01/12/2024
Gilmore (The Lonely Hearts Book Club) is back with another charming, book-themed story. When librarian Chloe Sampson finds a rare edition of a banned book, her first thought is to see if she can sell it and complete some much-needed home repairs with the proceeds. But Chloe becomes intrigued after a closer examination reveals a decades-old flirtatious conversation conducted within its margins. When her next-door neighbor, the cantankerous elderly man who regularly steals her younger siblings' Frisbees, offers to buy the book from her with a blank check, she is flabbergasted. And when yet another library book turns up with similar markings, she suddenly has a new mission: to figure out who the star-crossed literary lovers are and what happened to them. It's a quest that will bring her a friendship she never expected and possibly a love of her own. VERDICT This dual-timeline novel is a bookish love letter to anyone who has ever found solace between the pages of a book. This romantic story of found families and learning to accept help from others is sure to have wide appeal.—Rebecca Moe
