Love in Focus by Lyla Lee is a heartfelt and refreshingly nuanced story that goes beyond the conventions of a typical romantic comedy. With a cast of relatable characters and emotionally resonant themes, Lee delivers a narrative that feels both personal and universally accessible.

What sets this novel apart is its depth. While it offers the warmth and charm readers expect from a romance, it also delves into identity, self-acceptance, and the complexities of relationships in a way that feels genuine and unforced. The characters are thoughtfully developed, each with their own unique voice and journey, making it easy for readers to see parts of themselves reflected on the page.

Lee’s storytelling is both compassionate and engaging, offering a powerful reminder of the importance of authentic love—both for others and for oneself. Love in Focus is a standout addition to contemporary LGBTQIA+ fiction, and a highly recommended read for anyone seeking a story that balances heart, humor, and emotional truth.

Love in Focus by Lyla Lee is a second chance sapphic romantic comedy that follows the story of our female main character Gemma Cho. Gemma is a relationship advice columnist who’s seven year relationship just abruptly ended and not amicably as well as her personal life her work life also takes a drastic change when she’s forced to work with her college ex girlfriend Celeste who she hasn’t seen or heard from in eight years!

I personally loved that this was dual POV being able to hear about the relationship and how it ended from both Gemma and Celeste’s perspectives was definitely interesting. However Celeste’s POV being in third person really threw me off and forced a distance between me the listener and her as a character making me unable to connect with her as much as Gemma.

Great LGBTQ+ representation throughout I really enjoyed listening to this it was nice and easy to follow along with and I think the narrators really helped bring this to life for me.

What an absolute joy to listen to! The audiobook of Love in Focus is not just steamy, sexy, and erotic. It is so much more.
Celeste and Gemma love each other, but their break in their early 20s leaves each woman a bit soul crushed. Celeste retreats into a rejection in the belief of love while Gemma hops right into another relationship to fill the void.
Eight years later, their paths cross again, and whoa, is it steamy.
But there is also a focus on love relationships. While working together for horizon magazine on a feature article, Gemma - the journalist - and Celeste - the photographer, interview many couples and the ways in which love grows, the ups and downs, the way expectations take a u-turn, and finally, with an elderly lesbian couple, both young women get to see the beauty of long term love and the cost they have to pay to have that love. It not only brings Celeste to tears, but the reader as well.
This elderly couple have what Celeste wants: love, commitment, family, and to grow old with the love of her life. In Korean culture, Celeste has had to conceal so very much of who she is. If not all of who she is. So when she sees this elder Korean couple unshackle themselves from the boundaries of culture, Celeste sees what she has still not done.
The novel explores removing stigmatized shame with one's sexual desires and choices, the tension between living authentically and yet holding family close, even when that same family rejects homosexuality, learning from one's personal histories as well as that of others, and seeking help when unravelling all of the hard is too much to do on one's own.
This novel is as rich as it is steamy.

When Gemma's fiance breakups with her out the the blue, she never expects her college ex to come back into her life. While they work on a project about love at different ages, will these too find love again after almost a decade? This second chance romance was a nice way to pass the time.

I did understand that Celeste and Gemma have a lot of feelings towards each other, however this did not make up for their lack of chemistry outside of the bed room. Their interactions fell flat and stale unless they were about to make-out. While I did enjoy the overall story and did root for them to end up with each other, I wonder if it would have been the same if they never reconnected.

It did irritate me how in her inner monologue, Celeste was really biphobic. She hated that Gemma got with specifically a man after they separated in college. She makes this kind of dig a couple of times and never grows past this. I wish this part of her personality was taken out or she learned to accept Gemma's identity, something that is a big part of her.

Gemma Cho, a relationship advice columnist, is cynical about love after her seven-year relationship ends. Her career gets a potential boost when she's paired with Celeste Min, a renowned photographer, for a piece on modern love. However, Celeste is Gemma's ex from college who broke her heart. As they work together, sparks fly, and they struggle to keep their relationship professional. Gemma wants to fall for Celeste again for the sake of her heart and career, but she's unsure if Celeste will reciprocate her feelings this time.

This was a highly anticipated read for me! The marketing says this gives “Delilah Green Doesn’t Care” vibes and it absolutely does. This was insanely cute and really well written. I will recommend it to everyone.

