This was a very nice read, easy to follow and very entertaining. I loved the atmosphere and the characters, and overall I enjoyed everything a lot. But I'd have loved if we could have seen a bit more at the end, it felt a bit abrupt for my liking, but that might be a personal choice, but I do recommend reading this!

I absolutely love books about books. A librarian finds an old copy of a book with love notes in the margins. The more she reads, the more books she finds the sweet notes and the more of the story she uncovers.

While this book focuses a lot on the unfolding love story found in the pages of the books, it also is about rolling with the punches life has dealt you and making the best of your situation. The librarian who discovered the books was left to take care of her 3 younger siblings when their mom walked out. I loved reading about her sacrifices and her deep love for her siblings.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for an advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for an e-galley of The Library of Borrowed Hearts.

Lucy Gilmore does it again. Characters you immediately grow attached to, a curmudgeonly old man who surely has a soft side hidden somewhere, and a 60 year old mystery centered around writing in library books - what more do you need to kick off your summer reading?!?

Chloe (a librarian who isn't really a librarian) is doing her best to keep her head above water and raise her three siblings. But when a basement clean out project ends up with a rare copy of a book, a book that has notes written inside between two lovers, she unexpectedly finds herself talking to her cranky neighbor. As she moves forward with finding out what happened to the star crossed lovers, she discovers that not everything ends happily. Will she reunite the two, or has fate intervened before the book came across her path?

The Library of Borrowed Hearts by Lucy Gilmore may just be one of my favorite heartwarming books of the year. This dual-timeline novel is a bookish love letter to anyone who has ever found solace between the pages of a book.

If you are looking for a great happily-ever-after to take on vacation this summer, make sure to bring this one with you!

Click here to check out the book today.

Thanks to Netgallery and Source Books for the eARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.

Read if you like:
- Found family
- A lot (and I mean a lot) of literary references
- Story within a story
- Multiple POV
- Starcrossed lovers

What is this book about?

Although the book is WAY MORE that what I am about to say, I think it would be fun to go in somewhat blind into this one. Our FMC, Chloe is a librarian that has been dealing with a lot. She is been struggling to take care of her 3 younger siblings while also finding herself and purpose. Little did she know that finding a rare edition of a banned book would lead her to solve a mystery. You see within the pages of the book, there are notes between two young lovers, back at 1960.
The book also follows Jasper Holmes, the curmudgeon next door, the subject of many nightmares and theories. This grumpy old man has been living within the confines of his regrets, but when unforeseen circumstances take him out of his comfort zone, he (and Chloe) learn that there is more to people that what you see, and that true friendship can be found in unlikeliest places.

Review:

To be honest, is hard to encapsulate what I feel about this book. The story is wonderful, and it's different from what I've read in a while (format wise with multiple POV and timelines). I cried, I laughed and while at times the story feels all over the place sometimes, it somehow made perfect sense to me. I was fully submerged in the story, and found myself picturing every scene like a movie. I could see myself in Chloe, and also in Jasper. I loved to see them grow and learn from each other, adored that despite their past (Jasper, you owe my girl a lot of frisbees) they were able to foster a beautiful friendship, fostered in respect and admiration. Theo, Trixie, Noddle, Zach, Pepper, were wonderful side characters, whose stories also were beautifully intertwined within the main plot. Which brings me to Catherine. I don't know if I should consider her as one of the main characters or side characters since we follow her POV on several occasions, but oh what a complex relationship I had with her. Strong, independent woman that made decisions that while I don't agree with, I understood. Her character, her story was one we have seen before (sheltered girl that doesn't play by the rules, falls in love with someone she shouldn't.) yet it was just so entertaining and wonderful to read. While I still wanted a little bit more toward the end, I did like the ending enough that it wouldn't change my rating.

I really enjoyed this one, and I am looking forward to more books by Lucy Gilmore. Thanks to Netgallery and Source Books for the eARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.

