encourage you to pick up a copy and read for yourself. I will definitely give another Ashenden book a go as well!