Melissa Ferguson

Savannah Cade is a low-level editor at Pennington Publishing, a prestigious publisher producing only the highest of highbrow titles. And while editing the latest edition of The Anthology of Medieval Didactic Poetry may be her day job, she has two secrets she’s hiding. One: She’s writing a romance novel. Two: She’s discovered the Book Nook—a secret room in the publishing house where she finds inspiration for her “lowbrow” hobby. After leaving her manuscript behind one afternoon, she returns to the nook only to discover someone has written notes in the margins. Savannah’s first response to the criticism is defensive, but events transpire that force her to admit that she needs the help of this shadowy editor after all. As the notes take a turn for the romantic, and as Savannah’s madcap life gets more complicated than ever, she uses the process of elimination to identify her mysterious editor—only to discover that what she truly wants and what she should want just might not be the same. Melissa Ferguson’s latest—a love letter to books, readers, and romance—will leave fans laughing out loud and swooning in the same breath.

Meet Me in the Margins

Savannah Cade's dreams are coming true. The Claire Donovan, editor-in-chief of the most successful romance imprint in the country, has requested to see the manuscript Savannah's been secretly writing while working as an editor herself—except at her publishing house, the philosophy is only highbrow works are worth printing and commercial fiction, particularly romance, should be reserved for the lowest level of Dante's inferno. But when Savannah drops her manuscript during a staff meeting and nearly exposes herself to the whole company—including William Pennington, new publisher and son of the romance-despising CEO herself—she races to hide her manuscript in the secret turret room of the old Victorian office.

When she returns, she's dismayed to discover that someone has not only been in her hidden nook but has written notes in the margins—quite critical ones. But when Claire's own reaction turns out to be nearly identical to the scribbled remarks, and worse, Claire announces that Savannah has six weeks to resubmit before she retires, Savannah finds herself forced to seek the help of the shadowy editor after all.

As their notes back and forth start to fill up the pages, however, Savannah finds him not just becoming pivotal to her work but her life. There's no doubt about it. She's falling for her mystery editor. If she only knew who he was.

This line is what made me fall in love with him. 

Marleigh Toenyes

“And thats where I wonder if I should correct you, Savannah. You may be loyal, but it doesn’t sound as if the rest of your family is loyal to you.”

Sintia

Fatima Zahra

** spoiler alert **
           2.5 ⭐️

Honestly I had high hopes for this book. The premise really intrigued me. When I started reading it I was so genuinely excited. 

The problem start with the fact that the pacing was abhorrent. Genuinely nothing happened within the first 45% of the book, and then all the action is packed into the last 20%. 

If anything had been spaced out even a little, it would have made it so much more enjoyable. Take the big reveal and final coupling up of the two main characters. They both happened at the same time and within the last 20 pages of the book. 

If she had gotten her book deal say, two chapters earlier, and been working on her kissing scene for the end of the book when Will and her got together and finally kissed, both moments would have been more impactful and meaningful. Rather we have them squished together and then a time jump two years into the future where they’re MARRIED?

On that note, the main couple interact like 7 times in the whole book. I know they’re technically talking the entire time in the margins of the manuscript, but they don’t know that!! It’s not even implied that they interact a lot off page, because Will is described as intimidating and always on business trips, so when do they even talk? There was no build up to their intimate moments, they didn’t have any platonic or romantic chemistry when they started asking each other personal questions and giving unwarranted advice. At that point their relationship was strictly Boss and Employee. 

Even when Savannah realised she liked Will, my genuine response was “Why?” They’d had maybe 3 interactions in person, and zero (known) correspondence (that wasn’t work related) other than that. Sure maybe she thought he was cute but do you know anything about this man? I’m sure you don’t because everything I know about him after reading that whole book is this:

He quit his job to move back home after his dad died. 
He owns four coffee pots
He lives on a farm
He has some sort of marriage trauma (never fleshed out we just know it happened) 
He dislikes country music (?)

I literally cannot think of a single other thing. 

Maybe if the first half of this book had actually let the characters interact more I would be more inclined to believe she liked him. Especially because not 5 hours earlier she was CONVINCED she was in love with her mysterious editor (who turned out to be Will (shocker) but she was sure was someone else). 

Okay on to the things I liked about this book. 

