Gemma’s life is falling apart. Her 7 year relationship just ended. She’s crashing on her friends’ couch. She’s assigned a huge project at work about modern love, naturally. Her life can’t get any worse, can it?

Think again. Gemma gets paired up with a photographer that her company contracted out. That photographer is Celeste, her ex-girlfriend from college, who just so happens to be “the one that got away”. Can Gemma & Celeste keep it professional long enough to get through this project?

I absolutely loved this sapphic second chance romance. It is mainly told from Gemma’s perspective, narrated by the incredible Natalie Naudus. Celeste pops in from her point of view later on in the novel, giving some insight to why she left Gemma hanging with a broken heart back in college. Celeste’s story is narrated by Catherine Ho, whose serious and pensive tone is a stark contrast from Gemma’s bouncy, hopelessly romantic voice. Natalie & Catherine did a great job bringing the story to life in the way that reflected their character’s inner voice through their spoken words.

Thank you NetGalley, publishers and Lyla Lee for allowing me to review this AUDIO ARC in exchange for my honest review. First I enjoyed the narrator and felt it was well paced! I overall enjoyed this story line for Gemma and Celeste. If youre into second chance and work place romances, and sapphic love stories you'll enjoy this. Also as a person of asian decent, it was nice to see representation especially within the LGBTQ community! I really enjoyed Celeste as a character - she felt mature, well rounded and loving. Gemma to me felt more unhinged, but had character growth. I liked the aspect of how social media was incorporated. I gave this a 1/5 spice level. And gave this a 4/5 stars. I finished this book in 1 day! I liked this story so much I have a special edition coming from Afterlight (Ilumicrate)!

This is one of those books that left me conflicted on how to rate and review it. In summary, this novel had a lot of very good elements; the writing was well done, the characters were well developed and had motivations that were easy to follow, there was a nice cast of side characters to make you happy and angry (respectively) as they added to the story, etc.. On the flipside I found that there were a few weaknesses in this novel that significantly decreased my enjoyment: little things but with a significant impact.

I felt like this novel lacked conflict. It is a second-chance romance and sometimes those don’t land for me (other times it’s a favorite trope). Their issues in the past were underwhelming to say the least (in my humble opinion), and as a result the rest of the novel felt the same way. I spent most of the novel just waiting for things to happen without anything in the way of tension or a deeper investment in the story. This was one of those novels where you are just waiting for the characters to decide to “do the thing”, and then eventually they do. This isn’t uncommon in romance novels, but I know that it can be done so much better.

I don’t think there much that is “wrong” with this novel, it was just underwhelming in a few (unfortunately key) aspects.

That said, I want to circle back and repeat that there was a lot of good in this novel. The writing was well done, and as I listened to the audiobook I can say that the narration was also excellent. I think that if my small list of complaints were addressed, then this could be a top-notch novel. Reading a well written scene with the protagonist having an emotional response just doesn’t work for me if I disagree with their motivations….. but I can also still identify that it’s a well written scene.

I think a lot of people would enjoy this novel. Its relatively low-stakes like a Hallmark movie and was a perfectly enjoyable. Set your expectations that it wont be life-changing, but sometimes that isn’t what your looking for in a novel anyways.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free ARC. This honest review was left voluntarily.

This book left me conflicted.

It had so much potential. The writing is strong, the spice was clearly there, and learning more about Korean culture was a nice touch. However, it also had some flaws that kept it from being great.

The MC's had undeniable chemistry and emotional honesty that I genuinely loved, but their constant back and forth (with no real external restraints) became very tiring rather than romantic.

The main conflict relied too much on the MC's own doubts. At times, it even felt like Celeste was way more into Gemma than vice versa, rather than them loving each other equally. By the end, I was so exhausted by their prolonged indecision that the happy ending didn’t feel very satisfying. For the first time ever, I’ll say that even a bittersweet ending might have worked better. There were also a lot of stereotypes that made me roll my eyes way too many times.

I also listened to the audiobook, which I really liked. Natalie Naudus was exceptional as Gemma. You could truly feel the emotions in her voice. While Catherine Ho's narration of Celeste was performed well, it didn't quite match my personal vision for her character. I actually think the novel might have worked perfectly only from Gemma's perspective.

