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    The Little Bookshop of Lonely Hearts
    The Little Bookshop of Lonely Hearts
    The Little Bookshop of Lonely Hearts
    Audiobook9 hours

    The Little Bookshop of Lonely Hearts

    Written by Annie Darling

    Narrated by Laura Kirman

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    A delightful new series set in a quaint old bookshop, for fans of Julia Quinn and Jenny Colgan.

    Where happy ever after is only a page away

    Once upon a time in a crumbling London bookshop, Posy Morland spent her life lost in the pages of her favourite romantic novels.

    So when Bookend’s eccentric owner, Lavinia, dies and leaves the shop to Posy, she must put down her books and join the real world. Because Posy hasn’t just inherited an ailing business, but also the unwelcome attentions of Lavinia’s grandson, Sebastian, AKA The Rudest Man In London™.

    Posy has a cunning plan and six months to transform Bookends into the bookshop of her dreams – if only Sebastian would leave her alone to get on with it. As Posy and her friends fight to save their beloved bookshop, Posy’s drawn into a battle of wills with Sebastian, about whom she’s started to have some rather feverish fantasies…

    Like her favourite romantic heroines, will she get her happy ever after too?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateAug 25, 2016
    ISBN9780008173135
    The Little Bookshop of Lonely Hearts
    Author

    Annie Darling

    Annie Darling lives in London in a tiny flat, which is bursting at the seams with teetering piles of books. Her two greatest passions in life are romance novels and Mr Mackenzie, her British Shorthair cat. The Little Bookshop Of Lonely Hearts is her first novel.

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    Reviews for The Little Bookshop of Lonely Hearts

    4/5

    113 ratings16 reviews

    What our readers think

    Readers find this title to be a cute and heartwarming story with a touch of humor and romance. The bookshop setting and the characters are enjoyable, and the ending leaves readers satisfied. While there are a few negative reviews mentioning elements of verbal abuse and manipulation, the overall consensus is positive, making it a good choice for a light and enjoyable read.

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Posy works in a bookshop. She's her younger brother's guardian because their parents passed away. Lavinia, the owner of the bookshop, helped Posy to get back on her feet when it happened. Posy mostly lives in a dream world, but that part of her life ends when Lavinia dies. She leaves her bookshop to Posy and the rest of her estate goes to her grandson Sebastian. Posy is now the boss of several people and the bookshop isn't doing well. If she wants to keep working there together with the staff she loves so much she needs to find a way to make it profitable again.

      Posy thinks she knows how to attract more visitors and she makes plans to transform the bookshop. However, Sebastian has other ideas. He can be rude and he doesn't listen to Posy. He tries to make decisions for her, but Posy won't let him. She wants the bookshop to be hers, to turn it into something women will love. Sebastian is a hindrance, but Posy also finds him very attractive. Hiding in her world of fiction is Posy's way to deal with the situation, but is that enough of a distraction or will things eventually spiral out of control?

      The Little Bookshop of Lonely Hearts is a fantastic heartwarming story. Posy is a dreamer. She's sweet, has good ideas and she's smart, but she also likes to disappear into her own world every now and then. I loved how Annie Darling gives her readers the chance to go there with her and enjoyed reading about Posy's thoughts and fantasies. She has numerous discussions with Sebastian and I often laughed out loud while reading their conversations, they're incredibly funny. The way they communicate with each other is brilliant. Sebastian tries to walk all over Posy and she won't let him. Meanwhile there's plenty of chemistry between them. They're a fabulous combination of marvelous character traits and I loved their unique connection.

      The Little Bookshop of Lonely Hearts is a story about one of my favorite topics, books. I immediately fell in love with the setting. The bookshop is a wonderful quaint place and Posy fits right in. She's a bit eccentric and I loved her taste in both stories and men. The Little Bookshop of Lonely Hearts is a novel that made me incredibly happy because of its amazing warm atmosphere, memorable dialogue laced with humor, original delightful characters and uplifting nature. I highly recommend this terrific scintillating story.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      I thought this was a cozy book that left me feeling satisfied with the ending. I caught myself laughing out loud in a couple spots and found it heart warming.
    • 5/5
      Cute novel. Perfect when you want to listen to a story that is a bit of fun fluff.
    • 4/5
      Cute book, for a light read. Liked the narration a lot
    • 5/5
      Very good book! I thoroughly enjoyed this very cute story!
    • 5/5
      Absolutely hilarious! I loved the humour and the romance of this unlikely pair. Definitely a Happy Ever After.
    • 1/5
      Do you like verbal abuse? How about manipulation? How about controlling narcissists who don't understand the meaning of the word no? Then I bet you'll love this book! I bet you'll also love the fanfic written by the doormat protagonist that has sexual assault! Honestly, I don't know how this book even made it to print.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      Super cute, simple romance novel. I needed something absolutely brainless and this was fun.

