4.25⭐️

The Library of Borrowed Hearts is heartwarming and book-filled story. Chloe is a young librarian who’s found herself struggling to raise her younger siblings. She finds a book that proves life-changing in multiple ways. This is such a winsome, romantic, and hope-filled ode to books and book lovers (and lovers who read books).

Leanne Woodward, Aven Shore, Joe Jameson, and Bob Ball did an excellent job narrating the audiobook.

Thank you Lucy Gilmore, Dreamscape Media, and NetGalley for providing this ARC for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.

This book started off SO cute and it had me hooked. I loved Chloe and the honesty of struggling to take care of her 3 siblings. Unfortunately, this book lost me around 60% in and I started to get annoyed and frustrated with a few of the characters. A few twists happened as we got deeper in that didn’t shock me and I couldn’t care less about🤷‍♀️

I do love dual timelines and I think my love of that kept me going throughout the rest of the book. I also had a soft spot for Jasper even though he was a little delusional.

Thank you to Netgalley & Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to listen to this ARC.

A feel-good, dual timeline intergenerational story about two star-crossed booklovers in the 1960s and the part-time librarian who stumbles across the book they used to exchange love notes.

When Chloe, a struggling guardian to her younger siblings, stumbles upon a book with writing in the margins she takes it upon herself to discover more about the two people responsible, finding that it leads to a collision course with her grumpy neighbor and the story of his long lost love and the other books they shared.

Moving, heartfelt and perfect for booklovers of all kinds, this story is sure to make you feel all the feels. It was also good on audio and perfect for fans of authors like Freya Sampson and Sara Nisha Adams. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio and digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

CW: parental abandonment, unwed pregnancy

3.5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and Macmaillan audio for the audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a fun and unique storyline. Chloe is a librarian in her small-town who finds some books with handwritten notes in the margin of the books that are messages between two people in the 1960s. She figures out that one of the book vandalizers is her grumpy old man neighbor. Chloe is determined to figure out what happened in their tragic love story as she tries to follow the clues left in the margin of library books.

I loved the flow of the book. You have flashbacks to the 1960s as you get to know J "Jasper" and C "Catherine" and how they fell in love and what obstacles they had to try to overcome (and which obstacles they didn't try to overcome). The rest of the book changes POV in chunks. You start the book with Chloe's POV. It changes to Jasper's present day POV, to Chloe's little brother, Noodle's, POV, to Zach's POV (the hunky outdoorsman who has a secret connection to this storyline) to another secret POV at the end.

Chloe's siblings were a hoot. Noodle is a 12 year old who is on the spectrum in my opinion. Trixie is in high school and is bound for law school if she has any say in it. And Theo is a boy who loves to do science experiments and blow s*** up. Also with a dog name like Gummy Bear, he's got to be memorable ha. All of the side stories were great and kept the book moving.

WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILER BELOW...
My biggest issue with this book is how much I didn't like Catherine by the end of the book. She turned out to be exactly who I didn't want her to be. I wanted her to want love in the end. To choose love over an extravagant lifestyle. But she ended up being just like her parents in my opinion. I'm not saying the book needed to end with everyone having their happy ending and tied with a pretty bow. BUT I would have liked to have LIKED all the main characters by the end of the book which didn't happen.

This book is a very sweet and cozy story but fell short on the entertainment. Ultimately, it was fine, just not memorable.

Chloe Sampson loves books... almost as much as her three siblings who she is the primary caretaker following her mother's decision to leave and let them all fend for themselves. Chloe does everything she can to take care of her family, but working at the library only allows her so much income, so she is struggling to stay afloat when she comes across an old novel from the 1960s with annotations and messages written throughout. As her curmudgeon of a neighbor finds the novel, she thinks her luck may just be about to turn around, and the book is then written in two different time frames, one in the 1960s, and the other in the current time.

This was a very enjoyable, and cute novel discussing the difficulties of relationships in the 1960s, while also confronting Chloe's inability to ask for help, or trust the positive relationships in her life. It also discusses finding a sense of purpose despite losing previous loves. Id recommend to anyone looking for a good summer read, with romance without the graphic depictions of such. Additionally, I listened to the audiobook and found the production good, with easy to listen narrators.

I enjoyed Lucy Gilmore's previous novel, The Lonely Hearts Book Club, but I loved The Library of Borrowed Hearts. The cast of narrators helps the story move along and the different voices helped me to keep the characters straight. I loved the idea of a love story told in the margins of library books and all of the Sampson children. This was a definite win for me and I am glad that I requested it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for my audiobook copy in exchange for an honest review.

