Thursday 10 August 2017

Book Review - True Love at the Lonely Hearts Bookshop by Annie Darling

Amazon UK
Title: True Love at the Lonely Hearts Bookshop
Author: Annie Darling
Format reviewed: Ebook
Source: Netgalley
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date: 10th August 2017
Rating: 3 Stars


It's a truth universally acknowledged that a single woman in possession of a good job, four bossy sisters and a needy cat must also have want of her one true love. Or is it?

Another delightful novel from the author of The Little Bookshop of Lonely Hearts. Perfect for fans of Lucy Diamond and Jenny Colgan

Verity Love – Jane Austen fangirl and an introvert in a world of extroverts – is perfectly happy on her own (thank you very much), and her fictional boyfriend Peter is very useful for getting her out of unwanted social events. But when a case of mistaken identity forces her to introduce a perfect stranger as her boyfriend, Verity’s life suddenly becomes much more complicated.

Johnny could also use a fictional girlfriend. Against Verity’s better judgement, he persuades her to partner up for a summer season of weddings, big number birthdays and garden parties, with just one promise - not to fall in love with each other…


I have spent a year really excited to think there would be another book at the Lonely Hearts Bookshop given how much I had enjoyed the first book. However as is unfortunately the case, I just didn't think this one lived up to my own expectations of the book. 

That's not to say I didn't enjoy the book, as I did, this is a very enjoyable story, I suspect I had been expecting one thing and the story I was given just wasn't quite it. It was a book full of parties, from weddings, birthdays, housewarmings and all manner of other things, with the two main characters being in a fake relationship. 

Verity is a lovely girl, but even though I'm on the quieter end of the scale the descriptions of her introverted nature were draining me completely.  She really has lots of foibles that to the right guy are probably adorable but to me as a reader just started to annoy me, I think mainly due the repetitive nature. 


There are though some great moments in the book, mainly involving Verity's four sisters who are as different from Verity as you can be. They are loud chatterboxes and Merry in particular is good entertainment. 

Johnny himself is wanting a fake girlfriend for a reason I just wanted to slap him for. He came across for most of the book as really pathetitic in his reasoning but at the same time I loved the way he interacted with Verity. He seemed to be really patient with her specific problems with the world. 

Ultimately if you haven't read the first book and go into this with a fresh mind then you will probably enjoy it a lot more than me. It can easily be read as a standalone. However if like me you read book 1, then to me this was just missing the magic of the first book. I would have loved to have seen more about our romance themed bookshop. 

Verity is also a huge Pride and Prejudice fan but there is only so much Austen I can take, as I was never that enamoured with my GCSE text!  She continually wants to live her life like the Elizabeth Bennet and also is able to quote the book regularly. 

Don't get me wrong this isn't a bad book, its really enjoyable and I did like it, I just felt it was missing that certain something to make  it a great book in my eyes. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

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