The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Marian Keys

Nothing is better for bookish people than a book with a bookish heroine. And I was sure not to be disappointed given the title of this book. It’s time to discover this sweet, romance book, perfect for a summer read!

Genre: romance

The synopsis

Nina is the very idea you have of a bookish person: she works at her local bookstore, prefers the company of books rather than the one of humans and shares a little flat with her cat Phil. But her life begins to change the day she learns her father died (a father she never met), leaving her an extended family including a brother, sisters, nephews, nieces… A lot for someone who doesn’t like to socialise! And as if it wasn’t enough she meets Tom at a trivia competition and would like to know him more without really knowing how to do so…

Nina will have to choose between her books and putting them aside a bit to begin her life in the real world.

The review

This book was a perfect summer read. Well written, it has all the elements we are looking for in this time of the year: romance, humour and zest for life. The fact that the story is taking place in Los Angeles adds to the summer vibe and I was immagining the scenes under a bright sun which I’m currently cruelly lacking of 😢.

I totally identified with our heroine who is a bookish, shy girl which finds that human relationships are exhausting and so much easier in books. I liked to see her evolution from a character being almost alone with only a few friends to one included in a big, turbulent family and with a very nice boyfriend. Concerning her relationship with Tom, it is not without issues and I laughed several times when their mutual friends decided to involved themselves to make it evolve.

I also really liked the more serious themes that are evoked in the books such as family issues or anxiety. The latter is very well treated with sentences beautifully written and reminding us that a lot of people are suffering from it but that it is not a fatality we are condemned to suffer.

On a lighter note, I would like to introduce my favourite character: Phil, Nina’s cat. I just love cats so when you have one included in a book you can be sure I will be reading and enjoying each scenes with it. And here I loved the idea of the author to make Nina imagine dialogues with Phil. We can see the author has cats herselfs because Phil’s behaviour and “talks” are totally what cats do or might say.

So, a perfect read for summer and for those loving books and cats!

My rating: 3.5/5

Triggers warnings: slight mentions of alcoholism and anxiety