Aidan and Lo find themselves stuck together as maid of honor and best man for Callum and Lark’s weekend wedding festivites. They used to date before Aidan became a famous singer, and broke up when he went to chase his fame. Now that they’re forced to regularly spend time together preparing for the wedding, they’re reminded of the passion they once shared, and Aidan is determined to get Lo back.

This was a sweet second chance romance with some yummy moments, but I found it difficult to connect to these two characters and to see the love and passion between them. It just didn’t click for me. Perhaps the story needed a bit more background and focus on what their relationship was like before they broke up? Perhaps it was that I just didn’t fully understand why they broke up in the first place or what obstacle was really holding them back from fixing past mistakes and giving it another try once they cleared the air.

I will say, reading about two fictional characters getting naughty in a hearse was NOT on my 2025 bingo card, but I didn’t hate it one bit!

Than you to Penguin Group Putnam and Netgalley for this ARC! All opinions are my own.

Heart Strings by Ivy Fairbanks is a 2nd chance romance I couldn’t wait to sit down and read.
Lo is a resident doctor and Aiden is a new megastar. Their paths are crossing again after a difficult breakup and now they must put it aside to make their friends’ wedding weekend a success.
I so wanted to love this book. Aiden is an absolutely golden retriever. Lo is a hardworking, dedicated resident and knowing her background with hospitals made me root for her success.
However, the two of them together I couldn’t quite believe in. I think without dual timelines and not seeing their love grow the first time around, I couldn’t get on board with the 2nd go.
The hiccups the MC’s face in this book were also a plenty, from career drama to parental issues to wedding escapades. I felt like we were all over the place and never truly got to see Lo & Aiden on a normal Tuesday. It was hard to believe that their relationship would survive outside of the drama.
I did enjoy the cameos from the couple in Morbidly Yours. I absolutely loved that book and loved getting to revisit that world!

Thank you to Ivy, Penguin Group/GP Putnam’s Sons, and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

I absolutely ride or die for Morbidly Yours, a book I think I own, have read, and reviewed in every version available. Callum and Lark are two adults, who have adult issues (okay, maybe a bit extreme, not everyone has to marry to secure the funeral home you own and run), and balance each other out so perfectly. Heart Strings brings that same energy to Lo, Lark's cousin, and Aiden, the solicitor that saved the day in the last book.

Picking up two years after the end of Morbidly Yours, Heart Strings jumps into the weeks before Callum and Lark's wedding. Lo, the maid of honor, is still pursuing her dreams as a doctor and recuperating from a broken heart. The heart breaker is Aiden, who has gone on to be discovered and is now a rising folk music star. He's also the best man. We learn, quite quickly, that the two had a deep, passionate, but relatively short (6 month) relationship two years ago. When Aiden got signed to a record deal, and needed to move to London, the two called it quits.

Obviously, the wedding provides a romantic setting for a second chance romance, and the two are naturally forced together in the lead up to the event. It's clear from the jump that Aiden isn't over Lo, in fact, his first album is entirely about her. He vows to get her back, and does so in a way that completely sees Lo for who she is. She struggles to ask for help, especially as her childhood illness drove her family apart. She's a perfectionist, driven to get everything right so that her life is worth the sacrifices her family has made. The two have crackling chemistry, and there is a lot of yearning on both of their parts.

Morbidly Yours had such a wild and unexpected premise and characters, and Heart Strings is a much more traditional romance. That doesn't make it less than, but it definitely didn't click in quite the same way that Fairbanks' first book did. I think that's mostly my high expectations and not the plot, writing, or characters. If you pick up Heart Strings, you'll find realistic characters with realistic problems, who solve and work through those problems with communication and love.

* Thank you to G.P. Putnam's Sons, the author, and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review! *

This is cute! There's a lot to digest, and reading the first book might help establish relationships more clearly, but it isn't necessary. Cielo and Aidan were likeable enough, though I didn't quite get the swoony feeling. Love seeing some casual femdom though lol, that was an unexpected and welcome surprise - I love when romance authors step outside of the predictable sex scenes!

Thanks to NetGalley et al., for the ARC.

2 stars

The first book in this series, Morbidly Yours, had such a wonderful combination of local Irish color, deep character exploration, and sexy relationship dynamics that I figured I would pick up the second book in this series when I saw the ARC copy. Ultimately, however, I found myself being disappointed in this series' sophomore novel.

