Love in the Time of Conversation Hearts

by Allie Samberts, Hannah Bird

Cora Bennet is the Valentine’s Day queen.

Normally, it’s her job to drive tourism to her tiny lakeside town. And she’s really good at it. In February, that means organizing her favorite event—the annual Valentine’s Day fundraiser. Too bad this year she’s been distracted by her work-nemesis, Adam Sullivan. The handsome but infuriating mayor of Heartsong, California.

Adam is everything Cora is not. At least, that’s what she always thought. When a work conference leading up to the big event leaves the two sharing more than just a hotel room, the idea that they’re all that different starts to fade. In its place is something even a desire to repeat what should’ve been a one time mistake.

With the fundraiser looming closer, Cora has to make a decision. Is it time to give love a try, even if it’s with the last person she suspected? Or is she better off letting Cupid’s arrow pass her by?

Genres: Novella, Forced Proximity, Workplace

149 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 1, 2025

About the author

Allie Samberts is a romance writer, book lover, and high school English teacher. She was voted funniest teacher of the year for 2023 by her students, which is probably her highest honor to date. She is also a runner, and enjoys knitting and sewing. She lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband, two kids, and a very loud beagle. You can follow her on Instagram @alliesambertswrites, read her blog at alliesamberts.substack.com, and get other updates at www.alliesamberts.com.

Reviews

[Hannah Bird · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t wait for you to read our spicy, sweet little Valentine’s Day rom-com! Check it out if you love:

💕 Workplace Romance
💕 Meddling Friends (who are in a book club!)
💕 Small town vibes
💕 Date Auction
💕 Just one bed
💕 anything written by Allie Samberts OR Hannah Bird…because now you get both!!

[Tay_is_reading_again · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

I love Allie Samberts and I really enjoyed this novella!! It’s very hard to balance character development, plot, and spice in a contemporary romance novella; however, those three are perfectly balanced in this valentines themed book. I really enjoyed the FMC being in her 30s, which is typical in Allie’s books.

Read this if you like:
💛work nemesis to lovers
💜one bed trope
💙secret pining
❤️he falls first
💚a FMC in her 30s with a thriving career
🧡small town romance
♥️Valentine’s Day theme

[Debajodelamesa.books · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the perfect read for February 14th ♡ It's a sweet short novella full of swooning romantic moments and delicious tension, I absolutely loved it!

Adam is so charming with the perfect lines and the perfect actitud definitely a dreamy book boyfriend.
And Cora? I'll be honest, she is a strong lady with a great personality, but her non-stop lack of confidence drove me a little bit crazy 😅

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would probably read it again next February 🥰

***

Esta fue la lectura perfecta para el 14 de febrero ♡ Es una novela corta y dulce llena de momentos románticos apasionantes y una tensión deliciosa ¡Me encantó!

Adam es tan encantador con las líneas y la actitud perfecta, definitivamente un novio de libro de ensueño.
¿Y Cora? Seré honesta, es una mujer fuerte con una gran personalidad, pero su constante falta de confianza me volvió un poco loca 😅

En general, disfruté mucho este libro y probablemente lo volvería a leer el próximo febrero 🥰

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5
🔥🔥🔥 3/5

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cora, community leader of the town’s beautification project, has always sparred with Adam, the part-time mayor of their small town. When the two get sent to a community development conference together, there is a delightful only one bed situation. The forced time together allows some of the secret feelings he’s harboring for her shine through and the only one bed thing comes in super handy. Once home, she can’t figure out if this is for real and when he agrees to be part of a date auction fundraiser, she has feels about it that she wasn’t expecting.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️

This was a super cute novella. The chemistry between the characters was sweet. I really loved the backdrop of community development efforts too. Adam’s self-assurance was just on the right side of endearing instead of obnoxious. Cora’s tension with herself was relatable.

I recommend this if you need a quick palate cleanser!

🫡 Tropes deployed: coworkers/nemesis to lovers, only one bed, forced proximity, small town

[Lillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up!

I struggled a little bit connecting to the characters but that’s probably just a me problem with novellas!

I thought the overall plot and romance were very cute! My favorite part of the book has to be the bookclub chat and all of the meddling friends lol

[JennShesBooked · Rating 5 out of 5]

FIVE STARS!! Novella perfection. No notes 💕

I didn’t expect anything less than loving this book, but I was not expecting just how much I’d love it. It was perfect. No missing pieces, no untied ends, it held all the elements of a full length novel in a novella package. It is the PERFECT Valentines Day read!

[ChristinaReadsOnTheRoad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fun read!
Small town
Coworkers/Rivals to lovers
Forced proximity
(only one bed)
Golden retriever MMC
Found family

Sort of gives Parks and Rec vibes with the tourism/valentines day event. Loved the group texts and their book club dynamics. The spice was spicin’.

