This was a great read! A slow burn which always make the love story seem more genuine. Via and Seb were adorable. A single father story always gets me. Even the secondary characters were a great addition. I can’t wait to read more from this author!!!

I didn’t think a romance writer could pull off a romance narrative without a betrayal. I’ve thought, until now, the romance narrative needed a tearing-asunder moment to work (executed with varied degrees of success depending on the author’s control of craft). Cara Bastone proved me wrong and her début romance, Just A Heartbeat Away, tossed my assumptions about the romance narrative out the window and bade me reevaluate its elements. Oh, there’s plenty of conflict (without a betrayal, or tearing-apart moment). Bastone replaces betrayal with doubt and misunderstanding with insecurity. She has her hero and heroine indulge much inner-lusting, my preferred form of lusting, and smooshes several love scenes, usually peppered throughout the narrative, into one extended scene as close to the end without making it The End. As a result, a fresh, engaging romance narrative, as original as true to the genre and a new auto-buy author for yours truly. It’s a romance novel like Just a Heartbeat Away that renews my faith in the genre and reminds me why I fell in love with it to begin with.

It is a narrative at first deceptive in its simplicity, typical in set-up and standardized in the oft-appearing hero and heroine types. But there was something special about the opening scene, something new and fresh. Beset by grief, newly-widowed Sebastian Dorner is meeting with Matty’s, his four-year-old son’s, teacher, Miss Via DeRosa. With tact and sensitivity, she tells Sebastian how Matty shows signs of neglect: unwashed, clothes askew, dubious lunches. Via hands Seb a checklist, with simple suggestions, like what to put in Matty’s lunch. Seb is humiliated, ashamed, embarrassed, and grateful. From that day forth, with Via’s lifeline checklist, he changes how he parents Matty and makes his son the centre and priority of his life.

Two years later, Seb, a new man, and Matty, a happy, secure, well-adjusted boy, run into Miss DeRosa at the neighbourhood farmer’s market. Seb is attracted to her and near-blurts out a dinner invitation, if only to thank her for what she did two years ago. The Boyfriend appears and dinner invitation and Seb’s first stirrings of desire eat dirt. But Via and Seb are thrown together when Via, a newly minted, post-grad guidance counsellor, is assigned to PS 128, where Matty is now in grade two and Seb acts as lunch monitor. It sounds so ordinary and ho-hum-another-teacher-widower-small-town-contemporary romance. (Except this isn’t a small-town, it’s Brooklyn; another strength to Bastone’s narrative, the engagingly-rendered setting.) The remainder of the narrative is made of Seb and Via spending appropriate time together when they’re on the school softball team, run into each other at staff meetings, go to colleagues’ TGIF happy hour. Ordinary stuff for two ordinary people in an extraordinary romance.

Seb and Via’s conflicts are inner and those keep them apart in the outer. Most romances, with this premise, is about the insta-lust; that cheap romance trick is not Bastone. She conveys what it is to be attracted to another person, to yearn for another person when everything on the “inside” says this cannot be. For Seb, there is the The Boyfriend obstacle and, for Via, the obstacle of The Boyfriend, a practical immovable obstacle for Seb, for Via, something else entirely. Evan, the BF, is what Via is supposed to want, handsome, young, a nice guy … BUT, he lacks personality, is shiftless and bland. We learn something of what makes Via stay with Evan. She lost her parents at twelve, passed around the foster system, learned to keep her head down and hope for security and stability. She was blessed to finally have a great foster mother, Jetty, and today, even with Jetty gone, Via and Jetty’s niece, Fin (from Serafine) are best friends. Via has trouble deviating from anything; her life must be ordered, calm, and Seb rocks her boat’s equilibrium, not because he’s a wild and woolly guy, because he isn’t. I loved this.