With second chance romances, I really need to feel like the couple previously loved each other deeply and that the issues that led to their breakup can be resolved with character growth and time. We basically get told everything about Aidan and Lo's previous relationship - nothing is shown to us and I ultimately found myself not believing in either their initial relationship or their reconciliation. It often felt like the characters were being led by the plot and emotional beats Fairbanks was creating rather than the characters driving the plot forward through their actions and emotions. The sexy times were definitely steamy and I loved seeing Lark and Callum's wedding, but those were really the only high points.

I would still read another book from Fairbanks in the future since I really think Morbidly Yours is fantastic, but this was definitely a miss for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thank you to NetGalley, Ivy Fairbanks, and Putnam Books for the ARC of Heart Strings in exchange for the following honest review.
Back to my favorite place in the world that I’ve never actually been to (Ireland, my beloved), and this time we’re following Cielo “Lo” Santiago and Aidan Gallagher—two people with history, hormones, and a whole lotta unresolved tension.
This is a second chance romance (hell yeah), with dual POV (double hell yeah), and an age gap of six years (touched on in the beginning but not focused on throughout the book so just jnteresting to note).
We’ve got Lo, a 25-year-old med student and then there’s Aidan: now a wildly successful, auburn-haired, Celtic-inked Irish musician who’s been pouring his heartbreak into songs about Lo for a minute. We're talking full Ed Sheeran core.
And here’s the thing—Lo thinks it’s just… songwriting. Just art. Like, “oh yeah, he’s written a dozen soul-crushing songs about our failed love story but he’s probably just a guy who loves a metaphor.” And listen: that is exactly the kind of stubbornly misguided miscommunication I support in a romance novel. It’s just delusional enough to work.
What I really appreciated is how Aidan engaged with Lo’s culture. It wasn’t this lazy exoticization—it felt intentional, respectful, and curious in a way I haven’t seen done this well often in romance. As someone mixed myself, it gave language to something I’ve always felt but never quite known how to articulate. That “see me” moment? Whew.
And the emotional core here really delivers—grief, illness, ambition, identity, learning how to choose each other the rightway this time. Loved seeing Lo’s backstory was handled with gravity and softness.
Also to the cameos of Lark and Callum from Morbidly Yours? 10/10 no notes.
But, in regards to the rest of the book: I have some notes.
Lo is feisty but if she says she’s not his babe one more time I’m going to jump into Galway Bay myself. We get it. You’re complicated.
The final conflict felt a bit overcooked, with a side of unnecessary drama, but it doesn’t tank the book. Just made me sigh loudly and say “bffr” into the void.
Also… while I don’t want to spoil anything, there’s a certain romantic moment that made me want to disappear into the floor. I did not enjoy it. I will not elaborate.
In the end, this is a 3-star for me. There’s charm, a beautiful Irish setting, thoughtful cultural representation, and emotional growth. If you like musician romances, second chances, and can handle a little foot-related mortification—Heart Strings might just be for you.

HEART STRINGS is a classic second chance romance that is all about taking risks. Aidan and Lo let fear and anxiety pull them apart more than their careers did. But now they're in a spot of forced proximity goodness - best man & maid of honor duties at a wedding - and are finding it difficult to resist each other.

I love that the focus was on processing their old hurts rather than blaming each other for the past. Nothing about them - together - was wrong or a mistake. They similarly allowed fear to rule instead of their hearts. Aidan having to travel for his music career triggers Lo's fear of becoming a burden similar to when she was fighting cancer. Lo is settled locally to focus on her medical studies, so Aidan conceeds to put her needs first as hes had to do to support his family for many years.

So you want to conk their heads together till they realize they can advocate for themselves. Lo doesn't have to face hard times alone. Aidan deserves to have his needs met. This time round they have the time and the means to articulate make it work. And it's lovely to watch Aidan and Lo take a risk on each other.

Thank you Netgalley & Penguin Random House / Putnam Books for this advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Lo and Aidan's short lived romance left Aidan with enough heartbreak to fill an album, and Lo with no desire to ever see Aidan again. They're brought back together for a wedding, and find that maybe they both had a part to play in their painful breakup.

