What If We Met In A Bookstore
by Callie McLay · The Breezewood Chapters #1 · May 21, 2024
She's ready to turn a new page... He doesn't want the story to be over. When Briar Verlice finds out her favorite bookstore in Homer, Alaska, is on the verge of closing, she jumps at the opportunity to save it. But her high school crush and former classmates are back in town, making her plans a lot more difficult. When an array of riddles comes into her possession, they trigger a memory from a time she disappeared without a trace. While digging into the clues, Briar discovers the reason for her disappearance might stray into the realm of fiction and magic. Peter West, dreaming of becoming a successful escape room artist, is striving to build a career from crafting unique puzzles. When he gets the offer of a lifetime, he sets out to create an escape room worthy of his small town. But when riddles Peter never devised begin to surface before construction on the attraction even begins, so does a wild secret-one that demands the escape room be built as soon as possible. Unexpectedly reunited with the girl who's held his heart since high school, Peter's reality is shattered when the bookstore becomes a literal place of escape. Can they unravel the mysteries before life as they know it comes to an end?
Rating: 5.00/5 from 1 ratings · Heat: 1 · Genres: Adventure, Cozy Mystery, Fantasy, Young Adult
Reviews
Kay_pristineprose — 5/5
I’ve been looking for a good, cozy fantasy and I found it! This book has so many unique twists on familiar storytelling. I found it quite fun and relaxing every time I read a new chapter. Our main characters are college age but have chosen career paths outside of college, which I personally don’t read a lot of in books, and it made a very nice difference. Their hometown of Alaska has a magical mystery that connects to a pivotal moment of their childhood. A great group of friends coming back together after years apart. And baking and tea (with a recipe inside!) I really enjoyed the mystery and the group of friends convening in a lighthouse to puzzle the pieces together. It gave Nancy Drew vibes and I was so here for it. They also took keeping this magical mystery a secret seriously and were smart about it, which was so nice to see. Characters tend to make dumb mistakes easy too often, but not these ones. The magical world they discovered through a portal is so cool! There are scary monsters they run from a lot, a dark evil king they must dethrone, and GIANT OWLS THEY FLY ON! I must admit this may be my favorite part of the magic world. The cover reveal for this book was so fun because each item on the cover has meaning to the story. It is fun to look over the cover and see what moment each item is from as I finished reading. And of course, there is the most important part of this story. The romance! This is the most adorable second chance romance I have read. It takes much longer for the two mcs to see each other than I originally thought it would. Like two ships passing in the night. But, once they finally do get together, it is so worth the wait. They are adorable, sweet, and charming. Peter is such a gentleman, and we need more of those in this modern world. Over all I enjoyed this cozy portal fantasy. I managed to have twists at the end, but I didn’t see coming. I had fun reading, despite the amount of standing around and taking the characters do as they try to solve the mystery. It was a different pacing than what I’m used to, but I think I liked it. That made it a comfort read. There were lots of references and comparisons made to other books that I really enjoyed. For example, inkheart and Narnia. The two characters are brilliant, tea loving sunshines that it was fun to root for. This is a story that every clean reader needs on their shelf. I love this world. While the story is all wrapped up nicely with no loose ends, I do look forward to another book in this world. We’ve only seen part of something wonderful, and I am excited to see what Callie comes up with next.