I absolutely adored this book! The way Gemma and Celeste find one another after so many years, and then seeing how they learn what they want from life and from a new relationship had me so giddy. I am pretty sure I felt every emotion possible in this book! The only reason I am give four stars instead of five is because the chapters in Celeste's POV were in third person while the chapters in Gemma's POV were in first person. I am not a fan of third person writing, but I still loved this story!

I am deep into my queer romance reader era (love that for me), so I was so excited to get this ALC! I really enjoyed the story overall, but I found myself wanting more. It was still super cute and a fun read, but I was disappointed in the lack of deep emotion and YEARNING. That being said, I did enjoy both narrators and the fact that it was dual POV. Overall, the FMCs dynamic just didn't feel as believable as I wanted it to, but again this was still a worthwhile read for any fan of second chance romance.

I was pleasantly surprised with how many layers this story has. We have Celeste and Gemma who were together back in College but somehow, they wind up splitting up. After almost 8 years of not speaking to each other, they are forced to work together! The chemistry is still there but can they work out their issues and move on from what happened in the past? You'll have to read and find out!

I loved the side characters and the sense of found family. I loved how realistic it was in the sense of mental health and navigating life on top of the sweet romance moments.

I definitely recommend this book if you're looking for a Sapphic read.

I received this ALC through netgalley.

Gemma, a relationship advice columnist is forced to work with a freelance photographer who just so happens to be her ex-girlfriend from college. Being able to work thru what happened in the past is what leads to them reconnecting in this second chance romance and I ate it up!!

Thank you to Forever and netgalley for an arc.

3.5
It was a very cute fast paced story. I did really like the dual POV; I liked knowing what the other was thinking in the moment. It did feel a bit rushed, or I thought there was going to be a little more but still a very good, quick, and easy read.
A huge thank you to HachetteAudio and to NetGalley for gifting me this ALC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Really enjoyed this sapphic audiobook.
Natalie Naudus and Catherine Ho did an amazing job bringing the characters to life. I loved Gemma and Celeste and seeing their dynamic and growth throughout the book.

4⭐️ This was such a good sapphic romance 💘

I loved the queer Asian representation, and the second change romance was lovely! I’m starting to love this trope more and more. The side characters were so loveable too, overall it was a great time!

The narration overall was good, but the narrators were not my favorite. I still found myself engaged in the story, and it was easy to follow.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Hatchett Audio for this ALC!

Love in Focus was giving cute sapphic vibes with a Hallmark twist, and honestly? I ate it up…..well, half of it.
Gemma, our main girl, was a total cinnamon roll. Her chapters had me smiling like a fool, like I was watching a cheesy holiday rom-com. I was rooting for her the whole way through. But then came Celeste… and whew chile! Her chapters had the emotional range of a dial tone. Not sure if it was the third-person POV or the narrator sounding like she was reading for a thriller instead of a romance, but the vibes? Not vibing.
Now the storyline itself had me intrigued from the jump. It’s one of those books where you think, “Ooh this is gonna be good,” and for the most part it was! But somewhere along the way, the more I fell in love with Gemma, the more I wanted to hand Celeste a mirror and a therapist’s number. I won’t spoil anything, but let’s just say Celeste’s reasons for pushing Gemma away felt like a stretch (and not the yoga kind). And why was Gemma apologizing so much when clearly Celeste was in the wrong?? Make it make sense.
That said, the book still served up a good helping of lighthearted fun and spice (yes, it gets steamy 👀), and I’d absolutely pick up another book by this author. Just maybe with a different narrator for Celeste, please and thank you.

Many thanks to Hachette Audio and @NetGalley for my gifted ARC audiobook.

I got the audiobook as an arc, thank you to everyone involved.

The is a wonderful sapphic second chance romance. The story between Gemma and Celeste is adorable and has really good flow.

After 8 years apart their job bring them back together. The book is like a spicy sapphic romance com. And both Natalie Naudus and Catherine Ho bring the characters and the story to life. Though the book was dual pov it is mainly Gemmas prospective, I would of liked to have more of Celeste's prospective. I really enjoyed listening to this book and will definitely be recommending this book to my friends.

This was very cute and I really enjoyed the second chance aspect and the conversations around complicated family dynamics and mental health. I didn’t enjoy how one POV was written in 3rd person, it kind of took me out of the story.

I love Lyla Lee so when I saw she was writing an adult romance I was over the moon! This book thankfully didn't disappoint. I loved the characters and the romance. Lee always writes the cutest character and this mcs are exactly that. Overall this was a great romance!

ARC review: Thank you to Hachette Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview this book.

Overall, the story was cute, as it falls into the category of a sapphic second chance romance. Reconnecting with an ex that broke her heart directly after ending her most recent long term relationship- we meet Gemma during a rocky time of life. I enjoyed getting to know Gemma and experience her path of self discovery. I did find myself liking Gemma as a character more than Celeste. I felt that this was due to the excellent, and completely passionate reading from Gemma's point of view. I felt Celeste's point of view was read more robotically, which made me feel disconnected from her. Overall I enjoyed the book, and the opinions expressed here are solely mine.

