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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC copy. All opinions are my own.
I've only read one other book by Lyla Lee before this one, but she's quickly become a favorite author. Her writing is recognizable from her YA work while still being distinctly different in the adult romance genre. Her books are super cute and comforting and I'm glad her adul debut feels the same way. Despite the angst and emotions of the book, I'd definitely consider this a comfort read. I was rooting for Gemma and Celeste to get back together the entire book, but the will-they-won't-they of it all made for a great ride along the way.
My biggest complaint is Celeste's POV chapters being in a different tense than Gemma's. The first time we get her perspective it took me out a bit. It's jarring to go from 1st person to 3rd person on a character switch. I don't know the reasoning behind that choice, but I wish Celetse would have also been in 1st person. I also didn't like how Celeste always referred to Gemma as "my ex". "I can't stop thinking about my ex." "working with my ex..." etc. It got old fast. The ending also seemed rushed with time skips.
I still think it's worth the read, but if you know you may have issues with the tense switch between POVs, maybe skip it.
I've only read one other book by Lyla Lee before this one, but she's quickly become a favorite author. Her writing is recognizable from her YA work while still being distinctly different in the adult romance genre. Her books are super cute and comforting and I'm glad her adul debut feels the same way. Despite the angst and emotions of the book, I'd definitely consider this a comfort read. I was rooting for Gemma and Celeste to get back together the entire book, but the will-they-won't-they of it all made for a great ride along the way.
My biggest complaint is Celeste's POV chapters being in a different tense than Gemma's. The first time we get her perspective it took me out a bit. It's jarring to go from 1st person to 3rd person on a character switch. I don't know the reasoning behind that choice, but I wish Celetse would have also been in 1st person. I also didn't like how Celeste always referred to Gemma as "my ex". "I can't stop thinking about my ex." "working with my ex..." etc. It got old fast. The ending also seemed rushed with time skips.
I still think it's worth the read, but if you know you may have issues with the tense switch between POVs, maybe skip it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Biphobia, Grief
Minor: Infidelity, Medical content, Abandonment, Classism
This is such an amazing book! The story between the two strong female leads is priceless. This book had me in a hold front start to finish! My only issue is I wish it had more of an ending.
emotional
funny
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
thank you forever publishing for the e-arc and physical copy of love in focus! this sapphic second chance romance is out now.
gemma (she/her) is a romance advice columnist and gets assigned a new project. the photographer on the project is her ex celeste (she/her), who she hasn't seen in eight years. the project forces them to spend time together and neither of them feels over the other, but the two of them are kind of messy and celeste is scared. gemma's chapters are written in first person, and celeste has fewer chapters that are written in third person.
i enjoyed how messy they were, it felt realistic for them not to be thinking logically because many of us don't, either, and i surprisingly didn't mind the switch between first and third person. the sex scenes felt realistic—not knowing what to do, not being used to something and running out of energy, needing breaks. the two of them cannot keep their hands (or mouths) off each other, and i was in the mood for an open-door book.
a few things that made me rate this a 3.5ish out of 5:
- the amatonormativity. the project gemma and celeste are working on is about "modern love," which everyone interprets as romantic love. one of the people they interview mentions other forms of love and gemma is like oh that's interesting, but then that thought doesn't really go anywhere. there are also a few moments of "everyone wants love" or "everyone loves love" even though aromantic people are mentioned at one point.
- lockdown is mentioned, which means covid has happened in this universe but there's no mention of public safety at alllllll and we all know how i feel about that
- there is one line i want to talk about because i've overthought it several times: "...only to discover that gemma had not only moved on, but she'd move on with a man. a lesbian's worst nightmare."
because on one hand, i understand the knee-jerk, immediate reaction of "ugh god men." we live in a patriarchal, capitalist society that values toxic masculinity, and it's easy to assume that someone is going to date a mediocre or terrible man and that can feel incredibly disappointing. i'm not going to pretend i think men are wonderful or that i think all of them deserve romantic or sexual attention from the wonderful women i know, and honestly i've thought the same thing about an ex. on the other hand, i understand how this is being read as biphobic, because we don't get to decide what other people do with their lives and we need to trust and allow people to make decisions for themselves, and those decisions include what genders to date, and celeste knew that gemma was bisexual. and then i continued thinking and it made me feel gross as a lesbian, like not being attracted to men is such a big part of our identity and we go around hating men all the time and we care more if an ex is dating a man than if they're dating someone who is abusive or racist etc. and after reading the rest of the book, it felt out of place for celeste to think--she was heartbroken that gemma had seemingly moved on so quickly and didn't mention or seem to care about who gemma moved on with. i don't know. but the line did make me uncomfortable and i wanted to call it out.
cws: biphobia; homophobia; infidelity; parent with cancer (in remission when the book starts)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity
Moderate: Cancer
Really enjoyed this sapphic audiobook.
