A contemporary story about the unlikely friendship between the young and the old and a fight for dreams, a library, and embracing life. From the first page to the last, I was engaged in this story about a teenage boy who feels awkward and out of place in his life and an older lady who knows how to survive but knows loss as well. Some tough subjects are broached in this book, abuse, death, alcoholism, political strife, but all these things make for an awe-inspiring story that will leave you wondering are you living your dreams. I rarely read contemporary fiction as it sometimes feels like it is all cookie cutter and follows the same type of formula. Still, this one stood out because it had characters I felt for, a community I would love to fight for a library with, and places I like to see in real life. Also, it brings to the forefront just how important things like the library are and how easily we can take for granted that they will always be there.

The story of Tom and Maggie, two people who are the most unlikely of friends, but actually just what the other needs in their life right now. Tom, young high school kid, goes to the library to initially pick up girls in the romance section, Maggie, elderly widow, goes every Saturday for her book club. An unlikely friendship blossoms and both of their lives are changed for the better.
This story is about friendship, finding out who you are, and fighting for things that are dear to your heart.
I devoured this book! I laughed, cried, and felt my heartstrings being tugged. A wholesome read with loveable characters and a good plot. Thank you to the publisher via NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a sweet and heartwarming read. I loved the idea of a library setting and with two completely different characters. Without reading the blurb, I assumed it was going to be about two people who meet in a library and fall in love, but the friendship that was created in this book was so pure.

I loved both the main characters in this book. Tom has a difficult home life and a difficult past. He found it easy to blend into the background. He is an introvert who doesn’t want to show his true self. Being sixteen, he still has a lot of growing up and learning to do. Maggie, on the other hand, is an outgoing, extroverted woman. She is seventy two so is very mature, but I felt like she was still young at heart. They both meet in the library and I definitely saw Maggie to be Toms female parental figure in this story. It was wonderful to read about their bond. I thought Maggie helped Tom to learn a lot about himself and the world.

This book does deal with some heavy topics regarding family life but overall is a sweet, fluffy read. I loved how the book revolved around the library and the campaigns about that but we also got an insight into the characters lives. This gave the characters depth and allowed the reader to get to know them. The chapters alternated between both characters perspectives which was nice to read about. The chapters were easy to read and were relatively short. As the book went on, we got to read more and more about this friendship which was lovely to read.

The writing was very engaging and kept me intrigued about the pair. I found it such a quick book to read because I loved this friendship so much. It will definitely stick with me.

DNF @ 15%

This just didn’t work for me. I was so bored straight from the beginning and while reading I just felt sad. There was nothing that drew me in or made me connect to the characters. Not badly written just not for me. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the free preview in exchange for an honest review.

This was a sweet read. I enjoyed the two main characters….and I loved that their ages span several decades. I kept trying to think of the right word to describe this book and I think the best one is hopeful. . I enjoyed it all the way through and was so happy with the ending!

I really enjoyed this book from Bella Osborne. My first book by this author and lovely heartwarming story. I enjoyed seeing the friendship blossom between Tom and Maggie.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me an Arc in exchange for an honest review

A sweet story of a friendship between an awkward sixteen year old boy and a seventy two year old woman when they come together to save the local library.

I really enjoyed watching Tom grow and start to find himself throughout the story. Love and friendship find you when you least expect it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️






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This book was unexpected. I love any book centred around a library but they do typically follow the same general plot. This beautiful book didn’t and I adored it. The focus being on a relationship forming between an elderly woman and teenage boy was so refreshing and I couldn’t put it down. I was desperate to see how life would work out for the main characters and the ending did not disappoint. A wonderful, heartwarming story, thank you netgalley

I can't resist a book about books! Flawlessly incorporates deeper topics such as grief and loss along with rich information about the importance of libraries in our communities- wrapped up in a sweet meet cute romance. Overall a solid and enjoyable read.

This is one of those books where I eeked out the reading of it. I rarely do that with books but I only read 20% max at a time because it was just so good and so lovely and I wanted to take in all of the detail since it's the first novel I've read like this from Bella Osborne. I loved it and I highly recommend it.

Now I am already a big fan of cross-generational friendships in books. I think it's always a great jumping off point because both characters bring something to the table and so a collaboration could be spectacular but in this case it just runs even deeper because both of Maggie and Tom are lonely in their own way and neither of them are prepared to admit it. I loved this fact always in the background of anything that happened in this story, it just gave every interaction and every event a more complex meaning.

Then we have our third main character, our library. We know from the cover that this is going to be a book lovers dream but there are so many favourite books of mine mentioned throughout the novel and then there's the love of the library itself. This books hows what an important part of the community the library is and all the different ways, aside from lending books to patrons, that it serves the people in a town. I just loved the idea of characters pulling together in their share drive and passion for it even if they didn't realise it. And the love of books is going to make you, as a reader, very happy indeed.

I loved both Tom and Maggie as characters. Maggie is feisty and independent and everything you expect her not to be. It was a job reading about her and getting to know all of the surprising things you find out along the way. Tom had a special place in my heart though. I think I wanted to protect him and that probably comes from my teaching career, I hated the thought of him leaving school and being on his own, leaving the library setting and being in any danger. He's a teenage boy going through his GCSE year with such a turbulent home life and the things that we get to see going on in his head. He's a special person and I wanted to shelter him from the world.

We get to see what is going on in Tom's head because his side of the story is written in first person. I love a dual narrative structure when it comes to a book and I think this one would have been great on audio but it was equally fantastic on eBook. Tom's parts are written in first persona and Maggie's parts in third person which helps to distinguish their own worlds even further. I think that's why I connected with Tom slightly more.

