Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Heart Strings is a great second book to Morbidly Yours. We get to follow Cielo (Lo) and Aiden rekindle their relationship.

This is a second chance romance that does deal with familial trauma, cancer, and trust issues. I think Ivy Fairbanks did a great job at creating tension surrounding the trauma of the characters without it feeling forced or ruining the story. You do not need to read Morbidly Yours to understand and enjoy this book but it adds to it. Plus Morbidly Yours was so good, it is worth the read.

I loved how independent and strong Lo was but I did want to yell at her about seeing a therapist quite a few times in the book 😂 Overall though, a fantastic book and I am super looking forward to the next book!

I loved this one!! The characters, the story, the writing! So good and happy I got to read it.

Thank you NetGalley and Ivy Fairbanks!

def liked this one more than the first!! there were tears and there was yearning and there were laughs and there were wholesome moments. basically, this did everything i could ever want a second chance romance to do. the characters are so so easy to root for while also feeling very realistic, the romance felt genuine, it was just all so amazing. my one complaint would be with the ending – felt a tiny bit rushed + left a little to be desired – but overall i had such a great time!

thank you to penguin & netgalley for the arc! all opinions are my own <3

I’ve never read a book by this author before but after a few chapters I was an immediate fan! Such a perfect cozy read!

They fell hard and fast but when Aiden was granted the opportunity to kickstart his career they broke up. Two years have gone by, Aiden’s first album was a huge success but he can’t stop writing about Cielo. Now they’re forced to get along during her cousins romantic wedding weekend.

Heart strings is a sweet and spicy second chance romance novel with a gorgeous setting.

Cielo aka Lo is an incredible fmc, she’s my favorite part of this novel hands down. She’s been thru a lot. Battling cancer, dealing with her family and a rough breakup. You can’t help but root for her

The ending leaves more to be desired, it’s a little rushed and I still have questions. Other than that I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more of Ivy Fairbanks books in the future.

Read this if you like
🧡Second chance romance
🎶Singer songwriter x med student
🔥Spice
💫Forced proximity

**Thank you Netgalley for the arc**

3.75 rounded up

I enjoyed this book. The characters had good chemistry.
I love the plus size representation with Lo and Aidan was a great mmc who is just so in love.

The beginning was a little slow for me but the middle and end really picked up.

THIS WAS SOOOO CUTE!!!! I honestly loved this! The only part i didn’t love was reading the song lyrics but everything else was perfection

I read or listened to over 300 books in 2024 and “Morbidly Yours” by Ivy Fairbanks, the first book in this series, was in my top 20. That book was just 100% perfection to me. I was so excited to be approved for the ARC for Heartstrings, book two in the Love in Galway series.

This book was fine, but didn’t hit me in quite the same way. Every once in a while, I’m really struck with the fact that a single POV would have been a stronger choice and this is one of those books. Don’t get me wrong, Aidan is a dream. I love the way he cared for Lo exactly as she was and how she needed him. But because we had his POV through it all and knew how GONE he was for her, the book lacked that swoony tension that makes a romance really sing for me.

I didn’t hate this at all and will for sure without a doubt keep reading Ivy Fairbanks’ books (I cannot wait for Saoirse & Gabe!). I was just wanting a repeat of the extreme butterflies I felt with Callum and Lark and it wasn’t quite there for me.

I received this book as an Advanced Readers Copy via NetGalley. It releases on Aug 12, 2025.

Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for an advance copy.

———— All thoughts are my own.

3.75 ⭐️
ARC / Releases August 12, 2025

From the first line, I was already enjoying being back in Galway.

I’d definitely recommend reading the first book, Morbidly Yours, before starting this one.

I was excited to get to this one because I went through a rockstar romance phase and I was ready to jump back into that kind of setting. This hit different than those. This was deep and also had some humor. Aiden is adorably handsome when in the presence of Cielo. A singer-songwriter who loses his muse when he gets the opportunity to pursue a music career and leaves the woman behind because she’s too scared to try after being let down time and time again by others in her life before.

I enjoyed the journey that Aidan and Cielo took for the most part, but I have to say it kind of dragged, and maybe that was a me thing. I wasn’t invested as much as I was with Callum and Lark. There were definitely some cute moments and there were some heavy moments. Maybe I would have liked to see their six months and then the heartbreak and then the reunion at the wedding. Not sure.

We get some potential crumbs for the next book, and I think that one will also be a hit.

Trigger warnings: Cancer/Leukemia; an overarching storyline for our female main character, Lo, throughout the book.

First and foremost, this was way hotter than I was expecting! I feel like the spicy scenes were extremely unique and very fun. The timeline was slightly confusing to me at the beginning but I think that’s just because it’s been a while since reading Morbidly Yours and I just needed to think back to it. I loved these characters though, they were awesome and it was really fun reading a bit more about Callum and Lark. The side characters were mostly great too, except Cielo’s mom! She was awful, I know it was intentional for the story but I had such a hard time any time they interacted. What a rough character. Aidan is a delight though. I did also get the feeling there was some set up for Saoirse to have her own story and I hope that’s the case!

LOVE when adults can actually work on their problems!
This was such a sweet and heartfelt read, I'm so glad to have had the opportunity to enjoy it through NetGalley.

