This touching dual-time line story will warm hearts, particularly those who love books, about books.

Chloe, a small-town librarian, is our current day central protagonist. She is struggling to keep her family afloat, raising her 3 younger siblings after her mom left town. When she finds a once scandalous book with writing in the margins, and realizes it is a secret correspondence, she decides to follow the clues to see where the story takes her.

Our second timeline, in 1960, features the romance of the infamous marginalia writers. As the story unfolds, the timelines will come together to a very satisfying conclusion.

This was an incredibly clever novel, which celebrates literature and the power of books. Miss Gilmore has written an accessible story featuring a breadth of characters, both likable and some unlikable. For those who love stories about messy relationships, both familial and romantic, The Library of Borrowed Hearts will be a winner.

If you enjoy books about books and characters that adore books, I have a feeling you will enjoy reading "The library of borrowed hearts".
There are two timelines that are easy to follow. One timeline occurs in the 60's where two star crossed lovers, Catherine and Jasper meet.
They are from different social circles so meeting in public is frowned upon. They decide to communicate through notes in the margins of books. These notes are discovered in a book during a present day library clean out. Chloe works at a local library and becomes a bit obsessed with the back story to these love inspired notes. While the reader follows Chloe on her "investigation" we get to meet present day Jasper, he happens to be Chole's grouchy next door neighbor.
This turns into so much more than just finding out about the story behind some notes. It's a story of young love as well as familial love and responsibility; friendship and it's love is also at the heart of this story. Some of the heart to heart conversations at the end of the book had me in tears. I became so invested in the lives of these characters that I was overwhelmed with emotion.
The ending was left open-ended but I am okay with that, not every story needs a bow to wrap in up. Plus, it's fun to think of how Chloe and Jasper continue to help one another, finally getting the chance to fully enjoy life.
I'd happily give this one 4 stars.
I appreciate Netgalley and Sourcebooks for letting me read this ARC.

Not at all what I expected but in the best way possible. I started this and just wasn’t in the right mindset for it but I decided to pick it up again and give it another go, boy am I glad it did!

Chloe was in college when she finds out the state has her siblings. Her mom walked out on them and they survived without anyone knowing for a week! So, she moves back home and takes care of them. She works as a librarian in their little town when one day, she finds a book in the basement. The best part (well second best part) she can sell it for a bunch of money but then she find writing in it (that’s the best part). Turns out her neighbor and old curmudgeon gives her a blank check for the book! Writing and all! The best part, it’s his writing and a mysterious C. It’s a love story and she now can’t stop to find out more.

This bounces back and forth between Chloe and 1960 when C and J’s love story was unfolding. It caught my attention and kept me. I needed to find out what happened! A few twists and surprises along the way but oh so stinking good. I loved the relationship Jasper formed with Chloe and her siblings so much! This all really came together in the end and I just really loved this.

I’m automatically inclined to love anything with a bookish premise. Lucy Gilmore created characters that are instantly lovable and charming. While the ending wasn’t exactly what I hoped for, I think it was perfectly fit to the characters. I will look forward to more books by this author!

This book is cute and mysterious at the same time, the whole book hunting part was fun and interesting. The characters were great with a lot of depth and the twists were unexpected. And I loved the list of books given at the end of the book. However, I did feel like the story was all over the place, like random changes in pov and it felt rushed.

Lucy Gilmore always has the perfect vision for her characters and the way she unwinds their stories to connect is truly magnificent. This was one of my favorite books I’ve read so far this year.

Have you ever finished a book and you’re just left wanting to stare at a blank wall?

I finished this book and just needed time to process.

This book makes you rethink what happily ever after (HEA) means.
Letting go, accepting what can’t be changed, forgiving, and family were different themes of love that was explored.

Do I think some characters were selfish and hurt other characters? Yes.
Do I wish that they would apologize more?
Also yes.

But I think it was through all the flaws that they seemed most human.

I wish there was an epilogue, but that ending was enough. Why do we need to see a 5 years later clip of them being happy? We see them happy in the present…and isn’t that enough?

A tragic love story told in two time frames between the past and present. This was a very slow read for me. While the overall story is good, there is a lot of over-descriptive filler that makes the book seem to drag on, especially in the first half. I didn't really connect well with any of the characters, but I did want to read to the end to find out the full story.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for ARC.

The concept of this book hooked me into the story right away. What a magical story. I really enjoyed it. The only thing was ending. It wasn’t bad but I felt like it was rushed?

My first time reading this authors book but it will not be the last time.

I wanted to love this book based on the premise alone, but it just fell a little flat for me. I loved the references to classic literature! It felt a little long and I would have loved for more development between Zach and Chloe.

This book hooked me right from the beginning. But somewhere around the middle the magic kind of fizzled and by the end I was irrationally annoyed with multiple characters actions and choices. I really can’t say much more without spoilers but I will say - you can be a strong woman without intentionally hurting people and never giving a real apology.

I did however enjoy several characters. Jasper was my favourite followed by Noodle (although I wish he had a different name) and then Chloe.

I would give this author another try, I just really wanted more out of this particular story!

