When Sloane Parker first made the acquaintance of Arthur McLachlan at the library, she struggled to stay positive in spite of his bluster. He was well known at the library for being harshly abrasive with the staff. Most of the librarians ran from him. Sloane stood her ground. She offered up saccharine book recommendations that she knew he would hate, but she did so in a way that somehow won her over. He came back the next day and made a beeline for her, repeating his abrasiveness while she smiled and recommended books she knew he would hate.

This went on for several months, Sloane and Arthur parrying each day, same time, same place, until it stopped. One day Sloane realized that he hadn’t been around for several days and became quite worried. She looked up his address in the library system—a big breach, punishable by suspension—to find out how to check up on him. She finds his house and sees that it’s lit and there is movement inside, so she feels better. And then there is an argument she can’t hear, a crash, and a woman storming out. Sloane figures out this is nurse, or rather, his former nurse.

She is still worried and stakes out his house. But apparently she falls asleep, as she is awakened in the driver seat of her car, her coffee spilled and her book fallen from her lap. The noise that awakened her, a knocking on her window, is Arthur’s neighbor Maisey, who has breakfast sandwiches. Maisey climbs into the car to talk to Sloane about Arthur and how he keeps firing nurses, and when Sloane realizes that Arthur has been alone in his house all night, she rushes inside to check on him. She finds him in his kitchen, shaky and bleeding, having cut his hand as well as the apple he was preparing for his breakfast.

Sloane and Maisey patch him up and make plans to check up on him later. But when Sloane’s boss at the library finds out what she’s done, she feels like she has no choice but to fire Sloane. Sloane and Maisey infiltrate Arthur’s home and life, making sure he’s recovering okay and starting a book club. Eventually they add in Arthur’s grandson Greg and Sloane’s former co-worker at the library Mateo.

As the days go by and the group surrounding Arthur grows, they all find that the grief and pain that they have been holding onto individually is seen by the others. It’s felt by them all, and that gives them something to hang onto as they struggle with their relationships, their jobs, their dreams. and their loneliness. But just by being together, bringing their opinions and good food, they all find that there is room in their hearts for more than pain, more than sadness, more than isolation. The book club can’t fix everything that’s wrong in their lives, but it can give them a safe place to start from.

The Lonely Hearts Book Club is a heartwarming look at isolation and grief, at hope and healing, and how books and friends help repair the damage that life has done. Author Lucy Gilmore has created this group of individuals who are all connected in interesting ways but also suffering from their individual pain, dealing with the consequences of their own decisions. They all have strengths they bring to the group, and watching as they figure out their place is a true journey.

I adored The Lonely Hearts Book Club. I thought it was smart and witty, sensitive and caring. There is a lot going on in this story, and I was here for it all. There were delightful surprises all along the way, so the painful moments were woven into a bigger creation and balanced with humor and heart. Readers needing a pick-me-up after a heartbreak or looking for connection will find a kindred spirit in these pages, and maybe even find some hope and healing as well.

Egalleys for The Lonely Hearts Book Club were provided by Sourcebooks Casablanca, with many thanks.

✨ ℕ𝔼𝕎 ℝ𝔼𝕃𝔼𝔸𝕊𝔼 ✨

Happy Pub Week to Lucy Gilmore and The Lonely Hearts Book Club. 🎉 Thank you @sourcebookscasa for the gifted eARC.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗖𝗹𝘂𝗯
𝗕𝘆 𝗟𝘂𝗰𝘆 𝗚𝗶𝗹𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲
𝟯𝟱𝟮 𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀
𝗣𝘂𝗯: 𝟯/𝟮𝟴/𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯

📖 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁: Sloane Parker is a quiet, passive, introverted librarian - agreeable to a fault. She lives a very quiet life with her fiance, Brett (a chiropractor - but you'd better address him as "doctor"). Despite her relationship, and her boisterous in-laws, Sloane is lonely and without any real friends.

