'The Library of Borrowed Hearts' by Lucy Gilmore is a touching story about finding love in the unlikeliest of ways, with the unlikeliest of people and in the unlikeliest of places. Chloe Sampson, a would-be librarian struggling to take care of herself and her three younger siblings, stumbles upon a long forgotten romance in the margins of a scandalously rare book and decides to uncover the truth behind the two star-crossed lovers who wrote them. In a tale that spans the decades, Chloe discovers the truth is much closer to home than she could have ever expected. With a cheeky cast of characters, a charming small-town library, and a love story that will break your heart in so many ways, 'The Library of Borrowed Hearts' will reel you in from the very first sentence and leave you wanting more.

A cozy, warm read, The romance and dual timeline was beautifully written. Love the aspects of book references, found family and LETTER EXCHANGES!!

In “The Library of Borrowed Hearts” by Lucy Gilmore, librarian Chloe Sampson’s life takes an unexpected turn when she stumbles upon a rare book at a flea market. What starts as a stroke of luck evolves into a heartwarming journey as Chloe delves into the mysterious love story hidden in the book’s margins.

Gilmore crafts a charming narrative filled with literary intrigue and romantic discoveries. The premise of a scavenger hunt through old library books is delightfully unique, drawing readers into Chloe’s quest to uncover the secrets of the past. The exploration of love through handwritten notes adds depth to the story, weaving together the lives of characters separated by decades.

One of the novel’s strengths lies in its character development, particularly in Chloe and her neighbor, Jasper Holmes. As Chloe navigates the challenges of caring for her siblings and finding her own identity, Jasper’s unexpected kindness and complexity challenge her perceptions. Their evolving relationship forms the heart of the story, showcasing the transformative power of connection and understanding.

While “The Library of Borrowed Hearts” offers a captivating premise and engaging characters, the pacing occasionally falters, with some plot points feeling rushed or underdeveloped. Additionally, certain aspects of the resolution may leave readers wanting more closure.

Overall, Lucy Gilmore delivers a heartwarming tale of love, friendship, and self-discovery in “The Library of Borrowed Hearts.” Despite its minor flaws, the novel offers a charming escape into a world where hidden treasures await those willing to look beyond the surface.

★★★★☆

Publication Date: April 30, 2024

“The Library of Borrowed Hearts” follows Chloe, a down-on-her-luck older sister with the responsibility of the world on her shoulders, and Jasper, the grouchy, reclusive neighbor next-door, who seems determined to make things harder on Chloe . After stumbling upon a book at her library job, Chloe discovers the margins filled with what seems to be love notes between two mysterious lovers. After mentioning this to Jasper, he suspiciously offers a large amount of money to buy the book off of her. Intrigued by the mystery of her neighbor and the love notes, and desperate for a reality escape, Chloe goes on a bookish scavenger hunt to find more books with love notes to piece together what happened to the two star-crossed lovers.

Though this was not the perfect book, I was still charmed by Chloe and her rambunctious siblings, the growing friendship between the Sampsons and Jasper, and the love story between Jasper and Catherine decades in the past. I really enjoyed the dual time-line- the author perfectly weaved the past and the present together to unravel the mystery of Jasper and his lover, Catherine, and how it all connects to present day. I loved reading about Chloe and her siblings- each sibling had such a dynamic, fun personality. It was like reading a less chaotic, more heartwarming version of “Shameless” at times.  I adored how Jasper became apart of the rowdy Sampson family (against his better judgement) and how much he cared for them in his own, grouchy way.

My one complaint in this novel was the balance between dialogue and regular story telling. There was a lot of non-dialogue during conversations to the point where, by the time I read the next character’s response, I forgot what they were responding to and had to flip back. There were also a couple loose ends but since they were smaller plot points, it didn’t matter to me too much.

I wouldn’t say this was a true romance, but it had romantic aspects in it that I truly loved. Perfect for lovers of small towns, love notes, and low-stakes, uplifting novels.

Thank you to Lucy Gilmore, Sourcebooks Casablanca, and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I love and always enjoy books about books and reading. This one was a nice romance novel told from two points in time with a nice and relatable cast of characters. The old guy gave me "A Man Called Ove" vibes and I'm all for it.

