Not-quite-librarian Chloe discovers a classic book forgotten in her small-town library's basement. When she opens the cover, she finds two star-crossed lovers held a conversation written in the margins of the pages. Thus begins a dual timeline romance and bookish scavenger hunt that echoes across the decades and affects the lives of Chloe's family, who are down on their luck but not short on love, and Chloe's crabby next-door neighbor who refuses to give back the frisbees that accidentally end up in his yard.

I love books about books, and as a librarian, books about libraries, so this was a no-brainer for me. I most enjoyed the conversations found in the books and how they tied into the books' themes. There were a few instances that seemed jarring or a little too pat, but overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it. I listened to the audio version and thought the narrators did well conveying the emotions.

Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

What book lover doesn’t enjoy a story that centers around libraries and a romance that unfolds in the margins of books? This book was really cute, with a surprising amount of depth and a charming plot. This book gave me Iona Iverson vibes due to the loveable characters and cozy, whimsical feel to the writing.

If you enjoy dual timeline books, a bit of mystery, and a story about family (and found family!) you will really enjoy this book. I was hoping for a bit more romance – the major plot point of the book was Chloe, the main character, attempting to unravel the mystery of captured through love letters written in margins of old books, there wasn’t much romance actually shown on the pages and I would have loved to dive a bit deeper into that element of the plot.

I listened to the audiobook and I enjoyed that there were different narrators for each POV – it was helpful in keeping the dual timelines straight!

Overall, this was cute and would make a fun book club read! Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the Advanced Listening Copy.

Lucy Gilmore has this amazing ability of making the characters in the page feel real. Their pains and struggles as well as their happy and sweet moments are shared with the reader as if they were real leaving breathing people.
Chloe was delightful. Her courage, love and passion were impossible not to sympathize with. As someone that grew up with family members and has had foster children in her care before I can tell you with absolute certainty that the book was written well and real care was given to pains and difficulties in those character lives.
Jasper was entertaining, and this comment will probably sound funny, but Lucy writes cranky old man that you can't help but fall in love with really well!
I also loved that there was a love interest or two in this book. It gave it a little more heart without being over the top.
I called The Lonely Hearts Book Club a love letter to Book Lovers, but I think perhaps this one fits that description better. The book quotes and the cute way notes were passed through books between Jasper and his love were adorable and made me smile every time. I will 100% be recommending this book to everyone.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for providing me with an ALC copy of this audiobook! I listened to it after reading the book and it definitely does the book justice!

The narrators do an amazing job capturing your attention. They really help you connect with the emotions in the story. Their voices are easy to listen to and do not distract from the story or experience.


Below is my review on the story:

This was such a great read. It has heartbreak, romance, family drama, etc. all wrapped up in one book. It is something that I would recommend to others, especially if they are looking for a meaningful, yet fictional, story.

You will most likely find yourself with watery eyes at times, but you will also be exposed to moments that make you laugh out loud. The dual POV/timelines are done very well and the author’s writing style makes this an easy to read book that is difficult to put down.

I do feel like the ending is abrupt though. A few things at the end seem rushed or incomplete, that is the reason for 4 stars instead of 5.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC audiobook for an honest review.

This was a multi-layered, dual timeline story with several voices telling their point of view. The narrators did an awesome job bringing the book to life! While there is romance (two different couples highlighted) it was more a book focused on the family dynamics and the relationships beyond the romantic aspect of the story. Chloe is the guardian to her younger siblings due to the abandonment of their mother. I adored Chloe and her siblings! Chloe was such a strong, selfless character. Her job as a librarian, leads her to find a book with secret correspondence between J & C. A literary scavenger hunt comes about seeking to unfold the tale of these two scripted across the pages.

Jasper, the grumpy neighbor, had so many facets to his story. My heart ached for the cards he was dealt with...so much of his past story was outside of his choices. I loved how eventually he lets his guard down and chooses Chloe and her family. Great character development in this book!

Even though the book comes full circle, I felt like I needed more after the final words...an epilogue would have been the icing on the cake!

4.5 stars

This was such a heartwarming story! I enjoyed the dual timeline and multiple POV. The twist was unexpected and I felt engaged throughout the whole book! Definitely a great cozy read, especially for book lovers.

Dear The Library of Borrowed Hearts,
I just loved you. You had great characters, and a fun, and surprisingly emotional story. You had so many heartfelt and genuine moments, you just charmed me from the get go. I loved getting to know Chloe and her family. You gave me A Man Called Ove vibes with the quirkiness of an A.J. Fikery story.

