The Finders Keepers Library

by Annie Rains

I was immediately enchanted by the format of The Finders Keepers Library. Each chapter begins with a quote, usually bookish, always by a famous author (from Lamott to Tolkien and many in between), and always pertinent to the content of the chapter. I am quite familiar with starting chapters with quotes, but sometimes they are obscure, obtuse, or irrelevant. Not in this book where they are charming and relatable! Each chapter also begins with a pencil sketch of flowers emerging from a book. This illustration has a special meaning because one of the main characters, Eleanor, owns the free library created by her deceased husband along with an extensive garden. They combined their hobbies in a way that engages the community.

Savannah is in between jobs and has just had a troubling medical  diagnosis, lupus, that she is learning to live with. Rather than go to her parents’ home, she has a long overdue visit with her beloved Aunt Eleanor who could really use her skills with plants to get the garden in shape for the wedding of a friend of Savannah. Eleanor’s next door neighbor is Evan who was Savannah’s close friend every summer when she came to visit. When they parted ways after high school graduation, they lost touch with each other although neither forgot the “what could have been” of their relationship. Now they are at a different place in their lives. Evan is divorced and has newly become the custodial parent for his grieving daughter. Savannah’s partner of two years walked away when she got her lupus diagnosis. Eleanor has not left her house in a year since she was hospitalized from a bad fall. All of these really nice characters, plus several more, have issues to work through and obstacles in the way. Annie Rains weaves several sweet romances into this story of people helping each other. I highly recommend it.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Rating: 5/5

Category: Fiction, Romance, Women’s Fiction

Notes: 1. #1 in the Love in Bloom series

    2. Clean

Publication:  April 16,  2024—Forever (Grand Central Publishing)

Memorable Lines:

“If you ask me, a cup of tea and a good book is the best kind of medicine.”

“I think sometimes, when we’ve been wounded, we humans like to push people away, to prove our greatest fears.” She looked at him again. “What fear?” She shrugged. “That we’re unlovable.”

Knowing that someone loved you enough to bother you when you wanted to be alone was always better than leaving that person alone and letting them believe that no one cared.