The Library of Borrowed Hearts

4.75 ⭐️

I love Lucy Gilmore after reading the Librly Hearts Book Club and was crazy excited when I snapped this one up on @netgalley!

The Library of Borrowed Hearts has two central stories; a present day librarian who has taken over as guardian of her younger siblings and a librarian in the 1960s as she falls in love. As it alternates perspectives and timelines, a heartwarming story of family and sacrifices unfolds.

I loved this book. I read it slowly over the last couple days just so I could savor it and enjoy all of it. So much beauty in the real characters!

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the ARC! When librarian Chloe Sampson finds writing in the margins of a book, she sets out on a quest to uncover the true love story unfolding on the page. But there is so much more the the story in The Library of Borrowed Hearts (Lucy Gilmore, The Lonely Hearts Book Club). Chloe is also trying to take care of her 3 younger siblings after their mother deserted them, while trying to keep the peace with their curmudgeonly neighbor, Jasper Holmes, who also immediately offers to buy the book that Chloe discovered! Also joining Chloe on the hunt for the hidden story is Zach, a newcomer to the area, who also happened to rescue Chloe's younger brother. Chloe and Zach are drawn to one another, but Zach's reticence and Chloe's difficult past could get in the way of their blossoming feelings. With the narration alternating between the present time and the past, the story slowly reveals what happened to the lovers passing notes in the margins and how it impacts life in the present. Moving and romantic (while not a romance) making this an excellent example of relationship fiction.

Chloe is trying to keep it together and raise her three siblings on a low paying Library job. Her neighbor is a curmudgeon who hoards the frisbees the kids toss in his yard. The story really begins when Chloe finds an old copy of the Tropic of Cancer awaiting discard in the library basement. Its margins contain a secret correspondence between two young “lovers”. When Chloe happen to mention the book to her neighbor he offers to buy it for five thousand dollars. Curious! Chloe decides to investigate this old romance. There are shades of A Man Called Ove to this.
Thanks to NetGalley for an eGalley of this title.

Not only is Lucy Gilmore becoming an auto buy author but she is also now crowned the queen of writing the BEST old curmudgeon characters and books that are just a big old hug.

Librarian Chloe Sampson has been struggling: to take care of her three younger siblings, to find herself, to make ends meet. She's just about at the end of her rope when she stumbles across a rare edition of a book from the 1960s at the local flea market. Deciding it's a sign of her luck turning, she takes it home with her―only to be shocked when her cranky hermit of a neighbor swoops in and offers to buy it for an exorbitant price. Intrigued, Chloe takes a closer look at the book only to find notes scribbled in the margins between two young lovers back when the book was new…one of whom is almost definitely Jasper Holmes, the curmudgeon next door.

This is going to be the worst review I have written. Why? Because this book has me SPEECHLESS. It made me laugh, it made me cry, it gave me goosebumps and it reinforced why I love romance and love stories. It’s about found family, real family and the importance of self care/asking for help as well. There is not a bad thing I can say about this book and I have no words for all the good things either.

Overall, this is going to be a fav of the year, I can feel it! I highly recommend.
Thanks to Sourcebooks for my gifted copy!
This one’s out April 30th

This book grabbed my attention from the beginning. It is a dual timeline story starting with an intriguing mystery. A written conversation is found among the margins of an old library book by a part-time library employee, Chloe. Chloe is barely getting by and trying to keep her quirky, lovable family together while postponing her dreams. It was full of classic literary references and the characters were endearing and well rounded.
It’s a wonderful tale about love and family and the sacrifices people will make for those they love.
Thank you Net Galley for the ARC. My opinions are my own.

I love this book as much as Lucy Gilmore's first one. A book about books - Yes! The stories were interesting and came together nicely, and although the characters were flawed at times, they were still likable. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

"The Library of Borrowed Hearts" is a novel that promises an enchanting journey through the power of love and literature. Unfortunately, while the premise held potential, the execution left much to be desired.

One of the biggest drawbacks of this book is its pacing. From the very beginning, the narrative unfolds at an excruciatingly slow pace, making it difficult for readers to become fully immersed in the story. While a leisurely pace can sometimes enhance the reading experience, in this case, it feels more like a slog, with little payoff for the time invested.

I was so excited to read this book. It did give me all of the cozy vibes that I enjoy in a book. The ending was cut short and wrapped up really quickly and I would have loved a longer ending to this book and better explained.

I stopped reading at ~40%. I really loved the premise of this book and was interested by the Title, Cover, and Description. However, from the beginning I couldn’t stand the main character, Chloe Sampson. I found her character really grating and annoying, I hated the name Noodle, and I just was not invested in her storyline. I was initially interested in Catherine and Jasper’s story but not enough to withstand the chapters with Chloe or keep interested in the book. I’ve otherwise enjoyed books with unlikeable main characters, however that was not really the case for this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 ⭐️

I loved the premise of this one, especially the notes in the margins, the multiple storylines, and the sibling dynamic. I also thought the reference to her other book was cute and cheeky.

But for me the literary references got a bit repetitive, I struggled with a couple of the characters, and there was a trope I don’t love. Also the last 20% or so felt underwhelming.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

My second Lucy Gilmore read, and I loved it just as much as the first. I saw another reader say her books feel like getting a big, warm hug. I have to say that I totally agree. Her books are an ode to romantic love as well as to a love of books and libraries. Are the characters/situations similar to Lonely Hearts Book Club? Absolutely - but they still work. They're the same in that they evoke the same feelings, and the characters are similar - the good-hearted library employee, the grumpy old curmudgeon with a secret love story in his past, and the strapping young romantic hero. Gilmore admits it in the book even, brilliantly throwing in a reference to her previous book also containing the grouchy curmudgeon character. It's a testament to her that the similarities are welcome because they're what I love about her stories.

Whimsical but still grounded in plausibility, The Library of Borrowed Hearts is a warm hug of a book about family, love, and finding one's purpose. It is about living truthfully, rather than trying to live up to others' or society's expectations. It is about making hard decisions.
Told across two timelines that eventually converge, I appreciated the mirroring in the relationships across the eras, the characters who were alike despite the age gap, but who also had to confront their own preconceived notions of one another. And the twist-- how did I not see that coming!? I can't say for sure whether Gilmore was that crafty, or whether I was on another planet, because it was so obvious in hindsight. But regardless, I was pleasantly surprised when it snuck up on me.

"Like opening the cover of a book for the first time, it was the sensation of the world opening up before me." The Library of Borrowed Hearts is a sweet story of small town families who struggle to learn their place in the world. The tenuous relationships between lovers, siblings, and parents is well-explored in this novel. Chloe and Jasper are beautifully written.

Chloe works as an assistant in the local library where she's almost a librarian... But isn't. She had to drop out of university when her mother abandoned her three younger siblings. She's now their legal guardian and struggles to make ends meet. One day she finds writing in an older book that is a conversation, a romantic one, between two people. She figures out that one of the people is her grumpy old neighbor and makes it her mission to figure out who "C" is. A fantastic read!!

Review: The Library of Borrowed Hearts by Lucy Gilmore

The Library of Borrowed Hearts is a beautiful and intriguing tale of doomed love and found family.

I’m not sure if it’s possible to tell you how much I loved this story. It was a fabulous mix of plot-based intrigue and lovingly developed characters that steal your heart.

Chloe has returned to work at the Colville library after abandoning her degree in library science to take care of her siblings who have been abandoned by their mother. She works hard and protects her heart. Her grumpy next door neighbour isn’t any help either, he just continues to steal their frisbees when they fall into his lush garden. But things get interesting when Chloe finds a banned library book with a couple corresponding in the margins, which Jasper wants to buy — at any cost.

What is the secret behind Jasper’s off-putting demeanour? Why does he want the book so much? Who is the couple in its pages? And who is this handsome stranger that flirts with Chloe in the stacks?

So many questions that can only be answered when you pick up this delightful story. A perfect pick for readers who love found family, and books like The Last Chance Library by Freya Sampson or The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman.