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4.21 AVERAGE
4.21 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
I’ve NEVER cried so many happy tears a day in my life. How does each book in this series continually get better and better
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
thank you so much pan macmillan for gifting me an advanced copy to read and review
god how to even start this review. i finally picked up this series after seeing it for months in december 2021. i still remember to this day that one night i was up at 2am in the living room reading and annotating lovelight farms after having finished dinner and hadn’t gotten up since hours before. it was such an addictive book, i knew i had to read the rest immediately and so i ordered myself a copy of in the weeds before i even finished the first book. by the time i was completely caught up, i was desperate for business casual. yet when my arc came i didn’t want to start it because i knew i would have to finish it and it would mark the end of my favourite contemporary book series.
charlie was a character that i’d fallen in love with since his first appearance in the series. he was such fun and joy to have on page but my love for him grew so much more when i finally binge read this book at the end of june. he’s so charming and sweet and you can’t help but fall for him almost immediately. the chemistry between him and nova was crazy and jumped off the page. from their first scene together in the book, i would eat up their every interaction, it was so addictive and fun to read. the banter between them was effortless and made the tension and romantic story so much more natural to read.
nova is presented as the sort of tough girl to charlie’s golden retriever like personality, but neither of them are just those character types. there’s more to them as people and i truly appreciated that because it’s something i’ve had problems with when it comes to romance books that have been coming out since about 2020/21. luckily, it’s never been a problem i’ve had to deal with in any of b.k. borison’s work. nova may be tougher than the rest of the protagonists in this series, but there’s a reason for it and it doesn’t feel out of place when you get to know her. in fact, when she’s presented with the fact that she comes across as that, it does make her more aware of it, despite how we as the reader can see how much she loves her family and friends. the weight of her own expectations of herself as well as what she believes others expect from her is what causes her to act the way she does.
whilst i don’t mind third act conflicts, i would rather not have them in a romance book and there are very few that i’ve read that don’t break the couple up. this book’s third act conflict can barely be called a conflict as there wasn’t any, but it didn’t take away any possible angst. it was such a wonderful way of pulling the story out in a way that didn’t feel wasteful and made sense for both the characters.
as this is the last book in the lovelight farms series, i knew i would have to say goodbye by the end, but i hadn’t expected to be this reluctant as i was. the book ended off on such a wonderful epilogue, tying up all our main characters from the entire series without taking away the focus from the main characters - charlie and nova. i do think that we might get a standalone spin-off book about alex the bookshop owner and vanessa (beckett and nova’s sister) which i really would love to read. alex seems to have been built a bit more as a side character, much like charlie had been, since mixed signals so i’m keeping my finger’s crossed. the acknowledgments also made it seem like b.k. borison isn’t completely done with this world/town/set of characters.
business casual felt more like a goodbye for now than a farewell to Inglewild and i hope someday we may return to our favourite fictional town. until then, i’ll be desperately looking forward to borison’s next novel, first time caller, which is out in early 2025.
god how to even start this review. i finally picked up this series after seeing it for months in december 2021. i still remember to this day that one night i was up at 2am in the living room reading and annotating lovelight farms after having finished dinner and hadn’t gotten up since hours before. it was such an addictive book, i knew i had to read the rest immediately and so i ordered myself a copy of in the weeds before i even finished the first book. by the time i was completely caught up, i was desperate for business casual. yet when my arc came i didn’t want to start it because i knew i would have to finish it and it would mark the end of my favourite contemporary book series.
charlie was a character that i’d fallen in love with since his first appearance in the series. he was such fun and joy to have on page but my love for him grew so much more when i finally binge read this book at the end of june. he’s so charming and sweet and you can’t help but fall for him almost immediately. the chemistry between him and nova was crazy and jumped off the page. from their first scene together in the book, i would eat up their every interaction, it was so addictive and fun to read. the banter between them was effortless and made the tension and romantic story so much more natural to read.
nova is presented as the sort of tough girl to charlie’s golden retriever like personality, but neither of them are just those character types. there’s more to them as people and i truly appreciated that because it’s something i’ve had problems with when it comes to romance books that have been coming out since about 2020/21. luckily, it’s never been a problem i’ve had to deal with in any of b.k. borison’s work. nova may be tougher than the rest of the protagonists in this series, but there’s a reason for it and it doesn’t feel out of place when you get to know her. in fact, when she’s presented with the fact that she comes across as that, it does make her more aware of it, despite how we as the reader can see how much she loves her family and friends. the weight of her own expectations of herself as well as what she believes others expect from her is what causes her to act the way she does.
whilst i don’t mind third act conflicts, i would rather not have them in a romance book and there are very few that i’ve read that don’t break the couple up. this book’s third act conflict can barely be called a conflict as there wasn’t any, but it didn’t take away any possible angst. it was such a wonderful way of pulling the story out in a way that didn’t feel wasteful and made sense for both the characters.
as this is the last book in the lovelight farms series, i knew i would have to say goodbye by the end, but i hadn’t expected to be this reluctant as i was. the book ended off on such a wonderful epilogue, tying up all our main characters from the entire series without taking away the focus from the main characters - charlie and nova. i do think that we might get a standalone spin-off book about alex the bookshop owner and vanessa (beckett and nova’s sister) which i really would love to read. alex seems to have been built a bit more as a side character, much like charlie had been, since mixed signals so i’m keeping my finger’s crossed. the acknowledgments also made it seem like b.k. borison isn’t completely done with this world/town/set of characters.
business casual felt more like a goodbye for now than a farewell to Inglewild and i hope someday we may return to our favourite fictional town. until then, i’ll be desperately looking forward to borison’s next novel, first time caller, which is out in early 2025.
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"Business Casual" is the fourth installment in the Lovelight series and follows the romantic story of Nova, who is Beckett's sister, and Charlie, Stella's brother. Nova is a free-spirited tattoo artist, while Charlie is a kind-hearted investment banker.
B.K. Borison excels at developing soulful and relatable characters - I thoroughly enjoyed the previous books in the series.
Unlike the earlier installments, particularly "In the Weeds," which featured a messy or rushed third-act breakup, this book concludes in a mature and heartfelt way.
It truly embodies small-town romance perfection!
Thank you B.K. Borison and Pan Macmillan for providing me with the opportunity to read this ARC through @netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
B.K. Borison excels at developing soulful and relatable characters - I thoroughly enjoyed the previous books in the series.
Unlike the earlier installments, particularly "In the Weeds," which featured a messy or rushed third-act breakup, this book concludes in a mature and heartfelt way.
It truly embodies small-town romance perfection!
Thank you B.K. Borison and Pan Macmillan for providing me with the opportunity to read this ARC through @netgalley in exchange for my honest review.