Do books or other objects hold echoes of their owners? This is an intriguing idea, one I had never heard or thought of before, psychometry is the ability to find out about a person or event by touching an inanimate object. Ashlyn discovered she had this ability with books when she was younger, seeking refuge from a tough home life in the bookstore, welcomed by its owner. Now the shop is hers and she spends time repairing and selling old and rare books. When she discovers two books with no publishing information that appear to be two sides of the same story, she is pulled into the story and the emotions and is determined to solve the mystery behind the books and their authors.
I loved the mix of mystery, history, and romance, as well as the books within a book. Barbara Davis’s THE ECHO OF OLD BOOKS will sit with me for a long time to come.
Thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of the novel. All opinions are my own and freely given.
#BarbaraDavis #TheEchoofOldBooks #lakeunionpublishing

A seller and restorer of old books, Ashley Greer, stumbles upon two old books, no author names or other salient information to them, but within, she finds a story of romance between two people of very different economic backgrounds, and a rancorous split between these strangers.

Ashley begins trying to find out who these two people could be, and makes the acquaintance of a professor who might be related to one of the writers. More digging reveals identities, and a whole load of ugly family baggage, including abuse, a fondness for fascism, anti-semitism, and two people nursing their resentments against each other for many years. And Ashley deals with some family baggage of her own and starts a romance.

I felt an almost constant level of low grade irritation reading this. I like epistolary novels, and this novel has big chunks devoted to the mystery lovers relating events in the past from their own perspectives. Though I initially enjoyed these, I quickly tired of all the melodrama. I also had little to no patience for Ashley, despite initially sympathizing with her. I’m really not sure what soured me on this book, but despite having story elements I generally like, this book fell flat for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Lake Union Publishing for this ARC in exchange for my review.

This is the perfect book for book lovers, a book within a book. Beautifully written, and an interesting concept.

Thank you to NetGalley UK for a free ebook in exchange for an honest review.

𝘊𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭!

I discovered Barbara Davis thanks to Insta and I fell in love with her writing style. I loved everything about this story it was so beautifully written I’m sure it will stay with me for a long time. All the stars.

Part historical fiction, part romance, the book is told in dual timelines, in the 1940’s and 1980’s. Ashlyn owns a bookstore, a place of solace for her broken heart and tragic family life. When she discovers two old books without authors or copyright, Ashlyn becomes immersed in the story of Hemi and Belle, as told by each of them. Ashlyn is determined to find out if the stories were true, and embarks on a project to discover the truth. Belle and Hemi’s story was one of deep love, but one that was star crossed, due to the times and the people around them. I recommend the book. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Sometimes the best books are about… books! 📕📗📘📙

In the Echo of Old Books, Ashlyn works as a rare-book dealer. She has a gift where feel the echoes of the book’s previous owners. She finds 2 bound volumes that were never published and she’s becomes obsessed with trying to solve who these belong to.

The books she finds are about tforbidden romance between Hemi and Belle. I really enjoyed the mystery and the dual timelines, although I liked Ashlyn’s story more. If you like the book within a book, I think you’ll be very happy with this story!

Many thanks to @suzyapprovedbooktours @bdavisauthor and @lakeunion authors.

"Was it possible to register the emotion of another person simply by touching ab object that has belonged to them?"
This book is by far the best read of 2023 for me. I was introduced to the term Psychometry through this book

The main character Ashlyn works in books binding and preservation of old books and is gifted with a unique ability to sense emotions of other people by touching the books that once belonged to them.
Interesting, right?
Even this premise set in starting was enough to keep me hooked to this book
But it gets better. She receives a book by anonymous author and gets these intense echoes
Her intuition that there is something that not quite fits about it leads to unravelling a 4 decades old story of Love and deception

I must not say anything else so as not to spoil it for you.
As a bonus, this book has lot of quotable quotes about books and love. I highly recommend this book for romance and mystery lovers

4.5⭐️ rounded up

There is so much to love about this book. The mystery of an unknown couple who had so much passion, romance and heartbreak made for a really interesting and engaging plot. At first I was more invested in Ashlyn’s POV and her backstory because it took me a little bit to get into the unpublished volumes, but the farther I got into both Hemi and Belle’s POV I began to love their story. I really liked how Belle and Hemi’s stories paralleled each other and were a response to the other's perspective of the relationship. I loved how Ashyln’s story blended into the historical ones as she tried to uncover the authors. Having a little idea of how their relationship ended from clues Ashlyn discovered, It broke my heart to see the reason why through their eyes. The ending was heartwarming and a great way to wrap up their story.

Thank you @bdavisauthor and @suyzapprovedbooktours for the gifted copy.

A story inside of a story, this was so good! Every book lovers dream, to own a book store and this novel follows Ashlyn a rare-book dealer who loves books as much as us readers do. She gets a call from another book dealer that he has some boxes of books if she wants to go through them. An unexpected find of a beautifully bound book with no publisher or author listed anywhere. Was this someone's self published book? But this doesn't seem to be just any book, she can feel there is a story within its pages. A few days later she gets another call, there is a second one and does she want it? Hardly believing her luck Ashlyn can hardly wait to get her hands on the second one. The same as the first, no author or publisher found but bound almost identical. Research throughout the book world is not giving her any luck and so far these stories don't hold any good clues. First names only and pet names it seems at that for the characters and she realize that it is the same story but told through two different people. Lovers. She cannot stop and now she must know more! Bound to track down who and what these are from, she goes on a wild goose chase to find the man who dumped these and how did he get them? As she gets deeper into these books, she feels she knows these people. She feels their pain, heartache and want. She needs to know who these belong to and she must find out what really happened. Only the writers know the truth to the ending of what really happened. This was such a great read. I could not put it down, I felt like I was on the mystery trail right with Ashlyn. I loved the historical story in this story and the characters had so much depth! Thank you to Suzy Approved Book Tours for the invite and to the author and publisher for the free book. This review is of my own opinion and accord.

#netgalleyarc I had no idea that this book was set in areas around where I live, I love that! I love that this is a story within a story. The author did a great job of making it aware when the story shifts to the other story, not all authors do that and I really appreciated it. I really enjoyed this great read.

Ashlyn, the main character, has the ability to feel a sort of emotional imprint in the books she touches, this can be what the author felt when writing it or what previous owners felt when reading it, this is what drew me in, I adore books about books, and I firmly believe in the idea that when we read a book not only does the book leave part of itself in you, but you leave part of yourself in that book too!

Ashlyn finds 2 mysterious books without any details regarding their publication and is blown away by the sheer velocity of the emotions she feels from them, this sets her down the path of NEEDING to discover the story behind them and the secrets they are hiding!

The Echo of Old Books is 2 books wrapped inside another book, some chapters take the shape of the pages of the mysterious books whilst others follow Ashlyn and her attempts to uncover the mystery! The books inside the book are 2 opposing sides of a doomed romance set in early 20th century United States!

I'll leave you to discover the mysteries for yourself as that is half of the fun of reading it!

Despite not being a fan of romance stories at all, this gripped me and kept my interest throughout! I'm glad I accidentally stumbled into reading a book I wouldn't usually have any interest in.

As a lifelong bookworm, it was only natural for be to be drawn to a novel titled The Echo of Old Books. I enjoy reading novels with dual timelines, and this book actually weaves together three stories. Two of the stories are set in 1941 and narrated by Belle and Hemi. Ashlyn Greer is the bookseller who discovers their two unpublished books in 1984 and is determined to find out who the authors were. Barbara Davis has woven together a fascinating story of romance, mystery and a bit of magic. Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an advance copy to read and review.

The Echo of Old Books was the first book that I have had the pleasure of reading by Barbara Davis. It was a beautifully written and heartwarming story. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book but I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. It was written in a duel time line. One part of The Echo of Old Books took place in the past during 1941 in New York City and the other part took place in 1984 in New Hampshire. During each timeline, there was a strong female protagonist and a very compelling romance. I don’t usually gravitate towards books that involve romance but both romances in The Echo of Old Books worked well for me. Barbara Davis’s research that she conducted to write this book was very commendable. I found it very hard to put this book down.

Ashlyn Greer grew up in New Hampshire as an only child. Her relationship with both of her parents was lacking the warmth and love that Ashlyn so desperately wanted. She lost both of her parents when she was quite young. They both died within a very short time period of each other. Whenever Ashley wanted to avoid going to her her own home, she always ended up at An Unlikely Story, an antique bookstore. It became her safe place. Even before her parents died, Ashlyn spent a lot of time there. The owner of the bookstore was quite fond of Ashlyn and always welcomed her.

When Ashlyn was about twelve years old, she discovered that she possessed a very special gift. Ashlyn was able to feel the echoes of the book’s previous owners when she opened a book and touched its pages. She was able to feel all kinds of emotions that stemmed from the person who had once owned the book just from handling it. At first Ashlyn thought that everyone had this capability but she later realized it was something that very few people had. Ashlyn learned later on that her special gift was called psychometric.

An Unlikely Story was left to Ashley when the owner of the bookstore died. Over the years, the owner had taught Ashlyn how to restore old books. She became quite proficient at this skill and was often commissioned to do restoration work on rare and old books. One day, a friend of Ashlyn’s informed her that he had received a donation of old books and that she was welcomed to go through them and see if she wanted any of them for her store. Ashlyn discovered two bound books that were very similar to each other in appearance. They were missing a publisher’s name and a copyright. Ashlyn suspected that the books had never been published. Each book revealed a curious inscription. The authors were Belle and Hemi, respectively. The books immediately piqued Ashlyn’s curiosity. One was entitled “Regretting Belle” written by Hemi and the other was entitled “Forever and Other Lies, written by Belle. Ashlyn felt very powerful echoes from each of these two books as she opened each book. She felt compelled to read the books and soon discovered that both books described the same love affair from the perspective of each writer. Ashlyn became obsessed with these books. She could not stop reading them. Ashlyn was determined to discover the identities and fates of the two lovers and would not stop until she had.

The Echo of Old Books by Barbara Davis was about family, love, forgiveness, betrayal and secrets. It explored the growing anti-Semitic feelings that were taking root among some of the wealthiest and most influential Americans as World War II began. The roles of the affluent women that lived during the 1940’s were described. These women were meant to live their lives in relation to their place in society. Women were expected to marry, dedicate themselves to raising their children and take a backseat to their husbands. Some brave women rebelled against these norms. They wanted more. Those women were not interested in staying home, raising children and planning dinner parties. Some of these women wanted more out of life. They wanted to be treated more as equals to the men in their lives. The Echo of Old Books was also about second chances. I loved how Barbara Davis used “Regretting Belle” and “Forever and Other Lies” to weave together the lives of so many people. The Echo of Old Books brought tears to my eyes, it made me smile and it made me hope. I really enjoyed The Echo of Old Books by Barbara Davis and highly recommend it. I look forward to reading more books by Barbara Davis.

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing for allowing me to read The Echoes of Old Books by Barbara Davis through Netgalley in exchange for a honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

My mom really liked this book and usually we enjoy the same types of books. Unfortunately, this one did not capture my interest as it did hers. It was an OK read but didn't offer me the same warm fuzzies.

I love a book about books but with that said I feel like I read 2 books so I feel like I need to review #theEchoofoldbooks 2 ways .

I loved reading the chapters about Forever & other lies and Regretting Belle . That story is a mix between a WW2 love story & Downtown Abbey which I'm always here for .
But Ashlyn's story I wasn't impressed with 🙈
&& Why she was so involved in a strangers love story that she was essentially stalking people over it ?? Seems weird ...

Overall this was a good read . Maybe like 150 pages too long ??
thank you #Netgalley for the Arc .

Ashlyn Greer has been drawn to old books since the age of twelve when she visited her favorite bookshop, pulled a random book from the shelf, and felt a zing of shock and emotion so strong she felt it physically. Now the owner of the shop, she's going through a collection that was dropped off when she finds two beautifully bound books with no known author or publisher and so much emotion of regret and sadness. She becomes obsessed with finding out the books' history and healing their tragic romance, and in turn coming to terms with her own life.
I feel in love with the description of this book and just had to read it. The story is unique and I flew through the pages of this romantic mystery. It feels like three stories in one: Ashlyn story of investigating the books and both perspectives of the romance give wrong. I highly recommend this book to everyone! I love books about books!!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Echo of Old Books by Barbara Davis. The cover, is what 1st drew me to this book! Ashlyn owns a rare bookstore and through another friend she discovers a pair of beautifully bound books that seem to be connected but appear to never have been published. Her gift of psychometry compels her to pursue the books origins and leads her on a journey of discovery. Along this journey she will discover new friends, a new love, a new family. She will overcome and heal past hurts while helping her new family to do the same. I love the premise of this book but I'll be honest, It took me a while to really get into it. A word of advice, stick with it! I found this book interesting and compelling enough to keep reading but I had not yet reached the point where I couldn't wait to get back to it. A little over 1/3 of the way in, I suddenly couldn't put it down. And when I had to, I found I could not wait to get back to it. I absolutely love the way the story all came the way the book ended, and the epilog. A fabulously unique story.

I was initially drawn in by the premise that this is a book about books. What bibliophile would not be interested? And yes, I loved all of the bookish references and quotes.

I discovered that this story has one of my favorite story tropes, that of long buried secrets and the consequences that follow. With a unique twist of a dual timeline, Ms. Davis pens the earlier 1941 storyline into two unpublished books that have surfaced 40 years later. Tucked between the pages is a beautiful but heartbreaking love story, one that leaves two lives shattered by betrayal. In 1984, Ashlyn and Ethan become enthralled in Belle and Hemi's stories. As they search for answers, they must face their own pasts and learn to trust again.

Content warning: References to a pre-marital affair, but no bedroom scenes.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author/publisher through Netgalley and was not required to write a review. All opinions expressed are my own.

From the author of THE KEEPER OF HAPPY ENDINGS and THE LAST OF THE MOON GIRLS comes a very endearing, heartwarming and heartbreaking story. A story of a love that should have been.

A young lady, Ashlyn, runs a second hand rare books bookstore named THE UNLIKELY STORY. She has a gift that has caused her a lot of pain growing up. A gift of knowing the feelings of previous owners of the books she touches. Ashlyn has had a hard life. From her mother to her late husband she has had to cover her feelings. Had to fight for love. To give up on being loved. How sad. She calls her gift books "ECHOES." A very fitting thing to call it as it is the echoes of their feelings.

When Ashlyn gets a copy of two books that are unpublished, no author, not a lot of any info other than the two people's feelings and thoughts contained between the covers. A lifetime of love and sorrow. Happiness and pain. Two people who blame each other for life's choices each made. Where love once was only bitterness remains. How sad is that...

This book is told in three voices. Ashlyns and each of the books authors. Belle wrote FOREVER, AND OTHER LIES. Hemi wrote, REGRETTING BELLE. Each is very sad but contains their love story which was beautiful. So beautiful that it's hard to believe they went separate ways. You get to know them and then each of them. You get to know Ashlyn and all she went through and root for her to find love. You will also get to know Mirian. Mirian was a wonderful character. A bit stubborn at first but still wonderful. I adored her. I also adored Belle and Hemi and Ashlyn and Ethan. Ashlyn and Ethan are such a big part of this story. Another love story possibly.

I did figure out two things in this book way before they were revealed but believe me it did not take away from it at all. Just reinforced how much I adored this book. It's told from past to present with each chapter. It's one of those that make you cry so much your eyes get all swollen and red. Even the good parts make you weep. Tears of happiness and for sadness. This is a wonderful love story. I don't know how this author will top this one but I do look forward to her next book. Always.

Thank you #NetGalley, #BarbaraDavis, #LakeUnionPublisher for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

Five huge stars and a three book of kleenex rating. Grab this one and let the journey begin.

Book lovers will fall for Ashlyn and will get lost in her story.

Ashlyn has a special talent; she can sense things simply by touching books. This sends her on a journey in search of answers from a strange book she encounters.

This is a quick read with a lot of heart.