Another tale of parental expectations warping someone's childhood development into an adult, and escalating the pressure not to let them down.

But it also has an adorable relationship, revisiting the thing that made you question your identity in the best way, and being able to still feel connected to someone even with years and hurts between you.
Some of those hurts get fixed, there's a bit of petty revenge, and moments of revelation.

Tarot plays a big part in the story too, and it's always fascinating to know the different interpretations of the cards. It was also fun to be inside the head of someone trying to balance what they see and know with what the person who is getting the reading wants to hear.

Overall, AdORABLE, and with satisfying resolutions to all the plots.

A beautiful sapphic romance filled with angst, yearning, and second-chance magic! Second chance romances are forever favorites, and The Lovers delivered! Kit and Julia, former best friends and flames, reconnect at a wedding in the desert, and their chemistry is undeniable. Julia’s confidence and Kit’s journey to self-acceptance made this story so sweet and satisfying. The chaotic wedding backdrop added fun to their love story.

I think this is just a beautiful book. It’s a romcom in all its might but also gives that extra heart. I cried so many times not because it’s exactly sad but because I felt so very (as cliche as it sounds) seen in so many of her words and the characters experiences. Like living in someone else’s fictional life or even my own, being scared of who I am, being scared in general to let go. I just loved it and it all
Weaves together so well.

While I loved the history and romance between Kit and Julia, some of the supporting characters and obvious stereotypes didn’t sit well with me. There wasn’t much diversity in the cast, and the influencer aspects felt a bit pandering. Even so, the setting was beautifully vibrant and allowed Kit and Julia space to rediscover their connection, which was the best part for me. Overall, this book wasn’t quite my style, but I can see it resonating with other readers.

THE LOVERS is a sapphic second chance romance and probably one of my favorite sapphic romances this year (if not all-time). it follows kit, a tarot card reader who gets invited to work a wedding in joshua tree, only to find out her ex best friend/girlfriend/first love, julia, is planning the wedding. despite the time and distance between them, their chemistry is too strong to ignore.

this was such a sweet story of reconnection and first love and i absolutely adored every bit of it! the california vibes were immaculate and i loved the side characters, as well as julia and kit's individual character arcs. this was a stunning debut and i absolutely can't wait to read more from rebekah!

read if you like:
- fated love
- friends to lovers
- forced proximity

thanks to berkley for the advanced copy! THE LOVERS is out now so run and get a copy!!

The autumnal sapphic book of my dreams! I absolutely gobbled this up in one day and I can’t wait to see what the author writes next.

3.75⭐️ The lovers is a sapphic second chance romance between tarot card reader kit and wedding planner Julia. The two who used to be best friends reconnect after 10 years at a wedding Julia is planning and Kit is hired to be entertainment for.

Overall I thought this book was pretty good. It kept me entertained and I liked both the main characters and the story. If you’re looking for something easy to read then definitely check this out.

Thank you Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC of this book.

I wanted to love the book, the cover is absolutely stunning. The second chance was SECOND CHANCING and the chemistry between Kit and Julia was palpable. I will say there were some critiques I had for the book, it felt very novice when it came down to their queer relationship and the constant 'baby gay' nonsense being spewed was just not my cup of tea. The book also lacked any diversity.

unfortunately, this one is a dnf for me. i got around 25% and i had to put it down.

the concept of tarot and a cute sapphic romance is great (we all know astrology is gay) but from the jump this portrayed bisexuals in a weird, hypersexual way.

the other issue i had is that there's only one lesbian character and she's portrayed as an evil monster; i gave up when she issued the proclamation that the mc was a "manic pixie dream cunt".

other than that, this wedding that the characters were working on was a rich people soiree and it was exhausting reading about how rich and insufferable every character was while the writing was smugly celebrating everyone being super-rich and insufferable, but also super skinny and white.

i think this book suffers from a continual problem that i see in the wlw romance genre, which is that a lot of these books feel like someone wrote a hetero romance and switched up some pronouns. i remember reading this tweet once about how some gay people aren't queer at all and this book reminded me of that.

Love that this love story plays off the title with tarot cards playing a role in the story! This was a unique love story that I really enjoyed!

Thank you #berkley and #NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

I loved this book and not just because I am also a Tarot girly. I am a sucker for a good second chance romance and this hit all the marks it needed to. I really felt Kit's inner turmoil about reconciling with her own sexuality at such a later part in life and after the upheaval with her parents. I also admired Julia getting back to herself after being forced into a specific mold by her toxic ex. You could tell that the two women missed their friendship in addition to the possibility of what could have been for them if Kit hadn't run away. The background characters were all good, with the exception of the toxic ex who was supposed to be the villain anyways. This was this author's debut and I can't wait to see what she has in store for us next.