Overall, this is definitely a hard book to judge. If you love steamy romance and lots of Korean cultural references, you’ll enjoy a big part of it. However, if you’re expecting something to make you swoon and giggle while kicking your feet, this might not be the best pick, because you’ll spend the entire book wanting to yell at the MC's to stop being scared and just act on their feelings.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for providing me with an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked this book! Gemma, a bisexual journalist, gets assigned to work on a Valentine’s Day project with a popular photographer. Gemma is excited for her chance to get a cover story, something she has been working so hard for, only to find out the photographer is her ex-girlfriend from college. I loved these characters and their journey through this story. The character development was wonderful, and the side characters Kiera, Val, and Burrito (their cat) were a lovely addition to the story. They were the kind of friends anyone would be lucky to have. There are a couple of spicy scenes that were well written. The audiobook's main narrator did a great job, but the narrator for the Celeste chapters didn’t seem to fit as well. The Celeste chapters were short and thrown in here and there, so it didn’t take away from the story.

Audiobook Review
Thank you @HachetteAudio for this ARC!

Rating: ★★★★☆ (3.75/5)

This sapphic romance audiobook is mostly told from Gemma’s perspective, which I really enjoyed. The story itself is cute and easy to listen to, but I found myself wishing for a bit more emotional depth—especially in how the characters deal with their pasts. There’s one conversation to address their issues, and then the romance picks up almost immediately. As a listener, I wanted to feel that longing and anticipation, but the resolution came a bit too quickly for my taste.

That said, the story does get deeper towards the end, and I appreciated how the break the characters took to heal was handled. It added a layer of realism and growth that I loved.

Narration:
Natalie Naudus (the first narrator) is fantastic! She brings so much emotion and nuance to her performance, making the story flow beautifully and keeping me engaged. In contrast, Catherine Ho’s narration felt a bit emotionless to me and didn’t flow as well, which made it harder to stay immersed in those sections.


Final Thoughts:
If you’re looking for a sweet, low-angst, spicyish sapphic romance with great narration, this is a solid pick. I would have preferred that the emotional journey had a little more time to breathe. Still, a charming listen overall!

Thank you Net Galley for granting me this audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

After breaking up with her finance, a woman moves in with her gay besties and starts an ill advised fling with her college fwb who she also has to work with… what could possible go wrong?

This had so much potential but sadly I think it really fell flat. I was willing to believe the relationship and the timeline (especially with how things were structured at the end of the novel – loved that bit!!) but also everything felt super unhealthy and insincere and like if I actually knew these people I would be shouting at them to just stop, stop right now, you absolute tits.

I think the biggest waste/mistake in this story was the inclusion of Celeste’s POV. It feels almost egregious to call it a POV when we got maybe 1-2 pages for every 20+ of Gemma’s and they barely added anything to the story. It almost felt like this was intended to have to authors but the author doing Celeste’s POV pulled out 5 days before submission was due and so they just used the scaffold blurbs to fill the blanks?

Speaking specifically of the audio format – I will always adore Natalie Naudas’ narration, even if the book isn’t up to snuff. But I have some major doubts about the narrator for Celete’s POV. In the kindest way possible, she did not feel like a good fit at all – if for no other reason than she sounded considerably older than the character which was really jarring. Also again, those chapters already felt disjointed in how they were written, squeezing in a second narrator only made this more noticeable.

I will say that this wasn’t a total flop for me. I feel like this would make a great Hallmark movie and fit those vibes totally. It didn’t require a lot of thought put into it which made it ideal as a second book. It also had moments where it was very funny and charming and sweet. I will read other things by this author as I’m curious to see if her other novels are more my thing. I don’t necessarily recommend this one but I do think it will find its audience!

I liked this book, the back stories and the characters. but I didn't like the romance (UGH I KNOW!! I was so excited, because trust me I love me a good GL, but it was overall disappointing! sadly.) but the rest of the book was written very nicely.

I think I've come across another instance of not really enjoying a book because I'm the problem.

I don't have any complaints about anything wrong with this book. It was pretty sweet and cute and cozy and the characters weren't being toxic or miscommunicating or anything cringy, unless you count them lying to themselves a little until they finally decide to face their own baggage.

The characters were all human with flaws and strengths and were pretty likable in my opinion. And there was conflict and drama without any of the characters being particularly annoying. But for some reason, i found myself struggling to get invested. This very likely could be a me problem where I just wasn't in the mood for a romance, particularly one with seemingly reasonable protagonists and fairly low stakes. But it could also be a pacing problem. I'm not convinced every scene, nor many details and descriptions were necessary or supportive to the plot and the character development. Additionally, I'm also not sure if the conflict was optimally placed within the story arc to keep the reader engaged the whole way through.