This was a very quick read. I read it in one day because it kept me so engaged. My only complaint is the 3rd act break up was made worse by lack of communication which drives me nuts.Overall I forgave it because it was still a healthy reason why they broke up and a healthy way they got back together.

In the book, they talk about how much it means to see older diverse sapphic women as part of a photoshoot Gemma and Celeste were doing. This made me think about how much of the WLW books I read are about white women. I hope that this book brings more diversity in reading not just in general, but in queer literature.

4.5 ⭐ 2 🌶️ 5 🎧

This was so cute. I was instantly drawn in by the cover, I love illustrated romance covers and then I knew we'd have an FF romance, Asian (Korean) representation, opposites attract and a photographer, just a few of my favorite things! And it did not disappoint.

Gemma and Celeste dated seriously in college when Celeste up and left one day, leaving Gem a bit broken... She ended up finding James, who in turn, wasted almost a decade of her life with his absolute nonsense (okay, I'm projecting after the fact, but the point still stands). When they're forced back together for a work project, sparks fly and tension ignites in this second chance romance.

But my favorite part wasn't that they just fell back into their old habits. No, both Gem and Celeste worked on themselves in and out of therapy and found themselves drawn back together again to ultimately find their happily ever after.

The audio was great. Catherine Ho and Natalie Naudus were both spectacular in this audiobook and I loved this listen.

Thank you so much to Hachette Audio for this advanced copy!

I liked this book, but wanted more. I kept waiting for the main characters to have chemistry. It was a second chance romance and just maybe needed more time for the story to develop.

Quick, fun LGBTQIA+ book! Took a bit to get into as I was expecting more depth from the characters, but found they fell flat at times. The narrators matched the characters perfectly and I loved hearing their Korean pronunciations. Sadly, the side characters felt very one note and was hoping to see more from them as well. Overall, I enjoyed this book but was left wanting more.

✨✨AUDIO BOOK REVIEW ✨✨
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️story
🌶️🌶️🌶️ I don’t know spicy chapters
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ narration

✨Review about narration✨
Narration was dual. I loved the voice actor for the FMC Gemma I thought she did a really great job with her voice acting and conveying the emotions of the characters using her voice. The voice actor for Celeste the other FMC was great but her voice wasn’t what I would be expecting for that character so it was a little off putting but that was okay Celeste’s POV chapters were very few compared to the chapters from Gemma’s POV.

✨onto the review✨
This is a sapphic second chance work place romance! I love the second chance romance tropes I think it’s very sweet. These two FMC’s dated briefly in college and spent a few years apart after a misunderstanding and then when paired together for a work project they spend the next year making up for lost time and trying to figure out if it’s possible for them to be together again.
I loved seeing the FMC’s finding familiarity and comfort in each other and watching both of them grow into the people they want to be. It was nice to see them resolve their issues and clear up any misunderstandings and figure out if they can learn to trust each other again.
I think anyone who loves second chance romance will definitely enjoy this book! Thank you @readforeverpub and @hachetteaudio for sending me this book! Love in Focus is coming out May 27th! #romancebooks #sapphicbookrecs #secondchanceromance #audiobook #bookreviewer #bookrecs #foreverpublishing #hachettebooks #bookish

3.25⭐️ Audiobook review

A cute sapphic rom-com that explores learning to love yourself post breakup.

Disclaimer: I read this book as part of the Hachette Audio influencer program. All opinions are my own. This is my honest and voluntary review.

The audiobook was well done for me. I liked both narrators and found the dictation to be clear and at a good pace. I never had to adjust my speed. The various characters have their own voice and agency and I didn't find any of them to be grating.

Representation:
💗Korean FMC's
💗Bisexual/Lesbian Pairing
💗Queer Latinx/Black side characters
💗Normalizing therapy

Themes:
✨: Finding yourself post breakup
✨: Learning to be single
✨: Queerness in Korea

Tropes :
💄: Second chance romance
💄: Corporate girlies

Summary of my thoughts:
This book had a ton of potential. Some it capitalized on and some it didn't. I liked the FMC Gemma. I found her to be super relatable, and I found the bisexual representation within her character to also be very well done. The way she handled herself post breakup was very relatable for a character of her age group. Celeste was a little bit harder of a character for me. I felt that a few of the things that she said and a few of the ways that she thought borderlined on biphobic. She made a few man hating comments, as well as a generalized comment within the first 20% that definitely made me raise my eyebrows. It was internal monologue, so there was no opportunity for it to be addressed or corrected and I don't really feel like there was any growth for Celeste in relation to her dislike of men or people who date men in general by the end of the book. I really enjoyed all the representations surrounding the Korean FMC's as well as their ties to Seoul and family. It was super relatable for me to hear how hard it was to come out as queer to their families. I liked the overall story and I liked the way that these sub plot line between Gemma and James ended up fleshing out.

