This book was fun and easy to read for the most part. The characters were very likeable and you really did want them to have a second chance.

The tension was sizzling from the start and the moments of comedy and heat between the characters was well written.

Unlike other modern romance novels, this book allowed the characters to have likeable friends who weren't also single- I hate in a book predicting where the follow up is coming from single friends meeting.

I did have a few difficulties with it, however. Although I believe the author used to be a bookstagrammer I feel like readers who don't do bookstagram will feel that it's all a bit of a joke after the very minor amounts of time the character put into it. There were some true-to-form things like photo opportunities and adding dogs but it was much more random and scattered than any booksta I have ever met!

Additionally - the fact that she had to use her love interest to progress with her book was a little problematic for me. I also didn't enjoy the sections of romance novel we got to see in the book - they detracted from the actually very well written modern narrative and didn't overly make sense.

This was a lovely easy read, I don't love it as much as I hoped I would but it was certainly worth the read

An writer who has writers block until a man from her past comes back into her life and inspiration suddenly strikes again

The characters were lovable and it was easy to invest in them, and I do really enjoy that in a book, but I found it easy to put down at night, when i love a book i have that oh just one more chapter feeling and i didn't have that with this

Thanks to Bonnier Books and Netgalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for a review.

I didn't like this book as much as I thought I would. Kara, a romantic writer, is suffering from writers block - until she runs in to an ex and suddenly she's a bit more inspired. There's a book within the book too (which I've got to be honest, I skipped over). I'm sure that folk will love this as it's an easy beach read but just not one for me.

BOOK REVIEW: Talk Bookish to Me by Kate Bromley

3 Stars
Smut level: 2.5/5

Talk Bookish To Me is a mix of a second chance romance and enemies (ex's) to lovers. I enjoyed the vast majority of the book but unfortunately a few decisions by the author ruined it for me.

The lead female Kara is a romance author and bookstagrammer. Through the book we receive small clips of the historical romance that she is writing. I quite enjoyed this! It was a bit different and was fun to see what the character was meant to be writing. Kara is a hopeless romantic that has been unlucky in love. I enjoyed her quirky and fun personality as well as her friendships which added alot to the book.
The love interest Ryan I really liked for most of the book. I loved how he and Kara bounced off each other and the weirdness they brought out in each other. They have fantastic chemistry although the sexy scenes were rather lacking and could have been so much better. I also loved Ryan's bulldog Duke. I am such a fan of quirky pets in books!
The story was fun, sexy and romantic... until it wasn't. I won't give anything away but I feel the author made a huge mistake in this book which caused me to knock off a whole star in my rating. It was a decision I felt wasn't needed and that the book was worse off for it.
The writing was really good, engaging and funny. On the most part, I did really enjoy it which is why in the end I feel so let down.
I would actually love the series to continue by focusing on Kara's single friends.

Overall I enjoyed it but sadly was massively let down towards the end. I see I am not the only one that feels this way either as many reviews mention it. I do however look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

Please note that I was #gifted this book in exchange for an honest review

Kara is a historical romance writer with a year long writer's block and an impending deadline. Luckily for her, she can throw herself into being maid of honour for her best friend's wedding next week to distract herself. Unluckily for her, it turns out her first love, Ryan is best friends with the groom. Kara and Ryan's split was devastating and set a course of events in motion that affect Kara to this day. She is determined to get through the wedding and avoid Ryan at all costs. No problem right? Except that as soon as she is reunited with Ryan, her urge to write sparks back in to life. In order to keep her career on track she needs to keep spending time with Ryan. It's just for her novel, that's all. Can Kara put up with the trauma of being around her ex in order to finish her book or is she risking it all?

This a brilliant debut novel. It's a real treat for the reader, even if romance isn't your go to genre. Every single character in the book is likeable and well written. I learnt quite a bit about the writing process too and I really enjoyed the extracts from Kara's novel which gave me serious Bridgerton vibes.
There's delicious, spicy tension between Kara and Ryan and I got quite invested in their relationship as they take tentative steps towards their reunion. There's plenty of moments where you hold your breath and can't wait to turn the next page. It's such a witty read too, from the banter between Kara and Ryan, and Kara's hilarious friend Maggie (who I would quite happily go for iced coffee with anytime - everyone needs a friend like Maggie!) and her new travel buddy. It was satisfying to see how these wonderful characters shape Kara's life and her future. I loved the development in Kara and Ryan's characters and the ending and what lead to the ending was spot on.

