I’m picky about romances, but I liked this one a lot. It was cute, had good banter, with affectionate relationships with the lovable cast of secondary characters. I’ve never seen Sleepless in Seattle, but the author’s note said this was inspired by it.

This is my second B.K. Borison and I’ve had the same response to both: I’ve found them to be heartwarming and deeply enjoyable aside from the third-act miscommunication / breakup. Those are, unfortunately, pretty standard tropes of the genre, so I’m more resigned than mad about their inclusion.

Also: Goodreads lists this as first in a series. I’ll bet Jackson is next, and I cannot WAIT to hear more of his panicked meteorological monologues.

I’ve now read this twice and somehow it got better. It got more magical. I fell more in love with Becs’ writing and Aiden and Lucie. There is something SO SPECIAL about this book and I am quite honestly crying while writing about it. Lucie was looking for some magic, and let me tell you this book is that and so much more.

I never doubted Becs’ ability to write a good book. From the very first time I read Lovelight Farms I knew she was special. But now after reading her fifth book, and the first in a new series…I am just in awe of her. She has a way with words that just feels like coming home. Even the little things that happen are written like they’re the big things, like they’re just as important (because they are). The first time Lucie’s on the air and the way she wrote Aiden describing it just felt so real, like I could see it, like I could feel it somehow and I literally was tearing up. This book is absolutely perfect and I cannot wait to read it again and for the rest of the series.

Aiden and Lucie were absolute magic. In so many beautiful ways. The tension and their banter and their chemistry came off the page in such a delicious way. They were so soft with each other in a way they both desperately needed. Watching them fall in love with each other without even realizing it was so beautiful.

I love a sad grumpy boy and that is exactly what Aiden was. Seeing how closed off and bruised his heart was HURT. But also seeing him work to start healing, to start loving again was perfect. And Lucie was so different than him, she really believed in the magic of falling in love. And seeing how it’s been such a struggle for her?? She had all but given up, but was still holding on?? Watching the two of them realize they both just want something real…and that they could have it with each other??? Perfection.

I also am in love with all the characters in this new world. Maya, Grayson, Mateo, and Patty are the perfect little family and I love how much they love Lucie. Aiden and his parents!! I love them DEEPLY. I cannot wait to get to know everyone at the station more. Aiden and Jackson’s friendship already makes my heart so happy (and Aiden calls him Jackie and I love that so much).

Thank you so much to Berkley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!!

This book was a lot of fun but it went on 50 pages longer than it needed to. The writing held up and the characters were likeable, I just feel like it dragged a little in parts. I still finished it in a day and it was super cute. Definitely a contender for my New Romantics Book Club.

Aiden and Lucie are such an amazing and beautiful couple. The romance in this book feels so true and heartfelt, I sobbed reading parts of it but I wanted to go right back to page one when I finished. This is so good!

4.5 stars. B.K. Borison's books just keep getting better! I mean her dedication is "For the hopeless romantics. And the reluctant ones too." As someone who has been both, I love this. I knew this was going to be a good book before the first chapter!

The book starts off with Lucie hearing her tween daughter, Maya, whispering to someone on the phone at 10:42 PM at night. Come to find out, Maya called in for dating advice for HER MOTHER to Baltimore's radio show, Heartstrings. What a perfect little meet cute for Lucie and radio show host, Aiden.

"His voice is low. Rough. Like the storms that come in quick over the harbor and sit there, thunder rumbling, one rolling into another until the sky vibrates in your bones. Or maybe that's my rage. I don't know."

Lucie joins Aiden a few nights of the week for a new show, Lucie's Road to Love (sponsored by a tire company). The Baltimore listening area is loving this new segment, but what they love the most is Lucie and Aiden's banter. The listeners are are quite literally listening to them fall in love. "'Because you've got a big, squishy heart in there, you grumpy asshole.'"

"Our caller numbers have more than tripled, and none of them have been truck drivers declaring their love of processed gas station snacks and ranking them in order of finger residue consistency." I would just like to say that I would have loved to hear what this caller's top 5 gas station snacks were based on this ranking :D lmao!

Of course there's some complications in this story. Things like Aiden getting incredibly jealous of the dates Lucie goes on and the people texting her. Lucie's baby daddy along with his husband who live literally in the townhouse connected to hers sure do like to get in her business. Aiden has programmed his brain to keep people at a distance so that if they leave, it won't hurt so bad (Aiden's mother has had cancer three times, but survived them all). With all these complications, you are laughing out loud and rooting for these characters.

