Bookworm in the City

The library of borrowed hearts / Lucy Gilmore (2024)
What it is: lukewarm bookish romance
Did I like it: nope

This story counts no less than five different points of view.
There are: Chloe, Jasper, Catherine, Noodle and Zach.
Despite all these people, there are two clear main characters, namely Chloe and Jasper.
Chloe and Jasper are neighbors and that’s about the only thing they have in common. Jasper is an old grouch who keeps any frisbee and ball that flies over the hedge into his garden.
Chloe is struggling to get by on the meagre salary of a library worker, paying off student loans for a half-finished library degree, while also paying the bills to keep herself and her three younger siblings clothed and fed.
Then one day in the library she finds a rare book amongst the ones selected to be sold off and takes it home to sell herself. At home she discovers that the book has writing in the margins. With there being two different styles of handwriting, she realizes the book was used by two lovers to communicate.
Chloe is hooked by the love story but when Jasper-the-Grouch insists on buying the book at any price (he hands her a blank check) it’s easy to deduct that he was one of the two writers. This makes Chloe more determined to find out everything and uncover the mystery identity of the other writer.
Then in the past is the story of another librarian, Catherine.
And in the now is also the point of view from Noodle, who is one of Chloe’s siblings. He had gotten himself into some trouble and was rescue by Zach, a mountain man, who also becomes a teller in the story.
All in all this book has a lot going on, even though the story (stories) are not complicated. Noodle’s and Zach’s storylines were okay but only used as catalyzers for other people to keep meeting or get moving. Therefor they were clearly the weaker parts.

I had bought this book, all excited about the title, the cover, and the premise. I managed to keep myself from tearing into it and saved it for my holiday. In fact, it was the only book I allowed myself to pack*.
But oh boy, what a disappointment. The so-called mystery that is teased on the backflap is solved within two chapters and the twist at the end could be seen from chapter three onwards. What is left, are two lukewarm love stories. The problem with that is that love stories should sparkle, burst with chemistry, and have you rooting for the main characters. Alas, one of the main characters here is Chloe, who scored high on my scale of annoyance: she’s feeling so sorry for herself that she’s leaving a trail of self-pity wherever she goes. Sure, the circumstances that made her her siblings’ legal guardian were tough but she’s stuck in a martyr role and that’s not a good color on her. And the message about the family struggling financially is driven home hard in the first couple of chapters and it was just too much.
Because so many people got to tell their point of view, I felt sorry for the two siblings who weren’t given that position. They were also complete scene-stealers whenever they did pop up.

The idea of the story is a nice one. The execution unfortunately not the best as it packed no punch. As far as I’m concerned the best thing about this book is the cover.

*that’s a mistake on my end; never again!