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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
I don't know why I keep reading second chance when I know it is very much not for me. I love Dumond but even she couldn't make me a second chance enjoyer. Maybe they were better off without each other?
Thanks to Dial Press and NetGalley for the advanced review copy!
Thanks to Dial Press and NetGalley for the advanced review copy!
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
inspiring
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:
Yes
Thank you NetGalley for the arc!!!
I really enjoyed this! Molly and Robin are so fantastic together! I found myself laughing and crying throughout this book! I loved the whole concept and the world the author created!! I also loved how diverse the characters were!!
Just a great experience all together!!
I really enjoyed this! Molly and Robin are so fantastic together! I found myself laughing and crying throughout this book! I loved the whole concept and the world the author created!! I also loved how diverse the characters were!!
Just a great experience all together!!
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
https://cdnbookworm.blogspot.com/2025/06/bed-and-breakup.html
3.25 ⭐️
This was a super fun read. I enjoyed the FMCs and the storyline. I loved the idea of the HGTV Second chance romance as they renovate something that brought them together in the first place and had such special meaning to them both.
While i think there was a lot to enjoy in this book, I think the romance itself was lacking for me. I need angst and longing from both parties in a second chance romance and i feel like the romance itself was lacking overall for me. I wanted more. I wasn’t invested in their romance, which made it hard to be invested in that storyline at all.
I would definitely still return to this author and would recommend this book as a low stakes romance that is an easy read and pretty bingable!
What the book brings to the party:
-Second Chance Romance
-Forced Proximity
-HGTV/Renovating together
-Queer
This was a super fun read. I enjoyed the FMCs and the storyline. I loved the idea of the HGTV Second chance romance as they renovate something that brought them together in the first place and had such special meaning to them both.
While i think there was a lot to enjoy in this book, I think the romance itself was lacking for me. I need angst and longing from both parties in a second chance romance and i feel like the romance itself was lacking overall for me. I wanted more. I wasn’t invested in their romance, which made it hard to be invested in that storyline at all.
I would definitely still return to this author and would recommend this book as a low stakes romance that is an easy read and pretty bingable!
What the book brings to the party:
-Second Chance Romance
-Forced Proximity
-HGTV/Renovating together
-Queer
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I received an advance galley of this book courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts are my own.
There’s something so refreshing about a rom-com that’s actually queer and written by a queer person—not just queer-adjacent and riddled with clichés or dipped in subtext, but proudly, joyfully gay. This book delivers that and more.
This is an OWN-voices sapphic romance, and while it follows some familiar beats—lovers to enemies to maybe lovers again—it does so with enough heart, nuance, and emotional authenticity that it never feels like it’s just checking boxes. If anything, there were moments when I genuinely wasn’t sure if the author was going to break the rom-com mold entirely. (No spoilers—but it kept me guessing.)
The setup is familiar, but fun: Molly and Robin were once young, starry-eyed newlyweds who opened the Hummingbird Inn, a charming B&B in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, and turned it into a destination for queer travelers. But things fell apart when careers took them in different directions, ambitions grew in opposite directions, and they walked away from the inn, and each other. Well, Robin walked away, but whose counting? (Molly is. It's Molly. She's counting.)
Fast-forward seven years. Both women return to the Hummingbird Inn—Molly as a rising artist on commission, Robin as a celebrity chef who is struggling after her star has started to dim. Neither is willing to give up their claim to the property. Cue the lights and the gay pranks of getting on each others nerves in an attempt to drive the other one out.
Their dynamic is both hilarious and tender. I believed their history. I believed their hurt. I believed they still knew each other’s coffee orders even when they didn’t know how to speak kindly anymore. And that’s what made the romance work—it felt real.
One of the biggest standouts for me? The setting. I’ve never once in my life thought, “You know where I need to go? Arkansas.” (Sorry, Arkansas.) But this book made me want to book a weekend in Eureka Springs. It’s quirky, queer-friendly, and the kind of small town I wish existed everywhere.
Inclusivity runs deep in this book. Lesbians, gay men, trans characters, Black and white characters—it’s all there, but it never feels forced. Just… natural. Like real life.
The side characters were another bright spot. They were vibrant without being cartoonish, and I wouldn’t mind seeing a spinoff or two. There’s plenty of story left to tell in this community.
If you want a queer rom-com that feels grounded and joyful, with just the right mix of angst and charm, this book is a great pick. It’s the kind of story that reminds you love doesn't have to follow any one specific rule book in order for it to work. It's about the people in love who make it work (or not).
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the eARC in exchange for an honest review! Molly and Robin, loving wives turned bitter exes, reunite unexpectedly and decide to fix up the bed and breakfast they used to run together in order to sell it. Sparks fly anew in this second chance romance.
I ended up DNFing this one at 41% unfortunately. I just couldn’t stand how immature the main characters were. They’re supposed to be in their late twenties but act more like teenagers. Instead of avoiding each other, they go out of their way to upset each other - participating in cruel pranks. I also thought they were pretty much indistinguishable from one another. Strongly written characters are always the biggest draw for me in a book and this one was failing to deliver.
I ended up DNFing this one at 41% unfortunately. I just couldn’t stand how immature the main characters were. They’re supposed to be in their late twenties but act more like teenagers. Instead of avoiding each other, they go out of their way to upset each other - participating in cruel pranks. I also thought they were pretty much indistinguishable from one another. Strongly written characters are always the biggest draw for me in a book and this one was failing to deliver.
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
Thank you to Random House for providing me with an e-ARC of this one. All thoughts are my own.
This was such a wonderful, cosy, heartwarming second chance romance! I’m an absolute sucker for a second chance romance and this one nailed it.
Molly and Robin were both great main characters. They had so much growth, both on the page and throughout their past apart, and I loved seeing how those changes brought them closer together in the end.
All their grievances and disputes and frustration felt so real and raw and valid. They both hurt each other without really meaning to, and I loved that they could see things from the others perspective.
I also just really loved the vibes of this one. It was so gentle and relaxing to read these two fix up their old b&b while exploring who and what they want to be.
This was such a wonderful, cosy, heartwarming second chance romance! I’m an absolute sucker for a second chance romance and this one nailed it.
Molly and Robin were both great main characters. They had so much growth, both on the page and throughout their past apart, and I loved seeing how those changes brought them closer together in the end.
All their grievances and disputes and frustration felt so real and raw and valid. They both hurt each other without really meaning to, and I loved that they could see things from the others perspective.
I also just really loved the vibes of this one. It was so gentle and relaxing to read these two fix up their old b&b while exploring who and what they want to be.
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced