WITH LOVE FROM LONDON

A 35-year-old Seattle woman whose British mother took off for London when she was a child learns that her mother has died and left everything to her.

A few minutes after she finds out that her husband, Nick, a lawyer, is leaving her—to be with a 23-year-old paralegal at his firm—Valentina Baker discovers that her mother, Eloise, has died. Unsure of how to move forward, Valentina puts one foot in front of the other and simply…does. She moves to London and finds out that her mother adored books as much as she does and that—after a happy career as a librarian and book Instagrammer—she is now the owner of a beloved neighborhood bookstore in Primrose Hill. This is a charming tale: Valentina discovers who her mother was—and rediscovers herself after the end of her marriage—as she works to raise enough money to pay the inheritance taxes on the bookstore. Author Jio has taken a well-worn trope—American woman inherits property and a life in London—and made it her own, full of warmth, love, happiness, and books. Two storylines unwind as readers follow Valentina’s efforts to save the bookstore and explore dating and Eloise's life as a young woman who falls in love, becomes a mother, returns to London despite her unwavering love for her daughter, and opens the bookstore she’s been dreaming of her entire life.

A cozy bit of escapism that will leave many readers dreaming of true love and the bookstores they might one day open.