"Hope Between the Pages" by Pepper Basham

Travel to Biltmore, the lavish estate in Asheville, North Carolina, in this delightful split-time romance. In the contemporary timeline, Clara Blackwell works in Biltmore Village, where she operates a bookstore which has been in her family for four generations. When legal issues arise, one potentially devastating problem emerges: Clara can't find the deed to the shop. Where might her great-grandmother have filed it? It's not possible she never legally owned Blackwell's, is it?

In 1915, Oliver Camden leaves the tense atmosphere of Europe for a vacation at Biltmore. His trips to the massive library soon have him believing in a Library Fairy, as books he's interested in are suddenly placed exactly where he can find them. He soon discovers the Library Fairy is none other than housemaid Sadie Blackwell, and Oliver falls hard and fast for the young woman, despite their differences of station. But could an English gentleman really give up everything for an American servant?

This book is full of sweetness and the magic of stories. You'll fall in love with the characters and cheer them on as they unravel the mystery of Blackwell's origins. 

I noted down a couple quotes, one which made me laugh and one which nearly made me cry. The first from Clara's point of view, as she's just getting to know a new friend: "He wore bow ties? And suspenders? There was a distinct possibility she was looking into the face of her future husband."

And the more poignant one: "I'd never considered how some of our greatest losses lead us to choices that God uses for bigger things than we could have ever imagined." I've experienced this for myself. Time and again, some of what appeared to be the greatest tragedies in my life have turned out in the end to be some of the most wonderful points of change. Hard times are still difficult, but having experienced this hope multiple times, I now know to look for what God is doing even in the pain.

My only teensy-tiny complaint about this story was that the characters were rather too perfect, which is hardly a complaint at all. Ha! Come be swept away by the love and the mystery and the hope that lies between these pages.

I received my copy of the book from the author. All thoughts in this review are my own.