Publication Date: April 7, 2026
Friendship is the love story you can count on.
Remy is lucky. Her debut novel, based on her three best friends, became an instant bestseller when it was released, and her agent and publisher are clamoring for a follow-up. But just as Remy’s creative inspiration seems to leave her, so too do her friends: one moves to New York, one gets pregnant, and one gets back together with her (awful) boyfriend. After an ill-advised one-night stand complicates matters further, Remy is left deeply alone—and unable to find her next book idea.
Simone is successful. A Kindergarten teacher with a passion for kids, and a well-paying side hustle that affords her all the material comforts she desires, she doesn’t have time for a robust social life. All Simone needs is her close-knit family—but after the true nature of her work is revealed, they cut her off, and she realizes for the first time just how isolated she is.
When Simone and Remy bump into each other (literally) in a bookstore, it isn’t exactly soulmates at first sight. Simone is guarded and prickly, Remy is insecure and heartbroken, and each woman is harboring a secret. And yet they might just be the missing piece the other has been searching for—if only they can let each other in.
Can Simone help Remy make one of the most important decisions of her life—and can Remy help Simone recover all that she’s lost? In Jessica George’s heartwarming, funny, and soulful second novel, she explores the restorative nature of female friendship and the life-changing power of platonic love.
Love by the Book by Jessica George is a women’s fiction novel that highlights platonic love and women’s friendships.
Remy has a core group of three friends with different backgrounds and personalities. When two of them relocate and their group dynamics change, it hits Remy hardest of all of them.
Set in London, we are introduced to Remy and her friends through their interactions and through her debut novel, which presents a fictionalized version of their friendship. It was sometimes disjointed as a result. When Simone, who turns out to be Remy’s new best friend through a chance encounter, is introduced, I couldn’t figure out her role in the story for quite a few chapters.
There are many secrets, many of them held by Simone. She leads two very different lives and becomes estranged from her family as a result. We are privy to her second career path and the luxuries it affords her. We are also aware of how her friendship with Remy changes her outlook, and she starts to let her guard down and feel things.
Multiple stories are told, and some are woven together seamlessly, and others aren’t. There are a few twists and turns right up to, and including, the epilogue, which takes place a year later and brings closure.
Love by the Book is filled with emotions, friendships, and love as Remy and the others embrace their lives without the close proximity they once shared.
Jessica George is the New York Times bestselling author of Maame. She was born and raised in London to Ghanaian parents and studied English Literature at the University of Sheffield.
