DISCLAIMER: I received an advanced reader copy (eBook) of Aria’s Travelling Book Shop by Rebecca Raisin from HQ Digital and HarperCollins Publishers through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Aria’s Travelling Book Shop’s digital book tour is running from April 8th through April 30th.

Book Summary

With her merry band of Van Lifers, Aria heads to France in her travelling bookshop, best friend Rosie by her side for a summer they’ll never forget!

Hopeless romantic Aria vowed never to love again after losing her husband, TJ, but fate has other ideas and keeps throwing the bespectacled, booklover Jonathan in her path. When a memento from TJ turns up it brings Aria’s past back to the fore.

Nomadic by nature, Aria can’t see how love could work anyway when home is always at the end of a new patch of road…

A long, hot summer travelling off the beaten track, surrounded by newly loved up couples reminds Aria of what she’s missing. Will she bookmark her love life at the point her husband left, or she will begin a new chapter under the sizzling sun of the Cote d’azure…?

*Summary is courtesy of HQ Digital & HarperCollins Publishers

Aria’s Travelling Book Shop

Back in January, I read my first Rebecca Raisin book, The Little Bookshop on the Seine, and I was blown away by her writing and storytelling. Fortunately, I was able to read it for Harlequin’s Fall/Winter Blog Tour for Romance & Women’s Fiction. You can read my full review, here!

Similarly, Rebecca Raisin’s new book, Aria’s Travelling Book Shop was no different and gave me all of the feels. In fact, it might be my new favorite! Once again, Rebecca has written a book that has warmed my heart and immersed me in a world of all the things I love: romance, traveling, and books. Although this time, the bookshop isn’t on the Seine in Paris, France, it’s on wheels!

The Little Bookshop of Happy Ever After

Aria Summers, a bookish nomad, owns a pop-up bookshop called, the Little Bookshop of Happy Ever After. She is part of a community of people known as, Van Lifers, who live life on the road and out of their campervans. They travel the festival circuit from city to city selling services and goods. Aria’s best friend, Rosie, who owns a tea shop van, goes on these travels with her. Rosie’s boyfriend, Max is a Van Lifer as well. He owns a green café. The trio’s latest adventure takes them on a journey from London to France.

Above all, I love any kind of story that revolves around books, readers, writers, and bookshops. Likewise, a bookshop on wheels sounds like such a fun concept! In elementary school, I remember there were buses that drove around the neighborhood that had a small library inside for people to check out books. As I child, I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Without a doubt, if the Little Bookshop of Happy Ever After parked in my city, you bet your booty, that I’d be in line to buy a book.

Aria Summers, Bibliophile

Naturally, Aria is a huge book lover and bibliophile, which was my favorite thing about her character. Aria lives, breathes (and sniffs) books. For one thing, she is quite the romantic and calls herself a romance novel aficionado. Throughout the book, Aria narrates her life as it was a synopsis of a book, which I found hilarious. I could tell how much Aria loves her job. She gets to read on the road, meet fellow reading enthusiasts, and help them discover their next read. Aria has experienced a lot of loss and grief in her life. Books have helped her heal by reading about the problems her characters are experiencing.  

“Whenever I’m conflicted, I picture myself the heroine in a love story to make sense of it all. That’s the problem with being obsessed with romance novels, you see everything play out as one, including your very own life.”

Similarly, I related to her passion for books, since I am a book lover myself. I agree with her that books are a great escape from life. Books are great for transporting you to new worlds that help you escape from reality. Sometimes, they are similar enough to real life that you can relate to what the characters are going through. So, that makes you feel less alone.

Aria and her love interest have a conversation about choosing a book based on its scent and book sniffing. I laughed out loud because that one hit me too close to home. Yes, I am part of Book Sniffers Anonymous. What can I say? The smell of a new book is simply therapeutic. As Aria often says, #BookwormProblems.

Aria & Rosie’s Friendship

Even though the theme of Aria’s Travelling Book Shop was about love, the story was about friendship too. I absolutely loved Aria and Rosie’s friendship. They are serious #FriendshipGoals. Their banter constantly had me laughing, and their friendship felt very genuine. They are the yin to each other’s yang.

“In truth, I trust Rosie to lead us down the right path. She’s the sensible one, while I am far too whimsical to make proper life decisions.”

Rosie is like Aria’s a protective momma bird and always wants the best for her. She is a supportive best friend and encourages Aria to follow her dreams and her heart. Aria and Rosie’s friendship reminded me of my own. The kind of friendship that you’d go to the moon and back for. I love romance novels that put an emphasis on friendship as well. Rebecca created a friendship that is real and true. Everyone needs a Rosie in their life.

Love, Loss, & Soulmates

For the most part, the main theme of Aria’s Travelling Book Shop is love, loss, and soulmates. Aria is a widow and lost her husband TJ to cancer at a young age. She believes that her marriage to her late husband was “the greatest love affair of all time”. Although TJ wanted her to move on after he died, she promised him that she’d never love anyone else, which I found really sad. Aria’s Travelling Book Shop takes place three years after TJ’s death and Aria has stopped herself from moving on – in life and in love.

Aria’s Travelling Book Shop brings up the topic of soulmates. Aria believed that TJ was the love of her life – her one and only soulmate. She put TJ on a pedestal for being the perfect man and husband. Aria believed no one could ever compare to him, live up to him, or love her as much as he did. My heart really hurt for her.

“He was. The best. So full of life that it seemed so cruel that it had to end. Who’d ever be able to live up to him, and why would I want them to? Wouldn’t it be greedy of me to expect someone else could love me as much as that?”

While reading this book, I thought about the meaning of soulmates. Generally speaking, I’ve always believed in soulmates and destiny. However, I don’t believe that everyone has only one soul mate. If you’re lucky enough to grow old with a spouse, then maybe you really did have just one. In my personal life, I’ve seen proof that those who lost their soulmate early in life were able to find love again.

Therefore, I loved going alongside Aria as she tries to come to terms with TJ’s death. During this time, she allows herself to open her heart to love again with a new man in the picture, who loves books just as much as she does. Certainly, I really rooted for Aria to find the love and happiness she deserves.

Rating & Review

Overall, Aria’s Travelling Book Shop by Rebecca Raisin was an AH-MAZING read! That is to say, I flew through the story and enjoyed every minute of it. For instance, the story wasn’t overly dramatic and there weren’t any crazy plot twists. Which consequently, made the story real, raw, and relatable in every way. For one thing, I loved Aria’s character, her love of books, and her adorable traveling bookshop. Not to mention, her friendship with Rosie gave me life and brought a lot of humor to a story that covers lots of deep topics. Rebecca Raisin wrote about love, loss, and grief in a way that’s both heartfelt and healing.

Without a doubt, I give Aria’s Travelling Book Shop 5 out of 5 stars! Moreover, it was a fabulous book that gave me all the feels. It made me laugh, it made me (almost) cry, and made me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Even if you can’t relate to everything in the story, you will fall in the love with the characters and they will feel like your family. Van Lifers for life!

★★★★★

Thank You

Thank you, Rebecca Raisin, HQ Digital, and HarperCollins for inviting me to join Aria’s Travelling Book Shop’s book tour, and Netgalley for the digital advanced copy! Check out Aria’s Travelling Book Shop by Rebecca Raisin, which is now available in stores and online! Visit the other stops on the book tour below!

Read a FREE preview of Aria’s Travelling Book Shop (down below) – brought to you by Amazon!

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♥ Candis