Review: "The Barefoot Bookshop on the Beach" by Rebecca Raisin

The Barefoot Bookshop on the Beach by Rebecca Raisin
Published March 2026 via Boldwood Books
★★★

Harper has a life she loves in London—a bookstore job, a side hustle as a book influencer, and a fitness influencer boyfriend. But all that comes crashing down when she accidentally shares her doubts about a hot new romance novel...and suddenly the only job available to her is way, way out of town.

Now..you know those news article about, say, a job opening for a postal officer in the remote Orkneys where it's only possible to access the island at low tide and then only nine months out of the year? Or about jobs that are available in Antarctica? If you're the type of person to immediately read those articles and dream about applying, you know why I picked up this book. I might never apply for those jobs, but I'm definitely going to daydream about them.

So Harper finds herself in the Seychelles, surrounded by meddling expats and a few mysteries to solve: What happened to the former employee who is mysteriously gone? Is her new boss the unfeeling money-grabber that the other employees seem to think, or does he have a softer side? And who is behind that hot new romance novel that got Harper cancelled?

It's a fast read and a lively one. A lot of the characters are borderline caricatures, though I think this is intentional; the book leans hard into something a bit over the top, a bit determinedly zany.

He lets out a frustrated sigh. "Have you been fired a lot?"

I nod eagerly. "Yes, too many times to count." (loc. 2774*)

So yes, Harper is sometimes a lot. She knows she's a lot, which is endearing at times—she has no filter and doesn't care—and frustrating at others (sometimes I think my brain is mostly filters). Most of the her new friends/colleagues also lean toward "a lot", leaving me to think that I would probably not find the Last Chance Resort a relaxing place to be, but there would never be any shortage of drama to watch...good thing the cocktails are cheap. (Side note: "no dating coworkers" is not always a fair rule, but "no dating direct reports" should absolutely be a rule, because the risks are real.)

The premise of the book is of course the Bookstagram drama: A new cowboy romance is getting a lot of buzz, but Harper is sure that it's been written by AI, and when she (accidentally) airs her opinions, the trolls come for her. I guessed some of the mystery before I think I was meant to, but on the whole I wasn't really convinced...though I do find the discussion of AI-generated books (and the discourse around them, and what it can mean for an author to use AI...or to be accused of using AI) to be interesting and timely.

I think I'll go back to dreaming about a little post-office-come-cafe-come-library in the Shetlands that needs a new caretaker—you know, the kind of place where the mail only comes once a week, and the cafe and library are only open two days a week, and the rest of the time you can do some maintenance and go for long walks and read a lot. But this was a fun diversion.

*Quotes are from an ARC and may not be final.

Thanks to the author and publisher for inviting me to read a review copy through NetGalley.