I really enjoyed savannah’s relationship dynamic with her sister. Her family in general was fascinating to me. I feel like the gifted kid burnout thing she had going on was pretty good, and the over achieving younger sister thing relatable (my sister better not be reading this). 

I also enjoyed the whole plotline of her ex and sister being engaged and stuff. I love the drama. Again it could have been done better, especially considering his existence was used as a bonding moment for the main couple but I’ll take what i can get. 

Lastly, I liked what little we actually got of Wills comments on her manuscript. His witty side really shone through in those parts, and without that little input there would be no redeeming this couple. 

All in all this book read like a first draft. The ideas were there, but not fleshed out, the characters were all over the place, there were so many side plots and hints that were irrelevant or never brought up again. It could have been something, but it wasn’t. 

This book needed a Will to edit it the way he did Savs manuscript. The hook was so good, but the book was not. 

(Also i swear to god I had a dream about one of the scenes or saw it somewhere or read it in another book at some point I was having such severe Deja Vu)

Petaco

It was cute but they really didn't spend any time at all together.

This book is absolutely so sweet. I prefer innocent no spice novels, but i end up finding them seeming to YA or poorly written, but this books was neither. I finished it in a day, and had to force myself to stop long enough to eat.

No spoilers, but the romance and how it plays out it so SO sweet. How much the main man cared and payed attention to her literally made me swoon reading it. 

Only 4 stars however, because the sub plot with her ex was weird. I like the ending bit and the jealousy from the main man, but some parts just felt off and unneeded.

This book is absolutely so sweet. I prefer innocent no spice novels, but i end up finding them seeming to YA or poorly written, but this books was neither. I finished it in a day, and had to force myself to stop long enough to eat.

No spoilers, but the romance and how it plays out it so SO sweet. How much the main man cared and payed attention to her literally made me swoon reading it. 

Only 4 stars however, because the sub plot with her ex was weird. I like the ending bit and the jealousy from the main man, but some parts just felt off and unneeded.

Unfortunately this was a HUGE miss for me. Savannah’s family dynamics were comically and astronomically awful, and I found the ex-boyfriend-now-engaged-to-sister so repulsive that it overshadowed my whole reading experience. There was also some weird/casual fatphobia, including internalized by Savannah.

Will’s characterization seemed inconsistent, and I felt no chemistry between him and Savannah. The segue from “brutal editorial notes” to “lovey sticky notes” made no sense.

There were other things that bothered me but I’ve already archived this book out of my brain.

Liz Griffin

Unfortunately this was a HUGE miss for me. Savannah’s family dynamics were comically and astronomically awful, and I found the ex-boyfriend-now-engaged-to-sister so repulsive that it overshadowed my whole reading experience. There was also some weird/casual fatphobia, including internalized by Savannah.

Will’s characterization seemed inconsistent, and I felt no chemistry between him and Savannah. The segue from “brutal editorial notes” to “lovey sticky notes” made no sense.

There were other things that bothered me but I’ve already archived this book out of my brain.

Elaina 

This book was all banter and fluff, without any extra spice. It made me smile a lot, which was so fun. I thought this book was lighthearted with Hallmark vibes. A fast and easy romance!

Claire Durand

I don’t have much to say about this book, I liked the idea of them both being in publishing and how they didn’t know who the other one was in the beginning. But it almost seems like we don’t know the characters all that much. You don’t really get to see their personalities all that much. Specifically Wills. He is just kind of there. I didn’t mind the book but I can’t even really remember what happened which isn’t usually a good sign.

Olivia Mitchell

*I received this book from Thomas Nelson Publishing via NetGalley for review purposes but all views and opinions are my own

Meet Me in the Margins is an absolute treat of a book. Featuring workplace romance, publishing, loveable characters and a sort of love triangle, it has all the ingredients for a bookish lovers ideal read.

There are all the classic features of a rom-com, of course starting with a meet-cute! But what's so great about this book is that it's very self aware and acknowledges the cliches in a way that is humourous and entertaining.

Full review: http://www.theoliviaedition.com/2022/...

rowan !

kinda knew going into this book that it’d be good. nothing special, nothing out of this world or anything. i liked it. something about it felt like rushed… like i call only recall savannah and william actually having an on page conversation like 5 times before the big reveal… saur!?

Juli Nazzario

Very cute, but it was an average romance with a predictable plot twist.

Lora

** spoiler alert **
           3.5/5 
This was very cute! I read it in one setting, but I do wish that the resolution got there more quickly so we could have had more of the happy couple together for more than a few pages!

Abigail Joyann

5 Stars <3
Thank you, Thomas Nelson Fiction for this arc in exchange for an honest review!


  Savannah Cade
 works for Pennington Publishing, a publishing house for the most prestigious and deemed worthy books (aka nothing fun), as a low-level editor. However, she has a couple of secrets—she's writing a romance novel and has come across a hidden-away nook in the publishing company's ARC room. After leaving her splayed paged manuscript behind one afternoon, she comes back to find that someone has too discovered this nook, organized her manuscript, and written edits in the margins. Who is this mystery person? Her new boss? An old date that didn't work out? Either the case, she asks this mystery editor for help in refining her pages in hopes that Baird books will take it on. The two start exchanging notes back and forth regarding the manuscript but ultimately turn the page into more personal topics to which Savannah can't help but start falling for her mystery editor.

I deeply enjoyed this book. I couldn't stop reading it for a second. When people say that you can't fall in love over words—don't believe them. Just as Savannah fell for her mystery editor, I did too. 

This isn't a revolutionary story. It gives what you ask for. A cute, quirky, funny, all-consuming love story that you can't help but warm-up for. As it may be predictable, it's what I wanted from this. It's a simple pleasure read for those hopeless romantics such as myself. But it isn't an insta-love—there is build-up and tension, making the ending all the more magical.

If you are looking for a read to bubble up your heart, I'd say this is a perfect match.

Alyssa Huffman

this wasn't even slow burn it was more like a sloth covered in molasses and he's only slightly warm

sydney

*3.5

This book is okay but I feel as though it needed a bit more to it. I don't think that Savannah and Will really spent enough time together to have the ending that it did. Don't get me wrong they were cute I just think their relationship is underdeveloped. There should have been a few more scenes of Savannah and Will just spending time together. 

I received an arc through netgalley.

Vedha N

to me, this book was incredibly slow and i was forcing myself to read it, hence why it took me a week to read. the progression was very slow and i already could tell what was gonna happen at what pace and when in the book just by reading the back cover. 

buttttt, idk for some reason the second half, even though i knew what was gonna happen, i enjoyed reading it the way it was written with all the feelings. the whole boss + employee and grumpy boy + sunshine girl trope always gets me. they were absolutely adorable as a couple and this book was cute!

Avery Baumel

THIS WAS THE BOOK THAT STARTED MY PUBLISHING ROMANCE OBSESSION!! so obviously it was amazing. Probably the least substantive though? but still really good! also at the very least a semi closed-door, but good - hard to come by!!

Sheena

"Meet Me in the Margins" is a sorta-kinda-if-you-squint-your- eyes-and-tilt-your-head-to-the-side cute romance about Savannah, a low-level employee at a prestigious publisher company, Pennington Publishing, who discovers a secret book nook where she finds inspiration for her “lowbrow” hobby—writing her own romance novel. After leaving her manuscript behind one afternoon, it's soon discovered someone has written notes in the margins with sharp criticism about her work.
 
As the notes take a turn for the romantic, which is baffling to say the least, the aspiring author uses the process of elimination to identify her mysterious editor—a close tie between an old fling and her new brooding boss.
 
Does she manage to find out her mysterious, hit it where it hurts editor? Yes. Is it worth the wait? No.
 
The plot is recycled and reused. There wasn't anything original about the novel and to be honest the romantic component was near non-existent and rushed. There lacked chemistry and that special spark between Savannah and the lead hero to win me over. Nothing stood out—the characters, the storyline, and dull romance. More so, a lot of things were brushed over. Primarily how her family ignored her feelings and just easily accepted the fact that her sister became engaged to her ex-boyfriend of eight years after three months of dating. Like whaaaaat?! Why do most authors do this? Having the main characters' siblings date the ex. And there were no questions asked by her family. They just said okay and welcomed back the ex with open arms. Ugh. It's such a pet peeve of mine when picking up books like this.
 
Anyways, I think the only positive thing was the writing style. It was consistent and despite the fact it's well over 300+ pages, it felt like a light read and I was able to complete the novel in one sitting. All in all, there is a high probability I will read from this author again for that alone. Plus there is some hidden potential there, so fingers crossed she hits it out the park with her follow-up.

