Ashlyn Greer, the main character, owns a shop that restores old books. But she also has a gift: when she touches a book, she can 'feel' the echoes of its previous owners. Can you imagine that? We've all seen pencil notes in used books and wondered who wrote them—imagine feeling what they felt, knowing what they knew!There is nothing quite so alive as a book that has been readAshlyn stumbles upon two books, and her echo detector goes wild when she handles them. Beautifully bound but without autho...

My Favorite Fiction Book - and all-time Favorite Book that I read in 2024“I have always imagined that closing a book is like pausing a film midframe, the characters frozen in their halted worlds, breath held, waiting for the reader to return and bring it all back to life – like a prince’s kiss in a fairy tale.” – Ashlyn GreerI wanted to start my review with this quote from one of the main protagonist characters in this book, Ashlyn, because I have just finished this book, and this is exactly how...

It wasn't the first time she had been caught off guard by a book's echoes. It happened quite often, actually. Secrets so scandalous, they singed the tips of her fingers. Sadness that felt like a stone lodged in her throat. Joy so fierce, it made her scalp prickle. There wasn't much she hadn't come across. But she had never experienced anything close to what she felt while holding *Regretting Belle*. Her eyes slid to the book. Even closed, she could feel the pull of it, the allure of its anonymi...

The Echo of Lost Stories started off STRONG—I really thought it might be a five-star read. The premise was fantastic, the writing was beautiful, and the love story was touching. But as the book went on, those stars started to drop, all the way down to two. I won’t paste the book’s blurb here because you can easily read that for yourself. Let me condense my review into one paragraph, and you can optionally read the rest of my review (which is extraordinarily long and detailed, just like The Echo ...

What a fascinating story! After discovering a couple of old books with curious inscriptions, Ashlyn embarks on a quest to uncover the origins of their stories. It seems that Hemi and Belle's books, *The Echo of Lost Stories* by Barbara Davis, though unpublished, hold an intriguing tale of forbidden love, regrets, and betrayal. The dual timeline includes Ashlyn's story in 1984, set in her inherited antique bookstore, "An Unlikely Story," filled with old books that exude the scent of discolored pa...

I LOVED this book!!! ❤️ I was hooked from the cover and title alone! A book about books? With an actual book within the book? Sign me up!! 🙋‍♀️🙋‍♀️🙋‍♀️ Two timelines? Love it!!1980s - Ashlyn is a rare book 📕 dealer. She stumbles upon two books...that she instantly feels a connection with. She feels an emotional connection as soon as she picks them up! When she starts reading she realizes… this is in fact... a love ❤️ story…. Hemi and Belle… 🥰I LOVED Hemi and Belle’s story!! The 1940s… a for...

3.0⭐️ I so, so wanted to love this book more. The idea of a bookseller who can touch old books and feel their history completely hooked me, but The Echo of Lost Stories by Barbara Davis quickly turned into something else entirely. The story wasn’t necessarily *bad*, but there were just so many themes and tropes crammed in at once that it ended up feeling messy and unfocused. This book also felt so repetitive and long-winded! It could have easily been 150 pages shorter. I also had some major issu...

The Echo of Lost Stories was the first book I've had the pleasure of reading by Barbara Davis, and it was a beautifully written and heartwarming story. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I must admit I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. The story is told across two timelines. One part of The Echo of Lost Stories takes place in 1941 in New York City, and the other in 1984 in New Hampshire. Each timeline features a strong female protagonist and a very compelling romance. I don’t usu...

Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an egalley in exchange for an honest review.Read this book if you enjoy:✅Dual Timelines✅He said/she said stories✅Journals/Diaries/Books that reveal the past✅Passionate affairs with characters of different class systems✅Second chance love✅Family centric & Also, check it out if you enjoy:✅Learning about the Fascism movement & Anti-Semitism in the United States in the first half of the 20th century✅Protagonists that have a little "magic."✅Bo...

My Reviews Can Also Be Found On: Twitter - Amazon - Storygraph - The Book Review CrewBooks are the quietest and most constant friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient teachers. —Charles W. EliotWhen "The Echo of Lost Stories" became available on NetGalley, I couldn't say no! A book about books? That's totally my thing! This is part romance, part historical fiction, and part epistolary novel. From the get-go, the story grabbed me. A woman who ca...