An enjoyable literary scavenger hunt, with a romantic mystery to puzzle out. I was immediately sucked in at the beginning and thoroughly enjoyed getting to know all the characters as events unfolded. Unfortunately about two-thirds of the way through I lost interest and was not particularly enthused about the way it ended.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
I really wanted to love this novel; the premise of a librarian finding love notes in an old book really appealed to me. Unfortunately the story falls short and the characters are so flat.
There are a few different storylines going on in this book which I found to be a lot, not to mention the book is unnecessarily long. There's Chloe, the main character and her struggle to support her 3 siblings after her mom abandons them. This entire storyline was just constant reiteration of how trapped Chloe felt, how poor their state, and how zany her siblings were. I had no connection with them. Then there's the lovers storyline: the two people writing notes in the old books Chloe finds. One of them is her miserable old next door neighbor, Jasper, and the rich girl he fell in love with in his youth, Catherine. Their story was hardly a love story at all, Catherine was selfish and careless and Jasper was delusional. I didn't find myself rooting for them at all, nor was the conclusion surprising. There's also another character , Zach, who becomes a love interest for Chloe and his part in uncovering the lover's story. At some point we also get a sudden narrator shift to Chloe's younger brother Noodle, which comes out of nowhere and just added to the too much department of this novel. I never found myself wanting to go back to this story or thinking about it when i wasn't reading it. For me, this one just didn't hit the mark.

The Library of Borrowed Hearts by Lucy Gilmore follows the lives of four siblings, a young outdoorsy man and one grumpy old neighbor as their lives intersect and intertwine. Almost Librarian, Chloe Sampson works her butt off to support her three younger siblings and keep their crumbling house from falling down around them. After their mother left without an explanation, Chloe quits college mid-library science degree to move home and win her siblings back from CPS. She works, helps with homework, budgets, fixes the house and occasionally has to deal with grumpy octogenarian who lives next door to retrieve a stay frisbee or two. While cleaning out the library's basement she comes across an old book with love notes in the margins and uncovers a sixty year old love story. Meanwhile she meets Zach, a survival instructor and sometimes EMT, who helps Chloe unravel the love story as she works to find out more about the lovers. Turns out that each character needs the others support, whether they know it or not. This story was lovely, heartbreaking, funny and thought provoking all in one.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media, for early access to listen to The Library of Broken Hearts by Lucy Gilmore in exchange for an honest review. It was my second Lucy Gilmore book and I loved it. I listened to it in one day!
The audiobook was narrated by Leanne Woodard, Aven Shore, Joe Jameson and Bob Ball and was well done and easy to listen to.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher Dreamscape Media for providing me with this book for free in exchange for my review! All opinions are my own.

I really wanted to enjoy this audiobook because the premise sounded super cute. However, I couldn't find myself getting completely wrapped up in the story. I've been going through some anxiety in my personal life so it is very possible that I wasn't in a great headspace to fully enjoy this book. With that being said I don't think it is an awful book, and I also don't think that the narrators were bad. I am hoping to revisit this book at another time.


Many Thanks again to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest review.

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This was an interesting story told in both present and past. The narrators did a great job bringing the story to life. Highly recommend the audiobook.

The Library of Borrowed Hearts is a feel-good story that follows librarian Chloe Sampson, who is raising her younger siblings, and is desperate to keep her head above water financially. When she comes upon a rare book, she becomes intrigued with its origins, even more so when her cranky, elderly next door neighbor offers her a large amount of money for it! Jasper Holmes wants that book because it contains memories of his past, and a chance at love that he never got to have.

Going between two different timelines of Chloe's present life and Jasper's past, the interwoven story brings the two timelines together with little clues and sweet puzzle pieces coming into place. With some adventure, romance, and humor, readers will enjoy this novel.

The audiobook narrators all did a fantastic job of bringing the story to life. I always appreciate when there are more than one narrator for these types of stories because it helps keep the timelines straight.

Thank you to NetGalley and DreamScape Media for this advanced digital audiobook!

In a small town, take two curmudgeons, three younger siblings, and add an old library book with notes in the margins from two young lovers 50 years previous, and you get a wonderful dual timeline, multi voice, feel good story. It’s not even entirely predictable! Four narrators make the audiobook perfect. The various voices and pacing are just right for each of the characters. Thirteen year old Noodles’ narrator sounds like a 13 year old. Top it lol off with so many literary references, including quotes, and you have a book lover’s dream of a book. When you need a heartwarming book, choose this one. I can’t wait to suggest it to my book loving friends.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Compelling multifaceted characters that are realistic in their strengths, weaknesses and flaws. The characters draw you into their stories and the multiple plot lines keep you reading well after bedtime as you don't want to miss what comes next! A romantic mystery that is first a distraction from an overwhelming life becomes an obsession for many of the characters involved. The wide age range of the characters makes the story all the more realistic and heartwarming. I have read several good books this year already, but this one is going on my top 10 best of the year. The narrators of the audiobook bring the book more fully to life as they breathe a bit more realism into the individual characters with unique voices and personalities. This is definitely an audiobook to put on your must listen list! I'll definitely be adding this author to my favorites list! I can't wait to dig into her other books!