**This book contains Twilight references

⏰/📖: 7 hours and 40 minutes
🎤: Natalie Naudus/Catherine Ho
Publisher: Forever/Hachette Audio
Genre: contemporary romance
Triggers: homophobia (culturally based and addressed)
Spice: 🌶️🌶️
Release Date: May 27, 2025

Thank you to Hachette Audio for the ALC in exchange for an honest review!

I was really excited about this and it started off promising, but then it was just fine?

Things I liked - the setting, the deep look into Korean culture (the good and the bad), the interviews, some of the side characters.

Other than that, I never really felt anything fort he story or for either of the main characters and I think feeling things! Ha. Both characters ended up annoying me a bit and I didn't love the biphobia in the beginning. 🙃 By the end, I was just excited to be done and I'm not quite sure I'll think about this book much now that it's done.

In terms of narration - I LOVED NATALIE NAUDUS. Please keep hiring her for all the jobs. She was fantastic and I could listen to her for hours. On the other side, I'm sad to say I wasn't a fan of Catherine Ho. She felt so robotic and didn't fit the confident vibes Celeste gave off. Going between Natalie and Catherine kind of gave me whiplash, which was a bummer.

Firstly, I would like to say that the performance done by the narrators was amazing. My personal preferences aside, they both smooth and easy to understand performances making the experience all that more enjoyable.

Next, I loved this story. The relationship between Gemma and Celeste felt very real and raw. I love the project they worked on through out the book. I’m a big fan of queer love stories and especially from old people. I was crying in my car listening to this outside my house.

Now, the only reason this is not a five star read for me is a comment Celeste makes about finding out Gemma was dating a man after she went back to Korea and it “being a lesbian’s worst nightmare” despite knowing that Gemma is bisexual. This comment came off as biphobic and put a bad taste in my mouth and will deter people from picking up or continuing this story.

Love in Focus by Layla Lee is an absolute treat for fans of second-chance romance and chaotic queer shenanigans, especially if you're a sucker for tension-filled workplace setups and unresolved college heartbreaks. With the charm of Delilah Green Doesn't Care, this rom-com balances humor, emotional nuance, and some very swoony moments. While not without a few narrative hiccups, the audiobook experience kept me hooked from start to finish.

Natalie Naudus truly shines in this performance. She brings Gemma Cho—our skeptical, romance-wrecked columnist—to life with so much warmth, humor, and perfect comedic timing that it feels like you’re on the phone with your best friend dishing out all the drama. Catherine Ho, while a solid narrator, didn’t quite match the same energy or natural flow when voicing Celeste’s point of view, which made the transitions a bit jarring. And yes, the POV shifts between first and third person don’t help matters—Gemma’s voice feels vivid and personal, while Celeste’s sections feel more distant and occasionally choppy. It’s an unusual structural choice that might not work for every listener.

That said, the romance sparkles. Gemma and Celeste’s chemistry is undeniable, and their journey from awkward reunion to reignited flame is full of tender moments, sharp banter, and scenes that had me grinning (and blushing). Their shared history adds emotional depth, and watching them navigate forgiveness, vulnerability, and trust is genuinely satisfying. The ensemble cast is also delightful—supportive friends, awkward professional entanglements, and unexpected adventures help flesh out the world around the romance in really fun ways.

While the uneven POV execution prevents this from being a full five-star listen for me, I thoroughly enjoyed every moment. It's a cozy, sexy, sweet ride with lots of heart—and if you’re an audiobook lover, Natalie Naudus alone makes it worth your time.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ALC of this audiobook.

This was (almost) the perfect second-chance romance! I loved Gemma as the main character, she was messy and flawed but still earnest and easy to root for. As much as I was here for the romance, I also loved getting to cheer for Gemma’s professional accomplishments, for her personal growth, and for her friendships.