I thought I loved The Lonely Hearts Book Club, but The Library of Borrowed Hearts has nothing on it!
Lucy Gilmore does such a great job writing an old curmudgeon of a man that you can't help but love, flaws and all! Jasper was such a character, he had the best banter and his heart of gold still seemed to shine through his hard exterior, no matter how hard he tried to hide the shine.

The Library of Borrowed Hearts is a dual-timeline romance with multiple POVs, but it seems the main characters are the stressed older sister/guardian who gave up her dreams to care for her siblings after her mother abandoned her three younger siblings and the old, nightmare of a neighbor who has a habit of stealing the balls and frisbees that fall in his yard. We are thrust into a mystery romance documented in the margins of old library books. We meet a young, sensitive, backward Jasper falling for the new rebellious librarian, Catherine, as well as present day grumpy Jasper. We also meet Chloe Sampson, the not-yet-librarian, who is taking care of her three siblings who prove to be a handful. We are introduced to Zach, who saves "Noodle" Sampson after a nasty fall as well as a cast of other characters throughout the novel.

Cozy down in your reading spot, because you will not want to close this book until you've reached the end!

I loved this book and have not been shy about telling people that it's coming and that they should read it! Gilmore has written a story full of heart in so many ways. I loved Chloe and Jasper and Zach and Noodle and the story within a story told through notes in old books. I also loved how Gilmore didn't actually wrap everything up in a neat bow and had real endings for both Chloe and her family and Jasper and Catherine. And my final bit of love goes to the shoutout that Arthur from the Lonely Hearts Bookclub gets! If you can't already tell, I highly recommend this title. A big thank you to Sourcebooks and NetGalley for the access in exchange for my honest opinion. Can't wait to see what Lucy Gilmore does next.

At first, I found the plot interesting because I love it when the main character is a librarian. But in fact, it turned out to be quite boring. Even a touching love story written in the margins of library books did not save the situation. I'm one of those people, and librarians, who hate it when someone writes something in books. It's vandalism!!! That's probably why I didn't like the book.

The Library of Borrowed Hearts is great for fans of A Man Called Ove or anyone who dreams of meeting the love of their life with quotes from books. The main character was wonderfully developed and felt extremely authentic. Her story of raising her siblings after their mom basically walked out, felt very authentic and made her such a sympathetic character. The romance was lightly sprinkled, which I appreciate especially as not everyone wants a super heavy romance. This was such as lovely, light romp of fun that I highly enjoyed!!

Thanks for Netgalley for the ARC of this book.

I really enjoyed this cute yet complex story that spanned generations. Filled with literary references book-lovers will love, it's both heartbreaking and feel-good at the same time in such a perfect balance. Lucy Gilmore has a fantastic ability to create characters that are flawed while keeping them relatable and likeable.

This is my second Lucy Gilmore book. I enjoyed it.

The story was alittle slow but the storyline kept me reading. And I"m glad on that. I needed a break from my thrillers and this book was perfect for that. It was a cute little story.

4.5 🌟

Grumpy characters are my favorite!

I loved this dual time-line story, and that the past story is told through notes written in classical books. The grumpy next door neighbor makes this book! I think I've officially fallen in love with Lucy Gilmore's writing!

Thanks, Netgalley for the ARC of this book!

Wow this was such a sad yet beautiful story. This is the second book I read by Lucy Gilmore and I absolutely loved it!
I love that the main character, Chloe, works in a library and that the story revolves around books. She works really hard to raise her three younger siblings. The struggles she goes through are so sad yet she makes sure that her siblings never feel the weight of it all.
The story is told in different POVs and it does go from present time to past which I really enjoyed. The love story from the past is so sad but what the author does so beautifully is she adds some light humor during the present time. I found myself laughing on one chapter and almost crying on the next one. As the story progresses a surprise I didn't see coming occurred which made me feel so happy and I had to keep reading to the end at that point to find out how the story ends!
I absolutely recommend this book as it is such a beautiful story.
Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca. All opinions are my own.

First of all, I need to thank the author, the publisher and Netgalley for allowing me read this in advance.

Wow what a moving story! The more I kept reading and discovering things, the more I was loving it.
So many great characters. Chloe is such a fierce young woman with the world on her shoulders but making the best she can. Catherine, both young and old, is a force of nature. Jasper evolved so much through the story, seeing his young self made me care more about his older self, even before he actually started to change. Zach was a cinnamon roll kind of character and I loved all his interactions with the kids and Chloe of course.
The way Chloe and Zach followed Catherine and Jasper's love story through the books was so interesting, it was a great plot. And the back and forth chapters in between the past and the present was so good, what happened in the past explained what they found in the present in the books. Also I love multiple POVs and, in here, a different POV would appear when I wasn't expecting it.
Chapter 22 completely broke me. Left me teary eyed and sad for them.
All the other characters had something special and different from each other. The kids, Pepper, Lonnie... I saw coming that twist with Zach but I enjoyed it the same.
The ending was bittersweet but left so many open doors and I which I could see how it unfolded in a sequel.