Wow, what a great read!

This is a book I didn't know I needed to read - cute, realistic, diverse and wholesome. I feel like this is such a genuine reflection of how complex relationships can be and yet the beauty and growth of them. It was sincerely realistic and thought-provoking at times. I love the two main characters, Gemma and Celeste, and following their journey together through their culture and workplace throughout this book was a treat! A super easy read. I look forward to reading more from this author.

Thank you Hachette Audio for this advanced reader copy via audiobook.

Publish Date: 27th May 2025

This was a pretty average second chance romance that kept me engaged throughout the story. I am just starting to dive into sapphic romances, and I have been enjoying them overall! The cover for this book is so cute and I love how the characters are depicted.

I really liked Gemma and Celeste's relationship, but I felt like they struggled so much to get into the swing of things. People grow and change and I think the two of them had a lot of miscommunication. I disliked that they took such a long break away from each other instead of just communicating. I did however like that Celeste went to therapy and was able to realize that she did have issues that she needed to work on. Trust is the base of a relationship and since they both lost trust in each other for different reasons I understand why it was such a road block for them.

As far as the narration goes, I thought it was well done overall and that characters were well portrayed. However, I do think that Celeste's voice fell a bit flat and monotoned at times. Thank you to Netgalley, Hachette Audio, and Lyla Lee for an ARC of this audiobook. This review is my own honest opinion.

Rating: 3.5⭐️

One thing about being a bi girly is I am always going to love reading a book that has major bi representation especially when it’s done so well 👏🏻 I also loved how this book talked about how different cultures viewed sexuality (even if it was mostly in a negative light).

This book was so easy to binge and I had a great time listening to it! I really loved Celeste and Gemma’s story and watching this second chance romance bloom. Their chemistry was obvious from their first re-introduction and every *almost* moment made me want more. This book also had a lot more depth than I thought it would which worked for this story and was a good balance with those rom-com moments.

What I would’ve liked to see more of:
1. Celeste - for a dual POV book we didn’t get a lot of chapters in Celeste’s voice so we mainly got to know her through Gemma. I would’ve liked to hear more of her thoughts and feelings, especially in the third act, to get a sense of where she was coming from.
2. James is the “villain” of this story but we don’t get many interactions between him and Gemma. I understand why this plot line played out the way it did but with being one of the main plot lines and being the reason the story started the way it did, I guess I just wanted some more of them as a couple or stronger aftermath to understand Gemma’s heartbreak.

Overall, I thought the narration was done really well! However, Celeste’s narrator sounded too.. old for her character and didn’t put a lot of emotion in her POV chapters.

What drew me to this book was the concept of the book - two exes forced to work together on a project and rekindling an old flame. I think where that went wrong was there was EIGHT YEARS of hurt feelings between the two of them, and it was resolved in literally a chapter. Personally, I like my second-chance romances to come with a bit more conflict resolution than the span of an evening, but maybe that's just me. Now that I'm reflecting, this is true for any conflict/issue tackled in this book - everything was magically resolved very quickly or the author kind of rushed past it. Both Gemma and Celeste's conversations, language, and actions felt a little immature for their near 30 years of age which also threw me off.

All of that said, I think a lot of readers will enjoy seeing themselves in this book. I haven't read many sapphic romances with a lot of Asian representation, so that was refreshing. And I did really enjoy the concept of the project they were working on, interviewing couples of a lot of different ages, backgrounds, and experiences. The narrators were also enjoyable!

Love in Focus was definitely not my cup of tea, but I've seen others sing it's praises.

Rating 5⭐
Spice 🌶️🌶️

ALC REVIEW

Let's first start off saying the narrator who did the Gemma's POV, did a phenomanal job. She really put a lot of feelings into the her. Now, the narrator who did Celeste's POV, I unfortunately didn't enjoy so much. Her cadence and pacing for me was too slow? And it just sounded like she was just a paper, very monotone. I honestly, think she could have done a better job or another person to narrate.

Now onto the book

I really enjoyed the story! It is a book i can at least relate to some parts in it. The story is about re-connecting, second chances and also the big factor, healing. Gemma undergoes into her healing journey of engagment being broken off to finding the source of her problems. Celeste on the other had has severe relationship issues Which honestly, I get it, but also Celeste made a HUGE assumption that Gemma would wait for her....likeeeee, girl seriously? You LITERALLY left the girl on read, and you don't think Gemma would but hurt by than? And there is also Gemma who also have problems being alone, which is another can of worms. That being said, no one is perfect, everyone is fawed.

ANYWAY, I can talk about that all day, but we won't get anywhere with that sooo onto the spice! Because honestly, SPICE was NOT in my dictionary. I don't know what I was expecting, but the fact we got spice scenes and WE GOT GOOD ONES. Like okay Lylaa, I see you girl. It was YUMMY. I'm a spicy girly, so this was just added bonus for me.

I received the ARC through Netgallery approved by the publisher

3.5 stars. Thank you NetGalley for the audio version. This is a second chance romance that is sweet and thought provoking.

Lyla Lee immediately had me at the dedication, and my appreciation for this book only grew as the story progressed! This book is so sweet and gives rom-com vibes but spicier! 🌶️ It has made it to the top of my list as one of my favorite sapphic books!

A second chance romance between two queer Korean women, who are paired up to write and photograph an article called Modern Love in Focus that highlights queer couples and their stories. As the project progresses, Gemma rekindles the fire that once burned with her college ex, Celeste.

I deeply related to Gemma from the very beginning. She looked around and saw that everyone around her was moving forward (marriage, kids) and felt stuck and like she was being left behind.

I thought it was really unique to get Gemma’s chapters in a first person POV, while Celeste’s chapters were written in third person POV. It helped distinguish the characters’ voices and identities, and made me feel like I knew Gemma well, while Celeste was still a bit of a mystery.

Some of my favorite moments included the interviews for the article with all the couples, the relationship advice they provided and how differently each set described love.

And finally, the audiobook had excellent narrators! Natalie Naudus and Catherine Ho embodied and voiced Gemma and Celeste so well. Both narrators read clearly and at a great pace, and gave their characters life. I’ll be looking for more audiobooks with either one as its a narrator!

Thank you to NetGalley, Hachette Audio, and Forever for this audiobook ARC! All opinions are my own.

Favorite quotes:

“It’s only natural for someone to think that they would be the exception, that they would be the one to change someone else, and achieve that pipe dream happily ever after. After all, Celeste once thought she was special too.”

“Hell is trying to control people, including yourself. Be nicer to yourself and let you be you, and let Celeste be herself. If you guys end up taking this further than a business relationship, great! If not, that’s fine too. Don’t try to force the hand in either direction. Just be sure you know what you want.”

This was the perfect second chance romance! I love the queer and Asian representation. I binged this at 2.5x speed on audio. The narrators deserve awards for making this so laugh out loud funny and possibly the cutest romance I've read all year

I have been wanting to read more sapphic romance stories, and this book is absolutely precious and such a wonderful ride. I love seeing the vulnerability of both the main characters as well as hearing the part culture plays in both of their beliefs about themselves and ways of operating in this story. This is definitely a book that I would recommend for any and all friends were into romance stories!

Thank you NetGalley for the arc!

I enjoyed this book, I had a fun time listening! Gemma and Celeste are both amazing characters. I loved the queer BIPOC representation in the book! The second chance romance was done beautifully. Gemma and Celeste dated in college, however, one day Celeste left and ghosted Gemma. Now Gemma is a relationship columnist whose fiancée just broke up with her out of the blue. Gemma gets a new assignment at work that has her working with her ex girlfriend from college. One thing I wish we got more of is Celeste pov and I wish that her pov would have been in 1st person rather than 3rd. It just felt a bit off to me. Both narrators did a wonderful job of bring these to characters to life.

I absolutely adored this book. I am not typically a fan of second-chance, but this book handled it with wonderful character growth and backstory that won me over. I cannot wait to read more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hatchette Audio for this advanced copy of Love in Focus.

Overall; 4 Stars

Oh man, I was so nervous for this book. Second chance romance is not my favorite, but I wanted to give it a shot because I haven’t read a lot of AAPI sapphic romance. But it really surprised me.
Gemma is a bisexual woman who has just been dumped by her fiance when she is assigned to work with her ex on a project. The ex is the woman who helped her realize she was bi, and the “one who got away”
I loved Gemma’s growth in this book. I loved how she became self aware of her flaws and how codependency on partners to determine her happiness.
Celeste is a lesbian who has spent her life knowing who she was but also never feeling accepted by her Korean family. After leaving college, and Gemma behind to take care of her sick mother, she returns to find Gemma in a relationship with a man, which breaks her heart.
Celeste’s growth in this book was beautiful and raw. She clearly had so much trauma from her father leaving her mother, and her own feelings of not being accepted in a home she truly missed. Seeing her finally see a couple reflect the future she wanted was a beautiful moment that brought tears to my eyes.

My main critique is the end is a Happy for Now ending rather than a Happily Ever After. I wish we could have seen them even in the distant future finally settled, but overall I loved the book.

Since I love Lyla Lee's YA work, I was so hyped for this adult romance. When the cover dropped, so did my jaw. Absolutely gorgeous.
Unfortunately, the audiobook was a drag. The intros felt more like a synopsis than anything else and the constant pop culture references started to annoy me, as did all the "Let's go out and drink" scenes. (The latter is totally a me-thing, I'm sure.)
I'll listen to anything Natalie Naudus narrates: prose that isn't entirely my thing, IKEA instructions, what have you. But Celeste's narrator was AWFUL. It was the last straw. At first I thought she was just doing short interstitials but she kept appearing (which, yeah, duh, it's dual POV). I could not deal with her. She sounded so choppy and slow, as if she was seeing the words for the first time and had never narrated anything before in her life. If you can, avoid the audiobook, a physical reading experience might yield more joy. This one's a big no. (Sorry Lyla, sorry Natalie, I really tried.)

Thank you to Netgalley and Hachette Audio for the audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Love in Focus was an amazing romance story. It follows two former lovers that reconnect after a dramatic break up in college. Celeste and Gemma went separate ways after college/break up, but in a twist of fate they find each other in the professional careers. Celeste is a freelance photographer and Gemma is an advice columnist for a magazine. When the opportunity comes up from a romantic piece for Valentine's Day fate throws these two back together. The growth that both characters took separate and together is amazing, and in the end it is the thing that draws them closer together. It is a inspiring and cute romance story and it is definitely worth the read.

This book was adorable. It did well at portraying relationships in late 20’s, and I really enjoyed second chance romance elements to Gemma & Celeste’s relationship. It was also really refreshing to see Asian sapphic relationships portrayed in a novel. I found the multiple POVs slightly confusing to navigate hence the 4 stars but overall a great win for the LGBTQIA+ literature community!

Gemma and Celeste were fast lovers until they were separated for eight years.
During that time Gemma thought she had moved on
After her fiancé called off their engagement she was partnered up with her old love on a work assignment.
Will they get their HEA, after all?

The premise of this story was cute, with a good amount of spice! It was an easy read, but I didn’t find myself super drawn to the characters and the story. The plot felt chaotic at times, but overall a good book.

Thank you Net Galley & Lyla Lee for the opportunity to listen to and review this alc!

3.5/5 stars

Sapphic second-chance workplace/forced proximity romance.

I loved the work project of interviewing different couples about their love stories as a background for these two former lovers rekindling their love. Highlighting these stories is so important to have representations of diverse couples (like how they said they'd never seen an elder sapphic asian couple before interviewing). Also, appreciated this book showing how being queer in Asian families can be a challenge culturally. I think a lot of people will feel seen by these character's queer journies. I also liked the spicy scenes and how Celeste helps Gemma feel more comfortable exploring her sexuality. Could I have used more? sure, but that's my personal preference. I was nervous about a third act breakup (mainly I was scared Celeste would just be callous about their relationship saying 'I don't do relationships') but I think it was more realistic for her just to be afraid of being hurt again. And I like that they both took time apart, went to therapy (we love to see it) and then found their way back together

The switching between the 1st person POV for Gemma to 3rd person POV for Celeste was an odd choice - I'm not sure why it was told that way. We get so few of Celeste's POV chapters I think that also exacerbated this, and made the connection to her character a bit tougher to relate to. A pitfall of second-chance romance is that it can rely too much on an assumption of characters past connection and I think this did slightly lean that way. Just a bit too much telling about how connected they were in college and they just kinda picked that up again which felt a tad unrealistic.

Natalie's narration is fantastic, I immediately recognized her voice as I've listened to other books she's narrated so nothing lacking there!

Overall I liked this but it didn't knock me off my feet - but it was an enjoyable enough read

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the audiobook arc


Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Homophobia, Lesbophobia*
Moderate: Cancer, Sexual content, Alcohol
Minor: Abandonment

*both MCs are Asian and have dealt with bi/lesbo/homophobia from their cultures/families - I think it was generally discussed in a way that will make queer Asian folks feel seen

This was a very cute modern romance between Celeste, a lesbian photographer with commitment issues, and Gemma, a bisexual advice columnist and serial monogamist.

Overall I enjoyed this book. There were fun nods to LGBTQ culture and life in San Francisco - I particularly enjoyed the Oasis name drop. Gemma and Celeste were often relatable, and their opposite personalities were fun together.

I didn't love the writing. It could be superfluous, and there was a lot of Millennial Pop Culture phrasing and references that felt cringe to me and might prematurely age the story. The spicy scenes also didn't really do it for me. But I DID appreciate the strap scene 👀

I was almost surprised when the third-act breakup happened, but it did make sense for each character's arc. After everything, the ending kind of felt rushed and the characters were almost too self-aware. But who doesn't love a sapphic Hallmark romance novel?

Thank you to Netgalley and Hachette Audio for the early audiobook
I loved this! I thought it was so cute. I read the description wrong so I wasn't ready for a second chance romance but I ate it up! I also loved that they have to start talking again because of an article about love and how different couples are. I thought that Natalie Naudus and Catherine Ho did a good job narrating. Overall this was a cute and fun romance and I'm glad I got to listen to it!

Thank you to NetGalley & all who provided me with the ALC of this book.
I'd never read this author before, and when I looked her up I saw that she does a lot of children's and YA books. I don't read those, (well very occasionally a YA here or there), so that might explain why.

This is a second-chance sapphic romance between two college women who abruptly broke up during their senior year when one of them went back to Seoul without a word. Gemma, who's bi, moves on pretty quickly and gets engaged to James, who turns out to be a big douche-canoe. Then fate reconnects Gemma & Celeste.

The characters were built nicely, and the side characters were fun. It is a slow burn, but it a cute little read.