Taj McCoy

Set a novel in a bookstore and give me interesting characters to root for, and good writing and I am all in. Taj McCoy's Zora Books Her Own Happily Ever Afterhas that and so much more.

Zora bought a local bookstore in her Washington DC neighborhood with money left to her by her father. She lives with her sassy Granny Marion and her best friend Emma, who both work at Zora's bookstore called Opus Northeast.

Zora works hard to make Opus Northeast a true community gathering place, hosting events for adults and children. She loves her bookstore but it takes up most of her time, ordering books, working with publishers, waiting on customers, keeping up with the ever-demanding social media platforms, and it leaves little time for an active social life.

When a bestselling local author whom Zora has a crush on agrees to an event at her store, Zora is ecstatic. Lawrence Michaels writes a series of popular mystery thriller series and Zora knows he will be a hit. Emma and Granny Marion encourage Zora to go for it with Lawrence, but Zora thinks he is out of her league, and she is too busy anyway.

Lawrence's event at Opus is a hit, drawing a big crowd, including Lawrence's best friend from college and social media director Reid. Reid doesn't make a great first impression on Zora, he seems like he has a chip on his shoulder.

Much to Granny Marion and Emma's delight, Lawrence asks Zora to his apartment for dinner, and she accepts. The evening goes well, and there seems to be good chemistry between Zora and Lawrence.

Reid is a high school English teacher and he invites Zora to speak to his class about a city-wide writing contest that Zora is sponsoring at her store. Zora and Reid begin spending time together, and Zora discovers that she has feelings for Reid. When it rains, it pours, and Zora doesn't want to hurt either man. What to do?

There was so much I liked about this book. Zora is a confident Black woman, a hardworking business owner, and she cares about her community. She's also a proud bibliophile, a foodie, and she cares about other people's feelings. The little touches that reveal character, like Zora saying grace before every meal, elevate this terrific novel.

As somone with a bookstore connection, I enjoyed reading all about Zora's experiences as a bookstore owner. You get a true feeling for what that involves on a day-to-day basis.

There is an interesting twist about Lawrence and Reid's relationship that impacts Zora, one that a careful reader may be able to guess.

Zora Books Her Own Happily Ever After is a delightful romance about a realistic woman who finds herself with a choice to make. Does she make the right one? I think so, and I hope we get to read more about Zora and her family and friends in subsequent books.

Thanks to Harlequin for putting me on Taj McCoy's tour.… (meer)

i really liked the friendships in this book. those relationships also lended most of the great lines and the lines that made me laugh. she really captured these women and their love for each other in such a real way. that was my highlight. (i also really liked the incidental queerness that comes up.)

the rest was ok. i appreciated the messaging she was going for - that self-care and self-love are important and necessary. i think it sometimes got muddled in savvy's desire to "upgrade" her body, which is realistic. but i'm not sure it brings the message home the way the author wanted. the love interest was easy and mostly tension-free, which is ok (and i kind of liked) because the main tension came from her own self-image and life balance. it didn't make those scenes engaging to read, though. (although the sex scenes were pretty hot, even without much tension having built up beforehand.)

there was a lot of detailed discussion of food and clothes, which i found too much. some of the writing felt really trite, but there were definitely some standout lines.… (meer)