Every book in the Leafwood Falls series can be read as a standalone.
She came into the bookshop because the door was unlocked and she needed somewhere away from her own thoughts. She didn't plan on being snowed in. She definitely didn't plan on him.
Lucy Hale photographs weddings for a living. She believes in the moment, that unrepeatable second when two people choose each other in front of everyone they love. Today, she drove four hours for couple number three hundred and thirteen and got a cancellation call at three-fifteen. She is fine. She has been fine since approximately three twenty-five.
She is not fine, not by a long shot.
Josh Cavanaugh is a lawyer with a theory of why love fails. He is also fine. He’s fine in the way of someone who’s right about something and wishes he hadn't been.
When a Vermont blizzard locks them both inside Oak & Ink, Leafwood Falls' beloved bookshop, which has a habit of knowing what people need before they do, they have nothing in common except a cancelled wedding, a large opinionated cat named Hemingway, and one very long night ahead of them.
What follows is an argument about love, a marble run, a discovery that nobody knew about, a book that keeps finding its way into the wrong hands, and an increasingly hilarious group-chat of locals celebrating Mia Amazing’s birthday next door at the Copper Kettle.
Josh has the evidence. Lucy has the photographs. The bookshop has already made up its mind.
The Snowbound Bookshop is a grumpy-sunshine, forced proximity romance about what happens when a man who knows how everything ends meets a woman who believes in beginnings, and neither of them can find the door.
A very comforting read about a woman and a man discovering themselves and each other.
This is a comforting story about unexpected changes in self perception, written by a fine storyteller. This may seem to be an odd book for me to read today as it is Good Friday, not December. However, I live at the very tip of Outer Cape Cod, sometimes called Land's End. Unexpected freak weather gave us an accumulation of over three feet of snow in the cemetery visible from my dining room windows. This was the longest February here in anyone's memory. Just this past week we finally got temperatures over freezing, and some rain. We do not normally see Spring here until April, but this year we are impatient with March.
In Leafwood Falls there is a bookshop which seems to have strange, almost magical powers. It has a resident cat, Hemingway, who decides if he likes you, if he doesn't, watch out!
This story takes part over 18 hours or so, on a cold evening. 2 people get trapped in the bookshop during a freak snowstorm. During that time, the 2 people trapped there, learn alot about themselves and each other.
I like this series, easy to read with no cliff hangers.
Whilst each book is a standalone story, the books in this series are best read in order of publication, to preserve continuity of the characters and wider storyline.
I hope there's more to come from the Oak and Ink bookshop!
Another wonderful book by Brooke Skie. It left me wanting to know what happens next for Josh and Lucy. Do they stay in Leafwood Falls or do they return to their old life? What happens with Josh’s sister? Josh and Lucy spent a lovely day and evening snowed in at the Oak and They got to learn things about each that sparked a romance. It’s amazing what you can learn about yourself through someone else’s lens.
I read that this novella was inspired by the snow storms happening on the east coast. I live on the east coast and did get all that snow, but Brooke managed to romanticize a perfect cozy night stuck inside. I loved that this was really just about 2 people. Though I absolutely love all of the books in the Leafwood Falls collection, this may be my favorite. It was short, simple, and super sweet!
I've enjoyed most of these books. A couple was more interesting because they focused on things outside love triangles. Saying that, I still thought all the characters were well written, and kept the plots going. The struggles are real, and felt while reading. Why didn't anyone marry or was that too complex or not in the cosmic vapors?
The imagery is sometimes so beautiful I couldn't help knowing I was reading a gifted writer. A compact story about two strangers who are snowed in at a magical bookstore with a feisty cat.
Entering a magical hushed world filled with quiet expectations. Watching two strangers form a bonding connection. Quiet and profound. Yes, gentle persuasion! This will linger and leave a smile.