Love in Focus was such a sweet surprise! This audiobook had me smiling from the very first chapter. Lyla Lee does an amazing job capturing that fluttery, heart-racing feeling of young love, while also weaving in deeper moments about identity, creativity, and belonging. The story moves at a great pace—easy to get into and hard to pause—and I found myself rooting for the characters the whole way through.

The narrator totally nailed the tone: fun, expressive, and just the right amount of emotional when it counted. It felt like listening to a best friend spill their heart out while flipping through photo albums. If you're into feel-good romance with a side of artsy vibes and self-discovery, this one’s worth a listen. Perfect for a cozy day or a long walk with your earbuds in!

I liked this book, but I found the pacing to be a bit confusing. It felt as though the end of the book flew by important events to conclude itself in a way that people would find satisfactory, but I think there were definitely parts in the middle that could've been shortened to give the end more space to unravel a bit smoother. Also, both leads constantly refer to their relationship in the past, but we don't really get too much background on it, In the present, they're very much emotionally attached to each other, and it would have been nice to see that build up a bit more. I feel like even omitting one of the multiple sex scenes to give us a more in-depth look at what their relationship and love looked like in the past would have made me care about their relationship a bit more. Instead, it felt like instant romance/sexual chemistry with the excuse of a past love, one that we never get the full scope of. I thought the narrators did a good job, but I wish both Gemma and Celeste were written in first-person.

I don't really have too much to say about this book. It was short and cute, but it didn't really stand out from other romance books that I've read in the past. When the reason why they broke up the first time was revealed and talked about between them, I couldn't stand the reasoning why Celeste was so mad at Gemma for moving on. I mean, Celeste literally disappeared without a word as to why, and apparently expected Gemma to stand around and wait.

Thank you to Lyla Lee, Hachette Audio, and NetGalley for the AudioARC of this book. This is my honest review.

Okay, I really enjoyed the setting! San Francisco was such a vibrant backdrop, and I loved how much the characters were connected to the city—it gave the whole story a cozy, grounded vibe.

The premise was adorable: revisiting old wounds while interviewing couples about their own love stories? That structure worked really well. It allowed for a lot of reflection, tension, and some truly touching moments. I also really liked the second chance angle—there was real chemistry and emotional weight between Gemma and Celeste. The sexual tension? Yep, it was there, and it worked.

That said, I never felt fully connected to them. I think the story leaned too much into telling instead of showing, especially in the emotional beats. It felt a little too polished, not quite raw enough for me to be fully invested.

Still, it was sweet, full of heart, and made for a great listen—the audiobook narrators were excellent. Definitely a soft, pleasant read.

Before I begin, I would like to thank Lyla Lee and the publisher for providing me with the audio edition of this book!

Love in Focus is a story of love, loss, and rekindled romance for Gemma and Celeste. Gemma's work provides an honorable article for her to create for Valentine's Day. In this, she plans to interview couples of all ages, races, and sexualities. It could provide a breakthrough for her career, so she is prepared to give her all to the project.

Also chosen to work on the project is Celeste, a free-lance photographer who is well known in the visual media sphere. She also has a lot to lose with this project, but neither of them were prepared to work together because of their history. The pair had lived together in college and ended up in a relationship which ended abruptly when Celeste dropped everything and moved to Korea.

**Spoilers in this paragraph** This story is truly well formatted. I feel like it was set up to be a little cheesy and cliche, but ended up having so much dimention and character development. I really appreciated that the audience got to see pieces of their culture the whole way through the story, through food, shows, family dynamics, and even their messaging platform. I particularly liked that even though there was technically a third act breakup that it was not with ill intentions or some major miscommunication. I think that the fact that the two were just simply not ready for anything serious at the moment benefited the arc of the story. I was nervous that one of them would get upset with the other or put aside their boundaries just because they were in love, as so many romance novels do, but it is simply unrealistic. Giving eachother space and time to figure themselves out and settle into their own seperate lives before merging them SCREAMS healthy relationship foundation and I think it was the right choice for these characters.

As I was asked to review the audiobook of this novel, I specifically want to note a few things about it. Natalie Naudus and Catherine Ho did an excelent job at portraying these characters. I was immediately able to distinguish which POV we were in and I felt that the voices used suited who they portrayed. I think I enjoyed this book as much as I did due to the fact that I was listening to it. I am not Korean, and do not frequently dive into this culture. I feel that I would have been impeeded by some of the language used if I was reading physically. Things like names, food items, and quotes (there is probably more that I am forgetting) did not cause me to hesitate. In novels that include small amounts of Spanish or Italian, I am frequently lookng up pronunciations and meanings, but due to the audio version, I had a seemless experience and feel that I learned a lot about Korean/Korean-American culture.

Again, thank you to the publisher for letting me listen to this book! I really enjoyed it and will be buying a copy to display on my shelves :)

3.75 ⭐

This book is such a cute sapphic read for pride month!

Finding out about this book, I was instantly intrigued and excited. East Asian and sapphic representation, with a second chance and workplace element sounded right up my alley.