      Posy becomes forced to face reality when the owner of the bookshop she works and lives in dies, leaving her the failing bookshop. If the bookstore doesn't turn a profit within a certain amount of time, Sebastian (the owner's son) will take the property. Posy and the other employees realize that the bookstore is losing lots of money, so they need to do something different. She decides to create a niche bookstore that serves only romance. Posy reads vast amounts of romance novels, making her an expert. Sebastian wants a book store that focuses on crime. Unable to stand up to him, she allows him to assume the bookstore will be crime-based.

      Sebastian and Posy have pretty much grown up together. After Posy's parents died, Posy and her brother have lived above the bookstore. They don't get along great because Sebastian locked her in the coal hole and she's never gotten over it. As changes are happening, Posy finds herself writing a romance novel with her and Sebastian as the main characters.

      The book made me smile. Is it great literature? Absolutely not. It's a lovely diversion from the realities of life!
    • 3/5
      {First of 4 Lonely Hearts Bookshop series. Romance, London, chick lit} (2016)

      Posy is the unofficial adopted daughter of Lavinia who owned 'Bookends', a bookshop that she had inherited from her mother and when she died she passed it on to Posy. But Bookends hadn't been doing well for a while and Posy needed to revamp it on very little budget so she plans to turn it into a bookshop dealing exclusively in romance and call it 'Happy Ever After'. Unfortunately, Sebastian Thorndyke had inherited the rest of the mews, where Bookends was situated, from his grandmother and he has conflicting but well-meaning plans for it.

      Posy's parents had worked in the bookshop for Lavinia since she was very small and they had lived in the flat above the shop which Lavinia let the then twenty one year old Posy and fifteen year old Sam continue to live in rent free after their parents died. She has known Sebastian all that time but he has been her arch nemesis since the time he locked her in the coal cellar when they were small.

      Posy works off her frustrations about Sebastian by writing chapters of a lurid Regency romance where he seduces her - but she keeps their real names in it ... and you can imagine what happens. I read the 'Ravished by a Rake' chapters with a sense of impending doom.

      Needless to say, after all the trials and tribulations, everyone gets their deserved 'Happy Ever After' and the whole story is fun. I must say that I found the hero's character a bit baffling, though; his flaws seemed to disappear and reappear but were never really redeemed.

      I found this story light and fluffy. For people who love books and bookshops there are names and quotes and references sprinkled throughout the book.

      3 stars
    • 4/5
      Posy Morland is as surprised as anyone when her recently deceased friend and surrogate mother, Lavinia, leaves Posy her small bookshop in Bloomsbury. While Posy has adored working there for the past few years and feels lucky to live above the shop with her teen brother, Sam, she's not sure she has the skills to be the boss and turn around a bookshop that's on the verge of failure. As Posy tries to save the bookshop by turning it into a shop that sells only romances she's positive she can make it work if only Lavinia's rude and extraordinarily irritating grandson, Sebastian, would just leave her alone. Although some of his ideas for the shop aren't half bad...

      A cute British romance that while including one of my least favourite tropes (enemies to lovers) was so fun that I still enjoyed it tremendously. There's lots of humour sprinkled throughout and I frequently laughed aloud and then read passages to my husband. The book does reach a point where the conflict gets a bit irritating (just talk to each other!) overall the novel is well-paced, sweet, and romantic. Recommended for fans of contemporary British romance particularly those who enjoy Sophie Kinsella.
    • 5/5
      Amazon kept recommending this book to me and I resisted (no idea why) but finally succumbed. Then I went out and grabbed Ms. Darling's entire library and pre-ordered her next one.
      This book is delicious! Posy Morland grew up at Bookends, living with her parents over the shop which they ran for the owner Lavinia until they died in an accident. Then Lavinia dies and leaves the bookstore to Posy with some conditions; Posy must make a go of the floundering shop or it goes to Lavinia's grandson Sebastian, known as the Rudest Man in London and bane of Posy's childhood.
      OMG, I loved everyone in this book. Not a single bland character yet they were all so much fun. Posy is a mass of insecurities and it takes her a while to stand up to Sebastian's bossiness, but the heat between them is always simmering. Sebastian is just the best. While Posy doesn't always seem to see his motives, I liked how the author gives the readers lots of clues, though he still can be very rude lol. It's a funny and run book and I look forward to more from this author.
    • 3/5
      if I hadn’t already read the second book about the Happy Ever After bookshop and liked it a lot, I probably wouldn’t have bothered reading this. The romantic interest annoyed me -- he’s not a bad match for Posy, but I’d find him infuriating in person and I didn’t want to read about him. Fortunately the book is just from Posy’s POV.

