Hazel Applebee's third stand-alone interconnected Bareela Series novel is a witty, heartfelt small-town romance about fresh starts, grumpy/sunshine sparks, and discovering the courage to take up space.

 

Margie Hopkins came to the riverside town of Bareela to disappear. After escaping a controlling relationship, she’s determined to rebuild her life in peace—pouring her heart into Love Story, the cosy romance-themed bookshop she’s dreamed of for years. The shelves may be stacked with happily-ever-afters, but Margie isn’t convinced she deserves one of her own.

 

Enter Digger Manning: literary sensation, national heartthrob, and a man drowning in writer’s block. Renting the office above her shop was supposed to pay Margie’s bills, not upend her quiet routine. Brooding, moody, and infuriatingly magnetic, Digger is nothing like the heroes in her novels. Yet between book debates, late-night banter, and stolen moments, Margie glimpses a man as lost as she feels—and someone who might just teach her that she is never “too much.”

 

Tropes you’ll find inside:
📚 Bookshop owner heroine
😏 Grumpy/sunshine dynamic
✍️ Broody author with writer’s block
🏡 Small-town meddling & charm
🔥 Forced proximity (upstairs tenant + downstairs shop owner)
💌 Slow-burn tension
💔 Healing from past wounds
💞 Second chances at love & life

 

Love Between the Shelves is perfect for fans of Emily Henry, Ashley Poston, and Abby Jimenez—full of sharp banter, swoony chemistry, small-town charm, and a romance worth writing.