The Next Chapter Bookshop: A heartwarming cozy small town romance with a touch of magic!

Leafwood Falls #1

by Brooke Skie

A heartwarming cozy small town romance with a touch of magic!

What happens when a high-powered attorney inherits a small-town bookshop that seems to have a mind of its own?

Charlie Whitmore has her life perfectly planned out. As a rising star at a prestigious Manhattan law firm, she's on the fast track to partnership, with spreadsheets for everything and a five-year plan that doesn't include any surprises.

Until her beloved Aunt Beth dies and leaves her a small-town bookshop in Vermont.

Oak & Ink Bookshop has stood in the heart of Leafwood Falls for nearly a century, beloved by locals for its uncanny ability to match readers with exactly the right book at exactly the right time. Charlie's plan is assess the shop's value, list it for sale, and return to Manhattan before her corporate career derails.

But Leafwood Falls has other ideas.

Between a cantankerous orange cat named Hemingway with very specific literary opinions, a shop assistant whose organizational system defies all logic, and a community that instantly adopts her as one of their own, Charlie's quick business trip stretches into weeks. And then there's the bookshop itself—with its creaky floors, mysteriously moving books, and secrets hidden within its walls.

As Charlie dives deeper into her aunt's legacy, she finds herself torn between two worlds and two Lawrence, a sophisticated developer with plans to transform the town while preserving its charm, and Ethan, the rugged local contractor whose quiet demeanor hides unexpected depths. One represents the safe, successful future she's always worked toward; the other embodies the authentic connection she didn't know she was missing.

With her carefully constructed life unraveling, Charlie must decide whether she's just passing through—or finally finding her way home. Because in a bookshop where stories have a habit of finding the readers who need them most, perhaps the most surprising story of all is her own.

Perfect for readers who loved THE BOOKSHOP ON THE CORNER, THE LOST AND FOUND BOOKSHOP, and THE STORIED LIFE OF A.J. FIKRY. A heartwarming story about second chances, finding your authentic self, and the magic that happens when you open yourself to possibility.

Genres: Romance, Cozy, Fiction, Books About Books, Cozy Romance, Audiobook, Family

268 pages, Paperback

Published April 17, 2025

Reviews

[Cozybooklady · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartwarming story

I enjoyed reading this book and meeting the different characters. The story was well written and had just enough mystery and intrigue to keep me reading.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.35 ☆ - A lovely read for book lovers, with a touch of magic ♡

[Katelyn Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gives ALL the fall, cozy feels. Seriously, grab a mug and a cozy blanket and get comfy because you're going to devour this book.

"But beth added more bookshelves (of course), a new reading chair by the window, and an impressive collection of teapots arranged on open shelving like ceramic trophies from the World Champianship of Cozy." Have you ever read a cozier scentence?

The characters in this story are all super lovable and familiar in a way like you just met someone for the 1st time but feel like you've known them forever. Though Mia with her 90s quirkiness and quick wit is my favorite, and of course Hemingway the shop cat.

This book didn't mean to bring in the nostalgia, but I think because it's set in a small Vermont town in a bookshop I just felt my 90s childhood the whole way through.

The romance throughtout is perfectly simple. It's very Hallmark in the sense of like 'they don't kiss till the end' but in the best way possible.

I can't wait to read the rest of this series! They're the perfect fall read.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book soooooo much. Had me laughing, in awe and crying with how cute it was. I had a blast reading this!

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cosy, clean, and inclusive, it’s a book that finds the right balance between fluff and substance, with a dash of romantic intrigue. Well written and makes the reader want to be a part of this cosy autumnal town and otherworldly bookstore. I don’t ever aim for “clean” books but I quite enjoyed this and will be recommending it to my mom!

[niki lipsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

im a suck for small town bookshop stories. and with magic. I loved this

[Emmy Hendry · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ✨ loved every second of this cozy escape!

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my goodness this was wonderful. The Next Chapter Bookshop is a proper warm hug of a book. I think I smiled the whole time I was reading. I thought the end might make me cry but it just made me smile even bigger.

This is a Gilmore Girls, The Good Witch, Virgin River small town vibes sort of book. I loved everything about it. Hemingway the cat, Mia, Ethan I just loved all the characters.

I absolutely loved my visit to this bookstore and I hope it’s not too long before I get to hear the bell over the door jingle again!

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book: The Next Chapter Bookshop
Author: Brooke Skie
Stars: 4.5⭐

My Review: The Next Chapter bookshop is a great cosy read. If you love small towns, romances, cats, and a bookshop with its own personality, then this is a book for you.

Side note: I am NOT a cat 🐈 person but this did get me out of my reading funk... Who knows, I might even read the other 3 books in the series ...

@promt
270 pages
Release date: 8 April 2025
Book 1 of 4 Leafwood Falls
Clean & Wholesome Romance | Small Town Romance
3.98 ⭐ on GoodReads

[Kristyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

warmed my heart

I absolutely loved this book! It was such a cozy read, with more mystery and magic than a hallmark movie ! It seriously made me so happy, and I couldn’t help but keep going back to it for more!

[Ashley Jeffcoat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored this book! Stars Hollow vibes wrapped up with a Hallmark bow and a touch of magic! Mia is hilarious! Highly recommend- I can’t wait to read the other 3 books in the series!

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this cozy mystery/romance story.

This has a number of components I like: there's a determined, smart spunky female main character, there's a slightly magical bookshop, there's a bossy cat and there are a full complement of quirky supporting characters.

I liked Charly and I related to her perspectives and the ways she dealt with the challenges and decisions facing her in this story.

I had this as an audio book from my library for my daily commute to and from work and on other local travel on transit and it perfectly fit the bill and kept me entertained. I plan to ready the next book with Charly's continuing story in Leafwood Falls.

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars (extra for the cat)

Oops! Blew through this one so fast that it never made it to my currently reading list. This book is the start of a great series. I fell instantly in love with most of the characters, only had a brief moment or two of irritation at Charlie and absolutely loved all the magic elements in this quirky bookshop. I was team Ethan from almost the very beginning. Lawrence was smooth to the point of being greasy and I didn't trust him at all. I wanted to be Mia's bestie because she was hilarious (and big props to the narrator for that accent). So glad this is only book 1 because I am not at all ready to leave this little town. On to the next.....

[Kayleigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Next Chapter Bookshop was a cute cozy, slightly magical read where Charlie inherits her late aunts bookstore, a place where the right book will find you at the right time. As Charlie grapples with whether or not to sell the bookstore and return to her fast paced New York life, she is surrounded with a cast of interesting characters; most likeable Hemingway the cat and least likeable being the bookstore associate who could NOT take a hint.
This was a really easy cozy read and the narrator was well paced and fluid.

[C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick little read that I LOVED! 🥰

[Angela Chat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this, enjoyed the FMC and love triangle development, and can’t resist a bookshop setting, especially with a resident cat, who was indirectly, in charge! 😁

[Rochelle Saldaña · Rating 4 out of 5]

I felt like I stepped into a hallmark movie. I like that kind of thing, so I enjoyed it! Small town. Whimsical bookshop. Grump cat. Romance. I was entertained.

[Maddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Loved the characters but the ending felt a little rushed. Also got a bit repetitive. I didn’t need the plethora of examples of “the mysterious intuition” to get the point across.

[Reading Fury · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a pleasurable read! Likeable characters, an interesting, complex, yet fun plot, and a conniving kitty. Some minor issues all pertaining to proofreading/editing. In the first quarter or so of the book, there are way too many similes, such as "Victorian houses lined up like beauty pageant contestants" and "Main Street unfolded like a time capsule of small-town Americana." That's just a couple from page 2. Later on we get a two-fer in a single paragraph. Then there's some transposed or missing words, not so many though. One character, Mia, is really fun and I liked her, but if she said half the sexual innuendos in real life, she would have needed a lawyer. By midway, things steadied out.

Hemingway, the opinionated cat, had my full attention and respect from the get go. Charlie's character development and the struggle between hard earned corporate path vs. low key book store owner is presented fairly and in a way that you struggle with her to figure out what is truly best. All said, this is a pretty good entry starting a series. I have already purchased the second in the series.

[Taylor Gevaert · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found myself doing everything, anything else, to not read this book. DNF 28%
The author has an obsession with metaphors. There is at least 2 on every single page.
I wanted to love this….but I think I need the bookshops help finding a better book, because this was just not it.

[Florence Mitcheltree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cat tastic

I just lost my cat last week, unexpectedly. Reading this reminded me so much of my cat it did my heart good. Looking forward to reading the other books in this series.

[Jessica Matey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liking this series with the first book!