But one of the things I really did love about this book is the portrayal of a low drama lesbian relationship. They way the characters talked through stuff and still didn't always make good decisions, the way they related to each other felt really genuine to my own sapphic experiences. The bisexual representation was also great. It was nice to a bisexual character with somewhat limited same-sex relationship experience but still no one questioned her sexuality. I'm not sure how accurate that is to real life but it wasn't unbelievable and it was very refreshing.

I also liked they spotlights of other types of relationships and the nuance of representation with lesbians of color, and older lesbian couples that we got to explore in the B plot.

Overall I'd recommend this for anyone looking for a cozy romance with a realistic portrayal of a sapphic relationship including characters of color and good bi representation.

I enjoyed this a lot and liked the set up and the lead characters, depsite their stubborn-ness! It took a little while to get into it

Oh my gosh. I really went ham for my pride month NetGalley requests and not one single accepted requested has missed so far. I LOVED this book. So much. And the narrators made it a billion times better. Advice columnist meets photographer (AGAIN) and they fall for each other (AGAIN)?!?! Sold. Sold. SOLD!!!! Yall know I’m a sucker for that second chance romance.

Everything about this book screams cute sapphic romcom and I ate it up. 10000/10 would recommend.

Gemma just got dumped by her fiance after 7 years. Now living off her friends couch and trying to get her life back together she receives an amazing opportunity at work. A chance to write a cover story for the Valentines edition of her magazine and save her job. The only catch, her ex girlfriend Celeste, who mysteriously left one day without any explaination will be her partner on this project as the photographer.

This book had me hooked! I couldn’t put it down once I started reading. Gemma is a witty and fun main character that has a relatable inner voice. The communication in the book is refreshing without issuing misunderstanding troupes to move the plot forward. Celeste is the hot ex with a cool exterior but complex inner turmoil that gives her a well rounded character you can’t help but root for. Not only do you love your main characters but you end up loving their friends just as much. Through all the emotional twists and turns you get a beautiful love story that brings a smile to your face.

⭐⭐⭐⭐✨

By far one of my favorite 2025 releases and sapphic romance. In this novel, we follow Grace's and Celeste's second chance while having to work together on a work project around love. This excels in an area in which a lot of second-chance romances lack, which is making the reason for the breakup valid at the moment without making the couple seem incompatible in the present. Every aspect of this felt real, which gave more dimension to the book. It's also essential to mention how funny the novel is (partly because of the amazing side characters). Also have to mention how good and vivid the duet narration was; it gave the FMCs more character. Overall, required reading for fans of cute yet steamy sapphic books.

Thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The set up for this had me so excited. We have a newly single writer trying to get her life in order when her ex, the girl that made her realise she was bi, saunters on the scene. Second chance romance isn't typically my favorite, but everything is better when it's gay.
The beginning is a little slow as we work up to the ladies running into each other again, but it's clear they still have a flame going. Little touches and lingering looks. I eat that shit up. When we finally get some relief in the sexual tension, it's scorching hot! I love a teaching moment in the bedroom, and our girl Gemma is a quick study. I really enjoyed the series on love they're doing for the magazine, and how each couple talked about what love meant to them. I'm not sure why we needed Gemma's POV. I feel like they could have easily had a few conversations to cover that info, and some they actually rehash, and skipped the bits that kind of interrupted the flow of the story. Even though I could see the 3rd act conflict coming, there was one small part that threw a wrench in my good time. When Celeste is asking Gemma if she's ever been single, she hasn't, she slides in a comment about being worried Gemma will run away cause she's flitting from one relationship to the next. Ma'am! You were the one who left! And so was her shitty ex! Why are you projecting your fears of commitment on Gemma like that? I'm glad Gemma doesn't internalize that shit, but it stuck in my craw. Gemma's ex is pretty forgettable after the 10-15% mark, until we hit that ending, and oo boy. The way he is blaming her for his own bad behavior made me shriek. I really appreciate how they each spend some time getting their shit together before they try again (does that make this a 3rd chance romance?), and how they take a bit more time getting to know each other. Overall, the story was enjoyable, and I would try more from the author.

