Love on the Shelf

 

A fast-paced rom-com that offers a thought-provoking cultural commentary on love—most notably, the virtues of romance novels.

With 60 books under her belt, Sheila Roberts (The Man Next Door) once again tackles the genre she knows best--romantic comedy. Love on the Shelf is a wry send-up that cleverly pits a hopefully romantic bookseller against a jaded, romance-averse, radio shock-jock.

Shy, single, bookish Alice Willoughby believes in love and happy endings. She and her mother own and operate HEA Books, a fun, “haven and happy place” bookstore in Seattle, Washington. Since Alice graduated college and became a local merchant, she has taken pride in promoting romance titles--even successfully serving as a ‘book matchmaker’ for readers hungry to find the perfect literary love story escapes.

Enter Parker Black, who is bitter from a soured, broken relationship with a romance writer who later poison-penned their story, casting him as a villain. Parker uses his popular radio platform and machismo to take-down all things romance—including ‘evil’ romance novels. His outspokenness ultimately stirs up trouble for Alice and HEA until an on-air debate sends sparks flying between the two that not only incite a public protest about the nature of love and happy endings but suddenly shifts the perspectives of the two disparate souls.

Nobody does the charm of witty romance better than Sheila Roberts!  Love on the Shelf is a thought-provoking cultural commentary on the romance book industry, offering well-defined characters in whom readers will root to fall in love.

The Man Next Door by Sheila Roberts

MIRA Books (HarperCollins, Harlequin), 18.99 paperback, 9780778305828, 336 pages

Publishing Date: May 26,2026

To order this book on Bookshop.org, link HERE

Learn more about Sheila Roberts HERE

The Little Paris Bookshop

Nina George's enchanting The Little Paris Bookshop deals with the nature of grief; the power of friendship, love and truth; and how reading and books have the capacity to change peoples' lives, souls and destinies. The narrative centers on 50-year-old Monsieur Jean Perdu, who owns a bookstore called the Literary Apothecary--actually a floating barge "the length of three truck trailers" that houses 8,000 books, moored on the Seine. Perdu lives at 27 Rue Montagnard and is a passionate bibliophile who believes that booksellers don't just look after books, they look after people. 

Things take a turn when two new residents move into Rue Montagnard. Max Jordan is a young author whose debut novel has made him famous, but he is plagued with writers' block. The other new neighbor is Madame Catherine, who moves into the flat across the hall from Perdu. The tenants of the building rally to help this newly cast-off wife who has nothing of her own to set up her new apartment. 

Perdu delivers a table to Madame Catherine's apartment, and she discovers a letter hidden inside that causes Perdu's head and heart to spiral into an emotional tailspin. He takes refuge in the Literary Apothecary, soon hauling anchor and setting sail--but not before Max, who's being pursued by paparazzi, jumps aboard the moving barge. 

George is a lyrical writer whose beautiful, sensory language and imagery enhance this adventurous, moving narrative. On their voyage, the men are frequently mistaken for father and son, and they pass the time by sharing life stories. In the end, their excursion propels Perdu to finally reconnect with himself--the person he was, is and who he will become in the future.

The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George

Crown Publishing, $25.99 Hardcover, 9780553418774, 400 pp

Publication Date: June 23, 2015

To order this book via INDIEBOUND link HERE 

Note: This review is a reprint and is being posted (in a slightly different form) with the permission of Shelf Awareness. To read this review on Shelf Awareness: Reader's Edition (6/30/15), click HERE

To read the full review of this novel as originally published as a special feature of Shelf Awareness: Maximum Shelf (4/8/15)--a much longer and much more comprehensive review--link HERE

Forgotten Bookmarks

Used books and bookselling have been in Michael Popek's blood since he was a child. In Forgotten Bookmarks: A Bookseller's Collection of Odd Things Lost Between the Pages, he shares his unique collection of things discovered tucked inside the pages of books, "treasures within treasures . . . often untouched for decades."  The ephemera includes objects such as personal photographs, baseball and greeting cards, poems, shopping lists, recipes, invitations, report cards, burial vault information, razor blades, marijuana leaves and handwritten letters (received or unsent?). 

Each bookmark specimen has been reproduced, as found, and each is paired alongside a picture of the original book where the discovery was made. In an entertaining scrapbook-like presentation, Popek takes the liberty of transcribing some illegible handwriting.  However, he offers no commentary, preferring instead to let each relic and book exhibit speak for itself. This deepens reader fascination, as there is much intrigue in trying to decipher and decode whether the ephemera and book hold any combined significance.

Forgotten Bookmarks: A Bookseller's Collection of Odd Things Lost Between the Pages by Michael Popek

Perigree Trade, $18.95, Hardcover, 9780399537011, 288 pp

Publication Date:  November 1, 2011

To order this book via INDIEBOUND link HERE

Please note: This review is a reprint and is being posted with the permission of Shelf Awareness. To read this review on Shelf Awareness: Reader's Edition (12/6/11), click HERE.