THE LIBRARY OF BORROWED HEARTS is the first time I've ever read Lucy Gilmore, but it definitely won't be the last. Chloe Sampson is struggling to keep her family together after her mother walked out on them a few years ago. She works as a librarian and she is just getting by, or so she wants everyone to think that. She is pretty close to drowning if she were honest. She refuses help from those closest to her. She is responsible for her three younger siblings, Trixie, Theo and Noodle.
THE LIBRARY OF BORROWED HEARTS has Chloe trying to solve a library mystery. She comes across a library book with handwritten notes in it. The book, which was banned in the 1960s was hidden behind a pipe in the library basement, which she is in charge of cleaning up. The notes in the book are from two young lovers and after her mean neighbor, Jasper finds out about the book, he offers Chloe a ridiculous amount of money for the book. When she looks at the check he wrote her, she notices the handwriting is the same as what is in the book. Oh, this is going to be a fun secret to crack!
I loved every second of THE LIBRARY OF BORROWED HEARTS. There are so many wonderful and quirky characters in this story. If you are in a book slump that you are looking to get out of, you can't go wrong with this fantastic story. You won't be able to help yourself from cheering for Chloe and her family. That is what happened to me and I just wanted them all to find their happy place. There are multiple points of view as well as timelines, but the reader will have no problem keeping track of everything going on. I was sad when THE LIBRARY OF BORROWED HEARTS ended because I wasn't ready to leave my newfound friends. The sense of community and small-town America is really appealing to me and left me missing the small towns that I have lived in. The writing is wonderful, and the emotional ride Lucy Gilmore took us on was thrilling. I heartily recommend this book!
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Fresh Fiction. All opinions expressed are my own and were voluntarily given.
A.J. Fikry meets The Bookish Life of Nina Hill in this charming, hilarious, and moving novel about the way books bring lonely souls together.
Two young lovers. Sixty long years. One bookish mystery worth solving.
Librarian Chloe Sampson has been struggling: to take care of her three younger siblings, to find herself, to make ends meet. She's just about at the end of her rope when she stumbles across a rare edition of a book from the 1960s at the local flea market. Deciding it's a sign of her luck turning, she takes it home with her—only to be shocked when her cranky hermit of a neighbor swoops in and offers to buy it for an exorbitant price. Intrigued, Chloe takes a closer look at the book only to find notes scribbled in the margins between two young lovers back when the book was new…one of whom is almost definitely Jasper Holmes, the curmudgeon next door.
When she begins following the clues left behind, she discovers this isn't the only old book in town filled with romantic marginalia. This kickstarts a literary scavenger hunt that Chloe is determined to see through to the end. What happened to the two tragic lovers who corresponded in the margins of so many different library books? And what does it have to do with the old, sad man next door—who only now has begun to open his home and heart to Chloe and her siblings?
In a romantic tale that spans the decades, Chloe discovers that there's much more to her grouchy old neighbor than meets the eye. And in allowing herself to accept the unexpected friendship he offers, she learns that some love stories begin in the unlikeliest of places.
No excerpt available.
© 2003-2026