Speaking of the romance, this was such a glorious slow(ish) burn. We knew they liked each other, that much was obvious, but the will-they-won’t-they of their happy ending felt like high stakes the whole way through. I was very pleased that their own personal growth and needs weren’t sacrificed in the name of the romance, and that despite the rocky start to their reunion, both Gemma and Celeste felt authentically like people my age, in their late 20s with a better perspective than in their early 20s, but still muddling through and figuring it out.

However, there was one massive drawback for me, and that is the wholly unnecessary addition of a third-person perspective for Celeste. There was nothing we learned from those (thankfully few) chapters that we didn’t or couldn’t learn from Gemma, with the exception of some blink-and-you-miss-it biphobia. The narrator change for the audiobook felt jarring, and Celeste’s narrator did not match the tone of the book at all. She had that ASMR-style of speaking (my least favourite audiobook style) which just felt wrong talking about pop culture and Twilight memes.

Worse than being unnecessary, it actually detracted from Gemma’s chapters. I wanted nothing more than to go on that journey with Gemma into the unknown, and to experience those early relationship feelings of excitement and doubt with her, but I couldn’t because I was also privy to Celeste’s thoughts and feelings. I just with the author had trusted the reader enough to let us fill in the gaps ourselves.

On the whole, this was a great book. If I were to read it again, I would just skip all of the Celeste chapters, and I think that would make it an excellent book! I will definitely be returning to this author though, and I hope we get some more adult fiction from her in the future.

I received a free copy for an honest review.

This was a cute read while I did enjoy reading Gemma's character development in terms of self discovery I did find myself getting bored.. Also I needed more when it came to the second chance there wasn't intense emotion/second chance romance feels.. overall cute easy to follow read

3.25⭐️ Thank you Hachette Audio and Netgalley for the ALC in exchange for an honest review!

I'm honestly so thankful that this was the story that popped my sapphic romance cherry (lolol) and I'm also surprised that it took me so long to read one. Two hot, queer Asian women in their late 20's getting a second chance at love? Yes, please and thank you. The narrators for Gemma and Celeste were dynamic and truly breathed life into to their story. I especially loved Natalie Naudus, whose voice I immediately recognized from a recent audiobook listen, Bat Eater & Other Names for Cora Zeng. The fact that Naudus can switch between horror and romance, and excel at both, is a testament to her skill as a narrator. I loved that Gemma was willing to push herself out of her comfort zone when it came to pursuing and romancing Celeste, whom she had relations with in college, but at this later stage in life she was more adventurous and vocal about what she wanted. Celeste was a bit harder to crack, as the former hopeless romantic that was averse to relationships, but her caring nature still shined through said cracks. The pacing of the story was easy to follow and cute set against the backdrop of San Francisco. There were a plethora of modern pop culture references, which I typically don't care for in my books, but I will make one exception for the Chappell Roan reference lol. Overall, this was a fun, summer-y romance that will definitely find its audience within the AAPI and LGBTQIA+ communities, and outside of these too!

Love in Focus follows relationship advice columnist Gemma Cho, who is left believing love doesn’t exist after her seven-year long relationship ends. While out on a type of rebound date, she meets her ex-girlfriend from college… also know as her first ever girlfriend that made her realized she’s bi… So, in comes super hot, super confident, world-renowned photographer Celeste Min. Well, it just so happens Celeste is in town to work a job for the same company Gemma works at. And maybe even for the same project… This is a sapphic second-chance semi workplace romance.

I’ve really been in love with audiobooks for a while now, so being able to listen to this early was perfect. It was a super easy audiobook to listen to. I was able to follow everything well even while doing small tasks through my day (I tend to do some room cleaning).

I’ve listened to another audiobook read by Catherine Ho and she’s great at portraying emotion through audio reads! I’m also a sucker for audiobooks with different narrators, so the change for each characters chapters was perfect. Natalie Naudus does an amazing job narrating and I’m actually very excited to listen to more audiobooks narrated by her!

The story was written beautifully. I love that it was surrounded by the influence of their backgrounds. The part when they’re interviewing older couples, and it’s brought up that there was nothing in the past to shape the realization of being bisexual because she didn’t have any Korean relatives that were or they didn’t speak of them, made me really emotional.