Seb is 42 to her 28 and a dad through and through. For Seb, it’s about their age difference. He feels old and out of sync and not terribly adept at this new world of dating and attraction. What links Seb and Via is a capacity for friendship and understanding, an underlying sadness and loneliness. What makes their exchanges joyous (and this is a sad and joyous romance) is their humour, kindness, shyness around this HUGE ELEPHANT OF ATTRACTION AND LIKING that besets them, and how very much they get along, are compatible in personality and temperament. The Boyfriend obstacle is resolved in a believable fashion and the slow dance of like and want and “saucy doubts and fears” is enacted page by page and chapter by chapter in ordinary time of happy hour, brunch, dinner, movie, and softball.

It’s difficult to convey how utterly compelling and wonderful this romance is when all I can do is describe it. Maybe Bastone’s fine writing may help to convey it better. At the initial Seb-Via meeting, when Seb is in a fog of grief, he thinks:

Sebastian was too raw for this. He was too nothing. Too nowhere. Too no one.

And when it sinks in, what Via is saying about Matty:

Neglect. The word was out of the jar and it was so big, looming and leering, that he knew he’d never get it back in. That word was, apparently, his new asshole of a best friend. He life partner now. and he fucking deserved it.

As it dawns on Seb how much he likes and is attracted to Via:

Her age had nothing to do with it, Seb told himself. Her life was too young for his. And his life was too old for hers.

This lovely realization as Seb and Via share a meal for the first time:

You never could tell who someone really was unless you broke bread with them, actually stopped to listen to what they were trying to tell you.

The sheer joy Seb feels when Via is free and there might be something between them, something wonderful and fulfilling:

She was here. He was about to go over there. He felt like there was a wolf in his chest, sniffling the air for a mate. He finally understood why they howled at the moon. Because flirting was so fucking fun.

Chapters and chapters later, when difficult conversations have been had and flirting has been indulged and enjoyed, and love avowals declared, there’s only:

But then he found that he didn’t really have anything left to say. Anything left was for their bodies to do.

Bastone’s Seb and Via and the story of how they reach their HEA is earthy and serious, heart-wrenching and heart-warming, fresh and funny. Seb and Via matter to the reader and that is the key to a great romance: the importance of seeing love grow and blossom for two deserving protagonists. I waited too long to read Bastone, but I’m going to make my way to the next two books in the series with greater alacrity. Miss Austen would look beyond the occasional f-bombs to the pulsing, lovable heart of Just a Heartbeat Away and say within it, “there is no charm equal to tenderness of heart,” Emma.

Cara Bastone’s Just A Heartbeat Away is published by HQN. It was released in June of 2020 and may be found at your preferred vendors (get it now, read it pronto!). I received an e-galley from HQN, via Netgalley.

t: single dad, age gap, older hero, slow burn romance
cw: grief

Ok this is one HOT slow burn I still have chest pains. WHY AM I SINGLE-

I love how Sebastian and Via started off as friends first (though Seb was gone for her practically from day 1) and then that friendship developed into something else. Also, Matty is the most adorable kid on the planet.

As my first book by this author, I can truly say that I can’t wait to read more of her books. I was so excited for this book especially when I first read the synopsis. Plus the cover was absolutely adorable, so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book. As someone who loves age gap, second chance and single parent romances, this book was my cup of tea. This book didn’t disappoint! It was heartwarming love story packed with all the feels. I loved seeing the chemistry between Sebastian and Via. I couldn’t get enough of them. I also loved seeing the moments between Sebastian and his son Matty. Those moments were so tender and just made me fall even harder for Sebastian. Talk about swoon worthy hero! Now I’ll say that this romance is pretty much a slow burn. But as someone whose not big on slow burn romances, I actually had no problem with it in this book. I’ll honestly say that the buildup was worth it. The only thing that I wished was different in this book would be seeing more of Sebastian and Theo as a couple. The ending seemed a bit abrupt and just left me wanting more. Overall, I still enjoyed this book so much and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series. If you’re in the mood for a feel good romance, then Just A Heartbeat Away is a book you won’t want to miss!

Messy and imperfect people finding love is my favorite. Great themes of found family. Slow burn, age gap are some of my favorites. The way Vi and Seb circle each other for a long time was fun. I also enjoyed what Bastone is doing with the heroine having a boyfriend for at least 30% as well as how she handled the typical 3rd act break up.

I look forward to reading many more books form Bastone.

