I absolutely love reading stories about bookshops, but unfortunately, this one didn’t end well for me. It offered a interesting storyline that was easy to read and try to transport me to a Dickensian era, which I thoroughly enjoyed. However, I couldn’t help but feel that it could have benefited from a bit more editing before publication. Keeping in mind that it’s a debut work, I chose to hold back on being overly critical.
While I found the initial chapters engaging, I ultimately finished the book with a sense of disappointment. It portrayed every character as rather awful, which hindered my ability to connect with them. The character building felt flat, and the romance, instead of blossoming beautifully, fell short and didn’t resonate as genuine. Overall, it left me wishing for more depth and warmth in a story that had such potential. Still felt the whole plot felt boring and didn't totally enjoy the book. But still can be enjoyable for some other readers. Thank you to harper Collins and harper collins fiction for the access to this book

Lots of vitality, but more Mills + Boon than Historical

I’m just the wrong reader for this, I was expected something more than what it is. It seemed to belong far more to an earlier outing of the historical fiction genre, where the focus was much less on period authenticity, and really, just a costume setting for girl meets boy, they have an initial aversion to each other despite – or because of, attraction – but it’s obvious they will end up together.

This can obviously be done with huge fun, wit and enjoyment – think Beatrice and Benedick – or it can feel confined by its trope.

I’m afraid it was the latter for me. My disbelief in character, plot, and the time itself never got suspended.

My mistake in requesting this as an ARC. The lovely cover design, rich with books – obviously, since the setting is a bookshop – made me assume that this would be closer to the overarching genre I prefer – literary fiction. The categorisation on Netgalley CLEARLY says GENERAL fiction/Historical Fiction/Romance. I just made a misinterpretation, as I quickly realised.

A historical romance set in York in the 1890's. Evelyn Seaton’s family are evicted from their family home when her father cannot cover his gambling debts. Evelyn and her mother are forced to seek help from Aunt Clara who isn't that pleased to have visitors. In order to try and move her mother out of Aunt Clara's, Evelyn takes a job, but she deceives everyone about what she is doing.
The story is pleasant but unsurprising. Evelyn is a spirited character, motivated and helpful but of course she is misunderstood and misread. I had hoped the bookshop might have played a bigger role in the story - there are a few hints at the beginning that it might have a mind of its own, but it didn't and it is left to the characters to resolve their problems, which they do, slowly.
With thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction for an arc copy in return for an honest review.

A lovely light Dickensian type story which would make the perfect Christmas film! The title itself has a Christmassy feel about it. Evelyn Seaton has become an outcast from the aristocratic lifestyle she has been used to and she and her mother have to find refuge with her Aunt Clara in York. It is here she comes across Morton’s Emporium previously known as The Lamplighter’s Bookshop and it is here that her relationship with the owner’s nephew William becomes a tangled web of deceit involving not just these two but their friends and relations! The story has a beginning, a middle and the perfect ending and I loved it!

Absolutely love reads about bookshops and this one didn't disappoint. Great story and easy to read and understand. Would love to visit this bookshops. My dream, g

A cozy read not too trying but enjoyable. Set in york i enjoyed the historical descriptions and characters were lighthearted, a glimpse into the past and a dream job working in a bookshop whats not to like.

An enjoyable book, although the plot was rather hackneyed, in so far as it was fairly predictable as to how things would pan out with the errant father and the handsome( yet incredibly ungentlemanly) would be writer. Our plucky heroine herself would come to the right choices in life, and love would mean that everyone with a possible partner would end up with them in the end. There are no surprises here, and everything was too neatly tied up to be credible. Having said that I enjoyed the read, although I didn’t completely believe this was a period piece.

Publishing Date 1 March 2025
I was attracted to the title as who doesn't love a book set around a bookshop.
Lady Evelyn Seaton's life is turned upside down after her father, Baron Seaton, loses all of his money and their ancestral home.
Forced into a poky house with her Great Aunt, Evelyn and her mother start to negotiate their reduced circumstances.
Her mother hopes their friends will support them, but Evelyn is more realistic and starts to enjoy a life not so dictated by their social standing, and then gets a job in a bookshop.
Will this bring them down even further, as a lady isn't allowed to work, or will it be the making of Evelyn? She finds herself now living a life with genuine friendships and kindness.

A beautifully written novel set in York during 1890s. Cecilia and her daughter Evelyn are forced to leave their aristocratic home Riccall Hall, when her Baron father gambles it away. The two head to Aunt Clara’s tiny home, who is not too happy to host her destitute family.

With their friends turning against them and with little money Evelyn takes on a job at a small ill-managed bookshop. It is here she feels alive and independent, albeit she must hide her work status for fear of bringing further shame upon the family.

Soon she is introduced to the nephew of the shop owner William, who has his own share of bad luck in his attempts to become a writer. Together they enter into a competition to sell the most books with the winner maintaining their job. Their working relationship soon blossoms into something else - Will the two be able to break free of their class constraint and fall in love?

The book touches on class, betrayal and gambling addiction which for me was interesting. There is definitely scope for another book perhaps developing the role of Lady violet whose scheming and snobbery echoes that of Bridgerton. A very enjoyable read and I thank NetGalley and Harper Collins for the opportunity to read this ahead of publication. A good read.

