Earlier this week I finished reading Jasmine Guillory’s romance novel, By the Book. The novel is part of the “Meant to Be collection,” books “inspired by the classic fairy tale stories we all know and love, perfect for adult readers who crave contemporary, escapist rom-coms.” 

I’m not a big fairy tale, prince-saves-the-princess fan. 

However, I do have a soft spot for Beauty and the Beast, which serves as the inspiration for By the Book. 

Why, you may wonder, do I have a soft spot for Beauty and the Beast? 

I mean, besides the fantastic library that is such a big part of the story (or at least it was for me). 

Almost thirty years ago, my closest college friend and I went to see the live production of Beauty and the Beast here in Los Angeles. Specifically at the no-longer-there Shubert Theatre in Century City. In the front row. (Tom Bosley made eye contact with me!) On February 29, 1996. Leap Year. 

I have read, and enjoyed, a few other novels written by Jasmine Guillory. (You can read my post, The Need for Romance Novels, which features Ms. Guillory’s book, The Proposal. And this post featured Ms. Guillory’s book, Royal Holiday.)

By the Book was an absolute delight to read. And not just because it was a lovely escape-read. Or that the two main characters did finally express their love for each other. But because the book itself was also a love story of another kind — a love letter to books. 

Here are a few of my favorite passages:

“Something she barely wanted to admit to herself was that working at TAOAT had spoiled her previously uncomplicated love for books and reading. Reading used to be her greatest hobby, her source of relaxation, comfort, joy. Always reliable, always there for her.” (12)  (Note – TAOAT is the acronym for Tale as Old as Time, the New York publishing house where our female main character works as an editorial assistant.)

“I work hard at my job because I love books. I love everything about them. I love the way you can fall into another world while you’re reading, the way books can help you forget hard things in life, or help you deal with them. I love all the different shapes books come in, and the way they feel in your hand. I love seeing authors develop their idea from just a few sentences to a manuscript to an actual book that’s on the shelves, and I love the face they make when they see their name on a book cover for the first time. I love when readers discover books that felt like they were meant just for them, and they’re so happy and grateful and emotional that everyone in the room want to cry, and sometimes they all do. Those books do change lives.”

“When she found the bookstore, she walked inside, then stopped and took a long, happy breath. God, she loved that moment when she walked inside a bookstore. Books were stacked everywhere, with friendly little signs directing you to local authors or signed copies or bestsellers.” 

“At one point, she saw a book she was looking for, high up on a shelf, at least a foot or so out of her reach. But right next to it was a rolling ladder, one that could slide along the whole wall. She’d always wanted to climb up on one of those. She looked to the left and then to the right.
“ ‘I won’t tell,’ the woman behind her said.
“Izzy grinned at her and climbed up the ladder. She grabbed her book and then turned to look at the bookstore from above. It was fun up there. She should have done that years ago.
“When she finally left the bookstore, it was with two new books in her bag, a smile on her face, and warm happy feeling in her chest.” 

“She’d gone to the library with her parents, once a week, every week, when she was a little girl. It had felt like a magic place to her, full of books just waiting to be read — on shelves, in stacks, in every corner. She’d fantasized about having a place like that in her own imaginary future home, with sleeves and shelves of books, wherever you looked.” 

“Izzy slowly walked around the room, trailing her fingers over the spines and occasionally stopping to pick one up and flip through it. There was fiction, history, science, cookbooks, politics, and many shelves full of children’s books. And the best thing about them was that these books looked read. She could tell. These weren’t all brand-new books that some interior decorator had bought in bulk and arranged carefully on a shelf in some sort of order to make the room look good. As a matter of fact, many of them were in no order at all — she itched to organize them. But that also told her they were all books that had been reached for, and read, and maybe even reread. The spines were broken, the book jackets removed or a little torn, pages dog-eared. These books hadn’t just been read, they’d been loved.” 

Readers, have you read any of Jasmine Guillory’s novels? Any favorites? 

Please note: I am including a link to buy the book that I’m highlighting this week. If you use my link, I do make a small commission on your purchase at no additional cost to you. I am working with Bookshop.org which also sends a portion of the profit to support local, independent bookstores.