This story took me forever to get into and ended up being just an okay read at best. Usually, I love an age gap romance and a slow burn, but this burn was so slow that it was boring at times. The characters are likable enough, but Sebastian quickly got on my nerves with his contact questioning - “Am I good enough? Did I do that right? Is Matty okay?” and I really wanted him to talk about something other than the age difference. Via is younger than he is, but she's 28, hardly a child, and he's 42, so it's not like he's ready for the retirement home. Yes, there are differences in those age groups, but that also depends on the maturity level of each person involved. I will say that the story is a sweet, feel-good romance, and we can all use some good feels this year, it just wasn't enough to push this one into something that will stick with me for long.

If you’re craving a feel good romance, THIS IS IT.
This book has the most powerful slow burn I’ve read in a while, prepare yourself for some intense YEARNING. It felt so good to hope, wish, desire and NEED along with the characters. And the delivery? I didn’t expect it to be so HOT. The sex on page is equally smoking and heartfelt. So much HEART! So much HEAT!

Delightful storytelling, engaging dialogues, and complex characters, I can’t choose whom I prefered: the single dad, his kid, their dog, the heroine, their best friends, the gossipy coworkers…
The cast of secondary characters brought so much to this story, layers upon layers of warm, real and happy feels.

We have mature characters not afraid of talking and some touches of levity brought by their flirtatious thoughts. The hero’s inner battle regarding the dating scene, texting/sexting was adorably fun to read and watching him interacting with the heroine, Violetta, on page, was so cute it was disarming. Sebastian is not only an amazing dad (widower) but also a gentle and caring soul. This man had me smiling all afternoon with how endearing it was to see him fight the crush he has for his son’s teacher. His relationship with his kid is both adorable and admirable and the bromance going with his best friend Tyler is amazing.

All I know is that I feel positively recharged, my heart is full and happy from reading this book.

✔︎widowed single dad
✔︎heroine is his son’s teacher
✔︎age gap
✔︎friends to lovers
✔︎slow burn
✔︎bromance
✔︎humor
✔︎dog stealing the show 🐶
✔︎no drama!

I ADORED this book and think it deserves all the stars!

To be honest, age gap is one of the tropes I’m not crazy about. But if more age gap romances were like this one, I think I would read them all the time. Cara Bastone knows how to write some really swoon-worthy romance and she could easily convince me I love the trope! I love love loved how the characters handled the difference in their ages.

On paper there are admittedly some things in this story I don’t normally gravitate towards: age gap, single parent, heroine dates someone else for a while in the story. But I devoured this and immediately wanted more from Via and Sebastian. This is the kind of slow burn that grabs your heart and won’t let go. I can’t rave enough about how perfect every aspect of this story was. Just a Heartbeat Away easily made my 2020 favorites list.

And don’t let this sweet cover fool you, there is some steamy steam and it was very much worth the wait! Seriously, I could probably read about these two and their sweet love story forever. If you love friends to lovers, realistic storylines, and slow burn romance, Just a Heartbeat Away is a MUST read!

Not the biggest fan of kids in romance, so I was not expecting to like this debut as much as I did. This hit me right in the feels. Slowest of slow burns, palpable yearning everywhere, and so romantic that my heart hurt at times.

One of the aspects of romance books I’m extremely interested in is non-traditional family. We talk a lot about found family in Romancelandia and generally I think of creating a family out of the friends you make. But in these two books the author emphasizes a different kind of non-traditional family and I’d love to see more of it in romance. Both books feature main characters who are intimately familiar with the pains of dealing with the foster system, or being abandoned by their origin families. Just a Heartbeat Away deals with Via desperately chasing normality and stability in her life after dealing with the uncertainty of her past. Via and widower dad Sebastian

And Can’t Help Falling has Serafine, also raised in the foster system, wanting to be a foster parent because she wants to provide for someone like herself. I loved that part of the book because it frang so true to me. But we also get to see Kylie, an abandoned kid, dealing with not wanting to trust anyone and walling herself off from everyone. Seeing the two of them connect slowly and having Kylie’s brother, Tyler, trying so hard to build their family packed a huge emotional punch for me. In my opinion there is no true traditional family anymore. Whatever your family is? It’s valid. And books like these just reinforce that and I hope to see more and more. I’ve read quite a few with these kinds of themes in YA and I can’t wait to get more in adult romance.

