How do you define love?

Gemma, a relationship advice columnist, has had her fair share of heartbreak. The most recent one being the end of a seven-year relationship when her fiancé breaks things off with no explanation. Reeling from yet another heartbreak, Gemma begins to question whether she’ll get her happily ever after. 


On a night out with friends, she runs into her college ex, Celeste. The ex who Gemma refers to as the one that got away. If that wasn’t bad enough, Gemma learns that Celeste is the photographer she needs to team up with for an important work assignment.


It was a quick and cute read for me. I was definitely here for all the spice too. The book has dual points of view, which I love. Unfortunately, Celeste’s chapters are significantly shorter than Gemma’s. Also, Gemma’s chapters are first person, while Celeste’s chapters are third person. Personally, I believe the book would flow more naturally if it had the same view. It doesn't take away from the quality of the work. Sapphic rom-com, second-chance romance, and forced proximity? Sign me up.


In the end, I would recommend it to readers who enjoy a quick, sapphic read. I love the queer Asian representation. It was eye-opening and refreshing. Happy reading! 

I’d like to thank NetGalley and Forever for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really cute, quick read! I didn't find this to be as gripping as I was hoping, but overall I really liked it! I am a total sucker for a second chance romance, because I feel like it forces so much character growth.

Thank you Forever for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a delightfully fun, fast read! Love in Focus was such a refreshing take on the second chance/workplace romance with two extremely enjoyable lead characters. I did wish at times that we could get more of Celeste’s point of view as the book was dual POV but we really only got a sprinkling of Celeste’s thoughts. Either way I had a really fun time with this book and look forward to Lyla Lee’s next novel.

<i>Thank you to Forever and Netgalley for this eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.</i>

This was a cute, somewhat unexpected second chance romance. Gemma and Celeste were both really loveable characters, and I loved seeing them reconnect. I found I really questioned Gemma's taste in men, as I often seem to in these books where the one of the MCs starts off with a BF and ends up with a woman, but I freely admit that's a me thing.

Gemma's best friends were honestly the highlight of the book for me! I would love a book that focused on the pair, but even if we never get it, we had a wonderful side-story of their grumpy/sunshine, introvert/extrovert relationship.

Another aspect I really enjoyed I kind of need to put behind spoilers. <spoiler>It's no secret I normally hate the 3rd act break-up. I mention it on most reviews. But this...it was perfect. I really, really like that both our protagonists desperately needed to work on themselves before they could be good for one another, and we got to both see that, and see the after, and nothing felt rushed, even though it was right at the end of the book. It was legitimately wonderful!</spoiler>

I will say I was a little thrown off by the sparsity of Celeste's chapters (and the POV change, at first, but I adjusted to that pretty quickly). When I saw it was from both POV's, I thought it would be a little more even, but with only getting a Celeste chapter every now and again, it kind of felt like her POV was an afterthought. Also, as someone well past her 20s, the amount of time Gemma spent talking about 29-30 like it was 50 or 60 kind of bewildered me. She was acting like she was ancient, and I kept waiting for her to start talking about her bum hip. It was kind of weird.

Those minor qualms aside, this was a wonderful book, and I really hope Lyla writes many more sapphic romances. 4 happy stars.

This book is so funny and sexy. It’s the perfect romcom. I tought I was watching a movie from the 90s. Love it so much!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

This book was a delicious delight to read! The romance was spot on, and I loved the chaos and charm of the main characters. I’d read anything from Lyla Lee!

Second chance romance doesn't seem to be a popular trope, but I LOVE it. Romance can be a hard sell for me, so the characters already having history together helps a lot. I also prefer how the conflict in second chance romances is usually focused on communication and healing from the past, as opposed to the MIScommunication and a third act breakup in common in standard romances. That holds true here too.

I appreciated how Gemma and Celeste took time to focus on themselves at the end. They needed to gain perspective on where they should be in order to be in a good place for a relationship. Being single can be healthy, y'all!

I didn't mind the 1st-person-Gemma vs 3rd-person-Celeste chapters (I've read many books with POVvswitches like this), but Celeste's chapters were very short. I would've preferred these to be longer, to dive more deeply into her thoughts and strengthen her character, or maybe removed altogether to focus on Gemma and her insecurities. Because what we got for Celeste...I didn't really feel bad for her. I get that she had a serious family situation to take care of, but to ghost the girl she allegedly loved for MONTHS, and then get mad at her for her reaction? Nope, it's your own fault. Lie in the sad, lonely bed that you made.

James suckeddddd. If you think Gemma's ex bf is bad at the beginning, just wait until the final chapters. Even though he really is a minor character, I wanted him to get some sort of karmic retribution! But I suppose it's more realistic to be treated badly by someone and have nothing bad happen to them in return. The best you can do is remove them from your life.

AIl in all, this was a cute sapphic romance with a happy ending that's not too deep.

Love in Focus was a solid read with realistic characters and well-written romance, but it didn’t fully click for me. I appreciated the Korean sapphic representation, which is still rare in traditionally published romance, and the steamy scenes were well done, especially the strap-on scene, which stood out as particularly well executed. That said, second-chance romance isn’t my favorite trope, and while the book handled it well, it just doesn’t work for me most of the time. That is more of a personal preference than a critique of the writing itself. Overall, it was a well-crafted story, even if it wasn’t entirely my thing. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Thank you to the publisher for the eARC!

