Thank you Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book. I've read a few of Madeline Martin's books and was very excited to get my hands on this one. I loved learning about the paid subscriptions for the lending libraries. I had no clue those existed. The levels of subscriptions and the way those subscribers were treated was fascinating. I loved the characters! Madeline really developed them into a way that you felt what they felt. I loved the found family Emma gained and how they all worked together. I can't even imagine what the moms went through when they had to send their kids away. The ups and downs and positives and negatives that these moms and kids hand to face was gut-wrenching.

I did find the transitions very odd and distracting at times. I don't want to give spoilers for specific examples. As I was reading, I felt that sometimes maybe I accidentally skipped pages because the transitions were so odd. Hopefully that is something that will be addressed in final changes. The author's note took this book from a 3 star read to a 4 star read. I wish I could have read the historical information prior to starting the book. Miss Crane ... such an odd bird. I wish there had been more on her story. What made her the way she was. I feel like we were left hanging with her. I wish the connection with Miss Bainbridge had come out earlier in the book as well. That would have been a fabulous found family relationship to watch develop.

Thank you again Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley!!!

If there is such a thing as a cozy, World War II historical fiction genre, Madeline Martin has made it her niche and nailed it once again with The Booklover’s Library. The book centers around Emma, a single mother who takes on a job in her local lending library as World War II begins. As a widow, she’s technically not supposed to be working but a sympathetic manageress gives her employment that helps ends meet. Previously living in a world that consisted primarily of just her and her daughter Olivia, her new job allows her to form connections not just at work but in her building as well. Just as she’s settling into a new life with new opportunities England declares war on Germany, the bombings begin, and she is faced with the difficult decision of evacuating Olivia to the countryside. The book doesn’t avoid some of the difficult situations people in England dealt with, including rationing, evacuations, bombings, and the loss and missing men during the war, but it does so with a light touch that allows the focus to remain on the relationships and camaraderie of the people living through the dark times. And like other books by Martin, books and the comfort they provide are also part of the story. The stories feel a bit formulaic but I really enjoy them anyway. A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I knew I would add Madeline Martin’s The Booklover’s Library to my favorite book list from page one. There is not a character in this story that I didn’t like. Not a one. In fact, towards the end I found myself slowing down and savoring my last moments with Emma, Olivia, Mrs Pickering, the crew at the Boots Lending Library and all the warm and caring men and women I met on this wonderful reading journey.

I am an avid reader of historical fiction and The London Bookshop, also by Madeline Martin, remains one of my favorites set in the WWII timeframe. Many of the books introduced me to strong and determined women of the resistance movement during WWI and WWII; information I never learned in high school or college.

The Booklover’s Library is also a story of strong and determined women in WWII England. What sets this apart from other books written in the same timeframe is that this story is told through the personal perspective of Emma, a woman who lost her father and beloved bookshop in a fire and was widowed with a small child soon after. Her memories of the bookshop she grew up in and planned to manage someday, coupled with flashbacks of wise words from her adored father, are threaded throughout her story.

England’s “Marriage Bar” was new to me - I was unaware that women were not allowed to work after marriage. Emma was symbolic of the many widowed women, with and without children, who were not allowed to work in England once they married.

I had previously read about England’s Operation Pied Piper, the directive for families to send their children out of London to keep them safe before the bombing started. But, never had I read how the mothers felt, how they struggled wondering if they did the right thing sending their children to homes of strangers. I could feel Emma’s angst as she and Olivia parted. I cried with her as her heart ached to bring her daughter home.

Emma faced both these restrictions yet she managed to find work, overcome many obstacles and frightening situations, and create a life rich with love, compassion and community.

Having been to England several times I had shopped at the Boots DrugStore chain. I did not know that during the war years Boots Chemists, as it was called, was also home to lending libraries! I won’t go into detail as I am not one to include “spoilers” in my reviews. All I will say is that these lending libraries were a major, important and interesting component in The Booklover’s Library.

Like all historical fiction I’ve read there was a romantic component to this book. Several, in fact. But Martin does a great job in keeping them in the background for most of the book. Sure, they are obvious but they do not overwhelm the story she is sharing.