      I enjoyed the Britishness, and the bits about running a bookshop. I particularly liked Posy’s relationship with her younger teenaged brother, whom she has responsibility for.

      And I was pleased that, when Posy decides that the bookshop will be more profitable if she specialises in romantic fiction, she not only stocks Austen and Heyer and genre-romance, she also has a Young Adult section, and plays and poetry, and some mystery: Dorothy L. Sayers’ Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane novels, a handful by Margery Allingham and Ngaio Marsh, and a few other select titles.
    • 3/5
      „I think, it´s time to bring in the big guns, Posy“, Verity said.“ (original quote)

      When Lavinia Thorndyke dies at the age of 84, she leaves “Bookends”, her bookshop, to Posy Morland, who almost grew up in the shop and loves books and the shop means home for her and her younger brother. But “Bookends”, quite hidden at Rochester Mews, Bloomsbury, with old, now closed shops around, for years did not make any profit, with book chains like Waterstones just around the corner. Posy has only two years to make it a success, if not, it goes to Sebastian Thorndyke, Lavinia´s grandson. Together with her crew, Nina, Verity and Tom, she plans to rename the shop into “Happy Ever After”, paint it grey and pink as signature colors and to specialize on all kinds of romantic books, love stories, happy endings included. But Sebastian also found a new name for the shop “The Bloody Dagger”, painting it in black and red and selling only crime books …

      This romantic novel is written in narrative form, with a personal narrator, focused on Posy. The story of Posy´s parents and of her childhood is given by Posy´s memories and flashbacks and leads to a better understanding of her character, behavior and acting. A special and witty story within the story is “Ravished by the Rake”, written by a very angry Posy.

      The bookshop, the surroundings, the people of the neighborhood are well described and easily to imagine. The author finds a special personality for every member of the bookshop´s crew and together they are amiable.

      At the age of 21, when their parents had died, Posy had taken the responsibility for her 8 years old brother and until today, eight years later, she still is firmly connected to the past and memories of her parents. She somehow is afraid of the responsibility for the bookshop and sometime behaving like somebody much younger. I quite liked the character, but on the other hand I cannot understand why all female main protagonists since Bridget Jones have to be chaotic, messy, chubby biscuit eaters? In my opinion, the story with a just a little bit more self confident main character would have remained funny, enjoyable and romantic.

      All in all, I have to say that I have enjoyed the book but as I love stories about books and bookshops, that I have read better ones and am a little bit disappointed.
      Anyway, I am sure that readers and fans of Bridget Jones like books will love this one too, and enjoy a relaxed, entertaining reading time.
    • 4/5
      Posy has worked at 'Bookends' much of her life, and inherits it from Lavinia after she dies. Lavinia's nephew Sebastian, drives Posy crazy as he is incredibly rude. But Posy doesn't take that lying down and snaps back at him, making the banter between them quite entertaining. Whilst Posy is set to rebrand the store to sell romantic fiction, Sebastian has decided it will specialise in crime fiction, and it's name should be The Black Dagger! A sweet and quirky story, a fun quick read (and set in a bookshop!).
    • 4/5
      Sweet and satisfying. And set in a bookshop!
    • 4/5
      This is one of those books my brother gave me in one of his clearance endeavours. He can do that again. Also, this is not the type of book i would normally not read,,as romance novels per se are not my forte, despite it being about a bookshop called Bookends. Anyway, i took the plunge and emerged pleasantly surprised.

      I have to be honest though, in the beginning I wasn't sure if I liked either Posy or Sebastian, she definitely didn't sound like the kind of person who should be left in charge of a bookshop never mind be bequeathed one and then be expected to make it flourish. And right from the very beginning I got the impression that Sebastian is supposed to be her love interest, but he was so rude that I honestly didn't think I could read this book if he was her love interest. Thankfully, as the story progressed we see a slightly softer side to Sebastian, he offers to help Posy and to begin with we don't understand the reasoning behind it but it all becomes clear.


      I loved the banter back and fro between Posy and Sebastian, as well as all the other quirky characters such as Nina and Verity.

      Bookends is the kind of place that I would love to work! A small business, where you can make close friends in work colleagues, while doing a job you feel passionate about!

      There were moments of sadness but for each and every sad moment within this story, there were happy moments. Happy moments that made you smile without thinking about it. And you cant really ask for more than that.

      A good easy to read novel.