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Love Notes #2
A Study in Sparkling
Win a free print copy of this book!
7 days and 13:52:18
50 copies available
U.S. only
The author of the “brilliant” (Library Journal) An Academic Affair returns with a steamy romance about a recently separated single mom who’s absolutely not looking for another relationship...only to fall for the younger owner of her favorite wine bar.
Fiona Fisher thought she had it a loving husband, three kids, and a life far away from the suffocating expectations of her family. But when her husband reveals that he’s leaving her for his secret second family, Fiona is left devastated and humiliated.
Satoshi Tsukamoto wants it all. He’s the owner of a popular wine bar, and he’s studying for the hardest test in the the Master Sommelier exam. There aren’t enough hours in the day for anything else—except maybe for Fiona, his favorite customer, and the woman he’s absolutely, head-over-heels in love with.
On paper, Fiona and Satoshi make no sense. He’s eight years younger than her and has no time for romance. She’s a single mother and doesn’t know if she’ll ever be able to trust anyone again. But how can Fiona resist when Satoshi suggests they give into their mutual attraction and let off some steam? And how can Satoshi resist when the woman he adores is finally within his grasp—even if they’ve agreed to keep things casual?
The perfect read for fans of Jasmine Guillory and Abby Jimenez, A Study in Sparkling proves that Jodi McAlister truly is “a writer to watch” (Booklist).
Fiona Fisher thought she had it a loving husband, three kids, and a life far away from the suffocating expectations of her family. But when her husband reveals that he’s leaving her for his secret second family, Fiona is left devastated and humiliated.
Satoshi Tsukamoto wants it all. He’s the owner of a popular wine bar, and he’s studying for the hardest test in the the Master Sommelier exam. There aren’t enough hours in the day for anything else—except maybe for Fiona, his favorite customer, and the woman he’s absolutely, head-over-heels in love with.
On paper, Fiona and Satoshi make no sense. He’s eight years younger than her and has no time for romance. She’s a single mother and doesn’t know if she’ll ever be able to trust anyone again. But how can Fiona resist when Satoshi suggests they give into their mutual attraction and let off some steam? And how can Satoshi resist when the woman he adores is finally within his grasp—even if they’ve agreed to keep things casual?
The perfect read for fans of Jasmine Guillory and Abby Jimenez, A Study in Sparkling proves that Jodi McAlister truly is “a writer to watch” (Booklist).
384 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 27, 2026
About the author
Jodi McAlister
19 books1,078 followersBy day, Jodi McAlister writes romance novels. By other time of day, Dr Jodi McAlister studies them. She's written romantic comedies for adults, romantasy and contemporary romance for young adults, and several academic books.
For adults
If you're a reality TV lover, the Marry Me, Juliet series are the books for you. Even if you're not a reality TV lover, they might be the books for you - several reality TV haters have enjoyed them.
The trilogy all take place at the same time on the same season of a reality dating show called Marry Me, Juliet (which bears a very strong resemblance to The Bachelor). While they all stand alone and can be read in any order, they work best when read in order.
Start with Here For The Right Reasons (he's the series lead, she's the contestant he eliminates on the first night), move on to Can I Steal You For A Second? (she's a contestant, she's... also a contestant), and finish with the book the New York Times called a "full-on villain romance", Not Here To Make Friends (she's the villain, he's the producer who's pining for her).
For young adults
If you're a romantasy reader, you'll like the Valentine series, a young adult paranormal romance/urban fantasy series about smart girls, small towns, and scary fairies. There are three books: Valentine, Ironheart, and Misrule. If Picnic at Hanging Rock meets Holly Black sounds like something you’d be into, these are the books for you.
And if you're a theatre kid, Libby Lawrence Is Good At Pretending is the book for you. It's my love letter to theatre kids as someone who used to be one.
Academic books
No one really cares much about these on Goodreads, do they? More info on my website if you're interested.
About Jodi
Jodi is originally from Kiama, a seaside holiday town on the south coast of New South Wales, and has lived in a bunch of different cities: Canberra (where she did her undergrad degrees), Wollongong (where she lived while she did her PhD in Sydney), and Hobart (where she held her first academic job) among them. Currently, she lives in Melbourne, where she works as a Senior Lecturer in Writing, Literature and Culture at Deakin University.
When she’s not writing about romance, Jodi is an academic studying romance. Her research focuses on representations of love in popular culture and fiction. It means that reading romance novels and watching (and let’s be real, writing huge amounts about) The Bachelor/ette is technically work for her.
**Want to dip your toes into the Valentine universe? Try the free short story Galentine, set a year and a bit before the events of Valentine. http://jodimcalister.com.au/galentine/ **
**Want to read a bonus epilogue to Libby Lawrence Is Good At Pretending? Check it out here: https://jodimcalister.com.au/libby-la... **
For adults
If you're a reality TV lover, the Marry Me, Juliet series are the books for you. Even if you're not a reality TV lover, they might be the books for you - several reality TV haters have enjoyed them.
The trilogy all take place at the same time on the same season of a reality dating show called Marry Me, Juliet (which bears a very strong resemblance to The Bachelor). While they all stand alone and can be read in any order, they work best when read in order.
Start with Here For The Right Reasons (he's the series lead, she's the contestant he eliminates on the first night), move on to Can I Steal You For A Second? (she's a contestant, she's... also a contestant), and finish with the book the New York Times called a "full-on villain romance", Not Here To Make Friends (she's the villain, he's the producer who's pining for her).
For young adults
If you're a romantasy reader, you'll like the Valentine series, a young adult paranormal romance/urban fantasy series about smart girls, small towns, and scary fairies. There are three books: Valentine, Ironheart, and Misrule. If Picnic at Hanging Rock meets Holly Black sounds like something you’d be into, these are the books for you.
And if you're a theatre kid, Libby Lawrence Is Good At Pretending is the book for you. It's my love letter to theatre kids as someone who used to be one.
Academic books
No one really cares much about these on Goodreads, do they? More info on my website if you're interested.
About Jodi
Jodi is originally from Kiama, a seaside holiday town on the south coast of New South Wales, and has lived in a bunch of different cities: Canberra (where she did her undergrad degrees), Wollongong (where she lived while she did her PhD in Sydney), and Hobart (where she held her first academic job) among them. Currently, she lives in Melbourne, where she works as a Senior Lecturer in Writing, Literature and Culture at Deakin University.
When she’s not writing about romance, Jodi is an academic studying romance. Her research focuses on representations of love in popular culture and fiction. It means that reading romance novels and watching (and let’s be real, writing huge amounts about) The Bachelor/ette is technically work for her.
**Want to dip your toes into the Valentine universe? Try the free short story Galentine, set a year and a bit before the events of Valentine. http://jodimcalister.com.au/galentine/ **
**Want to read a bonus epilogue to Libby Lawrence Is Good At Pretending? Check it out here: https://jodimcalister.com.au/libby-la... **
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July 20, 2026Bye i got the arc 🫢🫢
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
2.5 ⭐️?
✧*:.｡. TL;DR: I went into this thinking I’d love it, but came out a wounded soldier of disappointment and anger. This is all my fault, not the book’s or the author’s. 😭💔 I guess I’m just an asshole, which makes sense. 🤷♀️😂
〖 ᴺᴼᵂ ᴾᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ: I Was Made for Lovin’ You by YUNGBLUD 〗
↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺ 1:41 ───ㅇ───── 4:21
✧*:.｡. Oh boy, where do I start? I guess I’ll begin by saying that I had no intention of being this disappointed or frustrated with this book. I loved An Academic Affair, and when I heard there was going to be a book about Fiona and Satoshi, I was over the moon, especially when I got the widget in an email. My family can attest to how excited I was. 😂
But where did everything go wrong for me? Could it be the fact that, even though I was so stoked for the story, I was a bit wary about liking Fiona since I was a tad bit annoyed with her in the first book? Or was it when Satoshi was just way too accommodating for his own good? Or, perhaps, it was when Fiona literally made me almost pull my hair out by how infuriating she was when it came to a relationship with Satoshi?
Yeah, I think that’s where it all went wrong for me. Let me explain.
There will be a lot of venting and some swearing, so I truly apologize in advance. I try not to swear in my reviews, but I don’t think I’ll be able to help myself. 😭
I sincerely feel bad for Fiona. I do. Matt doesn’t even deserve to be called a piece of shit because that would be offensive to shit itself, but he is, and I was just as angry as she was at his audacity and stupidity. I think she handled everything as well as she could, and she was a great mother to her kids. I’m not mad at her about any of that. None of it was her fault.
However…when it came to Satoshi, my sympathy was scrambling for the open window. Ma’am, do not play games with this man’s feelings. Just don’t. He doesn’t deserve that. YOU don’t deserve that. You are so freaking mad at what Matt did to you, yet you turn around and do the same damn thing to Satoshi! You handled everything in that relationship so wrong! Who wants to be a secret? Huh? No one! You know what that feels like, but here you are, making excuses about wanting to keep everything hush-hush, when there’s literally no reason to do so. I get that you’re older with baggage, but you don’t have to tell me every damn time you have an opportunity to. It seems like Satoshi is more mature than you, but y’all both suck at communicating and hiding your feelings. Everyone and their grandma could tell that you two love each other. It’s kind of a hard thing to conceal. So why must you constantly tell the poor man the wrong things? You should be telling him how you feel about him, and go from there. If he rejects you, okay. You’ll figure it out. But if he doesn’t? Then there’s nothing to worry about! You stressed not only Satoshi out, but me as well, and I will be collecting compensation because I am not your lover (thank God), who is willing to overlook things. I am so done with you, Fiona. You ruined the romance for me!
And then there’s the situation with your family–particularly your brothers. This is from my notes: “If you want them to forget about your past or your mistakes, then forget theirs…because they’ve proven time and again that you can go to them and trust them.” And I stand by it. I know their reactions were negative and rude, but to be honest, my family would react the same way if they thought I was making a mistake. Do you know why, honey? Because they love me. It might be the wrong way of showing it, but I know them well enough to discern when they’re being straight-up assholes or if they’re trying to help me. And even if there was no possible way of understanding what they said, don’t their present actions make up for their past blunders? You don’t want to be defined by what happened to you–don’t define them by what they did so many years ago. Y’all need to learn to forgive and forget because if it’s always lingering in the back of your mind, moving on won’t happen. You’ll stay stuck in the past, and that gets you nowhere.