Please be sure to read the Author’s Notes at the end. Martin’s smooth and engaging writing style reflects her intense research and commitment to getting the facts right.

My thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing UK for a digital copy of The Booklover’s Library.

This beautiful story is set in England during WWII. It’s a story of love and loss, but more importantly of the bond between mother and daughter.

Emma and Olivia, mother and daughter. It’s just them against the world. That is, until war breaks out and it’s no longer safe for Olivia to be at home. What lengths will Emma go to in order to keep Olivia safe?

I enjoyed this book very much and will be checking out more of Martin’s books.

Thank you to Madeline Martin, NetGalley, and Hanover Square Press for this ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing. A great historical fiction written during the time of WWII showing the love and compassion of relationships with books and people to get you through those tough times.

After reading the author's note, I get why this book was written the way it was. It's meant to be a book about mothers and their unending love for their child. The cover, title, and description however make you think it's about a library in WWII England. Very little is written about the library and much of the book is boring. I might have enjoyed it more if I hadn't been expecting a very different book.

The Booklover's Library is about young widow, Emma Taylor, living in Nottingham during the early years of WWII. Legal restrictions prohibit women who are married and have children from working, but Emma stumbles upon a job at the Booklover's Library within Boots, and becomes Miss Taylor for the library patrons, and must hide from her coworkers that she has a young daughter. This book is a slice of day-to-day life for living in England during the war and the years of the Blitz. Emma encounters a cast of characters in her daily life, from her neighbors in her tenement building, to the library patrons and her coworkers at Boots.
This particular book was the first I've read by Madeline Martin, and overall, I enjoyed it, reading it from start to finish in a single day. This is a book for readers who don't require a plot heavy book but enjoy seeing a place and time from a character's unique perspective. Emma has a distinct voice, and showed development over the course of the book, learning to believe in her own strength and abilities as a mother, while also learning to rely on her friends. I recommend this book to lovers of historical fiction, who are interested in the daily lives of people in the path of important events in time.
Thank you to Harlequin and NetGalley for the electronic ARC of this novel for review.

I had heard so many good things about this book and was looking forward to this book so much. I REALLY wanted to love it. The first hundred pages had me hooked. The emotional parts were done well.

...but...the rest of the book kind of dragged out, was repetitive and predictable. The book should have been called "Us Against the World". The library wasn't the main focus as I was expecting and wanted. It was just the "side chick" to the "against all odds I shall protect my daughter" theme. The little that actually took place in the library, I feel like half the scenes were fluff. And can we talk about what a wet blanket Emma is? With all the women empowerment rah-rah going on in the story, when someone looks down on her for being a working mother or questions her motives, she turns into an Eeyore.
Super disappointed.

My book club read The Librarian Spy by Madeline Martin in April/May and were lucky enough to have the author join us for a final Zoom. During that call, we learned about The Booklover's Library, so I immediately came to NetGalley to request it.

The Booklover's Library follows Emma, a widow raising her young daughter Olivia alone in London. She convinces the manager at a subscription library to take a chance on her for employment, with most jobs being closed to widows. And, with WW2 raging and the Blitz happening around them, Emma receives instructions to evacuate Olivia to the country for her own protection. Independent to a fault, Emma must depend on those around her for survival.

I so loved this book! Learning about the private libraries in England was so interesting, that people paid for the opportunities to access new titles as the public libraries typically stocked classics. Emma's story was compelling, especially the choices she had to make as a widow and the obstacles she faced at every turn. Despite not having a spouse to help provide, so many doors were shut to these women while still having children to raise. One could really feel the discrimination and judgment Emma faced in all the decision she made in raising Olivia on her own.

I loved this book! It's well-written, enjoyable, and a great read. Madeline Martin did a great job of writing in a way that captures the readers attention, and makes you not want to put it down until you're finished! I would recommend it!

“The Booklover’s Library” is a WWII UK-based historical fiction novel by Madeline Martin. This book follows Emma, a widow, through the war and all that it brings her as a single mother during those difficult times. I liked the details of this book - how difficult it was for widowed women with children to get jobs - but also married women without children. I liked that this book was based in Nottingham, which is an area I have visited a few times. I found the angst Emma has for placing her daughter “in the country” - is she doing the correct thing - and her daughter consuming her every thought and action, but at times it seemed a bit too heavy handed. I found the job she held extremely interesting - even down to the quirky co-workers and patrons. I found the romance to be a bit too quick for my taste. I also felt the pacing could have been a bit quicker - there’s a bit of agonizing by Emma (understandable due to the war) but at times it seemed that that was the focus of the book - instead of having the story unfold naturally. Overall, if you haven’t read much about mothers during WWII in England and sending children to the country, this might be a book up your alley. 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 stars as I found the historical tidbits rather interesting.

This book seems to be a sequel to another book with the same kind of plot, but the two books were written by different authors. In The Booklover's Library, Emma has to find a job even though she is barred from working because she has a child. Her widowhood means nothing in this situation. She tells the manageress of the subscription library that she does have a child, but she's running out of money and needs the work. Because she and her father ran a bookshop, she is hired because she knows how to recommend books to the patrons.

After her training, she is allowed to help B-list subscribers and has to move her way up to working with A-list subscribers. She does an excellent job of working with the patrons and learning their idiosyncrasies. Mr. Beard says he does not like mysteries, but that's all he'll read. Mrs. Chatsworth comes in and talks incessantly but will read a wide variety of books.

There is a mystery within the library where books are being mis-shelved. No one knows who is making the mistakes but one of the assistants insists that it is one of the workers not paying attention. Because this novel takes place during World War II, there are a lot of reasons for the books being out of place that wander through my mind. I laughed out loud when I found out the true cause. I love that Madeline Martin worked that into her plot. There is a bit of romance in the book, but it is not the over-arching topic. The best part of the plot is the relationship between Emma and her daughter, Olivia. Emma had a hard time allowing Olivia to go to the country for her own safety. Olivia had just as hard a time leaving home and leaving Emma, to the point she ran away from where she was staying to go back to Emma.

This is a five-star book with two thumbs up and a homemade jumper a size too small.

Harlequin Trade Publishing provided the copy I read for this review. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

EmmaTaylor, a 25 year old widow, with a 7 year old daughter,Olivia, is desperately seeking a job in Nottingham, England. In 1939, widows with children were not allowed to work outside the home. A kindly manager at The Book Lovers Library, gives her a job as a trainee. As WWII approaches, Emma , like many other mothers, has to make the agonizing decision to send Olivia to the country to escape the bombings.
As England becomes embroiled in war, the library becomes a refuge from bombings and heartbreaking losses. Emma joins the Womens Volunteer Service to help civilians deal with their tragic losses. She begins to realize that every person , young or old, needs to become part of a community so all can survive.
As in her previous WWII novels, the Author makes us care about ordinary people fighting to survive an horrific war, as they go about their fractured lives.

Nottingham, England - During World War II

Emma Taylor is a widow with a young daughter and not a lot of prospects to bring in money to supplement the pittance of widow and child pensions from the government. She's barely keeping food on the table. But, due to strict rules by most companies, a widow with a child, or a married woman for that matter, cannot work outside the home. Emma grew up without a mother, her father raising her as he ran his bookstore downstairs from their flat. So Emma is very comfortable in the company of books. She applies to the Booklover's Library at the Nottingham Boots chemist (pharmacy) store, and is surreptitiously hired by the manageress. Unfortunately it means leaving her daughter, Olivia, alone for most of the day until school starts.

With war looming, Emma and her fellow employees, her landlady, and the city begin preparing for rationing, as well as the loss of many of the men in the city. Once the Germans start bombing London, it cannot be long before other cities are targeted. This sets into motion a nationwide decision to send the children in these cities into a safer countryside environment. Agonizing over this, Emma at first hesitates to send Olivia, but eventually makes the decision for her daughter's safety. It isn't easy for either of them.

Emma forms close friendships with her landlady, and a fellow worker at the library. She is disheartened by Olivia's yearning to return home, but once Emma volunteers to help in the war effort, she realizes how important it is to keep her daughter safe. The library hums along despite the war, although Emma keeps getting blamed for misfiling books. She's at a loss as to how that is happening.

