Truth here: (and not a well kept secret).....to quote Burt Lancaster from "The Professionals"...'I'm a sucker for love.'.....and fair warning to all you younger visitors, this is what happens when you age......unabashed sentiment tends to grow right alongside the gray hairs and aching joints.......
Which explains why we threw this one into the BQ's well worn canvas book bag on our last plundering of the our little library's new release section, along with the usual blood-soaked thrillers.
At this point, we didn't even feel the need to look sheepish and give our wonderful librarians the predictable...."Oh, this one's for my great Aunt Bertie..." We know they'd only give each other a "yeh, sure it is" glance after we left.....
Now to the book itself.......easy to describe. Imagine everyone's favorite Christmas movie "Love, Actually"....only this time centered around a quaint little bookshop in a quaint little British village.....populated by multiple lovestruck, potential soulmates who haven't quite connected with each other yet.
Will all these adorable people, of varying ages and stations in life, finally realize the love of their life has been right next to them all along?
Is the Pope Catholic? Are global warming deniers idiots? Does Trump dye himself orange?
Yes, it's formulaic.....yes, it's as predictable as sunrise and sunset,.....don't ask us why, but we didn't mind a damn bit. At the risk of disagreeing with the wisdom of Forrest Gump, this book was a box of chocolates where we knew exactly what we were gonna get..... and still gobbled down the whole thing......
So then, Memo to all you bookshop 'n romance fans (and we know you're out there, even if you don't admit it...)....by all means, zero in on this one, save it for those rainy Autumn afternoons and evenings when a comfy book provides the best of comforts......4 stars (****)......and if you're lucky enough to live in the vicinity of an independent bookstore like the one in this book, buy stuff and keep 'em in business.....
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