Omg thank you so much to Netgalley and Love Letter Collector Press for this short and sweet novella! Apparently, this is L.B Gaines' DEBUT?? OMG - what a beautiful story to start a writing career with!

One sentence summary - Aliza arrives to Accra, Ghana, where she has a chance encounter with Kofi and her entire world shifts.

Kofi is steadfast, while Aliza is anxiously put together. Listen, we love a man who commits to what he wants and goes after it intentionally. You can totally read this novella in one sitting, and I fully encourage you to! I loved the rich history that was interwoven throughout the story as well as the romance and care that both Kofi and Aliza show towards each other. Not only does Aliza find her voice and is a strong FMC, but we also get the distinct pleasure of watching her grow.

I'm already missing the characters. I would recommend this book for folks who love destination romances, Black folks who care about connecting with the motherland, Girlies who are anxiously put together, students who are looking to study aboard and change their lives, and women who love a steadfast and intentional MMC.

I loved this short romance! It was just the right length and the description of Accra scenery paired with the female leads exploration of her new surroundings was perfect. I loved the clash between the cultures and definitely how the story ended! Would recommend!

This was a great debut. A lot of thought and passion went behind this and it shows. The story went by quickly but L.B. Gaines managed to linger where it mattered. Aliza’s story is as much a journey of self-discovery as it is of love and it’s a journey that honors friendship which I loved. What are transformative trips without real friends? And Tasha was a great friend and hype woman.

The bit at Elmina was heavy but necessary. I saw a documentary about the slave castles at the Museum of World Cultures and that film by itself made my stomach lurch.

“I keep thinking about what it must’ve felt like,” I whispered. “To see this water and know you were never coming back.”

The narration has a staccato rhythm that doesn’t hinder the enjoyment of the book but that could be fine tuned. I really liked the chapter from Kofi’s pov. Although short in lenght, Three Months in Accra is full of emotion and things happen quickly and I needed a bit of time to process it. The ending was serendipitous and very sweet.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.

Aliza is an American exchange student in Ghana wanting to learn and experience a culture that is also part of her history. Kofi is a Ghanaian student under pressures from his family who was made it his mission to be Aliza’s personal tour guide.

There are so many layers to this beautiful story. It’s not just the love we witness but we also learn and understand new things. You get to experience some of what they experience with them and I love that. This connection they have is not just surface but so much deeper and rooted in culture.

Some of my favorite quotes so far:
“To be black in America is to never fully feel American. We try so hard to claim Africa as our home, but sometimes , it feels like a forced effort. Like we’re faking a connection we don’t have paperwork for.”

“To the women who left the country and found themselves. To the women who know when to let go and when to believe in love again. And to every girl who ever asked, “Could someone really love me without limits?” Yes. Yes, they can.” -the dedication of book

This novella gives a beautiful showing of blackness, black love, black culture, and black authenticity.

A beautiful, emotionally layered love story with just the right amount of spice.
What truly stood out was how it explored the ache of the African diaspora — the tension of leaving, returning, and finding belonging in between.
It’s more than a romance; it’s about identity, healing, and the kind of love that helps you come home to yourself.

Review will be posted on:
Outlet: IG: @prologue.bookclub and StoryGraph
Run Date: 7/14/2025
Link: https://www.instagram.com/p/DMDISpouqh4/?igsh=MWxsMnpzbmgwNGJhNw==

Thank you to NetGalley and Love Letter Collector Press for the ARC!

I was lucky to get an early copy of this book, and I'm really thankful for it. I thought it would just be a cute second-chance love story, but it ended up being so much more. The parts about Accra were written in such a real and powerful way. As someone who loves to travel, I appreciated Kofi's comments about how tourists often come to places for pictures, without understanding the deep history and pain that those places carry. That really stood out to me.

I also liked how Liza was able to grow and find love, even though she was unsure of herself. Kofi fell for her quickly-and honestly, I loved that for her! Now, I did pause for a second when Kofi managed to turn the whole family business around and pick a new leader like it was nothing. I was like... sir?? But hey, he made it work. He really was that guy.

Such a good read. l'd definitely recommend it.

3.5 ✨✨✨

Whew!! This was a whirlwind! Following Aliza as she travels to Ghana to study/learn more about where she is from was touching and full of rich culture. I really enjoyed her and I love that she was also a plus size woman😍

Enter Kofi who so kindly shows her around campus and Ghana in general and they fall QUICK.

When push comes to shove and Kofi’s family steps in to dismantle his life… well let’s just say things aren’t so peachy anymore.

This is a second chance romance that is suuuuuper quick. So if you’re looking for something fast paced, deep in some areas, but pretty surface level in others, I say pick it up.

This was a good read and I’ll definitely be checking out more by the author!

Thank you NetGalley and Love Letter Collector press for the ARC!

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author L.B. Gaines for this read. I am not usually a fan of novellas because a lot of authors' can not write them without missing important details but this one was done well. It was short and packed a punch. It didn't take very long to read it and I read it in one sitting. I would enjoy another book from this author.

Thanks!!!!

“Embrace Accra. It doesn't let anyone leave the same.”

Aliza came to Ghana to study about and learn more about Ghanaian history. She never expected to fall inlove by when Aliza and Kofi meet they instantly have a visceral, innate connection. Nevertheless, Aliza is an "outsider" and Kofi has to involuntarily fulfill his familial obligations and ultimately the 2 must go their separate ways after several intense weeks together.

To see the Aliza and Kofi reunite after two years apart was apart was deeply moving but was the bond they once shared still strong enough to stand the test of time?

The lyrically descriptive prose was so nicely detailed to where you felt like you're standing right there in Ghana.

What a remarkable read.

The best thing that can happen to you as a reader is to stumble across a story that doesn’t try to scream louder than life but simply tells it—quietly, honestly, and with a pulse, you recognise. Three Months in Accra is that kind of story. It doesn’t dazzle you with high drama or fantasy. It doesn’t ask for your suspension of disbelief. It just asks you to listen. And what it offers in return is something close to truth.

This novella feels like hearing a friend recount a life-changing semester abroad. The kind of story you’d get late at night, while drinking an entire bottle of wine, with unfiltered emotion and no performance. It’s full of familiar themes—love, fear, family, identity—but what makes it stand out is its sense of place and weight of history. Accra isn't just a backdrop here. It's alive. And Gaines doesn’t gloss it up. She brings the beauty, yes, but also the ache, the pressure, the heaviness that hangs in the air when expectations tighten around you.

Kofi and Aliza are characters that feel real. Their connection is quick—yes, maybe too quick—but it’s believable in the way intense, time-limited things often are. The way they orbit each other, the way they reach and retreat, it’s tender and organic. You feel them trying. You feel them fearing. And that fear—of being not enough, of losing something before it’s even solid, of disappointing the people who built you—is a quiet thread running through everything. I loved how fear was not just a theme, but a force.

Yes, it moves fast. It has to—it’s a novella. That means some things come before they’ve had time to breathe. The relationship, for example, is more shown in broad strokes than layers. The world of Ghana, its culture, the family dynamics...they’re hinted at, not fully carved out. And that’s what left me both full and hungry. I felt so much, but I wanted more. Not in a "this wasn't enough" way, but in a please let me stay longer way.

The emotional core is strong, especially in how Gaines handles the inevitable breakup. It doesn’t feel manufactured. It feels like something that was always going to happen because of who they are and where they come from. The cultural expectations, the weight of family legacy—they’re not villains, they’re structures. And sometimes, structures don’t break. They bend you.

Still, there was one place I stumbled: Kofi’s reaction after the fallout. His voice, his emotion—what should have cracked open into something raw and revealing—felt muddled. The anger wasn’t sharp, the grief wasn’t deep. The introspection, a bit shallow. That chapter felt like it hadn’t figured itself out yet, like it didn’t quite know what Kofi was meant to feel, so it pulled back instead of pushing through.

But that doesn’t take away from what this is. It’s a heartfelt debut. Honest, touched, quietly powerful. A story about young love meeting the immovable. About what happens when two people collide in a place where nothing is neutral—not identity, not family, not the future. And in just a few pages, Gaines makes you care deeply. That’s not easy.

This could’ve easily been a 300-page novel, and I hope the next one will be! There’s space here for something much bigger. The writing has so much potential if given more room to evolve and breath. But even in its smallness, it lingers. And I, for one, would have gladly stayed for more than just three months.

Novellas are very difficult to get right….but Gaines did a wonderful job with this one. This was an amazing story that beautifully captured the challenges of a cultural and potentially physical divide. As Ghanaian myself, the exploration of the culture and the way it was woven into the story was respectfully done and was such a pleasure to read. And my goodness the romance between Aliza and Kofi was too sweet to handle. I so enjoyed going on this journey with them and can’t help but miss them already. Loved this and can’t wait to read more from Gaines!

I enjoyed this Novella so much that I wished it was a longer story. The writing style was vivid and It felt like I was the one experiencing Accra.

The love between Koffi and Aliza was beautiful, I like it when men are the ones fighting for their love. I also liked how both characters had depth and it’s amazing how the author passed his messages on self discovery and culture with just few pages.

Thank you Netgalley, L.B. Gaines and Love letter collector press for this Arc in exchange for my honest review

An excellent novella. The author manages to weave a love story amongst a beautiful backdrop of Accra, Ghana. She leaves nothing out. Tears cascaded down my face as I experienced the world Kofi invites Aliza to share with him. This story is proof that insecurity may cost you the blessing that is meant for you when you listen to the voices that diminish you. Whether they are your own or those of others silence negative voices and grasp the hope and beauty in your life with the intention to love to the fullest.

This was a short and beautiful love story. What I enjoyed most about this novella was the descriptions of Accra, though I have never been the author really made me feel like I was there. I also liked the chemistry between the characters. Each interaction felt genuine. The author did a beautiful job of capturing their connection, making it easy to root for them. What stood out even more was the author portrayed each characters insecurities. It added so much depth to the story and made the characters feel real. I felt extremely connected to the female lead; her struggles with fitting in really resonated with me on a personal level. The way the author explored her insecurities was raw and honest. I also deeply sympathized with the male lead and everything he was dealing with, especially his family issues. Overall, this was a heartfelt and engaging read. I look forward to reading more by this author, a great debut.

OK, first of all, this is a six star forget a five star. This is a love story that I feel like I felt really good and connected to. It was relatable on so many levels miss LB Gaines knew what she was doing all the way through. And even for it to be a one POV book because we’re in Aliza’s POV all the way through well a different one chapter but you could still see the deep love that Kizo has for Lisa just through how she explains how he looks at her and how he talks it is how he is so soft with her and it’s amazing. It’s so heartfelt. it’s so heartwarming that you just feel in love with them. This is definitely one of my top romance books. L.B Gaines just became an auto-buy author for me. I love that I was able to receive an arc of this book. Also how they were able to communicate deeply and was comfortable with each other‘s fears and secrets, and how they just truly felt was amazing. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Three Months in Accra was giving love at first sight with a side of soul ties and sunsets that felt like home.

From the moment Aliza met Kofi, the spark was instant tender, magnetic, and deep like their hearts already knew each other. Their romance wasn’t rushed, just rich in chemistry, history, and heat.

Accra wasn’t just the setting it was part of their story. The culture, the monuments, the ancestors All present. And babyyy… Kofi, A walking safe space with bedroom eyes and soft hands.

If you’ve ever believed in once-in-a-lifetime love, the kind that finds you when you least expect it, Three Months in Accra will have you smiling, blushing, and maybe shedding a tear or two. This one? Whew. It’s soft, it’s emotional, and it lingers.

Amazing book loved the characters abd plot. I couldn't stop reading I stayed up all night. Ii loved the book so much thank you for the arc.

I must say that is was sweet, rich, and loveable romance. As a novella, the pace of the book was great, it was not too fast, and definitely not a slow burn. During a study abroad opportunity in Ghana Aliza, a student of an HBCU--Howard University in the U.S., is studying abroad where she meets Kofi, the schools Cultural Ambassador.
The writing was descriptive to the point that I was able to join the magic carpet ride of their romance, and falling in love. I also felt the pain felt when his parents pushed their familial expectations, and duties onto Kofi, and not only dismissed who Aliza was to him, or her as a person. They wanted him to put to use the education that they paid for in the family business which was in need of help.
In Three Months In Accra, a beautifully written second chance romance, love found a way!!

Thank you Netgalley and L.B. Gaines for allowing me to review your introductory novella.

This story is a beautiful journey of self-discovery, centered on Aliza and Kofi, who find themselves through the love they share. It’s a heartfelt and emotional read that explores love, growth, and healing.

I especially loved how the author wove in the history of Ghana—rich, subtle, and never overpowering the story. It added depth without distracting from the characters’ journey.

For a debut, this was impressively written, and I’m genuinely looking forward to reading more from this author.

I rate it 4 stars and highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys heartfelt romances with cultural depth.

4.1/5 Stars

This was good—like, really good!

Short and sweet, this 120-page novella blends Crazy Rich Asians- class tensions with the emotional pull of Really Love (Netflix). Aliza, a Howard student, meets Kofi during a study abroad trip to Ghana. Their instant connection is tested by familial expectations, miscommunication, and distance—until a second chance brings them back together in D.C.

This read felt like a love letter to Ghana, with rich cultural detail, beloved romantic tropes (he falls first, second chance), and thoughtful insight on race and belonging.