Portobello Book Blog

I can’t resist a book set in a bookshop and I love when you find a dedication handwritten on the inside of a second hand book. This book combines both so I jumped at the chance to read The Little Bookshop of Love Stories.

I have to admit to being rather envious of the main character Hallie. Although the book starts rather inauspiciously with Hallie losing a job due to a clumsy moment in the restaurant where she worked, her day takes a turn hugely for the better when she finds out that she has won a bookshop in a raffle. And not just any bookshop, but the little bookshop where she has spent many, many happy hours Once Upon a Page.

She seems to have inherited an illustrator too in the rather lovely form of Dimitri, who spends his days working on illustrations based on an old and valuable book in the shop. With Dimitri’s help, Hallie begins to catalogue the books and they soon come across many books with inscriptions inside.

Like Hallie, I also often wonder about the people who the books used to belong to. So I loved the parts of the book where Hallie and Dimitri use the power of social media to try to reunite the owners with the books. I couldn’t wait to find out the stories behind the inscriptions and what had happened to them in the meantime. And when it became clear that some of the books had a more personal connection to one of the characters, well that just piqued my interest even more.

I have to mention as well that this book made me smile rather a lot. There were so many funny moments in the book, often because of Hallie or Dimitri’s clumsiness but special mention must go to Hallie’s mum and her cooking and match-making skills! She’s determined that Hallie will find her own happy-ever-after but Hallie isn’t so sure that those exist outside the pages of her beloved books.

Dimitri says at one point “I think there’s very little to be miserable about in a bookshop” and I absolutely agree. And the same definitely applies to this book which is such a romantic, cheerful and feel-good read. I loved this book from start to finish – it was an absolute delight to read.

My thanks to the publishers HQ Digital for my review copy from Netgalley. The Little Bookshop of Love Stories is available now in ebook format and the paperback will follow in July. You can order a Kindle copy by clicking here.

From the back of the book

Today is the Mondayest Monday ever. Hallie Winstone has been fired – and it wasn’t even her fault!

Having lost her job and humiliated herself in front of a whole restaurant full of diners, this is absolutely, one hundred percent, the worst day of her life.
 
That is until she receives an email announcing that she is the lucky winner of the Once Upon a Page Bookshop!
 
Owning a bookshop has always been Hallie’s dream, and when she starts to find secret love letters on the first page of every book, she knows she’s stumbled across something special.

But Hallie’s beloved bookshop is in financial trouble, and with sales dwindling, she can’t help but wonder if she is really cut out to run a business.

Things start to look up when she meets gorgeous, bookish Dimitri and between them, they post a few of the hidden messages online, reuniting people who thought they were lost forever.
 
But maybe it’s time for Hallie to find her own happy-ever-after, too?

About the author

JAIMIE ADMANS is a 32-year-old English-sounding Welsh girl with an awkward-to-spell name. She lives in South Wales and enjoys writing, gardening, watching horror movies and drinking tea, although she’s seriously considering marrying her coffee machine. She loves autumn and winter, and singing songs from musicals despite the fact she’s got the voice of a dying hyena. She hates spiders, hot weather and cheese & onion crisps. She spends far too much time on Twitter and owns too many pairs of boots. She will never have time to read all the books she wants to read.

Jaimie loves to hear from readers, you can visit her website at http://www.jaimieadmans.com or connect on Twitter @be_the_spark.