The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks

The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks is an engaging, humorous, and light comedy/romance by Shauna Robinson. Released 1st Nov 2022 by Sourcebooks Landmark, it's 336 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. 

I liked the characterizations here - the author is quite adept at making her characters live and breathe and although I found myself horrified over some of Maggie's choices (I'm supposedly older and wiser), I could sympathize. There's a definite "Bridget Jones" vibe about some of her actions. The whole has a warm and quirky vibe which will appeal to most readers, and Maggie herself is mostly appealing and clearly well meaning. 

I'm never sure (as a ghostly-pale reviewer) how to mention that the MC is a woman of color - but she is, and the author does a great job of portraying her as real and certainly not as a prop. She has foibles aplenty, but she's never a cardboard cutout and Ms. Robinson doesn't ever make a huge case of her ethnicity. 

There were several places where I kept thinking "oh, this isn't going to go well", but Maggie's heart really does seem to be in the right place, and she seems to manage to just about hold it together. The "frenemies" romance part wasn't personally to my taste, and the whole subplot with the "cranky white guy running the show" was a bit over the top for me personally. I don't read a lot in the light slice-of-life romance genre, but fans will find quite a lot to appeal here. It's undeniably competently written. That didn't stop me wanting to shake some sense into Maggie, and, if I'm 100% honest, her helicopter parents as well. 

Three and a half stars, with the codicil that it will likely be higher for fans of the genre. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes