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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-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
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this before release.
The premise sounded extremely up my alley, but it didn’t do much for me unfortunately. I did not care about our two main characters and Gemma often felt a bit flat to me. The story was nice, I just wish there was less nagging.Also, the cheating trope could’ve been skipped (does not happen between the two ladies). Would like to try another romance book from this author though.
The premise sounded extremely up my alley, but it didn’t do much for me unfortunately. I did not care about our two main characters and Gemma often felt a bit flat to me. The story was nice, I just wish there was less nagging.
the biphobic AF comment at the 15% REALLY threw me for a loop, even though i had heard from other ARC/ALC readers that there was such a line.
the line reads:“…only to discover that gemma had not only moved on, but she’d moved on with a man. a lesbians worst nightmare.”
i truly hope this is taken out of the final edition because WTF?!! the fact that the author is bi herself makes me confused. AND!! this quote is literally said right after celeste (the character who says this) mentions her best friend is a bi man…. LIKE HUH??????
outside of that line, i ended up DNFing because i truly won’t care for either MC but especially celeste.she’s not only biphobic, but also gets mad at gemma for blocking her on social media after she broke up with gemma OVER TEXT and left the country without telling gemma…. like hypocritical much? like yes, i agree that gemma was *quick* with it by blocking her and yeah, that was a little immature, but she was also only like 21/22 so it tracks.
all in all, i was just disappointed with this one and don’t care enough about the characters to finish or the storyline to continue as a hate read. i do not recommend.
the line reads:
i truly hope this is taken out of the final edition because WTF?!! the fact that the author is bi herself makes me confused. AND!! this quote is literally said right after celeste (the character who says this) mentions her best friend is a bi man…. LIKE HUH??????
outside of that line, i ended up DNFing because i truly won’t care for either MC but especially celeste.
all in all, i was just disappointed with this one and don’t care enough about the characters to finish or the storyline to continue as a hate read. i do not recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Medical trauma
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
“Hell is trying to control other people. Including yourself.”
3.5 stars. A super cute and sweet second chance romance, one that was equally focused on character growth and evolution as much as it was on the romance. Which can be a good or a band thing, depending on the type of reader you are. But I think the author struck a good balance, and if you're mostly here for the romance, I think that was one of the stronger aspects of this book. I liked it so much! I usually say that second chance romance isn't my favourite trope, and it isn't, but when packaged like this, in a relatively short romance that's primarily focused on one character, it shines.
Gemma is an advice columnist who just had a big bomb dropped on her: her boyfriend of seven years and recent fiancé just abruptly broke up with her. She's devastated, and all the more so because her only significant relationship before him, with her college girlfriend, also ended in heartbreak when Celeste went back to Korea without saying a word to her. Gemma moves in with her best friends and tries to start rebuilding her life, but a new project at work blindsides her: she has to work with a photographer for a piece about couples and love, and the photographer is none other than Celeste, her ex.
I think a lot of second chance romances tend to focus on flashbacks to establish the relationship that the characters had in the past, to let us see how they built up chemistry and why they were good for each other. And I don't think it's a bad thing; even though I don't love flashbacks, they can be useful in this way. And so I find it all the more impressive that the author used no flashbacks in this book, and yet I still got a really clear idea of relationship they had, the attraction and all-consuming chemistry, without ever feeling like I was being info-dumped on, or being bogged down, or being dragged away from the action in the present. Maybe it was just the way it was written, but I always felt like the electricity between Gemma and Celeste, even when there were misunderstandings, even when there were hurt feelings on both sides. I liked the author's approach to clearing up the past between them, and to gradually building something new in the present.
POV is handled in an interesting way. Most of the book is told from Gemma's first person POV, but we also get a few shorter chapters, almost vignettes, from Celeste's third person POV. I ended up liking this a lot! I'm a big lover of single POV romance, so I wouldn't have minded if we had only been privy to Gemma's perspective. But I actually really liked getting little snippets that provided insight into Celeste's side of the story, even though this remained firmly about Gemma's journey. And it didn't feel unbalanced, because we saw a lot of Celeste's story from Gemma's chapters too. This felt really well-rounded, and I also especially liked the friendships. Val, the video-game playing butch, was a gem.
I think I'd have loved this more if it had been a little longer. I kinda wish we'd gotten to see more dates; both for the project, and between Gemma and Celeste alone. Both characters make very sensible decisions near the end, and do what's best for them, but I wish there had been something more, to make the romance a little more intense, a little more memorable.
Listened to the audiobook as read by Natalie Naudus and Catherine Ho, and I loved it! Naudus is one of my favourite narrators of all time, and she always brings so much heart and emotion to her performances. Ho has a lovely register that was perfect for Celeste. Both narrators have pretty different voices, and that can sometimes bug me, in dual narrated audiobooks. Like, Naudus' voice for Gemma didn't sound anything like Ho's voice for Gemma. But because Celeste's chapters (and therefore Ho's narration) were so short, I didn't really notice it and it didn't bother me at all. Great narration, overall!
This was such a cute romance, and I definitely recommend it. I've read from Lyla Lee before, one of the YA titles, and I liked it okay? But this was definitely more up my alley, and I'm glad to have enjoyed it so much.
☆ Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an audio review copy! I am voluntarily leaving a review.
“I like that. One romance novel moment at a time.”