THE BOOKLOVER'S LIBRARY is based on the real Boots lending libraries of the 1920s, 30s, and 40s. People paid a subscription price to borrow books. Regular libraries mostly carried the classics, but the lending ones carried the latest books. Emma must learn how to appease her manageress, the customers, and to hide the fact that she has a child. She must come to terms with it all, and the story shows her growing maturity, bravery, and love that happens in times of upheaval.

I loved this story and learned so much about what Britain and her population had to deal with during the war. Emma's kindness, her love of books, and her strength are powerfully portrayed in THE BOOKLOVER'S LIBRARY.

This started off slow to me but I’m glad I kept reading it. The sacrifices that has to be made during this time were heart wrenching, thr strength and courage shown by Emma was incredible.

I love the support she eventually gained from her fiends and neighbors as she tried to do whar was best for her daughter.

This is a different twist on WWII and libraries. I didn't know about subscription libraries, that women with children were banned from working and that bonds could be formed when the Tube shelters could become hidden libraries. This poignant story is about a young widow who is torn between making a living and the happiness of her child sent to the countryside.

I wanted to like this book SO much. I thought it would have many of the elements I love: WWII Home Front, books, women standing on their own, a fun library (especially knowing the history of lending libraries in Britain and Boots' early role), maybe a light romance.

But. BUT. This book had so little of the library in it I almost threw my phone (and thus the ebook) across the room. The amount of time spent in the bookshop during the course of the novel probably counts up to less than a week. It should really just be titled "Olivia", because it's just a long book about a woman's obsession with her daughter. EVERYTHING circles back to Olivia, and Emma is so absorbed by her there's nothing left of herself. I do understand putting your children first and loving them more than anything, but almost nothing of this story didn't somehow swing back to Olivia, a child who wasn't even present for half the book. And what a wet blanket Emma is, because every time someone might be judging her, she takes it and gallops off into worry.

I was also incredibly frustrated by the writing itself. All tell, very little show, It's stilted, weirdly formal, and honestly, kind of whiny. And so many random details the author wanted to include, but instead of incorporating them she just dumped them into the story, like talking about the sand under being dug out under Nottingham (view spoiler). There were just so many badly constructed, clunky sentences that begged for editing.

"Determined to now keep the wireless, she would now need to register the device with the government by law, as all wireless owners were required to do."

"Olivia beamed up at the two of them, her eyes starry as was the way of small children at impressionable ages when it came to seeing authority figures they knew."

"No matter how Emma tried over the next week, she couldn't clear her mind of Olivia lying amidst the rubble, immobile, gray with ash and the application of overly convincing cosmetics to appear dead."

This book was just a big flop for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

I wasn't that excited about the premise -- another WWII book? another book about books/libraries? The premise honestly feels a little tired. Readers want something fresh and new every once in a while. I wish publishers would take more of a chance. However, that rant aside (sorry ;)), this is extremely well-executed. Madeline Martin's writing is top notch, and Emma is a very endearing and sympathetic main character. I was invested in her journey. The author's research is also woven seamlessly into the narrative. The pacing drags a bit at times and I think the book could have been shorter. Overall this is a very enjoyable read, and I'm glad I read it despite not being intrigued initially. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy; all opinions in this review are entirely my own.

Thank you to the publishers and to NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book. It is a wonderful book, well written and well paced. While the time period is familiar (it's set during WWII), the plot is set at home. Instead of the traditional home fires book, it talks about the plight of women needing to work but kept from it by either marriage or motherhood. At a time when women needed the security of work the most, the government made it impossible. This adds a wonderful tension to the book; will our heroine get to keep her job or not. There are also a few other mysteries in the book to add twists and turns. If you love WWII fiction, I recommend this book!

Thank you netgalley for the opportunity to read and provide an honest review.

This is beautiful. From the cover to the story. An underground hidden library during war time.. I'm a huge fan of historical fiction, so this was right up my alley. The cover drew me in... but it was the amazingly written story that kept me from putting it down.