Adrian, book-lover extraordinaire, adores his job at the small community library. He gets to share his passion with other people and help them with all book-related questions and issues. When a big, hulking man walks into the library, looking terrified, Adrian’s skills are tested in a completely different way.<br><br>Manne’s relationship with books is uneasy, to say the least. He’s dyslexic and events in his past have made him fearful of books and turned libraries into his worst nightmare. But when the quirky, bowtie-wearing librarian steps in to help, the experience turns positive.<br><br>Their banter is easy and their chemistry instant. But can an accidental meeting turn into something more? Can someone who has trouble reading ever fit into the life of a man whose passion is the written word?

They Met in the Library

I find the book and we return to my desk, where I issue him a library card—Simon Mandelberg, age forty-one—and show him how to check out the book.


As soon as the book is in his hand, the color disappears from his face. When it’s checked out, he clutches it to his chest like a first-grader nervous about the first day of school.


“You know how I told you I’d protect you against evil books?”


“That one isn’t one of them. I wouldn’t have picked it for you if it had been.” It’s a silly thing to say to a grown man but being silly distracted him before so I’m hoping it’ll work again.


I nod. “I do. May I make a suggestion?”


I hurry to grab the tote bag I keep in one of the desk drawers, one I use for books I borrow. Gently, I wiggle the book out of Manne’s iron grip, put it into the tote, and hand it to him, hoping that “out of sight, out of mind” will calm him.


Chapter 4