I’m, sadly, going to call this a dnf. I got a couple chapters in and didn’t feel a huge draw to pick it back up and then I’m hearing a lot about biphobia and transphobia and I just don’t want to push myself to read something that’s going to have that in it.
Disappointing bc the cover is cute and the premise sounded interesting!
I may pick this up at a later date once I look more into the problematic elements of it, but I’ve just got too many other things I’d like to read right now to prioritize it.
Disappointing bc the cover is cute and the premise sounded interesting!
I may pick this up at a later date once I look more into the problematic elements of it, but I’ve just got too many other things I’d like to read right now to prioritize it.
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Thank you to Forever for the gifted advance copy of this book!
This was such a sweet, sapphic read! Gemma and Celeste were drawn together like magnets, and I loved the way they couldn’t stay away from one another. They are clearly so comfortable together, and I really loved that they were both always up front with the other - no miscommunication tropes here! This was really lighthearted, without a ton of conflict, and is a very lighthearted read.
Gemma’s friendship with Val and Kiara is so beautiful, and I love that they help her feel included in the queer community, and seen and validated as a bisexual woman. Gemma is so accepted in who she is and who she wants to be, and it’s so wonderful to see 🥹
I also loved the way that Korean heritage and culture is woven all throughout! We get to see two different Korean-American experiences with both Gemma and Celeste, and I love the way they find pieces of themselves and their culture in the other, like they become a home away from home for the other.
Also fuck James - that guy sucks.
This was such a sweet, sapphic read! Gemma and Celeste were drawn together like magnets, and I loved the way they couldn’t stay away from one another. They are clearly so comfortable together, and I really loved that they were both always up front with the other - no miscommunication tropes here! This was really lighthearted, without a ton of conflict, and is a very lighthearted read.
Gemma’s friendship with Val and Kiara is so beautiful, and I love that they help her feel included in the queer community, and seen and validated as a bisexual woman. Gemma is so accepted in who she is and who she wants to be, and it’s so wonderful to see 🥹
I also loved the way that Korean heritage and culture is woven all throughout! We get to see two different Korean-American experiences with both Gemma and Celeste, and I love the way they find pieces of themselves and their culture in the other, like they become a home away from home for the other.
Also fuck James - that guy sucks.
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a fun and cute second chance romance and I really liked that the characters actually communicated with each other, especially with how messy they are. It felt realistic for them to be messy, it made them feel more human to me.
I wanted more going on outside of their relationship, though, and it therefore felt low stakes. It made it difficult to really grip me because of this, I think. There was a lot they could have covered, with their personal lives but also their work project which was barely mentioned. It also seemed to focus only on romantic love and, while aromantic people are mentioned, I felt like they could have focused on all kinds of love.
Speaking of that, they didn’t seem to have their own friendship groups or families or anything going on. I would have liked to have seen more of that, and more about them as individuals away from the romance.
Also, Celeste and Gemma are told in two different ways (first and third person) which I thought was an odd choice, and Celeste was only given a handful of chapters while Gemma got a majority of the book. I think it’s because this story was primarily Gemma’s, but including the other POV at all felt unnecessary in that case. It didn’t bother me too much, but I did think it was worth mentioning.
Otherwise, I liked it! I liked that Gemma had some character growth, especially with what she had gone through with her ex, and I loved that they wanted to make sure they were were working on themselves before committing to their relationship with one another.
I haven’t read from this author before, but I probably would read something else by her in future!
Love in Focus isn't a bad book by any means, but I finished it yesterday and all I remember is two women pining for each other from page one (and years back), clearly attracted to each other and full of chemistry, yet constantly finding dumb excuses not to get together...
Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group for the advance reader copy.
I found this a bit hard to get into but realised it isn’t a long book so I could read it pretty quickly.
I think one of the first things I should say is there’s a lot of biphobia in this book and it very much made the reading experience a negative one,
I think a lot more could have been done about Celeste leaving and then Gemma being ok in such a short conversation - especially as Celeste could have sent a message before going which would have made more sense.
I would have loved to see more of the couples they interviewed as their stories sounded great and more likeable than the main couple.
Repeating myself here but the biphobia so what has dragged down the rating.
I found this a bit hard to get into but realised it isn’t a long book so I could read it pretty quickly.
I think one of the first things I should say is there’s a lot of biphobia in this book and it very much made the reading experience a negative one,
I think a lot more could have been done about Celeste leaving and then Gemma being ok in such a short conversation - especially as Celeste could have sent a message before going which would have made more sense.
I would have loved to see more of the couples they interviewed as their stories sounded great and more likeable than the main couple.
Repeating myself here but the biphobia so what has dragged down the rating.
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
4 ⭐
This was a wonderful read and I loved the chemistry between Celeste and Gemma! If anything, I just wanted more! I want to know more in-depth about each of them, their families, lives, etc. Each narrator did an amazing job of bringing each character to life. I also adored the 'Love in Focus' project the two leads worked on, and getting to know each couple and family! I love love!! I can't wait to read more of Lyla Lee's books!
4 ⭐
This was a wonderful read and I loved the chemistry between Celeste and Gemma! If anything, I just wanted more! I want to know more in-depth about each of them, their families, lives, etc. Each narrator did an amazing job of bringing each character to life. I also adored the 'Love in Focus' project the two leads worked on, and getting to know each couple and family! I love love!! I can't wait to read more of Lyla Lee's books!