Hamilton East Public Library logo

My Account

Hours & Location

Get A Library Card

October 23, 2017

How to Find Love in a Bookshop

How to Find Love in a Bookshop

By: Veronica Henry

Words cannot describe how much I love books about books.  Throw in an English accent and charming characters, and I’m a lost cause.   How to Find Love in a Bookshop by Veronica Henry follows the story of an English book store, Nightingale Books, and the readers who call it home.

The shop is the passion project of Julius Nightingale.  He reaches the residents of his quaint English town by finding them books to change their lives, or at least their reading habits.  Julius devotes his life to the written word, and when he dies it seems that Nightingale Books might be lost.

After Julius’ passing his daughter, Emilia, takes over the shop.  At first, she feels like a fish out of water while she settles back into her hometown.   Nothing is quite as it seems, from the debt her father left behind to the broken hearted woman he kept a secret.  Emilia has her work cut out for her if she wants to keep the shop open.

The novel takes you into the lives of numerous villagers as they fall in and out of love.  Emilia and the shop are at the heart of their romantic entanglements, for better or worse.  There’s an aging actor and the woman he left behind decades ago, the cooking teacher who pines after the man at the cheese shop, and our main character who falls for a family friend – just to name a few!

The surprising thing about this book is how it can shift from sweet and funny to poignant and tender.  One chapter you’re laughing, and the next you’re reaching for a box of tissues.  Grab your cozy fall sweaters and curl up for a sweet story of romance and finding home.  I promise that Emilia and her customers will keep you entertained for hours!

Looking for more bookish romance?  Check out these read-a-likes:   The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan, The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald, The Secret of Happy Ever After by Lucy Dillon, and The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabreille Zevin.

Review By:  Kirsten Edwards