This story was filled with just the right amount of everything. There was angst and yearning, there was humor, and there was a lot of emotion. Our FMCs felt like they had a pretty natural relationship progression, with some very logical conflicts and feelings. I really enjoyed the setting of their reconciliation, being their work project. The project was super interesting and a great vehicle for learning about queer experiences and exploring the MCs feelings about each other and their own queerness- especially in regards to their Korean culture.

I also loved the two narrators and the distinction it gave the characters! Sometime with same sex narration it can feel too similar but I really felt like each character had their own voice and persona, which both narrators providing a great performance!

I had only two issues with this read that detracted from the experience. First off, I really disliked the characterization of Gemma's friend. She felt like a very aggressive personification of Gen Z social media and unfortunately was done in a way that felt inauthentic and cringey. Also, there is a biphobic comment in the begining that frustrated me- particularly because it wasn't something that was handled or brought back around again. I didn't feel like a learning point, it felt like the story was validating it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an audiobook arc. All opinions are my own!

I loved the representation of queer identity and romance in the book. I loved that Gemma had a solid group of friends and her growth throughout the book. I also enjoyed the mention of therapy and the use of therapy. I loved how flawed both Gemma and Celester were as characters. It felt really authentic and gave it such a realistic feel that you might not see in a lot of romance novels. I truly felt like both of these characters were people I could know or encounter in my every day life.

However, I had a hard time getting into Celeste's chapters because of the consistent use of her name rather than her pronouns similar to how Gemma's chapters were written. It was strange to me that Gemma's chapters were written in a first person POV while Celeste's were in third person POV. It was quite jarring and took me out of the story a lot.

Still, I think both Natalie Naudus and Catherine Ho did a great job in honing these characters and bring them to life.

I had very high hopes for this book but unfortunately, I was left wanting more. The story and the love seemed very surface level as well as the concept. I was just hoping for it to be more swoony! I just think it would've worked more if the book was longer. I am happy I listened to the audiobook because I think the narrators really saved this one for me. 3 stars.

Yes, Sapphic Second-Chance Romance! I really enjoyed this one. Gemma's whole life has been blown up by a cancelled engagement and now she has to write about love with her college ex who ghosted her. Celeste thinks she is incapable of love, even when she's working with the one-who-got-away, Gemma. I thought the writing about the experience of queer people in Korea as well the challenges for young queer Asians not having elders to look up to really moving. This is also a book where I appreciated the 3rd act breakup and how these two reconnected. Drink this book: Grab a chardonnay from as close to the bay as you can - Contra Costa Country is a great option!

This was not my jam. I did not finish because it had gotten to annoying and too whiney. In my book. I thoughti would truly like it but it just was not too my liking.

3.75 ⭐ for the audiobook 👂

I've been wanting to read a sapphic romance for a while and this story, this audiobook did not disappoint!

This was a beautiful story of heart break, putting oneself back together, friendship, growing, maturing... of the universe offering you a new chance at love with your college girlfriend.

The characters had a nice growth but lacked a bit of depth.
Celeste's character wasn't developed enough. She could have been more and felt a little bit flat. Maybe the voice and slight nonchalance of the narrator for her chapters didn't help with that.

It was a nice romcom 💖
Not one that will wreck you emotionally.

The narrators were great too –I preferred the one narrating Gemma's chapters.


<b>Plot</b>: Gemma just got dumped by her fiancé. The 7 year relationship ending with no explanation.
So Gemma moves in with her best friends and colleagues, and their cat.
As a relationship advice columnist, she is tasked by her boss to do interviews of couples for their next big story for Valentine's... a story for both print and website with a photographer.
Gemma's ex, Celeste, is a photographer.... Her first girlfriend that left without a word or explanation is a photographer. Celeste is the photographer hired for this project. What will happen between them? Will they make it work and stay cordial?


<b>Tropes:</b> second chance, sapphic romance, workplace, growth, forced proximity.
<b>Spice:</b> a couple of open door spicy scenes 🔥


Grateful for the audiobook ARC and this lovely story.

I really enjoyed this read. I loved both of the FMC's. I'm loving Lyla Lee and her K-drama reads. I love that neither of these girls are perfect, but then who is. I love that this book was a sapphic second change romance from college exes who end up working together 8 years later. This book has got some great bisexual representation, and these Korean characters brought up a decent number of conversations about the lack of queer Asian elders, because its often kept quiet. I really enjoy that Lyla Lee brings up cultural things like this as well as tattoos in the Asian culture showing the difference in culture. I know I've read books from her before that were YA, this one is defiantly an adult romance as it's got some good spicy scenes in it. I really enjoyed this book and will be reading more from this author.

My favorite quote was definitely: "The beauty of being bi, I learned, is that you can get rejected by both women and men."

Both narrators Natalie Naudus and Catherine Ho did a good job. Even though I felt that there was a noticeable difference in less chapters from Celeste's POV, I feel that both of the narrators did such a good job.

Thank you NetGalley for this ALC in exchange for my honest review.

DNF @ 50%. Cannot handle the switch of first to third person POV - that’s so weird and doesn’t make any sense and could not care less about the romance.

3.5 stars for the audiobook!

I really enjoyed this second chance sapphic romance! There were so many elements about this book that I enjoyed. I loved that they were reunited years later through the forced proximity of having to work together. The tension was great. While I do think the physical chemistry picked up a little quickly for characters who hadn't seen each other in some time it was nice to see how passionate and attracted they still were to each other. From there the story slowed do a little bit which I appreciated. These leads had to learn how grow from their past and how to connect in an emotional way in their current state. I loved being able to see how the character's grew throughout the story. Their emotional growth was a bit slow which I felt like was more realistic given the circumstances

The audiobook was good! I love when a book with dual POV has narrators for each POV. I think they both did a great job bringing these characters to life. The pining and yearning I could hear in their voices and the spicy scenes were so good. The only minor issue I had with the audio was that the narrators spoke in quite a different pace. Natalie's POV was a bit slower and I would have to speed up the audiobook speed but when it was Gemma's POV it was too fast and I'd have to slow it back down. However, I still enjoyed the audio and their voices overall!

Thank you to NetGalley, Hachette Audio and Lyla Lee for providing me with an audio ARC!!

I really enjoyed Love in Focus. It was sweet and spicy and spoke to multiple experiences - those who have always known who they are, those who are still figuring it out, those who have figured it out but are still in a space of learning.

Community was a theme, both obvious and subtle, and was discussed and demonstrated in different ways. Some characters had friends who were supportive and family who were most definitely not while others had friends and family that were supportive.

The whole <spoiler>fiancé cheating before he broke up with her was not necessarily something I felt was necessary. However, I did get that sense when the new girlfriend was introduced that that relationship had been developed prior to the breakup, so I appreciate that the through line for that was maintained and my own suspicions were confirmed. </spoiler>

From the audio perspective, I appreciated the use of multiple narrators and thought the choice of switching from 1st person (Gemma) to 3rd person (Celeste) was interesting. It was different but also provided a sense of emotional distance that I think was important in the characterization.

A solid, second-chance, sapphic romance with a well-balanced plot and spice. Lyla Lee shined through the tension between Celeste and Gemma and was able to create an atmosphere of love and re-kindling. Plus she had some very SPICY scenes that I thought were well-done. An absolute must for anyone interested in sapphic/queer romances!

I adored this book. I do not know how to explain how delightful the second chance romance was. The found family was perfection for the main character. And, I simply kept reaching for this audiobook to find out what happens next. AMAZING! (Also really loved the setting!!!)

I expected to fall for the romance in 'Love in Focus'—but instead, I eventually found myself rooting for solo Gemma.

The story starts with an engaging premise and a strong lead in Gemma, whose voice (both in writing and narration) brought warmth and relatability to the story. I genuinely connected with her character and enjoyed her arc. Unfortunately, I struggled to connect with Celeste in terms of her character development, actions, and unpleasant vocal portrayal. This disconnect made the rekindled romance feel frustrating rather than swoon-worthy.

The narrative also felt uneven at times, with pacing and emotional beats that didn’t always land smoothly for me. While there were moments of charm and insight, the overall journey was bumpy and disconnected. This was not a book that I couldn’t put down. I actually stopped listening several times to read other things but powered through in the end.

Still, I appreciate the themes 'Love in Focus' set out to explore—especially the complexities of second chances and modern love—and I applaud Lee’s commitment to diverse storytelling.

Thank you to Lyla Lee and NetGalley for providing the audiobook for review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the chance to listen to this ALC, all opinions in this review are my own.

I really enjoyed Lyla Lee’s YA books so I was looking forward to reading her adult romance debut. Unfortunately this book just never really clicked for me and fell a bit flat.

The book started off well and I really liked Gemma and I think if the book had just been from her POV I might have actually enjoyed it. Celeste’s first chapter (literally just a couple pages) starts off some weirdly biphobic comments (which also felt insulting to lesbians too) and I just never really cared about her character or felt like her POV added anything to the story. It’s hard to enjoy a romance when you aren’t actually shipping the characters.

I loved Gemma’s friends though (wish I could have just read about them) and the interviews were sweet but it wasn’t enough to really save the book.

Audiobook review: Natalie Naudus was amazing as always, I kinda wish she had just done both Gemma and Celeste. Catherine Ho’s narration wasn’t bad but Celeste’s chapters were so short that it felt jarring to switch over to her voice for so little time and the narration didn’t really seem to fit Celeste. I think this just added to my frustrations and feelings of dislike of the character.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the e-ARC and ALC of this book.

It was ok. I loved the premise, I LOVE second chance romance, and it was pretty cute. It just could have been MORE. I spent the first 50% trying to decide if I wanted to DNF because it lacked the tension that forced proximity and being exes should have caused.

The Audio was great and well done and the only reason I think I was able to finish this one. I did find myself invested around 80% but that's a long time to spend reading wondering why you're still reading.

2.5 stars rounded up.