Review: Love at First Book by Jenn McKinlay

 

Love at First Book by Jenn McKinlay

Publication Date: May 14th 2024 by Berkley

Pages: 368

Source: Publisher 

Rating: ★★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Love at First Book warmed this book lover’s heart! Such a winning combination of humor, romance, complicated family dynamics, friendship, and dealing with grief! The quaint, beautiful setting of Finn’s Hollow, Ireland was just icing on the cake!

Emily Allen, a librarian in Martha’s Vineyard, felt inspired by Samantha and Ben’s HEA (the couple from Summer Reading) to take life by the horns move to Ireland to take her dream job all the way in Finn’s Hollow, Ireland. Working for her favorite author, Siobhan Riordan, as assistant part of the time and filling in at her son’s bookstore, The Last Chapter the other part. While she’ll miss Sam, her best friend, taking the job removes Em from her mother’s manipulative clutches. That woman was something else!

What Em doesn’t count on is Kieran Murphy, Siobhan’s son, being less than happy with her arrival. This still doesn't dim Em’s elation with the whole situation. Siobhan is a dream to work with and the town and its quirky occupants are just lovely!

I find enemies-to-lovers a tricky trope. If the exchanges are too mean I’m not a fan. Not the case here. I absolutely loved the slow journey Em and Kieran took to love. They had some fun push and pull between them, and I was thrilled to see Em stand up for herself.  I was so happy Em had done the work to get free of her mother’s bullying and used that going forward.

I didn’t expect the story to quite so emotional and break my heart, but it did, but it also left me with so much joy!! I won’t spoil the story by elaborating. There was plenty of humor and lightness to balance out the grief and it just felt right. Love at First Book is a definite recommend!

5 Stars

Book Description:

When a librarian moves to a quaint Irish village where her favorite novelist lives, the last thing she expects is to fall for the author’s prickly son… until their story becomes one for the books, from the New York Times bestselling author of Summer Reading .

Emily Allen, a librarian on Martha’s Vineyard, has always dreamed of a life of travel and adventure. So when her favorite author, Siobhan Riordan, offers her a job in the Emerald Isle, Emily jumps at the opportunity. After all, Siobhan’s novels got Em through some of the darkest days of her existence.

Helping Siobhan write the final book in her acclaimed series—after a ten-year hiatus due to a scorching case of writer’s block—is a dream come true for Emily. If only she didn’t have to deal with Siobhan’s son, Kieran Murphy. He manages Siobhan’s bookstore, and the grouchy bookworm clearly doesn’t want Em around.

When Siobhan’s health takes a bad turn, she’s more determined than ever to finish her novel, while Kieran tries every trick in the book to get his mother to rest. Thrown into the role of peacemaker, Emily begins to see that Kieran's heart is in the right place. Torn between helping Siobhan find closure with her series and her own growing feelings for the mercurial Irishman, Emily will have to decide if she’s truly ready to turn a new page and figure out what lies in the next chapter.

About the Author

Jenn McKinlay is the award-winning New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of several mystery and romance series. Her work has been translated into multiple languages in countries all over the world. She lives in sunny Arizona in a house that is overrun with kids, pets, and her husband’s guitars.