4.5⭐️
3🔥

Quick Breakdown

Small Town
Black Cat x Golden Retriever
Bed First / Feelings Later
He Takes Care of Her
Found Family
No 3rd Act Break Up
Dual POV
Open Door - Moderate Detail

All my thanks to @berkleyromance for the gifted eARC & @dreamscape_media for the gifted ALC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Goodness, I can’t believe the Lovelight series has come to an end, but what a beautiful trip back to Inglewild. I once compared Borison’s prose to poetry & that clearly still stands. Business Casual is entirely too cozy soft & tender for this world, with Nova & Charlie deserving nothing less.

I adored this combo of tropes for these MCs. Nova was a beautiful blend of structure & contentment, happy to be on her own & not letting herself experience anything more. While Charlie, who has never felt like he belonged, constantly performed in attempt to seek approval, wanting to be everything for everyone. A perfect embodiment of a black cat & golden retriever pairing. The bed first / feelings later arrangement allowing them to step outside of their self made constraints & unknowingly giving themselves to one another. The open communication when they realized their feelings & subsequent lack of a third act breakup, knocked my full on my butt from swooning. The ending was also SO satisfying. She wrapped up the series flawlessly. You won’t be left disappointed!

I was fortunate enough to listen to the audiobook for most of this read. It’s narrated by Pippa Jayne & Benjamin Walker who only added to the romantic vibes you’d expect from Borison’s writing.

5/5 Stars 3/5 Stars

Tropes:
Small Town
FWB to Lovers
Black Cat x Golden Retriever
He Falls First
Found Family

Relationship: M|F

🎧 Narration: i loved this audiobook. it’s dual narration with pippa jayne & benjamin d walker. pippa jayne has done all of the lovelight series. her voice is easy to listen to but doesn’t have a whole lot of range of tone & her male voice isn’t my favorite but overall i do think business casual is her best performance in the series & she did a really good job with nova’s character. benjamin d walker hit it out of the park though. i loved his voice for charlie. it was perfect. his good time voice v his inner monologue v his vulnerable voice & even his spicy moment voice were all so different but still so charlie. ugh just fantastic. love love love. i listened on 2.25 & it was still very easy to understand & the production was flawless.

THIS FREAKING BOOK 🥹🥹 ugh listen, i have loved this series with my whole soul. in the weeds is one of my all time favorite books so when i tell you that this book is my favorite in the series - those are big words. charlie was *everything* the way this man was down so bad but respected every boundary & loved so hard but so quietly. omg. i’ll simply never be over it. & nova?! this girl. she is me. i am nova. i simply adored her character & obviously she felt so relatable to me. i just wanted to hug her & simultaneously shake her. 🤣 their love story was so beautiful. i love a builds & builds until there it is bright & loud from the quiet kind of love story. it was simply beautiful. & going from business casual to full formal? 🥹🥹 i cried big ugly happy tears. your honor i love them. 10/10 no notes.

There is a lot of awesome mental health representation in this book. Between the ADHD, anxiety, insecurity and self doubt - the characters really overcome a lot. And to have most of that in the male main character - big round of applause.

There was more spice in this book than I remember in books 2 and 3 so that was appreciated for sure. I love the concept of friends with benefits and think it was really well done here. I was really surprised to see Charlie have so much depth and LOVE when the fmc is bold and unapologetic with her needs

Struggled with the narration a bit. Both narrators voices sounded much older than the characters so there was a bit of disconnect for me. This would have been so good as a duet. However I did enjoy listening, I just think younger sounding tone would have felt more appropriate.

I have a habit of reading books in a series out of order, but couldn’t resist requesting an audiobook copy from Dreamscape Media because I have heard so many good things about B.K. Borison. The final installment in the Lovelight Farms series, this book delivered exactly what it promised; small-town romance, lots of steaminess, and a whole lot of family. To be fair, it did take me a minute to get into because I couldn’t keep all the the siblings and couples (from prior books) straight in my head, but once I did, this definitely had a big Gilmore Girls vibe where everyone’s nosy, there’s a town phone tree, and family dinners are a requirement.
I loved the meet cute for Business Casual. Nova has always been a little annoyed with Charlie’s over the top outgoing personality, but still finds him attractive enough to consider taking him home with her after her friend’s wedding. It’s just that it doesn’t go quite as planned and Charlie realizes he’s going to have to work to get Nova between the sheets and into her heart. Charlie and Nova have major chemistry and I love it when the FMC is the standoffish “grumpy” one with the MMC being the sunshine. But when I enjoyed even more was how layered Charlie and Nova are; what you see is not all that you get. Pippa Jayne and Benjamin D. Walker sold me on their narration for Nova and Charlie, and even writing this review later I can hear their voices (memorable is ALWAYS a good thing!). The teasing banter and internal dialogue were what made this book shine, and both narrators gave a great performance from the steamiest of the steamy scenes (hello tattoo parlor), to the vulnerable, to the comedic elements. I look forward to going back to the start of this series and revisiting these characters again. I received an ALC. All opinions are my own.

Good audio performance but I made a mistake not reading the other books first. I don’t recommend doing that. I struggled connecting with the storyline and characters because of that.

This book was amazing! It was a great finale to the series and I wish the series was still going. I would highly recommend reading this whole series!

This one was slow to start for me but once the story got going, I was fully invested in Nova and Charlie's love story. This series has been so fun and I'm thrilled that the books keep on delivering. The audiobook was well done too.

4.5/5 ⭐️
3/5 🌶️
2/5 💧

Damn, Charlie is now my absolute fave of this series. Not only does he have the filthiest mouth, but he made me cry a few times with his confessions and vulnerability. The insecurities from both Charlie and Nova were written so well, and feeling them fit their broken pieces together with each others so perfectly.

Parts that made me tear up:
- Nova's confessions to Beckett and his reaction
- Charlie's confession as to why he comes so often to Inglewild
- When Nova tells Charlie he's her favourite
- The Lovelight Farms team presentation to Charlie
- Charlie wanting to take Nova's name

We also got the usual antics from the town and our faves there - so many funny moments that made me laugh so hard.

This was such a beautiful ending to the series and I hope we get to go back to Inglewild at some point.

Charlie was one of my favourites from back in the first book and I’m so glad he got his own book! Both Charlie and Nova were such fun, loveable characters and they worked really well together. Their banter was great and the chemistry was there from the beginning.

I also really liked getting to see all of the characters from the other books and get little glimpses into what happened to them after their books.

I listened to the audiobook version, and really enjoyed both narrators. Poppa Jayne was the narrator from all the previous books in the series and she continues to be amazing. I also really loved Benjamin D. Walker and he was the perfect Charlie. The only thing that I didn’t completely love was having Pippa Jayne narrate four different characters in the series. She is wonderful and absolutely nothing against her at all, but it did take me out of the story a bit. Especially as the male narrator was different for each of the three books that did have a male narrator (books 2-4).

I am going to miss Lovelight Farm and can’t wait to read what the author does next!

"Maybe we can call it Business Casual."
"Are you using corporate talk to turn me on, Nova?"

Our final visit to Lovelight Farms. I could cry. The lovelight crew have been such a comfort for me and are each so incredible and special. I will admit Business Casual is my favorite, Charlie and Nova just connected to me more personally and I couldn't get enough of their story!

"It's Nova, she's already seen me moonwalk in a reindeer costume at the tree farm during the holidays."

Charlie is an absolute delight! He's caring, compassionate, happy, hilarious, and just a really fun character that made me laugh so much! The way he was so in tuned to Nova!! Seeing the little snippets in previous Lovelight books is one thing, but to be in his head and hear that boy profess his obsession is absolutely adorable!!! He's happiest when making other people happy but also finds himself asking himself if it's too much, is he too much, always doubting his place amongst his friends in Inglewild and whether it's genuine or out of some pity? I wanted to hug him.

"I always notice you, Nova girl?"

Beckett's youngest sister, Nova Porter, is a tattoo artist and is opening her own shop in Inglewild. She's independent, bold, and fierce and doesn't want or have time for relationships. She guards her heart and her family or friends see her with a bubble wrapped heart, protected and put away from hurt, and maybe it's the wedding going on in front of her, but she suddenly wants something more and fun.... and Charlie is looking like a lot of fun.

These two were absolutely adorable and had some of the best and hilarious banter that I've read, they just flowed so smoothly together and honestly were another perfect match. Charlie being an absolute sunshine and Nova being the grump, too freaking cute!!! Their vulnerability and unwavering trust for each other had me clutching for air! EEEEEK, I just love them so much.