REVIEW: The Library of Borrowed Hearts ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I was excited when receiving this ARC because not only do I love to read about books and libraries, but also I’ve read The Lonely Hearts Book Club which is also by Lucy Gilmore, and really enjoyed it

First of all, I absolutely love when we get multiple POVs in a book. It is so fun to see the story through different eyes to get the whole story. The Library of Borrowed Hearts was split into parts with different characters as the focus. Since I listened to this as audio, I even got the treat of having multiple narrators as the different characters. Surprisingly it even worked with two different timelines of the past and current time. It made this story so interesting especially when they are trying to figure out the mystery of the library books.

Lucy Gilmore does such a great job at building her characters so that you truly care about them. Each character had a distinct personality and backstory. I also really liked all the connections between the characters. The story covered so many things such as parent abandonment, love loss, gender roles, close siblings, and lots of literary references.

Some of the storyline throughout was a little farfetched, but it is easy to look past it because of the depth of the characters.

Overall I really enjoyed The Library of Borrowed Hearts audiobook. With the different narrators and POVs, I felt more connected to the story. This book is great for anyone who wants a warm and cozy read to that will fill your heart.

Thank you Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for the free advanced copy for my honest review!

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What a feel good and thought provoking book!

If you found a written conversation left behind in a book, would you read it?

I love the idea of finding clues and going on a scavenger hunt to bring back some joy to someone’s life. These characters are so multi-dimensional and realistic, that it was easy to get right into the book at the start and stay invested until the very last line.

As I listened to this audiobook, I sometimes found myself stopping what I was doing to listen and pay the utmost attention to it. It was very easy to have the puzzle pieces fit together as the story wove multiple points of views as well as timelines together. It was a great way to slowly build the story while getting a more whole picture of each characters life as well as motivation.

It was one of those stories that really makes you look at your own relationships by the end of it. When was the last time you spoke to your loved ones? It also makes you realize that sometimes you need to step back and look at the paths and choices other people made - not every choice is easy (though some may make it look so).

Thanks so much to the author, Lucy Gilmore, Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the arc audiobook or The Library of Borrowed Hearts!

I love books about books. This was such a cute and fun read, and I really loved the audiobook for it, with a whole cast it made the experience such a good one, I loved seeing Jaspers and Catherine's perspective from the past and I think it was my favorite part. Seeing how Jasper opened up to Chloe's family was so wholesome, I absolutely loved their relationship and how it grew throughout the book, I recommend this book for people who love a good comfort read, with an amazing found family.

Biggest thank to netgalley and the publisher for sending this my way.

I loved this book. It centers around Chloe, who is the caretaker of her 3 siblings. She is a librarian in her small town. Her next-door neighbor is a curmudgeon who complains about the kids all the time. Chloe finds a book that has love notes written in the margins. And you will never egress who wrote those notes to his long lost love. Treat yourself and read/listen to this sweet book. The narration was well done.

This book has one of my favorite tropes (generational friendship, specifically when the older person is grumpy), so I immediately gave it a go.
We actually get several POVs in this book which was interesting. They weren't chapter by chapter, but rather part by part. Each chunk was told by someone different. We start out with Chloe having found a written in copy of a book in her library's basement. She finds out that one of the writers was her super grumpy, mean neighbor, Jasper. He wants the book back and is willing to give her $5000 for it. Chloe is just barely an adult taking care of her 3 younger siblings after their mother walked out a few years ago. Chloe decides to follow the clues in the book to find other books these 2 people have written about their love in. There is a timeline switch with Jasper and Catherine in 1960 when this all started.
I really liked all the characters in this book. Chloe was so determined to prove to her mother that she could take care of herself and siblings with no help (even though she would never know). The love she had for them was incredible. They all had such big personalities. Jasper was grumpy, but secretly just hurt and unknowingly desperate for someone in his life. There is also Zack who saved Chloe's brother Noodle from a fall in the woods and then decides to help Chloe figure out which books there are messages in. He was handsome and rugged and really seemed to want to help Chloe.
The plot moved along pretty quick. Like I said, there were multiple POV's as well as a time hop. It was cool to hear about these messages that Chloe finds and then get the actual POV through Jasper or Catherine. I was excited to hear who would have the next POV, I think there were 5 all together? Some things at the end kind of made me go "eh" and were not exactly how I would have pictured them ending, but they did fit in well with the story and I can see why the author did what she did.
Every narrator in this book was great (each POV had a different narrator). The story and characters were really brought to life and sounded like they were being told by their characters.