This book delves into some deeper issues that can be going on in people's lives that we won't necessarily ever find out and I loved that it did that naturally as part of the body of the novel. I won't go into all the issues explored as I'd be giving away spoilers but I think that everything covered was done so in a realistic yet sensitive way and so on a final note I would like to applaud Bella Osborne and The Library for reminding us to simply be kind.

I love books about books and reading, so the plot of this one really called out to me. It started out a little slower but in the end, I loved the depth of the relationship between the main characters, and the way they changed each other’s lives. The rest of the characters were kind of one dimensional, but I think that made the main characters’ relationship shine even more.

While the book celebrates the importance of libraries and the position they play in their community, it also touches on much darker subjects such as grief, alcoholism, and death. Each of these was handled with care, and I kind of like that the book doesn’t just wrap everything up in a pretty bow. I was satisfied with the ending, but I didn’t feel like everything was quickly resolved.

I definitely recommend this one for those who love to celebrate the power of books and reading to bring people together!

This plot is one of my favorite kinds, a book about books! A meet-cute that is book adjacent leads to this cute love story, one that you won't be able to put down. Thank you to NetGalley and Aria & Aries for a copy of this book for an honest review.

Being an avid reader the library is my favourite place to be and I’ve never read a book about the library before. It was a really lovely heartwarming story and I think the characters will stay with me for a long time. I will defiantly be out to read more books about libraries now

Thanks NetGalley and Bella Osborne for an ARC to review.
An excellent book, I really loved it and didn't want to finish.
Tom feels invisible and his life centers around his xbox.
When a chance encounter leads him to an unusual friendship with 72 years old Maggie an outstanding story enfolds
They unit forces to save the library.
A must read.

Tom is the epitome of your introverted misfit teenager, and Maggie is the exact opposite. Rambunctious, vibrant and elderly, their friendship is one that warms your heart and tugs at its strings. Though the story is primarily about them, the added background of saving their small town library gives us an additional cast of interesting characters. I loved the growth of the characters in this book, and the pacing was spot on. My only criticism was that occasionally the voicing would switch from first to third in odd places. Otherwise, definitely highly recommend!

I love this author’s books, and whilst it was a change from her usual genre, I knew I had to read it. This is the story of an unlikely couple, teenager Tom and septuagenarian Maggie. Tom is a troubled young man who lives alone with his dad. His father works nights and struggles for money and Tom is experiencing the usual problems teenage boys have – revising for his GCSE’s and talking to girls! When Tom one day finds himself at the local library, he strikes up an unexpected friendship with Maggie, a member of the library’s book club.

This was completely different to what I expected, but it was just such a wonderful read!! From this author, I’m used to lots of laughs and cheeky romances! Whilst this book had its light-hearted moments, it was quite an emotional read, with lots of tender and life-changing events. Tom is a great character who I really took to. He’s obviously not got an easy life; his mum having died young and his father scrimping and saving just to put food on the table. Maggie is equally another great character. She’s a lonely old lady whose only interactions are with her fellow book clubbers at the local library. When, through distressing events, they become friends, their relationship really pulled at my heartstrings and I found they took me on an emotional rollercoaster throughout the rest of the book! Both Tom and Maggie have their issues and secrets, but as you get further into the book these all unfold and become clear.

Naturally, I loved the location of the book – who doesn’t love a library! I work in a library, so throughout I imagined the characters being at my library, searching the shelves and sitting round the tables! I also loved being at Maggie’s farm, and loved how much research the author has obviously put into farming life! Of course, it wouldn’t be a library themed book if there weren’t any books mentioned, and there is an abundance of titles, especially romantic reads spread out throughout the chapters (I even found myself looking for some of these on my own shelves!) Overall, this is a break from the norm for this author, but what a fantastic break it was! I found myself laughing and crying along with the characters and fitting into their lives perfectly. There are some trigger points in the storyline, such as alcoholism, grief, stress and loneliness, but they are all dealt with sensitively. I also loved the ‘saving the library’ part of the story, and thought it really showed how vital library services are to a community! This was a fantastic book and I found myself hooked into it right from the beginning! It is the perfect read and ticked every single box for me! Would definitely recommend!!

This was such a cute and charming tale of a friendship that you wouldn’t expect. Teenager Tom is struggling to fit in at home and at school. He and his dad fight at every turn until the last blows up and his dad destroyed his game console so Tom has nothing to do, so he decides to go to the library to study for his upcoming exams. While there, he meets a bunch of women who not work there and hold book club and he finds that he enjoys books more than he ever thought he could. He also meets Maggie, a pensioner who lives on a self sustaining farm and is a free spirit. When she sees that she can give Tom some help, she offers to let him stay with her in exchange for help around the farm. Tom learns to love it out there, and while his father works on himself without the fights with Tom, Tom and Maggie work to save the local library that the town council doesn’t want to fund any more.
This was thought provoking and light hearted at various times and it points out that you literally can’t judge a book by its cover-in physical books or in people “Friends aren’t merely the tumbleweed of faces that roll in and out if your life. Friends are the ones you connect with and who last a lifetime. You’ll pass a million people on your path and just a few while worth spending your time with.”
Thanks to Atria Books and Netgalley for this Arc in exchange for my review.

This was a quick abs fun reading. Heart warming, even. The characters drew me in immediately and I found myself invested in their ending. Definitely recommend! Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC.

I really loved this book. It was such a heartwarming story. I adored Maggie and Tom and loved watching their friendship blossom. I will definitely read more from Bella Osborne.

This was a lovely book all about two very unlikely characters joining forces to save their local library.
The story mainly centres on their developing friendship and their individual struggles. It also deals with alcoholism and loneliness.
It was a heartwarming book.
Thanks to netgalley and the publishers for this read.