When Arthur McLachlan, a curmudgeonly old man, starts coming to the library daily during Sloane's shift, she begins looking forward to her conversations with him... even though he does nothing but insult her. She feels a strange connection to the surly old man.

But when days go by and Arthur doesn't show up to the library, Sloane becomes concerned and goes to his home to check on him (risking her job to do so).

Sloane discovers Arthur in bad health, and makes it her mission to care for him (as he's scared off all of his nurses). It is here that Sloane is introduced to a cast of equally lonely (but loveable) characters, who have nothing in common but their love of books. And so the book club is born! This crew of quirky characters will worm their way into your heart, and one another's lives, in the best possible way.

💭 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀: What a delightful, heartwarming book! This was such a joy to read! Oodles of charm and quirkiness. Loaded with heart and authentic, flawed, loveable characters. I'm such a sucker for unlikely friendship and found family stories, as well as books about books! Told from multiple perspectives, we get a little bit from each of the main characters. I highly recommend! 💕

Perfect for fans of A Man Called Ove! The Lonely Hearts Book Club is OUT NOW!😍
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✨ PUB DAY REVIEW ✨

The Lonely Hearts Book Club by Lucy Gilmore

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I’m a complete sucker for a book with great characters (especially curmudgeonly old men), unlikely friendships and BOOK REFERENCES GALORE - CHECK ✔️, CHECK ✔️, CHECK ✔️

The Lonely Hearts Book Club follows five very different people who are all in the midst of navigating some of life’s biggest challenges. And what happens when these lives unexpectedly collide? They form a book club, of course!

This story had so much humour and heart, I couldn’t help but smile!

I loved that each of the characters had their own story to tell and that we got to see each of them grow into the best versions of themselves while also developing these very special friendships!

If you are looking for a book to warm your heart - this is it friends! ❤️

Thanks to the author, @sourcebookscasa and @netgalley for the e-ARC of this sweet sweet read in exchange for my honest review!

The Lonely Hearts Book Club is out TODAY!

What a lovely story!

It really goes to show that having an open mind and kind heart will garner relationships with even the most unlikely people.

This was such a nice and heart-warming story about a group of people coming together because of their love of books and newfound friendships. Thinking about the start of this book club takes me back to the beginning of my own book club; I knew one person primarily and now, years later, I'm able to call them all friends and inspiration.

This story has multiple perspectives, which I think gives such insight to the minds and stories of each of the characters. By getting to know each character, it shows their interests as well as their weaknesses that the reader can emphasize with/and want to know more about. The author did a great job of feeding a little information at a time to really make you want to keep turning the pages to see what would happen next.

It was very easy for me to picture each character and location in my mind based on the details that were provided; the color and texture of a cardigan to the stacks of books around the house. I was able to easily see myself within the story.

This is a story about serendipity in a way; a group of people finding one another at just the right time in their lives. This was just the book I needed to read now. It was like getting a nice hug!

Thank you so much to the author, Lucy Gilmore, Sourcebooks Casablanca and NetGalley for the eARC of The Lonely Hearts Book Club!

It gave 'Lockdown on London Lane' vibes. I like how it showed different characters with their backstory. Relatable, feel-good and highly recommend!

Loved this book right from the beginning pages. Such wonderful characters, who brought me to tears and certainly made me laugh. The burden of loneliness, relationships between parent and child all woven through a shared love of books.

Guys, I loved this book. This is the most charming and heartfelt book that I have read in a really long time, and I am just overcome with how much I enjoyed this one. As the title suggests, this story follows a group of lonely people who come together around a book club and to assist an older man named Arthur after a medical incident.

This is maybe my favorite love story that I have ever read even though it is about purely platonic love between a group of people, particularly a young female librarian and an older, curmudgeonly man. This book is about grappling with feelings of loneliness, finding your own identity, and found family. This book made me laugh out loud and cry so much at the end. It was an emotional roller coaster, and I cannot recommend it enough. I fell in love with all of the characters in this one - Sloane, Greg, Mateo, Maisey, Nigel, and particularly Arthur who is not as cranky as he seems. This group finds understanding amongst one another despite their different backgrounds and finds they often have more in common than they thought.