I LOVED this sapphic second chance romance about a journalist and her photographer ex who have to work together on a Modern Love in Focus assignment. The chemistry between the two leads was so good, and the spice level was *chef's kiss*. Loved it!!

YESSSSS!!! This is my first book by Lyla Lee and she did not disappoint! Please give us more sapphic rep please.

Amazing Lesbian Romance, just the right amount of spice, chemistry. everything was perfection of my point of view.

I picked this one up on a whim because of the gorgeous cover (and the fact that it's sapphic) and am so glad I did, because I ended up really loving it. I adored the rep (Korean MC's, one lesbian and one bisexual, plus multiple diverse side characters), especially Gemma's struggles with several things about being bi. But even more, I really loved how the second chance romance was handled. It's rare that I read this trope and it works perfectly for me--usually one party is to blame, but Gemma and Celeste's story made so much sense, and I really adored how it showed both of their growth over time and how they'd matured. The emotional growth and maturity in this book was so delightful to read, and I just adored Gemma's character arc as she found her own way.

I will definitely be on the lookout for more adult romance by this author!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc! Opinions are my own.

ARC review | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | adult sapphic romance

Release date: May 27, 2025

Publisher: Forever (Grand Central Publishing)

Gemma, a relationship columnist, is going through a breakup- with her ex-fiancé, a man she dated for nearly a decade. As a bisexual woman who's now had two serious relationships go downhill, she begins to doubt whether she's meant for love, until her college ex, Celeste, comes back into her life. When Celeste, a photographer, is paired with Gemma on a project for the magazine Gemma works for, Gemma gets answers about what happened to their relationship way back in college. Maintaining professional boundaries proves to be a challenge- especially since the project is focused on depicting modern love. But with everything between them, is it truly the right choice to fall in love with Celeste again?

I LOVED this book!! It's such a sweet romance, with excellent representation. The California setting was really fun (as someone who's never been, lol), and there were a lot of moments where I felt myself really connecting with Gemma. This is a multi-POV novel, although Celeste's chapters are fewer, so we're mainly getting Gemma's inner monologue. That did, however, mean that I was usually pleasantly surprised by Celeste's chapters, when I got to see inside her head too. The friendships in this book are sweet, the romantic development was well done, and this author does an excellent job at blending Gemma's hesitancies with her confidence, creating a realistic character that many readers will be able to relate to. Definitely keep an eye out for this release!

Thanks so much to Lyla Lee, Forever, and Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book! All opinions are my own.

This was so cute!! Lyla Lee knows how to write a nice rom com. It was fun to read and I like how Gem and Celeste's relationship was explored. I do wish that the reason behind Celeste leaving wasn't given so early. I'm a sucker for a good secret but overall this was done very well and i appreciated how it all came together!

This book was so cute! I usually don’t care for second chance romance novels, but Lyla Lee did it so well in those book. I loved Gemma and Celeste’s relationship, as it goes from exes to friends to a little fake dating to friends with benefits and more. The writing was good and I loved the sapphic Asian representation, as well as Gemma being in her late twenties and still love and life out.

This was a solid romance that was fun, cute, easy to read, with a cast of very easily likeable characters to back it all up. It was very simple to me, thought it has a few tough talking points such as Celeste's family struggling to accept her bisexuality fully and what it meant to Gemma and the feelings it brought up for her when her 7 year relationship very abruptly ended it doesn't go as deep as you might think it does. Val and Kiara were fun side characters and amazing friends to Gemma the entire time, I also loved the talks they had with Gemma as to how different relationships work, that they don't all look the same and things change over time. Same thing with all the different interviews for the Love in Focus project Celeste and Gemma were working on the entire story. It was interesting to see couples in all walks of life and the different things they had to say about love in general.

I did have a few issues with this story though that made it fun, but not totally groundbreaking for me and that dropped it down to a 3 instead of maybe a 4. I didn't hate this by any means though. Even though I liked Celeste and Gemma, I didn't really feel like i ever got to KNOW them. I knew things ABOUT them because the story tells us them but I couldn't tell you much more about them. They were surface level at best, and I wish they weren't because they had so much more potential. I found it a little odd that Celeste had a lot fewer POV chapters than Gemma did, for every 3-4 Gemma had Celeste got one and they were very short at that. I think it might be the first time i've seen that in a dual POV romance and I really wonder why. James also wasn't as relevant as I expected him to be, he was for 2-3 moments maybe but as shitty as he treated Gemma he needed more page time than that if only so that he could get his lashings for being that shitty lol.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

4/5 stars
3/5 spice

I had such a great time with Love in Focus by Lyla Lee. The characters feel like real people and I found their romance to be really comfortable, in a good way! Things weren't over the top, there was no dramatic miscommunication or other annoying trope, and I really rooted for the two of them. It felt mature and realistic and I will definitely be picking up more books by this author in the future!

This was cute but super predictable. I did really enjoy it! I am not the biggest fan of second-chance romance. But I did not mind it in this book.

While I wasn't as emotionally invested in the romance as I always hope to be, I had a great time reading this. It was very cute, and by the end of the novel I was totally rooting for Celeste and Gemma to be together.

This book was good, it was a quick fun read, and was a great example of queer joy!

While I enjoyed the book, I found the main plot and center romance to be a little forgettable. While I liked both characters, I didn’t feel all of the angst and the need to be together.

However, I loved the centering of queer love stories throughout the ages - especially seeing examples of queer couples who have stayed together throughout their entire lives!