Charlie and Nova's story was a perfect way to wrap up the Lovelight series. A perfect friends to lovers small town romance. The banter and flirting had me laughing and smiling throughout the entire book - their text exchanges killed me.

Thank you NetGalley, BK Borison and Dreamscape Media for this ALC in exchange for my honest review.

✨𝐀𝐋𝐂 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰✨

“𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙝𝙞𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙞𝙚. 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙄 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙧𝙨, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤𝙤.”

𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬: 10, 11, 17, 22 & 25
𝐒𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧: 28%
𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬: Small town romance, opposites attract, one-night stand, friends with benefits, found family
𝐏𝐎𝐕: 1st person, Dual POV
𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Dual
𝐊𝐔: No

This book was so cute and a sweet goodbye to a beloved series! I loved all the cameos of the MCs from the other books in the series and how this book wrapped up every couple’s story so well! It felt like a perfect blend of extended epilogues from the previous MCs without taking anything away from the Charlie and Nova in this book.

This book still has all the small-town charm that we get from the previous books in this series, including my favorite…the phone tree! Charlie is a golden retriever with a heart of gold. This wasn’t quite brother’s best friend, but Charlie is friends with Beckett so there is that forbidden aspect of keeping their relationship a secret from her family that I love!

I listened to the audiobook and both narrators gave an excellent performance!


⚠️𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬:⚠️
Multiple open door scenes with explicit descriptions
Strong language

All the stars!! This was a fantastic story and I was so glad to be back in the Lovelight Farms world again. The dual audio narration was perfectly done as well. I loved the way both narrators brought the characters to life!

i’ve been switching between physical & audiobook for this one since i was lucky enough to get both (so i might as well make the most of it right?) but it’s also 5am so don’t expect much um, englishing right now 🫠

while i really enjoyed this one overall, i have similar feelings with this book compared to the rest of the series (except book one!) 😭 pretty much, they all start out strong but by the second half, it turns into your typical romance

i loved some the plot but the chemistry just felt a bit *off* 👀 like don’t get me wrong, charlie & nova were ADORABLE but they were also a bit too much too soon if that makes sense? i’m just… not the type of girlie that *gets* a “get it out of our systems” trope & that’s more of a me thing than plot thing

howeveeer the small town romance vibes were PERFECTION 🤩🤩 i LOVED seeing all the previous couples getting little featured cameos and ahhH everyone was just so cute together!! and there were some very heartfelt scenes that i loved, plus THE PHONE TREE 😭

i feel like i might enjoy this series a bit more if i reread it, bcos i did speed read books 2-4 so i can get this review out (vaguely) in time 🙈 and since i didn’t reread the first book, i also struggled a little remembering some of the side characters and *things* that happened, not to mention listening to a book at 4am does absolutely nothing for my reading comprehension 😭😭

so yeah this is my review for now but i’ll probably update it when I eventually go back for a reread! 🫶🏻

(thank you @dreamscape_media & @macmillanaus for the review copiess!)

Thank you Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for the ALC. All thoughts are my own.

One last visit to Lovelight Farms, and what a perfect ending to this series that warmed my heart in each seasonal installment. Charlie and Nova do everything they can to avoid *feelings* — setting ground rules, telling themselves it’s just a little physical fling. But I swear these opposites couldn’t have been more perfect for each other as they both shared similar vulnerabilities that made them really see each other. Charlie was just the most perfect book boyfriend. He shows up for everyone in his life — his sister, her friends, the community — and yet he doesn’t feel like he’s deserving of the very love he shares with others. The same thing could be said about Nova as well, so it really made them perfect pair in this book. With Nova opening her tattoo studio, she’s trying to live up to the expectations that she holds for herself, and she doesn’t want to let herself or her family down (especially her big brother and biggest supporter, Beckett).

With all the things that we love about the Lovelight series — the phone tree, the town meddling and the Inglewild community that always shows up for their own. I personally teared up a few times during the last couple chapters, mostly just because of how perfectly sweet and thoughtful the story and series concluded. Listening to the series, I feel like the narrators really nailed their performance for this fourth and final audiobook - Pippa Jayne & Benjamin D. Walker are Lovelight Farms to me, and their 11 hour 37 minute performance flew by as a listener.

This is the conclusion to the one of most loved series of whole bookstagram and this book was so beautiful and charming at the same time 😍

This book was wholesome as it didn't only focus on the relationship of the protagonists but the bond of supporting characters too. I have read so many small town series yet this one has the best version and the care and affection for all literally made me wish to slip into the book to spend a single day in this town.