Thank you for letting me read and review this book. Unfortunately this book was not for me. I think I have a case of pandemic reading.

Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow. I should probably get my shit together before writing this review but my chest is bursting with joy and I have got to let it out. Like in Alien just with less gore and more heart emoji's. I am a voracious romance reader, I probably read too much of it if I am honest, but I love it. But, it is very, very rare for a book of this genre to get me like this. This book was like a swift knee right in my feels. It worked its way into my heart and turned my insides gooey and I am not sure how I will ever get it out. Just A Heartbeat Away felt cosy and familiar but it was also so different from all the other romance books out there. Gone were the troupes, there was no insta-love, no perfect swoony heroes and unrealistic fucking. This book was real and raw and beautiful. It is character driven and smart.

Timing is everything in storytelling and Cara Bastone needs to stand up and take a bow for the masterful way she paced out this book. It must have been difficult not to give into instinct to move things too fast between the characters. Just a Heartbeat Away is slow paced and a slow burn that makes you fall in love with the characters before they fall in love with each other. If you are looking for instant gratification then look elsewhere but, if you want a romance that is bold and brave then this is your book.

Bastone has created the most wonderful characters in Via and Seb. They have both loved and lost in their pasts in very different ways. Where other authors might use this pain to create conflict in the romance Bastone uses it to create depth and growth in her characters. They are realistic, flawed and exasperating without ever being annoying. Their problems and real life problems and they work through it like adults instead of throwing angst around like stink bombs. This book isn't all about Seb and Via finding each other but also about them finding themselves. It isn't just about the two of them, but also the other people in their life's who have their own troubles and strains. I truly loved them all and I am sad that I don't get to disappear into their world anymore.

The actual romance is one of the best I've ever read. It blew me away to be honest. Via and Seb start as distant acquaintances then colleagues. Via has a boyfriend and doesn't really find Seb attractive. Seb likes her but is dating and getting back on his feet after losing his wife a few years before. They slowly become work friends, then real friends who build trust and respect between them. The flirting comes and the fleeting, uncertain feelings. Attraction blooms and expands to something more and before you know it you realise you have been reading about two people falling in love before they have touched, or kissed. There is no falling into bed with each other, no hot and heavy back and forward and the pay off in the end is so, so worth it because they are hot together. It made a real change to read a romance that was driven by feelings and not by lust.

Just a Heartbeat Away is a beautifully different romance that gripped my heart from beginning to end. I simply loved it and will be hard pressed to enjoy a romance more this year. Hats off to Cara Bastone for proving that romance genre novels do not have to follow a set structure, do not have to be all about sex and can be complex and heartfelt without being over dramatic and over done.

This was a cute new series. I am looking forward to the next installment. Will recommend to readers of contemporary romance.

I haven't read too many début stories this year, but I heard good chatter on social media about Cara Bastone's Just a Heartbeat Away, the first full length novel in her Forever Yours series. (Technically her first book is a prequel novella to the series, When We First Met, but this is her first full length story). What a good decision! It's got everything I look for in a contemporary romance and is a strong contender for my top ten list this year.

Sebastian Dorner is in a spiral of grief after the sudden loss of his wife in a car accident when his son Matty's pre-Kindergarten teacher, Via DeRosa calls him into the school to gently point out some neglect of Matty that she's noticed and offer him some suggestions on how to get them both on a better path, one day at a time. He's grateful for her suggestions, but embarrassed that he'd let things get so bad and not noticed – and resolves to follow her advice which turns out to be a lifesaver in getting him to focus and move forward.

