The book wasn't for me, I didn't connect with the protagonists.
Anyway, I recommend it, you might like it.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Forever Publishing for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

This was a bit of a tedious read for me. The history, tension, potential was all there but it just didn't turn into anything. Overall a cute read, but not the one I was hoping for. I'm kind of sad about that.

This book was a little slow for me. I didn't get a lot out of it emotionally - it didn't feel like it really fit the trope of a "second chance romance." I really wanted to like this novel, but it just didn't do much for me.

This was book with a very strong first half and a second half that felt a bit unfinished/rushed. Things I liked: The characters, especially the main leads, Gemma and Celeste. Both women felt well thought out and had great personalities. Even though lack of communication was one of the main tropes, I completely bought into the reason behind their initial breakup. It didn't feel forced and felt authentic. I also liked how Lee talked about the difficulties with being a gay person in an Asian community. Things I didn't like: The ending felt rushed which took away the enjoyment of seeing the 2 characters finally realize they loved each other.

DNF. This was so boring. I was able to finish due to the narrators of the audiobook but I honestly could have cared less about the story. The romance was just not believable.

This was a cute, second chance romance, and coming from a hater of second chances that is big! I really enjoyed the plot and felt the characters were well developed and loved their growth as well. Really like the authors writing style

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Love in Focus is one of my top books this year. This sapphic, second chance romance follows Gemma, an advice columnist, and Celeste, a photographer, where they have to work together again 8 years after their messy college breakup. Their story on modern love was one of my favorite parts of this book, with glimpses into so many types of love stories. It has wonderful bisexual, lesbian, and Korean-American representation. There is a switch between third and first person for the dual POV’s (Gemma is in first, and Celeste is in third), but you get used to it after a few chapters. Overall, I highly recommend!

Thank you to netgalley for sending me this arc in exchange for an honest review. I did enjoy this book but thought the pacing was very off, some parts were too slow and boring and others were rushed so we didn’t get to see the action. I enjoyed the plot running throughout and enjoyed the two main characters but there was also weird time jumps I was constantly confused about.

3.5 🌟
Cute second chance romance!
I enjoyed the plot, side characters and Gemma & Celeste’s character growth however I do feel like it was missing something.
I also wasn’t the biggest fan of Celeste’s POV being in 3rd person and it threw me off a bit but I wouldn’t say it’s a reason to not read.

sapphic romances will always feel like a warm hug, they're so comforting to me and this was no different. this book has amazing bi and korean rep (i especially loved all the nuggets of korean culture that were weaved throughout the story). gemma was so sweet and super relatable, celeste on the other hand was a bit more difficult to pin down, her chapters in my opinion suffered from being in 3rd person POV (while gemma's was 1st person) in addition to the writing being pretty stilted. There's a way to do 3rd person while still allowing readers to access the character's thoughts and feelings, however, this wasn't done that way. I wanted to bad to be in celeste's head because she had gone through so much in the 8 year separation from gemma but ultimately felt pretty distant. overall this was a cute, bingeable, lighthearted, sapphic read!

thank you to forever and netgalley for the e-arc

In this fun new LGBTQ+ romance novel, readers follow recently dumped relationship advice columnist Gemma Cho as she is assigned to a new piece about modern love with world-famous photographer Celeste Min -- but Celeste is Gemma’s ex and broke Gemma’s heart during college before moving to a different country, and Gemma still doesn’t know what happened. Unfortunately for them, this piece could save Gemma’s career, so they have to push through their chemistry and stay professional even when that is the last thing Gemma might want. Dealing with work and this complicated reunion, Gemma and Celeste’s story will pull readers into the story with their great dynamic, the tropes, and the exciting plot. Romance readers will love the ways in which Gemma grapples with her bisexuality and complicated feelings for Celeste, and the tropes that Lyla Lee brings into the story really complement the larger emotional storyline and character dynamic. Enjoyable, entertaining, and steamy, Gemma and Celeste are well-written and dynamic characters with great careers and fascinating personalities, and their chemistry and past history adds a great layer of tension to the story. Fun, charming, and heartwarming, romance readers will love this entertaining and heartwarming new LGBTQ+ romance novel from Lyla Lee.

