A romantic comedy perfect for a rainy day. Meg Cabot does not disappoint with this sweet story about a librarian who finds love with a local boy who returns to his home town to clean up as the area sheriff.

Molly is the new youth librarian in town. When she calls 9-1-1 after finding an infant in the library's bathroom, she meets Sheriff John, an attractive single father. Molly loves mysteries and crime-solving, and can't seem to stay away from this case. Will Molly and John find attraction or just keep butting heads?

I loved that Molly is a librarian and her love for the profession is not only tied to books, but also the patrons she serves! But I wanted more from the relationship. It happened kind of abruptly, then the book ends! I like these characters and I wanted to read more of their chemistry.

I wanted to love this book. I really, really did. However, it was SO BAD. I’m not even sure where to start. The writing was exactly like a young adult novel (nothing against them - I read them often - but I don’t expect my adult fiction to read that way, even light fluffy chick lit) except with almost bizarre single sentences thrown in to make it feel “adult.” For example the sheriff randomly talking about how he quit homicide in Miami because of too many bodies in dumpsters, and then a sex scene between two characters that were literally thinking like eleven year old at their first dance, blushing at the thought of kissing, and then BAM, single sentence about his fingers entering her velvety folds.

My biggest issue with the book wasn’t the horrific writing though. Was how hard this book tried to be “woke.” Yes that’s a cringe word but the entire book was so cringe. The characters kept making statements that LITERALLY sounded like your super conservative aunt talking about gay people (well, I mean, theres nothing wrong with that sort of “thing”... with finger quotes and barely disguised look of disgust). The random throwaway lines like the smug librarian saying “we like to think of them as people without homes, not homeless” and then going on to be extremely patronizing, gratuitous descriptions of a character of color where the author went on about her ebony skin and etc etc rather than just having it be parts of her character. The attempts to convey both of the characters were “progressively” were constantly underlay with a sense of “but not in my home” ESPECIALLY since one of the longest running “gags” in the entire book was every single character making fun of the idea of the sheriff in a skirt for laughs, as well as casual mentions of a luxury hotel done up in “plantation style” with “plantation this and plantation that” every other word as the epitome of goals.

Oh and a minor complaint that everyone kept referring to how tiny and quaint the town was with no secrets, yet in order to force scenes along there were often things like “oh that’s the sheriffs daughter? I had no idea. Oh, that’s the son of the prior sheriff who was run out of town in major disgrace, they all lived here for their entire lives, nobody had any clue he was the sheriffs son by a legitimate marriage and they all lived together as a family for fifteen years though! Somehow no one knows who this kid is!” Huh? Extremely lazy writing.

Hard pass.

Another cute summer read from a contemporary classic, Meg Cabot! In this book, Cabot definitely shows some love to librarians (she mentions ALA in chapter 2!) and it was refreshing to see a representation of my profession that was closer to accurate than is often portrayed (programming! parents! public servant! cleaning up often gross things!). In this novel, Molly is the new children's librarian on Little Bridge Island and finds herself in the middle of the quiet town turning upside down when a baby is abandoned in her department's public bathroom. She and the (very attractive, very single) Sherrif have different opinions on how to best handle the case, as well as other unsolved crimes on the island. It was cute, it was light, it was just a bit rushed, but ultimately after a string of several serious reads in a row, this was the palette cleanser I was hoping for.

I enjoyed this latest romance from Meg Cabot! Her characters are always engaging and full of spunk.

Set in the Florida Keys on a small, charming island, we meet new children's librarian Molly Montgomery. As the story starts Molly discovers an abandoned newborn in one of the stalls in the restroom. Enter local sheriff John Hartwell. As the search for the newborn's mother leads them into a larger web of local crimes, Molly and John begin to fall deeper into arguments and . . . love.

Is this predictable? Yes.
Is this fun? Yes.
Did the representation of the children's librarian bother me a bit? Yes.

Ok. It needs to be said. If I am having a program for kids and a teen crashes I will, for the most part, not say much. Especially if they are behaving. If they, on the other hand, begin doing "cookie porn", I'm not about to let that slide for even a bit. Seriously Molly, get your crap together!

Otherwise, this is your typical rom-com and your patrons are going to dig it. It's nice that it does have that sprinkling of mystery going throughout too.

Will not review because I could not finish it. It did not hold my attention. Not the right book at this time. Cops are a hard sell for romance.

#BLM

I always like books where the main character is a librarian, so I was eager to try this one out. Cabot definitely got some of the library stuff right. I particularly appreciated a part where a patron ruins a book and them objects about the replacement costs - that happens too often in real life, but she really nailed what that is like in person. This is a classic Cabot. Light and Frothy. Various characters doing ridiculous things, but being cute about it. I also liked how the hero was trying so hard to be a good dad. I didn't care for the part where the criminal repeatedly asks for a lawyer, and the cop keeps questioning him while they wait the hours it will take for the lawyer to get there. It made for a tidier ending, wrapping it up pretty quickly, but I dislike that.