This is so delightful, it’s multi layered, connecting the past relationship between crusty Jasper and young Catherine, who communicated through notes in books in a small town library in the 1960s, and Chloe, a young woman who is navigating life in the present as she supports her three siblings.

SPOILER QUESTION: Is it a romance - are we guaranteed a happily ever after? The answer is tricky, so this book is recommended only if you can handle a bit of nuance in what defines a romance. There’s optimism for Chloe with Zach, a trainer working at the nearby Air Force base. There’s no steam (it’s all very understated), but a lot of possibility.

The centre of this novel is Chloe and her siblings and their friendship with their neighbour, crusty Jasper. He finally opens himself to this found family who have been living next door for over twenty years. This part of the novel is so heartwarming and poignant. It’s a bit angsty, but author Lucy Gilmore has such a deft touch, we can see how poverty has affected Chloe and her little family, without us being dragged through the details.

Recommended if you want a thoughtful, layered read. It’s got everything - dual timeline, cute and engaging kids, a lazy dog, the gorgeous love interest, literary references, but also hardship and grief and the effects of toxic parenting. It reminds me of Kate Clayborn’s The Other Side of Disappearing and I so recommend it 💕

Thank you NetGalley, SOURCEBOOKS and the author for the ARC. Opinions are my own.

A feel-good, dual timeline intergenerational story about two star-crossed booklovers in the 1960s and the part-time librarian who stumbles across the book they used to exchange love notes.

When Chloe, a struggling guardian to her younger siblings, stumbles upon a book with writing in the margins she takes it upon herself to discover more about the two people responsible, finding that it leads to a collision course with her grumpy neighbor and the story of his long lost love and the other books they shared.

Moving, heartfelt and perfect for booklovers of all kinds, this story is sure to make you feel all the feels. It was also good on audio and perfect for fans of authors like Freya Sampson and Sara Nisha Adams. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio and digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

CW: parental abandonment, unwed pregnancy

This was a cute and intriguing book!

We start in the present day with a book loving protagonist, Chloe, who is truly hitting rock bottom. As the sole guardian of her younger siblings, a college drop out and local librarian, Chloe is struggling to make ends meet and ends up needing the help of her grumpy old neighbor Jasper.

When Chloe finds a banned book in the library of the basement, she hopes to make a little money in a resell, but when she finds notes hidden inside she knows she has to unravel the love story.

In a tumultuous adventure with her neighbor, a very attractive teacher at her brothers school and a penchant for investigation Chloe gets to the bottom of a love story that spans decades and might just kick start her own.

The writing was lovely and had great pace. Gilmore expertly navigates the dual timelines and slowly reveals titillating pieces of information to keep us on edge the whole time.

This is a perfect summer romance read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for an eARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Another good book from Lucy Gilmore, I definitely thinks she's in her breakout era! I loved all the characters and all the literary references. The story was creative and original, the details were on point. Her writing has layers it's not just surface level chick lit, and the twists weren't predictable. Solid book

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the arc!

This was such a cozy, romantic lead! I absolutely loved the quotes from some of the great love stories and I adored the idea of them using books to communicate their budding romance to each other. This was a pleasant read. I read The Lonely Hearts Book Club and fell in love with Lucy's style. 4 stars!

"The Library of Borrowed Hearts" by Lucy Gilmore is a heartwarming romance filled with charm, wit, and furry friends. A delightful escape into love!

Wow! What a love letter to reading! This book wasn’t at all what I expected and I loved every minute reading it. It was a wonderful story of family and love in its many forms. If you love books, you need to read this. Thank you to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca | for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Absolutely loved this different story line and all of the interweaving pieces. A very fun read that is quite different than anything else I have read lately.

This was a cute one. I don't want to give spoilers away but I think some of the actions of the main characters were quite frustrating and a little unbelievable that people would have felt the way they did about said actions at the end of the book. Overall a good read though.

