Valentines Day at The Secondhand Bookworm: Book Eight

It’s Valentine’s Week in Castletown, so Nora and her colleagues at The Secondhand Bookworm are getting into the spirit of things, displaying as many romantic books the bay window shelves can hold, by offering free, carefully chosen (!) Love Heart Sweets from a red bowl on the bookshop counter, and by using charming smiles and fluttering eyelashes (much to Humphrey’s amusement and Harry’s delight) to lure eager browsers, buyers and bookworms into the famous three story shop, with its rickety winding staircase, its numerous creaky rooms and its delightful, narrow corridors crammed to the top and bursting at the seams with books upon books upon books, and more books!

It’s Valentine’s Week in Castletown, so Nora and her colleagues at The Secondhand Bookworm are getting into the spirit of things, displaying as many romantic books the bay window shelves can hold, by offering free, carefully chosen (!) Love Heart Sweets from a red bowl on the bookshop counter, and by using charming smiles and fluttering eyelashes (much to Humphrey’s amusement and Harry’s delight) to lure eager browsers, buyers and bookworms into the famous three story shop, with its rickety winding staircase, its numerous creaky rooms and its delightful, narrow corridors crammed to the top and bursting at the seams with books upon books upon books, and more books!

Nora Jolly is looking forward to spending her first Valentine’s Day with James, the Duke of Cole when he returns from abroad to his newly rebuilt castle midweek and will be home for that special celebration on Saturday. Meanwhile, as she runs the town’s popular used and antiquarian bookshop, she finds herself face to face with Braxton Parker-Hodge, a boyfriend from her college days, who proposed to Nora endless times while they dated and who is now running an Otter Conservation shop down Market Street.

Amidst Braxton’s persistent propositions and frequent visits to Nora in the bookshop, Mr. Hill is up to his old tricks, buying and selling the same fifteen books while brandishing wilted roses; Crossword-Lady has a stall on the cobbles selling her infamous donkey-shaped biscuits which were a hit (ahem) at the recent bookshop Book Club; Spencer is off to a special Valentine’s UFO Convention and is convinced the Duke of Cole is a vampire; Nora’s brother Milton is causing a stir outside the bookshop dressed as Cupid while selling tickets to Seymour’s theatre; Betty shocks Nora with more scandalous stories especially crafted for Valentine’s Week; the Duke hosts a Valentine’s Ball at the castle upon his return which attracts an infamous former bookshop customer; Humphrey has the Valentine’s Blues and Roger’s dating all three of his ex-wives.

Meanwhile, there’s plenty of entertainment in the town, with a pink Love Fountain by the war memorial for making love-themed wishes; with guided walks explaining the romantic history of Castletown including stories of famous pirates, smugglers and scallywags who were married in several taverns and inns; with Valentine-themed foods and brews and ales, market stalls, Prosecco stalls and a rather interesting cake stall; with mimes, street performers and poetry readers roaming the steep pathways and walkways, and with the town’s art galleries and museums offering interesting exhibitions and displays with eccentric romantic themes.

The local Catholic Church at the top of the hill is giving free blessings to beekeepers for Saint Valentine’s Day with the arrival of the new Canon; Monica is looking for cheap paperback romances; Harry is sending Nora Valentine’s Day cards; Georgina’s hoping Troy will propose; Amy’s hinting at Humphrey to woo her; a new author is in town who’s obsessed with Nora and The Secondhand Bookworm, and Braxton has a plan that he hopes will draw Nora away from her Duke forever!

There’s plenty of the usual bookselling, book hunting and book madness as Nora Jolly embarks upon another week in her bookshop in this new novel in The Secondhand Bookworm series, guaranteed to add an extra smile and an uplifting read for Valentine’s Day or any day of the year!

Book 8 in the series, Valentine’s Day at The Secondhand Bookworm, can also be enjoyed as a stand-alone novel.

This book is available to purchase on Kindle via Amazon. All books also available via Kindle Unlimited and in Paperback.

Emily Jane Bevans lives in Sussex, England. For ten years she worked in and helped to manage a family chain of secondhand and antiquarian bookshops. 'The Secondhand Bookworm' is her debut novel and Valentines Day at the Secondhand Bookworm is Book Eight in the Series.

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Brand Mary's Dowry Productions
Weight 0.3kg