This continuation of Meg Cabot's LIttle Bridge series includes passing reference to prior characters, a mysteries including an abandoned baby and serial burgler. Told by the new children's librarian, Molly Montgomery,and the Sheriff, John Hartwell, each chapter brings clues, humor and a growing relationship. Recommended for Cabot fans, and fans of contemporary romance.

One of Cabot's more average, sillier romances, but it had enough humor and banter to keep me reading. As a librarian, I was of course immensely curious to see how Molly the Children's Librarian would be portrayed. It definitely felt like Cabot essentially included her interview/research notes about librarians verbatim in the text, but it was a more realistic depiction of librarians then I usually read in romance. The Sheriff was okay but I felt like he was missing a lot of personality; he was mostly lovestruck by Molly (which was cute) but I didn't really get to know him beyond that so he felt quite stagnant. What I like most about Cabot's romances is that she knows how to write flirty, fun banter even if the story isn't my favorite, and I think this story will appeal to those looking for a breezy and not too steamy romance for the summer.

This book started off so well and I was really enjoying the thought of where this was going but I found the Sheriff to be extremely unlikable and I couldn't get past it throughout the entire book. I was disappointed that it felt like the book got ruined.

No Offense
A Novel
by Meg Cabot
HarperCollins Publishers
You Like Them You Are Auto-Approved
William Morrow Paperbacks
Romance | Women's Fiction
Pub Date 11 Aug 2020 | Archive Date 06 Oct 2020

Not the book for me. A romance between the librarian and the Sherrif. A little too silly but I don't usually read Meg Cabot so I didn't know. Thanks to Net Galley and Harper Collins Publishers for the ARC of this book.

3 star

Librarians love stories about books and librarians, but I didn't love this one. It was OK, but a little sweet and simple for me, but that is just my opinion.and it was written by Meg Cabot after all. ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

I just don't love Meg Cabot. I tried this one out because it was about a librarian, but it just wasn't for me.

A children’s librarian, Molly, meets the Sheriff, John, and tries to help him solve a case. I thought at times that Molly was just immature and silly and found it hard to relate to her. I received an ARC from NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers for my honest review.

I was really eager to read this since it has a librarian as the main character. I work with adults rather than children but I had a feeling I'd be able to identify with her experiences. Unfortunately I had some issues with Molly. I especially took issue with Molly wanting John to allow pictures of his underage teenage daughter to be published in the local newspaper considering how upset she was when John contacted the pregnant teen's parents. Molly came across as pretty high and mighty and I found her really annoying at times. Otherwise, it was a fun read. Not much of a mystery to it. I didn't read the first book and I don't plan to.

I do think fans of Meg Cabot would like this book more than I did.

Not sure if it was just me or not but ‘No Offense’ fell flat. There just wasn’t much sizzle between our librarian Molly and Sheriff John, who became a recently divorce single father and even with all the mystery surrounding the found baby, high school and home thief and burglaries I had ended up skimming through a few chapters out of boredom. It’s sad to report that this failed to deliver but would definitely reconsider reading something else by this author in the future.

When I saw that Meg Cabot was writing a book about a children's librarian, I knew I had to read it. As a librarian, she got a lot of the aspects of library work down pat. I didn't love the book though. I didn't feel like there was enough development of relationships throughout the book (not just the romantic relationship, but most of the platonic ones appearing as well). I wound up not feeling connected to any of the characters; they all felt kind of shallow. About 20% in, I put the book down to read another book, and I considered not coming back to this one. I enjoyed reading this book. It was good enough, fun enough, but I don't see myself really recommending it to others.

This was a cute but slight story about a librarian and a cop finding love after the librarian finding a baby in a bathroom stall. Although part of a series, there is very little overlap, you don't need to read the first one at all. The characters were not super well developed, the librarian's main character traits were social justice, has a lot of books, and wears cardigans (as a librarian myself, that's fair but I was looking for a little more.) I like Cabot didn't go the traditional route of making then care for the baby together... loved the insistence that she would go through the foster care system just like any other kid. Overall, the book was fine, didn't love it but don't regret the time I spent reading.

This is the second book in the Little Bridge Island series is just as fun and fast paced as the first. In the second book we meet Molly, a children’s librarian who is new to the island, and John, the newly installed island sheriff. Their lives become intertwined when Molly finds a newborn baby in the library’s bathroom and the two work to find the mother.

I love Meg Cabot and her writing style. Her humor and conversation tone make for a quick read. I can’t wait for the next one in the series.