Will there be a: Storybook Ending (Moira MacDonald)

#StorybookEnding #NetGalley

I am always drawn to novels that are about books so was quite interested in reading this author’s debut work. The main setting is a bookstore in the Pacific Northwest.

There are many characters in these pages. That said, there are three principals. Westley (named for a character in The Princess Bride) is a (very) handsome, yet somewhat self-effacing man. April works for a real estate company called Picket Fences; her job is virtual and she misses more regular human contact. The third main character is Laura. She was widowed young, has a six year old daughter and is a personal shopper. I enjoyed reading about her work.

One day, April decides to be more decisive. She brings in some used books (with a note in the Anhtony Horowitz title) to the store where Westley works in that department. April knows that he looks inside the titles to remove loose papers before shelving them. April, therefore, hopes that Westley will read her note and they will begin a bookish correspondence that could, eventually, lead to a relationship. However, Westley does not see the note, the book is picked up by Laura who reads it. This means that April and Laura begin communicating with one another when they each think that they are writing to Westley. How will this resolve? Readers wait a while in this somewhat slowly paced book to find out.

The author knows her books and there are many good titles scattered throughout these pages. Macdonald also does a lovely job describing the bookstore and the cafe that is there. She also introduces a wide variety of other characters including a movie crew that wants to film in the store.

Storybook Ending was an enjoyable read for me although, I think that it could perhaps have been edited a bit. Also note that the author’s style includes a lot of parenthetical asides.

Kirkus Reviews states that this is “A perfectly charming read for devotees of the written word and anyone who’s ever hoped to find love in a bookstore.” So true.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group-Dutton for this title. All opinions are my own.

Pub date: 27 May 2025

Post first published on 16 January 2026

Description

A charming story about friendship, community, and the magic that happens in bookstores—when an anonymous note left in a book finds the wrong recipient.

April, a smart and lonely tech worker, worries work from home has gotten out of hand: She’s left an anonymous note in a book for Westley, the clerk at her Seattle neighborhood bookstore who has a gentle smile and looks great in flannel. But thanks to fate, Laura—a busy single mom who had given up on love—buys the book, finds the note, and thinks Westley has left it for her. A handsome man who loves books seems like just the plot twist she has been looking for.

Meanwhile, Westley—not the most perceptive—is too distracted by the movie filming at the store and the ambition it’s unlocked in him to notice either of the two women. But as April and Laura’s anonymous correspondence continues back and forth, their mundane routines are challenged, sparking a glimmer of hope. Is a happy ending in the cards for them?

A heartwarming web of mistaken identities and serendipitous encounters, Storybook Ending is a playful tribute to friendship, love stories of all kinds, and to the objects—from a forgotten slip of paper to someone’s heart—left between the pages of books we loved.

From the Publisher: