Book Lovers

Book Lovers (2022) is American writer Emily Henry’s seventh novel. Her other titles include the bestsellers Beach Read (2020) and People We Meet on Vacation (2021), which also feature travel and summer settings as key narrative devices. Travel-themed novels not only enhance the escapism inherent in fictional works, but they also promote character transformation because characters are removed from their comfort zones and face new challenges. Moreover, as these books were published during the global coronavirus pandemic, when opportunities to travel and to meet people were limited, they had the additional appeal of fulfilling desires that readers were unable to satisfy for themselves.

This guide uses the 2022 Penguin Kindle Edition of Book Lovers.

Plot Summary

The prologue to Book Lovers, which is set two years before the novel’s main action, illustrates that ambitious New York literary agent Nora Stephens is the type of antiheroine who is typical of many romance novels. Urban, pragmatic Nora is trapped in a pattern of getting dumped by boyfriends who travel to a rural community and fall in love with local women who are Nora’s opposites. However, Nora—who has not truly given her heart to anyone since a traumatic breakup with Jakob, the man who began this pattern—focuses on her career and on looking out for her adult younger sister, Libby, and Libby’s growing family. Nora first took responsibility for her sister when their father walked out on their mother, who was a struggling actress. Nora’s overprotective attitude continues after their mother’s unexpected death, which takes place when Libby is still in high school and Nora is a young adult trying to establish a literary career.

Nora’s first meeting with the romantic hero, editor Charlie Lastra, ends with them sparring over the quality of a book called Once in a Lifetime, which was written by one of Nora’s authors, Dusty Fielding. Charlie disapproves of the way Dusty describes the town of Sunshine Falls, but Nora defends the book and leaves the meeting thinking that she will never see Charlie again.

Nora’s view of the book proves to be correct, as it is another great success. However, two years later, when Nora is 32 and her sister Libby is pregnant with her third child, Libby insists that they take a trip to Sunshine Falls. Libby devises a long list of stereotypical small-town activities for their time in the country, including setting Nora up with local men. When she arrives in Sunshine Falls, Nora is stunned to find that Charlie is from the town and is there working remotely to help his family run their bookstore.

While she is there, Nora receives Dusty’s latest manuscript, which features a caricature of her called Nadine. She discovers that her nickname in the publishing  world is “The Shark” (52). While Nora is humiliated at this portrayal, she finds the manuscript promising and enlists Charlie to work on it with her. As they run into each other in town and work on the manuscript, Charlie and Nora get to know each other and bond over being misunderstood misfits. Nora learns that growing up in Sunshine Falls was especially difficult for Charlie, as the whole town knew that he was a result of his mother’s premarital liaison with another man. Charlie unearths that Nora’s primary career desire was to become an editor; however, she gave this up because agenting was more lucrative, making her feel better positioned to help Libby. The sexual chemistry between Charlie and Nora is evident, and they wind up getting drunk and making out a few times but are afraid to take their relationship further because they each have a secret. Meanwhile, Nora is worried about Libby, who is irritable and cold with her. Nora pieces together a few clues that Libby might be seeking to divorce her husband, Brendan, who is back in New York with their two daughters, and she enters into a wager with Charlie that if she does everything on Libby’s to-do list of small-town activities, then Libby can have Charlie’s rent-controlled apartment for her family.

As a means of fulfilling Libby’s list, Nora tries to go out with local men, including Charlie’s handsome cousin, Shepherd; however, she finds she cannot stop thinking about Charlie. After Libby collapses from an iron deficiency, Charlie reveals that the reason he cannot commit to Nora is that he feels obligated to stay in Sunshine Falls and help his parents with the bookstore. Rather than trying to find a solution immediately, they have sex, and Nora even confides the painful secret she harbors about Jakob, the boyfriend she was with when her mother died. As Nora tried to focus on getting her career going and looking after Libby, Jakob moved to Wyoming and eventually left her for another woman. The incident was so painful that Nora never stopped guarding herself from love since it happened. Charlie affirms that the fault is with Jakob, not Nora. He insists that Nora go back to New York and take his editing job, even after she is surprised by the discovery that Libby and her family are planning to move to Sunshine Falls. Libby’s initial plan was to win Nora over to Sunshine Falls and have her join them there.

However, Nora moves back to New York and leaves things unresolved with Charlie. It is only in December, on the anniversary of Nora’s mother’s birthday, that Charlie rejoins her, stating that his parents insisted that he go to New York while Libby runs their bookshop. Nora and Charlie live happily in New York and become engaged.