I’m so excited for people to have this in their hands. So many people need to read this and know that they’re seen. I’m so thankful for being able to be an early listener, I couldn’t be happier.

Thank you NetGalley and Hachette Audio | Forever for providing me with an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Love in Focus was a sweet and cozy, sapphic second chance romance that follows two women on their late 20s. The two main characters are Gemma a relationship advice columnist and bisexual woman who's newly single after her relationship of seven years falls apart; and Celeste a renowned photographer and lesbian woman. Fate does what it usually does when it throws them together to work on a project about modern love that could potentially save Gemma's company.

The premise of the book was interesting from the get go even though second chance is not something I usually look for in my reads, however this was great. I liked that it followed the FMCs and their present lives and didn't mention the past more than the strictly necessary. The pace of the book was good and there was a good balance of plot and spice. I particularly loved the friendship between Gemma, Kiara and Val, they gave supportive friends/parents vibes. There was a lot of great BIPOC and Queer representation. However there were parts were some Korean dishes or costumes were mentioned and I got a bit lost because it's not something I know so some context would have been great.

Also, all the conversations about age felt a bit premature for characters that are just getting to their 30s, I feel like that's more of a conversation that people in their middle to late 30s have, not 29 year olds.

As for the audiobook, I very much enjoyed it. I think Natalie Naudus did a great job bringing Gemma to life, she fit her personality and depth really well. On the other hand, Catherine Ho as Celeste felt a bit weird and slow at times, I'm not sure why but I couldn't connect with her character completely. It could be because it was written in third person while Gemma's was in first but that's the author's decision so we can't fault her for that.

Overall, Love in Focus was a light and sweet story that you can read in one sitting. II liked it and would recommend it.

Thank you Hachette Audio and Netgalley for the Advanced Listener Copy.

Release date: May 27th 2025
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Story: ⭐⭐⭐.75
Audio: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you NetGalley and Hachette Audio for this ALC in exchange for an honest review. This was such a sweet sapphic second chance love story between Gemma and Celeste. It was a super easy listen and wasn’t super heavy. While I did really enjoy this story, I would there would have been a little more kick to this story. I feel like James for how crappy James ended up being, he could have held a more important role in the story. He felt kind of just thrown in randomly. I honestly forgot what he did most of the time. I did like Gemma’s friends and how supportive they were. They added a nice layer to the story. The project Gemma and Celeste were working on was a good way to make them have to be around each other and reignite the feelings that neither of them really ever got over. The way the story wrapped up felt very true to these characters and didn’t drag it out forever. I look forward to reading more from Lyla.

This was so so cute. Celeste and Gemma dated for over a year in college, then suddenly and unexpectedly lost touch, and Gemma moved on to date a man. Years later, Gemma finds herself newly single (and dumped) and also put on a work assignment with Celeste, whom she never expected to see again. The second hand romance that unfolds is heartfelt, sometimes hilarious, and infused with local area details and culture that I loved.

The San Francisco Bay Area references are top notch, especially with so many Korean culture highlights. I'm all about the instagrammable cafes that Celeste and Gemma visit. I also really enjoyed the workplace aspect of this as Celeste and Gemma are forced to work together on a series of interviews / photoshoots. I absolutely melted when Celeste and Gemma interviewed the older sapphic couple and everything that came up with that. The Asian Queer Immigrant feelings are so good in this. The feelings between Gemma and Celeste, however, are somewhat lackluster. I enjoyed their ending but didn't find myself hardcore rooting for them.

I found it especially jarring that, while Gemma's POV is in first person and sounds approachable and inviting, Celeste's POV (which is infrequent) is entirely in third person, and sounds cold and detached from the events rather than giving a unique perspective into Celeste's point of view. This is even more pronounced on audio with the chosen narrators for this book. Natalie Naudus is absolutely darling with her narration as Gemma and it is full of inflection and emotion. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy Catherine Ho's narration as Celeste. It felt flat and detached and made Celeste seem like a very unapproachable character. I think I found myself really disliking Celeste based on the narration alone, or maybe it was the third person POV combined with the flat narration? I wish this book had been entirely from Gemma's POV, as Celeste's chapters felt like they took away from an otherwise darling story.

I received a free copy of this book from Forever Publishing, and a free copy of the audio from Hachette Audio. Thank you both! Thoughts are my own.