SPOILERS BELOW: When Lucie and Aiden finally have sex for the first time, I love how Lucie is persistent about her condoms. "'Do you have any condoms?...Do you want to go get them?'...Lucie fists one hand in the back of my hair again and yanks until we're nose to nose...'Get the condoms...please.'" Lucie got pregnant with Maya after her first time having sex. She knows that shit can happen, and she won't let it happen again. I love how Lucie learned to try to take her life in her own hands. She becomes more confident. She learns to tell people what she thinks and what she wants. I love these qualities in a character.

To me one of the scenes that sets this book apart from the cheesy, predictable other romcoms is at the end when Lucie overhears Aiden talking to the producer. She hears them talking about her, and doesn't just jump to conclusions and run away. She walks into the room and simply says, "You could just ask her...I heard she can be very reasonable." Any other book/author would have had Lucie run away without getting an explanation. She demands answers. Again, I think BK Borison just keeps getting better. I can't wait for her next book in this series! There are so many side characters that I can't wait to dive into!

--Now I apologize for all the quotes, but I just love BK Borison's word choice and imagery. She is amazing!

"CALLER: I've been with my husband for sixty-five years. Every day isn't a fairy tale. We've worked hard for our relationship. To build it. To maintain it. I've become so many versions of myself and so has he, but we've found a way to fall in love with one another over and over again. Every time. [pause] But there's magic too. In between the hard work there are perfect moments where everything lines up exactly right. What else is that, if not the universe telling me I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be? I'm right next to him, holding his hand. [laughter] I wanted to tell Lucie that she's right to believe in it. Her magic. And I hope she finds what she's looking for."

"It's a good thing I have about seven million text messages to distract me. My road to love is now a highway to hell."

"A grin splits her face and it's like I've been plugged into the wall. Like the sun's been tilted in my direction."

"Lucie was right. About everything. I manage my expectations to keep myself from getting hurt. I keep a careful distance from anything that threatens my ambivalence. But Lucie snuck in through the cracks when I wasn't looking and made herself at home in the corners of my heart. She ruined all the plans I made for myself with a smile on her face. And then I fucked it up. By saying nothing."

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group | Berkley for providing me with an advanced copy!

ɴᴇᴛɢᴀʟʟᴇʏ ʀᴇᴠɪᴇᴡ || FIRST TIME CALLER [thank you to @berkleyromance and @netgalley for my #gifted copy!]

Title: First Time Caller
Author: B.K. Borrison
Genre: Romance
Format: Digital
Star Rating: ★★★★★

ꜱᴜᴍᴍᴀʀʏ:
When Baltimore’s romance hotline host, Aiden Valentine, goes viral for advising a young caller about her mom’s love life, single mom Lucie Stone finds herself unexpectedly thrust into the spotlight. As her dating prospects—and doubts—multiply, sparks ignite between Lucie and the moody, magnetic voice behind the mic. Torn between a public love story and a private connection, Lucie must decide if her true happy ending lies on-air or off.

ᴍʏ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛꜱ:
My #1 most anticipated book for 2025 and it DID NOT disappoint! Seriously - I couldn’t devour this book fast enough! And I fully plan to do a reread with the audiobook because I’m sure the radio show snippets are going to be SO MUCH FUN.

This romance just feels so good. Lucie and Aiden fall fast and hard, but it also just makes sense (I mean, the forced proximity of being in the radio booth together night after night definitely pushes you to get to know someone).

Plus, the idea of finding dates on a radio show was so fun. And the cast of side characters were a delight! I can’t WAIT to read the next one as it features the MMC that I was HOPING FOR.

Just do yourself a favor — read this book. Immediately.

ʀᴇᴀᴅ ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪᴋᴇ:
Opposites Attract
Forced Proximity
Meddling Kids
Sleepless in Seattle
Love Stories to Baltimore
Second Chance at Love

ᴅᴇᴛᴀɪʟꜱ:
GR: 4.54 ⭐️
# of Pages: 448
Pub Date: February 11, 2025

💥 Pub Date: 2/11/2025

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

• radio show romance
• grumpy/sunshine
• relatable characters

Our FMC is what we call unlucky in love, our MMC doesn't really believe in the magic of love... this sets up a really great rom com! The banter and chemistry is on point. The plot never stalls out. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series!

🗣 Thank you to netgalley and Berkley for the opportunity to read and review this book via gifted eARC! All opinions are honest and my own.

𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐲 𝐁.𝐊. 𝐁𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧
𝗠𝗬 𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ★★★★

This was such a fun and super entertaining story! I went into this book completely blind as I loved the cover and have enjoyed the author in the past.

