The Bookshop on Autumn Lane (Truhart #3)

by Cynthia Tennent

Published October 11th 2016 by Lyrical Shine (Kensington)

4.5 Stars

Synopsis: Big dreams can come true in a small town…
 
While some young women would jump through hoops to claim ownership of a bookshop,
free-spirited Gertrude “Trudy” Brown wants nothing to do with the rundown store her late Aunt Gertrude left her.  Having suffered from dyslexia all her life, books aren’t exactly her friends. With not much more than a collie dog who’s scared of his own shadow, and a rusty but trusty ’74 Beetle, Trudy arrives in the tiny town of Truhart, determined to sell off her cumbersome inheritance as quickly as possible…

But Trudy is not the only stranger in town. Christopher “Kit” Darlington, a professor of American Studies at Cambridge, is searching for an elusive manuscript—and he secretly thinks Trudy’s ramshackle bookshop might hold the key to its discovery. As these two opposites spend the autumn days together, cleaning out Trudy’s bookshop, they soon find that uncovering both literature and love can be equally mysterious…

Trudy’s never been  the type to stay in one spot too long, but something about Kit makes her consider starting a new chapter—and maybe even finding there’s a happily-ever-after…

My Review: When Gertrude “Trudy”Brown inherits her Great Aunt Gertrude’s bookstore, in Truhart Michigan, she heads there to clean out the store and sell it. She does not understand why her aunt left her the store as she always thought she was “stupid” Trudy was diagnosed with dyslexia in her 20s but still has major issues with language Vegan free spirited Trudy left Truhart when she was 15 and has not been back for 12 years. She arrives in town driving her VW bug names Lulu and a collie that she rescued from an abusive owner. Also relatively new in town is English professor Christopher “Kit” Darlington, affectionately known by the women in town as his Lordship.

Trudy has never felt at home anywhere since her mother died when she was 14. Her father dropped her and her brother off with his Aunt Gertrude, who had no idea about raising children. Due to her inability to read, people thought she was stupid and life was miserable for her. Her great aunt just thought she was lazy. Trudy never got the love, support, and care she really deserved. She hasn’t been back since she ran away at 15 and all she wants to do is sell the bookshop she hates and get out of Truhart as fast as she can. Best laid plans do not always work out as planned.

Kit, shows up at the bookstore and does not want Trudy to dispose of the books as she had planned (a dumpster). He convinces her to sort them and try to sell them or give them away because they are books, they are art, they are important. The more time Trudy spends with Kit, and the more the residents of the town that used to make fun of her come to know her, have Trudy rethinking her plans to travel as far as she can get. She also refuses to sell the bookstore using the bully real estate agent who is trying to get her to sell at a ridiculously low price. When the real reason Kit doesn’t want Trudy to sell the shop is revealed, it’s a true test of how they feel about one another and whether those feelings are strong enough to deal with some subterfuge.

I really enjoyed this book. We see Trudy grow as a person, see how attitudes change when you get to know someone and that kindness will often be repaid tenfold. Trudy is a great character. She is sarcastic, can be rude, helpful to others, strong willed and a lot smarter than she gives herself credit for. Kit is the perfect foil for her. He makes her start to believe in herself and nudges her along the way to her emergence into a “responsible adult.” This book is not just a romance, there are many layers that readers of adult fiction will enjoy. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley.