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The Bookstore Keepers

The Once Upon a Time Bookshop Stories

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About this listen

From New York Times bestselling author Alice Hoffman comes a deeply moving short story about the love of family and the power of dreams.

The Gibson sisters weren’t expecting to speak to each other ever again after Isabel ran off to New York and left Sophie alone. But here they are, years later, running the family bookstore together on Brinkley’s Island, Maine. Isabel also thought she’d left Johnny Lenox behind, but whether or not she knew it, Johnny was always going to be there for her.

Five years into their happily ever after, Isabel and Johnny are making the most of their second chance at love. Then one night, Johnny awakens from an extraordinary dream…and their world is irrevocably altered. Isabel does her best to give Johnny space as he struggles to accept the new chapter life has opened for them. But Johnny can’t do it alone—no one can. As the whole family is soon to discover, seasons change, but love never does.

©2025 by Alice Hoffman. (P)2025 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
Anthologies & Short Stories Family Life Genre Fiction Short Stories Small Town & Rural Dream

Critic reviews

“Series narrator Jennifer Jill Araya continues her top-notch narration of a heartfelt story of family, love, and independence.… Hoffman's insightful prose sounds like poetry, and Araya delivers full-bodied flesh-and-blood characterizations. Because the family backstory would make character motivations clearer, listeners are encouraged to hear the other two excellent short stories in the series.”AudioFile Magazine

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I had to check to see if there was more than one person narrating, story kept flowing well. Great narrative and brilliant dialogue.

Great narrator.

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