I love that the author focused on the development of both protagonists, I was wishing to read more of Charlie and it was delivered till the end. Nova was witty and charming in her own way and the way she fit in with our broken golden boy was interesting.

From the very first chapter till the last page, each moment was so cute 🥰 literally each interaction between Nova and Charlie charmed off my heart ❤️

If you are looking for a quick and easy breezy romcom with HEA then definitely check it out.

Thanks for the free book & ALC @berkleyromance @berkleypub #Berkleypartner #Berkley & @dreamscape_media.

🌼 Review - BUSINESS CASUAL 🌼

Author - B. K. Borison

Pub Date - 7/16/24

It was so great to be back in the world of the Lovelight series! I’ve loved every book in the series and just can’t get enough of the wonderful characters and the charming small town.

Business Casual is the fourth book in the series and this book is Charlie’s. Charlie has been such a fun secondary character in the earlier books so it was great to get to know more about him in this book. Charlie is a successful investment banker and he also loves to be the life of the party.

When the book opens, Charlie is having a blast at a wedding and sets his sights on dancing with Nova Porter. Nova is a talented tattoo artist who also happens to be the sister of one of Charlie’s good friends. Nova is busy trying to get her tattoo studio up and running and has no time for, or interest in a relationship. She can’t deny that she finds Charlie attractive though and after dancing with him at the wedding, he seems equally infatuated with her.

Nova doesn’t need this distraction so she proposes a one-night stand so they can get each other of their systems and move on. What starts out as casual with no strings quickly escalates though when it becomes clear they both really do have feelings for one another and that it’s pretty much impossible to avoid each other in such a small town. The sexual tension builds until they just can’t fight it anymore!

I really adored Charlie and Nova together. They’ve got a grumpy-sunshine vibe and their banter is just so flirty and perfect. I also love how their relationship evolves quickly into something more emotional. Charlie, in particular, shows a vulnerable side I didn’t realize he had.

Heartwarming with a hint of spice, Business Casual is perfect for fans of small town and friends to lovers romances.

The audiobook is narrated by Pippa Jayne & Benjamin D. Walker who perfectly capture the chemistry between Nova & Charlie.

I loved everything about this book. The characters are delightful and I laughed out loud more times than I could count. It was plenty spicy and the chemistry build-up was wonderful. It made me want a tattoo!

BK Borison does it again! I’ve loved the Lovelight series, and this one holds up as a fourth in/end to the series. I wouldn’t say that this was my favorite of the bunch — I preferred the previous three, but it was such a delight to be back in the town with the colorful and caring cast of characters. It was a departure from the others (less time on the farm), but the charming farm family was still front and center. And Nova and Charlie are a fabulous fit together.

I would recommend the full series to anyone.

4 stars

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

the setup…
Nova Porter is the youngest of her siblings with brother Beckett being her biggest supporter all her life. She’s a tattoo artist and is working crazily to open her new studio in Inglewide. Nova's not in a relationship (and doesn’t want to be) but wants a one night outlet to ease her stress. Charlie Milford, the straight-laced but fun loving investment banker, has flirted with Nova shamelessly for some time now so when he approaches her at his sister Stella’s wedding reception, he’s disbelieving when she makes her offer for a no-strings-attached night. But who knew their surprise chemistry would test that “business casual” arrangement?

the heart of the story…
Frankly, I couldn’t get enough of Charlie and Nova. She’s truly an artist and doesn’t think of her tattoos as just body ink, but unique works of art that capture the essences of her clients. She’s fiercely independent and projects that proudly. Charlie is Stella’s recently discovered brother who clings to not only her but the town of Inglewilde, visiting almost every weekend from New York. They’re his family, accepting him as one of their own without reservation. Now he’s there for a month while Stella and Luka are honeymooning so he and Nova spend that time “productively.”

the narration…
Jayne was lovely as Nova and Walker nailed Charlie. They put me in my happy place with their performances and strong storytelling skills.

the bottom line…
What a fitting end to this wonderful series. I loved Nova & Charlie, individually and their “casual” romance. It’s quite steamy but what’s the most interesting are what’s underneath the so-called no-strings-attached encounters. Charlie grabbed my heart and never let go with his need to please and awful childhood. You couldn’t help but love him. I enjoyed every minute and just didn’t want to let go when it ended.