It’s a good time to be a fan of movies and TV show adaptations of books. In 2023, we learned that Emily Henry’s novel, Book Lovers, was getting the movie treatment. While it’s still too soon to know most of the specifics on the project, fans of the novel are no doubt intrigued by the prospect of seeing the love story unfold in a feature film. But, those who haven’t read the book yet may have some questions.
I’m not here to discuss spoilers about the book. In fact, I assume you’re here because you’re curious about it and wondering why I — and surely many others — am very excited that Book Lovers is being made into a movie. With that in mind, let’s get into the first point.
What Is Book Lovers About?
The novel follows Nora Stephens, a literary agent who’s convinced by her sister to travel to the quaint North Carolina town of Sunshine Falls for a month-long vacation and a break from city-life. While there, Nora runs into Charlie Lastra, a work colleague from the city who rubs her the wrong way from the start.
There’s tension between them, but there’s also a shared professional background that brings them together and the kind of chemistry you want to see between two great characters. As we come to learn, their personalities and lives aren’t simple, flawless and conveniently lined up for them to fall instantly in love and live happily ever after, but there's undoubtedly a spark.
Why Book Lovers Works
Beyond the mentioned tension that leads to sparks between the leads, and how great it is to get to know them over the course of the story, I think what works so well about Book Lovers is its acute awareness of its own genre. The lead characters know romantic fiction on a professional level, and that’s a major part of their connection. And, thanks to Emily Henry’s clever tone and writing style, not to mention a fun, quirky small-town backdrop and the fact that Nora and Charlie are complex and likable characters, it’s pretty easy to sit back and watch as these two book lovers become unlikely romantic leads of their own story.
Book Lovers is available to buy at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and very likely your favorite local bookstore if they carry popular contemporary romance novels!
Emily Henry’s Romance Novels
Over the last few years, author Emily Henry has written a number of adult fiction romance novels. Following Beach Read (2020) and People We Meet On Vacation (2021), she published Books Lovers in 2022. These are all standalone stories, so reading the previous two novels isn't necessary if you want to go right to Book Lovers. Of course, if you’re a fan of one, you may want to try the others. I’ve yet to read People We Meet on Vacation, but I did enjoy Beach Read, which also has an adaptation in the works. In 2023, Emily Henry released Happy Place, and most recently, she released Funny Story (that one was a five-star-read for me, personally.)
Why I’m Excited For The Book Lovers Movie Adaptation
At this point, it’s still too soon to know much about the adaptation, other than — per Variety in March 2023 — it will be a feature film, with the rights being picked up by Tango, and Sarah Heyward (Girls) on board to write the script.
Beyond the excitement over anticipating the casting news for Nora and Charlie — not to mention the supporting characters like Nora’s sister, Libby — I’m especially excited that we’ll get to see the small town of Sunshine Falls brought to life, hopefully complete with cleverly named business establishments.
Also, let's face it -- we could use more great rom-coms and Book Lovers certainly provides source material for a romantic comedy brimming with potential.
When she shared the announcement of the movie adaptation on her Instagram page, author Emily Henry went on to talk about the way rom-coms are viewed by some, and how romances are often oversimplified. You can read her full caption on her post, but after expressing her gratitude toward Tango for their interest in making the movie, she goes on to talk about how happy she is to have partners for the movie that see the importance of this kind of art, adding:
They understand why THIS story, about two broken people trying to open themselves up enough to be truly known, matters to me and us. This movie is going to funny, cozy, moving, and messy. I can’t wait.
Well, I was already excited, but after reading that part, I can’t wait either!
As of 2024, we're still waiting for updates on the project. The latest mention that I've seen is from a March 2024 article from Variety that notes that Heyward's script is, according to Emily Henry, in the fine-tuning stage. So, while it's highly unlikely that this movie will find a spot on the 2024 movie release schedule, we'll have to wait and see what updates transpire in the near future.
