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.

Firstly I absolutely love the cover of this book it is so pretty! I loved the story and the relationship between Celeste and Gemma was very raw and real. Very cute and cozy

I absolutely loved this one. I loved the chemistry between the two main characters, I loved the exploration of their backstory and how that complicated their working relationship in the present. I thought the way the main character reacted to her ex suddenly coming back into her life was very realistic and I loved reading about their dynamic as it developed. Highly recommend this one, I really enjoyed.

Love in Focus landed squarely in the middle for me. It wasn't a bad read, but not one I was particularly excited about either. I found the pacing a bit slow, mostly because not a lot happens outside of work scenes and flirting, where both characters are stuck wondering if the other is actually flirting back. That said, I was invested in Gemma. I really wanted her to figure herself out, and I appreciated following her journey as she explored her sexuality as an adult, tried to find her footing in her career, and just generally worked toward feeling happy and content on her own terms. Celeste’s comment about Gemma jumping from relationship to relationship without taking time to self-reflect felt super valid, it was one of the more grounded and honest moments in the book.

The subplot with Gemma’s ex was really predictable, so it felt unnecessarily drawn out. I kept waiting for Gemma to catch up to what was obvious from the start, which tested my patience a bit.

As for Celeste… I didn’t connect with her much. She came across as quite impulsive and avoidant in ways that didn’t really serve the story. She dropped Gemma without much explanation in college, and then when they start to reconnect at work, she makes this grand decision – again, without discussion – that they can’t be together. But she spends all this time pining for Gemma anyway. And honestly? They totally could be together if they just communicated like adults. I also found her a little stiff and underdeveloped, which might be why the romance lacked heat for me. Even though this was framed as a second-chance romance, it didn’t have the angst or yearning that usually makes that trope work.

I did enjoy the friend group and the light, often funny discussions around queerness. The writing itself was lovely, and I really appreciated the cultural nuances and Korean-American representation Lyla Lee included throughout the story. There were pieces that resonated, I just wish the romance had packed more emotional punch.

This was a fun and cute second chance romance and I really liked that the characters actually communicated with each other, especially with how messy they are. It felt realistic for them to be messy, it made them feel more human to me.

I wanted more going on outside of their relationship, though, and it therefore felt low stakes. It made it difficult to really grip me because of this, I think. There was a lot they could have covered, with their personal lives but also their work project which was barely mentioned. It also seemed to focus only on romantic love and, while aromantic people are mentioned, I felt like they could have focused on all kinds of love.

Speaking of that, they didn’t seem to have their own friendship groups or families or anything going on. I would have liked to have seen more of that, and more about them as individuals away from the romance.

Also, Celeste and Gemma are told in two different ways (first and third person) which I thought was an odd choice, and Celeste was only given a handful of chapters while Gemma got a majority of the book. I think it’s because this story was primarily Gemma’s, but including the other POV at all felt unnecessary in that case. It didn’t bother me too much, but I did think it was worth mentioning.

Otherwise, I liked it! I liked that Gemma had some character growth, especially with what she had gone through with her ex, and I loved that they wanted to make sure they were were working on themselves before committing to their relationship with one another.

I haven’t read from this author before, but I probably would read something else by her in future!

My very first LGBTQ+ book and... I really liked it. It wasn't life changing but it was good. Cute read for anyone that wants a palette cleanser after a heavy read.

God, I need more. I think the representation of this community is so important. I loved the way it all came together and how wonderful this story developed touching me as a reader in all the deepest places of my soul.

I didn't expect to love Gemma & Celeste as much as I did. The way they complemented each other was so special. I will need couple of days to process this because it's a lot to take in but as a reader that never read FF romance. I think it's a perfect book to start with.
It's important to highlight that some people need to go through a journey to discover their sexuality - it's not like you wake up one day and just know.

I'm not usually a fan of a second chance romance but I'm down for this one. I think it's a sweet story where the chemistry wins over professionalism.

There are couple of things that caught my eye. The chapters are inconsistent. Some of them are unnecessarily long and some of them I wish were a little longer. Generally I can't see major flaws.
3.5 stars.

3.5⭐️

Love in focus is a spicy sapphic rom com set in san francisco following recently single Gemma navigating life after the end of her engagement, while trying to thrive at her job, when she has to be a part of a project that involves her working heavily with her college ex girlfriend celeste, whom things didn’t end too well with… As they spend more time together lines gradually blur between professionalism and nostalgia and both of them have to navigate if this is something that they both want or if they should go their separate ways again.

This was a very cute and easy to read rom com, nothing too overly complex but enough to keep you in the storyline and connected with the characters. i loved the reality of being later in life and having to start over and falling into things that are comforting for you, both of main FMCs character development was wonderful, going from where they started out with each other and all of their issues, to working on themselves first. It’s a very fun, heartwarming read that i would highly recommend to anyone looking for a sapphic rom com or an easy read.

will definitely read more from this author in the future!!

Such a charming romance story about reconnecting after years apart but also about healing and making sure you're ready for a relationship.

Gemma's fiancé just broke up with her out of the blue so she moves to her best friends couch and tries to focus on her work. But then her new, important, work project brings into her life her ex, Celeste, who left her without an explanation 8 years ago and Gemma is still not fully over that.

I really liked that the issues the characters were having with each other weren't dragged out. They openly talked about what was bothering them and that feels rare in romance books. A lot of this book deals with healing and finding closure to be in a good space for a relationship. I think the book definitely relied on their old relationship for the chemistry without giving us any flashbacks which was a shame because it didn't really help with making us see the chemistry between the characters. But still, it was a fun and light romance. A breeze of a read.

This sapphic, second chance rom com is cute and light-hearted. Giving The Bold Type vibes, I had the same feelings reading this that I had while watching the show.

We follow Gemma (Korean, Bi, a lifestyle writer for a magazine) who has just been dumped by her fiancee after 7 years together. Assigned a new work project she comes face to face with her ex, Celeste (Korean, Lesbian, a photographer). Celeste left 8 years ago and Gemma always wondered what went wrong.

The forced proximity mixed with the lingering attraction means the cannot get away from the chemistry drawing them to each other.

I really enjoyed following their project, Modern Love in Focas, and how they were inclusive with the diverse couples they featured.

The author shares the struggles of coming out to your Korean parents, as well as having to start over after a hard breakup. Gemma's journey to find herself again was emotional and relatable.

We get a few short chapters from Celeste's pov so we gain a further understanding of her character. It was a little bit jarring for it to switch from first person to third person, but I understand why the author chose this style as it is essentially Gemma's story.

If you're looking for a fun, light-hearted LQBTQIA rom com then you will enjoy this.

Thank you to Piatkus and Little, Brown Book Group for this advanced copy.

When I saw the premise of this book I thought I was going to love it. A korean romance with sapphic rep was right up my alley. I had a hard time connecting with the main characters although I really loved their friends. I found the first person POV and third person POV were a bit of a weird choice, but even weirder than that was the biphobic comment that Celeste makes…
All in all I appreciated the connection with the characters past and how their family dealt with their identity and how they felt about it and about how their identities fit (or not) into korean society.
Thank you for the opportunity to review this book :))

Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group for the advance reader copy.

I found this a bit hard to get into but realised it isn’t a long book so I could read it pretty quickly.
I think one of the first things I should say is there’s a lot of biphobia in this book and it very much made the reading experience a negative one,

I think a lot more could have been done about Celeste leaving and then Gemma being ok in such a short conversation - especially as Celeste could have sent a message before going which would have made more sense.

I would have loved to see more of the couples they interviewed as their stories sounded great and more likeable than the main couple.

Repeating myself here but the biphobia so what has dragged down the rating.

Thank you so much for Piaktus via NetGalley for the arc


This book is in both first person & 3rd person - first ( for gemma) & 3rd ( for Celeste )

This is a second chance sapphic romance book between a korean american & an Korean fmc !!! The fmcs were college sweethearts ( for a year ) + roommates . They were roommates for a few months in the 3rd year of college . That is when Gemma - realises she’s queer and they both get together . & Celeste already knew she was queer . - Gemma is bi & Celeste is a lesbian

I do wanna say that outside of the critism I will be giving this book thoroughout this review that I didn’t hate it & it was enjoyable. - the romance as a whole was cute I guess and god as you all should know I love sapphic books . I love ff books . I love seeing two women fall in love and love each other !! I just love it . I do love that this is Korean sapphic story and that is something there should be more of - ASIAN SAPPHIC ROMANCES !! Actually there needs to be more sapphic BIPOc romances in general !! But anyways onto the review .

This book has a 3rd act breakup but tbh it didnt annoy me or anything & i felt like it fit this couple + the ending was cute

However ,these two split ( when Celeste just up and left) and then they didn’t speak for almost 10 years . - that is kinda annoying but it’s a second chance so it is what it is . But I do wAnna say i understand that Celeste was annoyed that Gemma moved on with a guy 4 months after Celeste went off the face of the earth & that she was annoyed that Gemma blocked her on social media but at the end of the day - was Gemma supposed to wait for Celeste until she came back ?? Especially when Celeste didn’t even reach out & just ghosted her - ofc Gemma would move on like girl wasn’t even sure she’d see Celeste ever again . Gemma reached out via kakao talk multiple times but Celeste never even replied like ….

I hate how Celeste for some reason can’t ever get over the fact that the ex of hers who she left randomly - who she didn’t speak to for like almost 10 years - who she ignored the messages of on kakao talk moved on. Like girl OFC SHE WAS GONNA MOVE ON. what was Gemma’s supposed to do? ( stay single ??) be alone?? Wait for Celeste ?? - I get that it must’ve hurt to see your ex move on with a guy - but still . I understand how Celeste feels but honestly 8 -10 years later especially after they’ve actually talked things out I feel like it’s not valid !!

Anyways, this is a workplace romance - Gemma is a columnist for a magazine & Celeste is the photographer Gemma’s both hired for the latest article Gemma has to write !!

Their romance is a will they won’t they for majority of the book & it’s alright but like when it was 70% in and they still weren’t really together( outside of well “friends with benefits “ or anything even though they’d already kissed / slept together it was kinda y’know when I was like - when will these two actually just say “ let’s get back together “ - also the fact we don’t really get to see any proper development between these two . There wasn’t any real friendship or anything or really any sweet cute moments .

I do absolutely love Gemma’s friends a lot - god they are the best fr . ( Kiara & Val) + their cat burrito

I do wanna honestly say this book isn’t exactly what it was promoted as ( or rather the idea of what I thought it was gonna be like - due to the authors promotion ) however , thats actually a good thing .i thought it was gonna follow a bisexual fmc who gets turned down by both women & men and feels like she is hopeless but its not exactly that . ( that’s the premise i believe it was originally promoted as ) but y’know its fine that its not that !!
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I loved this! It was sweet, sexy and the perfect read. The representation was well-done, and I loved the conversations around the lack of queer elders. I loved the main characters, and was rooting for their second-chance the whole way through. I only had one slight issue with this, which was just getting used to the fact that Gemma's chapters were 1st person, and Celeste's were 3rd, but I was able to tune that out once I was sucked into their journey! Oh also I loved the side characters, would love a book on them too, maybe about the period of their relationship that Gemma missed!
All-in-all, a cute sapphic story with great rep and some great steamy scenes!

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.

Love in Focus by Lyla Lee is a second chance romance for Gemma and Celeste. It delves into their past relationship and to see if it work between them again. A nice story. Thank you for advanced copy.

I loved Gemma and Celeste! They were too cute! I really enjoyed the second chance, late 20s rep (as someone in their late late 20s(!) - I love this rep!). A good sapphic story that makes you smile :)

It’s a cute and sweet story, which I’ve mostly enjoyed. I mostly liked both characters, but unfortunately it was missing a little bit more to the story for it to be really good. There wasn’t anything bad or wrong but it just didn’t work for me. I had high hope from the blurb and in the end it felt a bit underwhelming.