Strap & Swoon

by Karmen Lee

When Jada’s Valentine’s Day turns into a breakup, she refuses to waste the coveted (and expensive) dinner reservation she fought to get. Instead, she convinces her best friend, Lindsey, to go with her, totally platonically…or so Jada thinks.

Lindsey has secretly been in love with her best friend for years, and one romantic dinner for two threatens to unravel every carefully guarded feeling. Between candlelight, shared laughter, and sparks neither of them can ignore, the line between friendship and something more starts to blur.

But old fears collide with new possibilities, and Jada and Lindsey must decide whether this Valentine’s Day will break them apart or strap them in for a real chance at love.

Genres: Lesbian, LGBT, Adult, Contemporary, Friends To Lovers

54 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 14, 2026

About the author

Karmen Lee is an avid reader of anything and everything. She’s a lifelong Southerner living it up in Atlanta, Georgia with her kid, her cats, and humidity. When she’s not packing lunches or working her normal nine-to-five, you can usually find her drinking coffee too late at night, watching House Hunters International and dreaming up ways to show her readers a good time. You can keep up with her on Twitter (@Author_KLee) or Instagram (@authorkarmenlee).

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Reviews

[Love BookReviewer · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️

Friends to lovers. Hidden crush. Tug-a-war emotions. Lighthearted. Lovable characters. Good spice. Cute read!

[bree · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5 stars ✨

[Staci (stacisbookishprobs) · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a good novella. I love Karmen Lee’s writing style and she writes such good spice

[Lola Dior · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always. I love everything by this author. Lindsay and Jada were so cute. ☺️

[Quira · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Cute and to the point. A sweet Valentine’s Day novella.

[B · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

[Wanika · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect short and spicy Valentine’s Day short

I absolutely loved this. This was a friends to lovers, short, sweet, and spicy valentines novella. It had everything you want. Meddling sister, romantic Valentine’s Day dinner that you take your best friend to cause your ex broke up with, and your best friend arriving at said dinner like they want to eat you instead whats on the plate. Even though this was just a novella, it was really cute and had tons of lol moments and plenty of spice to last!

[Jodi · Rating 5 out of 5]

sweet

A quick short read. Very sexy best friends pining for each other. A romantic meal and hot sex. Cute banter and siblings Jordan and Mia were fun and knowing.

[Jamie (TheRebelliousReader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Lindsey….oh.my.GOD! What a woman. I fucking loved this! A really short friends to lovers with some fake dating thrown in. After Jada gets broken up via text she enlists her best friend Lindsey to fake date her for Valentine’s day. Both women have harbored crushes on each other and baby the way that Lindsey went after what she wanted was so sexy. Great spice, the chemistry between them was really good and it was just a nice and quick read. For sure would read it again.

Spice: ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥/❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

[Eros Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

“She smiled and I knew this was it for me. This was everything I had ever wanted.”

If you are looking for a fast paced sapphic novella to read then this may be your next read.

-friends to lovers
-fun spice
-50 page novella
-Valentines Day vibes
-siblingship

This was a cute, “I like my friend & idk if she likes me so I don’t want to ruin it… but, if I had the chance I’d go for it.” but, make them best friends.

If Karmen Lee is writing it then, I’m reading it.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jada gets dumped on Valentine’s Day – not the start to the day she was hoping for. Unfortunately, she had made a fabulous, very hard to get dinner reservation that she isn’t sure what to do with. She comes up with the idea to take her best friend Lindsey. This is fabulous news to Lindsey; she has crushed on Jada for quite sometime so she is happy to be her plus one. Love the friends that push them towards each other.

[SundayswithKiana (Ki) · Rating 4 out of 5]

cute and spicy

Cute, quick, and spicy! This was the perfect little bedtime read. I’m a sucker for friends-to-lovers, especially when they have been secretly in love with each other for YEARS. 😭

For only 54 pages, Karmen Lee gave me exactly what I needed—a little romance, a little pining, and yes… there was indeed a strap AND a swoon. 😂🥵

Definitely interested in reading more from Karmen Lee!

[Kymbe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Swoon worthy

Hmm, this one is not something to read in polite company, lol. Talk about a friends to lovers story bringing the heat... this definitely hits the mark. The characters were so relatable, the plot was well developed and the dialogue was on point. The only thing to dislike about this story was that I wanted more of it! It is so worth the read.

[Turtleberry Turtleberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jada's girlfriend breaks up with her right before a planned Valentine's Day dinner. She instead gets the nerve to ask her best friend Lindsey to go with her instead. Jada has a thing for Lindsey. Turns out that Lindsey has a thing for Jada. This makes for a very interesting dinner.
I enjoyed this short book. Very sweet. Very spicy.

[Siddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short story, where Jada and Lindsey have been best friends for many years, but secretly pining for each other. It takes Jada and her current girlfriend splitting, and then Lindsey’s sister Mia pushing them together for a special Valentine’s Day meal. This is a fun and very steamy story.

[Emoni · Rating 4 out of 5]

a quick romance

Friends to lovers trope, quick spicy romance .. you and that friend that’s been top toeing around eachother? Ask them out and see where it goes if you’re bold enough 😌

[Tiny Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

cute, short and sexy!

No lengthy words needed… this is exactly what it says it is “short sexy and cute”. A Friends to lovers short story that will make you at least smile as you read and a great palate cleanser for in between larger reads.

[Temi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute and short🥰🥰

[Jenna Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good! Two best friends who’ve always fought their feelings for one another! Loved it! Short holiday novella with spice.

[N.G. Peltier · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick cute read :)

[liberty · Rating 5 out of 5]

best friends to lovers in a bite sized valentine’s themed story what’s not to love??? <3

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This VDay novella is so good! Karmen Lee is gonna do it for me every time.

[Tiambriss Glass · Rating 5 out of 5]

gave me a rush

Short and sweet ! The sex scene was amazing!! I could envision the entire night! Thank you for consistently representing for the community.

[Shynnel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and sweet and hot as hell

[Etinni · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

[Cardi Blue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whew

I’m here for hunching and hunching is what I got. I want more because clearly Lindsey is a dom. Jada better be glad Lindsey didn’t have her spread out on the restaurant table.

[Jeri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. Short and sweet✨

[Bethie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think my issue is I need to feel invested in characters to care about their sexual interactions. This was too short for me, or maybe it was how the story was told. Cute for a quick read.

[Shan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad read

It was short and not a bad read. I liked it enough, but it wasn’t a favorite of mine. I do like the concept though.

[CiCi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was cute.
Short, sweet and flirty
The spice scene is where it fell off for me. It was sexy but I hated all the talking.

3.25