“She’d spent countless hours staring out the window at school, lying in her bad late into the night, walking down Main Street, and sitting in a church pew, daydreaming about other places. Lily had tried to imagine the bustling crowds of a big city, the quiet solitude of a farm or a windswept coastal town… Instead, she never left Hooper’s Crossing.”

The Nearness of You
By Dorothy Garlock

Lily has longed for another life but ever since she was little, her over-protective father has made sure that she stays close to home and stays put in Hooper’s Crossing. When the book opens Lily almost dashes off to New York City with her best friend but ultimately decides to stay behind, thinking to herself that maybe her life will always be in Hooper’s Crossing.

Meanwhile for photographer, Boone Tatum, his work at Life magazine has taken him around the world. He is willing to take risks to get the right shot but one bad judgement too many and now he is sent on assignment to Hooper’s Crossing to cover the Harvest festival. He even has to take an eager but still wet around the ears, writer with him.

Boone is sure that he can take a enough pictures and be out of the small town in a couple of days and finally get his career back on track capturing the next amazing shot. What he doesn’t count on is catching a glimpse of the beautiful Lily. The two immediately hit it off after a chance encounter and Boone now thinks maybe he needs more than a couple of days in town to woo Lily. Throw in some danger to boot and you have the two main characters facing a lot of important issues in a few days time.

This was a light romance with some great descriptions of life in a small town in the 1950s. While I enjoyed the storyline and both characters there is one major quibble I had with their relationship which just didn’t seem to fit in with the timeframe this was set in. I don’t want to say more for fear of spoiling it but if you’ve read this I would love to hear your thoughts.

Source: Advance review copy

“He looked around the bare walls again. The smell of damp was inescapable, and damp would be a disaster. The staircase rising to the mezzanine was rotten, so he wasn’t allowed up it. The two bay windows on either side of the front door flooded the shop with pearlescent light, highlighting the golden oak of the floorboards and the ornate plasterwork on the ceiling. The dust made it feel otherworldly: a ghost shop, waiting, waiting for something to happen, a transformation, a renovation, a renaissance.”

How to Find Love in a Bookshop
By Veronica Henry

Emilia returns to her hometown to say goodbye to her father, Julius Nightingale. She cannot imagine her life without him and Nightingale Books without the comforting presence of her father but he’s ill and doesn’t have much time. The only thing she assures him is that she will be there to continue to bring joy to the village’s residents.

Nightingale Books is the bookshop every bibliophile dreams about. A bit of disarray, lots of books, and an owner who truly cares about helping one find the right book, but the shop is not in the best of shape. Julius was most concerned with bringing up his daughter on his own and being the owner of something more than just a shop but creating an atmosphere that encouraged readers to come in and browse. Buying was kind of optional.

This means that when Julius passes away and Emilia starts to immerse herself in the business of running the shop she realizes that she needs a lot of help to keep the business afloat. She’s got bills to pay, she needs to find more shoppers and how does she not fall into a business trap.

Emilia had been gone for quite a while from Peasebrook but she realizes that her father had truly built a community and she is willing to make some changes to the shop but never losing the essence of what her father built. Along the way she reconnects with many of the town residents and maybe even finds that she doesn’t have to leave home to find what she’s always been looking for.

A charming story with a nice cast of characters. I think if you are in need of a comfort read then this is the book for you. I just wish I could find my own Nightingale books in my town.

Source: Advance review copy