Booklover by J.E. Birk

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Title: Booklover
Author: J.E. Birk
Series: Vino and Veritas #6
Published by: Heart Eyes Press
Release Date: March 29, 2021
Format: eARC
Pages: 265
Genres: Romance, LGBT, Contemporary
Source: Heart Eyes Press
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2021 COYER Spring, Lenoreo's 2021 Diversity Reading Challenge
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon
My rating:

Blurb:

Two guys meet over a stack of romance novels. Soon they're turning pages late into the night...

Jamie Morin’s college GPA drops every time a cow breaks through a fence, but he’s determined to get his degree and keep his parents’ Vermont dairy farm afloat. He’d rather be reading than milking, but he can’t let his family down…not the way his brother did. So the last thing he needs is distraction in the form of an irresistible bookseller with a mysterious backstory.

Briar Nord has a lifetime of experience proving that happily-ever-afters only happen in his favorite books. But his luck might be changing. He’s got a great job at a bookstore, and he lives in a city that puts maple syrup on everything. But Briar knows not to trust anything or anyone. And that includes a gorgeous farm boy with soulful eyes and too many obligations.

When Jamie joins Briar’s romance novel book club, they both feel an instant connection. Soon they’re turning pages long into the night. But Briar’s past was bound to catch up with him. Sometimes, though, it takes two heroes to write a new ending . . .

My Review:

I received a free copy through Heart Eyes Press in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.

4 stars — Well that was a cute story with a lot of depth underneath.  Jamie and Briar were both pretty easy to love.

I loved how positive Jamie could be, and what difficult choices he was faced with.  I totally got his unwillingness to upset the status quo, and how stuck he felt with his family.  He definitely needed a few knocks over the head, but luckily he had some good friends to do that for him.

I worried that at first I was going to struggle with Briar’s uncertainty, but I really settled into who he was and how his past had defined him.  It can be hard for someone with a “normal” upbringing to understand just how lasting childhood damage can be.  I think in the end I didn’t mind that it took me quite a bit of the book to get him, because that would happen in real life too.

I definitely enjoyed the two of them together, though I will admit the scene reenacting took me out on a few occasions…so I fell in love more with their friendship/love than their steam.  But I was okay with that.

Sometimes the book stuff was a bit too much for me, and other times I loved it.  I adored seeing these two men be such romance lovers, and I loved seeing them connect over it.  And the booklover club was actually really fun — a delightfully strange mix of folks, and it felt like a real book club where not everyone agrees.

The booklover club folks weren’t the only solid secondary characters.  I appreciated the glimpses of other V&V employees — some I knew from other books, some newer to me.  And then there was Jamie’s huge support system — from his friends Lexy and Jeremy, to his family.

So yeah, definitely a solid romance…and apparently that’s all I have to say.