There were things I loved about this book and things I didn't.
Lets start with the good:
-The Wedding: I adored getting to see so much of Lark and Callum. Larks love for her cousin was so sweet and the wedding shenanigans were so fun.
-The banter: Lo and Aidan are ex's now thrust back into each others orbits as best man and maid of honor for big wedding. I loved their banter and rivalry and the sass Lo was serving Aidan.
-The SPICE: there were some creative scenes in this one including dom/sub action but with Aidan as the sub, phone sex that included Aidan singing to Lo to give her some VIBES, and dare I say it??? There was action in a HEARSE!!!!!! That's a new one!

Now for the bad:
-Lo: I had a hard time understanding what happened between these 2 but I quickly found out that Lo dumped Aidan so HE could pursue his dream, completely ignoring his pleas to try and make the long distance work. She also manipulated him several times withholding information "to protect him" which is the type of miscommunication that I hate the most. There were so many issues that were easily avoidable if Lo had just talked about things like an adult instead of acting like a martyr the whole book. I get that she was going through a lot and she had issues but Aidan was so upfront and he didn't deserve the mistrust she had for him.

It's with a heavy heart I rate this book 3.5 stars. The spice was incredible and Aidan was a dream but Lo really dragged things down for me.

Thank you to Ivy Fairbanks, PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, and Netgalley for this arc!

5 stars
3 steamy kisses

One of the best books and sequels I've read so far this year hands down! I loved the amount of anguish portrayed in the characters emotions, banter, and in Adams case, lyrics too. This sweet and angsty second chance romance brings us back to Galway and seeing the wedding of two of my favorite fictional characters as the two exes work out their issues as strangers to friends to lovers all within a short time frame because once again these two soulmates are at a crossroads in life where their love will be tested if they decide to say goodbye now or share a heartbreaking goodbye later.

I cant wait to listen this story and hold a copy in my hands soon!

I highly recommend reading this story for fans of

Celebrity romance
Second chance
Fling to forever vibes
Forced proximity
Romcom vibes
Found family
Small town
Long distance

Stop the presses I just read my favorite romance book of 2025! This book was SO cute. All the feet kicking banter. I adored it all

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam in exchange for my honest review!

Since I loved the first book in this series, "Morbidly Yours," I was super excited to hear that Lo was getting her own story. When I saw it available on NetGalley- I immediately requested it.

If I am being honest, this book was cute- but not what I was hoping for. I felt kind of let down, and that might be on me for the expectation I had for Lo's character. Her sassiness was what made me excited to keep reading, but I found it difficult to want to pick up the book at times. What usually takes me a day or two to read an ARC, this took me way longer than expected.
is.

I loved getting to see Lark and Callum more, and the progression of their story- but the best part of this book truly was truly just the callbacks to the first book.

I would rate this 3 to maybe 3.5 stars. I am very thankful to have had a chance to read it, and I do love Ivy's writing style- so that is not something that will turn me off from future work- but this will not be a re-read for me.

Thank you again to NetGalley, Penguin Group Putnam, and Ivy for the chance to read this story.

I wanted to try this one as I didn’t Mike the first book but Lo drove me nuts to the point where I had to DNF. I love strong female characters but she was a nightmare. DNF at 30%

Heart Strings had some very cute and heartwarming moments, but Aidan and Lo did not have the amazing chemistry that Callum and Lark did. The microphone scene lost me quite a bit here, it just felt a little out of place for this second chance romance and felt a little like a jump scare.

I do like Fairbanks writing and am looking forward to her next book.

3.75/5 stars rounded up to 4!

Second-chance romance is not typically a trope I love to read, but Ivy Fairbanks has me more excited about this trope with this new book. This book explores Cielo and Aidan's relationship. They're reunited for a wedding after two years apart, and the book spends the majority of the time navigating their emotions and feelings for one another.

This book beautifully captured the push and pull of rekindling a romantic relationship. Fairbanks really gives readers great in-depth views of both lovers' thoughts, questions, and hopes throughout the book. The spice was also top-notch (although personally, *that one scene* was not for me, but there are different strokes for different folks). Without getting into spoilers, the last little bit of the book just sped through some stuff that felt a little fast-paced at the end without really diving into enough detail.

Thank you to Penguin Group Putnam, NetGalley, and Ivy Fairbanks for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

HEART STRINGS is a well-written second chance romance that makes for a fun escape. Forced back into each other's lives for a wedding they are both in, Cielo and Aidan must confront their feelings for each other that never left in the first place. Two years ago wanting to respect Cielo, Aidan let Cielo go, thinking that's what she wanted, yet Cielo was hurt thinking Aidan didn't care enough to fight for what they had. What will it take for them to repair their relationship and will they allow things to get serious? I enjoyed the artistic, romantic side of Aidan and the believable and raw connection between Cielo and Aidan.

Thank you to Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

The beautiful, curvy brown FMC on the cover immediately caught my eye, and the book seemed like a light, cute read—so I decided to take a chance. I’m so glad I did!

This was a heartfelt and believable second-chance romance, with a touch of comedy, fun spice, and plenty of feels. I hadn’t read the previous book in the series, but it didn’t affect my enjoyment. That said, be aware that this one does contain some Morbidly Yours spoilers.

A wonderful read that left me smiling!

#HeartStrings #NetGalley

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.