Cover Image: The Lost and Found Bookshop

The Lost and Found Bookshop

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

I must firstly apologise for the amount of time it has taken me to provide a review of this book, my health was rather bad for quite some time, something that had me in hospital on numerous occasions and simply didnt leave me with the time I once had to do what I love most.

Unfortunately that does mean I have missed the archive date for many of these books, so It would feel unjust throwing any review together without being able to pay attention to each novel properly.

However, I am now back to reading as before and look forward to sharing my honest reviews as always going forward. I thank you f0r the patience and understanding throughout x

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There is a cast of well developed and likeable, characters. Natalie is an excellent main character and her relationship and challenges with her grandfather were wonderful to observe.

It has a certain charm to it, and Natalie was easy to identify with. She is a woman who, at the outset, is trapped in a job that she finds unfulfilling, and it was fascinating to see her character mature as she takes on the bookshop and has to deal with so much loss.

The bookshop itself was as significant as the characters, and I could almost smell the mustiness of the old books, as well as the freshly printed pages of the new. The author has done an excellent job of bringing the shop to life on the page.

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Sometimes I think I am possessed by my darling mother when I request books because this isn't my style at all. Having said that, I found it to be cute and not too taxing to read. I found it a good escape from the modern world and I liked Natalie quite a lot. I enjoyed my first book by Susan Wiggs and perhaps, one day, I'll pick up another.

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This is a good story about loss and choices. Natalie’s life is turned upside down when she loses both her mother and boyfriend. She decides to leave her well paid job to look after her grandfather and her mother’s bookshop.

I could empathise with the characters pain and understood the confusion that came with the unexpected changes. I think her character came to life when we see how patient she was with her grandfather’s illness. I love a story when the character has to push themselves out of their comfort zone, Natalie does this.
The Lost and Found Bookstore is a story showing that tragedy can change how you see things and it makes you appreciate things. A very enjoyable read.

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Books about bookshops have common contents.
Bookshop gets new owner after dramatic occurrences/loss.
New owner is not happy about their new position.
House, where the bookshop is, needs repairs.
Protagonist knows books and knows how to talk about them and to whom to recommend them.
Destiny (read: author) gives to protagonist new possibilities in life and in love.
This book is no exception. This time the shop is in San Francisco, and it’s linked to the history of the city. In this book not just the heroine has a voice, so does her grandfather and the hired-hammer. The house is old and full of hidden treasures and family secrets.

At the end the story ends like all of them, and the way to the end is filled with surprises, secrets, hope and love.

Good read.

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Great read, interesting storyline. Some of it was a little predictable.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

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I’m always drawn to books about bookshops - there’s something quite appealing about them to this bibliophile. The bookstore and its history, along with the family history was interesting and appealing, while the grandfather’s dementia was well handled. The star of the show was little Dorothy who was used as a foil to many of the events in the book.

Sadly the book jarred in places - Natalie’s character was so unlikeable and self- centred, but suddenly she became willing to give it all up on a whim?

The dual romance element was sadly predictable and a little vacuous, neither of the characters were really well rounded enough.

An interesting read, set in one of my favourite cities (San Francisco) but sadly a bit lacking in oomph!

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I really liked this book. The characters were old school genuinely likeable people and the lack of bad language is a positive for me. Natalie, the main character ends up having to run her mother’s old bookshop, in which she grew up as a child. That alone got me as a bit of a fantasy come true! To be surrounded by book all day would be an absolute joy.

What I liked in particular about this was that there weren’t too many characters. Sometimes there are so many additional characters that it is easy to lose track but this was a simple story, based on good story telling and key people to focus on.

I gave this 4 out of 5 - I enjoyed it but you only get a 5 from me if I’d go back and read it again which I wouldn’t with this book. Lovely but once was fine for me :)

Thanks to NetGalley for the preview copy of this which I received in return for an honest review of the book.

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I love books set within bookshops, they always draw me in and I hoped that this book would do this too.

The story was fine, the main character Natalie tragically loses her mother and her boyfriend in a light airplane crash and her life as an executive working for a wine company gets turned upside down.

Her mother ran an iconic bookshop in `San Francisco but it turns out she was also up to her eyeballs in debt and she was also looking after her elderly father who has dementia. Natalie finds herself trying to save the bookshop and look after her grandfather. She gets a hand from Peach who is a handyman who starts on the very long list of things to fix, he is very easy on the eye and he has certainly caught Natalie’s.

It was an ok read but I think I struggled to feel any empathy for Natalie, she wasn’t very likeable and I felt she was totally oblivious to some things.

Thank you for providing me with a copy.