The story of Lucie and Aiden had me hooked from the start! I loved how down to earth Lucie was, I enjoyed her straight forward parenting style, her career as a mechanic and I adored her close relationship with her baby daddy and his husband. Lucie’s entire life alone had me tuned in to this book and not wanting to put it down! I loved Lucie’s daughter and the way she worked her magic to help get her mom out into the dating world.

The radio station and Aiden Valentine were the perfect adventurous side to the dating scene that Lucie got herself into. Aiden was a bit mysterious and I think his contrast to Lucie’s honesty had me a bit reluctant to like him initially but I loved how he finally started to tear down his walls for her. I enjoyed the ups and downs the two went through to get to know each other and the chemistry that built up over the course of the radio show. More than anything, I loved reading and listening to Lucie’s growth and strength through all of the challenging parts of the story.

The audiobook was narrated perfectly by E.J. Bingham and Hathaway Lee. I read and listened to this book in tandem and I enjoyed all the added sounds and adjustments to the audio to make it feel like you were actually listening to the radio show.

🌶️🌶️

This book. Oh my gosh. I was listening to this in the car and the scene where the MMC called his dad had me crying in rush hour traffic. The slow burn in this was amplified by the readers are experiencing it along with most of the city that they live in, because it is happening on air. The witty banter, the emotional trauma, and the meddling families just added more to my love for this. I hope Jackson’s story is next, because he needs a little disruption to his routines 😏

❤️Tropes❤️
💋 slow burn
💋 forced proximity
💋 witty banter
💋 single mom

Aiden may have a romance show at the radio station, but he’s not sure he believes in love. He’s grumpy and in a funk, and honestly, the ratings are way down. Until a girl calls in to ask for help for her mom. Sure the mom may accuse him of inappropriate things, but to be fair, he is a grown man talking to a 12 year old in the middle of the night. And he can’t stop smiling. And it seems he isn’t the only one charmed by her, the whole city wants her to find her true love. And his radio station is going to help.

5/5⭐️
2/5🌶️

One simple call… could change it all.

Lucie’s love life is non-existent. So obviously non-existent, in fact, that she catches her teenage daughter calling a late-night romance hotline, looking for a way to help her mom figure out her love life. When the call goes viral, the city of Baltimore and the entire Eastern Seaboard are rooting for Lucie to find the love of her life. Soon the radio show that started it all offers her a deal… co-host the romance hotline with Aiden, its grumpy host, with the hopes that she finds the one.

THIS. BOOK. WAS. EVERYTHING! It gave me goosebumps, footsie kicks, stomach butterflies, the giggles, a big cheesy grin and a few tears. It was absolutely incredible and this story was too cute. The relationship build-up, the depth of the characters, Lucie’s family… I was obsessed from the drop. Our FMC Lucie is so strong, having had a kiddo so young, and has a level of emotional maturity that, quite frankly, you don’t see too often in a main character! Our MMC was flawed, but our FMC helped show him that he deserved happiness and love in the end, which he also reciprocated back to her. If I could meet Lucie in real life I just KNOW we’d be besties… and I’d absolutely love to be a part of their found family. This story was beautiful and exactly what I needed. I cannot get over how B.K. writes and an incredibly excited to read more from her.

Tropes in this story:
✨Single mom & found family
✨Down-on-love MMC and FMC
✨Strangers to friends to lovers
✨A level of yearnin’ and burnin’ that had me SQUEALING!
✨Forced proximity

Thank you for the free e-book @BerkleyRomance! I am grateful to be a Berkley Romance 2025 Influencer and given the opportunity to read this book early; my review is all my own.

3 words: Aiden freaking Valentine! Aiden has officially joined my list of favorite fictional men! I usually relate to FMC’s in books, but let me tell you, I saw a lot of myself in Aiden, and I think that made this read really special for me.

All the hopeless romantics are going to eat this book up. This is Sleepless in Seattle retelling is set in Baltimore, where Lucie’s daughter Maya calls into Heartstrings, Baltimore’s romance hotline, to ask Aiden for help with her mother’s love life. After the segment goes viral, Lucie reluctantly agrees to go onto the radio show so that Aiden can help her find potential dates. And there is a LOT of interest.

Lucie and Aiden are opposites in many ways. Lucie is honest, and wears her heart on her sleeve. She is also a badass car mechanic, which I LOVED as a women in STEM. Aiden has packaged away his heart after being affected by family illness, and turns into a bit of a cynical grump (me lol). The more time they spend together, they more they start changing. Lucie, learning what magic she is really looking for, and Aiden realizing he has been hiding from his feelings for too long.