I thought this was a really nice second chance romance. I liked the way their complex family relationships as well as the different pressures they were both under were depicted.

✅ Cielo (Lo) & Aidan O’ Toole, musician
✅ dual POV
✅ second chance romance - one weekend in a castle for a wedding. What could possibly happen between two exes?
🌶️: absolutely

There are a couple of CWs - please check them if you’re sensitive to certain topics!

Last year I met one of my new favorites, Morbidly Yours by Ivy Fairbanks. The first in the Love in Galway series. I instantly and completely fell in love with that book! And with Ivy Fairbanks' writing. So it's no surprise I excitedly jumped at the opportunity to read the second book in the Love in Galway series, Heart Strings. This is a marvelous and satisfying second chance romance that is all about timing, honesty, and the right love song.

Cielo "Lo" Valdez is working through medical school, looking to face it as successfully as she did her cancer when she was a teenager. Lo has overcome much in her past, except the man who broke her heart when he left to follow his dream in music. His return should make her guard her heart all the more, but somehow the defenses lower and hope springs once more. Rising musician Aidan O'Toole is making his dream come true in music, but the muse of every song he's written is always at the forefront of his mind. And a wedding where he and Lo serve as respective best man and maid of honor might be the perfect opportunity to prove they can go the distance.

Lo and Aidan were once a couple full of potential and love, until they let it go without much fight. Leading to both regret and hope the path can be corrected. I really appreciated how both leads looked inwards to explore their past mistakes and missteps. To move forward they first had to look back, and the process felt sincere and poignant. Part of the process is reflecting on their own personal journeys. Aidan must reconcile either with the path to stardom that may cost him his own artistic integrity, or choose the tougher road in reclaiming voice and agency. Then we have Lo who has shouldered so much trauma since her illness as a teenager and watching how her parents divorced, leading to an absent father. She's carried much resentment as well as fear, fear of abandonment she must learn to make peace with. This isn't just a love story, it's a story were both protagonists have their own personal battles to confront and they each do so brilliantly.

Our couple has such fantastic, palpable chemistry. Immediately the sparks fly, as if no time has passed between them. But I wish the sparks stayed a bit more at a simmer before boiling over. There's a lot of hurt residing from their break up, that I wanted more angsty tension to heat between Lo and Aidan before moves in the right direction were made. I thought the reconciliation felt rushed, resulting in a narrative pace that never quite worked the way I hoped. But, this is Ivy Fairbanks' writing and there is such a charm and warm welcome in the way she writes that my qualm feels like an overall small bump in the road. The romance may not have developed into the pace of my own preference, but it didn't threw me completely off course. I love the writing in this book for it kept me readily, steadily, and eagerly engaged. The characters come to life in a meaningful way that has you wanting to see them find the happily ever after they have long earned.

The final act may or may not hint at a potential couple for the next entry in this series, I am so excited to see if it leads anywhere. I hope it does! Because that potential couple sounds delicious!

I'm ready to devour all Ivy Fairbanks works. So count me in for every future title!

Thank you so kindly to Putnam and NetGalley for this advanced complimentary copy. I leave this honest review voluntarily.

🌟Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
💧Drip-o-Meter: 💦💦💧
💗Something I Loved: I really enjoyed Aidan’s family (the ventriloquist doll pranks were the best) and for the most part, Aidan himself. He was a solid MMC full of pining, adoration, and a fierce determination to win back Lo’s heart despite the fact that he wasn’t really the one (or at least not the only one) who needed to make amends. This brings us to…
🫤Something I Would Have Changed: As for Lo… I didn’t necessarily dislike her but I did find her to be a tough character to sympathize with at times. Sure, she’s been through a lot, but also… She called it off. She decided to not communicate what she wanted from him. She… kind of made herself a martyr. I just wanted more from her overall and think some therapy would do her good. I also think this story would have greatly benefitted from a dual timeline. I thought they were fine together, but missing the entirety of them falling in love sometimes made it difficult to feel their chemistry.
🌶️Spiciest Scene: Ch. 16 when they first “reunite.” Cue the whimpering. FYI there is some light BDSM for anyone who does/doesn’t like that but otherwise the spice was fairly mid for me and probably a little tainted by the hearse scene. Listen, I’ve been in plenty of hearses as a funeral director and that’s one of the last places you’d ever catch me bumping uglies.
📚Standalone vs. Series: Interconnected Standalone in the A Love in Galway series. I personally thought they were almost too interconnected. I loved seeing Lark and Callum again but if I hadn’t already read Morbidly Yours, I think I’d have wondered why so much of the story focused on their wedding. It’s so much fun when characters from other books make an appearance but it sometimes felt like this was Morbidly Yours Part II, instead of a new book about a new couple.
📖Would I Recommend: Probably, yeah. It was still an enjoyable (and quick) read and although it’s not a book I’m likely to re-read, I don’t regret it. I liked it… I just wanted to love it a little more than I did.
💬Tropes: Irish Singer-Songwriter MMC, American Medical Student FMC, Forced Proximity, Second Chance

