https://celebrityreaders.com/2021/03/27/booklover-by-j-e-birk/

I received a free copy through Heart Eyes Press in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.

4 stars — Well that was a cute story with a lot of depth underneath. Jamie and Briar were both pretty easy to love.

I loved how positive Jamie could be, and what difficult choices he was faced with. I totally got his unwillingness to upset the status quo, and how stuck he felt with his family. He definitely needed a few knocks over the head, but luckily he had some good friends to do that for him.

I worried that at first I was going to struggle with Briar’s uncertainty, but I really settled into who he was and how his past had defined him. It can be hard for someone with a “normal” upbringing to understand just how lasting childhood damage can be. I think in the end I didn’t mind that it took me quite a bit of the book to get him, because that would happen in real life too.

I definitely enjoyed the two of them together, though I will admit the scene reenacting took me out on a few occasions…so I fell in love more with their friendship/love than their steam. But I was okay with that.

Sometimes the book stuff was a bit too much for me, and other times I loved it. I adored seeing these two men be such romance lovers, and I loved seeing them connect over it. And the booklover club was actually really fun — a delightfully strange mix of folks, and it felt like a real book club where not everyone agrees.

The booklover club folks weren’t the only solid secondary characters. I appreciated the glimpses of other V&V employees — some I knew from other books, some newer to me. And then there was Jamie’s huge support system — from his friends Lexy and Jeremy, to his family.

So yeah, definitely a solid romance…and apparently that’s all I have to say.