The Lovers by Rebekah Faubion is a captivating and beautifully crafted exploration of love, loss, and the complexities of human connection. From my perspective, Faubion’s lyrical prose draws you in, painting vivid emotional landscapes that resonate deeply. The characters are intricately developed, each facing their own struggles and desires, which makes their journeys relatable and compelling.

I particularly enjoyed how the narrative weaves together themes of passion and vulnerability, highlighting the bittersweet nature of love. The pacing is generally well-balanced, although some sections felt a bit slower, allowing for deeper reflection on the characters’ inner lives. Faubion’s ability to capture the nuances of relationships is impressive, creating moments of both joy and heartache that linger long after reading.

Overall, The Lovers is an emotionally rich and thought-provoking read that left me contemplating the complexities of love and the choices we make. It’s a beautiful choice for readers who appreciate heartfelt storytelling and nuanced character exploration.

I liked it. It’s a cute, fun read with a GORGEOUS cover. Despite my hold up, I really enjoyed the vibrant setting and how it played throughout the book, letting Kit and Julia be away from outside sources and get a chance to rekindle their love.

3 stars.

I love a "coming out later in life" story, but "The Lovers" by Rebekah Faubion left much to be desired. It all just felt sort of flat to me. I wanted to love this book, but I didn't. While I haven't minded reading books about influencers in the past, for some reason, the characters in this book rubbed me the wrong way. Kit is a *tarot influencer.* What? I am *~an old*~ now, but is this a thing? Will they make *anyone* an influencer? The influencer culture felt steroided-out and cartoonish. In fact, a lot of this book is way too over-the-top for its own good. Piper, Julia's evil ex-girlfriend, is chief among the cartoonish stuff. I don't want to spoil, but goodness, did I hate her and what she did at the end. I guess that's the point, though. This book takes the phrase "manic pixie dream girl" and runs it into the ground. I wanted to vomit from how frequently it is discussed! It grated on my nerves. I liked the second chance reconnection between Julia and Kit, and while forced proximity books are usually my jam, I didn't necessarily believe in how quickly they got together. Their chemistry was, again, a little lacking. Maybe it's because they spent 10 years apart and reconnected with a bang (literally, at one point), but I was not feeling their connection at all. They grow as individuals, though, and their growth is admirable and well-written. All in all, this was a mixed bag for me. Also, can we stop with the Taylor Swift references? Goodness gracious. I love her and her music, but it's getting ridiculous at this point.

Thank you to NetGalley, Rebekah Faubion, and Berkley Publishing Group for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

A Second Chance, SAPPHIC romance?!
You know I am going to eat that up!
I’m feeling really conflicted about this one. While I truly appreciated the romance and backstory between Kit and Julia, I found some of the supporting characters and clichés to be off-putting. There seemed to be a noticeable absence diverse representation, and the influencer aspects felt a bit critical. I liked the lively setting, which provided a perfect backdrop for Kit and Julia to reconnect without distractions. Their chemistry was incredibly compelling and really kept me engaged. Overall, this book didn’t resonate with me personally, but I think it might be a great fit for others!

i had a lot of fun with this one! I thought it was really well written bc I was feeling what the characters were feeling while also feeling like I was reading about some tiktok drama or a podcast or something. i loved all the influencer vibes throughout and also the idea of a fated love story in the contemporary world!
definitely recommending!

This was such a fun second chance romance! There was wedding planning, tarot reading, influencers and chance meetings.
Loved the wedding party, such an eclectic bunch of ladies. This started off with some family drama which made Kit question her whole life. Then seeing her childhood best friend Julia at this wedding, who was close to a love interest in their teens but she got spooked and they haven’t spoken since.
This is really interesting to me because as much as it is your life sometimes you expect your parents to give you all the tools or at least arm you with their tools. And when you find out they omitted pieces of themselves it makes you start questioning everything about yourself. Life is hard and parents are just people doing their best, hopefully. I need to make sure my girls know what they need to to make decisions for themselves and be true to themselves. Not everyone has families they can come out to and some do but don’t know and they are scared of not being accepted.
There is always a jealous ex and she was as toxic as they come. She was a bitter awful person, some people should be alone yikes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Romance Pub for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest thoughts <3

Kit and Julia are both such amazing characters. Kit's storyline deals with a lot of comphet and parental expectations; she's coming into her queerness and it's freaking powerful! Julia is still somewhat recently coming out of a toxic relationship and navigating the world in a way she's not sure suits her anymore. Rebekah Faubion captured them each so well that I'm not convinced I couldn't run into them somewhere in Southern California. Also, the Joshua Tree setting was amazing; I've been there so many times and The Lovers felt just like another visit.

