Book Lovers - Emily Henry

I love a good rom-com. Whether it's the grumpy sunshine, the rivals to lovers, whatever it is, if its a rom-com I'm all in. My queen of rom-com has been Abby Jiminez for quite a while, and then after a conference in 2023 I discovered Ali Hazelwood and fell in love. So when I heard everyone talking about Emily Henry books and that they were alone the same lines as my two queens of the rom-com, I decided to give it a try with a book that seemed exactly my type.
Overall, though, it was just ok. I enjoyed it, don't get me wrong, but I wasn't 'all in' like I tend to be with AJ or AH. Nora was the hard assed city girl who getter, with the perfect rival in Charlie, except you didn't get the true rival vibe, so he was just kind of...the guy who was available. He was clear he was smitten early, but the why was never really worked out. 
It was like a Hallmark movie with the small town setting, big city girl, finding herself with her little sister in tow. They played up 'the list', which could have done A LOT more for this book if it had been utilized a bit better. Like, show them going through each item, the folly and the fun, Charlie appearing either opportunely or not so opportunely. But they only focused on 2 items-date a townie, and save a business. Both quality list items, but there was so much untapped potential there that probably could have made this book a bit more exciting of a read.
For me, if I don't ache to come back to the world of the book and keep going, it's just an 'ok' for me. And this was one of those times. Good writing, solid tropes and some cute moments, but a bit too much missed opportunity for it to be...more.

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