Super cute, simple romance novel. I needed something absolutely brainless and this was fun.

Posy becomes forced to face reality when the owner of the bookshop she works and lives in dies, leaving her the failing bookshop. If the bookstore doesn't turn a profit within a certain amount of time, Sebastian (the owner's son) will take the property. Posy and the other employees realize that the bookstore is losing lots of money, so they need to do something different. She decides to create a niche bookstore that serves only romance. Posy reads vast amounts of romance novels, making her an expert. Sebastian wants a book store that focuses on crime. Unable to stand up to him, she allows him to assume the bookstore will be crime-based.

Sebastian and Posy have pretty much grown up together. After Posy's parents died, Posy and her brother have lived above the bookstore. They don't get along great because Sebastian locked her in the coal hole and she's never gotten over it. As changes are happening, Posy finds herself writing a romance novel with her and Sebastian as the main characters.

The book made me smile. Is it great literature? Absolutely not. It's a lovely diversion from the realities of life! ( )

{First of 4 Lonely Hearts Bookshop series. Romance, London, chick lit} (2016)

Posy is the unofficial adopted daughter of Lavinia who owned 'Bookends', a bookshop that she had inherited from her mother and when she died she passed it on to Posy. But Bookends hadn't been doing well for a while and Posy needed to revamp it on very little budget so she plans to turn it into a bookshop dealing exclusively in romance and call it 'Happy Ever After'. Unfortunately, Sebastian Thorndyke had inherited the rest of the mews, where Bookends was situated, from his grandmother and he has conflicting but well-meaning plans for it.

Posy's parents had worked in the bookshop for Lavinia since she was very small and they had lived in the flat above the shop which Lavinia let the then twenty one year old Posy and fifteen year old Sam continue to live in rent free after their parents died. She has known Sebastian all that time but he has been her arch nemesis since the time he locked her in the coal cellar when they were small.

Posy works off her frustrations about Sebastian by writing chapters of a lurid Regency romance where he seduces her - but she keeps their real names in it ... and you can imagine what happens. I read the 'Ravished by a Rake' chapters with a sense of impending doom.

Needless to say, after all the trials and tribulations, everyone gets their deserved 'Happy Ever After' and the whole story is fun. I must say that I found the hero's character a bit baffling, though; his flaws seemed to disappear and reappear but were never really redeemed.

I found this story light and fluffy. For people who love books and bookshops there are names and quotes and references sprinkled throughout the book.

April 2021
3 stars ( )

Posy Morland is as surprised as anyone when her recently deceased friend and surrogate mother, Lavinia, leaves Posy her small bookshop in Bloomsbury. While Posy has adored working there for the past few years and feels lucky to live above the shop with her teen brother, Sam, she's not sure she has the skills to be the boss and turn around a bookshop that's on the verge of failure. As Posy tries to save the bookshop by turning it into a shop that sells only romances she's positive she can make it work if only Lavinia's rude and extraordinarily irritating grandson, Sebastian, would just leave her alone. Although some of his ideas for the shop aren't half bad...

A cute British romance that while including one of my least favourite tropes (enemies to lovers) was so fun that I still enjoyed it tremendously. There's lots of humour sprinkled throughout and I frequently laughed aloud and then read passages to my husband. The book does reach a point where the conflict gets a bit irritating (just talk to each other!) overall the novel is well-paced, sweet, and romantic. Recommended for fans of contemporary British romance particularly those who enjoy Sophie Kinsella. ( )

Amazon kept recommending this book to me and I resisted (no idea why) but finally succumbed. Then I went out and grabbed Ms. Darling's entire library and pre-ordered her next one.
This book is delicious! Posy Morland grew up at Bookends, living with her parents over the shop which they ran for the owner Lavinia until they died in an accident. Then Lavinia dies and leaves the bookstore to Posy with some conditions; Posy must make a go of the floundering shop or it goes to Lavinia's grandson Sebastian, known as the Rudest Man in London and bane of Posy's childhood.
OMG, I loved everyone in this book. Not a single bland character yet they were all so much fun. Posy is a mass of insecurities and it takes her a while to stand up to Sebastian's bossiness, but the heat between them is always simmering. Sebastian is just the best. While Posy doesn't always seem to see his motives, I liked how the author gives the readers lots of clues, though he still can be very rude lol. It's a funny and run book and I look forward to more from this author. ( )

Een echt zomer boek waarvan je weet dat het goed afloopt. Als Posy de boekenwinkel erft van Lavinia, die zij als een soort oma ziet, moet ze een plan bedenken om die winkel weer winstgevend te maken. Maar ze krijgt te maken met Sebastian, de kleinzoon van Lavinia. Hij krijgt de boekwinkel als Posy na 2 jaar niets van de winkel heeft kunnen maken. Niet echt hoogstaande literatuur maar vermakelijk lezen. ( )