Such a Meta Story
4.5 out of 5 stars
I went into Talk Bookish To Me basically blind. I picked it based on the cute title, cover, and the fact that Natalie Naudus narrated it. I didn’t read the synopsis at all and even now, as I write the review I haven’t actually read the synopsis. I feel you judging me, don’t judge me! But I’d never heard of Kate Bromley before this but I’ll be keeping an eye out for more of her books after.
Talk Bookish To Me, as my tagline suggests is a meta novel. It’s a book about a romance author, she goes through struggles writing the book and in her own love life. There is even basically another (much shorter) book inside of this one. The one that Sullivan is writing. I found that to be really interesting and made the book feel really alive. You could tell that Bromley threw in some things that she either wanted to do or did while writing this book.
The story itself revolves around lost love/former lover and has an enemy to lovers vibe to it as well. At times I wasn’t even sure who I was rooting for like the past and their struggles felt like they were real red flags, but as with all good and cute RomCom’s – they were solved and explained as the story progressed. Talk Bookish To Me had a lot of the tropes (I loved the scene where she was talking to her friend through the different ways that her main character’s in her novels would “progress the story”. And the book itself started following those tropes. It was, as I stated twice already, very meta, but very enjoyable.
Overall, I thought that this was super cute. It ticks all of the right boxes and had me smiling and even at some points crying. There was a quote that I wanted to share that I thought really stood out in this, “You never have to forget him, you just have to release the pieces that hurt. Love is the part of him you get to keep.” Kara was dealing with loss, as I’m sure most of us are too. That line just really stood out to me. I also wanted to call out the scenes with the overbearing mother were a bit too close to home for me right now. I won’t go into why, but Kate, if you read this… I hope that didn’t come from first-hand experience, but if it did… I feel you.
Throw in the fantastic narration by Naudus and you have a really enjoyable meta romance novel that ticks all the right boxes. I enjoyed this one and flew through it.
Book Description:
“Bromely does a deft job at keeping the twists and turns of this reunion realistic and utterly romantic.” (USA Today)
Inspiration can come from the most unlikely – and inconvenient – sources.
Kara Sullivan’s life is full of love – albeit fictional. As a best-selling romance novelist and influential bookstagrammer, she’s fine with getting her happily-ever-after fix between the covers of a book.
But right now? Not only is Kara’s best friend getting married next week – which means big wedding stress – but the deadline for her next novel is looming, and she hasn’t written a single word. The last thing she needs is for her infuriating first love, Ryan Thompson, to suddenly appear in the wedding party. But Ryan’s unexpected arrival sparks a creative awakening in Kara that inspires the steamy historical romance she desperately needs to deliver.
With her wedding duties intensifying, her deadline getting closer by the second and her bills not paying themselves, Kara knows there’s only one way for her to finish her book and to give her characters the ever-after they deserve. But can she embrace the unlikely, ruggedly handsome muse – who pushes every one of her buttons – to save the wedding, her career and, just maybe, write her own happy ending?
“A fun and sexy romp, with chemistry that gave me all the feels!” (Jennifer Probst, New York Times best-selling author of Our Italian Summer)
“Add this book to your TBR list immediately!” (Sarah Smith, author of Faker)
Talk Bookish To Me by Kate Bromley
Narrator: Natalie Naudus
Length: 9 hrs
Published by Harlequin Audio on May 25th 2021
Genres: Romance, RomCom
Format: Audiobook
Buy from Audible
Also by this author: Here For The Drama