[Cara Tavaglione · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Next Chapter Bookshop by Brooke Skie is a fun, easy read. The main character Charlie Whitmore is a business lawyer on the fast track to becoming a partner in her law firm. That is until Charlie receives news her Aunt Beth passed away and left Charlie her 100 year old bookshop that’s been passed through her family. In order to fully understand her new inheritance and how this all plays into her current life of business dinners, fancy clothes, and law language, Charlie takes a trip to the book shop in the small town of Leafwood Falls, Vermont. As she spends time living in her Aunt’s apartment above the shop and hours learning the ins and outs of the bookstore its self, Charlie begins to feel a slight connection to the books as she remembers being a young girl spending time with her Aunt and all the hours reading in the store’s little nooks. During her unplanned extended stay in Leafwood Falls, Charlie encounters rather interesting “happenings” in the bookshop that she tries to apply logic to explain without much success. While staying in town, she also catches the eye of two very different man, one a representation of her life as a lawyer, while the other sparks a vision of what life could be like as a bookshop owner in a small town. As with most lives, plans change, visions and goals for the future veer in a different direction. Charlie must decide and rather quickly, what she wants out of life, fast paced and money filled, or small town, connection filled.
I did really enjoy this book and would rate it a 7 out of 10. The story line was easy to follow, with some magical/divine (perhaps) interventions throughout the pages. The small town, cozy feel was definitely present at times in the book, however I did not feel as connected to the area as I did when reading the series of books by Laurie Gilmore, which takes place in Dream Harbor. I was also a bit disappointed in the level of realness and connection I felt for Charlie’s character. In the book the Pumpkin Spice Café (also by Laurie Gilmore, which The Next Chapter Bookshop took a close resemblance to) I felt I could be friends with the main character Jeanie. Charlie’s character was hard to warm up to, almost robotic in her thoughts and emotions. I was, however, able to connect with Evan one of the male supporting characters. He had a quiet, calm, warm, safe feel and I found myself hoping Charlie would choose him.
I would recommend this story if you are looking for a fall read with some magic, and a whole lot of books!

[Mila · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'd pitch this as "the prose of Shy Girl" meets "Laurie Gilmore." Make of that what you will, but... I'm baffled by the book's deceptively high Amazon and GoodReads ratings, given the way it reads.

Unfortunately, had to DNF halfway through.

Some sample quotes to illustrate my point (mostly plucked from before the 5% mark because I realized that if I kept highlighting, my Kindle would run out of space...):

“[…] stopping as if Tuesday mornings were designed for impromptu sidewalk summits.”

"The quiet felt like a weight, pushing against my windows with all the subtle pressure of my mother's hints about grandchildren."

"He sat on the front steps, demolishing a sandwich with criminal intent, wearing a flannel shirt that suggested he'd never heard of business casual. A tool belt rested beside him like a prop department's idea of rugged authenticity."

And my favorites:

“Then he unfolded himself to full height - which was approximately ‘inconvenient’ on the tall scale - gathering his things with the unhurried grace of someone who’d never had to catch a subway” written within 3 pages of “They laughed with the easy familiarity of people who’d never had to fight a stranger for a cab in the rain.”

“Like I belonged to her, or to this place, in some fundamental way I’d forgotten or filed away with other inconvenient truths” a few pages later, a few paragraphs before we get hit with “The tightness in my chest increased like I was developing an inconvenient cardiac condition.”

“His eyes held something that made me feel like I was being read” on the same page as “Something crossed his face, a flash of genuine grief that made me feel like an intruder in my own inheritance.”

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for these cozy small town stories that have that nice Hallmark feel to them and this one fit that mold perfectly with a little unexplained "coincidences" thrown in.
Charlie inherits her aunt's bookshop, the Oak & Ink, and thinking she'll be able to quickly put the bookstore's affairs in order, the bookstore has other ideas. This is a shop where the right books find the reader, books fly off shelves, and catastrophes are just a way of life, especially with Hemingway the cat involved and making his feelings known. I really enjoyed the small town of Leafwood Falls, the decision Charlie has to make between keeping the bookshop, selling to a developer, or going back to her corporate lawyer job. I thought each option was explored fairly well, a lot of times with these small town stories, you only hear about the character's previous job, never really see it so I thought that was a nice touch and really gave you a sense for her capabilities in each area of her life.
Of course, it wouldn't be a Hallmark movie if we didn't have the rugged handyman who is one of the love interests and of course small town harvest festivals, but sometimes that's exactly what you need, especially during tough times.
I really enjoyed the magical realism aspects of the bookshop, the coincidences reminded me a lot of the Hallmark movies and series The Good Witch which was nice, nothing obviously magical, just interesting coincidences. It definitely kept my interest throughout and I enjoyed that the romance built slowly and wasn't the main focus of the story, it was more about Charlie rediscovering herself and finding what she wanted in life.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

So… this wasn’t as great as I had first anticipated, but it was cute and touching in a hallmark kind of way.

This story follows the FMC, Charlie/Charlotte, who is a big time Manhattan attorney visiting the small town of Leafwood Falls, VT where her late aunt left her a bookshop called Oak & Ink. Charlie is only planning to be there for a week or two, trying to decide whether to keep or sell the bookshop. There, she meets a charming, local handyman named Ethan who helps her with all the shops much needed repairs; Hemingway, a grumpy, orange cat; Mia, the shop’s unconventional assistant with all the comic relief; and Lawrence, a big shot acquisition manager who’s constantly trying to get Charlie to sell the shop and make Oak & Ink into a templated franchise.

