The Boy with the Bookstore by Sarah Echavarre Smith is a contemporary romance that is currently scheduled for release on September 6 2022. Max Boyson looks good, from a distance. But up close and personal, the tattooed hottie Joelle Prima has been crushing on for the past year and half has turned into the prime example of why you shouldn’t judge a book by his delectable cover. When she first learned about the massive renovation to the building they share, Joelle imagined that temporarily combining her Filipino bakery with Max’s neighboring bookstore would be the perfect opening chapter to their happily ever after. In her fantasies they fed each other bibingka and pandesal while discussing Jane Austen and cooing over her pet hamster, Pumpkin. Reality, however...is quite different. Her gallant prince turned out to be a stubborn toad who snaps at her in front of customers, dries his wet clothes in her oven, and helps himself to the yummy pastries in her display case without asking. But beneath Max’s grumpy glares, Joelle senses a rising heat—and a softening heart. And when they discover the real reason for the renovation, they’ll have to put both their business senses and their feelings for each other to the test.
The Boy with the Bookstore has a great premise and some really high points to it, but I have to admit that I had trouble staying engaged. I think that Max and Joelle had great depth of character and I enjoyed getting to know them. Since they had been crushing on each other for a while at the start of the book I feel like I missed a good portion of the getting to know each other and coming to care about each other- which is often my favorite part of any story. I felt like the romance progressed very naturally, and it all felt right, I just missed getting that initial meeting and I think that is why I had so much trouble getting engaged. I have the same problem with other subgenres- like the second chance romance- for the same reason. I thought the crisis and emotional baggage of both Max and Joelle were well done and realistic, and I liked that time passed and was mentioned but unimportant moments and time that made the pair more comfortable with each other were mentioned but not focused on. Overall I liked the book, and I thought there is some great potential here, it just did not grab me the way I was hoping it would.
The Boy with the Bookstore is a solid, emotional romance with a dose of heat. 
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