There were a lot of heart wrenching moments between Lucie and Aiden that made me swoon. The entire cast of characters was great, but I especially loved Jackson, and I hope we get his book next! I also appreciated Lucie’s friends and family who care for her so much (her coworkers at the garage, her coparents Grayson and Matteo, and of course her daughter Maya). One of my favorite aspects of this book was its ode to Baltimore. I am a Maryland girl born and raised, and was kicking my feet over the Berger cookies Aiden and Jackson couldn’t stop eating.

This falls somewhere around a 4.25 for me. The main reason I didn’t give this book 5 stars is because it is quite long, and the pacing at some points felt a little slow to me. I also wish we got some more time with Aiden and Maya.

Thank you to Berkley Romance and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Absolutely obsessed with this book. I can’t stop recommending it. The tension, the banter, the ode to Sleepless In Seattle and the RESPECT that Thong Song truly deserves. All the stars.

This one was absolutely adorable! The perfect little romcom to get me out of my reading slump.

This follows Lucie and Aiden. Lucie’s daughter calls into Aiden’s radio show about her mom’s less than active dating life, being worried for her mom. She just wants her mom to find happiness and doesn’t want her to not feel like she’s enough. Lucie catches her and ends up on the air with Aiden, airing her true beliefs on love, herself, and whether or not a relationship is what she needs because she wants the magic.

Mind you, Aiden hosts a little tiny radio show that typically has like 10 followers. He’s also become so unattached to his emotions that their show is risking being cancelled / sold to a different producer. The call with Lucie goes VIRAL, and his boss reaches out to her to get her on the air to start a “Lucie’s Road to Love” to help her find her magical someone.

Now they’re co-anchors, she has bad luck with the blind dates she gets, and they become an odd sort of friends with some deep ass chemistry.

And can we talk about the side characters? How her baby daddy is also like her best friend, lives next door to her with his husband, and will prepared to go to war for her?! Absolutely loved this.

BK Borison has done it again! First Time Caller is now my favorite one of hers.

Inspired by Sleepless in Seattle, the author wrote about a single mom, Lucie, who ends up opening up about her love life or lack thereof, on a late night radio show, charming all of Baltimore, including the show host, Aiden.
The story has all the elements of our favorite romcoms, banter, chemistry, and a broody but sensitive hero who is rapidly falling in love but doesn’t realize it 😉 In addition, we have great supporting characters with the FMCs family and friends.
It was a slow burn, open door (but not vulgar), strangers-to-lovers, forced proximity romance; full of funny and tender moments, and mature characters (including the kid!).

Thanks so much to @berkleyromance for the free book!

if a warm cozy hug could be a book…
it would be this one.

this is the first book i’ve ever picked up from BK Borisom and i am immediately a fan. This was everything you could ever want in a romcom.

forced proximity
jaded lover boy x hopeless romantic
radioshow host x mechanic
smalltown
meddling adorable daughter
single mom

lucie hears her daughter talking in her room one night and when she enters the room, so notices shes on the phone with a strange man… that man being Aiden, who host a romance radioshow.

thus enters the plot where lucie joins aiden on the show to try and find herself a man, which dates and being stood up.. aiden is by her side.

this was everything. I binged it all in one day despite the fact i was on a trip and shopping.. every second i had, i was picking up my kindle to read more.
the push and pull, the emotions were so dang raw.

If i could erase this from my memory just to read it for the first time again.. i would.

i’m officially a bk borison stan and i will be reading her entire backlog now.


PLEASE read this.

update: it was stunning. beautiful. spectacular. everything i needed it to be and more! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️+!!!

currently reading this one and loving it. i have a feeling it’s going to be a 5+ star read for me. every word of it has been a delight to read; it’s so nostalgic, reminiscent of my favorite cozy, inspiring romcoms, and harkens back to slower times where things felt less complicated. i really, truly am savoring this one, and i have a feeling reading ‘the end’ will be heartbreaking. will update review once i have finished!

Thank you to Berkley for an ARC of this book!

Becs always leaves me emotionally devastated after reading her books. Like, just, lay me on the ground and stomp on me with the feelings. I don't know HOW she does it, but she somehow manages to convey so many emotions and feelings. She also makes things absolutely resonate with me.

Like, I am not that similar to Lucie, but we do have some of the same feelings and just UGHHH. As I was reading this I was like highlighting so many amazing quotes. Just...honestly iconic. I don't have the words.

