RELEASE BLITZ, EXCERPT & REVIEW - Booklover (Vino & Veritas #6) by J.E. Birk

 

Release Date: March 29, 2021
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Cover Design: Christine Coffey

Two guys meet over a stack of romance novels. Soon they're turning pages late into the night...

Jamie Morin’s college GPA drops every time a cow breaks through a fence, but he’s determined to get his degree and keep his parents’ Vermont dairy farm afloat. He’d rather be reading than milking, but he can’t let his family down…not the way his brother did. So the last thing he needs is distraction in the form of an irresistible bookseller with a mysterious backstory.

Briar Nord has a lifetime of experience proving that happily-ever-afters only happen in his favorite books. But his luck might be changing. He’s got a great job at a bookstore, and he lives in a city that puts maple syrup on everything. But Briar knows not to trust anything or anyone. And that includes a gorgeous farm boy with soulful eyes and too many obligations.

When Jamie joins Briar’s romance novel book club, they both feel an instant connection. Soon they’re turning pages long into the night. But Briar’s past was bound to catch up with him. Sometimes, though, it takes two heroes to write a new ending . . .

My Rating - 5 Stars!

Booklover is a fabulous story by JE Birk. The sixth book in the Vino & Veritas multi-author series, this is a great addition to the small town Vermont fun. 

Jamie and Briar meet at a book club at Vino & Veritas. Both men are hurting as they have complicated lives. 

Jamie's family is draining him. They are all wonderful, and he loves them, but his responsibility to helping out at the family farm, leaves him losing his dreams. It's a large part of this story and it's so damn emotional. I just want to hold Jamie and help him. 

How can he finish college, get his dream job, and still help out his parents? He can't. And that's the problem. 

And then there's Briar. He loves his job at V&V, but his past comes knocking on his door and threatening all he has. How can he keep his past from ruining everything without actually ruining everything? And omg, when we learn his past, I was bawling. 

I love these men. And I love their story. And best of all, I love the writing. I was drawn into this story at the start, and I was consumed throughout. Oh course, the light angst definitely had me turning the pages quickly to get to the happy ending. 

Written in alternating first person pov, the men fully come to life. I felt every feeling, every emotion, every look, and every touch. And if you enjoy cute chapter titles, you will love these ones.

And then there's the setting. The Vermont aspect is well developed and is felt throughout. The mud. The farm. The maple syrup. The small town. The haunted library. All of it adds to the small town feel. 

And oh how I love the book club and all it's members. 

Booklover is a wonderful, feel good read. This JE Birk tale is beautiful, sweet, and tender. I can't recommend it enough. 

 

I start heading toward the circle of couches and chairs near the back where the inaugural meeting of The Booklover Club is supposed to take place. I make a quick stop at a shelf of new titles because the store’s got at least three that I’ve been meaning to read. I grab one of them, a nonfiction book about dairy farming, and I take a quick pause to wonder if my wallet can handle a bookstore binge. I’m still reading the inside of the jacket flap when I hear a voice behind me. 

“Can I help you?”

I turn around and try not to do that thing Jeremy says I sometimes do, where I just stand there staring at someone or something without speaking. In my defense, I think the problem comes from spending most of my childhood surrounded by cows. Sometimes I just forget how to people. 

         Especially when incredibly hot human beings are standing in front of me. Which is happening right now.  

This guy looks exactly like Porter, one of my other favorite book characters. He’s in Alyssa Samuel’s gay romance novel Lost Key, and right now I can’t help but wonder if he walked right off the pages of that book and into this store. The Porter look-alike in front of me has sharp, angular cheekbones sitting under hazel eyes and dirty blond hair and eyebrows. He’s got some scruffy I-wanna-be-a-beard-but-I’m-not-there-yet hair around his chin that’s straight out of the Vermont tourist brochures. His head is covered by a pilling green tuque, and his skin is this olive tone that should be next to impossible for any white guy to have in Vermont in March. He’s wearing a flannel shirt and jeans, which is pretty much the stereotypical Vermont uniform, but somehow on him it manages to look cool and unique.

         And as if all that weren’t enough? He’s carrying a stack of books.

         Some men dream of seeing their perfect lover strutting around in hot lingerie or tiny speedos. I dream of my perfect lover naked, with a stack of books strategically placed in front of them.