Library of Borrowed Hearts is a good pick for book and library lovers. Told through dual timelines with multiple POVs, this book about found family has book references galore. I loved the characters and it made me rethink what a HEA really means.

Chloe Sampson, a librarian, faces an uphill battle as she shoulders the responsibility of caring for her three younger siblings—Trixie, Theo, and Noodle—after their mother's abandonment years ago. Exhausted from financial strain, Chloe stumbles upon a rare banned book from the 1960s while clearing out the library's basement, sparking thoughts of its potential value.

Living next door to the Sampsons is Jasper Holmes, a recluse known for his gruff demeanor. Chloe is taken aback when Jasper expresses interest in purchasing the book. As she delves deeper, she uncovers a hidden narrative within the book's margins—a tale of young love and clandestine communication between its previous owners. Intrigued, Chloe uncovers more copies of the book in Colville, sparking her curiosity about Jasper's past and his unresolved romantic history.

Themes of young love, unexpected friendships, overcoming barriers, financial hardships, and the value of diversity resonate throughout the narrative. With endearing characters and nods to classic literature, including references to Gilmore's previous work, "The Lonely Hearts Book Club," this novel earns a heartfelt recommendation and a five-star rating.

The Library of Borrowed Hearts was a heartfelt novel filled with found family, twilight/young friendship and literature. I’m grateful to the publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read and review the story of Chloe and her siblings, and of Katherine and Jasper and how these stories intersected and overlapped.

Full review will be posted on goodreads, storygraph, and instagram then linked here shortly!

This story was beautiful, wonderful, funny, heartwarming, heartbreaking, sad, crushing, and hopeful all in one. I loved the different POVs and dual timelines. I think those aspects REALLY added a lot to the story. I think this would be an amazing limited series on netflix or prime video.

I inferred from the summary of this book that this was going to be an emotional read. What I didn't anticipate that I would be totally emotionally gutted. Some of the twists of this one (particularly those in the last quarter) were honestly too much for me to handle. I know there is challenge and struggle within the human experience, and I knew there would be given the set-up of the story. However, the level and nature of the ones in this story just made it a really, really hard read for me. I did like the story built around the mysterious messages in the library books, but as the progression of plot happened and secrets were revealed, it just wasn't for me.. Thanks to NetGalley for the look at this April 2024 release.

There's library books with secret messages. But there's romance outside library books, too.

I love how the book plays with the different timelines. And the plot twists in both timelines are amazing!

I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a fun romance read with an intriguing cast of characters.

Also love the reading group guide and the book list that are included!

Includes:
Library books
Secret messages
Romance
Heartbreak
True love

Chloe Sampson's is raising her three younger siblings and struggling to make ends meet. Her mother walk away from them and left Chloe with no choice but to move back home and care for them. She is working as a librarian and struggling to make ends met. While working she comes across a rare edition of a book - the book is filled with writing. The writing leads her on a scavenger sort of hunt as she wishes to discover the life story of the individuals corresponding in the margins of a book that wasn't just rare but also banned.

Imagine her surprise when she discovers one set of the handwriting belongs to her cantankerous neighbor, Jasper who has offered to purchase the book from her. Chloe ends up searching for additional books that tell the story of two lovers in order to find out what happened to them.

The Library of Borrowed Hearts is a story told in different narratives and time periods. The points of views are distinct. The story within the story appealed to me the most as I found those characters more interesting. The build is slow but if you push through it you'll find the read worth it.

A charming, if a tad oversweet, story of families given and made that centers around a book-related mystery in a library in rural Washington State.

Chloe Sampson’s situation is dire. She was at University but when her mother, their only parent, walked out on her younger siblings, she was forced to abandon her studies and try to keep her family together. Chloe works at the local library where she finds a copy of The Tropic of Cancer with a conversation written in the margin by two lovers and realizes that one half of the couple is her grumpy elderly next door neighbor, Jasper.

In a second narrative strand, it is 1960 and free-spirited and strong-willed Catherine meets rough but book-loving Jasper and romance ensues as they leave each other notes written in the margins of A Farewell to Arms, The Haunting of Hill House , and, aha!, The Tropic of Cancer . But, Chloe finds out, Catherine died a long time ago.

Though both 1960 Jasper and present day Sampsons live in near-poverty it is of the we-were-poor-but-we-were-happy variety. The characterization of all the cast is pretty heavy-handed; they are each given a distinctive trait which is reiterated every time they appear. The exception is Chloe, who feels authentic in a way that makes you root for her and wish the other characters could have been a little more nuanced.

When things go from bad to worse for the Sampson family, things move towards a crisis and Chloe has to make some tough decisions. There are a few surprises along the way and Chloe and Jasper realize they are similar in many ways and can find their way out from the depths only by opening up to other people.

Not the most original conclusion, for sure, but pleasantly and satisfyingly arrived at.

Thanks to Sourcebooks and Netgalley fpr the digital review copy.

The Library of Borrowed Hearts by Lucy Gilmore was a perfectly fine book, but not one that made too much of an impact. The story occurs in two timelines. In the present, Chloe is raising her three siblings after their mother left the family. She works in a library and is trying to solve the mystery of love notes she found scribbled in the margin of a scandalous, banned book.

In the past, Jasper, a logger, meets Caroline, the daughter of an army officer. The story takes us on their relationship journey in the 1960s.

