What the Librarian Did

First off, it takes place in New Zealand. How cool is that? At first Rachel comes across as rather uptight. But boy can she hand out the zingers. And her main focus of her zinger flings is Devin. As mentioned in the blurb, Devin was a member of a famous rock band formed by his older brother. But having suffered a breakdown brought on by too much wild living, he heads back to the country of his birth and without much else to do, and a desire to see if his older brother has been screwing him out of royalties from the band, Devin decides to take a course on business and finance at the local university where Rachel just happens to be the head librarian.

Because of her rather rigid upbringing and something that happened to her when she was show more younger, Rachel isn’t much into rock music and is less than impressed with Devin. But there is a lot of chemistry there, no matter that Rachel tries to deny it. Their relationship is further complicated when Devin befriends a young student, a young man that holds a key to Rachel’s past.

Devin is a dream hero!! While success came to him early and he did live a wild life style, he really is trying to turn his life around and has also come home to care for his mother who recently went through her own health scare. He’s alternately attracted to and annoyed by how cool Rachel is towards him. And the more she keeps him at arms length, the more he wants to get closer.

Rachel is a great heroine – I really liked her and I’m curious as to what Wendy will think – her being a Super Librarian and all. While no question she’s kind of old-fashioned, that doesn’t mean she’s not a treat of a heroine, and when Devin can manage to get her to let down her hair so to speak, she’s really quite funny. There are a number of places I got quite a chuckle out of their bickering.

And yet at other times there is a real poignancy in this story. Mark, the young man Devin befriends and then mentors plays a pivotal role in the story and a motivating reason as to why Rachel is the way she is.

I was really delighted with this book and this author is now on my radar! show less

I gave What the Librarian Did 3 stars (I would have given it 3 and half if I could), because it was an entertaining book that kept me hooked until the end. It was like a tightly wound television series with layer upon layers of secrets and ulterior motives that threaten to burst from the characters' mouths at any moment.

Rachel Robinson is an academic librarian who wound tighter than a drum and is emotionally distant because of upbringing and a mistake she made in her teens. She feels unworthy of love. Devin is a recovering alcholic rock star who has left the business to his health, and decides to enroll in University to get a business degree. He is immediately attracted to Rachel because she doesn't know who he is; has a quick wit; and show more lucious lips. Devin's problem is that he can't trust anyone because for the last 15 years people have only used him for his celebrity. Finally, there's Mark. He's a brooding teenager who enrolls at the university to find out the identity of his birth mother--she works at the school. When their three paths intersect, it is immediate chemistry. Tricky and tenous relationships develop, and it all goes well until they find out that neither one of them were never playing on the level.

This is an engrossing read. It was an entertaining yet light relationship drama. Besides the sexual chemistry between Rachel and Devin, there really wasn't any romance between them. They fought and mistrusted each so much that it is hard to believe that there will ever be a happyily ever after between them. As a matter of fact, the story is more about her discovering Mark is her biological son and trying to tell him then it is about her falling in love with Devin. The epilogue promises a life long committment between these two, but it feels tacked on and underdeveloped. This is a good book but just don't call it a romance. show less

University librarian Rachel has her world shaken up by the arrival of two new students: one is an egotistical, bad-boy former rock star who is attracted by her refusal to worship at his feet, and the other is the teenage son she gave up for adoption when she was seventeen. And when the wild rocker takes the shy teenager under his wing, things start to get distinctly complicated

This was a great story. Not perfect - I thought some of the ends were tied up a little too pat - but definitely great. There's a lot of humour in the book, and some great one-liners. The characters are really well written, and the various parent-child relationships and themes related to 'doing the right thing' are very strong. It's not great literature, it's show more unmistakeably a romance novel - but it's definitely more than just a romance novel. And it's a darn good read

(And the book gets extra points for having a title and cover art that actually reflects the content of the book. Gasp! Hold the front page!) show less

Me: "I don't have much to say. No review, like two sentences here from my phone. I'll just mention it's funny, but kind of oddly...

Oh okay."

*Sits up, opens laptop, writes semi-coherent review*

This book was pretty funny. The characters were multi-dimensional. We were introduced to hero of the next book, Zander, and I'm not sure why anyone wanted his book. But I like this author, I think she's talented. A book of a recovering alcoholic ex-rock star (Devin), and a librarian (Rachel) who's never known love and hasn't been able to commit or accept it in her life. It was a sweet story when it focused on these two.

When it didn't....ehhh...it stumbled. I think maybe it fell flat on its face. A hefty plot line featuring a closed adoption from show more the teenage years, featuring teenage offspring was distracting and overly angst-making. I thought that could have used a bit lighter touch. The final 20% was really bogged down in that drama, and it was too much for me. In fact quite a bit of that felt oddly judgmental, and really kept me from sinking into the characters and rooting for them.

there was some seriously funny stuff. And an answering machine. Who uses those anymore?? Say it with me: Voicemails. (I know this is from 2010, but I think still?) show less

All in all, I enjoyed reading this book, but after that last page was finished and I closed the book, a few things bothered me.

So Rachel Robinson is a librarian at a university in Australia. She's kind of a mother-hen type who cooks Sunday dinner for students that need a home cooked meal (exchange students, freshmen, etc) and she's a nice person. She likes to wear vintage clothing (think Dita Von Teese but less sexy) and she looks younger than her 34 years.

Then there's Devin Freedman. He was a guitarist in a famous band (his brother was the lead singer) and he availed himself of the booze...to the point a doctor told him if he drank anymore he'd die. So he's cleaned himself up and he's decided to straighten his act up. In his sobriety, show more he's noticed there's something screwy with his royalty payments and he's decided to take accounting at the small university where Rachel works to discover the root of the problem.

And finally there's Mark. He's come to university to find his mother. You see, Mark just discovered that he was adopted, and his parents didn't tell him. So knowing what he knows (his mother is 34 and works at the university) he's decided to find her and confront her. He's under the assumption that his mother didn't want him...and he wants her to feel that same pain, to reject his birth mother.

So three people, how are they all tied together? It's pretty easy to figure out the relationship between Rachel and Mark. When Rachel figures out Mark is her son, she doesn't come clean with him right away. She wants Mark to get to know her and see her as a friend before she reveals the truth. She hopes that way he'll give her a chance.

And Devin from his first day of school has been sucked into Rachel's sphere. She has no clue he's this famous guy and even after she learns about it, she doesn't care. She doesn't care until she realizes her young son is hanging around him and she's worried that Devin will rub off on Mark in a bad way. She doesn't know Devin is sober and she assumes he's into drugs and sex and all other sundry rock star vices. And then she realizes that these two are friends and so decides to hang out with Devin to get to know Mark.

And that's where I'm kind of meh about the book. Rachel's motivations toward Devin at first aren't about the attraction between them. She's using him. And then when push comes to shove at the end of the book, she uses Mark as an excuse to push Devin away. Frustrating much? And then I feel like she kind of went overboard in regards to Mark.

Despite all that, I enjoyed the book. The attraction between Devin and Rachel is my favorite kind. They don't like each other at first and yet they can't stay away from each other. LOL And with that comes the witty dialogue I so adore. show less

Picked this up at a library conference...couldn't resist! A New Zealand librarian and American rock star fall for each other, lol! Standard romance fare but at least she wasn't a total stereotype and her dark secret added dimension (wasn't hard to figure out her secret, duhhhh).

I picked it up after Super Wendy blogged about it but just now read it. It was really good. Once again the heroine skirted the line - she may have even dipped a tow over it now and again - but in the end I think she made up for it. I love that it was a Librarian and an ex-Rock Star. The combination was perfect.