Then there’s your dad. Don’t even try to look for his approval at this point, girlie. There are some people in this world you just cannot please, and he is one of them. I hope you discuss that in therapy if you haven’t already, because your fear of your family looking down on what you are doing to put money in the bank and food on the table needs to be addressed. You’re a grown woman with three awesome kids, and you have your brothers and mom, who are also victims of your dad’s stubbornness and stupidity. You’ll be fine. I promise you.
Okay, moving on from Fiona before I go into another lengthy rant, let’s talk about Satoshi. I really wish we had gotten to know him better. I don’t know if his entire life surrounds his work, his mom and brother, and Fiona, but if it doesn’t and he has friends he hangs out with (the study group wasn’t explicitly stated as his friends, so idk if you can even coin them as that word) and a whole other life outside of those three main components, I wanted to see it. He was a great character, sure, but he didn’t feel fully fleshed out as one. If being with Fiona was a found family aspect because of her kids and her brothers, then that would make sense, but he has his brother and mom, whom I think he sees regularly. I don’t know, I just don’t think we really got to know Satoshi well enough, which is a shame because I liked him, even if he was wayyy too nice and forgiving in my book.
The last complaint I’ll address was the email and text message chapters. Look, I didn’t hate them. I love it when books include stuff like that. But it did kinda make the pacing a bit wonky, and some of the texts were cringey, so I just read them as quickly as I could without missing anything to get back to the story.
Whew. Okay, now that I've finally vented, I’m ready to talk about some positives.
I really liked the information about wine. I don’t drink, and I have absolutely zero knowledge about alcohol, but the info dumps about wine and the process of making it and how you can taste all the different flavors were super interesting to me. That was fun. ☺
I also liked the ending, especially a certain part that got me so excited. 🤭
And Isamu, my hero, lol. Thank you for telling your brother and Fiona off. They needed to hear what you said, and I am forever in your debt. And Lex as well, for your bravery to feel what you felt and put words to those feelings. I was just applauding them–they were one of my favorite characters as well.
Overall, I’m very sad that I didn’t love this, but I’m grateful I got a chance to read it. If there’s another book in the series, I’m definitely reading it because I want to know who’s next on the roster. Is it Isamu, Chess, or Elias? I guess I’m going to have to find out. 💖
⁑ Thank you to Atria Books for inviting me to read the arc! All opinions and statements are my own! ⁑
My thoughts on the rest of the series:
An Academic Affair
《 Content Warnings 》
Swearing: Yes
Spice: Yes (🌶🌶🌶.75/5)
✧*:.｡. TL;DR: I went into this thinking I’d love it, but came out a wounded soldier of disappointment and anger. This is all my fault, not the book’s or the author’s. 😭💔 I guess I’m just an asshole, which makes sense. 🤷♀️😂
〖 ᴺᴼᵂ ᴾᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ: I Was Made for Lovin’ You by YUNGBLUD 〗
↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺ 1:41 ───ㅇ───── 4:21
✧*:.｡. Oh boy, where do I start? I guess I’ll begin by saying that I had no intention of being this disappointed or frustrated with this book. I loved An Academic Affair, and when I heard there was going to be a book about Fiona and Satoshi, I was over the moon, especially when I got the widget in an email. My family can attest to how excited I was. 😂
But where did everything go wrong for me? Could it be the fact that, even though I was so stoked for the story, I was a bit wary about liking Fiona since I was a tad bit annoyed with her in the first book? Or was it when Satoshi was just way too accommodating for his own good? Or, perhaps, it was when Fiona literally made me almost pull my hair out by how infuriating she was when it came to a relationship with Satoshi?
Yeah, I think that’s where it all went wrong for me. Let me explain.
There will be a lot of venting and some swearing, so I truly apologize in advance. I try not to swear in my reviews, but I don’t think I’ll be able to help myself. 😭
I sincerely feel bad for Fiona. I do. Matt doesn’t even deserve to be called a piece of shit because that would be offensive to shit itself, but he is, and I was just as angry as she was at his audacity and stupidity. I think she handled everything as well as she could, and she was a great mother to her kids. I’m not mad at her about any of that. None of it was her fault.
However…when it came to Satoshi, my sympathy was scrambling for the open window. Ma’am, do not play games with this man’s feelings. Just don’t. He doesn’t deserve that. YOU don’t deserve that. You are so freaking mad at what Matt did to you, yet you turn around and do the same damn thing to Satoshi! You handled everything in that relationship so wrong! Who wants to be a secret? Huh? No one! You know what that feels like, but here you are, making excuses about wanting to keep everything hush-hush, when there’s literally no reason to do so. I get that you’re older with baggage, but you don’t have to tell me every damn time you have an opportunity to. It seems like Satoshi is more mature than you, but y’all both suck at communicating and hiding your feelings. Everyone and their grandma could tell that you two love each other. It’s kind of a hard thing to conceal. So why must you constantly tell the poor man the wrong things? You should be telling him how you feel about him, and go from there. If he rejects you, okay. You’ll figure it out. But if he doesn’t? Then there’s nothing to worry about! You stressed not only Satoshi out, but me as well, and I will be collecting compensation because I am not your lover (thank God), who is willing to overlook things. I am so done with you, Fiona. You ruined the romance for me!
And then there’s the situation with your family–particularly your brothers. This is from my notes: “If you want them to forget about your past or your mistakes, then forget theirs…because they’ve proven time and again that you can go to them and trust them.” And I stand by it. I know their reactions were negative and rude, but to be honest, my family would react the same way if they thought I was making a mistake. Do you know why, honey? Because they love me. It might be the wrong way of showing it, but I know them well enough to discern when they’re being straight-up assholes or if they’re trying to help me. And even if there was no possible way of understanding what they said, don’t their present actions make up for their past blunders? You don’t want to be defined by what happened to you–don’t define them by what they did so many years ago. Y’all need to learn to forgive and forget because if it’s always lingering in the back of your mind, moving on won’t happen. You’ll stay stuck in the past, and that gets you nowhere.
Then there’s your dad. Don’t even try to look for his approval at this point, girlie. There are some people in this world you just cannot please, and he is one of them. I hope you discuss that in therapy if you haven’t already, because your fear of your family looking down on what you are doing to put money in the bank and food on the table needs to be addressed. You’re a grown woman with three awesome kids, and you have your brothers and mom, who are also victims of your dad’s stubbornness and stupidity. You’ll be fine. I promise you.
Okay, moving on from Fiona before I go into another lengthy rant, let’s talk about Satoshi. I really wish we had gotten to know him better. I don’t know if his entire life surrounds his work, his mom and brother, and Fiona, but if it doesn’t and he has friends he hangs out with (the study group wasn’t explicitly stated as his friends, so idk if you can even coin them as that word) and a whole other life outside of those three main components, I wanted to see it. He was a great character, sure, but he didn’t feel fully fleshed out as one. If being with Fiona was a found family aspect because of her kids and her brothers, then that would make sense, but he has his brother and mom, whom I think he sees regularly. I don’t know, I just don’t think we really got to know Satoshi well enough, which is a shame because I liked him, even if he was wayyy too nice and forgiving in my book.
The last complaint I’ll address was the email and text message chapters. Look, I didn’t hate them. I love it when books include stuff like that. But it did kinda make the pacing a bit wonky, and some of the texts were cringey, so I just read them as quickly as I could without missing anything to get back to the story.
Whew. Okay, now that I've finally vented, I’m ready to talk about some positives.
I really liked the information about wine. I don’t drink, and I have absolutely zero knowledge about alcohol, but the info dumps about wine and the process of making it and how you can taste all the different flavors were super interesting to me. That was fun. ☺
I also liked the ending, especially a certain part that got me so excited. 🤭
And Isamu, my hero, lol. Thank you for telling your brother and Fiona off. They needed to hear what you said, and I am forever in your debt. And Lex as well, for your bravery to feel what you felt and put words to those feelings. I was just applauding them–they were one of my favorite characters as well.
Overall, I’m very sad that I didn’t love this, but I’m grateful I got a chance to read it. If there’s another book in the series, I’m definitely reading it because I want to know who’s next on the roster. Is it Isamu, Chess, or Elias? I guess I’m going to have to find out. 💖
⁑ Thank you to Atria Books for inviting me to read the arc! All opinions and statements are my own! ⁑
My thoughts on the rest of the series:
An Academic Affair
《 Content Warnings 》
Swearing: Yes
Spice: Yes (🌶🌶🌶.75/5)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 8, 2026
thank you to netgalley for this arc!
this is unfortunately going to be a low 3 star read for me. i absolutely loved the premise, and i adore Sato, our mmc, but i was finding myself constantly frustrated and irritated by our fmc and her actions and thought processes. she was insistent on keeping their relationship a secret, and Sato was far too accommodating, to the point of it being detrimental to him. it felt like our fmc was walking all over him for this entire book, and it felt disrespectful to me. how many times i had to read scenes where she was obviously embarassed of him, and he just put up with it, really irked me. i essentially just felt bad for him for 300+ pages.
this is also an age gap romance (he’s mid twenties, she’s mid thirties, so really not a big deal in my books), and it was referenced faaar too many times for my liking. i also feel like it was a tad insta-lovey for me, and we lacked actual depth and relationship development within the story itself - lots of text messages were shoehorned in in place of actual scenes, and i feel like that let the chemistry down a bit.
this is unfortunately going to be a low 3 star read for me. i absolutely loved the premise, and i adore Sato, our mmc, but i was finding myself constantly frustrated and irritated by our fmc and her actions and thought processes. she was insistent on keeping their relationship a secret, and Sato was far too accommodating, to the point of it being detrimental to him. it felt like our fmc was walking all over him for this entire book, and it felt disrespectful to me. how many times i had to read scenes where she was obviously embarassed of him, and he just put up with it, really irked me. i essentially just felt bad for him for 300+ pages.
this is also an age gap romance (he’s mid twenties, she’s mid thirties, so really not a big deal in my books), and it was referenced faaar too many times for my liking. i also feel like it was a tad insta-lovey for me, and we lacked actual depth and relationship development within the story itself - lots of text messages were shoehorned in in place of actual scenes, and i feel like that let the chemistry down a bit.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
2 ⭐️
How this book went from a strong 4-star beginning to a final 2-stars rating should be a study in disappointment.
A recently separated single mom who’s absolutely not looking for another relationship...only to fall for the younger owner of her favorite wine bar.
The beginning:
The first quarter was amazing. We had explosive familial drama with Fiona’s (the FMC) husband leaving her for his secret second family. And quietly yearning from a distance was Satoshi (the MMC). The owner of Fiona’s favorite wine bar who’d been secretly head-over-heels for his married regular.
As a dual-POV narration the author wove a beautiful “origins” story to explain when/how Satoshi came to fall for the VERY married Fiona. Satoshi was definitely the picture of a yearner. He’d take any tiny morsel of affection that Fiona offered with immense gratitude…and that’s where this story took a turn for the worse.
The rest of the book:
Satoshi’s yearning started reading pathetic. Fiona could yank him around in any direction and like a good boy he’d obediently follow. (Yes, this is harsh. But outside of being a sommelier this guy had no personality other than being a Fiona simp.)
And as for Fiona, I get why she was so reluctant to commit to Satoshi after her ex’s actions. But the “conflict” of this book was “but Satoshi’s so young and attractive why would he want to be with sad, old single mom me?” (I do not believe that 36 is that old, but this author constantly reiterated her age as if Fiona was in her 70s.)
IT. GOT. FRUSTRATING. Satoshi pretty much had DEVOTED tattooed on his forehead. He promised her monogamy even when all they’d do is a little kissing. He did not pressure her whatsoever. Followed everything she wanted TO THE LETTER. Yet every Fiona-POV chapter was a variation of “he’s young” (28) or “his ex was so much hotter than me, he can do so much better” rinse and repeat. How many times will the author reheat the same old stale nachos?!?
This last complaint is personal preference, but I wish that Fiona had been harsher with her ex-husband and his homewrecker lover. He got off too easy considering all the pain he put her and their children through.
The only reason for the second star is because the supporting characters were fun and breathed life into an otherwise stale romance novel. A special shoutout to the LGBTQ+ inclusion of Fiona’s non-binary child, Lex, who was so intelligent and strong for their age!
Sadly, A Study in Sparkling did not work for me. The relationship conflict felt unnecessarily drawn out. Satoshi went from sweet yearner to spineless pushover. By the end, I found myself just wanting to finish this story and be done with it.
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC. All opinions are my own.
How this book went from a strong 4-star beginning to a final 2-stars rating should be a study in disappointment.
A recently separated single mom who’s absolutely not looking for another relationship...only to fall for the younger owner of her favorite wine bar.
The beginning:
The first quarter was amazing. We had explosive familial drama with Fiona’s (the FMC) husband leaving her for his secret second family. And quietly yearning from a distance was Satoshi (the MMC). The owner of Fiona’s favorite wine bar who’d been secretly head-over-heels for his married regular.
As a dual-POV narration the author wove a beautiful “origins” story to explain when/how Satoshi came to fall for the VERY married Fiona. Satoshi was definitely the picture of a yearner. He’d take any tiny morsel of affection that Fiona offered with immense gratitude…and that’s where this story took a turn for the worse.
The rest of the book:
Satoshi’s yearning started reading pathetic. Fiona could yank him around in any direction and like a good boy he’d obediently follow. (Yes, this is harsh. But outside of being a sommelier this guy had no personality other than being a Fiona simp.)
And as for Fiona, I get why she was so reluctant to commit to Satoshi after her ex’s actions. But the “conflict” of this book was “but Satoshi’s so young and attractive why would he want to be with sad, old single mom me?” (I do not believe that 36 is that old, but this author constantly reiterated her age as if Fiona was in her 70s.)
IT. GOT. FRUSTRATING. Satoshi pretty much had DEVOTED tattooed on his forehead. He promised her monogamy even when all they’d do is a little kissing. He did not pressure her whatsoever. Followed everything she wanted TO THE LETTER. Yet every Fiona-POV chapter was a variation of “he’s young” (28) or “his ex was so much hotter than me, he can do so much better” rinse and repeat. How many times will the author reheat the same old stale nachos?!?
This last complaint is personal preference, but I wish that Fiona had been harsher with her ex-husband and his homewrecker lover. He got off too easy considering all the pain he put her and their children through.
The only reason for the second star is because the supporting characters were fun and breathed life into an otherwise stale romance novel. A special shoutout to the LGBTQ+ inclusion of Fiona’s non-binary child, Lex, who was so intelligent and strong for their age!
Sadly, A Study in Sparkling did not work for me. The relationship conflict felt unnecessarily drawn out. Satoshi went from sweet yearner to spineless pushover. By the end, I found myself just wanting to finish this story and be done with it.
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC. All opinions are my own.
Want to Read
July 17, 2026˒˒📖 pre read ˒˒࿐· started jul 17・xvii 𖦞.˖
i need to catch up on my ARCs, and the cover of this one instantly drew me in + i've heard AMAZING things about the first book. hoping for a fun & cute romance 🌺💌
─ જ thank you to Netgalley for providing me this ARC in exchange for an honest review
i need to catch up on my ARCs, and the cover of this one instantly drew me in + i've heard AMAZING things about the first book. hoping for a fun & cute romance 🌺💌
─ જ thank you to Netgalley for providing me this ARC in exchange for an honest review
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
——✮∙˙ 2.75 stars ⋆✴︎˚｡⋆
╰► 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸!
⋮ ✦┆ fiona fisher thought she had it all; a loving husband, three kids, and a life in which she isn’t suffocated by her family’s expectations. however, things take a turn when her husband—who she thought was the love of her life— reveals that he’s leaving her for his secret second family. fiona is left devastated and humiliated, and the only person she can turn to is the the owner of a popular wine bar. satoshi tsukamoto is studying for the hardest test in the the master sommelier exam, and there aren’t enough hours in the day for anything else—except maybe for fiona, the woman he’s head-over-heels in love with. they’re eight years apart and fiona doesn’t know if she’ll ever be able to trust anyone again. will a casual friends with benefits lead to something more? or will it end in heartbreak?
✧ genre: contemporary romance
✧ tropes: friends to lovers • slow burn• age gap (she’s older) • he falls first • single mom
✧ setting: hobart, tasmania, australia
◦◦,`°.✽✦✽.◦.✽✦✽.°`,◦◦
⋮ ✦┆going into this book, i did sort of have high hopes, because while the first book in this series (an academic affair) was okay, i was hoping this one would be much better. unfortunately, that wasn’t the case… at the start, the prologue-chapter two were very very intriguing and i loved the structure of it, but the end of chapter two and afterward seemed to throw me off a little bit. once chapter three hit, the book had its ups and downs and the relationship between the two main characters, satoshi and fiona, felt too soon/forced.
although they knew each other for a long time, it doesn’t feel that long at all when you’re one chapter in, therefore most of the intimacy scenes made me cringe. i do understand that the whole plot is basically friends with benefits, but it was written in a way that i didn’t quite enjoy.
also, when fiona and satoshi would text eachother, it was like they were teenagers instead of grown adults. there was just something off about it and i truly was cringeing at the way they would respond to one another.
now, what did make this an enjoyable read for me was the friendships. it’s obvious that they all care for one another, even through the ups and downs.
✧˚ ༘ ⋆｡˚ fiona fisher ⋆｡°
⌞⌨️⌝ ⋮ ✦┆i didn’t like fiona. in the first book, an academic affair, i couldn’t stand the fmc either. i understand that fiona had a lot to deal with, such as her divorce and her children, but i just didn’t like the way she went about forming an intimate/lasting relationship with satoshi. she was honestly just annoying and frustrating to me. while i doubt it was the author’s intent, it almost seems like they are trying to make the women in these books terrible so that the men become more likable. i don’t quite enjoy that—and other people might have different opinions about it, but this is mine. i also wasn’t a big fan of her calling her daughters “girly pops.” that icked me out a lot. (don’t attack me guys i just hate that term 😭)
✧˚ ༘ ⋆｡˚ satoshi tsukamoto ⋆｡°
⌞🍾⌝ ⋮ ✦┆ satoshi was definitely the highlight of this book for me. his ability to care and put others first—especially fiona—made him much more attractive. men who care and do things for you without expecting anything back will always be one of my favorite things in romance books and honestly just in general. he was so sweet the entire book and i felt so bad for him majority of it. however, while i loved him, his entire personality was just so focused on studying, taking the MS exam, whether to fire an employee or not, cleaning, etc., and i just didn’t get to really dive deep into anything more beside his kindness.
⋮ ✦┆ this was pretty fast paced and i did finish it in 2 days. but to recommend this book to someone…it definitely wouldn’t be the first book that would ever come to mind. yes there were cute moments, but the relationship between the two characters was lowkey boring.
ᯤ ୭ ˚. ᵎᵎ ”She was everything to me. But to her, I would only ever be - could only be - someone she had to explain away.”
ᯤ ୭ ˚. ᵎᵎ “I was fluent in three languages and conversant in several more, but I’d forgotten every word in every one of them that wasn’t her name.”
ᯤ ୭ ˚. ᵎᵎ ”Whenever you look at me, I feel — I feel like Fiona.”
── ⋆⋅𖤓⋅⋆ ──
ᝰ.ᐟ🥂 ⌗ pre read┆started august 24 | finished ? ˎˊ˗
i didn’t request this arc but i got an email by atria marketing, inviting me to read this! i enjoyed the first book in this series so i’m excited to see what this one has in store 🤗
˖᯽ ݁˖· ─ 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘤 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸
⟢ 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚: september 14
╰► 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸!
˗ˏˋ ꒰ ⓘ ꒱ ˎˊ˗ i. synopsis⋆˚꩜｡
⋮ ✦┆ fiona fisher thought she had it all; a loving husband, three kids, and a life in which she isn’t suffocated by her family’s expectations. however, things take a turn when her husband—who she thought was the love of her life— reveals that he’s leaving her for his secret second family. fiona is left devastated and humiliated, and the only person she can turn to is the the owner of a popular wine bar. satoshi tsukamoto is studying for the hardest test in the the master sommelier exam, and there aren’t enough hours in the day for anything else—except maybe for fiona, the woman he’s head-over-heels in love with. they’re eight years apart and fiona doesn’t know if she’ll ever be able to trust anyone again. will a casual friends with benefits lead to something more? or will it end in heartbreak?
✧ genre: contemporary romance
✧ tropes: friends to lovers • slow burn• age gap (she’s older) • he falls first • single mom
✧ setting: hobart, tasmania, australia
◦◦,`°.✽✦✽.◦.✽✦✽.°`,◦◦
⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ ii. my thoughts ⋆｡°💭
⋮ ✦┆going into this book, i did sort of have high hopes, because while the first book in this series (an academic affair) was okay, i was hoping this one would be much better. unfortunately, that wasn’t the case… at the start, the prologue-chapter two were very very intriguing and i loved the structure of it, but the end of chapter two and afterward seemed to throw me off a little bit. once chapter three hit, the book had its ups and downs and the relationship between the two main characters, satoshi and fiona, felt too soon/forced.
although they knew each other for a long time, it doesn’t feel that long at all when you’re one chapter in, therefore most of the intimacy scenes made me cringe. i do understand that the whole plot is basically friends with benefits, but it was written in a way that i didn’t quite enjoy.
also, when fiona and satoshi would text eachother, it was like they were teenagers instead of grown adults. there was just something off about it and i truly was cringeing at the way they would respond to one another.
now, what did make this an enjoyable read for me was the friendships. it’s obvious that they all care for one another, even through the ups and downs.
❝ I fell in love with Fiona Fisher-Sinclair at about 7 pm on a Tuesday.❞
⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ iii. characters ⋆｡°🌷
✧˚ ༘ ⋆｡˚ fiona fisher ⋆｡°
⌞⌨️⌝ ⋮ ✦┆i didn’t like fiona. in the first book, an academic affair, i couldn’t stand the fmc either. i understand that fiona had a lot to deal with, such as her divorce and her children, but i just didn’t like the way she went about forming an intimate/lasting relationship with satoshi. she was honestly just annoying and frustrating to me. while i doubt it was the author’s intent, it almost seems like they are trying to make the women in these books terrible so that the men become more likable. i don’t quite enjoy that—and other people might have different opinions about it, but this is mine. i also wasn’t a big fan of her calling her daughters “girly pops.” that icked me out a lot. (don’t attack me guys i just hate that term 😭)
✧˚ ༘ ⋆｡˚ satoshi tsukamoto ⋆｡°
⌞🍾⌝ ⋮ ✦┆ satoshi was definitely the highlight of this book for me. his ability to care and put others first—especially fiona—made him much more attractive. men who care and do things for you without expecting anything back will always be one of my favorite things in romance books and honestly just in general. he was so sweet the entire book and i felt so bad for him majority of it. however, while i loved him, his entire personality was just so focused on studying, taking the MS exam, whether to fire an employee or not, cleaning, etc., and i just didn’t get to really dive deep into anything more beside his kindness.
❝Just because I could technically want anyone, doesn’t mean I want everyone.❞
⋆✴︎˚｡⋆ iv. overall ⋆｡°⌛️
⋮ ✦┆ this was pretty fast paced and i did finish it in 2 days. but to recommend this book to someone…it definitely wouldn’t be the first book that would ever come to mind. yes there were cute moments, but the relationship between the two characters was lowkey boring.
⋆✴︎˚｡⋆v. quotes i loved⋆｡° 𓂃🖊
ᯤ ୭ ˚. ᵎᵎ ”She was everything to me. But to her, I would only ever be - could only be - someone she had to explain away.”
ᯤ ୭ ˚. ᵎᵎ “I was fluent in three languages and conversant in several more, but I’d forgotten every word in every one of them that wasn’t her name.”
ᯤ ୭ ˚. ᵎᵎ ”Whenever you look at me, I feel — I feel like Fiona.”
── ⋆⋅𖤓⋅⋆ ──
ᝰ.ᐟ🥂 ⌗ pre read┆started august 24 | finished ? ˎˊ˗
i didn’t request this arc but i got an email by atria marketing, inviting me to read this! i enjoyed the first book in this series so i’m excited to see what this one has in store 🤗
˖᯽ ݁˖· ─ 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘤 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸
⟢ 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚: september 14
Want to Read
June 16, 2026I can't believe I have the arc for this. The first was actually pretty good and these characters were intriguing so I have high hopes.
June 10, 2026
I struggled tooth and nail to get though this book. An interesting premise can only take you so far. I honestly love the reverse age gap trope, throw in a single mother and you’ve got a really intriguing story.
So I was so disappointed when the prologue immediately hit me with the insta-love trope. Satoshi didn’t have enough page time to properly yearn for Fiona. He just had the prologue before he was, and I quote him “in love” with her.
Now, I could look past that little insta love moment if the romance that followed it was well done. Even though there were moments where the romance was undeniably cute, there were to many problems for me to ignore.
First, Fiona treated Satoshi as her dirty little secret for far too long. I get that she didn’t think she was worthy of him because she was older and had a bunch of baggage, but that doesn’t mean you get to hide him away and keep him like a secret. He deserved so much better than that. I think if he wasn’t already “in love” with her, he wouldn’t have put up with her poor treatment.
Next, I wasn’t a fan of the messy divorce drama. Not a criticism on how it was written, I thought it was actually very well written. It just was not my cup of tea and that definitely contributed to overall dislike of this book.
A lot of parts definitely didn’t work well for me at all, but I would like to mention a few things that I did enjoyed.
I loved Satoshi’s relationship with Fiona’s kids, especially Lex. He made them feel seen after they came out as non binary and stocked his bookshelves with ya lgbtq books. His relationship with the girls was also very sweet.
I appreciated the setting of the book and I liked how much information there was on wine. I liked learning about the different courses and tests you have to take to become a “Master Sommelier” and how hard that is to achieve. There was definitely a lot about the wine world that i learned about.
Overall, this book was not for me. I can see how the tropes and the characters would resonate better with someone else. I just ultimately believe that this isn’t the book for me—and that’s totally ok.
2 stars ⭐️
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Book for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.
📆 Publication date: September 14, 2026
So I was so disappointed when the prologue immediately hit me with the insta-love trope. Satoshi didn’t have enough page time to properly yearn for Fiona. He just had the prologue before he was, and I quote him “in love” with her.
Now, I could look past that little insta love moment if the romance that followed it was well done. Even though there were moments where the romance was undeniably cute, there were to many problems for me to ignore.
First, Fiona treated Satoshi as her dirty little secret for far too long. I get that she didn’t think she was worthy of him because she was older and had a bunch of baggage, but that doesn’t mean you get to hide him away and keep him like a secret. He deserved so much better than that. I think if he wasn’t already “in love” with her, he wouldn’t have put up with her poor treatment.
Next, I wasn’t a fan of the messy divorce drama. Not a criticism on how it was written, I thought it was actually very well written. It just was not my cup of tea and that definitely contributed to overall dislike of this book.
A lot of parts definitely didn’t work well for me at all, but I would like to mention a few things that I did enjoyed.
I loved Satoshi’s relationship with Fiona’s kids, especially Lex. He made them feel seen after they came out as non binary and stocked his bookshelves with ya lgbtq books. His relationship with the girls was also very sweet.
I appreciated the setting of the book and I liked how much information there was on wine. I liked learning about the different courses and tests you have to take to become a “Master Sommelier” and how hard that is to achieve. There was definitely a lot about the wine world that i learned about.
Overall, this book was not for me. I can see how the tropes and the characters would resonate better with someone else. I just ultimately believe that this isn’t the book for me—and that’s totally ok.
2 stars ⭐️
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Book for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.
📆 Publication date: September 14, 2026
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to NetGalley, Atria Books, & Jodi McAlister for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
📼 𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝓹𝓵𝓪𝔂𝓲𝓷𝓰 ~ 𝓻𝓮𝓭 𝔀𝓲𝓷𝓮 𝓼𝓾𝓹𝓮𝓻𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓪 ~ 𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓹𝓮𝓵𝓵 𝓻𝓸𝓪𝓷 ⋆˚࿔♫⋆˚࿔📀♡⋆.˚
ʙᴀʙʏ, ᴡʜʏ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴄᴏᴍᴇ ᴏᴠᴇʀ?
ʀᴇᴅ ᴡɪɴᴇ ꜱᴜᴘᴇʀɴᴏᴠᴀ, ꜰᴀʟʟ ʀɪɢʜᴛ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴍᴇ
𝓯𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓰 ‧₊˚ 🍷⋅♡✨ ࣪ ִֶָ☾.
꒰ 🌈 ꒱ lgbtq rep
꒰ 🍷 ꒱ wine
꒰ 💕 ꒱ dual pov
꒰ 🗝️ ꒱ "forbidden" romance
꒰ ✨ ꒱ he falls first
꒰ ❤️🔥 ꒱ slowww burn
WHEWWW
first off, the vibes were ✨sparkling✨ wine tasting + bookstore??? invite plsss
a study in sparkling, aside from making me drool over all the alcohol mentions, features our hot queer japanese mmc
╰┈➤ˎˊ˗ satoshi ‧₊˚ 🍷⋅♡✨ ࣪ ִֶָ☾.
📼 𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝓹𝓵𝓪𝔂𝓲𝓷𝓰 ~ 𝔂𝓸𝓾'𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓸𝓷𝓵𝔂 𝓸𝓷𝓮 ~ 𝓭𝓸𝓵𝓵𝔂 𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓸𝓷 ೀ⋆｡˚💿
ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴏɴʟʏ ᴏɴᴇ, ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴏɴʟʏ ᴏɴᴇ
ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴏʟᴅ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛ ᴀɪɴ'ᴛ ɢᴏɴɴᴀ ʙʀᴇᴀᴋ ʏᴏᴜʀ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛ ᴀɢᴀɪɴ
a workaholic sommelier who falls HARD for our aussie fmc
╰┈➤ˎˊ˗ fiona ‧˚꒰🍷💋ྀིྀི ꒱༘‧
📼 𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝓹𝓵𝓪𝔂𝓲𝓷𝓰 ~ 𝓫𝓻𝓾𝓽𝓪𝓵 ~ 𝓸𝓵𝓲𝓿𝓲𝓪 𝓻𝓸𝓭𝓻𝓲𝓰𝓸 ⋆˚࿔♫💿✮˚.⋆
ɪ ᴡɪꜱʜ ɪ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅ ᴅɪꜱᴀᴘᴘᴇᴀʀ
ᴇɢᴏ ᴄʀᴜꜱʜ ɪꜱ ꜱᴏ ꜱᴇᴠᴇʀᴇ
ɢᴏᴅ, ɪᴛ'ꜱ ʙʀᴜᴛᴀʟ ᴏᴜᴛ ʜᴇʀᴇ
a newly single mom as she struggles through a highly fked marriage/divorce. literally all the men in this except satoshi can go fk themselves.
as for the YEARNING in this OOO THE YEARNING was ALL OVER their thoughts, their texts, their emails, their sexy times. satoshi had it baddd for fiona and fiona was an inferiority complex tornado. the miscommunications and misunderstandings in this worked so well and had me feeling bad (mostly for satoshi). i hated fiona sometimes for stringing satoshi along like the adorable puppy he is. also he matches his glasses frames to his outfits oolalallalaala
loved: satoshi, wine, the vibes, the wine blurbs for each chapter, fiona's cutie pie nonbinary child lex, did i mention satoshi?
qualms: weirdly formatted dialogue (likely technical issue), a bit too much yearning, fiona's yapping
matt im gonna kill--
p.s. us is still beating aus in the world cup ;)
⊹₊˚‧︵‿₊୨ᰔ୧₊‿︵‧˚₊⊹⊹₊˚‧︵‿₊୨ᰔ୧₊‿︵‧˚₊⊹⊹₊˚‧︵‿₊୨ᰔ୧₊‿︵‧˚₊⊹
💖 𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕 💖
first read out of the hospital yaaaaaaaaaa
✨ 𝕒𝕣𝕔 𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 ✨
OMGOMGOMGOGMOMG I GOT THE ARC
📼 𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝓹𝓵𝓪𝔂𝓲𝓷𝓰 ~ 𝓻𝓮𝓭 𝔀𝓲𝓷𝓮 𝓼𝓾𝓹𝓮𝓻𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓪 ~ 𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓹𝓮𝓵𝓵 𝓻𝓸𝓪𝓷 ⋆˚࿔♫⋆˚࿔📀♡⋆.˚
ʙᴀʙʏ, ᴡʜʏ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴄᴏᴍᴇ ᴏᴠᴇʀ?
ʀᴇᴅ ᴡɪɴᴇ ꜱᴜᴘᴇʀɴᴏᴠᴀ, ꜰᴀʟʟ ʀɪɢʜᴛ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴍᴇ
𝓯𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓰 ‧₊˚ 🍷⋅♡✨ ࣪ ִֶָ☾.
꒰ 🌈 ꒱ lgbtq rep
꒰ 🍷 ꒱ wine
꒰ 💕 ꒱ dual pov
꒰ 🗝️ ꒱ "forbidden" romance
꒰ ✨ ꒱ he falls first
꒰ ❤️🔥 ꒱ slowww burn
WHEWWW
first off, the vibes were ✨sparkling✨ wine tasting + bookstore??? invite plsss
a study in sparkling, aside from making me drool over all the alcohol mentions, features our hot queer japanese mmc
╰┈➤ˎˊ˗ satoshi ‧₊˚ 🍷⋅♡✨ ࣪ ִֶָ☾.
📼 𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝓹𝓵𝓪𝔂𝓲𝓷𝓰 ~ 𝔂𝓸𝓾'𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓸𝓷𝓵𝔂 𝓸𝓷𝓮 ~ 𝓭𝓸𝓵𝓵𝔂 𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓸𝓷 ೀ⋆｡˚💿
ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴏɴʟʏ ᴏɴᴇ, ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴏɴʟʏ ᴏɴᴇ
ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴏʟᴅ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛ ᴀɪɴ'ᴛ ɢᴏɴɴᴀ ʙʀᴇᴀᴋ ʏᴏᴜʀ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛ ᴀɢᴀɪɴ
a workaholic sommelier who falls HARD for our aussie fmc
╰┈➤ˎˊ˗ fiona ‧˚꒰🍷💋ྀིྀི ꒱༘‧
📼 𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝓹𝓵𝓪𝔂𝓲𝓷𝓰 ~ 𝓫𝓻𝓾𝓽𝓪𝓵 ~ 𝓸𝓵𝓲𝓿𝓲𝓪 𝓻𝓸𝓭𝓻𝓲𝓰𝓸 ⋆˚࿔♫💿✮˚.⋆
ɪ ᴡɪꜱʜ ɪ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅ ᴅɪꜱᴀᴘᴘᴇᴀʀ
ᴇɢᴏ ᴄʀᴜꜱʜ ɪꜱ ꜱᴏ ꜱᴇᴠᴇʀᴇ
ɢᴏᴅ, ɪᴛ'ꜱ ʙʀᴜᴛᴀʟ ᴏᴜᴛ ʜᴇʀᴇ
a newly single mom as she struggles through a highly fked marriage/divorce. literally all the men in this except satoshi can go fk themselves.
as for the YEARNING in this OOO THE YEARNING was ALL OVER their thoughts, their texts, their emails, their sexy times. satoshi had it baddd for fiona and fiona was an inferiority complex tornado. the miscommunications and misunderstandings in this worked so well and had me feeling bad (mostly for satoshi). i hated fiona sometimes for stringing satoshi along like the adorable puppy he is. also he matches his glasses frames to his outfits oolalallalaala
loved: satoshi, wine, the vibes, the wine blurbs for each chapter, fiona's cutie pie nonbinary child lex, did i mention satoshi?
qualms: weirdly formatted dialogue (likely technical issue), a bit too much yearning, fiona's yapping
matt im gonna kill--
p.s. us is still beating aus in the world cup ;)
⊹₊˚‧︵‿₊୨ᰔ୧₊‿︵‧˚₊⊹⊹₊˚‧︵‿₊୨ᰔ୧₊‿︵‧˚₊⊹⊹₊˚‧︵‿₊୨ᰔ୧₊‿︵‧˚₊⊹
💖 𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕 💖
first read out of the hospital yaaaaaaaaaa
✨ 𝕒𝕣𝕔 𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 ✨
OMGOMGOMGOGMOMG I GOT THE ARC
June 5, 2026
༄₊˚🥂 ┆ 𝐀 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠
» I Need Her - JBC«
0:47 ────────⚪──────── 1:54
⇄ ◃◃ ⅠⅠ ▹▹ ↻
༄₊˚🥂 ┆ 𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬
🥂 Wine
🥂 Romance
🥂 Cheating (not main couple)
🥂 Age Gap
🥂 Adult Fiction
🥂 Golden Retriever Boy
🥂 Friends To Lovers
༄₊˚🥂 ┆ 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
⋆｡˚🥂⋆ 𝗥𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 ⋆｡˚🥂⋆
┊5/5┊
⋆｡˚🥂⋆ 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲 ⋆｡˚🥂⋆
┊2/5┊
༄₊˚🥂 ┆ 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬
જ⁀➴ ugh this book was so addicting from the start, i didn’t expect to love it as much as i did, not only where the characters realistic and likeable, but the story was written beautifully and i genuinely could not wait to read every day.
the wine aspect was interesting to me as well, even though i don’t drink wine, i was still able to follow along. this book was fabulous.
༄₊˚🥂 ┆ 𝐏𝐥𝐨𝐭
જ⁀➴ Fiona Fisher thought she had her life together until her husband left her and their three kids for his second family. now, she's trying to rebuild her life while unexpectedly growing closer to Satoshi Tsukamoto, the owner of a popular wine bar.
જ⁀➴ the plot was addictive honestly, there were no lulls in the book and i was constantly enjoying my time reading this, even when i was at the verge of tears. (trust me, this book gets ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑦)
there were some minor mistakes in this book but i’m assuming those will be fixed before publication so they didn’t really bother me.
this book honestly should have felt a little insta love to me but it honestly didn’t, the character felt so human and the emotions and feeling felt so human too, that even if it was kinda insta love, it just didn’t feel like it. this book genuinely has my heart and is exactly what i needed.
༄₊˚🥂 ┆ 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬
𖦹 𝐅𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚
i saw some hate on her in other reviews but i genuinly don’t understand it. she was hurt badly by her husband so obviously she wouldn’t be all willing and happy to jump right into another relationship. but maybe i don’t understand it because she is lowkey me.
Fiona was such a beautifully written character and i feel like she was portrayed realistically.
𖦹 𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐬𝐡𝐢
sadly i don’t think there are any men out in the world like him. Satoshi has my heart, he is so kind and gentle, and forgiving and sexy and genuinly just so fucking perfect. i don’t think i have ever read a book with a more perfect man, and i am so glad i requested this arc in the first place because otherwise i don’t think i ever would have found one.
though Fiona kind of did treat him not so great, i feel like he handled it the best way, knowing what she was going through and that she wasn’t fully ready to go all in.
Satoshi officially has to be my number one book boyfriend right now honestly.
༄₊˚🥂 ┆ 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝
✧ Satoshi
✧ about 20% mark
✧Satoshi
༄₊˚🥂 ┆ 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥
જ⁀➴ I really REALLY enjoyed this book and definitely am going to be biting an actual physical copy when it comes out. It’s one of those books where you will already be smiling and grinning by the ten percent mark, and OML the things Satoshi said had my heart throbbing.
I will def be posting quotes after the publication date so stay tuned. And I hope that everyone else that got the arc enjoys thi sbook as much as me!!
🥂 rating : ★★★★.75
𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐭-𝐠𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐜 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰
༄₊˚🥂 ┆ pre-review:
ugh this book was genuinely what i needed, i love these characters so fricking much oml, Satoshi has my heart.
rtc 🥂
༄₊˚🥂 ┆ pre-read:
I GOT THE ARC OML, i’m so happy this is my first ever arc that i was approved for and im so excited to read this. the cover is actually so fricking cute.
» I Need Her - JBC«
0:47 ────────⚪──────── 1:54
⇄ ◃◃ ⅠⅠ ▹▹ ↻
༄₊˚🥂 ┆ 𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬
🥂 Wine
🥂 Romance
🥂 Cheating (not main couple)
🥂 Age Gap
🥂 Adult Fiction
🥂 Golden Retriever Boy
🥂 Friends To Lovers
༄₊˚🥂 ┆ 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
⋆｡˚🥂⋆ 𝗥𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 ⋆｡˚🥂⋆
┊5/5┊
⋆｡˚🥂⋆ 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲 ⋆｡˚🥂⋆
┊2/5┊
༄₊˚🥂 ┆ 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬
જ⁀➴ ugh this book was so addicting from the start, i didn’t expect to love it as much as i did, not only where the characters realistic and likeable, but the story was written beautifully and i genuinely could not wait to read every day.
the wine aspect was interesting to me as well, even though i don’t drink wine, i was still able to follow along. this book was fabulous.
༄₊˚🥂 ┆ 𝐏𝐥𝐨𝐭
જ⁀➴ Fiona Fisher thought she had her life together until her husband left her and their three kids for his second family. now, she's trying to rebuild her life while unexpectedly growing closer to Satoshi Tsukamoto, the owner of a popular wine bar.
જ⁀➴ the plot was addictive honestly, there were no lulls in the book and i was constantly enjoying my time reading this, even when i was at the verge of tears. (trust me, this book gets ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑦)
there were some minor mistakes in this book but i’m assuming those will be fixed before publication so they didn’t really bother me.
this book honestly should have felt a little insta love to me but it honestly didn’t, the character felt so human and the emotions and feeling felt so human too, that even if it was kinda insta love, it just didn’t feel like it. this book genuinely has my heart and is exactly what i needed.
༄₊˚🥂 ┆ 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬
𖦹 𝐅𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚
i saw some hate on her in other reviews but i genuinly don’t understand it. she was hurt badly by her husband so obviously she wouldn’t be all willing and happy to jump right into another relationship. but maybe i don’t understand it because she is lowkey me.
Fiona was such a beautifully written character and i feel like she was portrayed realistically.
𖦹 𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐬𝐡𝐢
sadly i don’t think there are any men out in the world like him. Satoshi has my heart, he is so kind and gentle, and forgiving and sexy and genuinly just so fucking perfect. i don’t think i have ever read a book with a more perfect man, and i am so glad i requested this arc in the first place because otherwise i don’t think i ever would have found one.
though Fiona kind of did treat him not so great, i feel like he handled it the best way, knowing what she was going through and that she wasn’t fully ready to go all in.
Satoshi officially has to be my number one book boyfriend right now honestly.
༄₊˚🥂 ┆ 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝
✧ Satoshi
✧ about 20% mark
✧Satoshi
༄₊˚🥂 ┆ 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥
જ⁀➴ I really REALLY enjoyed this book and definitely am going to be biting an actual physical copy when it comes out. It’s one of those books where you will already be smiling and grinning by the ten percent mark, and OML the things Satoshi said had my heart throbbing.
I will def be posting quotes after the publication date so stay tuned. And I hope that everyone else that got the arc enjoys thi sbook as much as me!!
🥂 rating : ★★★★.75
𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐭-𝐠𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐜 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰
༄₊˚🥂 ┆ pre-review:
ugh this book was genuinely what i needed, i love these characters so fricking much oml, Satoshi has my heart.
rtc 🥂
༄₊˚🥂 ┆ pre-read:
I GOT THE ARC OML, i’m so happy this is my first ever arc that i was approved for and im so excited to read this. the cover is actually so fricking cute.
anticipated
February 20, 2026Book 2?! Fiona?! Book 3?! Elias?! 👀🤞
Read
March 19, 2026full review tk closer to pub day but i really loved this second book in the series! 🩵
a massive amount of wine involved, but especially fantastic character growth🥰🙂↕️
a massive amount of wine involved, but especially fantastic character growth🥰🙂↕️
July 22, 2026
⋆.˚✮ 5 stars ✮˚.⋆
⤿ Thank you to Atria Books for the arc through netgalley and a physical arc in exchange for an honest review!
hello to a new favorite read of the year omg!! when i tell you this was unputdownable and so spectacular, i mean that in the way that i picked this up and finished it in the same day because i was so obsessed with it! i was highly anticipating this release after being gifted an arc of An Academic Affair earlier this year, the first book in this romance standalone series, and really enjoying it. that one had a few things that were a mixed bag for me, but i was hoping this would blow me away as it featured my two favorite characters from the last book Fiona and Satoshi. luckily that was the case and i was floored by this book!!
this follows Fiona, a married mother of three who thinks she has everything she needs in life until her husband reveals that he is leaving her for his secret second family. shes left devastated and humiliated, already teetering under the weight of her family's expectations. Satoshi runs her favorite wine bar and wants it all, to become a Master Sommelier, grow his establishment, and maybe most importantly of all, Fiona. on paper they make no sense, he is eight years younger than her and stays extremely busy, and she's a newly single mother unsure when she will be able to trust someone again fully. but what happens when he suggests they give into their mutual attraction?
first of all, the most well-rounded part of this novel was the divorce pieces. i know that this isn't going to work for some readers, and people will complain that its messy and drama-filled. but as someone whose parents are divorced, and watched them both go through a second divorce, with one of them having a similar experience to Fiona, i felt so seen. both as a daughter of divorced parents and someone on the side when my parents divorced again. these things are NOT pretty or fun, and often the divorce proceedings don't always go the way you want. everything Fiona went through was horrible and i detest Matt, but i also really appreciated how McAlister didn't shy away from everything that happened to Fiona and Matt. especially all the emotions her kids were feeling while this was breaking apart their world
usually miscommunication is my least favorite trope and i detest any book that relies so heavily on it, but there was just something so delectable about the plot in this book. both Fiona and Satoshi were going through a difficult moment in their lives and they weren't perfect, but that seemed to make them all the more human. of course i didn't loooove that Fiona did seem to keep Satoshi hidden away for so long, and Satoshi yielded a lot to her in that way, but the mistakes they were making eventually led to so much character growth and to me that was the important part!! i know how some readers could be frustrated by this (and will be) but i just had so much empathy for the situation Fiona was in, and i understood Satoshi so much being someone who often overworks herself like he does. they aren't perfect, and both make mistakes and stumbles, but seeing them grow together and learn to rely on each other was beautiful! the payoff was so good too- both of them grew lots by the end of the book and thats all that mattered to me. i gave them grace that they needed and it paid off!! also the spice? amazing. Satoshi knows how to deliver truly.
both of them as individual characters were so fun to follow too, they share a few similar passions but also i loved seeing them be unique characters!! i know nothing about wine or alcohol as i don't drink (no shame to people who do, i just don't!) but it was really fun seeing how passionate Satoshi was about finding the perfect pairings. the descriptions made absolutely everything sound so delicious. and it was really sweet to see Fiona start to discover herself outside of her marriage and being a mother with wine training and writing. as someone of a single mother, i know how hard it can be to have outside of just being a mom when you are constantly focused on your children. i am really glad she had so much support around her to be able to do that.
the family dynamics for both Fiona and Satoshi were marvelous in this book. in An Academic Affair, McAlister sets up for some family growth after events that unfold with Fiona's brother. i know family can be tough, but i truly loved seeing both Jonah and Elias come together and be her major support when she needed it, i love them as brothers and as characters. Satoshi has a brother too, and their father has passed away (of overworking himself). Satoshi tends to do that as well, and his brother is constantly trying to help him throughout the book. it was a refreshing piece of this book i hope we have more books for, as i would love to continue to see family dynamics.
the representation in this book was really well done. Satoshi himself is pansexual, and Fiona's child Lex is nonbinary. Lex is really able to connect with Satoshi even before their mom and him get together, and it was really sweet to see them have a person to look up to in the 2SLGBTQ+ community when their real dad wasn't so kind. there's a scene where Lex breaks down crying after telling off their dad becuase they believe it's their fault their parents broke up, as "there is nothing wrong with you mom or my sisters" and it broke my heart. i felt that as a child of divorce, but also i am sure that specific sentiment will be shared with many readers in that community.
another one of my favorite parts of this book was all the mixed media we got! we get emails between Fiona and various people, as well as text messages between all the characters. there are a couple months in this book that go by just in this format, and that again won't work for everyone but i thought it was so fun! especially as they would have been going through the same motions every week (studying, taking care of kids, etc). it added a bit of freshness into the story, and it was so fun reading their text messages!!
a truly outstanding release of the year and i am crossing my fingers that there will be more books set around this circle of family/friends!! i would love to see Elias, Chess or Satoshi's brother get their own love story too. even if you haven't read An Academic Affair i am begging you to pick this book up because it truly blew me away!!
↬ trigger warnings: infidelity, misogyny, depictions of panic attacks, pregnancy, transphobia and homophobia
⤿ Thank you to Atria Books for the arc through netgalley and a physical arc in exchange for an honest review!
hello to a new favorite read of the year omg!! when i tell you this was unputdownable and so spectacular, i mean that in the way that i picked this up and finished it in the same day because i was so obsessed with it! i was highly anticipating this release after being gifted an arc of An Academic Affair earlier this year, the first book in this romance standalone series, and really enjoying it. that one had a few things that were a mixed bag for me, but i was hoping this would blow me away as it featured my two favorite characters from the last book Fiona and Satoshi. luckily that was the case and i was floored by this book!!
this follows Fiona, a married mother of three who thinks she has everything she needs in life until her husband reveals that he is leaving her for his secret second family. shes left devastated and humiliated, already teetering under the weight of her family's expectations. Satoshi runs her favorite wine bar and wants it all, to become a Master Sommelier, grow his establishment, and maybe most importantly of all, Fiona. on paper they make no sense, he is eight years younger than her and stays extremely busy, and she's a newly single mother unsure when she will be able to trust someone again fully. but what happens when he suggests they give into their mutual attraction?
first of all, the most well-rounded part of this novel was the divorce pieces. i know that this isn't going to work for some readers, and people will complain that its messy and drama-filled. but as someone whose parents are divorced, and watched them both go through a second divorce, with one of them having a similar experience to Fiona, i felt so seen. both as a daughter of divorced parents and someone on the side when my parents divorced again. these things are NOT pretty or fun, and often the divorce proceedings don't always go the way you want. everything Fiona went through was horrible and i detest Matt, but i also really appreciated how McAlister didn't shy away from everything that happened to Fiona and Matt. especially all the emotions her kids were feeling while this was breaking apart their world
usually miscommunication is my least favorite trope and i detest any book that relies so heavily on it, but there was just something so delectable about the plot in this book. both Fiona and Satoshi were going through a difficult moment in their lives and they weren't perfect, but that seemed to make them all the more human. of course i didn't loooove that Fiona did seem to keep Satoshi hidden away for so long, and Satoshi yielded a lot to her in that way, but the mistakes they were making eventually led to so much character growth and to me that was the important part!! i know how some readers could be frustrated by this (and will be) but i just had so much empathy for the situation Fiona was in, and i understood Satoshi so much being someone who often overworks herself like he does. they aren't perfect, and both make mistakes and stumbles, but seeing them grow together and learn to rely on each other was beautiful! the payoff was so good too- both of them grew lots by the end of the book and thats all that mattered to me. i gave them grace that they needed and it paid off!! also the spice? amazing. Satoshi knows how to deliver truly.
