Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review.
This was so good. I loved the characters of Tom and Maggie. I really didn’t want to put this one down when I got to the end.
When Tom goes to the village library, he wants to just go someplace where he can study and hide from his father. When he gets there though, he ends up lying about his past and is offered romance novels to read by the local librarian and an elderly woman named Maggie who goes to the book club there. Maggie finds herself looking forward to the weekly visits of Tom to the library. And Tom finds himself looking forward to the books being offered and the friendship.
I honestly don’t have anything to say except Tom and Maggie were lovely. Tom’s home life is hard. So is his school life. His father is an alcoholic who is only focused on Tom going to work at the local dog food plant and doesn’t know why his son has dreams of anything else. Maggie is lonely after her husband’s death 10 years earlier, and Tom brings back memories of her son. The two of them together are in turns hilarious and heartbreaking.
I also loved the books that Tom is provided and reads such as Georgette Heyer, Jojo Moyes, and others. He starts to branch off into other genres, but still loves his romance books.
The flow of the book was great. Chapters alternate between Tom and Maggie.
The setting of the village feels at times very cozy. But I loved reading the most about Maggie’s farm house. It feels magical.
The ending was lovely I thought.