Two years later, Sebastian and Matty have moved into a new house and Matty is going to a new school, one where - coincidentally - Via has just gotten a job for the upcoming year as an elementary school-age counselor. Sebastian has just taken a part time position on staff as well, as a lunch monitor and soccer coach, as he's self employed as a furniture maker and plans to use the time at school as his breaks. Via is twenty-seven and has a boyfriend, Sebastian is forty-two and widowed. Both new at this school and with their prior connection, they become friends easily – plus they live within walking distance of each other. But soon they can't deny an attraction – one that troubles Sebastian as he believes Via is too young for him. Will he let his fears get in the way of a second chance at happiness?

This book pulls no punches in giving you all the feels ranging from shared grief to happiness and contentment as Sebastian puts his early struggles behind him and focuses on the reality of raising his son and making the best of their situation. His best friend Tyler has been with him through it all and now that Sebastian is on the other side of those dark days, he's been encouraging Sebastian to get back into the dating game and plying him with a variety of dating apps, though Sebastian's thoughts keep straying to Via. This is a slow burn romance, building up tension as Sebastian and Via's friendship becomes deeper. (When Via realizes her feelings for Sebastian are growing, she breaks things off so there is no cheating in this story.) Eventually they yield to that mutual attraction in some sexy scenes but it will take more than that for Sebastian to overcome his feelings over their age difference, something that doesn't bother Via at all.

There are many different relationships at play in this story, and I love how the author balances out the romance between Sebastian and Via with the other connections in their lives. Sebastian's in-laws of course grieve the loss of their daughter Cora, a woman who was very much like her mother Muriel. Sebastian and Muriel have an interesting relationship and their heart-to-heart conversations help Sebastian make decisions about his and Matty's future. Via grew up in foster homes and relates to Sebastian's grief from her personal understanding of loss. She has a best friend, her foster sister Serafine whom she confides in and relies on for advice. Sebastian's best friend Tyler has been with Sebastian through the bad times and the good times and doesn't shy away from telling him what he thinks. The conversations in this story are its strength, making you care about everyone involved.

I have to confess that I have a fondness for heroes who work with their hands (especially furniture makers) and for age-gap romances, so this novel already had some positive checkmarks for it before I even picked it up. Add to that really wonderful characters, people who aren't afraid to admit how they are feeling (especially Sebastian, who could have walled himself off but instead chooses to be open and honest), sexual tension that leads to some passionate love scenes, and you have a charming romance that has a new spot on my keeper shelf. Fans of Kate Clayborn, Lucy Parker, and Jill Shalvis will enjoy this new contemporary romance author and I'm looking forward to reading more of her work!

This review has been posted at All About Romance and feedback updated with the link.

5⭐️
Tropes: workplace; age gap; slow burn

Q: who’s your silver fox celebrity crush?

Cara Bastone’s Just a Heartbeat Away is a slow burn romance; it’s also an exploration of grief, loneliness, & happiness that hit me with emotion from the first words & left me certain that I’d just read something special.

When the book opens pre-k teacher Via DeRosa is kindly telling the freshly widowed & single dad Sebastian Dorner that he isn’t taking care of his son Matty properly. She gives him a break-down of things he should/could do for his son & it’s the shock that Sebastian needs to bring him out of a spiral.

Two years later Via’s the freshly hired counselor at Matty’s new school & Sebastian remembers what a service she did for him...& notices for the first time how beautiful she is. But she’s dating someone else & about 15 years younger. Still. Feelings.

This is one of those books where the leads’s hearts are mapped out & the author does it all gently & yet firmly. The difficult convos where Via & Sebastian bond over shared grief are really well done.

While emotions tied to rising up from grief & trying to connect with others are very much themes of the book there’s such happiness too. Such a sense of rightness. I can only say that Cara Bastone is an emotionally astute treasure.

Also she’s a freaking goddess of the slowwwww burn. There’s one quote about chocolate that had me internally gasping...& reading as greedily as I could.

What else do I love about Just a Heartbeat Away? How it’s a real journey for both characters. Neither sees the other in a romantic way for quite some time & that definitely affects the plot. The charming band of secondary characters (Tyler, you’re next!). And most of all, how kind Via & Sebastian are. How much they deserve to be happy & how happy I was when they finally are.

