Not Quite by the Book

A Novel

By: Julie Hatcher

Narrated by: Mia Hutchinson-Shaw

A bookstore owner discovers that life as a recluse isn’t for everyone in this sharp yet sweet novel about how sometimes you need to abandon the quest for love to find your true passion.

Emma Rini is in a rut so deep she could shelve books there. While her sister awaits her first baby, and her parents kick off retirement with vow renewals and travel, Emma stays put among the stacks of the family bookshop.

In fact, she can’t remember the last time she took a vacation. Or had a romance that hovered above disappointing. When her parents assume she’ll take over the shop for them without a break, she realizes she needs to get away—back to the nineteenth century. Channeling her favorite poet recluse, Emily Dickinson, Emma rents a crumbling manor house outside Amherst where she can learn how to be quietly, blissfully alone.

But becoming a world-weary spinster isn’t easy. She can’t start a fire or reason with the bunnies that are destroying the garden. She finds herself sparring constantly with the grumpy-hot architect who is renovating the manor. And then there’s the secret admirer who keeps sending her complicated floral messages…

No matter what she does, the outside world keeps knocking, and Emma starts to dream about the future. Will she forgo love for the family legacy? And will she shrink away or become the sort of bold person fortune favors?

©2025 by Julie Anne Hatcher. (P)2024 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“The latest from Hatcher is a sweet novel about taking chances and believing in yourself…A lovely read.”—Booklist

Loved

Beautiful story of finding yourself. Story was told beautifully, believably and at a good steady pace. Makes me want to rent an airbnb!

Blah

Overall, not a terrible book, just a little slow and lacking characters development. I would have liked to see more development on other characters. it would have built the sense of mystery a little bit more.

Meh

Main character was kind of annoying, more so the further the book went. Overall, the story was ok

Cute story, a little slow

Great performance, but story was a little slow. The story had a bunch of characters that could be stars of their own books in a series.

Great Book!

I absolutely loved this book! Being a fan of books, gardening, bunnies, and Emily Dickinson it wasn’t a hard sell but it was even more enjoyable than expected. I’ve loved all the books from this author but I think this is my favorite yet.

Cute story

Nice easy read that left me smiling . Thoughtful characters dealing with real life. A fresh perspective can change your world.

Just okay

Who goes on vacation for six weeks 40 miles away? That’s nuts. Also, the obsessive fascination with ED didn’t really sit well. The story was very slow, characters were very one dimensional. It was just okay.

Need a vacation like this!

I loved everything about this book…….the friendships, both old and new, trying new hobbies, slow burning romance and a loving, if somewhat dysfunctional, family.

Story was cute, but the inconsistent volume was infuriating

The story overall was cute, but I could hardly stand (or understand) the narrator due to her constantly changing the volume of her voice. The number of times I had to rewind simply to hear what was said is unbelievable. I listen to audio books to relax while doing mundane things (driving, chores, etc.) so I like to set a comfortable volume and escape into the book. Unfortunately, that was not possible with this book due to the volume of her voice changing throughout a sentence or page. I pushed and forced my way through it, which is too bad since the book had a cute plot. I will avoid this narrator in future audio books.

Find your HEA

This book was a surprise. I'm not familiar with this author but it's such a great story. Who wouldn't want to take a 6 week sabbatical to find themselves and find true love when you're not looking for it?

The narrative was spot on. Love her voice.