Sarah Chamberlain’s debut, The Slowest Burn, was a book I really enjoyed, so her second novel, Love Walked In was always going to be on my radar. Between the enemies-to-lovers setup, forced proximity and a bookstore setting, this one checked a lot of boxes before I even opened it. Chamberlain’s writing remains intimate and character-focused, and Love Walked In leans into many of the same themes that made her first book stand out—connection, vulnerability and the slow process of letting someone in.

Mari Cole’s whole life is her dream job: rescuing and revitalizing indie bookstores. Friendship? Love? No thanks. After a hard childhood, she doesn’t want to get too close to anyone. Besides, books have never let Mari down the way people have. Then she gets the offer of a lifetime: rescuing Ross & Co. Once the most prestigious independent booksellers in London, the store is a shadow of its former self and needs an expert outsider to turn things around. But the offer turns out to be a double-edged sword: Leo Ross, the store’s new owner, is as cold and hostile as the British winter.

For as long as he can remember, Leo Ross has known his future is becoming the next generation to run Ross and Co. He’s sacrificed almost everything he cares about, but the bookshop is still failing on his watch, and now there’s an obnoxiously cheerful American woman convinced that she’s going to magically make everything better. Leo’s life is difficult and messy enough as it is, and he doesn’t want her help.

When Mari and Leo are forced to work closely together to bring the store back to life, Leo’s icy surface thaws to reveal the passionate man underneath. As winter gives way to the possibility of new beginnings, Mari begins to see that true love could be even better in real life than in the pages of a book. Can they put their pasts aside and learn to let love in?

On paper, Love Walked In had a lot going for it. Enemies-to-lovers and forced proximity are two tropes I almost always enjoy, and setting a romance in a bookstore is an easy win. I went in fully expecting to like this one. And while there were elements that worked—some of them really well—the overall execution didn’t quite come together for me.

What didn’t work for me

Leo as a love interest: This was the biggest hurdle. I completely understood Mari—her hesitancy, her walls, her fear of letting someone in all felt earned given her past. Leo, on the other hand, was much harder to get behind. His grumpiness felt disproportionate to his issues, especially when compared to what Mari had been through, and his early behaviour crossed from guarded into just… needlessly mean. I could see what the book wanted me to feel about him, but emotionally, I never quite got there. Even by the end, when his devotion was clear, he just wasn’t my favourite male lead.

The Vinay storyline: This whole arc left a bad taste in my mouth. Leo’s friend Vinay behaved poorly, and I was surprised by how little the narrative—and the other characters—seemed to interrogate that. It felt brushed off in a way that didn’t sit right with me.

The Graham plotline: I liked Graham in the bookstore and in his interactions with Catriona, but the secondary storyline attached to him (keeping this spoiler-free) felt overly convenient. I can see what it was meant to add to the story, but it stretched my suspension of disbelief a little too far.

What I liked

Mari: She was easy to root for. Her emotional responses made sense, her caution felt realistic, and her growth over the course of the book was handled with care.

The sickness caretaking trope: I’m not going too deep into spoiler territory with this because it’s fairly early on, but this was genuinely lovely. Watching Leo step up, and the two of them slowly begin to care for each other through vulnerability rather than conflict, was one of the strongest parts of the book. It softened their dynamic in a way that felt natural and earned.

The bookstore setting—and the sisters: The bookstore itself was cozy and charming, and I wish we’d spent even more time there. Leo’s sisters were also a highlight—fun, warm and terribly underused. I would have happily read more scenes with them.

Final thoughts

Love Walked In has all the right ingredients, and parts of it really do work. But uneven characterization and a few too-convenient plot choices held it back for me. I enjoyed moments of it, appreciated what it was trying to do, and can see why it might work better for other readers—but overall, it didn’t fully win me over.

3 STARS

“If you never face the past, it’s just going​ to keep coming after you. And I’m trying to tell you that I can be beside you​ when you face it.” —Sarah Chamberlain, Love Walked In

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.