This is a feel good romance, and I just loved every moment of it. It was adorable, and affirming and just -- soft. I don't know how else to describe it. It was like being wrapped in a warm hug. I just adored all the relationships between the characters, again, words escape me.

I loved the combination of an old style radio station love story mixed with our modern times, it felt...wonderful.

I do believe I'm not making a lot of sense, but this book left me a mess. Lots of feelings. I think it's because Borison makes the world real -- she makes it feel as if you're there with these characters. Even the side characters have dimension to them; including the ones that only have a few pages of airtime. (Hah, see what I did there?)

Aiden is likeable and relatable because of his fears, and Lucie is because of hers. In some ways Borison delves deep into the human psyche because she is able to bring up things that resonate deeply with us. But not only that, she does it in a way that is positive. She puts a positive spin on it, she shows that no, wanting magic in romance isn't a bad thing. It's not a lost cause.

And honestly, I love that hope. The hope that this story gives us. And for me, that is one of the foundations of this book. Not only that, the idea of loneliness, and even when we're surrounded by people we can still be lonely. We all need different things from life, and I love that this is acknowledged in the book. Of what we are told to do, and what we should do for ourselves.

This book definitely left me with a lot of thoughts, and I'm still digesting some of them.

I will scream this from the rooftops but this book is AMAZING and I will recommend it to anyone who loves romance. This *is* a romance.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Heartstrings, Baltimore's romance hotline on the radio, is struggling. The show's host, Aiden Valentine, has stopped believing in love and ratings suffer for it. Everything changes one night when a young girl calls, asking for help to find her mom a date. Baltimore is charmed by Lucie Stone's story, and suddenly Aiden finds himself sharing his recording studio with Lucie as they try to find the love of her life, live on the radio. The more time Aiden and Lucie spend together, the more it becomes clear that the person they've both been looking for might already be beside them.

This book was an ode to love and to the City of Baltimore. I laughed and cried, rooting the entire story for Lucie and Aiden. My heart just felt so full reading this book. Borison always writes such real characters with deep emotions; this book is no exception. Two of the strongest tropes in this story are grumpy/sunshine and found family, which are both written incredibly well. It was truly a pleasure to read this book and I recommend it to all romance lovers.

Sometimes a book feels like magic from the very first page and leaves you full of hope on the last.

This book is everything I love in a romance: sweet, funny, heartfelt, and utterly swoon-worthy. With its charming characters, broody hero, single mom magic, and ‘if he wanted to, he would’ vibes, this story stole my heart, had me swooning and laughing out loud. HE KEEPS A LIST OF ALL HER FAVORITE THINGS IN HIS GLOVE COMPARTMENT SO HE DOESN'T FORGET. LIKE COME ON.

Also all the little invisible strings, like that had me in a puddle. First-time caller, long time listener, i about died.

Don’t walk—run and add this to your TBR. You’ll fall in love with Lucie and Aiden just like I did.

(3.5 or 7/10) I liked this even better than the film it's based on – don't come for me, Sleepless in Seattle stans. I'll admit I was first drawn in by this amazing cover and title, but the contents of this book are better even than its packaging.

Lucie is a single mom to a darling preteen. After catching her on the phone with a man late at night and (understandably) assuming the worst, she snatches the phone and starts talking to Aiden, host of Baltimore's romance hotline radio show, Heartstrings. And so begins a sweet story about finding your person where and when you least expect them.

Clocking it at around 450 pages, this book could have definitely been trimmed down; there were points where the pacing suffered as a result. Relatedly, while Lucie's themes and emotional storyline were well-fleshed out, Aiden's was crammed to the end and certainly rushed by comparison, and in a book as long as this one, that felt really off.

I also wish there was more interaction with Aiden and Maya, Lucie's daughter. They interact in-person twice (3x if you count the epilogue), but I still wish there would have been a budding-family outing as the 3 of them, and/or a scene with Aiden attending the family dinner... something that really drives home to the readers that this is a partnership that can and will integrate well into the rest of Lucie's life.

Other than that, I really did enjoy this. Aiden and Lucie are compelling characters and their story is certainly worth the read if you're interested by the premise. The dual POV is amazing in this case – much needed since Aiden keeps his cards close to the chest – and Borison's writing style is smooth and places you easily in the studio booth with them. Another favorite detail is the lovely co-parenting relationship she has with her baby daddy (AKA childhood best friend) and his husband. So lovely to witness, especially since most of us grew up with the opposite.

First-Time Caller is a lovely read, and if you're a Nora Ephron fan, run to grab your copy.