Ashley Poston’s The Dead Romantics and Emily Henry’s Book Lovers are contemporary romance novels, both released in 2022. I happened upon The Dead Romantics at Barnes and Noble just after it was released. Poston’s novel hooked me with a quick, couldn’t-be-more-than-500 words prologue, where the narrator talks about hiding their fan fiction in the baseboards of their childhood home, so I bought it the same day. Months later, I saw Book Lovers in the library and decided to borrow it after seeing Henry’s name all over my TikTok FYP for hits such as Beach Read and People We Meet on Vacation. 

Reading both novels consecutively turned out to be an Experience for me. Not only were these books released just a month apart from each other, but also I had a strange sense of deja vu while reading Book Lovers so soon after The Dead Romantics because they felt so similar to me in terms of the plot and characters:  

• In The Dead Romantics, New York-based, unlucky-in-love ghostwriter Florence Day is suddenly whisked away to her small, southern hometown after her father’s death. There, while she deals with her family’s antics, she unexpectedly (ahem, supernaturally) runs into an editor she’d previously met in New York, Ben. 
• In Books Lovers, New York-based, unlucky-in-love literary agent Nora Stephens is suddenly whisked away to a small, southern town for a vacation with her sister. There, while she deals with her sister’s antics, she unexpectedly runs into an editor she’d previously met in New York, Charlie. 

Okay, so I’ll admit I’ve kind of glossed over the different nuances and details to make a point, but at their hearts, both books are romance novels set in small, southern towns. When we look at the heroines of each novel, we find certain similarities, but definitely more differences:  

• Florence is a NYC-based ghostwriter for legendary romance writer, Ann Nichols, who also acts as a liaison between Ann and her publisher. She’s an introvert, quirky and mousey, and just came out of a relationship with someone she considered “the one.” 
• Nora is an NYC-based literary agent who is often compared to a shark because of the way she does business. She has a sleek, platinum blond bob, and loves her Peleton—the embodiment of what many think of as a powerful, single career woman. She also happens to love books and her sister, and also just came out of a relationship. 

Both characters are in the NYC publishing world and both are reeling from recent heartbreak, so even if they do have different traits in the end, they gave off the same “resigned-at-being-alone” energy to me. Also, both novels pair them with tall, dark, and brooding male love interests with hearts of gold who are both book editors (Benji Andor in The Dead Romantics and Charlie Lastra in Book Lovers), which I found delightful in terms of the phenomenon of “the female gaze.” 

And honestly, this is kind of where the big similarities between both books end. There’s another phenomenon I’d been thinking about when reading these so close together—when similar media are released at almost the exact same time in history. The movies “A Bug’s Life” and “Antz” are one example that comes straight to mind. Though some have their opinions about which one is recognizably better than the other in cases like this, when it comes to The Dead Romantics and Book Lovers, there are differentiating details in both novels that I really enjoyed.   

In The Dead Romantics, the modern fantasy element, a.k.a the powers Florence inherited from her father, is used in a way that really resonated with me. At times, it feels a bit wishy-washy and too mystical at times, and I wish there was a little more thought into the mechanics of it, but overall, I liked how it tied into Ben helping Florence feel a little braver and be more present. I also really enjoyed the side characters in this one—Florence’s family is so warm and fun, and everyone in the town felt like a pleasant mish-mash of the different types of people you’d expect to find in a wayward town off the beaten path.  

In Book Lovers, Henry’s small twist on the idea of an unlucky-in-love, bookish person was a nice, new flavor to read. Instead of the shy, awkward bookworm I’ve read about in many novels, Nora is sharp and take-no-prisoners, which is really fun to read in terms of point of view and also plays into the really fun, spicy dynamic between Nora and Charlie. Book Lovers also has quite a big side-plot involving Nora’s sister, Libby, and while Libby wasn’t exactly my favorite character, I enjoyed reading about how Libby and Nora’s late mother contributed to the Nora that we know in the book. 

So! Why did I do this? I couldn’t get it out of my mind after reading both. And it’s not that I liked one more than the other (though you may have your own opinions after reading this) but I thought it’d be fun to pick these two books apart and figure out what was the same, what was different, what I liked, and what I didn’t. The books may be similar, but there will always be a need for books like this—delightful, romantic romps that give me the happy ending I want to read. 

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