I've no doubt I will be snapping up Kate Bromley's next book as soon as I can. I'd highly recommend this for anyone who loves the genre, who needs a good beach read, or who loves a good book that sucks you in right away. Read it, you won't regret it.

Thank you to the author, Netgalley and Bonnier Books UK for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

Bookish girl and her college, cowboy ex are forced together at the wedding of mutual friends? Yes, sign me up all day.

A cute bulldog with a penchant for Celine Dion ballads? Can I take him home?

The tension of this novel builds brilliantly. It has a fantastic handle on a wide range of characters and the witty back and forth between the central couple had me from the first few pages. I rooted for them, I really did, and I don't always do that with second chance romances.

Kara and Ryan hurt each other in their early twenties. They handled traumatic personal events badly and took it out on each other in the process. Ten years have passed and they are forced to see each other again, to deal with their baggage, their shit and stop hiding from themselves.

All of that was great, and I then also really enjoyed Kara's time in Rome and the time The book spent dedicated to a new male-female friendship.

Brilliant, slightly less steamy than anticipated but I was HERE for it all.

And then it took a turn. A turn that the characters in the book look at as a person's mistake and them trying their best but one which I nevertheless couldn't get past. It really affected the last third of the book for me - if you have read this I would love to discuss!

This is the perfect, feel-good romance.

Funny, sweet and charming.

Kara is an author, she writes romance but her own love life doesn't depict the relationships that she showcases in her novels.

But that could all change when an old college boyfriend (and his dog) step back into her life.

Be prepared to laugh and get ready to feel all warm and fuzzy.

With a likeable cast of characters, plenty of wit and sarcasm and a lot of love to boot, Talk Bookish to Me is the perfect antidote to any reading slump you might be having.

Guaranteed positivity in a novel.

Oh this book was super cute. I read the description of the book and knew I had to read it. Its main star is a historical romance fiction writer who’s also a bookstagrammer (and yes that term is used in the book).
The story is about Kara who is struggling to write her latest novel and is under a tight deadline. At a party for her best friends upcoming wedding, divine inspiration is brought to Kara in the form of her childhood sweetheart Ryan, who she was not expecting to be at the wedding. At first their meetings are icy and cold but as the story continues we get to understand their history. Will they become enemies to lovers again?
The story was slow to start but once Ryan is on the scene, things start to accelerate. It’s a witty, sexy, fun book and the chemistry between the two main characters is the highlight.
Even though I guessed quite a few things, I’m sure this book will be a summer must read.
Thank you to netgalley, Bonnier Books and Zaffre for my ARC.

A Cure For Writer’s Block....?
Chance meeting with former beau cures writer’s block? Sweet and nicely written romcom with a likeable protagonist and a colourful cast of supporting characters. An engaging storyline which keeps the reader rooting for a successful finale throughout. Enjoyable and entertaining escapism.

Kara Sullivan’s is a bestselling romance novelist and influential bookstagrammer, though Kara is having some serious writer's block with a looming deadline.

Kara’s best friend, Cristina, is getting married next week, and her fiancé, Jason, invites his childhood best friends to join the wedding party... enter Ryan Thompson. Who just happens to be the Kara college sweetheart, first love, the guy who broke her heart, and the one she just never quite got over.

Ryan's unexpected arrival however seems to be the key to Kara's writer's block!

Honestly, I loved this book. It was a great debut romcom novel and one I am praying getting a sequel with some of the other side characters.

Kara and Ryan have some intense chemistry and clearly have some unfinished business with each other even after 10 years! This book was soft, when you find out more about their break out and the issues to follow, it's intense.

One thing that I LOVED about this book was that the ending wasn't rushed... which is something I HATE at the end of some romcoms, all is forgiven, no one works on themselves etc etc but this was not the case with this book. Kara has a trip to Italy planned and she works on herself, works on her feelings, I loved those chapters, the character growth was perfect! Great ending, MC and side characters, good banter and SO MANY bookstagram and bookish references. A MUST FOR ANY ROMCOM LOVER!

This was such a lovely heartfelt, feel good easy read. I feel this was a book within a book, if that makes sense, I laughed, cried and shouted at the book. I thoroughly enjoyed the chatacters.

This is a very easy read. Fun rom com that gives you chance to escape your normal (covid) world.
Really enjoyed the writers style and the deep well developed characters.

Really liked this book. Liked the thread running throughout it about books and writing, and liked the overall story.