The book discussions lead to so many groundbreaking discoveries and lead to a lot of healing for every member. The work they do together leads to benefits in their outside lives as well, and I just couldn’t get enough of these characters. I would recommend this book to literally anyone! A lot of people have compared this to A Man Called Ove (which I haven’t read), so my Backman loving friends in particular should pick this one up.

A book for book lovers! This book is A Man Called Ove meets The Reading List meets The Bookish Life of Nina Hill. A group of strangers — all battling their own demons— are drawn together by a series of events, to form a book club! And while they can’t always find the words to express their feelings… they can highlight a passage in a great novel!

I’ll admit this was a slower read for me, but I experienced true moments of joy, sadness, and triumph for the characters throughout— and I found myself wholly rooting for each and every one of them.

Read this if…
- you like any of the books mentioned above
- you enjoy books about books, and the power books have to bring people together
- you enjoy multi-pov literature
- you love a good heartwarming story

Overall, I think this one will leave you with a smile on your face, a warm heart, and a renewed gratitude for the role books play in all our lives as a source of human connection. I recommend it!

The word that comes to mind after finishing Lucy Gilmore’s The Lonely Hearts Book Club is “pure.” This is a sweet, precious story filled with quirky characters that you will love. Sloane is an introverted librarian who befriends a grumpy elderly patron. The only thing they have in common is a love for literature. When he faces a health scare, Sloane decides it is worth losing her library job to take care of him. They inadvertently form an eccentric book club that will tug at your heart strings. Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC!

This book was a fun read. I enjoyed the main character and would definitely be interested to read more from this author!

This book is for book lovers. This book contains multiple POVs, love, loss, grief, and finding ones self. We start with Sloane, a 27-year-old librarian who wants to please everyone and loves everything about books and libraries. One day, she stumbles along a grumpy old man who only wants to read about the Roman Empire and wants none of Sloane's joy or fun-ness. Come to find out, this grumpy old man is named Arthur, and comes to the library at the same time every day. Soon Sloane realizes that Arthur hasn't come to the library in a few days. She's worried and decides she needs to figure out if Arthur is ok. Advised to NOT check in with Arthur, Sloane does anyways and loses her position at the library, freeing up her time to take care of Arthur. Along the way, we meet Maisey, Mateo, Lincoln, Greg, and many others that are key elements to this story. All Sloane has wanted to do was create a book club, and she may do just that.

It gives "A Man Called Ove" and "Bookish People" vibes. You will fall in love with the quirky and relatable characters. It's heartwarming and funny. I loved Gilmore's choice to include the POV of a few characters to really get a feel of what was going on in everyone's life, not just Arthur and Sloane's. I love this found family!! Adding it to my favorites list immediately. I didn't think I was going to fall in love with this one, but I sure did.

Thanks to NetGalley and SourceBooks Casablanca for the ARC in exchanged for an honest review!

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Each character had a lot of depth and over the course of the book they all had tremendous emotional growth. I loved Arthur the grumpy old man and how he interacted with Sloane the sun shiny young librarian. The twist of fate where she became his caregiver and the book club that was formed leading to real human connection and friendship was incredible. I look forward to reading more from Lucy Gilmore in the future.

I am a sucker for grumpy old men, okay? This was sweet, heart warming, and fun. Quite a bit of a need to suspend disbelief, because I am fairly certain no one would really stalk some old grump they know from their library when they notice that previously stated old grump has missed a few of days of the library. That being said, unlikely friends is one of my favorite things when I’m in the mood for a sweet read, so this was a good time to me. And a book club is involved? Literally my dream.

Lucy Gilmore writes a delightfully engaging novel that will appeal to book lovers, set in small town Coeur d'Alene in Idaho, featuring the engaged to be married Sloane Parker, a librarian at the public library who develops a surprisingly deep connection with the feared, elderly rude and irascible Arthur McLachlan. When he fails to turn up at the library for several days, she becomes concerned enough to break library policy, looking up his address and visiting him. She finds him in poor health, confined to his bed, the old curmudgeon having driven away every nurse charged with his care. There is no way that Sloane can leave him, she insists on caring for him, despite it resulting in the loss of her beloved job.

