Review: The Boy with the Bookstore - Sarah Echavarre Smith

Review: The Boy With The Bookstore - Sarah Echavarre Smith - September 2022

This book had me at the words "bookshop", The Boy with The Bookshop starts with two crushes and two shy people afraid to ask the other out. We have our Bookshop owner Max who every morning orders a coffee he hates but it's grown on him, just so that he can talk to the owner Joelle. Joelle is a shy Filipino who has dedicated her life to working at the bakery and helping her family with finances. She is all about family whereas that word is not in Max's vocabulary which will later cause tension in the story. The two work as they have their own spaces, but what happens when renovations to the building block cause them both to move into one building and share the space? Can the two work together in harmony and nurture their crush or will they discover that once they get into proximity to the other and their workspaces, they become frenemies and toxic? This part of them working together reminded me of the saying how it is often best not to get into business with a friend or partner as that's when personalities can erupt and we see a different side of that person as you have their personal and work lives clashing together.  Can Max and Joelle get over themselves and their differences and become the couple that everyone else can see but them? I also have to admit, I did in parts get a bit sick of Joelle's martyr personality as it's like - you can have a life too, your parents and aunts/uncles are adults and not your responsibility as you also have cousins who can step up. You are not alone, so stop with the saint routine, and Max - everyone has a parent who has failed them or well most people - suck it up and stop playing the "poor me" my mum was a bad person routine. Other than these two things that annoyed me, this was a cute romance read and perfect for all book lovers and bakers who dream of not only opening their stores but of a #meetcute romance if they aren't in one.

Amazon: https://amzn.to/48sRfof