Kara and Ryan were an adorable couple and Kate Bromley certainly had you rooting for them to find their happy ever after. I enjoyed the Kara character and found her both charming and witty, the relationship with Ryan made the laugh out loud moments happen often and the way they bounced off of each other made their romance story great fun to read.
However, what I did not enjoy was the book within the book.... the story that Kara was written was completely unecessary filler in my opinion and so I just skipped those parts after a while. Maybe it would have been better to be a bonus at the end of the book rather than interwoven between what I had actually chosen to read.
I will be keeping an eye out for future Kate Bromley books though!

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS BOOK!

How could you not love Kara? An author and also a Bookstagrammer! A very cute and with a lot of sass, you want to be her friend.
Ryan, a sweet and gorgeous person, anyone would want to be his book 📖 boyfriend.

This book had be laughing and feeling what the characters were at the right times whilst reading it. As it’s the first book by @katebromleywrites I definitely want to read more of her books.

As TALK BOOKISH TO ME isn’t out till 25 May, it’s definitely one to preorder.

What a great read! I had fallen out of love with my Kindle recently and chose the perfect book to get back into it.

It is well written, believable and the ending is absolutely adorable.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. I will keep an eye out for Kate Bromley books in the future.

I requested this book because I thought will be an adorable rom-com, if you see the cover. Unfortunately this was not the case.
I did not like the story and just give it a go because is a short story.
First of all is not about books or so. The main character is a writer and she runs a bookstagram, but apart of that is not bookish related at all.
I did not like the that was added parts of what she was writing in the book, it looked like the author was adding words, for me did not make any change to the main story.

I wish this story had trigger warnings, the cheating thing. Just is a no. I have been reading a lot of books with the main concept of cheating but I wish I was advised about it. Also, I feel like was a romanticization of infidelity just to justify that they meant to be together.

I did not like as well the obsession of Kara's mom about fitness, pushing Kara to work out more so she can have a great body and have babies, because is mentioned that on the story before. Pushing her to have babies.
Thank you for make me feel fat when Kara mention that she is size 8 but she is wearing a dress to make her look slimmer. Thank you!

And then the main thing, justifying the cheating from Ryan so they can go back together:

My eyes scrunch a bit at her almost-justification of Ryan’s actions. “Obviously, it’s unforgivable. He was lying to me the whole time. He was cheating.” “He wasn’t cheating on you. He was yours first and he was only engaged to that girl for fourteen days. It’s not like he was married with kids. He sounded heartbroken over hurting you, plus, he explained why he did what he did.”

This is not alright. Ryan did not deserve a second chance.
Please Please stop with the romanticization of infidelity.

Kara is a romance writer who's currently suffering from writer's block with her deadline fast approaching. Her best friend is getting married which is also adding to the distractions. It turns out in an amazing coincidence (!) that one of the groomsmen is Kara's college boyfriend - the one who got away - and once she meets him again, her writer's block disappears.

This book was a light enjoyable read. I liked the book within a book - it broke the story up in an interesting way and I was as involved in that as I was in Kara and Ryan's story! There were bits I didn't find convincing too and I query that people would doubt the joys of pizza for breakfast but overall it was a fun summer read.

Kara Sullivan is definitely not avoiding her deadline. After all, it's the week of her best friend's wedding and she's the maid of honour, so she's got lots of responsibilities. She's a bestselling romance novelist with seven novels under her belt, so she's a pro. Looming deadlines don't scare her, and neither does writer's block, which she most certainly does not have. She's just eager to support Cristina as she ties the knot. Right? Right.

But then who should show up at the rehearsal dinner but Kara's college ex-boyfriend, Ryan? Turns out he's one of the groom's childhood friends, and he's in the wedding party, too. Considering neither Kara nor Ryan were prepared to see each other ever again, it's decidedly a meet-NOT-cute. However, when Kara sits down to write again the next day, her writer's block is suddenly gone. Are muses real? And is Kara's muse . . . Ryan?

Thank you to Zaffre and Netgalley for an early review copy of this book in return for an honest review.

This book grew on me the more I read it. Kara's best friend is getting married and at one of the meals before the wedding she meets the groom's groomsmen = one of whom was the love of Kara's life!

I enjoyed this - to me it was written in a slightly strange style, we have the story and we also had passages from the book Kara was writing - thankfully they were written in Italics to distinguish them.

An enjoyable book and a easy read, I will be recommending this to others.

This is a steady enjoyable romance without the often sickly romance.

Enjoyed it right from the beginning, with good characters.

Will definitely be looking for further books by this author in the future

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for ARC