It might not look like it, but there are surprising similiarities between the kind Sloan and the sharp witted Arthur, before long there is small group of lost and lonely souls who take it upon themselves to care for Arthur and become part of a bookclub. There is stressed mother, Maisey Phillips, running a psychic hotline, with a teenage daughter, Bella, Arthur's estranged grandson, Greg, coming from Seattle, Sloan's fellow librarian, Mateo and why is the famous New Yorker book reviewer, Nigel Carthage, so keen to join their book club? Relationships between parents and children play an integral part of the narrative. All the bookclub books, Remains of the Day, The Joy Luck Club, and particularly, Anne of Green Gables that ends up being part of a book intervention, resonate with every member of the group,

Ther reader is given insights into each of the characters, their lives and the tangled issues and losses they must work their way through with the critical help provided by the support group they have formed and the books they read. Gilmore creates and develops a set of complex and bewitching characters that you cannot help but care for and be charmed by. This is a beautiful and tender story that venerates books, and touches on the themes of loss, grief, love and friendship. I have no doubt many readers will adore this too. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

I did not go into this book with high expectations (or really any expectations) and it blew me away. I LOVED it! The characters were quirky, authentic, heartbreaking and heartwarming. Their relationships and inner dialogue were incredible. You feel like you are in the book with the characters. The book alternates between their different perspectives, points of view and backgrounds, yet it all flows together smoothly and connects you with the characters.

Sloane is a librarian, who finds herself as Arthur's (a cranky old man) caregiver. To cheer him up, she creates a book club with another librarian, Arthur's neighbor and his grandson. A group of lonely misfits create a bond and friendship - and slowly start to reveal the secrets they keep. A beautifully written story about loneliness and friendship and the bonds that we create with others.

Thank you Netgalley for my advanced reader copy.

I didn't really love this book. It was kind of hard for me to get into. I think I will try to read it again at a later time. But I still think it would be a cute read.

I was quickly sucked into this book and kept on reading--housework be damned!--until I was smiling and tearing up through the last pages.

Sloane, a librarian, decides to check on her most crochety patron, Arthur, when he misses one of their daily skirmishes of words. Discovering that he has had a medical events and chased off every at-home nurse he's been assigned, she decides to help him--whether he likes it or not. Soon, she and Arthur's circle widens to include a nosy next-door neighbor, Maisey, a telephone psychic who is struggling with her teenage daughter; Arthur's estranged grandson, Greg; Matteo, Sloane's fellow librarian with serious mother issues; and Nigel, Arthur's decades-long nemesis. While they start a book club together--again, to Arthur's apparent horror--the books themselves are a vehicle for working through some of their personal issues and finding connections in an isolating world.

I enjoyed the migrating first-person perspectives between the various characters. I also loved that the author did not take some of the more obvious story paths--although the book did lead most of the characters to tidy resolutions of their most pressing problems.

If you want an enjoyable cast of characters and a good happy-cry (and maybe a few sad-cry moments as well), this is a perfect book for you.

Thank you SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca for this arc. I could not but liked it. I felt.lonely.without my books..I feel alive with books. Here is a dicovery of the memvbers Sloan put somehow together. I felt so sorry for her and so glad she found her way at the end. The characters were really unique and was interesting discover what they were hiding and dreaming about. We have just one life

Multiple POV books are my favorite. And this book was. I Loved watching as each character grew as the story went on. Each character had a different personality and I just really enjoyed how the story flowed.

I went from sort of enjoying this book to almost crying. There is a bit at the end that is SO touching I got goosebumps. I love books about bookish people and this one is full of misfits, which I also love. There are multiple POVs but each character is given a solid chunk so it's not at all confusing to keep track. I fell in love with Arthur (eventually) and Maisy. But the ending, seriously. That was amazing.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.