Actual rating: 4.5 stars

A true delight of a rom-com for all the book lovers out there! The chemistry between the characters is impeccable, the banter hilarious. Loved the twist on the small-town-romance trope, all the bookish references throughout the book, and overall the great time it offered!

Nora and Charlie are the book lovers we deserved in a rom-com. It was evident very early on that these two belong to each other like no one else. I loved how their story began, all the messages sent back and forth, the banter, the jokes - it was hilarious watching them and feeling the chemistry between them so evidently. I loved how both of them represented the stereotypical characters who usually don‘t get the shot at real romance - or as Nora likes to put it: gets dumped over some baker from a small town. Generally, as someone who is not too much into the trope of small-town romances, I loved the twist Emily Henry put to the stereotypical characters, and focused on the ones who usually are left behind: the city-lovers, the ones who want to build a career, the ones who do like their Manolo shoes and Peloton bikes. The ones who don‘t care much about a calm life in a small town. It turns around the perception that those characters are evil, and shows us how much they care, love and feel. And I loved that! Especially because there‘s nothing about Nora or Charlie that one can not love. On the contrary, I felt more connected to them than to any other character who decides to leave everything behind for a shot at a small-town romance to be quite honest.

The only reason why I‘m not giving this book a full five-star-rating is that I felt the pacing dragged a bit after almost 300 pages, and then rushed too quickly towards the end. While I loved the subplot involving Nora‘s sister, Libby and felt it added more to the characters and their lives, I felt their drama took a bit too long to explode. It took away some good time I would‘ve loved to see between Nora and Charlie, but that‘s entirely a subjective opinion as I was expecting a tad bit more romance. Rationally, the subplot between Nora and Libby added lots of depth to the character, helped the twist of the trope, and was truly emotional I had to held back some tears.

This was my first Emily Henry book, and all I can say is: call me a fan! I shall definitely get to Beach Read and People We Meet on Vacation ASAP, and devour them as much as I did this one. Emily Henry has officially become an auto-buy-author for me, and should become one for you as well. Really. Buy the book, read it, love it. You won‘t be disappointed.