5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
3.5/5 🌶🌶🌶

Tropes:
🎸 Rockstar Romance
💔 Second Chance
🏠 Forced Proximity
➰️ MSub / Light Bondage
🥰 Yearning

Ivy Fairbanks is quickly becoming one of my auto-read authors. I loved Morbidly Yours and went into Heartstrings wondering if it could possibly live up to the hype—it absolutely did.

Cielo ("Lo") is an American medical student completing her training in Ireland. As a childhood cancer survivor, she's pretty emotionally guarded, especially after watching her parents' marriage fall apart during her illness. Her ex, Aiden O'Toole, is an up-and-coming Irish musician grappling with the pressure of fame. Their relationship ended just as his career was taking off, leaving both of them wondering if they gave up too soon. Lo has sworn off love and Aiden is pretty desperate to get her back. Now, thanks to their best friends getting married, Lo and Aiden are thrown back into each other’s orbit after a long period of no contact.

Lo's anxiety and need for control are portrayed with care and realism—she reads like a textbook case of GAD in an accurate, relatable way. She’s rigid, guarded, and terrified of being hurt again. Meanwhile, Aiden is the definition of a professional yearner. I was rooting for him the entire time. Both characters felt incredibly grounded and emotionally authentic.

This book nails several elements that are notoriously tricky. Second-chance romance can be hit or miss for me, but Heartstrings dives deep into the trope with honesty and emotional nuance. The spicy scenes stand out too, featuring a dynamic where the MMC is more submissive—something that’s not often done well, but is handled perfectly here.

And yes, Aiden is clearly inspired by a very real and very famous Irish musician. I’ve read similar stories that felt a bit too close to fanfiction, but Heartstrings manages to take inspiration without overstepping boundaries. It never felt exploitative or inappropriate.

The smut is fresh, creative, and balanced well with the plot. When you read a lot of romance, it’s easy to feel like you’re reading the same spicy scenes over and over. Not here. The hearse? The video session with music? I felt like I was melting. Trust me—this one’s worth it.

Also, characters from Morbidly Yours show up frequently, which I absolutely loved. Callum remains one of the most adorable MMCs I’ve ever read.

3.5 stars
Second Chance Romance
Celebrity Romance
Hispanic FMC
Irish MMC
Navigating Family Dynamics

What I Liked:
Second chance romance is one of my favorite tropes and I liked the initial set up for Lo and Aiden's reunion. There were points of the story that actually had me cackling (the hearse scene was my favorite). I thought their relationship was believable and I understood the reactions/struggles Lo had with her situation.

What I Didn't Like:
There were parts of the story that seemed glossed over, almost fast forwarded, where I wanted more details on what happened. We got so much detail, almost hour by hour during the wedding weekend and once the wedding was over, we pick back up with Lo and Aiden days later but there are major things happening. So I think for me, the pacing of the story seemed off at points.

It was definitely enjoyable and I looked forward to picking it up at the end of the day, but I wasn't swooning throughout the story. I will say I appreciated the steamy scenes and that they were different (light kink) from most of the romances I read. It wasn't over the top but enough to keep it interesting. I'll definitely be looking for more books by this author.

Thanks to Netgalley and Putnam for the chance to read this early in exchange of an honest review.

I really liked the first book the series so was excited to read this one. It was a quick read. I liked the Latina representation, especially in medicine. And there was good chemistry between Aidan and Cielo. I liked the premise but felt like everything had to be spelled out instead of picking up emotions/feelings through the writing. Would give it 3.5/5

3-3.5 stars. I’m bummed that I didn’t love this one the way I hoped I would. I really enjoyed Morbidly Yours and was looking forward to being back in this universe.

