Everyone must read this book! Such a compelling story! I wanted it to last forever! It was such good writing that it made it a joy to read, and I tried to savor it and make it last. When I finished with tears in my eyes I wished I could read it again for the first time! The characters are all so well developed. A love story that survives for over forty years, despite deception and secrets. If you only read one book in 2023 make it this one! Barbara Davis is a master at writing love stories.

A dealer in rare books, Ashlyn Greer, comes across two mysterious books. No publishing company, no authors, no copyrights. As she opens the books she can feel the pull of the echos from the past owners of these books. This takes her on an adventure to discover where they came from and why they were written. While on this journey she finds unexpected healing, forgiveness, love, and family.

The story is told from the perspective of Ashlyn and each of the authors from the two books. It is beautifully written and woven together over a 40 year time span. Throughout the story we discover the heartache each character is facing and how they have dealt with it in their own way.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story and uncovering the characters past lives. I will be thinking about this book and the characters for a long time to come.

This book had potential, but it just ended up feeling long and drawn out to me. I would have liked it more if it had not seemed to delve into unnecessary details. There were some nice quotes about books and reading!

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Ashlyn Greer owns a rare book store where she both restores and sells rare books. She also has a "gift" where she can feel echoes of feelings from the people who have owned a book previously. This is called psychometry. When she is given two book with no author and no way to tell who wrote them she is intrigued. Even more so when she opens the book and feels strong anguish coming from both books. She has to find out where these books came from and who wrote them. She wants to know the story.

This book was actually three books in one because you get to read the books from the no-named authors as well as Ashlyn's mystery. It was an intriguing read and it kept me interested to find out what had happened between the two authors. I don't think I've ever read anything like this before. Ashlyn was also an interesting character with her gift and her history. I also like Ethan, the author Ashlyn met while trying to solve her mystery.

Thanks to Lake Union Publishing through Netglley for an advance copy. This book will be published on March 28, 2023.

1984, Ashlyn owns a used bookshop and receives a donation that includes a book with no author or information. It is the story of a romance gone wrong in the 1940s, and she believes it is a memoir and attempts to track down the origins of the book. This was pretty good. I realized how much more difficult it would have been in 1984 to find out the information Ashlyn needed than now, when we look everything up online. 3.5 stars rounded to 4.

The perfect read for book lovers! This book has dual timelines; in the 1980s we have Ashlyn, a young woman with a special gift who owns a rare bookstore and in the 1940s we have Belle and Hemi, two people from very different worlds and once their paths cross neither will ever be the same. Ashlyn gets a glimpse into Belle and Hemi's lives after she discovers two books whose "echoes" are full of heartbreak, guilt, and bitterness. Wanting to know more about the mysterious authors Ashlyn ends up on a quest to find out who wrote these books and what happened between them.

This book was wonderful. Once I started reading I didn't want to stop. There was just enough mystery and drama to keep the story moving along but I do wish it had wrapped up a bit quicker. There was a point about 60% in where I thought it could be shortened up a bit to get to the end. I enjoyed Belle and Hemi's perspectives the most since the major chunk of the plot involves the mystery surrounding their whirlwind rise and fall. Ashlyn was a likeable character, and I enjoyed her growth in her own relationship after having such a horrible past. This was a captivating and beautiful story that covered love and the power of forgiveness.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC and to Barbara Davis for writing such a gem!

I was pulled into this story from the very first page.
Ashlyn deals in rare books, she has an unusual gift. The ability to feel echoes and emotions when she touches a book from the people who previously possessed it.
She finds two books that have no authors name, no publisher. When she starts reading those books she is completely intrigued by the romance, affair and the mystery. The books are written by the two lovers. How they met and how the affair developed.
Who wrote those books? What really happened?
A beautifully written story in dual timeline that had me swept away by the romance of Hemi and Belle..
Can the power of love heal the pain of secrets past?

Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the opportunity to read this book.

I absolutely fell in love with Keeper of Happy Endings so I was super excited to receive an advanced read of her new book. The multiple time lines were intriguing and kept the story moving along, although it felt somewhat dragging in the middle.

The main character, Ashlyn, has a unique ability which drags her into the lives of two books she finds. These two books, were written by two separate people who were having an affair, each blaming the other one for the demise of the relationship. Love, mystery and deception!
.

“Books were like people. Each carried its own unique energy, like a signature or fingerprint, and sometimes that energy rubbed off.”

Barbara Davis’ novel, The Echo of Old Books, centers around the redeeming power of love and a bookseller with a special gift. Ashlyn Greer can hold a book in her hand and become aware of the emotion of the previous owner - an empath for books!

When she discovers two unpublished books, the mystery of searching for the author of these love stories begins. Can Ashlyn use her gift to uncover the mystery?

If you are reading this, you already know about the magical lure of books, but perhaps you need reminding that rewriting your own story is possible with a little bit of courage. This book will help you summon the courage needed.

Davis has made sure to give her readers a ‘twofer’ - two love stories within one book - each a compelling romance on its own. She also explores family drama, lies, betrayals and secrets, and reminds us that it’s never too late to change.

I loved learning about psychometry, seeing the parallelism between rebinding and healing emotional wounds, being reminded that forgiveness is more about one’s own healing than anything to do with the other person and that our wounds/scars hold significance for us and we need to embrace it.

This book is a fantastic read and I can imagine how wonderful it would be on the silver screen. Congratulations on a fabulous cover!

I was gifted this copy by Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

I really enjoyed this story of Ashlyn and her discovery of old books, leading to family secrets. There are many plot twists.

I really enjoyed this book. It is dual timeline, and the part in the past alternates between the perspectives of two different people. That really worked for me and I thought it had a really nice flow. I liked that books played such a large role in the story. I had a hard time putting this one down. I would love to see another book with these characters. I miss them already.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Official score is 4.5 stars.
This is a cozy, lovely book about the unexplored depths of heartbreak and betrayal, and I loved every moment of it.
This book follows Ashlyn, the owner of a rare books store with the ability to feel the emotions (echoes) of the last person to own/read a book. She comes across two leatherbound books with no authors and no publisher page, but the staggering amount of emotion that comes off of them pulls her into a hunt for the authors. Did I mention that these mysterious books seem to be telling different sides to the same story?
Regretting Belle (the book written by a man) and Forever, and Other Lies (written by a woman) explore the sordid affair and scandal that ruined a family's life, and just as Ashlyn gets pulled in and needs to know what happened, you'll be pulled in too.
This was a gloriously beautiful book about heartbreak, anger, forgiveness, and trust. There's suspense, scandal, intrigue, and then a plot twist that I hoped for but never expected! I laughed, I cried, and I prayed for a happily ever after, just like Ashlyn did. This book had a weight--an importance that goes soul deep, and it makes me so glad that I read it.

Ashyln Greer restores and sells rare books. She has a gift (or curse?) of feeling the emotions of the people who possessed the books before felt. She comes across two books with no author that appear to be two people who had a romance that ended badly. The books, told from the two writers, reflect on their affair and how the other was to blame for its failure. Ashlyn because obsessed with solving the mystery of who these people were and what, exactly, actually happened.

This novel has both romance and mystery. It’s an enjoyable read.

NetGalley provided an advance reader copy of this novel, which RELEASES MARCH 28, 2023.

This is a really cool concept with our main character, Ashlyn, feeling emotional reverberations from books. Not necessarily related to the contents of the book, but what the person who owned it felt.

Ashlyn is a rare book collector and repairer so she finds quite a few of these, even those with incredibly strong echoes.

She stumbles across an unusual book that has no author name, no publisher info, just a long tale which unusual vibes. Very shortly thereafter she is given a very similar book, again with no info, that is a direct rebuttal to the first.

These books tell the tale of a doomed situationship from varying perspectives of the two people involved back in the 40s.

This should be super juicy and engaging but it’s pretty dry.

Book Title: The Echo of Old Books
Author: Barbara Davis
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Pub Date: March 28, 2023
My Rating: 3 Stars

Ashlyn Greer is a bookstore owner and has a strange gift. She can hold an old book in her hands and perceive the emotion of the person who previously owned it.
She has found books that have no author. As she reads these books she goes on a mission to find out who they were and the truth as to what is really behind these stories.

I do enjoy stories about books as well as booksellers etc.
Although it wasn’t an exciting read, sometimes a light read is a nice change-up from my typical psychological thrillers!
I did like that the novel included ‘Discussion Questions’ which are interesting to think about even if you aren’t in a book club!

Want to thank NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for March 28, 2023

This is my second Barbara Davis book and I enjoyed it just as much as the first. The story unfolds in two timelines. In the first Ashlyn, a second hand bookstore owner and book restorer with the gift of feeling the emotions (echoes) of past owners of books, comes into possession of two books with no author attached to them. She quickly realises that they have been written by two people who knew each other closely.
The second timeline is written in the two anonymous books. One has been written by a male known as Hemi, opening with the pained dedication of "How, Belle? After everything ... how could you do it?", and detailing his meeting and relationship with Belle. The second book has been written by Belle in direct response to Hemi's account and opening with her own dedication "How??? After everything - you can ask that of me?"
Ashlyn herself has a strong back story and this, coupled with her gift, makes her more determined than ever to unravel the mystery of who Hemi and Belle, obviously pseudonyms, were and what became of them. She is helped in her quest by Ethan, the man who had donated the box of books that Belle's book had been in.
The story goes back and forth between Ashlyn's, Hemi's and Belle's storylines and I really enjoyed the two books within a larger book format. I liked the characters and the way the story progressed and ended up stopping up late to finish it as I had to know how it ended.

Oh this was just lovely! Love a book (or two) within a book. I flew through this - give yourself plenty of time when you start it. It is that good - books with a touch of magic? Perfection!

The COVER was the first thing, that caught my eye and made me request this book.
The STORY made me stay and finish the book IN ONE DAY.
A sort of “he said-she said” before it was a thing in the digital age. But with books and read by a later generation.
Normally, I hate miscommunication tropes—they are rarely done right and almost always sloppy—so I tend to avoid them. Or, if they sneak up on me, it makes me not like a book (that much). But here I found myself not minding that it was included, even rooting for the characters, feeling for them—my heart breaking as theirs did in the stories.


⪧ “Books are feelings,” he replied simply. “They exist to make us feel. To connect us to what's inside, sometimes to things we don't even know are there.”


Ashlyn's ability was beautifully constructed and portrayed. It was clearly a part of her, but it didn't make up her whole personality. In the sense of, it helped kick off the journey, but was not exploited as a plot device, or then forgotten later on in the book.
The characters were built up at just the right pace and felt incredibly real. It was so easy to get lost in the story and to not want to resurface again. Before you know it, the characters carved a space for themselves in your heart, and you dread the moment you have to let them go. Even though they made (a lot of) mistakes, you can't help but rooting for them.
And there are so many moments that are worth remembering and so many passages worth underlining. Quips and clever jabs at stereotypes and opinions made too quickly.
A story full of twists and turns.
One, where you can't guess where it'll take you.
And at times it seems like it's too much—there can't possibly be anything else to come!—but it never feels that way. The story has just the right amount of mystery, heartbreak, wonder, fun, longing, anger, and relief.
It's so multi-faceted and rich that you want to re-read this book as soon as you have finished it.

I highly recommend that you pick it up!

A book about a book is a first for me.

Ashlyn is easily relatable. She’s the main character who owns a rare book shop. She has a gift, psychometry which is an ability to touch and tangible, physical objects, which in her case just happens to be books. How amazing does that sound?

She quickly becomes obsessed with 2 books that have similar covers, and both of which have no author or publishing information. She meets Ethan Manning, the man who dropped them off at her friend's local thrift shop. The two of them get together to read and share what they think about these two books.

The story and the books are so captivating, beautiful, emotional as well as filled with mysteries of decades past. It’s a page turner that continues to keep you wanting & wondering. I savored every minute of all of it.

I love this book! I have to say the best book I’ve read in a very long time. I never wanted it to end. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher & to Barbara Davis this was beautiful.

I have read all of the books by this author and I loved them. This is probably my favorite. The main character in this new novel (a bookstore owner in New Hampshire) has the unique ability to feel sensations from picking up books. Image how she feels when she comes in contact with two beautifully bound unpublished books that have been donated. This is the premise of the book; the story of two people who through unfortunate events go their separate ways. In reconciling their differences, each has written a book to each other explaining what they think had happened. The bookstore owner is determined to discover the story behind these two books and what became of the people involved. I did not want to put this down ! I will absolutely recommend this book along with the author's previous novels.