by B.K. Borison
Berkley, 2025. 448 pages. Romance
Book #1 in the series "Heartstrings"
Aiden Valentine has a secret: he's fallen out of love with love. And as the host of Baltimore's romance hotline, that's a bit of a problem. But when a young girl calls in asking for dating advice for her mom Lucie, the interview goes viral, thrusting Aiden and his show Heartstrings into the limelight. Lucie Stone thought she was doing just fine. But when all of Baltimore is suddenly scrutinizing her love life (or lack thereof), she begins to question if she's as happy as she thought. Everyone wants Lucie to find her happy ending – even the handsome, temperamental man calling the shots. When sparks start to fly behind the scenes, Lucie must make the final call between the radio-sponsored Happily Ever After and the man right next to her.
This was a sweet, fluffy romance that I really enjoyed. The premise was original, and the writing was very well done. The audio format naturally lends itself well to the "on air" portions, and it was clever how these sections were portrayed. The pacing did lull in a few spots, but that's nothing unforgivable. I do think Aiden needs therapy, but don't we all?
Caveat lector: this work contains a few scenes of open-door intimacy. Honestly, I'm not really sure how to feel about the scene in the closet -- is it really realistic to cum from riding someone's thigh? -- but maybe that's just because sex with women is something I'm not interested in at all, whether it's in literature or elsewhere. It didn't ruin the book for me, which might be saying something.