SAPPHICS, WE WON!

Love in Focus by Lyla Lee
Audio book review, provided via ARC

Overall review: 4/5 stars
Voice actor review: 3/5 stars

Love in Focus was a cozy yet delightful sapphic romance novel that drew me in with the Korean cultural aspects. I thoroughly enjoyed the intersection of queerness & culture that I’m not usually exposed to as it gave me opportunity to learn about other’s experiences.

I was invested in the story and history of the two main characters, Gemma & Celeste, whom were exes reunited by a work project. Their forced proximity and natural connection made their intimacy even more exciting to listen to, and I felt genuinely interested in their success.

The story was fun and comforting but it felt very safe. Gemma’s perspective was told more often than Celeste’s, and I would have liked to seen a more equal distribution in story telling. I am also left wanting more from the story — more length, more depth, more risks.

The voice actors were OKAY; nothing special or outstanding. This was a missed opportunity to really lean into the emotion of the story by choosing VAs more suited to Gemma & Celeste. The VAs didn’t sound like what I expected Gemma or Celeste to sound like, and that did take away from the overall experience of the audio book, which is unfortunate. I still think the book is worth listening to though, especially for people who prefer audio over print.

Overall though I thoroughly enjoyed this read & listen. I loved the representation it offered to East Asian sapphics, and I loved that I got to see pieces of Korean culture embedded throughout. I hope author Lyla Lee will consider a sequel because I really loved Gemma & Celeste as characters, and I was touched by their story.

High Points:
-a quick, easy read
-dual POV, 2 FMCs
-cozy, queer romance
-the first Korean sapphic romance novel!

Thank you to Hatchet Audio for providing this ARC for me to listen to, enjoy, and review for other readers! It is so appreciated!

This was a cute sweet sapphic romance. I will say it wasn’t 100% amazing. There were parts that were slow and the “conflict” didn’t seem to make sense at the end when the ex finance cheated. At that point in the plot he was irrelevant.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc

Unfortunately I was put off by the biphobia in this book. However I did think the audiobook narrator did a great job, so the book gets an extra star for that.

This is a sweet, cozy, quick read. I found it to be informative when it comes to issues members of the LGBTQIA+ community struggle with when coming out, and after coming out. The characters are relatable, and their emotions feel real. The spicy scenes were on point, and the narrator did a good job on conveying the feeling written on the pages.

I’d like to thank Net Galley and Hachette Audio for providing an advanced listener copy in return for an honest review. I was highly anticipating this audio book and although I’m glad to have listened to it, I was not blown away. The book was a slow burn, but didn’t contain as much tension as I’d have liked. There were a lot of unresolved feelings that I’d have loved to have seen explored in more detail. In my opinion addressing these earlier in the book would’ve brought more excitement and discovery to Gemma and Celeste’s second chance romance. i enjoyed the pacing of the narration, but would’ve enjoyed more emotion and changes in style and tempo.
Overall, this book was an easy listen, but missed the mark in places for me due to its slow pace up until the last few chapters.

3/5
Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette audio for an arc, all opinions are my own.

Overall I think this was a very cute and steamy romance. There is a pretty big emphasis on therapy and working on yourself so you can learn and be a better partner which I think was great. I also enjoyed the narration.

However, Celeste's offhanded biphobia at the beginning that never gets addressed or brought up was really frustrating. I don’t feel that her comment added anything to the tension. All it did was make me kind of hate Celeste, and since it was never resolved I never really ended up liking her.

🌟🌟🌟 / 🌶️🌶️🌶️

“How do you define love?”

Thank you to Hachette Audio for an ALC of Love in Focus by Lyla Lee!

One thing about me is that I’m always going to eat up an f/f story! Add in a second-chance romance, and I just knew I was going to devour this. Love in Focus had all the elements I adore in a fluffy summer romance.

The story starts with Gemma, a columnist who has recently been dumped by her fiancé of seven years and is trying to figure out her next steps. She ends up being assigned a long-term project with her college ex, Celeste, focused on studying love in San Francisco through different couples.

Enter Celeste, who has sworn off love and only engages in casual hookups. She really added an interesting spin to the story from her perspective. However, I truly struggled with her narrator.

I really enjoyed the overall story and Gemma’s narrator. I do think I had a hard time connecting with Celeste at times, mostly due to the robotic tone of her narrator (no, I don’t think it was AI, but it felt flat!).

Read if you love:

💕 f/f romance
💕 second chance romance
💕 romcom vibes
💕 grumpy x sunshine
💕 forced proximity

I enjoyed this story and the arc of the characters and love very much. There wasn't much I could complain about, really! I absolutely love the narrator for Gemma, but could have done without the separate narrator for Celeste, especially as these two narrators have a very different pace of narration which threw me off. I also wasn't entirely sure about the author's choice to use first person narration with Gemma and third-person with Celeste, but it worked overall.