A lovely read for all of us that dream of working in a book shop!
Evelyn is a remarkable character for her time and is extremely inspiring. She is independent and strong and I was rooting for her from the start. William is an author and the chemistry between them is brilliant.
Aunt Clara is easily one of my favourite characters and made me laugh out loud many times!

A fairly typical historical romantic novel set in the late 1890s in York, but the tale is the reverse of poor to rich. Lady Evelyn Seaton’s family fall from grace and outcast from society, caused by her father’s secretive gambling habit, brings her and her mother to live on the hospitality of her great aunt. Romance is in the air, but only once potential suitors have been rejected. There is nothing remarkable about this novel although it provides a comfortable read, with a hint of humour and a smattering of curiosity to see how the story unfolds to its conclusion.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers HarperCollins for this ARC in exchange for an independent review.

Loved it!

If you're looking for a light-hearted historical romance where nothing too awful happens, this is it! Following a dramatic change in her family's fortune and position in society, Evelyn Seaton and her mother are forced to leave behind their stately home and move to a very different life in York. Left with no money and abandoned by both their father and society, Evelyn finds work in a small bookshop where she soon meets enigmatic writer, William Morton.

Imagine Elizabeth Bennet if her father has lost his entire home and fortune and abandoned her to live on the goodwill of a crotchety old aunt, and you'll be halfway towards the general vibe of this book. Evelyn is smart, opinionated and open-minded, albeit somewhat naive and sheltered, while potential love interest William has all the brooding Byronic qualities you'd hope for. Throw in a blonde ringleted mean girl to stir things up, plus a heap of family secrets waiting to be revealed, and you've got yourself an enchanting, witty read that you'll most likely devour in a a single sitting (well, I certainly did anyway!).

Hugely entertaining and just the book I needed right now,.

Thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for this Arc. An engaging read which is reminiscent of a few other recently released books such as The Lost Bookshop. Charming in places and imaginative in detail. Some of the character details got a little confusing but on the whole a good read.

I was beguiled by the lovely cover artwork and, not knowing the author, I requestes an early reader’s copy and saw that the author ‘can often be found at the turn of the century’ - I hadn’t realised that was the turn of the last century, not this.
I was 100 years out… I really enjoyed the writing style though and this was a far cry from Downton Abbey, with a historical daily life viewpoint that I wasn’t familiar with. I was familiar with the setting of York though so was intrigued to see how the story went.

I definitely enjoyed it and was invested in the character of Evelyn. I enjoyed the setting of the bookshop, although the character of the shop wasn’t explored again after the first reference.

Evelyn meets Will after an ill-fated ball hosted by the horrible Lady Violet (she doesn’t really redeem herself in my opinion!) and by a twist of fate, ends up running into him again after securing a job in Morton’s Emporium.

Will is an aspiring author but all is not as it seems and Evelyn can instantly tell something is awry…

There was a lovely cast of characters though, especially Naomi and Jack, Naomi befriends Evelyn on her first trip into York and Jack, the man she has a crush on, is Will’s best friend, so this throws Will into Evelyn’s path again and again.

Whilst this story wasn’t what i was expecting and I’m not sure it’s the story the blurb would lead you to believe, it is nicely written and enjoyable. Worth a read to expand your genres of interest if they don’t currently include historical fiction.

This book had the potential to be so much more than it was. Having read the introduction, I had the impression that I was going to be reading an engrossing tale of York and the lives of those living there at the time. However, once I started reading I found the book to be very flat with no real definition at all. The main character Evelyn seemed very immature at the beginning and didn’t seem to develop to her full potential throughout the story. I carried on reading the book in the hope of a change of mood and direction, but unfortunately I didn’t see any change. This is only my opinion of the book and totally accept that I may well have missed the depth I was expecting from the beginning. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC in return for an honest and unbiased review.

This was a nice, slow read. Humorous at times, and wise too. The plot didnt keep me entertained as much as I hoped it would. The story starts strongly, but starts to drag halfway through.
Evelyn is a lovely character, I highlighted a lot of her wisdoms. The other characters are fairly standard.
I would recommend this to anyone who likes to read about this time period, because it was obviously well-researched.

Thank you Netgalley for this earc, all opinions are my own.

Wonderful, I love historical novels and this one ticks all the boxes. I totally lost myself in the story, it is so well written it pulls you in from the very first page. A great read.

An enjoyable historical love story. Despite the restrictions of the times Evelyn strives to make a life for herself and her mother. Some misunderstandings along the way, but eventually a happy ending is achieved.

This book wasn't quite what I expected; the title gave me some idea of a mystery around the shop. However, this is a nicely written novel, with some humour, dealing mainly in the complexity of the human ability to tell lies. Some lies are white, with no malice; some are defensive, some are mean and others are downright destructive. In the Lamplighter's Bookshop many lies of all kinds are unveiled. Some bring hurt that can never be repaired.

This is one of my favourite books of the year. I love the blend of history, intrigued and romance plus it's set in York which is a favourite place of mine. With great characters and a gripping storyline this has sure-fire hit all over it. Thoroughly enjoyed it.