4 stars!
Thank you Netgalley and Lucy Gilmore for the e-arc!

The moment i read the synopsis I knew I had to read this book! It has a really unique plot and dynamic to it, it was super fast paced and easy to read. The characters were all super enjoyable and well written.

The book did fall a bit short for me in a few ways that it's hard to explain. It was a good book but I dont know, it felt like things were wrapping up pretty sudden and also for too long in some areas. I wish we got more of the love story between the lovebirds and the book annotations. I personally wanted that love story to be explored a bit longer, mainly because I wanted to see more pining between them as teenagers before the reality of the situation came to be.

The ending also felt a bit rushed but it still wrapped up pretty nicely with all the characters overcoming their struggles and burdens.

I'm so excited to read more from Lucy Gilmore in the future!

Excellent book! I needed an "easy" book after reading a more intense and lengthy non-fiction book. I saw this one available on Net Gallery and downloaded it. I was very surprised at the excellent story being told. I expected a sappy romance, I was delighted that it was a family drama that had literary merit, unexpected, fresh characters, and a storyline that really delivered a welcome ending that was atypical from what I expected. Our main characters are Chloe and Jasper. Chloe is a 24 year old who is struggling to keep her family of one sister and two younger brothers together after their mother walked out on the family five years earlier. Jasper is an 80 year old curmudgeon and Chloe's neighbor. When Chloe finds a book at her job as a Clerk at the local library and is supposed to weed the book, she knows it's worth a lot of money. The book has messages written in the margins from C and J. Soon Chloe figures out who these lover are and the book unfolds in a lovey way with many twists that will delight readers!

I loved this book so much. The characters were rich and they all had their unique voices and perspectives. So beautifully written. The audiobook was really well done. I liked that there were multiple narrators.

3.5 STARS
TW: child abandonment, injury

Pacing was on the slower side but enjoyable. There were some plot twists and additions at the end that honestly shocked me, but helped everything come together nicely. I thought this was a beautiful story with an interesting premise. I liked the idea of some sort of mystery to be solved involving two lovers through books, I also enjoyed the interesting family dynamics of Chloe and her siblings as well as a lot of the character interactions and redemptions. And I always enjoy the “grumpy old neighbor opens up after helping some kids” trope, reminiscent of A Man Called Ove.

Characters were interesting and well done, even the tropey characters felt very multidimensional. I liked that we got to see them open up to each other as well as explore the past. I really enjoyed the time changes, it was unexpected but it gave the story a lot more depth than it would have with a single POV. I really enjoyed the insight into the characters whether it was past or present. I did think that nearing the end we got a couple extra POV chapters that might not have been necessary and made the story feel a little bit jumbled but it was interesting to see.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐁𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬
𝐁𝐲 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐲 𝐆𝐢𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞
𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫: 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐚
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝟒.𝟑𝟎.𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑆𝑜𝑜𝑛!


Thank you @sourcebookscasa for this gifted book.
And thank you @dreamscape.media for the gifted audiobook.


You can’t go wrong with a story about a love story written in the margins of old books - can you?

This one has so much heart and emotion! Chloe is a young librarian struggling to raise her siblings - their mother abandoned them years ago. Chloe is excited when she discovers an old, rare book she could sell for good money. But then she finds it has romantic notes in the margins. This sets Chloe off on a mystery and the discovery of a "found family."

There are so many great characters and plenty of warm and fuzzy moments. Chloe is so sweet and puts everyone first, especially her sweet siblings. I loved her grumpy old neighbor who wants to buy the book and isn’t what he appears to be.

A sixty-year-old love story unfolds as Chloe chases down more books that seem to echo these lovers’ notes.

A delightful read about books, unexpected friendships, and found family that will warm your heart.

I'm a librarian. I LOVE books about books but unfortunately, this one didn't grab me. The narrator was fine. As a librarian, I might have had too high of an expectation for this. The characters were flat and while there was a lot of description, there wasn't much else. 25% in and it felt like I was listening to a textbook. Nothing had grabbed me at all by that point which is my general go-to for a DNF when I'm forcing myself to continue. 😔 Referencing popular authors and "library stuff" all felt so forced.

A book lovers book about book lovers. The start and end aren't as strong as the middle but the characters throughout are heartfelt and believable. A good book for a boo club between heavy fiction choices.

