Title: Battle of the Bookstores
Author: Ali Brady
Publisher: Berkley
Genre: Romance
Format: Kindle ARC
No. of Pages: 432
Date of Publication: June 3, 2025
My Rating: 4 Stars
DESCRIPTION:
Rivalry and romance spark when two bookstore managers who are opposites in every way find themselves competing for the same promotion.
Despite managing bookstores on the same Boston street, Josie Klein and Ryan Lawson have never interacted much—Josie’s store focuses on serious literature, and Ryan’s sells romance only. But when the new owner of both stores decides to combine them, the two are thrust into direct competition. Only one manager will be left standing, decided by who turns the most profit over the summer.
Efficient and detail-oriented Josie instantly clashes with easygoing and disorganized Ryan. Their competing events and contrasting styles lead to more than just frustration—the sparks between them might just set the whole store on fire. Their only solace during this chaos is the friendship they’ve each struck up with an anonymous friend in an online book forum. Little do they know they’re actually chatting with each other.
As their rivalry heats up in real life, their online relationship grows, and when the walls between their stores come tumbling down, Josie and Ryan realize not all’s fair in love and war. And maybe, if they’re lucky, happily ever afters aren’t just for the books.
Despite managing bookstores on the same Boston street, Josie Klein and Ryan Lawson have never interacted much—Josie’s store focuses on serious literature, and Ryan’s sells romance only. But when the new owner of both stores decides to combine them, the two are thrust into direct competition. Only one manager will be left standing, decided by who turns the most profit over the summer.
Efficient and detail-oriented Josie instantly clashes with easygoing and disorganized Ryan. Their competing events and contrasting styles lead to more than just frustration—the sparks between them might just set the whole store on fire. Their only solace during this chaos is the friendship they’ve each struck up with an anonymous friend in an online book forum. Little do they know they’re actually chatting with each other.
As their rivalry heats up in real life, their online relationship grows, and when the walls between their stores come tumbling down, Josie and Ryan realize not all’s fair in love and war. And maybe, if they’re lucky, happily ever afters aren’t just for the books.
MY THOUGHTS:
Josie Klein and Ryan Lawson, fellow bookshop neighbors, despite their proximity to their bookstores, haven’t formed any type of a friendship. Josie’s shop favors more elite books, while Ryan’s exclusive sales of romance attract a different clientele.
The competition intensifies when the owner of both bookstores decides to merge the shops, leaving one of them as store manager and the other without a job. Josie and Ryan embark on a strategic battle to emerge victorious.
May the best bookseller win.
From the very beginning, Josie and Ryan appear to be complete opposites. However, as the story unfolds, their shared love for books unexpectedly binds them together, surpassing their wildest imaginations. Amidst this newfound connection, the looming threat of losing one or even both of their jobs looms large, casting a shadow over their budding romance.
One thing that I really enjoyed about this story was how relatable it was to me as a book reviewer. There were countless comparisons, such as whether someone reads as a hobby, or do they view it as their job, or what tropes they find in books. There was even a reference that if Josie had to rush to write a book review, she would do like she did in high school, Google reviews, and use them to cobble together enough information to compose a book report. That stuck out to me because sometimes in review chats, this questionable scenario comes up.
Their anonymous humorous email exchanges added levity to the narrative. But there was a serious emotional edge to this story. Of course, with the romance blooming between Josie and Ryan, but with other relationships in their lives. Lastly, the romantic scenes were intense (a bit much for me), but it was easy to root for this couple to succeed, in love as well as in life.
Many thanks to Berkley and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.
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