Today’s blog is a stop on the book tour for The Printed Letter Bookshop. I have lots of information for you including how to enter the giveaway. Be sure to enter. You can’t win unless you do.

My Thoughts

As a former Christian Bookstore owner I was delighted when I heard about this book. I actually got a bit giddy when I received it in the mail. This contemporary Christian romance is centered around books, a bookstore, and three women friends. How could it be anything other than fabulous?

Katherine Reay is a new to me author. I enjoyed her style of writing. The point of view changes for each of the three main characters, but it was done flawlessly. I actually enjoyed it. The story flowed at an even, natural pace. It didn’t lag or feel rushed. Conversations sounded genuine. There were some twists and turns to make it interesting.

The characters were easy to become engaged with and were identifiable. They were well rounded with quirks and all. The author vividly describes them and they become new friends. At times I felt their sadness, pain, and joy.

I was immediately invested since it was about a bookshop. However, the book opens with a funeral and takes a bit before it gets to a happy place. I was getting impatient and wanted to hurry through the story to get to the bookshop!

Madeline inherits her Aunt Maddie’s bookshop where she helped as a girl. Then something happened between her father and aunt making them estranged. We meet Janet and Claire. They are her friends or ladies working for her and are unique in their own ways.

It is a very realistic tale. Author Reay has done her research well. This book is well planned, well organized, and written exceptionally well. It was light on the spirit content for me, but it had great life lessons for hope, forgiveness, friendship, mercy, grace, and love. All in all it was an encouraging book.

I definitely recommend this book to all women. It has an entertaining story. Any reader should enjoy a book about books and a bookstore. It is a cozy, quick read that made me giggle a time or two. The romance is sweet. I rated it a 4 out of 5 stars. A copy was provided from Celebrate Lit, but I was under no obligation to write a review.

About the Book

Book: The Printed Letter Bookshop

Author: Katherine Reay

Genre: Women’s fiction, romance

Release Date: May 14, 2019

Amid literature and lattes, three women come together and find that sharing one’s journey with best friends makes life richer.

When attorney Madeline Carter inherits her aunt’s bookstore in a small town north of Chicago, she plans to sell it and add the proceeds to her nonexistent “investment portfolio.” But plans change when Madeline discovers the store isn’t making money and she gets passed over for promotion at her firm. She quits in protest, takes the train north, and decides to work at the store to prep it for sale. Madeline soon finds herself at odds with employees Jessica and Courtney; when she also finds herself attracted to an affianced man, it only confuses the entire situation.

After blowing up her marriage two years earlier, Jessica has found solace working at the bookstore and a kindred spirit within its owner, Maddie Cullen. But when Maddie dies and her niece, Madeline, barges in like a bulldozer, Jessica pushes at the new owner in every way-until she trips over common ground. Soon the women are delving into online dating and fashion makeovers, and Jessica feels the pull to rediscover her art, a love she thought long behind her.

After a night of bad decisions leaves the store in peril, Courtney arrives and tries to save the day. While she, too, found sanctuary in the little bookstore, she knows it’s under-insured, in the red, and will never survive. When she discovers her teenage daughter has played a part in vandalizing the store, Courtney taps into strength she didn’t know existed-or had long forgotten. The quietest of the three, she steps up and finds a way to save her family, the store, and the precious friendships that have grown within it.

The Printed Letter Bookshop is the story of friends who find each other-and themselves-in a place none of them ever expected.

About the Author

Katherine Reay is the national bestselling and award-winning author of Dear Mr. Knightley, Lizzy and Jane, The Brontë Plot, A Portrait of Emily Price, The Austen Escape, and The Printed Letter Bookshop. All Katherine’s novels are contemporary stories with a bit of classical flair. Katherine holds a BA and MS from Northwestern University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa, and isa wife, mother, former marketer, and avid chocolate consumer. After living all across the country and a few stops in Europe, Katherine now happily resides outside Chicago, IL. You can meet her at www.katherinereay.com; Facebook: KatherineReayBooks; Twitter: @katherine_reay; or Instagram: @katherinereay.

More from Katherine

Don’t you love bookshops?

Every time I walk into a bookstore, it feels like a rainbow cracked open and rained a kaleidoscope of light, life and possibilities before me. I find worlds within the world and a call to adventure.

Each bookshop tells a different story. It tells of its loyal beloved customer base. It reflects the personality of its owner and staff. It carries the aura of the stories it offers to us.

And it was the perfect place to dig into lives, hearts and book loves of Janet, Claire and Madeline. These three women, at different stages in life, meet at the Printed Letter Bookshop, with all the romance and wonder it holds, and learn to work through their challenges together. They become the friends that each didn’t know she was missing.

There is also a fourth woman I loved spending time with in the Printed Letter Bookshop — its original owner, Maddie Carter. Maddie doesn’t step onto the stage even once, but her presence, her love and her guiding hand are apparent from page one as Janet, Claire, and Madeline grow in friendship and in faith.

The Printed Letter Bookshop is a love letter to books, a testament to the beauty of new beginnings and a sweet reminder of the power of friendship. I hope you savor your time with these three women — And, book lovers rejoice, there is a list of all the books they allude to in the back of the book!