both of them as individual characters were so fun to follow too, they share a few similar passions but also i loved seeing them be unique characters!! i know nothing about wine or alcohol as i don't drink (no shame to people who do, i just don't!) but it was really fun seeing how passionate Satoshi was about finding the perfect pairings. the descriptions made absolutely everything sound so delicious. and it was really sweet to see Fiona start to discover herself outside of her marriage and being a mother with wine training and writing. as someone of a single mother, i know how hard it can be to have outside of just being a mom when you are constantly focused on your children. i am really glad she had so much support around her to be able to do that.
the family dynamics for both Fiona and Satoshi were marvelous in this book. in An Academic Affair, McAlister sets up for some family growth after events that unfold with Fiona's brother. i know family can be tough, but i truly loved seeing both Jonah and Elias come together and be her major support when she needed it, i love them as brothers and as characters. Satoshi has a brother too, and their father has passed away (of overworking himself). Satoshi tends to do that as well, and his brother is constantly trying to help him throughout the book. it was a refreshing piece of this book i hope we have more books for, as i would love to continue to see family dynamics.
the representation in this book was really well done. Satoshi himself is pansexual, and Fiona's child Lex is nonbinary. Lex is really able to connect with Satoshi even before their mom and him get together, and it was really sweet to see them have a person to look up to in the 2SLGBTQ+ community when their real dad wasn't so kind. there's a scene where Lex breaks down crying after telling off their dad becuase they believe it's their fault their parents broke up, as "there is nothing wrong with you mom or my sisters" and it broke my heart. i felt that as a child of divorce, but also i am sure that specific sentiment will be shared with many readers in that community.
another one of my favorite parts of this book was all the mixed media we got! we get emails between Fiona and various people, as well as text messages between all the characters. there are a couple months in this book that go by just in this format, and that again won't work for everyone but i thought it was so fun! especially as they would have been going through the same motions every week (studying, taking care of kids, etc). it added a bit of freshness into the story, and it was so fun reading their text messages!!
a truly outstanding release of the year and i am crossing my fingers that there will be more books set around this circle of family/friends!! i would love to see Elias, Chess or Satoshi's brother get their own love story too. even if you haven't read An Academic Affair i am begging you to pick this book up because it truly blew me away!!
↬ trigger warnings: infidelity, misogyny, depictions of panic attacks, pregnancy, transphobia and homophobia
Want to Read
June 4, 2026I enjoyed An Academic Affair but I didn't love it as much as I wanted to. I'm thankful for publishers invite to continue the series.
This story is about a single mom who is not looking for love or another relationship yet again can't stay away from a younger owner of her favorite wine bar. Satoshi Tsukamoto wants it all, unlike Fiona Fisher. On paper, they make no sense. He's 8 years younger and she's had a rough couple of years. Can they agree to keep things casual or will they give into their mutual attraction?
Many thanks to NetGalley, Atria Books and the author, Jodi McAlister for an early copy!
Publication: September 15, 2026
This story is about a single mom who is not looking for love or another relationship yet again can't stay away from a younger owner of her favorite wine bar. Satoshi Tsukamoto wants it all, unlike Fiona Fisher. On paper, they make no sense. He's 8 years younger and she's had a rough couple of years. Can they agree to keep things casual or will they give into their mutual attraction?
Many thanks to NetGalley, Atria Books and the author, Jodi McAlister for an early copy!
Publication: September 15, 2026
July 19, 2026
Delightful. Warm. Charming. Steamy.
I love how the book opens and had me keen to read about how Satoshi Tsukamoto and Fiona Fisher fell in love.
I really enjoyed the Tasmanian setting, the wine bar and all the delectable wine details,
as well as the variety of characters depicted in this story.
'On paper, Fiona and Satoshi make no sense. He’s eight years younger than her and has no time for romance. She’s a single mother and doesn’t know if she’ll ever be able to trust anyone again. But how can Fiona resist when Satoshi suggests they give into their mutual attraction and let off some steam? And how can Satoshi resist when the woman he adores is finally within his grasp—even if they’ve agreed to keep things casual?'
I loved how this story unfolded, and was particularly taken with Satoshi. I also appreciate the additional details woven in about Sadie and Jonah (from An Academic Affair - my favourite romance read of 2025).
I am hoping there will be another book in the Love Notes series, as I love how Jodi McAlister crafts a story!
4.5 stars (rounded up)
I love how the book opens and had me keen to read about how Satoshi Tsukamoto and Fiona Fisher fell in love.
I really enjoyed the Tasmanian setting, the wine bar and all the delectable wine details,
as well as the variety of characters depicted in this story.
'On paper, Fiona and Satoshi make no sense. He’s eight years younger than her and has no time for romance. She’s a single mother and doesn’t know if she’ll ever be able to trust anyone again. But how can Fiona resist when Satoshi suggests they give into their mutual attraction and let off some steam? And how can Satoshi resist when the woman he adores is finally within his grasp—even if they’ve agreed to keep things casual?'
I loved how this story unfolded, and was particularly taken with Satoshi. I also appreciate the additional details woven in about Sadie and Jonah (from An Academic Affair - my favourite romance read of 2025).
I am hoping there will be another book in the Love Notes series, as I love how Jodi McAlister crafts a story!
4.5 stars (rounded up)
Want to Read
June 5, 2026・❥・⁀➷ 🍷📚𝕡𝕣𝕖-𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕
how are you going to tell me I got denied for the first one yet accepted for this one. like cmon now 😭
OH WELL. better one than none ig😝
how are you going to tell me I got denied for the first one yet accepted for this one. like cmon now 😭
OH WELL. better one than none ig😝
August 26, 2026
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review
Okay, I LOVED Satoshi and Fiona.
This is my second ARC from Jodi McAlister, and after really loving her first book too, I think she may officially be an author I need to keep on my radar.
Fiona is dealing with an absolutely brutal situation. Her husband doesn't just leave her. She discovers he's had an entire second family behind her back, and suddenly she has to figure out what her life looks like while also helping three kids process the fact that their dad blew up their family. I loved that the book doesn't rush her through that.
Her relationship with her kids was especially well done. They each react differently, and Fiona doesn't always know the right thing to say or do. She's trying to protect them while she's also hurt, angry, and completely unsure of herself. Those relationships felt messy in a very believable way. I also really appreciated the queer representation throughout the book and how naturally it was woven into the characters and their relationships.
And then there's Satoshi. I adored this man. His feelings for Fiona are SO obvious, and the yearning was delicious. I loved them together even when I wanted to shake Fiona for keeping him at arm's length.
She could definitely frustrate me. There were moments when she was so cautious that she ended up hurting Satoshi or making decisions for him instead of letting him decide what he could handle. But considering the circumstances of her divorce, I understood why trusting another person with her life felt nearly impossible.
I also loved all the sommelier and wine-bar details. Give me a romance where the characters have extremely specific careers and let me learn things!
This was romantic, messy, frustrating, and surprisingly emotional. Most importantly, I was completely sold on Fiona and Satoshi. I wanted those two to figure their shit out SO badly.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
As someone who mostly only reads books with queer characters, giving 5 stars to 'An Academic Affair', a cishet book, back in January was something rare and serious for me. While requesting this, I thought, "Wow, getting the Jodi McAlister writing I loved with a queer character? Yes Please!", however it did not live up to expectations.
Starting with the fact that the optics of a straight woman watching a queer man and his lover kiss and getting off on that just isn't a good look in general, the book already had one strike against it. Then I read that they had an 8 year age gap with Fiona being older and the buzz was back more than ever. The way the book is formatted with all the momentum and tension being built almost always being offset by pages and pages of text messages did not make my reading experience any better. It might look good on physical pages, but it did not work digitally and only served to irritate me.
The characters, Satoshi and Fiona,though were written pretty well. Fiona moreso.
Maybe it's the fact that I just do not enjoy this trope as much as I do fake dating/marriage, but I think it's truly sad when the best part of my reading this was getting to see Jonah and Sadie again!
Thank you Netgalley and Atria for the arc in exchange for an honest review.
Starting with the fact that the optics of a straight woman watching a queer man and his lover kiss and getting off on that just isn't a good look in general, the book already had one strike against it. Then I read that they had an 8 year age gap with Fiona being older and the buzz was back more than ever. The way the book is formatted with all the momentum and tension being built almost always being offset by pages and pages of text messages did not make my reading experience any better. It might look good on physical pages, but it did not work digitally and only served to irritate me.
The characters, Satoshi and Fiona,though were written pretty well. Fiona moreso.
Maybe it's the fact that I just do not enjoy this trope as much as I do fake dating/marriage, but I think it's truly sad when the best part of my reading this was getting to see Jonah and Sadie again!
Thank you Netgalley and Atria for the arc in exchange for an honest review.
May 2, 2026
6 stars, AGAIN!
I got an ARC and started it right away but I loved this book so much that I will be ordering both paperbacks ( I mean Academic Affair and Study in Sparkling) and rereading them a lot.
The amount of times I teared up was crazy. I do get emotional sometimes when reading but rarely to such extent and really almost never actually cry.
Single mom of three dealing not only with divorce but her (ex)husband living double life for years? AND reverse age gap trope? This is like a catnip for me.
It’s very easy for a book to not live up to the hype when your expectations are high. Mine were off the charts high, but I am happy to report that Jodi McAlister delivered. (Not that I doubted even for a second!)
Exceptional writing, capturing different difficulties of Fiona’s and Sato’s situations - their respective ones and common one. My heart broke oh so many times. For Fiona, her girls, the complexity of relationship with her parents and brothers.
The story focuses A LOT on wine and while I don’t really drink any alcohol and wine is the second last type of alcohol I like, I enjoyed all the wine bits a lot.
I just love this book. I loved the plot itself, the story telling, pacing, execution, writing, how the characters are built, basically I loved every little thing about this book.
There are some very unlikable characters and you will get angry at times but the way they are written - flawless.
