📖 A Bookish Story
✍️ Author: Heatherly Bell
🎙️ Narrator: Stacy Gonzales
🎁 Provided by: NetGalley
📅 Release: 12/01/26
🏁 Finished: 11/11/26
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Since this book was categorized as a romance, that’s what I’m going to review it as. And honestly? I LOVED the storyline! The chaos surrounding pen names, ghostwriters, bestselling books, and all the secrets that come with them? I was absolutely here for it! Unfortunately, the actual romance and family drama were a different story.

Let’s talk about Ryan. As endearing as he could be on occasion, THAT NOTE! Sir, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?! I’m convinced this man either has the emotional maturity of a potato or is just completely clueless when it comes to women. And then he had the audacity to claim his actions were selfless?! No sir. Absolutely not. That was not selflessness, and I refuse to entertain that nonsense.

And poor Luci! Not only does she buy Ryan’s explanation, but she’s also buying into the gaslighting from her mother. LUCI!!! Your mother abandoning you was not some grand, selfless sacrifice either! I just wanted to reach into the book, grab this girl by the shoulders, and remind her that she deserves SO much better from the people who supposedly love her.

I think that’s what frustrated me most. I genuinely liked Luci, and instead of rooting for the romance, I found myself wishing she’d recognize her own worth and stop accepting these ridiculous excuses from everyone around her. That would have been a real love story.

I did really enjoy Stacy Gonzales as narrator. I thought she did a fantastic job, particularly worth Luci.

Overall, I really enjoyed the bookish premise, the secrets, and the publishing-world chaos. There was so much about this story that worked for me! But as a romance? I just couldn’t get behind the relationship. I loved Luci, I loved the storyline, but that girl deserves better!