Published By: Headline Review
Pages: 352
Released On: 07/05/2026
When the Lost for Words bookshop in York hosts an event for a new reading project, four strangers’ lives will change in ways they could never have expected . . .
Trixie is hosting the event. She loves her job at Lost for Words, and she’s feeling grounded and calm – until a phone call from her ex throws everything off course.
Cherry only goes to the event because she needs to get out. Caring for her grandmother without any help is exhausting – and lonely. Maybe things will be different if her long-lost sister finally comes home.
Rhiannon and Guy really hit it off at the bookshop; it feels like the start of something special. And Guy is fantastic with Rhiannon’s baby. But Rhiannon is keeping quite a big secret . . .
When you spend time with people who love books, you’re sure to learn something about yourself – and maybe see a way to start in a different direction. As each of them is about to find out . . .
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Headline Review for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
This is my third of Stephanie’s books – after Found In a Bookshop and The Second Chance Book Club – and I love them. They’re like sunshine in a book. This does follow on from the other books but it’s just as enjoyable as a standalone. It has enough reminders for those who haven’t read the others, but it doesn’t feel repetitive for the reader who has.
What I love about her books, this one included, is how important books are; books, bookshops, stories, the sense of bookshops being vital to a community. And we don’t get that much in reality now, so it’s warming to read about.
She has also explored the idea of a carer so beautifully. No-one wants to care for their loved one, not truly. You do it and you’re happy to do it. But you’d rather they didn’t need caring for. I get that. My Mum is my carer and I wish she didn’t have to. And it can be a sensitive subject to talk about, but Stephanie has faced it head on and not shied away from the difficulties of it but she’s done it with such empathy.
Yes it is fun and uplifting and witty, but it doesn’t shy away from difficult topics such as loss, grief, loneliness, unpaid carers, romance difficulties, health woes etc. but it never feels too morose.
I loved all the characters. I didn’t take to Trixie or Madison (who work at the bookshop) at first. There wasn’t anything inherently wrong with them, but they just annoyed me slightly, but they soon won me round. Cherry is the perfect protagonist – and I love that her twin is called Peaches, it just screams joy. She’s very normal and relatable. She really cares but she’s a bit resentful and she’s grieving the life she could have had.
There are quite a lot of characters – some from the previous books and some new. I did worry at first if there were too many, because I do have a tendency to forget names, but you very quickly become used to it and you love reading about their individual stories and the story that keeps them all together.
I read it in one afternoon it was so easy to read, I just got lost in it and I wish I could visit this bookish community.
And I love a book that comes with a list of other books to read – although my to-be-read pile doesn’t.
Books By Your Bedside 