⭐⭐⭐⭐ Was I hooked by that book? Yes. This is a beautiful story about two lost people finding themselves, each other, and learning how to love.

Mari Cole’s whole life is her dream job: rescuing and revitalizing indie bookstores. Friendship? Love? No thanks. After a hard childhood, she doesn’t want to get too close to anyone. Besides, books have never let Mari down the way people have. Then she gets the offer of a lifetime: rescuing Ross & Co. Once the most prestigious independent booksellers in London, the store is a shadow of its former self and needs an expert outsider to turn things around. But the offer turns out to be a double-edged sword: Leo Ross, the store’s new owner, is as cold and hostile as the British winter.

For as long as he can remember, Leo Ross has known his future is becoming the next generation to run Ross and Co. He’s sacrificed almost everything he cares about, but the bookshop is still failing on his watch, and now there’s an obnoxiously cheerful American woman convinced that she’s going to magically make everything better. Leo’s life is difficult and messy enough as it is, and he doesn’t want her help.

When Mari and Leo are forced to work closely together to bring the store back to life, Leo’s icy surface thaws to reveal the passionate man underneath. As winter gives way to the possibility of new beginnings, Mari begins to see that true love could be even better in real life than in the pages of a book. Can they put their pasts aside and learn to let love in?

MY THOUGHTS

Mari and Leo engaged in a cautious dance of will-they-won’t-they that was thrilling and painful in equal measure. Their mutual desire and individual hurts were palpable. I was less interested in the fate of the bookstore than the outcome of their relationship, though I did enjoy the setting very much.

Leo was so supportive of Mari, through all the major upheavals she experienced. It also gave him a new lease on life, having someone else to focus on. I really felt for Mari, her distressing childhood, and the major influence it had on all her decisions. The transformation of the bookstore from cold and uninteresting to warm and bustling was hard won and formed an interesting parallel to the personal growth that Leo and Mari went through.

I can recommend this if you like a slow developing romance, family drama, and a satisfying HEA after the third act break-up. See what other readers are saying on Goodreads.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publication: September 2, 2025
Sensuality Rating: Warm
Tropes: Family Drama, Enemies to Lovers, Workplace Romance, Forced Proximity