Monday, April 29, 2024

4.29.2024 - The Library of Borrowed Hearts

The Library of Borrowed Hearts by Lucy Gilmore 

Many thanks to NetGalley, Sourcebooks Casablanca and Dreamscape Media for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of the.latest book by Lucy Gilmore, and perfectly narrated by the cast of Leanne Woodward, Aven Shore, Joe Jameson, and Bob Ball.  All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4.5 stars!

Chloe Sampson had to abandon her dreams to take care of her siblings when their mom abandoned them.  Now she's working at the library instead of being an actual librarian since she didn't complete her degree.  She's at her wit's end trying to do it all - work, take care of her three siblings, figure out how to make her money stretch.  In the library basement, she finds an old book destined to be trashed that she recognizes has some value and takes it home with her.  Then she discovers that there appears to be correspondence written in the margins between young lovers, and she figures out that one of the parties might be her grumpy next-door neighbor.  She begins to investigate. 

I love books about books; add in a strong family and I'm sold.  You will find yourself rooting for so many characters in this book.  I started reading it, but switched over to the audiobook and the cast of narrators was excellent.  Told in many POV, they all did a great job portraying these many characters.  The story goes back in time as we learn about the love story between the couple writing in the book.  While I wish Chloe could have obtained the book in a bit more legal circumstances (maybe at a library book sale?) and writing in library books makes for a great story but let's hope people aren't really doing that!, it's fiction so we'll overlook all that!  There are so many messages here wrapped up in a great story - family loyalty and obligation, different kinds of love and connections, and remembering that everyone has a story.

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