Started off a bit bumpy with the word-vomit, seriously how long can you draw out an opening scene where nothing really happens except a board meeting? It was enjoyable once I got past the first couple of chapters though, predictable and feel-good--just what I was hoping for.

Bethany

Premise: imperfect sister in a perfect family working at an anti-fiction/romance publisher who is secretly writing a romance. Enter: boss's handsome son joins the company, sees part of her manuscript, and begins seeking her advice about coworkers and workplace management. Simultaneously enter: a secret editor of her secret manuscript in her secret hideout at work. The rest is history!

All in all, a cute, fun little rom-com! Wholesome, slow burning, and a light-hearted read with no steam. Predictable, but I wasn't here for a crazy ride or something unexpected ;)

Joelle Kern

Premise: imperfect sister in a perfect family working at an anti-fiction/romance publisher who is secretly writing a romance. Enter: boss's handsome son joins the company, sees part of her manuscript, and begins seeking her advice about coworkers and workplace management. Simultaneously enter: a secret editor of her secret manuscript in her secret hideout at work. The rest is history!

All in all, a cute, fun little rom-com! Wholesome, slow burning, and a light-hearted read with no steam. Predictable, but I wasn't here for a crazy ride or something unexpected ;)

This was really cute! Predictable as hell, but cute. The spice level is a zero — this book makes some YA romances look raunchy. Which I’m not knocking, bc spice isn’t everything, but if that’s something you’re looking for…

Also, I normally despise protagonists who are aspiring writers, but the pretty humorous banter of the “mystery editor” helped keep a lot of the writer angst at bay. In fact, this author spent most of her time writing an ode to book lovers, not writers, and I loved that ♥️. A quick, cozy read for a rainy day.

Sharanya Sharma

This was really cute! Predictable as hell, but cute. The spice level is a zero — this book makes some YA romances look raunchy. Which I’m not knocking, bc spice isn’t everything, but if that’s something you’re looking for…

Also, I normally despise protagonists who are aspiring writers, but the pretty humorous banter of the “mystery editor” helped keep a lot of the writer angst at bay. In fact, this author spent most of her time writing an ode to book lovers, not writers, and I loved that ♥️. A quick, cozy read for a rainy day.

Faith Kitowski

This book was so cute and funny. I loved the concept and the characters! Once again I have to add another book boyfriend to my growing list hahah. Will is just so good. But I will say the only reason I’m not giving this book 5 stars is because I felt like the end didn’t hit home enough. Like I wasn’t quite satisfied with it, otherwise it was such a good book!

Megan BV

It’s a sweet story. Books within books are always fun. Probably wouldn’t read again or recommend much(except maybe to my mom.) 
William was my favourite part of the book and there wasn’t nearly enough of him.
My quick opinion is that it’s a quick slow burn clean romance set in the publishing world and I just didn’t love it. I really wanted to. 

Amal Hassan

This was a cute and quick read!! Definitely gave you’ve got mail so obviously I loved it!

Lynn Braden

Savannah Cade lives in the shadow of her important family and particularly her sister, Olivia, who is engaged to Savannah's former fiance, Ferris.  Her job as assistant acquisitions editor for Pennington House Publishers hasn't been going well either, especially when Martha Pennington's son, William, takes over much of the financial and managerial responsibilities for the small struggling house.  Savannah loves her job, but her dream is to get her romance manuscript published.  When it is rejected by her friend's publishing house, in desperation, Savannah begins a clandestine correspondence in the margins of her manuscript with a mystery editor who has also found the secret attic room at Pennington House.  Savannah begins to wonder who her mystery editor is and if the changes she is making in her story will finally see it turned into a published book.

I had many issues with Meet Me in the Margins.  Savannah is difficult to like because she allows herself to be stepped on by almost everyone in her life.  In addition, the romance between the protagonists is fairly simple, however, the multitude of subplots detracts from their story, making the book seem uneven.  Overall, Meet Me in the Margins has a fun premise that is marred by disjointed execution.

Heather Harrington

I went into this expecting a cute rom-com in the publishing industry, but it wasn't that at all. It was more focused on the main character's desire to become an author and writing her manuscript. There were some cute moments in the back-and-forth between her and her anonymous editor, but nothing to really write home about. It's also the slowest of slow burns and the pay-off wasn't worth it. Even though I thought it was just fine, I'd still recommend checking it out if you like sweeter non-steamy contemporaries.

Meet Me in the Margins

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