This was a sweet, second chance romance. I really enjoyed the plot and felt the characters were well developed.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you to @hachetteaudio for the gifted audiobook and thank you to @readforever for the eARC!
As soon as this book was announced and the cover revealed (stunning!) I was so excited! I loved this book so much. The project that Gemma and Celeste work on together is so special and so important and their chemistry was incredible! I loved how real this book felt and that both characters were humanized and had their own struggles outside of the magnetic attraction and their beautiful relationship.
Celeste and Gemma were both great characters, I appreciate getting both of their POVs and the story as a whole.
Absolutely recommend for my fellow sapphic romance lovers.
I'll be anticipating Lyla Lee's next book in the meantime!

I didn't finish this title. I read about 10% before I realized that I didn't love the story or writing.

This swoon-worthy sapphic second-chance romance had me grinning, crying, and falling in love right alongside the characters. With razor-sharp wit and a heart full of longing, this book captures what it feels like to be bruised by love—and still brave enough to try again.

Gemma is the perfect messy, relatable protagonist: a bisexual advice columnist who’s great at helping others but totally flailing in her own romantic life. Enter Celeste—stunning, mysterious, wildly talented…and the ex who ghosted her all the way to another continent. The tension between them crackles from the moment they reunite, and watching them navigate old wounds and new desires is both deliciously angsty and emotionally satisfying.

The banter is top-tier, the chemistry is off the charts, and the vulnerability threaded through every interaction is deeply moving. Fans of Ashley Herring Blake and Alexandria Bellefleur will eat this up, but this story stands confidently on its own two sapphic feet.

At its heart, this book is about forgiveness, growth, and the courage it takes to believe in love a second time. It’s tender, sexy, and absolutely unforgettable.

I love a good second chance and this is no different. The actual lost love/miscommunication part of the book was rushed slightly in my opinion, I wish that they would've let us sit in that pain for a little while longer, but overall a very cute read.

3.5 Stars

Thank you to Netgalley and Hachette Audio for letting me listen and enjoy this book.

I was sold at sapphic! This book was super cute read following our two main characters who get a second chance romance after an 8 year split. I enjoyed getting to know both Celeste and Gemma. I liked finding out how they have changed since they were last together and how they have in certain aspects stayed the same. I love the Asian queer rep, I haven’t read much of it. I liked the kick ass females not taking crap from no man and letting him know it. There were a couple spicy scenes which I felt blended nicely with the story and what was happening. I was looking the tension between Celeste and Gemma.
I appreciated that we had two narrators and that they played their parts perfectly. I would absolutely recommend this one.

Thanks to @readforeverpub for the gifted e-ARC and to @hachetteaudio for the ALC!

This sweet and spicy sapphic romance made me want to run away to San Francisco. Gemma and Celeste were adorable together. Former lovers thrown together on a work project, they spend their days interviewing couples to find out what makes their relationships work.

Slowly they begin to work through the reasons their college relationship failed. And they find healing and acceptance. Their care for each other is so sweet despite the spicy scenes.

I appreciated the dual narration with separate actors for both main characters. I thought both of them did an excellent job bringing out the tension between their characters.

If you’re looking for a quick sweet sapphic read, this one is for you!

Love in Focus is a cute, sweet, and heartwarming sapphic love story that shows the journey of our characters through heartbreak, guilt, reconnection, and self-discovery. I felt all the feels during this book.

Our first FMC is Gemma. She is a relationship advice columnist who specializes in helping others with their problems. She is smart, strong, and caring, and is working through her relationship issues. I have never related to a line more than “As a bisexual woman who’s had zero luck with both men and women, she’s ready to give up on her romantic prospects” from the book synopsis. If this doesn’t describe me perfectly, then I don’t know what does.

Celeste, our other FMC, is the talented, world-renowned photographer with whom Gemma fell in love eight years ago. When she is assigned to a project with Gemma, they are both forced to confront the ghosts of their past and work forward. Celeste was the main character who drew me into this book, as I am an art student who has been doing photography for a long time. She is living out a dream of mine, and I adore that.

On that note, though, the switch in perspectives, from 1st with Gemma to 3rd with Celeste, was slightly disappointing for me. It was not bad in the slightest, but I wish Celeste was also in 1st person so I could connect with her a little bit more. I loved Lyla Lee’s writing overall, though, so that is really my only complaint.

I genuinely really enjoyed this book, and I’m so sad it took me so long to get to it. Shout-out to Burrito, too, because I love a cat in a book. Thank you, Forever and Lyla Lee, for giving me the chance to ARC read this (even though I am late now), and go check out Love in Focus out now!

I liked the characters and the story (although I thought the reason for the initial breakup and subsequent lack of communication was a little far fetched), but the two POVs being in different tenses really took me out of the story unfortunately.