To start with the parts I enjoyed, I will say that I liked that Lo had an in depth backstory to her life. It provided a lot of dynamic to the story and explained a great deal of her personality, actions, and choices. I also liked that Aidan was a solid family man and had such good relationships with his parents and siblings. His reasons for pursuing his music career for more than just himself were admirable. It was also great to see Callum and Lark continue their happily ever after.

Unfortunately, that was about it for me. I couldn’t feel any real connection to the relationship between Aidan and Lo. This was a second chance romance, but there was never really anything more than a couple paragraphs interspersed to establish their initial relationship and those were mainly about how it ended. Even their reconciliation felt like it happened too quickly with very little conversation or tension before they reconnected.

I wish I’d enjoyed this one more, but I am still looking forward to Saoirse’s story to come. Thank you to G.P. Putnam’s Sons via NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Cielo and Aidan had a whirlwind romance that ended abruptly when he received the record deal of his dreams and she decided a long-distance relationship could never be for her. They haven't seen or spoken to each other since their breakup, and now they're forced to spend an unavoidable weekend together as the persons of honor at their best mate's wedding. Everything should go super well considering Aidan only seems capable of writing songs about his love for Cielo who has his artist profile blocked on Spotify because every lyric he writes shreds her soul.

I thought this was a really strong second novel from Ivy Fairbanks! While I didn't enjoy it *quite* as much as Morbidly Yours (which in any other book's defense is nearly impossible because Morbidly Yours was pretty perfect to me), I had a really hard time putting Heart Strings down. Aidan is basically Hozier with an even smooshier, marshmallowier filling. Lo is a bucket of trauma in a med student's body who, despite being an only child, emits eldest daughter energy. This made their banter really fun, lead to some bonkers situations, and paid off when they realized they owed it to themselves to give their relationship a second chance. It was equal parts tender, angsty, and steamy, had a delightful amount of cameos from my favorite characters in book one, and scattered just the right amount of crumbs for Saoirse's book (which I cannot even wait for)!

Thank you to Penguin Group for a copy of this eARC via NetGalley. All opinions are honest and my own.

Absolutely obsessed with this book. Perfection. Beacon. Love love loved it so much. I need to go back and read the first book now. I’m obsessed with Ivy’s writing!

Ivy Fairbanks' writing continues to blow me away! I was so enamored by Morbidly Yours that I knew I wanted to read Heart Strings as soon as it was announced and I was not disappointed! This story follows Aiden and Cielo, a couple who by fear and physical distance ended their relationship almost as soon as it began. Second chance romances always have a special place in my heart and this one was no different! The way that Aiden showed up and proved to Lo that he wanted their relationship to work was so so special. I absolutely loved the setting of Lark and Callum's wedding and seeing them again was so much fun!! This book deals with tough topics that Ivy handled with such grace and I was definitely tearing up during the hard moments. I loved seeing a sneak of who the next book will be about and I'm already so excited to read it!!

I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really really enjoyed this book. There was so much in this book that I absolutely loved starting with Aiden and Lo. I loved everything about the two of them I also loved Aiden's family and their antics with the ventriloquist doll, getting to see Callum and Lark's wedding and whole ending especially the parts with Saorsie and the true end, plus a whole lot more.

I can't wait for the next book in this series!

Heart Strings is a second chance romance that’ll make you laugh, shed a few tears, and give you butterflies.

The storyline is a precarious balancing act of feelings and emotions that had my heart in a chokehold. Lo and Aidan’s relationship is so beautifully fragile and their journey is a tough one. Can they find the courage to claim the happiness they both so desperately deserve?

This was a book full of so many feelings and of so much love. The dialogue is funny and heartfelt. The characters are fun-loving, endearing, and easily relatable. I smiled a lot while reading and couldn’t contain a few chuckles.

I know I’m mentioning love a lot, but that’s the best way I can describe Heart Strings. All the actions, all the drama, all the earth-shattering and heartwrenching things that happen in this book, are colored with love. Love of a parent. Love of a friend. Love of family. And a love so raw, it defies definition.

I am looking forward to the next book.