Thanks NetGalley for the audio book of The library of borrowed hearts by Lucy Gilmore. I absolutely loved this, so cute and cozy.

Chloe is a librarian struggling to keep her head above water and take care of her younger siblings that she must care for when her mother leaves them. She discovers an old forbidden book in the basement of the library one day. The book has notes in the margins that piques her curiosity and leads her on a road of discovery that leads right next door to her curmudgeonly neighbor.
I really enjoyed this author’s last book, so I was eager to read this one. I’m a sucker for a good library/bookshop story! This book took me a bit to warm up to, but it wasn’t long before I was all in and invested in the story of Chloe, Noodle, Jasper, etc. I really enjoyed most of the characters, only having a dislike of a few of the minor characters. There were a couple of minor issues I had with the storyline. One being the fact that the paperback books would not have been in any kind of good condition by this time, and probably not still on a library shelf. And of course, the one part of Catherine’s storyline. But I think even in the end, that was redeemed for me, even if I still didn’t agree with it.
I received the audiobook version of this book. I liked that they used 3 different narrators and I found all 3 of them to be easy to listen to and engaging.
This book left me very satisfied at the end even though it wasn’t the standard happily ever after. I ended this one very satisfied and content.
Thanks to Netgalley and Dreamscape for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook.

I love books about books, libraries, librarians and just book lovers in general. This book had all of that, but it also had friendship, love, heartbreak, and so much more.
The main character, Chloe, is a librarian who is struggling caring for her 3 younger siblings. Next door lives the curmudgeonly Jasper Holmes. Chloe finds a rare book in the basement storage room of the library she works at. In the margins of the book are romantic notes. Chloe decides to find out who wrote them. In doing so she finds out that there is more to her neighbor than meets the eye.
This was an excellent book, well written and I finished it in one sitting. I came to love Jasper and his interactions with all of Chloe’s siblings, especially Noodle.
The story hooked me and didn’t’ let go with all its twists and turns. I highly recommend this wonderful story!

The audio version was great. The narrators did an amazing job!

Ok, so so cute.
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.
I am still new to the audiobook game, but this story spoke to my little librarian soul.
A family struggling to get by finds an unlikely friend in their grump of a neighbor, only to find that he is the mystery man who had written in the margins of a book long forgotten in the basement of the library. Chloe, our present day librarian is hoping to find answers to her own life in the margins as she reads through the tale of a librarian in the 1960's falling for Jasper, her grouchy neighbor. Told in both the past and present as well as switching between viewpoints, this story is any book lovers dream come true. I mean, writing love notes in the margins of books - COME ON!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5


Thank you, Net Galley and Dreamscape Media for this audiobook.
The Library of Borrowed Hearts is a compelling beautiful intersected story I could not put down.
While reading this book I smiled a lot, was mildly frustrated and almost cried.

Imagine working in a library (we all know that is already a dream) and then finding hidden notes on an old forbidden book (double dream). But that is not all my friends, these notes are not simple annotations, these are from two different people, two people who seem to have an amazing witty connection, but who are they? Who is J with his crumbly calligraphy? And who is C with her neat rounded one?
Chloe is not even a librarian, she couldn´t finish her degree to become one, she works at the library doing everything necessary to take care of her three younger siblings, but when one day she stumbles upon an old book with very interesting annotations into it her curiosity gets the better of it.

This story was so well written, with multiple timelines and PoVs. All the characters, even the small secondary ones developed during the book and I was so so so pleasantly surprised by how much I loved every single one of them.
Even the different PoVs are not placed as you expect them at all and they hit you in the face when you least expect them, not even once I was disappointed to find myself inside a certain character or time.

Jasper may as well be one of my favorite characters ever written. His story was so sad and lonely, but also so pure and true. And even if I know he doesn´t really exist I really hope he can enjoy his final (many) years with all his grandchildren and do whatever the hell he wants to!

Zach, Noodle, Theo, Trixie, and even Gummy Bear have all my love!

And even if this could be a romance book, and it definitely is a love story book, there is nothing that can overshadow the family bond between Chloe and her siblings.

Regarding the audiobook itself, this production was amazing. Having to voice so many points of view, so many different ages -from a 12yo to an 80yo- must not be an easy job, but as always Dreamscape delivers!

I loved this book. Similar to The Lonely Hearts Bookclub, but for sure worth the read. I loved the Jasper/Christine story line with Chole’s struggles. Great character development!