"No relationship is perfect, but if it’s a once-in-a-lifetime romance, you tinker. You work at it.”

All the feels in this one. My first read from Melissa Brayden and I'm mildly exasperated with myself for taking so long to get here.

Hannah owns a bookstore in Providence, Rhode Island. She is happy with her life, though a little concerned that business has been slow. From the first page, I loved Hannah's store, "A Likely Story." Its vibe is reminiscent of the store in Nick Hornby's High Fidelity, one of my favourite fictional settings.

Hannah applies for her store to host a book tour by Parker Bristow. Parker is a romance author and media darling, and having her appear in the store could be a great boost for the business.

Hannah and Parker "click" immediately. They stumble into friendship and, from there to a one-night stand, then through much angst and heartbreak as they work out how to be a couple.

The story is told solely from Hannah's point of view, my preferred format and one I don't often come across in contemporary romance. There are a couple of steamy, intimate scenes, but they're not the focus here, and the joy in this book for me was spending time in Hannah's world. ( )

Hannah owns a book store in Providence Rhode Island. And it's in money trouble. She managed to get world famous author Parker to come and do a signing. they have an evening and then another and another. They connect and get closer and closer and find themselves fallling in love. But, Parker has some serious issues, and they definitely cropped up at weird times in their relationship.

I know that I shouldn't be as annoyed with the whole 'I can match anyone with their perfect book' trope as I was. Although, since it is an entirely fictional skill, I guess it makes sense that it's in a fiction book.

On the other hand, I really liked the push back against the romance snobs. Not to mention, the shade thrown at 'Groffman', which is about the same length as a certain author's name who also writes in short, discrete sentences (and chapters too for that matter). It was hilarious.

Overall it was a fun book and a good read. I think I even caught most of the in Brayden Universe allusions too.

I received this book via Netgalley thanks to Bold Strokes Books. ( )