Love at First Book

The last couple of years I’ve been enjoying Jenn McKinlay‘s contemporary romances. This week, she released her latest: Love at First Book. It’s set in the same world as Summer Reading, and even subtly ties in with Paris Is Always a Good Idea. Here, former librarian Emily Allen decides to leave her home in Massachusetts to take on a new job western Ireland… and potentially find love with the most unlikely person.

Special thanks to the publicists at Penguin and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Summary

Emily Allen has felt stifled in her hometown of Martha’s Vineyard, and she needs to get out in order to find herself. When her favorite author, Siobhan Riordan, offers her a job, Emily is thrilled. She’ll be helping Siobhan write the final book in her beloved series, plus Emily will work with Siobhan’s son Kieran Murphy at his bookstore. But Kieran makes it obvious that he doesn’t want Emily around, and the two get off to a bad start. Never mind the mutual attraction and their common love for literature. Em is quickly drawn deeper into Kier and Siobhan’s cozy community, but could this ultimately be the home she’s longed for?

Review

Love at First Book may be my favorite Jenn McKinlay book yet. It has everything I want in a contemporary romance, from likable characters to a beautiful setting to a love of all things literary. This definitely leans towards women’s fiction, too, but in a way that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Emily Allen is a character I felt I could understand, even in the previous novel, Summer Reading. Shy and bookish, she longed to travel far away from her stifling home. With her anxiety, hypochondria, and troubled relationship with her mom, Emily needed a major change of pace, and it landed her in County Kerry, Ireland. Now helping her favorite author, Siobhan Riordan, finish the final book in her series, and working at the author’s son Kieran’s bookstore, Emily is immersed in a close-knit family and a world of literature. But as much as she gets along with everyone she meets, Kieran is proving to be an unwelcoming grump and a thorn in Emily’s side.

What starts off as seeming incompatibility swiftly blossoms into something more. Enemies to lovers? Or just people with conflicting goals who happen to actually have a lot in common? Em and Kier have instant chemistry, from their insistence on using the wrong nicknames for each other to their literary quote battles. I loved seeing them realize the kind of relationship they could actually have with each other. (And, of course, I loved all the bookish banter and discussion!)

Partly due to Siobhan’s need for creative inspiration, she and Emily travel locally, giving readers a wonderful glimpse of western Ireland. Castles, some Irish history, and the quaint town they’re living in all paint a lovely picture of Ireland. I’ve only gotten to visit Ireland once before (and my sister lives there!), and Love at First Book brought me back in the best way.

There are some heavier themes throughout the book, from Emily’s mental health and toxic relationship with her mother, to some traumas in Kier’s childhood, to a health battle that has impacted Siobhan’s writing. As much as it can bring about tears, though, Love at First Book portrays everything with tenderness and a glimmer of hope.

While this absolutely works as a standalone—and seems to be marketed as a standalone—it does tie into at least two previous books. Love at First Book is set in the same world as Summer Reading; indeed, Emily is Samantha’s best friend from that novel. And if you remember Colin from Paris Is Always a Good Idea… it turns out he’s an off-page friend of Kier’s and the reason for a lovable Border Collie who occasionally steals the show here.

Final Thoughts

Love at First Book is a smart, emotional, and sweet book for anyone who loves literature or the Emerald Isle. It has chemistry and charm throughout, with a rich cast of supporting characters and a world that feels real enough to fall into. This has only further solidified my love of Jenn McKinaly’s writing, and I’m eager to read all of her back catalogue as well as anything that comes in the future.

Get the Book

You can buy Love at First Book here – it’s available as a paperback, ebook, and audiobook.

Love at First Book by Jenn McKinlay
Audience	Adult
Genre	Romance; Women’s Fiction
Setting	Ireland
Number of Pages	368
Format I Read	Ebook (NetGalley ARC)
Original Publication Date	May 14, 2024
Publisher	Berkley

Official Summary

When a librarian moves to a quaint Irish village where her favorite novelist lives, the last thing she expects is to fall for the author’s prickly son… until their story becomes one for the books, from the New York Times bestselling author of Summer Reading.

Emily Allen, a librarian on Martha’s Vineyard, has always dreamed of a life of travel and adventure. So when her favorite author, Siobhan Riordan, offers her a job in the Emerald Isle, Emily jumps at the opportunity. After all, Siobhan’s novels got Em through some of the darkest days of her existence.

Helping Siobhan write the final book in her acclaimed series—after a ten-year hiatus due to a scorching case of writer’s block—is a dream come true for Emily. If only she didn’t have to deal with Siobhan’s son, Kieran Murphy. He manages Siobhan’s bookstore, and the grouchy bookworm clearly doesn’t want Em around.

Emily persists, and spending her days bantering with the annoyingly handsome mercurial Irishman only makes her fall more deeply in love with the new life she’s built – and for the man who seems to soften toward her with every quip she throws at him. But when she discovers the reason for Kieran’s initial resistance, Em finds herself torn between helping Siobhan find closure with her series and her now undeniable feelings for Kier. As Siobhan’s novel progresses, Emily will have to decide if she’s truly ready to turn a new page and figure out what lies in the next chapter.