This story takes us between the present day, primarily focused on Chloe, who is caring for her three siblings after their mom abandoned them, and their next door grump of a neighbor, Jasper, and the past where a love story unfolds between J and C with notes written in the margins of library books. Chloe is struggling, but loves her job at the local library, which is where she finds a book that contains the love notes. She is entranced by the romance between these two unknown individuals, and is determine to uncover all of the details of their love story. The reader gets the full benefit of seeing both of the timelines and having an understanding of how they connect while Chloe, and those helping her unravel this mystery, do not.

Chloe and her siblings have endured a lot of hardship, and the book is heartwarming in that an unexpected and surprising relationship developed between her family and their neighbor, who has always been just an annoying curmudgeon living next door.

The book allows us to understand why Jasper is so guarded, but the family next door with all four of the quirky kids, worms their way into his heart. Hooray for found family!

While there are romance elements to this book, I definitely wouldn't call it a romance. I found it to be more of a general fiction book and I appreciated the depth and more serious subjects it tackled.

Overall I quite enjoyed the story and the characters.

I love books about books. This was such a cute and fun read, and I really loved the audiobook for it, with a whole cast it made the experience such a good one. I alternated between the digital copy and the audio but I really recommend the audio!

I loved seeing Jaspers and Catherine's perspective from the past and I think it was my favorite part. Seeing how Jasper opened up to Chloe's family was so wholesome, I absolutely loved their relationship and how it grew throughout the book, I recommend this book for people who love a good comfort read, with an amazing found family.

Biggest thank to netgalley and the publisher for sending this my way.

Chloe Sampson works in a library and is slowly drowning in life. She takes care of three siblings since her mother just left one day. She didn't finish her degree so she's barely making enough to support them all. As she's cleaning out the basement full of old books. She finds a rare copy that she thinks she may be able to sell it for some money to fix the roof. When she finds writing in the margins that alludes to a love story from the 1960's.

This book was so wonderful and so full of heart. I loved all the characters especially her grumpy old neighbor and her trouble making siblings. I loved it so much that once I started I could not put it down and finished it in one day.

After reading the synopsis, I knew it would be a good story but I had no idea how much I would fall in love with these characters. It was such a fun storyline but filled with incredible emotional depth that had me tearing up at the end. Highly recommend this book especially for anyone who uses books to immerse themselves in others lives.

If you love, books about books with classic references, then this is for you! A modern story for the classic lover.

When Chloe discovers an old book has words in the margins between two lovers, therein begins a literary scavenger hunt that will bring the unlikeliest of characters together.

Although, there are two love stories within these pages, one old and tragic and one new and fresh, there is so much more. Mystery, loss, and found family are just to name a few.

I enjoyed this book from the start with the dual timelines and multiple POVs. I will admit there were times when I vehemently disagreed with choices that were made (Catherine, I’m talking to you) but overall it added to the tragic feeling old classics sometimes depict.

I would definitely pick this book up again and would like to thank @netgalley for the ARC. I will also be purchasing this book to put on my shelf because how cute is the cover?!

On another note, If you are unfamiliar Tropic of Cancer and it’s origins I would recommend doing a little research about it before reading this book.

The library of borrowed hearts is a funny, emotional and sometimes quirky story that shows the power of books to unite lonely souls.
Librarian Chloe is struggling to provide & care for her three siblings when she discovers a decades old book with romantic notes between two people in the margins. Jasper, Chloe’s grumpy neighbour, offers to buy the book from her (for a ridiculous amount) leading to the discovery that he is one of the two note writers, and so begins a literary hunt to find more novels with notes inside to unlock the tragedy of the young lovers.

Full of references to, and quotes from classic literature that tie into the plot, this book is enjoyable and filled with loveable quirky characters. The mystery surrounding jasper and Catherine’s love story kept me engaged in the story but the ending felt rushed and incomplete, which let the book down as a whole.

This story will leave you wondering what exactly defines a happily ever after.