Ali Brady's BATTLE OF THE BOOKSTORES

Thanks to partners NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for the digital ARC of Ali Brady's Battle of the Bookstores. The book will be published tomorrow! 

Certain authors have become summer staples for me, and the co-authors known as Ali Brady are for sure on that list. Their newest book, Battle of the Bookstores, is a delight.

Josie Klein is a literary fiction connoisseur who finds comfort in order and in unraveling the challenges present in her favorite genre. Her bookstore, a Boston landmark, features carefully curated books for the discerning reader.

She’s less than impressed with her competition. Ryan Lawson manages the romance bookstore that’s two shops down, just on the other side of a coffee shop. Ryan, the youngest of a slew of boys, has defied expectations his whole life: he’s a tall guy who never played basketball; a strong man who drinks the most bougie of coffees; a male reader who loves romance. Ryan’s deep connection to his bookstore started when the owner, his mentor, helped him to learn to love the genre.

The two would be, perhaps, content to disagree—from a distance—if they weren’t forced into proximity by the man who purchased the coffee shop and its flanking bookstores. He’s decided to unite the spaces and put it all under the management of just one of them. The manager who will stay will be determined by a competition: who can make the most money in the months leading up to the stores’ unification.

Josie and Ryan’s initial meeting sets up a confrontational relationship that only worsens as the competition grows. What complicates their story is that they—unbeknownst to them—have been developing a close companionship through private DMs on a booksellers’ chatroom. While sparks fly (and not in a good way) when they’re face to face, they turn to each other for comfort and care online.

What follows is a beautiful, enemies-to-lovers romance that delves into Josie’s and Ryan’s backstories with care and nuance and also highlights everything there is to love about books and reading and defying expectations about who-should-love-what. I saved this one for the start of my summer break, and I’m glad I did: I didn’t want to do anything else once I picked it up. Ali Brady delivers the fabulous summer read I’ve come to expect, with the perfect balance of romance and humor, depth of character and compelling plot. Now the wait until their next novel begins…

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