Just a Heartbeat Away is out now. Thanks to Harlequin & Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

As a romance reader, I've noticed that I have a lot of favorites and I tend to stick with them. For me, it's typically a contemporary romance with two characters that are traditionally attractive and are roughly the same age. Translation: I like romances with two attractive characters who have little to no age gap. Why is that? I don't know. Yes, I do love books with a plus sized heroine, but even then I feel like it's not out of my norm.

When I picked up Just a Heartbeat Away, three things stuck out at me. The first is the age difference between Seb and Via. I was super hesitant at first, but still went with it. By the end of the book, I was all for the age gap. Seb and Via are in completely different places in their lives, but they made it work. In a lot of ways, these differences complimented each other perfectly. Via needed a connection with someone that'll be a steady presence in her life and Seb fits that bill. Seb needed someone to bring a spark back into his life and Via definitely accomplished that.

The second aspect of the book that stood out to me was Sebastian isn't "traditionally" handsome. He's got that tall lumberjack look going for him. I'm sorry to say he reminded me of a lesser attractive Luke from Gilmore Girls. I feel like such an ass for saying that, but it's true. It worked for Via and it worked for me. I mean, I didn't even notice his appearance on the cover until after I finished the book. The model they picked for the cover is just how I pictured Seb.

The last aspect of the book that stood out was the pacing of the romance. To say that Just a Heartbeat Away was a slow burn would be an understatement. There were a lot of hurdles that both characters had to conquer before they could have their HEA and let me tell you, the author did not skim over any of them. She allowed both Seb and Via plenty of time to work through whatever was in their way. There were moments when I had wished things would move faster, but looking back at the book I know how that the pace was perfect.

I am so glad that I stepped out of my romance comfort zone to read this book. Just a Heartbeat Away was breathtaking. Everything about it was perfection. And the fact that it is Cara Bastone's debut novel. Like... what?! Seriously, this book will stick with me for quite a while. It was that good.

Oh my goodness! I DEVOURED Just a Heartbeat Away by Cara Bastone. I picked it up one afternoon and didn't put it down until I finished. Sebastian and Via's story is absolutely delicious. If you are looking for a well developed, slower paced romance this book is for you. I loved how this book showed the entire trajectory of their relationship, beginning as Matty's Pre-K teacher all the way to lovers. Every look and every moment was so sweet. And I loved seeing how they slowly fell in love with each other and realized they were each other's person.

This book also addresses a variety of topics, including the death of Sebastian's wife and Via in foster care as a child. These issues were so well addressed. Bastone managed to write Sebastian's previous relationship with his wife so well and without denigrating her. She and Via each had their own space in Sebastian's life. I also loved learning all the pieces of Via's backstory. This book is multi-facted and well written.

Sebastian is now a widowed father of Matty. Often children in romances are a throw away character. But not Matty. He was such an interesting an fun addition to this book! And Sebastian! OMG I need more older men in romance. And when she showed his glasses and book on his night table. Swoon. I was in love! I am definitely discovering that I love a slow build in romance. I am all about the yearning. But make no mistake, this book ends with some super hot scenes!! Totally worth the wait!

Highly highly recommend this book!

I loved this book. This is a slow burn romantic book that got me hooked.

I do recommend this one.

The characters were well written, but the story didn’t really have a plot. Sebastian was in his forties, and Via was in her twenties. They have instant chemistry, which they both proceed to ignore as hard as they possibly can. Sebastian thinks Via is too young for him and is haunted by his narcissistic dead wife. Via is frustratingly committed to a dead end relationship with her selfish boyfriend. The entire story is about them bonding over Sebastian’s elementary age son and trying not to fall in love with each other. The story just needed more than that. There were sweet moments, but much was missing.

Content: Some language, and a detailed sex scene (maybe two?) at the end.

DNF at 30%. I like the premise of this story - widowed father (Sebastian) connects with his young son’s teacher (Via). He isn’t sure he should pursue anything because she’s a lot younger (she’s 27, he’s 42).

However this is moving too slowly for me and feeling repetitive. Via is still dating Evan who we can tell from the start isn’t the right partner for her but it seems to just be dragging on.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance review copy.