A small-town bookseller finds that fate has taken to writing romance in this delightfully cozy love story about making your own happy ending—perfect for fans of Laurie Gilmore and grumpy/sunshine love stories!
Emma Rogers-Li is having her worst chapter yet. She’s lost her friends, her apartment in Manhattan, and a jerk of an ex. When a job opens to run a bookshop in the quirky small town of Heart’s Hope Crossing, Vermont, Emma jumps at the chance to start over. For the first time in years, she feels like she’s finally calling the shots in her own life . . . until she runs smack into Hunter Hall.
According to town legend, it’s fate—couples who meet (or collide) at that corner are meant to be. And while Emma doesn’t believe the town gossips now convinced she and Hunter are meant for each other, something about the tall, gruff forest ranger sends her completely off-balance. Falling in love with Heart’s Hope Crossing might be the best thing to happen to Emma. But Hunter has a complicated past of his own when it comes to love. Can they both take one last chance on a perfect happily-ever-after?
Read: April 26, 2026 – April 28, 2026
The Cozy Nook Bookshop follows Emma Rogers-Li as she moves to a small town in Vermont as their new bookstore manager and Hunter Hall, a forest ranger who doesn’t believe in fate and struggles with long-term commitment.
- Rating: 3/5 stars
- Spice Level: 3/5 – open door, approximately 3 on-page scenes (though, you can skip over them without losing much by way of plot).
Heart’s Hope Crossing (the town) was the standout of the story. I loved the coziness and scene setting and this seems like a place I’d enjoy visiting, especially in the fall. I also appreciated a diverse cast of characters.
When I picked up this ARC, I really wanted to like the story. I am not the biggest fan of insta-love but I wanted to give this a try, especially because I like grumpy/sunshine as a trope and I wanted to read more cozy stories. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel particularly connected to Emma or Hunter. Actually, I found Hunter extremely unlikable. He had his moments such as taking care of Emma and allowing her to feel safe and loved, but I wasn’t a fan of his character. With Emma, on the other hand, she felt a little boring and flat to me especially at the beginning of the story. I wanted to know more about her but instead, what we got is that she’s half-Chinese, loves books, and has a terrible ex. Towards the end of the book, I began to sympathize with her more especially as a recovering people pleaser myself. Her growth arc was the most rewarding part of the book, and I am happy that she finally stood up for herself.
There was a lot of “telling” versus “showing” – for example, describing each character by their race/ethnicity verbatim rather than showing the readers through something they did. There was also a lot of grunting/growling/not speaking on Hunter’s part and it distracted me a lot every time I read it. And especially for Emma and Hunter’s romance, there were quite a couple sentences about crackles of attractions and fires of desire but unfortunately, the intensity of the words didn’t seem to match the character actions we’d seen.
Ultimately, I don’t think I was the right audience for this book. But, if you’re a fan of grumpy/sunshine, meddling and nosy neighbors, insta-love, and barking/growling/gruff male main characters, I think you’d quite enjoy this.
Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for a complimentary ARC. This review was left voluntarily.