Thanks to Hachette Audio for this ALC.

celebrating pride by reading a sweet sapphic romcom🫡🩷
i enjoyed the audio version of this! i love a good dual narration and the narrators did a great job with the emotion. this is a typical romcom, sweet and fluffy. i love a second chance trope so i had high hopes but i think i just needed more yearning! there was potential to go really deep with the story and unfortunately i felt that it stayed pretty surface level. nevertheless it was a good time and i would recommend.
thank you netgalley and hachette audio for the audio arc!!

An easy to read workplace sapphic romance between a relationship columnist and a photographer. The story was lovely, perfectly paced and nicely written. It's a second chance romance, and thankfully not because of cheating. I enjoyed listening to the audiobook. Both narrators had a pleasant voice to listen to and they did the characters and story justice.

The idea was cute for this but I couldn't ever really root for the main couple because Celeste was toxic the whole time, the way she ghosted Gemma for years was unjustified just for her to do it again towards the end. Maybe second chance romances aren't for. Also there were way too many pop culture references in this that seemed like they were there to make the book more relatable but it just gave me the ick.

This was so cute! Nothing life changing, as least for me personally, but a nice fluffy book with a pretty solid narrator performance.

Story-wise, it was pretty sweet and simple. A lot, if not most, of the conflicts were internal and the main characters actually sat down and discussed their issues like adults, which was pretty refreshing, imo. I'm of the understanding that this was at least a little inspired by k-dramas, and I hope that's true because I definitely feel that influence here, and LOVED IT (the characters actually communicating aside).

As for the narrators' performances go, Natalie Naudus did an <i>amazing</i> job. I had just finished another audiobook narrated by her before I started listening to this one and had to do a double-take because I had no intention of doing so. She breathed a certain life into Gemma that endeared her to me a lot. As for Catherine Ho, I wasn't as keen on her performance. I'm not sure if she always narrates this way, or if it there was some kind of direction she was given when narrating Celeste, but it felt very...stiff to me I guess? I just personally was not as much of a fan of the scattered Celeste chapters as I was Gemma's. Not bad by any stretch of the imagination, just not my cup of tea. (Take that with a grain of salt, though, as I am far from a voice acting/narration expert)

The only thing that truly kind of rubbed me the wrong way was that there was a comment in Celeste's first chapter that felt a twinge...off. I hesitate to call it 'biphobic' because it was the only comment like it in the whole book, but when Celeste said finding out that Gemma moved on with a man, there was heavy emphasis on the fact that it was a man and that it was "every lesbian's nightmare" for that to happen. I get that she would be upset that Gemma moved on quickly, but to focus on the fact that it was man just...didn't sit right with me. I can't speak for lesbians on this, and I won't, but being bi myself, it just felt weird. I don't know, maybe I'm reading too much into it.

Overall, very cute read, especially if you're looking for a sweet rom-com!

This was a fun and such quick listen.
The main characters had very distinct personalities and both were made lovable, each with their quirks.
The story was well written and easy to follow through.

This is a sapphic, second-chance romance set in San Francisco, featuring Korean‑American protagonists: Gemma, a romance‑advice columnist, and her ex‑girlfriend Celeste, now a world‑renowned photographer. Reunited for a magazine Valentine’s Day feature, they delve into modern relationships and their own past with each photographed couple mirroring stages of their reconnection.

The story thoughtfully weaves in Korean culture including family dynamics, language, and identity alongside Gemma’s bisexual journey and Celeste’s exit to South Korea. Both representation of the queer identities and Korean identities and how those interrelated felt true and added deeper understanding to these characters.

The relationships, both romantic and friendship, were nice adds to the story. I appreciated the background both Gemma and Celeste had and how their history played into their current and future as well. I enjoyed these characters so it made it easy to enjoy them together as a couple too. Gemma also has some close friends who are on their own love story who serve as good touchpoints throughout the book but also as a cute secondary romance. So happy everything worked out well for everyone!

While I did enjoy the romance, I do feel like there was not a ton of new emotional bonding happening in the current day, it was more just rehashing and clarifying what happened historically around their split and forced proximity to realize it was a misunderstanding. Again, I still enjoyed it, but that is one thing to note.

Overall, this is a heartfelt, culturally inclusive sapphic romance with strong representation and emotional sincerity. This is ideal for those seeking gentle, second-chance love, cultural backdrops, and strong friendships. The charm, warmth, and affirming visibility make it a delightful read.