I want a Harrison & Charlie story!

[Karen B · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lighthearted and steamy workplace romance novella that will make you believe in the magic of love, especially in the time of conversation hearts (aka Valentine’s Day). Cora, the Director of Tourism for Heartsong, CA, has to attend a conference with her arch nemesis and town’s mayor, Adam. The forced proximity (and perhaps the best one bed scenario I have read) offers them a chance to reluctantly (him) and unwillingly (her) reveal their hidden feelings. The magnetic chemistry between the two main characters started with banter and witty remarks and was present throughout. This novella offered laughs and spice, a good plot and character arcs, and was a joy to read. Having read books from both authors, I found that this story was a great mesh of their two styles and I’m looking forward to more collaborations from these two. 4.25 stars

[Jawa Kween Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tropes
💕 Workplace Romance
💕 Meddling Friends (who are in a book club!)
💕 Small town vibes
💕 Date Auction
💕 Just one bed

Love in the Time of Conversation Hearts was such a cute Valentine’s Day Read. It was super lighthearted, packed full of fun banter between the characters, and only one bed.

Adam (the town’s part time mayor) and Cora don’t like each other, well maybe more just but heads. They are proposing what to do with a grant won for the city. Do they widen the roads or do they give the town a much-needed face life.

Adam is such a golden retriever, and it is so cute! However, this man does have a dirty mouth!

Both Adam and Cora go to a convention for small towns. When they got there, they realized there weren’t two rooms booked and the room they have is one bed. After a few drinks Cora realizes she may like Adam more than she thought.

After quick discussions with her book club Cora does the adult responsible thing and goes for it.

I would have loved more back story into why Cora and Adam but heads, but I love them together.

[Trish • Wewineaboutbooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️
A sweet and spicy workplace romance! I really enjoyed this Valentine’s Day novella centering around Cora and Adam, the handsome mayor of Heartsong, California. I’m a sucker for a workplace romance and small town setting and this fulfilled my expectations with great banter, spice and an engaging storyline. My only complaint is that it wasn’t longer!
I recommend adding this to your February TBR! 💕

[Shannon Wurster · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a cute kick my feet and giggle book. Adam and Cora are so freaking adorable and their chemistry is palpable. I love Cora and her best friends and their book club. They remind me so much of my own friends. I really hope Hannah and Allie write more of these together because I need to know more about her brother and all their friends!

[Mindy Menotti bookishly_mindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This incredibly adorable Valentine Novella was immediately engaging and had the perfect flow from start to finish while giving you the perfect amount of banter, spice and charm.

I felt the authors did a great job & have to highly recommend!!

Thank to you the authors for the eArc 💕

[Stef · Rating 5 out of 5]

The perfect little novella for Valentine’s Day! This one was sweet, funny, sexy, and cute! I loved it! 🩷

[Kayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐⭐⭐⭐💫
🌶️🌶️🌶️

“𝑩𝒐𝒚, 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒖𝒎𝒑 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒔. 𝑰’𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒚 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒚.”
“𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑭𝒊𝒇𝒕𝒚 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒃.”

This book is so stinking cute! I can always count on Allie to give me a great workplace romance with some delicious yearning, and she delivered once again. I was giggling and kicking my feet at Cora and Adams banter. They are so fun.

They are also hot as hell. The steam, the tension, the spice! It was DELICIOUS! Adam is yearning so much and I loved it. Cora was in denial and that was a lot of fun. And the chemistry between them was off the charts the entire time. I was having a great time.

I absolutely loved Heartsong, CA. The small town vibes are immaculate. Allie and Hannah did an amazing job creating those quirky lovable characters you want to see in a small town romance. Dorothy is an all-star and I hope we get to see her again. I cannot wait to go back to Heartsong for the next holiday Allie and Hannah have planned.

I don't know how co-writing a book works, but I feel like Allie and Hannah did it flawlessly. The writing is cohesive and funny and an absolute joy to read. I haven't read anything else by Hannah Bird, but I'm absolutely going to.

I definitely recommend that you add this book to your February TBR as a a fun, lighthearted Valentine's Day read!

“𝑺𝒐 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒂𝒎 𝑰 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌? 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒃𝒆𝒅, 𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆?”

Read January 19, 2025

[Keriann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another cute vday novella!!!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two of my favorites teaming up for a holiday novella?! Yes please! Even though this is Valentines themed, it can really be read year round! And I loved it! It was so fun and sweet. I loved Adam and Cora’s banter and giggles multiple times throughout this one. The book club is the best and I want to be friends with them all. Definitely pick this one up! It’s short, but so fun!

[Aly · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 cute and quick read with a few spicy scenes, honestly wish this was a little longer.