Natalie Naudus and Catherine Ho did an amazing job bringing the characters to life. I loved Gemma and Celeste and seeing their dynamic and growth throughout the book.
Natalie Naudus and Catherine Ho did an amazing job bringing the characters to life. I loved Gemma and Celeste and seeing their dynamic and growth throughout the book.
Kinda just wanted it to be over the whole time ðŸ˜
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I got the audiobook as an arc, thank you to everyone involved.
The is a wonderful sapphic second chance romance. The story between Gemma and Celeste is adorable and has really good flow.
After 8 years apart their job bring them back together. The book is like a spicy sapphic romance com. And both Natalie Naudus and Catherine Ho bring the characters and the story to life. Though the book was dual pov it is mainly Gemmas prospective, I would of liked to have more of Celeste's prospective. I really enjoyed listening to this book and will definitely be recommending this book to my friends.
The is a wonderful sapphic second chance romance. The story between Gemma and Celeste is adorable and has really good flow.
After 8 years apart their job bring them back together. The book is like a spicy sapphic romance com. And both Natalie Naudus and Catherine Ho bring the characters and the story to life. Though the book was dual pov it is mainly Gemmas prospective, I would of liked to have more of Celeste's prospective. I really enjoyed listening to this book and will definitely be recommending this book to my friends.
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I really enjoyed this book! It was a quick and easy read with great characters and solid representation. I enjoyed seeing Kiara & Val’s healthy relationship and watching Gemma really come into herself as her own person.
Gemma is recently out of a 7 year relationship and she's done with love. When an exciting work project lands on her desk, Gemma is thrilled to be given a challenge. That is, until she finds out she'll be partnered with Celeste, her ex-girlfriend from college who broke her heart. They both agree to work together for the sake of the project, but as they work together they find it harder and harder to keep it professional.
I really liked the premise of this. It's a sapphic, second-chance romance with an interesting setting. It was cute, but it just wasn't quite as exciting as I wanted it to be. Celeste had a lot of hang ups about getting in a relationship that really didn't feel warranted. Their previous breakup also felt a little half baked. They were in love and wanted to spend their lives together, but then Celeste's mom got sick and she just left the country without saying anything to Gemma. I just felt like it didn't quite make sense.
Once they talked things through everything just moved very quickly and they started to get back together without much fan fare. I wanted more tension and more time to really build that chemistry together. Because of how quick everything happened, I didn't fully believe the romance.
Lots of potential, and I would definitely read this author again, but I wanted more from this one.
Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the ALC!
I really liked the premise of this. It's a sapphic, second-chance romance with an interesting setting. It was cute, but it just wasn't quite as exciting as I wanted it to be. Celeste had a lot of hang ups about getting in a relationship that really didn't feel warranted. Their previous breakup also felt a little half baked. They were in love and wanted to spend their lives together, but then Celeste's mom got sick and she just left the country without saying anything to Gemma. I just felt like it didn't quite make sense.
Once they talked things through everything just moved very quickly and they started to get back together without much fan fare. I wanted more tension and more time to really build that chemistry together. Because of how quick everything happened, I didn't fully believe the romance.
Lots of potential, and I would definitely read this author again, but I wanted more from this one.
Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the ALC!
This was very cute! Overall very cozy and not super dramatic. I enjoyed the focus this had on personal wellness and care. I also enjoyed the project Gemma and Celeste do together and the different couples they spoke to. My biggest issue with the story was change in POV for Celeste’s chapters. Gemma’s chapters make up a majority of the book and are told from first person present. However, it switches to third person present for Celeste’s which was really jarring, and felt more like I was reading a play script. It took me well into the book the stop hating the switch. That said, I liked the story itself well enough that I was able to push through that and still enjoy myself. Overall, it’s a nice quick read that touches on some deeper topics, and I would recommend it as a sort of palette cleanser between longer reads.
Catherine Ho and Natalie Naudus both did a great job with the narrations and I especially liked how they expressed emotion and tone.
Catherine Ho and Natalie Naudus both did a great job with the narrations and I especially liked how they expressed emotion and tone.
