The Bookstore at Rivers End by Phillipa Nefri Clark - Book Review

Series: Temple River #2 (Standalone)

Genre: Contemporary Small Town Fiction 

3.7 Stars 

One Liner: Heartwarming 

Harriet Main and her twenty-year-old daughter Olive had moved to River’s End to start a bookstore. It is a dream come true for former librarian Harriet, even if she is still recovering from the pain of her divorce from Jason.

Olive is supportive, and together they start fresh. One day, the mother-daughter duo comes across an old diary. Olive insists they read the contents. Soon, they uncover the mystery of the past and wade through the secrets. It’s up to Harriet to determine if she can help right the wrong. And how does this change her life? 

The story comes in Harriet’s third-person POV and Nettie’s first-person POV (past timeline). 

My Thoughts: 

After enjoying the first book in the series, I wanted to try this and explore the lovely fictional setting in Australia. It is such a beautiful place (based on real locations) with cliffs, beaches, spacious farmlands, and cute homes. 

This is my second read this month set with a bookstore. It is also a second book with mother/ daughter dynamics. Thankfully, it works well on both fronts. 

We have books with good banter between friends, cousins, lovers, etc. Here, the banter between mom and daughter (Harriet and Olive) is a highlight. Even if it sounds too good to be true, Olive is a wonderful 20-year-old, the kind of daughter most mothers would want. I love her character. 

There’s a bit of romance for Harriet, though it is quite mature and doesn’t take the focus away from the central plot, except towards the end, where a closure is necessary. Even then, the contemporary plot is connected to the past track. 

The crux of the story is the diary the mom-dotty duo finds in their second-hand book purchases and the mystery in it. We get the journal entries in a first-person POV, with the first and last paragraphs in italics (written like how we would in a journal). I quite like this format. The mystery has enough elements for us to guess, though some questions have to be answered by the characters. 

A wee change in POV at one point made me wonder if it was an attempt to plug a plot hole. I tend to write myself into a corner and scramble to find a way out. This gives the same feeling. Not an issue as such. 

Of course, most characters are sweet and nice in the small town, and the bookshop is an instant hit with many sales. A bit hard to believe, but that’s okay. Some positivity is good (and much-needed after my previous read). 

The pacing is a bit slow, and I admit I liked Olive more than Harriet. Brock is, of course, a sweetheart in his friendly, kind sort of way. He is confident but in a calm and unstated manner. The hero from book one was just as good (and better since he had a bigger role). It’s refreshing to read such MMCs. 

To summarize, The Bookstore at Rivers End is a heartwarming story of moving on, making friends, valuing relationships, and doing what makes one happy without hurting others. This is a clean romance and works as a standalone. 

Thank you, NetGalley and Storm Publishing, for the eARC. 

#NetGalley #TheBookstoreAtRiversEnd