While the story kept my interest, it dragged on for a bit too long. The characters were fairly forgettable and some just downright unlikeable. My favorite character was actually the curmudgeonly next-door neighbor, but most of the other characters just felt underdeveloped.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca and Lucy Gilmore for an eARC copy of The Library of Borrowed Hearts via NetGalley.

My gosh this was such a sweet read. I loved everything about each plot line of the story. Lucy finding the different books that were written in by the "mysterious" couple was immediate serotonin boost. I was obsessed with Catherine and her free spirited nature that went against the status quo of the time she was born in. Lucy tenacity and willingness to put herself aside and create a stable environment for her little siblings, and the turmoil that caused for her life as the story progressed was a poignant example of a reality many face when their birth parents are less than stellar caretakers and they decide to change the pattern going forward.

The relationship between Jasper and Lucy, and the parallels of their lives was a beautiful example of a friendship that spans generations, and I wish we would see more examples of a friendship like this in real life. I think the parallels of Jasper/Catherine's relationship against Lucy/Zach's was fascinating however, I am not someone who loves an open-ended result in a book though, so it was hard to accept when it ended with Lucy and Zach's relationship being up in the air, and Jasper and Catherine didn't run away from their respective lives together. I like everything packaged in a neat box with a bow, though that's not reality (unfortunately), so I will acknowledge that ending the book this way caused me to think about how the story progressed after the pages and made a longer-lasting impact. It was also a good example that "happy endings" aren't always what we think they are.

I want to re-emphasize that this was such a good read. I found myself emotionally tied to the characters, and it was such a good illustration of found family and how those we choose to have in our lives often make even more of an impact than those we are born into family with. I would recommend this book to romance-lovers and non-romance readers alike, it's a beautiful story.

This book is all about a book within a book and found family. It was slow placed but it felt like a hug in book form. We get perspectives in multiple timelines and viewpoints that added to the story for me and helped you get know the many characters. I liked that was a small mystery involved as it kept me intrigued to know the answer. I would read more from this author in the future.

This was a nice fast read, but it wasn’t one I’ll remember long. I didn’t really care for any of the characters, but the story was nice. And I love books about book lovers, this one just wasn’t a favorite.

I received an advanced copy from netgalley in exchange for a review and opinions are my own.

Bookish books are my favourite books.

Anything set in a library, or book store?

Gimme.

Is the main character a librarian, or an author?

Add to cart.

Was a flawless work? Nope, but I’M GRADING ON A CURVE.

I loved the tiny town setting, the platonic and not-so-platonic Grumpy-Sunshine tropes, and the diverse set of characters.

I loved the multiple timelines and multiple points-of-view (‘though, I did think some were stronger than others).

I loved the marginalia plot device, and added a few books to my TBR because of it.

My main beef was the ending. If ever a book needed an epilogue, it was this one.

Looking forward to more from Lucy Gilmore.

Thanks to NetGalley, Sourcebooks, and DreamScape Media for this bookish ARC.

I really wanted to love this book but found it a bit slow and tedious.
I found the plot had too many holes and left me feeling underwhelmed by the conclusion of the story.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 3.5 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The definition of a wholesome read. The plot was certainly something that grabbed my attention but I ended up staying for the pure sweetness some of this characters provided.

Chloe is a librarian who, while cleaning up boxes there, finds an old copy of "Tropic of Cancer" with writings on the margins. And those notes seem to be from two people. But who are they? And what happened next?

Throughout this book, the author takes you back in time to learn the story of the two mystery scribblers, while dipping back in the present to tell Chloe's story as well. A cute and heartwarming read 💜

While it took a while for the slow build of character development and setting to take place, I could absolutely see the second half of Lucy Gilmore’s novel play out like a Netflix movie. The Library of Borrowed Hearts showcases the importance of your chosen family when your biological connections are not supportive or healthy, while also working in an atypical romance. This was a quality read!

I really wanted to love this book but it was just a slow read for me. I enjoyed the characters, enough, but it never got me quickly turning pages. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you, Netgalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book has great bones. It has dynamic, enjoyable characters and an interesting plot.

But . . . .I needed more. It felt rushed, and the characters weren’t given the pages necessary to make their behaviors realistic to the reader. I feel if the author would have given an extra 100 or so pages to dive more into the characters, this would have been an easy 4 star read for me.

I liked the references of other books and the love story on the margins of pages. This is such a cute concept. I liked the grumpy neighbor and all the sass that comes with unruly adolescent neighbors.

I believe I will check out other works by this author in the future as she writes cute characters and interesting plots.

Highly recommend this one!! This is my first time reading one of their books but it won't be the last! This book sucks you in from the get-go and you will find yourself thinking about the characters long after you finish it. Do yourself a favor and get this book!!

Lucy Gilmore is now an auto buy author for me!

I loved (LOVED) The Lonely Hearts Book Club and I felt the same about The Library of Borrowed Hearts! I loved the idea of finding hidden notes in books and following a love story...how will it end?
I enjoyed the dual time lines and seeing two sides of Jasper. All the characters were wonderful and Noodle....oh Noodle! Such a sweet character. I don't know if he was intended to be on the spectrum, but as a mom to a son on the spectrum it was a joy to read a character who shared traits with my child!

Such a delightful book, I've already recommended it to several people.

5 stars