Jen’s Take: Love on the Shelf by Sheila Roberts
As part of my “Read Romance Books in Summer 2026” project, I read Love on the Shelf by Sheila Roberts. I loved the premise so much, but is Love by the Book really a romance?
Review: Love on the Shelf by Sheila Roberts
This is my first romance by Sheila Roberts, though I read her debut mystery, The Man Next Door. If you’ve read any of her other books, I’d love to hear your take in the comments.
And if you have read her “romance” books before, then you might know what to expect, but if not, I’ll fill you in about Love on the Shelf.
Love on the shelf had an extremely fun premise:
Nola and Alice, a mother and daughter who run a romance bookstore in Seattle face off against Parker, a trash talking radio DJ who mocks and belittles romance novels. As a romance lover and reader, it’s infuriating when romance is treated like less than other commercial fiction!
This rivalry was so fun and entertaining. Nola and Alice debate Parker on the radio, there’s social media sparring, a men’s strike, and a job swapping stint. The bookstore community was lively and fun and I enjoyed reading about them, and Parker made a great quasi-villain. The hate to love vibes in this were strong.
But I have to question whether Love on the shelf was a romance.
The main characters don’t meet in person until over a third of the way through the book. The hate to love concept was so much fun, but didn’t give me any romantic chemistry at all. I don’t think the characters even kiss until the very end. The characters talk about romance, but there really isn’t any. This isn’t a closed door book; there is NO DOOR.
Love on the Shelf by sheila roberts had:
- An irresistible hate to love premise
- A fun Seattle location
- Great themes about the positive effects of both romance books and sports
- A lively and wonderful sisterhood in the HEA Books community
- Publication date: May 26 2026 by MIRA Thanks so much to them for the advance review copy.
Love on the shelf is perfect For:
- Readers who don’t mind a romance with very little actual romance in it.
- Those who love books focused on family relationships and friendship more than romance
- Readers who enjoy a funny book with lots of lighthearted conflict and sparring. It remained me a little of The Bromance Book Club, but without the romance.
My Master Post on New Summer Romance Books for 2026 has all the top summer romance books you need to know about. Be sure to check it out and download my ultimate Summer Romance Reading Guide!
I also have two summer quizzes for you to take, my Find Your Perfect Summer Trope Quiz and my Choose Your Summer Romance Adventure Quiz. Take them both and get book recommendations based on your answers!
- My Master Summer Romance 2026 Post – all the summer books in one place!
- My Find Your Summer Adventure quiz!
- Grab My Summer Romance Reading Guide with a checklist of ALL the summer romances I could find, plus a bingo card, a coloring reading tracker and more!