Add it to my list of second chance romances that flashback without taking away from the current romance. Such a phenomenal estranged friends to lovers romance. The tension and the yearning and the horniness, god it was all there for me! It's a romance through and through, but it's also about these two women falling in love with their true selves. I'm also such a sucker for couples getting to know each other again as adults which this does so well!

Read this if you like sapphic romances, bi4bi, second chances, friends to lovers, learning to love yourself, tarot and other magical things, wonderfully lush settings, and feeling all the feels.

The Lovers by Rebekah Faubion is a poignant and beautifully crafted exploration of love and loss that captivates from the very first page. The story follows two individuals whose lives intertwine in unexpected ways, showcasing the complexities of their relationship against a backdrop of personal struggles and societal expectations. Faubion’s evocative writing and deeply relatable characters make the emotional journey both heartwarming and heart-wrenching. This novel is a testament to the power of connection and the lasting impact of love, making it a must-read for anyone who appreciates thoughtful, character-driven narratives.

Kit has just broken up with her boyfriend, because she was worried he was getting ready to propose, and now needs to ask her parents if she can come home and crash in the pool house again. Instead, she finds out her mother has been cheating on her father and the two of them getting a divorce. Fortunately, Kit is able to get a gig reading tarot for an influencer’s wedding, which will give her someplace to stay, something to do, something to eat, and some content for her own channel … if only for three or so days before she has to crash on her best friend’s couch (again).

Julia is in the middle of planning the wedding of a well-known influencer couple — a wedding with the most ridiculous spiritual healers, crystal sellers, and tarot card readers. Julia hasn’t believed in that nonsense since high school, but it’s what the bride wants. And it would all be fine, just another day’s work, if it weren’t for the fact that two of her exes decided to show up — Kit, her first lover, and Piper, her latest, with whom she shared a nasty breakup a year ago.

Before they were lovers, Kit and Julia were best friends, and the echoes of that friendship still linger. When Julia needs a hand, it’s Kit there to offer it, and Julia can’t help but feel the same rush of feelings she had back then. Kit was afraid of her own queerness, and has hidden behind the safety of heterosexual romances and ideals, following dutifully in the romcom script she thought she wanted. But now, Julia has her questioning what she truly wants.

This book seems to take a great deal of inspiration from Taylor Swift lyrics and When Harry Met Sally, and it can easily become an Easter egg hunt of picking out the references. For someone who is into such games, who finds delight in recognizing all the Swift-isms, this book might be fun. For me, it felt a bit like a gimmick that overstayed its welcome. Especially the constant commentary when the characters would point out how something happening was just so rom-com coded.

Kit feels utterly unbelievable. She just broke up with a long-term boyfriend, no longer has a place to live, her parents are getting a divorce — a rather acrimonious one — and she doesn’t seem to care. When she’s reunited with Julia, she seems more caught up in the ‘fate” of it all than the actual person in front of her. Kit comes across as in love with the idea of being in love, in love with being the girl in the romcom, but romcom’s end. The breathless moments of Hollywood sparkle fade when the credits roll and there’s an actual life to be lived after, and I don’t honestly think Kit understands that.

Julia was in a toxic relationship for some time with Piper, who is one of the bridesmaids at the wedding. Piper was Julia’s first real lover after Kit dumped and ghosted her, and there are a lot of feelings still between them. Piper wants Julia back, but Julia — with the distance of a year — can see clearly how she turned herself inside out to please Piper. She took Piper’s advice on how to dress, how to style her hair, how to act around clients … and yes, in several cases Piper was right. But she was also demanding, controlling, and manipulative. Piper was also still closeted with her family, making Julia play the role of best friend and roommate, which was a factor in their breakup.

With Kit, Julia doesn’t have to think, she just feels her way back into that first schoolgirl romance when they were both innocent and had no thoughts beyond being in love. Honestly, I think Julia came across both as a better written character and a more actualized person than Kit did and, as much as I hate to say it, I would have preferred the book to spend more time dealing with Julia and Piper. While the two are terrible together, there was honest chemistry and emotion between then, rather than just twinges of “feeling in the dark deep crevices.”

The writing is fine, the pace is fine, the plot is fine. But Kit doesn’t feel real and I couldn’t get any sense of the relationship between her and Julia beyond two people who just wanted to escape the real world and fall into a romcom romance for a few days. The book also has a weird tone about influencers, seeming to view them both as aspirational — as almost every single character in the story has a channel, a following, and a brand — and with some contempt, pointing out how fake everything is. There’s also so much name dropping of other romcoms, designers, influencers, and anything with a brand name. It was a bit much.

Personally, this is a pass. It’s not a terrible book, but it doesn’t do anything interesting. It follows expected story beats, and flavors them with Taylor Swift lyrics and a lackluster romance.