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

More Like 3 and ½ Stars ✨

[Catarina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Allie and Hannah for sending me an ARC 🩷
Two of my favourite authors in one book? Is this Christmas? 😭

This novella was so cute, sweet and fun!
I absolutely loved Adam and Cora, their banter was amazing.

There’s a lot to enjoy in this book but I will just say this… just one bed…😏😏😏😏

Read if you like:
- Workplace romance
- Small town
- Date auction
- Just one bed
- Valentine Novella

[Kylie · Rating 1 out of 5]

"You feel like you were made for me."

1 ⭐️ and that's being generous. Even that quote can't make up for this shit show.

Cora was honestly insufferable. Adam never did anything to make her spite him, and her behavior and blame games are so immature and unprofessional. Her whining and bitching the whole time was ridiculous, and then when they finally have sex, she's acting all cold and aloof snd scared the next day, yet wonders why he's leaving her the fuck alone because surely it just "didn't affect him", like bitch what? And her brother, why is she always annoyed with him and acting like she wants him out of her house when he's clearly going through something (which was predictable af). Cora is in her damn 30s, but acts like she's in middle school. And why tf did she make her brother join her and her friend's conversation about Adam's dick and then get annoyed when he left? She also decided she wouldn't tell him she wanted to continue to daye, instead making excuses about how she "doesn't do thingd like this" and then shuts him out when he volunteers to help out in the date auction at their fundraiser, which *she* insisted be a thing without figuring out a way to get people to volunteer for it. Jesus, she is the most immature, insecure person I have ever had the displeasure of reading about. If I ever become friends with a person like Cora, someone take me far away until I've been slapped to my senses. If I didn't need this book as part of a bingo board, I would have DNF'd this. Weird, because so far, I've liked Allie Sambert's work.

[Hope (bookedwithhope) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Star Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️.5 / 5

This small town, rivals to lovers workplace romance will have you giggling and kicking your feet.

Cora is the queen of Valentine's Day, which brings in a lot of tourism, and fundraising, for the town of Heartsong. But this year, Cora has to work with her work nemesis and the mayor of Heartsong--Adam Sullivan, who seems to be Cora's opposite in every way. When Cora is forced to attend a conference with Adam, she sees a different side to the man she thought she despised. The two have to share a bed due to an error, but that situation becomes less of a problem and more of a happy coincidence when the two give into their desires. But is this a mistake that shouldn't be repeated or is it something more? Could it be love where they least expected it?

Love in the Time of Conversation Hearts is a sweet and spicy novella full of fun tropes and lovable characters. Though it's themed around Valentine's Day, this book can be read any time of the year. Cora and Adam are such a fun couple with the best banter. I love that they both were able to grow so much as people, and their chemistry is electric.

Allie Samberts is one of my favorite indie authors, and after reading this novella, I'm definitely going to have to check out Hannah Bird's work, too.

I highly recommend Love in the Time of Conversation Hearts to fans of fun romances with tried and true tropes, witty banter, and character growth.

[kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartsong, California is a very small town where the mayor, Adam Sullivan, is very young and good looking, but is also Cora’s work nemesis. This year, Cora has won the town’s votes to beautify the town, which means she has to go to a work conference with Adam.

When the two get to the conference, Cora’s reservation at the hotel doesn’t exist. Oh noooooo! Adam is kind enough to share his room with her. He even offers to take the couch so she could have the king size bed to herself. Cora actually agrees to this arrangement as she has no other choice and the hotel is fully booked because of this conference.

When they get to the room, the so-called couch is a chair, which does look comfortable, but who the heck could sleep on that?? Since Adam has been so generous to let Cora sleep in this same room, Cora tells Adam to put a huge blanket barrier between them and they can sleep on the same bed together.

What happens at this conference? Will Cora and Adam find a way to be able to work with each other? Will Cora’s feelings towards Adam change?

This was such a fun novella and I especially liked that it was Valentine’s Day themed! It was a quick novella read and I loved how developed this story was for less than 200 pages! I definitely chuckled a few times throughout the book!

[Mary Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
🌶️🌶️🌶️
ARC Review
Release Date: 2/1/2025

“𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘦. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘶𝘯?”
“𝘛𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺.”

If you’re looking for a sweet and spicy novella to get you into the Valentine’s Day mood, this one is sure to deliver. Adam and Cora are absolutely adorable and hot together, and I thoroughly enjoyed their nemeses to lovers journey. Adam has clearly been yearning for quite some time, and Cora is blissfully unaware…until she isn’t. Even after things heat up between them, there’s still some delicious angst to be had as Adam proves to Cora it’s always been her.

The whole town of Heartsong was so quaint and quirky, and Cora’s band of friends is an absolute delight as well. I can’t wait to see more of them in the next Heartsong holiday Hannah and Allie have planned!

