Review – The Little Bookshop of Lonely Hearts | Annie Darling

• Title: The Little Bookshop of Lonely Hearts
• Author: Annie Darling
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release Date: July 31st 2016
• Pages: 416

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Blurb

Once upon a time in a crumbling London bookshop, Posy Morland spent her life lost in the pages of her favourite romantic novels.

So when Bookend’s eccentric owner, Lavinia, dies and leaves the shop to Posy, she must put down her books and join the real world. Because Posy hasn’t just inherited an ailing business, but also the unwelcome attentions of Lavinia’s grandson, Sebastian, AKA The Rudest Man In London™.

Posy has a cunning plan and six months to transform Bookends into the bookshop of her dreams – if only Sebastian would leave her alone to get on with it. As Posy and her friends fight to save their beloved bookshop, Posy’s drawn into a battle of wills with Sebastian, about whom she’s started to have some rather feverish fantasies…

Like her favourite romantic heroines, will she get her happy ever after too?

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I was really excited to read Annie Darling’s debut novel after hearing so many good things about her. Oh and have you seen the cover? Super colourful and adorable, perfect for the story! I must also add that this book came in the mail when I was recovering from a high fever. Such good timing, thank you HarperCollins. 😉

The Little Bookshop of Lonely Hearts tells us the story of Posy’s journey in bringing an old bookshop, Bookends, to life after inheriting it from Lavinia after she died. Posy was both touched and worried when she was first told about this. She had absolutely no business acumen, what was she to do? Thankfully, her quest was supported by the other employees of Bookends who constantly gave feedback and ideas even though they very well knew Posy was as clueless as they were! To make matters more challenging, Lavinia’s only grandson, Sebastian, was such a pain in the neck. He prefers annoying them with his crazy ways rather than really helping.

Annie’s writing is like cotton candy – colourful, sweet and fun. She is capable of making typical items look better than they deserve. From her descriptions of clothes, streets and little jars of candies in tiny shops, she is bound to make you giggle with a happy, happy heart.

“…they’d pause as soon as they came to the delicatessen to look at the cheeses and sausages and brightly coloured edibles in glass jars all lovingly displayed in the windows.”

The storyline was very interesting and unique to me probably because I don’t remember the last time I read a book with a bookshop setting! I loved following through their journey in giving a new face to Bookends. From their brainstorming sessions, to decision-making, to actually putting it all together, the entrepreneur in me was really fascinated.

However, the romance side of the book was rather predictable in my opinion. Having said that, if the book is more about the setting up of the new bookshop rather than the romance, I would have been totally fine with it. But if we were to really focus on the romance theme as one of the very main themes, I am disappointed. The attachment lacked soul and euphoria. I wanted to feel a rush of emotions and have my heart swell in happiness. Indeed, a letdown for me.

Despite that, I am genuinely looking forward to the sequel. I believe Annie will develop more as she grows and establishes herself as a writer moving forward. The series does have a lot of potential and I will not give up on it too easily, just like how Posy never gave up on Bookends!

Rating:  ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Thank you HarperCollins International for sending me a review copy in exchange for my honest review!