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jennireadz 's review for:
Love in Focus
by Lyla Lee
A cute second chance romance, revisiting an old college love when put together on a work assignment, after not seeing each other in almost a decade, and being ghosted.
The audio of this was fantastic. I loved both of the narrators and how clear it was to distinguish each character from each other. While the book did seem to favor Gemma's POV heavily, it was great to have the little glimpses into Celeste's mind. The dual narration really provided clarity between the characters, and I enjoyed that aspect. The narrators brought the characters to life and I do highly recommend listening!
Into the plot - I did enjoy the second chance romance, coming from a workplace scenario after not speaking for almost a decade. Gemma is coming out of a 7 year relationship when she is paired with her ex, the only woman she's dated, to work on a series about people in love. We dive into their previous relationship a bit, hearing how it ended from both of their perspectives, some of what it was like for that near year they were together, and a bit of life afterwards. They get closer with the assignment and decide that maybe they can just be FWBs. Neither is looking for anything serious right now.
My biggest issue with this book is that fairly early on there is a biphobic comment, that just gave me the ick moving forward. Celeste mentions that Gemma moved on quickly, and with a man, which is a lesbian's worst nightmare. While she has every right to be upset that the person she had planned a life with has moved on quickly, the comment about it being with a man is an issue. It's never addressed again, and is one throw away line, but I was disappointed to hear that it made it to the final cut.
Overall, I did enjoy the book and getting to see how Celeste and Gemma have grown individually, and why they're more compatible now with this additional life experience.
Thank you to the publisher for an ALC!
The audio of this was fantastic. I loved both of the narrators and how clear it was to distinguish each character from each other. While the book did seem to favor Gemma's POV heavily, it was great to have the little glimpses into Celeste's mind. The dual narration really provided clarity between the characters, and I enjoyed that aspect. The narrators brought the characters to life and I do highly recommend listening!
Into the plot - I did enjoy the second chance romance, coming from a workplace scenario after not speaking for almost a decade. Gemma is coming out of a 7 year relationship when she is paired with her ex, the only woman she's dated, to work on a series about people in love. We dive into their previous relationship a bit, hearing how it ended from both of their perspectives, some of what it was like for that near year they were together, and a bit of life afterwards. They get closer with the assignment and decide that maybe they can just be FWBs. Neither is looking for anything serious right now.
My biggest issue with this book is that fairly early on there is a biphobic comment, that just gave me the ick moving forward. Celeste mentions that Gemma moved on quickly, and with a man, which is a lesbian's worst nightmare. While she has every right to be upset that the person she had planned a life with has moved on quickly, the comment about it being with a man is an issue. It's never addressed again, and is one throw away line, but I was disappointed to hear that it made it to the final cut.
Overall, I did enjoy the book and getting to see how Celeste and Gemma have grown individually, and why they're more compatible now with this additional life experience.
Thank you to the publisher for an ALC!