“…𝘘𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘭𝘺, 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱, 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴. 𝘐’𝘥 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.”

[Natalie Mackrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute and spicy little novella perfect for February/Valentine’s Day. This is sort of a rivals to lovers trope, but it doesn’t fully fit that category since I get the feeling the MMC was interested in the FMC for a long time. I liked the side characters (the book club) a lot, they had some big personalities for a short story. It is a short story, so I wasn’t surprised by the almost “insta love”, but that left me wanting a little more yearning, or maybe I just wanted a little of Adam’s POV to show us how much he is really into Cora. The spice is prevalent for a novella and the ending wrapped things up nicely for us! It’s also cool that this has 2 authors, they did an excellent job because at no point in the story didn’t feel like there was more than “1 voice”- basically it felt natural and flowed well!

If you want a quick little romance to devour fast then grab this! It’s available on kindle unlimited!

[DarkDigital Belle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an adorable seasonal palette cleanser (at least for me! I read a lot of fantasy and the was a step towards everyday romance)

Valentines Day

Cora- work work work and more work! Beautification of the small town is needed and she will go head to head with even the sassy Mayor to get the funding needed.

Adam- annoying mayor who always gets his way, never seems to take no for an answer and is unbelievably handsome. Too bad he only has eyes for one woman!

Cue the trip to the city for the recommended get together of other towns mayors and speakers to learn more. Surprise- only one bed! Shenanigans ensue and could lead to more?

So what happens when the big Valentines Day auction happens and Adam is THE item to be bid on? And all of Cora’s friends and family are conspiring to get them together?

[BeccaLee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tropes:
enemies to lovers
forced proximity
one bed
small town
date auction

This is a sweet and spicy Valentine's novella set in the small town of Heartsong. The story centers around Cora and Adam, the part-time mayor of Heartsong.  There's banter and strong friendships. Aside from our main story I loved getting to know Cora's friends and other members of her book club. I hope we see more from them in the future because I have unanswered questions about the friend's stories. One of the things I don't like in books is when the FMC stands in the way of her own happiness and we see a bit of this from Cora. She retreats instead of having a conversation with Adam. Luckily she has a strong group of friends that help her see what she needs to do and we see a grand gesture from her in the end. 

[Rachel Moses-Lloyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a perfect, cute (and occasionally spicy) rom-com Valentine's read.

I laughed and whimpered out loud throughout.

Cora is totally me with going to the worst possible scenario, but I love that she takes a chance (after her great pals give her a talking to).

Adam, Adam, Adam. I loved the true respect he showed to Cora, the conversation about enthusiastic consent will be in my list of favourite romance scenes for a long time to come......as will his enthusiastic need to....make sure she's taken care of ("I get to").

Petition for an Adam POV bonus scene seeing Cora in her green dress for the conference drinks and also for a follow up with Harrison and Charlie. Please. I'm begging Hannah and Allie 😂

Definitely add this to your February reads if you can. Love love love.

[Shana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cora is the Valentine’s Day queen in her small town of Heartsong, California. She is in charge of the annual Valentine’s Day fundraiser and to drive tourism to the town. But this year her work nemesis and mayor of Heartsong is distracting her. When Cora and Adam are stuck going to a work conference together, they share more than just a hotel room.

Small towns are just a favorite of mine. I love the meddling friends, they mean so well! I really enjoyed Cora and Adam’s banter and the jabs that are meant to be funny. The friendships are the sweetest and the conversations they have are a hoot.

I really enjoyed this Valentines themed novella.
I can’t wait to read the next story in the series. Allie is becoming one of my favorite authors!

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love in the Time of Conversation Hearts is the PERFECT little novella to pick up for Valentine’s Day- it was such a treat! It was a quick read that was sweet, funny, and spicy with great banter. As the firstborn daughter myself, I found myself relating a lot to Cora’s personality. One quote that really had me chuckling- “The curse of the eldest daughter means that I always jump to the conclusion farthest out of reach.” I really did not like Adam in the beginning but quickly found myself swooning!

Read Love in the Time of Conversation Hearts if you enjoy:
🩷 Holiday novellas
🩵 Workplace romance
💛 Forced proximity
💜 Only one bed
💚 Texts on page

[Stephanie Hubenak · Rating 4 out of 5]

𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
Love In The Time Of Conversation Hearts
Hannah Bird & Allie Sambert

I absolutely devoured this novella! It was just the perfect little story that made me kicking my feet giddy. I absolutely LOVED Adam so much. That man was nothing short of perfect...right down to his manners and dirty talk. Cora was just a little bit of all of us. The banter was just top tier and I loved every single second of it.

What you'll get:
- Dislike to love
- Workplace romance
- Secret pining (on his side)
- Amazing banter
- Spicy spice