⭐️⭐️⭐️.25
🌶️🌶️

Genre: Romance
Tropes: Queer, FF, Second Chance Romance, Forced Proximity, Dual POV

Gemma’s life is turned upside down when her fiancé breaks off their seven year relationship. In a bid to distract herself Gemma throws herself into a new work project ‘Love In Focus’. It sounds perfect, that is until she finds out who the freelance photographer is for the project. Her ex-girlfriend Celeste…

This book had my interest straight away from the concept to the cover. I love a cute sapphic romance & as a photographer this seemed right up my street. However sadly, this book was a bit of a disappointment.

It really felt like nothing happened in this book. There was no tension or high stakes. It felt like reading Gemma’s journal daily.
I also didn’t enjoy the writing style. The book is technically dual POV, however Celeste’s POV is usually one page long & adds nothing to the story. The author also wrote Gemma’s POV in first person whilst Celeste’s is in third person - it’s very jarring to read.

That said there were some cute moments throughout. Using the Love In Focus project to show a variety of different relationships, with some great representation. I also liked the part that involved a bit of faking dating, I wish there had been more of that as it’s a trope I love.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lyla Lee & Little Brown Book Group UK for the review copy in exchange for an honest review.

A really lovely palette cleanser in between my usual horror novels. This was such an enjoyable read!

This was everything you could want from a second chance romance. It was sweet and spicy. Funny and emotional. The side characters were really great and fun. It was so easy to root for both Gemma and Celeste. I really enjoyed that it was told in both first and third person and the insight that both perspectives offered. I inhaled this book, Lee has such a great writing style and I cannot wait to see what else she writes.

A cute Second-Chance-In-Love Story i really enjoyed reading.
One of my favorite aspects of the story was the work project the characters had called like the book, "Love In Focus". The different Interviews with couples with different views upon what love is and means to them. Really moving.
Sometimes the Story between the main Characters dragged a bit, but overall it is a nice little lovestory to read to escape from reality or just enjoy a cosy setting.

▫️ Sapphic romance
▫️ Second chance
▫️ Dual POV
▫️ Forced proximity
▫️ Workplace romance
▫️ Advice columnist x photographer
▫️ San Francisco setting

This book was an absolute breath of fresh air 🙌🏽

A sapphic, second chance, workplace romance? Yes please! This was a sweet, spicy, heartwarming romance with great bisexual rep, lots of cultural diversity (that inc some eye opening points) + (mostly) HEALTHY communication, which I loved.

Gem & Celeste were both loveable, realistic main characters, whose shared history added some emotional depth to a plot that otherwise felt quite lighthearted—— although there was lots of great representation & important topics raised, there was no major conflict + no huge plot points (neither of these are bad things) which made for a quick, fun & refreshing read.

The only thing that tripped me up a little was I’d have really liked both characters’ perspectives to be first person—— Celeste’s pov was few and far between but being in third person threw me + I personally found it a little harder to connect with her character.

The found family element was done brilliantly, the (LGBTQIA+ and cultural) representation was beautifully written & the San Fran setting was vivid. Overall; a super fun little read that explored heartbreak, reconnection + self discovery and was a beautiful tribute to love in all its forms.

*3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜 𝑃𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑘𝑢𝑠 & 𝑁𝑒𝑡𝑔𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑑𝑣𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑝𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑖𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤. 𝐴𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝑜𝑤𝑛. 𝑅𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝐼𝐺 (@𝑟𝑒𝑑ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑔𝑖𝑟𝑙) & 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑝ℎ.

Celeste and Gemma were together in college and dreamt of a future together. Then, suddenly, Celeste moved back to Korea without any explanation.

Years later, Gemma and her long-term boyfriend break up and, shortly after, Celeste reappears in her life as a photographer hired by her company to work on an important project.

Guess who else works on this project? You got it: Emma! Will the two women be able to set aside their history in the name of professionalism?

I will only say that, despite years believing a version of truth that wasn't quite right, the air between them clearly crackles whenever they are in each other's presence.

A cute and sexy second chance romance!

Omg!! I loved this so much, easily a favourite romance of mine.

There was a cat, a tight-knit friend group, and a beautiful relationship. I will always inhale a sapphic romance, that's exactly what I did with this.

Side note; I fell in love with both women, had me blushing so many times. I love books that remind me I'm so gay.

A palate cleanser that has some great positive self-reflection on relationships, especially sapphic ones. Good, not necessarily great bi representation but some wonderful moments highlighting the importance of positive relationships.

Adorably wholesome and tender, this was such a sweet and quick read for me! I love Lyla Lee's books so much - they always feel like a warm hug. More of Lyla Lee, please!

This was a cute sapphic romcom!

I didn’t get the angst I often get from second chance romances but the fluff was very much appreciated. I also enjoyed that for the most part there wasn’t really a lot of unnecessary drama.

Gemma and Celeste were great and I enjoyed seeing them work together and consequently work through their past and towards a future together.

I would have liked to see more chapters in Celeste’s POV. This was mostly told in Gemma’s POV and though I can’t out my finger on what exactly made me feel like this, Celeste’s chapters never flowed as well or felt as authentic to her character?

Overall, a nice sapphic romcom if you’re looking for a cute, short read.

This was a really lovely story between Celeste and Gemma rekindling their past relationship and it was all all very sweet and cute. However, I had a difficult time with the back and fourth between 1st and 3rd POV, the 3rd really could've been left out!

this story was so romantic and hilarious. Celeste and Gemma were made for eachother and this was such a passionate and loving novel filled with their reconnection. I loved the gentle steamy scenes and the rough ones too. Gemma experienced something many young people do and it was handled so realistically it was wholesome to see. Yet again fuck the ex (I forgot his name). I loved Gemma’s friends who took her in as well, they shed such a positive light on lesbian relationships it was so warming.
The only odd thing was that Gemma’s POV was written in 1st person and when it switched to Celeste’s it was written in 3rd person which just made it a little confusing for me. Surely you should write both in 1st or both in 3rd?
Anyways I loved their meet-uncute as it was definitely hectic but it kick started their relationship which blossomed into something special. I would definitely recommend this book, especially as a pride month read to widen your diverse reading.

I really really adored this book! Gemma and Celeste are both so lovable characters and the story was so cute!
I’m normally a bit critical when it comes to second chance romance but in this book it added to the chemistry. Nevertheless(!), I strongly believe that the first brake up could’ve easily been avoided - it still doesn’t make any sense to me how Celeste handled everything?!
However, people make mistakes and I really appreciate how reflective both were.
One thing I found interesting, even tho most of the book takes place during winter and Christmas there weren’t really holiday or cozy vibes for me…

I absolutely lovvveeed the chemistry and tension and just really everything between both of them!
I also thought it was refreshing and more realistic that Gemma and James’ ‘conflict’ ended the way it did after what he did.

This was a lovely read in the end, I always find the miscommunication trope a little frustrating to experience and that was definitely the case with this book early on, but unlike in many cases of this trope, when it was cleared up the pair of them Went. To. Therapy! That's what you get in a sapphic romance. Absolutely love to see it. And I really enjoyed the way their relationship redeveloped and they slowly learnt to trust each other again. It was sweet and charming and funny and I was so happy for them by the end that I'd forgotten my frustration about their terrible communication when they were young! After all, who amongst us wasn't terrible at communicating when we were young.

this was my first book by lyla lee, and while some dialogue/descriptions were a tad too cringey and corny for my taste, overall i enjoyed this second-chance sapphic romance

Love in focus is a sweet and spicy romcom with LGBTQ+ and korean representation and a dual pov. I adore the characters, friendships and important discussions throughout the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group for a copy of this arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was so cute!! Love in Focus is a sapphic second chance romance where college exes end up working together in their late 20's and rekindle something. It's got great bisexual rep and has Korean characters, talking about a lack of queer Asian elders because of sexuality often being kept quiet. It's also fairly spicy!

This is my new favourite sapphic romance and a fantastic bi romance to add to any collection!

I loved the elements of slow growth, strong friendships and queer community. Second chance is often very hit and miss for me, but this was definitely a hit and I loved the slightly messy, authentic young adulthood plot line.

The spice was very well balanced with the sweet and it overall worked out to be the perfect pride month read or just a delightful romance for the rest of the year too.

A wonderful and beautiful new sapphic romance that we are completely obsessed with. We fell in love with Lyla Lee's writing in this book and cannot wait to read more from her!

This is a sapphic, second chance, workplace romance.
One of the few things I liked about this book was the representation and intersectionality.
We got to see different couples across different backgrounds and identities.
I also loved the Asian sapphic representation and the parts reflecting the culture.

However, I found it difficult to be invested in the main couple. I personally feel the story did not live up to its potential.
The book is dual POV and Gemma’s POV was written in 1st person while Celeste was written in 3rd person. This made it difficult to get immersed in the story because the constant switch in narrative style affected the flow of the writing. I could never get past it.
I especially couldn’t connect with Celeste because her character felt robotic and flat.

As for Gemma, I think it was interesting to see her grow as a person. However, I personally don’t think she should have ended up with Celeste.

I don’t think Celeste deserves Gemma. She had zero right to be mad at Gemma for moving on after she literally abandoned and ghosted her first FOUR months.
The fact that Gemma had to keep apologizing for moving on was ridiculous. If anything, Celeste should have groveled.

But anyway, I didn’t feel their emotional chemistry or compatibility and I couldn’t root for them as a couple.

I truly wanted to love this book but unfortunately I was bored for the majority of the time I read it.

Thank you to Littlebrown for providing an ARC of this book via NetGalley.