BOOK PEOPLE by Jackie Ashenden-review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release January 28, 2025

When Kate, a fledgling bookseller, decides to open a bookshop that celebrates the kinds of genre fiction she loves to read (popular and fun!), she’s surprised to find that not everyone in the town is as excited as she is.

Least excited of all? Sebastian, owner of the highbrow bookshop across the road, who has rules for everything: the kind of books he sells, the clothes he wears, and the people he dates (no-one local).

When the pair find themselves working together on the town’s literary festival, their growing attraction becomes harder and harder to ignore. Professional rivalry aside, just one steamy kiss can’t mean anything, can it?

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REVIEW: BOOK PEOPLE by Jackie Ashenden is an adult, stand alone, erotic romance story line focusing on competing book store owners Sebastian Blackwood and Kate Jones.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Sebastian and Kate) BOOK PEOPLE follows the grumpy/ sunshine, enemies to lovers relationship between competing book store owners Sebastian Blackwood and Kate Jones. Sebastian Blackwood is the current owner of Blackwood Books in Wychtree UK, a family owned business for close to ten decades but the arrival of Kate Jones, pushes Sebastian to the edge of reason. In the wake of her mother’s death, Kate inherits some property in Wychtree, wherein she will embark on a new adventure as a bookstore own but Blackwood Books owner Sebastian Blackwood is determined to push our heroine aside until the discovery of a box of love letters in the attic of Sebastian’s shop pulls our couple together in the search for the truth.

The world building follows the acrimonious relationship, and sales competition between our story line couple. Sebastian’s business is struggling, and the arrival of Kate adds another level of both professional and private stress. As our couple find themselves immersed in the affairs of a pair of long lost lovers, a familiarity will begin to reveal a connection to the past. Each chapter begins with a short excerpt / sentence from the letters, once hidden in the attic.

The relationship between Sebastian and Kate is an enemies to lovers, grumpy sunshine in which Sebastian refuses to accept our heroine in his life. Sebastian doesn’t do relationships in the face of a long line of Blackwoods having loved and lost. Kate is determined to uncover the truth as she delves deeper into the box of letters, letters that will reveal a heart breaking past. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

The secondary and supporting characters include client and customers, readers and friends, and Sebastian’s father who sets the record straight, and reveals the truth about the love letters and the family history.

BOOK PEOPLE is a story of secrets and lies, love and misunderstanding, acceptance and moving forward. The premise is honest and revealing; the romance is fated and spicy; the characters are stubborn, determined and animated.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy