This book is a wonderful exploration of what happens when you get a second chance at your first love. Morgan and Frankie’s reunion is filled with tension, longing, and the kind of unresolved history that makes every interaction sizzle. I especially loved how the story tackles the way our memories can be warped by emotions or by the truths we choose to tell ourselves. As the wedding deadline looms, the push-and-pull between them feels both romantic and real, making their journey as much about self-discovery as it is about rekindled passion. Perfectly spiced, heartfelt, and satisfying.

I’m a huge Dana Hawkins fan. Her books feel so real and cozy and authentic—they seem like actual people to me. Like I can really relate to her characters. They say and do things the way I would imagine someone in that situation. The Ex Effect was such a great read!! I love, love, loved it. Morgan and Frankie’s 2nd chance romance captivated me. Because I could absolutely see and feel the tension and dynamics of their relationship in all its various forms throughout their lives. I ate this book up. I can’t wait for the other books in the Minnesota series.

2.75⭐️/5 (rounded up to 3)

I would recommend this if you enjoy:
- LGBTQIA+ rep
- Sapphic romances
- Second chance romances
- Forced proximity
- Friends to exes to strangers to lovers
- Slow burn
- Spicy scenes

Thank you for the ARC Netgalley & Storm Publishing - all opinions are my own.

This book follows Morgan, a wedding planner, and Frankie, a photographer, who were originally friends before they became something more years ago but meet again when Morgan is hired to plan a wedding and Frankie is the photographer that was recommended to her and she reluctantly agrees because of time constraints.

I'm conflicted on how I feel about this book because there elements of it that I did enjoy like Morgan's character as well as the wedding planning aspect itself. I related to Morgan on some levels so it was nice to read her POVs. I didn't like Frankie, however, because she was so mean and I didn't understand how that could translate to romantic feelings. They both have been through a lot and it was obvious that they hadn't fully worked through their emotions about the numerous things.

I liked that this book was a slow burn and I would usually enjoy this trope more if I felt that the characters had any romantic chemistry. I understand that they used to be together and the feelings may have not totally disappeared but I didn't feel that they suited one another at the age they were in the present. They had two completely different goals and didn't communicate particularly well leaving the book to feel dragged out as well as frustrating to read.

Overall, I wouldn't re-read this book but I did enjoy the writing style so I would pick up another one of this author's books.

Firstly I would like to thank the author and netgalley for sending this my way! 😍
It was my first sapphic romance read and I loved it!
It has all - romance, suspense and oh yes it's fast paced! When I saw my approved request for this book I was so damn excited to finally dive into this! 😍
There were a lot of things that intrigued me in the story like how the story discussed a common neurodevelopmental disorder - ADHD. I felt it brought some awareness to the struggles of ADHD and it was really nice to see that it wasn't portrayed as a unique character trait here!

I also liked Frankie's story about her self discovery after she moved to New York.
Starting from changing her name to cutting her hair, and to separate herself from the girl she was in high school. She had to learn how to be her own person, and not just 'Morgan's girlfriend".

By the final chapters, I found myself truly appreciating the transformation both female leads underwent. Their journeys—facing lingering fears, untangling past hurts, and embracing a fuller sense of self—infused the story with real warmth. The shift in their dynamic, moving from guarded and combative to authentic and deeply connected, was satisfying to watch.

The love story here had an undeniable charm—it was light hearted and endearing, with just enough heat and plenty of laughs. I enjoyed how effortlessly these two women complemented one another, even with their contrasting personalities.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book and would recommend it for anyone who loves reading - sapphic romance, second - chance romance, forced proximity, enemies - to - lovers tropes!!!

This was a fast-paced sapphic romance where high school exes have 90 days to work together to pull off an important wedding. I loved rooting for them both to grow individually and as a couple. This story kept me hooked from start to finish and is perfect if you love reading about exes finding their way back to each other.

🏘️ Small town
💗 Second chance romance
📸 Wedding Planner x photographer
👥 Forced proximity
♾️ ADHD & Anxiety rep
💖 Masc x Femme

second chance romance full of banter, longing, and wedding day chaos. Loved this story with my background with weddings lol Morgan Rose’s perfectly planned life is thrown into chaos when her ex, Frankie Lee the woman who broke her heart turns out to be the photographer for the biggest wedding of Morgan’s career. With just 87 days to pull it all off. Morgan swears she won’t be distracted by Frankie’s charm, smirk, or annoyingly perfect biceps. But as old sparks flare and new tensions rise, they must decide if love deserves a second shot or if they’re destined to crash and burn twice. Such a cute read. #queerbookstagram #queerromance #love #romancebookstagram #reading #bookrecs #bookreviews

This book is perfect for the ones who are craving second chance romance plots! I liked the characters and how they were able to get through a preparation for a wedding and also between them too

I love a good second-chance romance, and The Ex Effect delivers exactly that with Morgan and Frankie. These two aren’t just old high school girlfriends, they go way back to being childhood best friends. That kind of shared history comes with a lot of baggage and plenty of preconceived ideas about who the other person is now as an adult, which led to some interesting conflicts.

I loved watching them slowly realize how much they’d both changed since high school graduation. Sure, their lack of communication sometimes had me wanting to shake them, but honestly, it made sense. When you’ve known someone since you were a kid, it’s easy to fall back into old patterns, even if you’ve grown up in every other part of your life.

One thing I really appreciated was how the author handled Frankie’s past relationship. We don’t get all the details right away, and neither does Morgan. In so many romances with a divorced character, the ex and the divorce take up a big chunk of the plot. Here, it stayed in the background, adding depth without turning into a source of endless drama. It kept the focus where it belonged: on Morgan and Frankie’s journey back to each other.

This was a novel that took two very iffy main characters and gave them enough development to make it enjoyable. I liked it in the end despite its flaws.

This is my first time reading Dana Hawkins so I was going in blind to the style. That said I feel like she said a lot more than showed specifically I felt cheated out of scenes that could have been great for character and story development. Such as skippin weeks of interaction and then mentioning that things happened in those 3 weeks.

Character wise Frankie and Morgan won me over. That start was rough! They were both insufferable. I possibly could have DNF'd at 30% because I felt nothing for these characters. They slowly won me over as the story progressed and their relationship progressed to being down right adorable.
Too many early excuses for behaviours that they knew was problematic. Maybe that was the whole point, doesn't mean I liked it!

Spoilers for ending seriously


I think the ending should have been bittersweet with a total break. Everything was set up to be separate for them to follow their dreams, maybe a follow up meeting years later, I'm not sure but the emotion at the end was so excellent and it made the HEA feel flat.

Thanks Net Galley for allowing me to read the ARC novel in exchange for review!

To be published 19 August 2025.

Morgan Rose is a perfectionist, a detail oriented gal who has to pull together a wedding three months as a last resort to save her business. Things should be on fire but not all is lost, there is a huge budget and the couple already has a good photographer on board, Frankie- who turns out to be the one who broke Morgans heart in high school.
Cue a second chance romance with wedding drama tied in.
The Ex Effect had all the makings of a cute queer rom-com and I pushed through it even though Morgan was kind of grating because Frankie was such a star of a character. Morgan is a control freak who really harps on Frankie for being late ONCE, to the point where it's this huge emotional moment where Morgan asks her to please be early to things. I do wish that we got some more backstory on Frankie's sister Quinn or on the grandmother that caused Frankie to be back in their hometown but even without it, there was enough to keep the plot moving.

Thank you to NetGalley for an early read, comes out 8/19/25

dnfed at 33%

ok. i haven’t read any dana hawkins books before, but from these 100 or so pages it’s clear she’s a good writer. she creates strong, dimensional characters with clear flaws, motivations, and backstories, and if this was a litfic i might be able to keep going. unfortunately I just had no interest in this romance because as much as I respect the whole opposites attract, second chance romance, trying again when you’re emotionally mature adults rather than high schoolers thing, i truly have a deep dark hatred for irresponsible people and thus I hate frankie. there’s no world where i want morgan to once again have to baby this woman through living her life and getting places on time and just being an adult. obviously i get she has mental health struggles but that’s an explanation and not an excuse for just being unreliable and uncommunicative like she was their whole first relationship, and frankie’s anger and disdain at morgan for being reasonably upset at her for being a shit gf shows me she’s not grown all that much into a more considerate person. morgan u were cool so sorry ur ex is a mess and i can’t read one more chapter of her perspective or i’ll punch a wall. idk just something in the way frankie is presented as wronged for being blamed for her own actions pisses me off given she’s a grown woman now and should have some self reflection under her belt. i don’t need to read about 33 year olds who still act 18.

This was a really great, second chance romance! I am not normally a fan of second chance romance, but I am a fan of Dana Hawkins so I figured she would probably do it well and I was right! I really liked Frankie. As someone whose ADHD diagnoses came as an adult, I found her really relatable and I generally really liked her self awareness. She was a character who you could feel had done a lot of work on themselves and that made her all the more lovable to me. Morgan, in contrast, I did not find as relatable, mostly because of her pathological timeliness, but similar to Frankie, she was a well rounded character. I really liked their relationship too. The writing was so well done you could feel the pull between them, along with the back and forth of their emotions, as they fought for one another and their love. The spice was great too, wielded by the author in a way that enhance their connection and relationship. The story pulled together nicely at the end and I love that they got their happy ending!

I'm terrified of books about lesbian couples that act as if two women kissing is the climax of a lesbian relationship. I'm always afraid that's going to happen when I pick up this book, but that wasn't the case with "The Ex Effect." It was simply wonderful to delight in these characters, and their entire past relationship made it even more entertaining... PLUS, OF COURSE, THE CHEMISTRY
Thank you NetGalley and the author for the eARC.

3.5 stars

Dana Hawkins delivers a heartfelt sapphic second-chance romance with emotional depth and just enough spice. Morgan, a stressed wedding planner, and Frankie, a free-spirited photographer with ADHD, are thrown back together after fifteen years apart. Their messy, tender reunion is full of unresolved feelings, clashing personalities, and slow-burning vulnerability.

The emotional realism stands out—these are flawed adults learning to communicate, apologize, and rebuild trust. Frankie’s ADHD and Morgan’s anxiety are portrayed with nuance, and their dynamic is compelling despite early frustrations. I liked the spice and the epilogue offers a satisfying payoff.

Pacing stumbles at times, and the characters can be grating early on, but the emotional growth makes it worth sticking with. If you love second-chance romances with neurodivergent rep and a dash of wedding chaos, this one’s for you.

This book had its ups and downs for me. I enjoyed a lot of aspects of Frankie and Morgan's relationship, but the lack of communication was frustrating. I also think I would have appreciated the characters more if their previous relationship had progressed further beyond high school. The idea that Frankie and Morgan were still holding on to things almost fifteen years later was not romantic to me. I also didn't love that they actively chose not to talk about difficulties in their current relationship until the last possible second. The relationship felt a little bit like putting their head in the sand and hoping things would get better eventually. Overall, this was a little underwhelming, while the end made up for some of it, it was a solid three stars..

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.

A book that makes me feel is a book I enjoy, even if it’s not all positive emotions. The Ex Effect made me mad. I was pissed off for a bit of time, but I enjoyed reading Morgan and Frankie’s story.

Frankie and Morgan got on my nerves, but mostly Frankie. I could relate to Morgan with her anxiety and the wound left by Frankie's leaving. I also could relate to Frankie’s hyperfocus and how her ADHD manifests. However, while both are self-centered, Frankie’s lack of understanding and her attitude towards Morgan were less than bearable. Her using ADHD as an excuse for everything was just cowardice.
Frankie and Morgan obviously still have feelings for each other, and they work well when they make an effort to meet each other in the middle. I wouldn’t mind if the book ended at chapter 30. Sometimes, loving someone means letting them go even more, if it’s to follow their dream.
I was not quite sure if they would be able to make their relationship work, but the epilogue proved me otherwise.

The Ex Effect is by and so far my favorite Dana Hawkins book. If you’re looking for a second-chance ex-best friend to enemies to lovers, and you’re prepared to yell after the characters, I definitely would recommend this book.

Representation: sapphic main couple

Summary:
Morgan Rose is a whiz at planning weddings. She's been Type A since she was a child, which lends itself to the sort of planning and preparation needed for making weddings goes smoothly. Her state of her planning business, however, is not going smoothly - if Morgan doesn't book another wedding soon, she'll be forced to close her business. So when a young woman and her fiance need to be married in 90 days (a tight timeline for any wedding, let alone the only one that can save Morgan's business), she can't say no. When it turns out the photographer is her ex, Frankie, whom she hasn't seen since they broke up at their high school graduation, it seems like a sign. But is it a sign of doom, or is it possible a sign that Morgan and Frankie are meant to be in each other's lives?

Review:
I loved this book. It was so easy and fun and I found myself devouring many chapters in one sitting. The thing I maybe loved the most was how often Morgan and Frankie apologized to each other. They fought, like exes and grown people in general do, but they were both open about their roles in the fight, and neither was afraid to say sorry, which was really refreshing in a contemporary romance. I also felt like the miscommunication and secret-keeping that are rampant in contemporary romance were delightfully minimal here - secrets usually came out within a few chapters of characters learning them, and it meant the book wasn't hung up on this one singular plot point in a way I really enjoyed. I also felt that because they'd had time apart, we could see how they'd grown, and with all of the stuff I mentioned above, they felt like real adults, which I really enjoyed. This book was a fun and fast read, and I am definitely on the lookout for book 2 - I hope we get a sapphic romance with Frankie's little sister Quinn, at some point!

people aren't perfect/ pasts are perfect. and neither can be peoples choices or the way they "see" those choices. i think this book did a really great job of showing that. alongside that we show two woman who do indeed have a few more deeper issues some hanging on from shared pasts and some all of their own. but does that mean you can move on, heal and even be happy. no it does not.
Morgan keeps her world controlled. she has to, its the only way she feels in control. but lately her and her carefully ordered life seems to be going a bit bleh. on her latest wedding planning job she is about to get a big "no no, not this" moment.
Frankie who once upon a time love, is back in town after the loss of her grandmother. it hit her hard so shes back home to keep going with her photography work.
Morgan then is shocked,surprised and not at all happy by seeing Frankie. they loved each other so much. but it all went wrong. and it hurt, it hurt Morgan in too many ways. its been years but Frankie broke her heart and she hasn't gotten over that. but she seems to not have gotten over the woman herself either.
but now isn't the time for feelings. because this wedding is what Morgan NEEDS to go right. and working with Frankie is her only option.
i really enjoyed this book. i liked especially how the different things going on in the womans life weren't just for show or tick boxes. instead we see that a very common issue that Frankie has regarding her time keeping and other behaviours are actually completely explainable. and how woman mask or people are ignorant or wrongly dont know what conditions people suffer with therefore call them lazy, not hard working or dont focus, or do focus. whereas when we find out Frankie and her ND we completely see why and how she does and did the way she did. but again, it never felt pushed on them or us. it just was, but was equally important.
i liked how we all knew these two were meant to be. and watching wishing it might happen for them both. which would take work on both sides but also alot of fun.

I went in really wanting to like this book - I enjoyed the Single in Seattle series, and was excited to get more!

Unfortunately, this book fell a little flat for me. I found myself not super invested in the characters.

My biggest issue was the way the timeline seemed to jump around - the two main characters were feuding, and then suddenly one chapter was a couple weeks later and they were super lovey dovey. The same thing happened towards the end - there was a conflict, then suddenly it was pushed aside.

cute, fun, and well done romance, though some of the unusual turns of phrase occasionally took me out of it. still a solid read. 4 stars. tysm for the arc.