The shop itself, has magic: requiring repairs that are relevant, allowing the keepers to provide book recs to customers exactly when they need them, etc.

It was cute and endlessly hilarious (mostly Mia) but there were a few issues. This is obviously a small, indie author and unfortunately, there’s a lottttt of punctuational and grammatical errors that were taking me out of the story at times. It was a little too predictable. Things that didn’t need repeating were repeated a few too many times. And the romance was confusing… since finishing it, I get why it happened how it did but ? The synopsis made it sound like a love triangle and it definitely wasn’t lol.

All in all, this was a super cute, cozy book and I would recommend it 🙂

[Lola Narrates · Rating 4 out of 5]

📚 *The Next Chapter Bookshop* by Brooke Skie
🎧 Narrated by Mirai

🌶 0 spice
🧠 Cozy paranormal bookstore vibes

I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about the writing style at first. The author uses a lot of figurative language and descriptive imagery, and I worried it might become repetitive.

Instead, it completely pulled me in.

The bookstore felt vivid and immersive, and the atmosphere was exactly what I want from a comfort read: subtle magic, quiet emotional longing, and the feeling that books have a way of finding us when we need them most.

The paranormal elements are woven throughout the story to create a magical atmosphere. And then there's the love triangle. Brooke Skie somehow kept me guessing right up until the end. Both MMCs felt like legitimate options, which made the emotional tension work surprisingly well.

Mirai delivered a solid narration with none of the tiny audiobook crimes that pull me out of a story. No awkward cadence, strange emphasis, or distracting mispronunciations. It was just a comfortable listening experience that let the story shine.

And considering I immediately started the next book in the series...

I think that says enough. 📚✨

🎙 Narration: 4/5
⚡ Weekend Binge

🏷 cozy vibes | bookstore setting | subtle paranormal | comfort listen | immersive imagery

[Veronica]

Charlie Whitmore arrives in Leafwood Falls expecting one thing: to settle her late aunt’s estate, sell the old bookshop, and return to her fast-paced Manhattan life. But The Oak & Ink Bookshop has other plans.

Between the creaking shelves, the mysterious way books seem to find exactly the right readers, and Hemingway — the delightfully judgmental orange cat who may secretly run the place — Charlie slowly finds herself pulled into the magic of the town she never intended to love.

What made this story so special wasn’t just the romance (though the love triangle absolutely had me invested 👀), but the feeling of comfort woven through every page. The quiet mornings in the shop, the warmth of the community, the bittersweet exploration of grief and belonging — it all felt incredibly cozy and heartfelt.

And Ethan? The steady, dependable contractor with “feels like home” energy? Completely stole my heart. ❤️

This is the kind of story that reminds you life doesn’t always happen according to plan… sometimes the best chapters are the ones you never meant to write.

[Brandy Hager · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. It made me feel like I was living in Leafwood Falls right alongside the characters. The descriptions were so vivid that I could picture every scene, every conversation, and every cozy corner of the bookshop without ever feeling like the story slowed down. The author kept everything moving at the perfect pace.

There isn’t a lot of high-stakes drama, and that’s exactly what I loved about it. It was peaceful, comforting, and exactly the escape I needed at this point in my life. I honestly want this to be a TV show because I could already see every episode playing out in my head while I was reading.

I adored every character—even Hemingway, and I’m not even a cat person! The blend of whimsy, mystery, and real emotion was so well done. It felt magical without losing its heart, and I loved the way everything and everyone slowly came together.

And that epilogue… 🥹

If you’re looking for a world to escape into, this is it. I already can’t wait to go back to Leafwood Falls.

[Wafa Alobaidat · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just finished The Next Chapter Bookshop on Audible (it’s included in the Plus membership!), and it was exactly what I needed—a warm, cozy escape. I felt like I was taking a step back from the chaos of Hong Kong and entering a little cocoon of small-town bookshop vibes.

The story has all the ingredients I love:
📚 A charming bookshop
❤️ A slow-burn love story
🏡 Small-town community

It gave me that comforting, Emily Henry–adjacent feeling, though I think with a slightly more polished edit and a more modern, eye-catching cover, it could really be marketed alongside books by Emily Henry or Abby Jimenez.

If I had one wish, it would be for the romantic scenes to feel a bit more vivid and engaging—there’s definitely room to turn up the emotional and romantic tension.

Still, I found it cozy, heartfelt, and the perfect book to unwind with. I’d recommend it if you love small-town romances, bookstore settings, and that “curl up with a blanket” kind of read.