ARC Review: Meet Me in the Margins by Melissa Ferguson

“As a romance lover, I would have loved for more on the page romancing in real life.”
~ Under the Covers

Savannah Cade works as an editor at Pennington Publishing, where she edits highbrow titles. Savannah is secretly working on a romance novel, one she can’t let anyone at work find out about, and she found a secret room in her publishing house that gives her space to work on her novel. One day, Savannah comes back to find that someone has written notes in the margin. After first ignoring the comments, Savannah comes back to them to improve her novel and fulfill her dream of becoming a romance author. Slowly, through notes in the margins, Savannah falls for her mysterious editor while battling blossoming feelings for someone she works with.

Meet Me in the Margins was a fun look inside a publishing house, the life of an editor, and the life of a romance novelist. The ARC room and the secret inside of it sounded like every book lover’s dream. I enjoyed some of the parallels between Savannah’s real life and the novel she was writing. It was well written, and I enjoyed the banter that occurred in the margins of the manuscript. I also thought that the love interest worked well with Savannah, they had mutual respect and honesty. I enjoyed watching the two of them interact. As a romance lover, I would have loved for more on the page romancing in real life. This was a slow burn both in finding out who the mysterious editor was and the first kiss.

Savannah was a character that I was rooting for from the beginning. As I was reading this though, I found myself wishing that she would find the strength to stand up for herself and demand better, both with her family and at work where others took credit for her ideas or dismissed her. I found the things she would do for her family stressful; it was an authentic portrayal of how family dynamics can work, but the problems with it didn’t get addressed well enough to work for me. I appreciated how Melissa Ferguson delved into Savannah’s feelings regarding her living situation and family life, it felt honest. I think that a few side characters, like Lyla, could have been fleshed out a little better to add more depth to them and the story. I did enjoy watching their interactions and found myself enjoying myself.

This was a sweet, fast-paced love story taking place inside of a publishing house.