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I'm usually a sucker for any book set in a bookshop. And this wasn't exactly an unenjoyable read, for the most part. Just not my cup of tea, really. It fell a bit flat for me and I can't figure out why. It had some of those predictable tropes you find in books like these – horrible high-paying yet unsatisfying job! Oh no, she has to go take care of her family business! Gasp, she has to choose between two absolutely lovely men! She somehow manages to turn the failing business around! It But, it does have some other little twists that sort of redeem it. Sort of. Oh and her idea to increase revenue for the failing bookshop was....make sure to stock bestsellers. NO REALLY?!? And, another groundbreaking idea: events with famous authors. I'm being petty. Sorry. Especially as again, it wasn't a bad book. Just a bit predictable, and it dragged on too long. But, it would be a decent holiday read. Or something to keep you busy while you're waiting to catch a delayed flight.
Would be suitable for fans of the Hallmark channel.

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This book would make a good holiday book but it didn't really grab me. The story is entertaining but I wasn't particularly interested in any of the characters, and the whole thing was just a bit dull.

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I received a copy of the book from Netgalley to review. Thank you for the opportunity.
An interesting idea behind this story and some good writing. I liked the development of the MC and the accessory characters.
However, the beginning of the story was very slow and the MC was pretty unlikeable which spoiled the story for me.
A good read.

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Intense, drawn out and deeper meanings found within.

A wonderful book of the depths of feeling between a family learning how to live without their loved one.

Slow progress initially but built into something delightful.

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An easy read feeling rather like an american chick flick. If I'm honest it's not really my type of book. You are supposed to get on the side of Natalie but really I didn't particulary like her so I din't care enough to want her to suceed despite feeling sorry for what she has to go through. Some of the incidents, dialog and descriptions made me cringe but it is what it is. If you like this type of story then its a lovely setting and has the right sort of ending.

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I enjoyed the setting for this story a lot, after all what book lover wouldn’t enjoy a tale set in a bookshop?! I was absorbed for the majority of the story but unfortunately a couple of things were disappointing - the ending seemed very rushed and I felt the main character smoking pot after sex just didn’t gel with what we had learnt about her character in the rest of the book.

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An easy read, enjoyable with endearing characters. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review, I’ll recommend as an easy read.

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For those who love reading and browsing in bookshops this is a must. From the first page you are drawn in and want to keep reading. Natalie has her dreams shattered and has to return home to run the book shop and look after her grandfather who has dementia. Just when things can't get any worse Peach Gallagher and his daughter enter her life, can they save her and the bookshop? Love is never easy but Natalie suddenly finds two ideal men who are keen just to make things more complicated for her..............

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It's a funny, heartwarming and poignant story that made me smile and moved me. A compelling and highly entertaining read I couldn't put down.
Excellent storytelling and character development, a tightly knitted plot.
I loved this enjoyable story and it's highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

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The Lost and Found Bookshop is a lovely read unsurprisingly I have a soft spot for books about bookshops and booksellers. The Lost and Found Bookshop is in San Francisco and is owned by Natalies mom and her grandfather. When Natalie finds herself back in her childhood room in the bookshop can she save the bookshop with the help of Peach (her handyman) and handsome big time author Trevor. All about following your heart and keeping your family close. Like a warm hug.

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If you get the warm, happy feelings when visiting and reading about old bookstores in historical buildings, you will enjoy this story of love and second chances.

This story holds historical significance, surrounding the one-hundred-year-old “Sun Rise Building” in San Francisco, that survived the 1906 ‘big earthquake.’ The building was lots of businesses before it finally became a bookshop, including a bar and a brothel of sorts..

After Natalie loses her mum and the man she's dating in a plane crash, she's filled with a mixed emotions. Of course she's overcome with grief, but it's mixed with guilt, a sense of responsibility for their deaths, because they were on a plane to visit her when they died. Mother and daughter had a turbulent relationship, and there were many times she felt disappointed by her, but with the tragic and suddenness of her death there was no way to resolve some of the things that were left unsaid.
After their deaths she moves in with Grandfather who needs caring for and Natalie begins to unravel the problems her Mum faced with her Grandfather and the failing bookshop.

The characters were well developed and I especially loved her Grandy, an elderly man with old values and a kind voice whose story is identified by the onset of dementia, a place where his memory begins to fade leaving old memories of his unresolved questions around his Grandfather and Father who lived in the old building.

While most of the story is about Natalie trying to to pay off the debt she inherited so she can keep the bookshop and building, we know it’s also a story about people she meets along the way that help her do just that. The characters are good, believable and all carry individuals burdens from the staff, to the customers, and a particular handyman with an unusual name of “Peach” and his seven-year-old daughter, Dorothy. As Peach makes repairs to the old building, he discovers a few hidden artifacts, some considerably valuable and the story continues to develop.

A story of family, love, loss, history, and a touch of romance.

Thank you in advance Netgalley for the advanced copy.

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