SERIESLY, THOUGH | RESTORING HERITAGE SERIES BY TARI FARIS

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Ok, we're going to be doing the series talk a little flipped this time around. Prior to Book #2 being sent to me for review, I somehow missed that this was part of a series. So I'll go ahead and discuss Book 2 now, I have Book 1 on order, we'll come back to it shortly. From what I've read so far, it seems like this is one that does have light crossover with characters, but for the most part can easily be read as standalone works. But anyway, to start.... 

UNTIL I MET YOU (RESTORING HERITAGE #2)

When she hears that the small town of Heritage, Michigan, is looking for a new librarian, Libby Kingsley jumps at the opportunity. Little did she know the library is barely more than a storage closet stuffed with dusty, outdated books. What the community really needs is a new building. But the only funds available are those being channeled into the new town square, and the landscape architect in charge of the project wants nothing to do with her plans.

All Austin Williams wants to do is get the town square project finished so he can do right by the family business and then extricate himself from the town that reveres the brother who cost him so much. But the local media and the town's new librarian seem to be conspiring against him at every turn. Will the determined bookworm find her way into his blueprints--and possibly even his heart?

★★★☆☆

Wanting a fresh start after breaking free from an abusive relationship, Libby Kingsley takes a job as the new librarian of Heritage, Michigan. The recent move also means a chance to get reacquainted with her brother Luke, whom she's been separated from for a good chunk of her life. 

It's a rude awakening when she sees the sorry state of her new workplace. It turns out the town library, currently located in the basement of the town hall, has actually been shut for over twenty-five years, the "new releases" shelf dating back to the 1990s. Book-loving Libby decides the town deserves to have a brand spanking new library location, but to make that happen she'll have to go head-to-head with stubborn, somewhat grumpy architect (and new neighbor across the street), Austin Williams.

Austin is heading up a revitalization project on Heritage's town square, a job he desperately needs to be a home run to save his family's landscaping business. Libby gets the idea to relocate the town's historic one-room schoolhouse to one corner of the square and repurpose the building as the new library site. Even though Austin has plenty on his plate trying to get the rest of the project rolling smoothly, he can't help but stretch himself just a little thinner to help Libby, this pretty and adorably bookish gal slowly working her way into his barricaded heart. 

While Libby rebuilds a relationship with her brother, there's also some bad blood between Austin and his brother Nate, who not only serves as the town pastor, but also assistant fire chief and town council member. Austin is more than a little bitter about having spent so much of his life quietly cleaning up his brother's legal messes only for Nate to become town favorite as "Perfect Pastor Nate", as Austin often dubs him. Now with both brothers personally invested in the outcome of this particular project, it's only a matter of time before old grievances will have to be aired out in the process of working so closely together.

The romance element is the big focus (at least from what I've read of this book, having not yet read anything else in the series), and on that front, it was just okay for me. Faris writes some decently believable dialogue and crafts plenty of cutesy scenarios that would definitely inspire romance in real-life situations, but something was just a touch off for me, something that said our two primaries --- Austin and Libby --- probably would be great friends, but over time, I could see the romance there fizzling out. I mean, it felt fast-tracked pretty much from the start, what with Austin saying lines like "You're one of the strongest people I know," after he & Libby had only had a handful of conversations at that point. And speaking of his lady friend, I found Libby a little grating as a character, always trying so hard to be that "I'm not like other girls" girl. I will say, the greenhouse scene is a sweet moment, even if the writing there veered ever so slightly into cheezy romance novel territory.

This story plays A LOT off of bookish stereotypes (bookish girl = obsessed with all things Jane Austen, so naturally a ton of Pride & Prejudice references throughout this novel), and Faris tries to build a Fitzwilliam Darcy / Elizabeth Bennett level tension between Austin and Libby, but it just didn't hit its mark for me. I felt more tension and "will they, won't they?" excitement around Nate and his girl-that's-totally-just-a-friend, Olivia.

I'm not sure why, but I often felt like I was struggling to keep all the secondary characters straight with this one.... couples, parents, stepparents, adoptive siblings, cousins, besties, roommates, etc...more and more just added on as the story progressed. That part gave me a bit of a reading headache. ALL THAT SAID.... I did really enjoy the community set-up of Heritage. It feels like a sweet, cozy place to hang out, and I look forward to revisiting in the other books, maybe see in the future how Nate and his love life pans out, if he can ever get out of his own way! 

A third book in this series is scheduled for release in Fall 2021.

Note To Readers: This story contains spoilers for The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom. (*Still technically spoilers when it's a historic memoir? But yes, spoilers.)

FTC Disclaimer: Revell Publishing kindly provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The opinions above are entirely my own.