Meet Me in the Margins by Melissa Ferguson

Ever find yourself looking for the book equivalent of those late ’90s/early 2000s movie romcoms? With likeable leads, a quirky supporting cast, and a comfortably familiar format, Melissa Ferguson’s upcoming novel, Meet Me in the Margins, is here to help.

Savannah Cade works at Pennington Pen, a publishing house that proudly produces Literature with a capital “L” — and woe to the unlucky employee who expresses interest in crass commercial fiction! But Savannah has a secret: in her off-hours, she’s writing a romance novel. When circumstances force her to hide it in a secret corner of the office for a few hours, she comes back to find someone has left notes in the margins. After initial fury that someone would not only look at but criticize her precious novel, Savannah realizes the commenter’s notes are right and asks for help. Soon, written conversations on manuscript pages turn personal, and Savannah is falling for her mystery editor. But who is he? And what if, once she figures out his identity, she realizes it’s actually someone else she wants?

The start was a little rough (our heroine has a tendency to babble both in conversation and in narration), but I soon found myself thoroughly enjoying this light, endearing read. The leads are immediately likeable, with a warmth and sweetness that never veers too far into saccharine. There’s also an implication that the heroine is asexual, or at least demisexual, which was a nice surprise — I’m not sure if the author meant to imply that, but I like that it’s there and would have loved to explore that in a more nuanced way.

Meet Me in the Margins does nothing to reinvent the romcom wheel — and has its share of minor missteps — but what it does do is put a smile on your face and leave you with the warm fuzzies. 🥰

Meet Me in the Margins releases February 15, 2022. Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson–Fiction for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

—b