Nevermore Bookstore by Kerrigan Byrne and Cynthia St. Aubin, narrated by Teddy Hamilton and Stella Hunter, gave off supernatural vibes with the hermit of a man living in the woods and a bookstore owner staying up late at night for a book order from a stranger. But this is not that book.
It’s an odd book about a bookstore owner, Cadence “Cady” Bloomquist, with health issues that can be debilitating. She has friends and is dating the sheriff of the town, but she always seems lonely. Books provide her some solace, but when “Fox” calls to leave his book order, she can’t help but feel flirty and connected. They talk about books, and while this may seem like a love connection, there is just something off about this mystery man.
Why does he only call at night? Why is he so cagey but loves talking about books and taking her recommendations even on romance-y novels?
While I wanted to believe in this romance, it just felt stalker-like to me. They way Roman Fawkes watches from the outside of the bookstore/house, when he inserts himself in her life without telling her who he is, and how he lets her fall in love with him even though he knows its a bad idea. I get the savior trope and damsel in distress, but this one didn’t work for me as well as I would have liked.
What I did like was the emphasis on people who have disabilities, and not necessarily ones that can be seen from afar. PTSD is a serious condition and it can lead people to withdraw from others. I wish this part of the story had been more developed. It was thin at best and relied on the bad-guy trope of one particular group of people. Yuck.
There are also these strange wordsmith-ed descriptions, one of which happens at the most inopportune moment and pulls you right out of the story and is bordering on racism.
While I often like stories set in bookstores and small towns, this one was a mess and I just couldn’t believe what I was listening to at many points in the story. The mystery is too convoluted and then wrapped up in a hero-like moment at a counsel meeting. Seriously?
Nevermore Bookstore by Kerrigan Byrne and Cynthia St. Aubin could have been an excellent read, but wasn’t. I wanted more depth from these characters and this story. And the cover just sets the reader up for a story that isn’t here.
RATING: Epitaph