Go read An Academic Affair now and put this title on your TBR.
I am already so giddy for Jodi’s next book!
*might edit my review later and add some quotes. Check out my reading updates, I added a few ;)
The biggest thank you to Atria for the eARC 🩷🩷🩷
Updating as of 2 June 2026 cause I got NetGalley widget with such good marketing email that I want to rate this email 6 stars too.
Copied from Atria Marketing mailing:
“
🍷 he falls first, she falls harder
🍷 slow-burn emotional intimacy
🍷 second-love stories
🍷 yearning so good it should probably be illegal
Funny, romantic, sexy, and deeply relatable, A STUDY IN SPARKLING is a story about rebuilding, discovering who you are outside of everyone else's expectations, and finding the courage to believe you deserve to be fully chosen.
For every reader who's ever watched Ginny & Georgia and thought, What if Georgia actually ended up with Joe?”
🩷 After reading this book I can tell you the above is not only good marketing but truly describes what A Study in Sparkling is about 🩷
I got an ARC and started it right away but I loved this book so much that I will be ordering both paperbacks ( I mean Academic Affair and Study in Sparkling) and rereading them a lot.
The amount of times I teared up was crazy. I do get emotional sometimes when reading but rarely to such extent and really almost never actually cry.
Single mom of three dealing not only with divorce but her (ex)husband living double life for years? AND reverse age gap trope? This is like a catnip for me.
It’s very easy for a book to not live up to the hype when your expectations are high. Mine were off the charts high, but I am happy to report that Jodi McAlister delivered. (Not that I doubted even for a second!)
Exceptional writing, capturing different difficulties of Fiona’s and Sato’s situations - their respective ones and common one. My heart broke oh so many times. For Fiona, her girls, the complexity of relationship with her parents and brothers.
The story focuses A LOT on wine and while I don’t really drink any alcohol and wine is the second last type of alcohol I like, I enjoyed all the wine bits a lot.
I just love this book. I loved the plot itself, the story telling, pacing, execution, writing, how the characters are built, basically I loved every little thing about this book.
There are some very unlikable characters and you will get angry at times but the way they are written - flawless.
Go read An Academic Affair now and put this title on your TBR.
I am already so giddy for Jodi’s next book!
*might edit my review later and add some quotes. Check out my reading updates, I added a few ;)
The biggest thank you to Atria for the eARC 🩷🩷🩷
Updating as of 2 June 2026 cause I got NetGalley widget with such good marketing email that I want to rate this email 6 stars too.
Copied from Atria Marketing mailing:
“
🍷 he falls first, she falls harder
🍷 slow-burn emotional intimacy
🍷 second-love stories
🍷 yearning so good it should probably be illegal
Funny, romantic, sexy, and deeply relatable, A STUDY IN SPARKLING is a story about rebuilding, discovering who you are outside of everyone else's expectations, and finding the courage to believe you deserve to be fully chosen.
For every reader who's ever watched Ginny & Georgia and thought, What if Georgia actually ended up with Joe?”
🩷 After reading this book I can tell you the above is not only good marketing but truly describes what A Study in Sparkling is about 🩷
September 9, 2026
A Study in Sparkling had a cute premise, but unfortunately it didn’t completely work for me. I enjoyed the wine-bar setting and the chemistry between Fiona and Satoshi, and I liked seeing Fiona navigate life as a newly single mom while trying to figure out what she really wanted for herself.
That said, I found the romance a little difficult to connect with at times, and some parts of the story felt slower than I would have liked. I also wanted a bit more depth from the characters and their relationship before everything came together.
Overall, it was an enjoyable, and a unique focus on wine and the Master Sommelier exam. It just wasn’t a standout read for me.
That said, I found the romance a little difficult to connect with at times, and some parts of the story felt slower than I would have liked. I also wanted a bit more depth from the characters and their relationship before everything came together.
Overall, it was an enjoyable, and a unique focus on wine and the Master Sommelier exam. It just wasn’t a standout read for me.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
I think the strongest part about Jodi McAlister books is how real and adult her characters come across. I fully believe in the actions and decisions they make, their problems are very much real life problems and it doesn't feel caricaturesque at any point.
In a study in sparkling we get to know Satoshi and Fiona, you might remember her from an academic affair. It's a (small)age gap relationship with a single mother of three scarred by her marriage. Satoshi is a sweetheart, but he also grows so much during the story. In fact, growth is a recurring factor in this book, the characters genuinely finish the story in a much better place than where they started and not just in a good relationship.
There are multiple queer characters in this book, including the mmc. You might remember Lex, Fiona's nonbinary kid from the previous book, they are the best person again in this one, the talking to they gave to Fiona was top notch.
There are just two things I did not like, and for that I took one star off my rating. First, the miscommunication felt a little out of place in certain parts, it's difficult to talk about without giving anything away but I'm not talking about the biggest one, that felt warranted from the struggles they both had, but other little things in the beginning. I just feel like they are mature enough to have those conversations upfront, but it's a plot device I understand. And the other thing is how the structure of having entire chunks of time being told as text messages and emails was a little too much, we lost the beginning of their relationship because of it and I feel like it was an important thing to show.
But those are small things, I still loved the book.
I have an inkling of who the next book is about, actually there are two options but one I'm pretty sure we know both characters already. I'm excited to see where the author takes us next.
Thank you Atria and Edelweiss for the ARC.
In a study in sparkling we get to know Satoshi and Fiona, you might remember her from an academic affair. It's a (small)age gap relationship with a single mother of three scarred by her marriage. Satoshi is a sweetheart, but he also grows so much during the story. In fact, growth is a recurring factor in this book, the characters genuinely finish the story in a much better place than where they started and not just in a good relationship.
There are multiple queer characters in this book, including the mmc. You might remember Lex, Fiona's nonbinary kid from the previous book, they are the best person again in this one, the talking to they gave to Fiona was top notch.
There are just two things I did not like, and for that I took one star off my rating. First, the miscommunication felt a little out of place in certain parts, it's difficult to talk about without giving anything away but I'm not talking about the biggest one, that felt warranted from the struggles they both had, but other little things in the beginning. I just feel like they are mature enough to have those conversations upfront, but it's a plot device I understand. And the other thing is how the structure of having entire chunks of time being told as text messages and emails was a little too much, we lost the beginning of their relationship because of it and I feel like it was an important thing to show.
But those are small things, I still loved the book.
I have an inkling of who the next book is about, actually there are two options but one I'm pretty sure we know both characters already. I'm excited to see where the author takes us next.
Thank you Atria and Edelweiss for the ARC.
June 14, 2026
I enjoyed Jodi McAlister's first book, An Academic Affair, so I went into this one expecting the same... However, that's not what I got. This one had a lot more smut and a lot more miscommunication, neither of which are things I like in my books lol.
Fiona Fisher is a mom to three kids who has the rug pulled from under her when her husband drops a bomb saying that he has a secret second family and he's leaving them. She finds herself seeking refuge from this storm in the wine bar, Tsundoku, owned by Satoshi Tsukamoto. This book includes a small age gap--8yrs, so nothing *crazy* but not something you see often. There was also no development in their relationship not associated with the escalation of physical intimacy? Then, Fiona really never would listen to Satoshi, nor did she ever really allow herself to be known by him until like the last 50pgs. Which makes it even harder for me to wrap my mind around them being sooOoOooOoOOooooOOOoo in love lol.
Anyways, now I'm not so sure I'm going to want to read the third Fisher love story if it's going to be like this. But if it's like Jonah's was, I'm totally on board haha. We shall see!
Fiona Fisher is a mom to three kids who has the rug pulled from under her when her husband drops a bomb saying that he has a secret second family and he's leaving them. She finds herself seeking refuge from this storm in the wine bar, Tsundoku, owned by Satoshi Tsukamoto. This book includes a small age gap--8yrs, so nothing *crazy* but not something you see often. There was also no development in their relationship not associated with the escalation of physical intimacy? Then, Fiona really never would listen to Satoshi, nor did she ever really allow herself to be known by him until like the last 50pgs. Which makes it even harder for me to wrap my mind around them being sooOoOooOoOOooooOOOoo in love lol.
Anyways, now I'm not so sure I'm going to want to read the third Fisher love story if it's going to be like this. But if it's like Jonah's was, I'm totally on board haha. We shall see!
August 3, 2026
Thank you so much to Atria Books and Jodi McAlister for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. 🩷
Jodi McAlister can do no wrong in my book! This was a 4.5-star read that I happily rounded up to 5. The only reason it wasn't a full 5 for me was because Satoshi just isn't really my kind of book boyfriend, so I didn't find myself as drawn to him as I was Jonah in An Academic Affair (book one... go read it!!!). But honestly, I can see this being an easy 5-star read for so many people.
The setting was absolutely fabulous! I loved all the wine tasting lessons woven throughout the story, and Jodi's writing style continues to be one of my favorites. She has officially become one of my auto-buy, must-read authors.
I also loved the little updates we got on Sadie and Jonah. There were just enough callbacks to make returning readers smile without taking away from Fiona and Satoshi's story, and it still works perfectly as a standalone.
Most importantly, I absolutely adored my reading experience and completely believed in Fiona and Satoshi's chemistry. They truly felt like they were made for each other. 🥹🍷💕
Jodi McAlister can do no wrong in my book! This was a 4.5-star read that I happily rounded up to 5. The only reason it wasn't a full 5 for me was because Satoshi just isn't really my kind of book boyfriend, so I didn't find myself as drawn to him as I was Jonah in An Academic Affair (book one... go read it!!!). But honestly, I can see this being an easy 5-star read for so many people.
The setting was absolutely fabulous! I loved all the wine tasting lessons woven throughout the story, and Jodi's writing style continues to be one of my favorites. She has officially become one of my auto-buy, must-read authors.
I also loved the little updates we got on Sadie and Jonah. There were just enough callbacks to make returning readers smile without taking away from Fiona and Satoshi's story, and it still works perfectly as a standalone.
Most importantly, I absolutely adored my reading experience and completely believed in Fiona and Satoshi's chemistry. They truly felt like they were made for each other. 🥹🍷💕
September 18, 2026
Strong 3 🌟
Fiona เป็นคุณแม่ลูกสามที่เพิ่งโดน cheat และกำลังหย่ากับสามีที่อยู่กันมา 12 ปี ส่วน Satoshi เป็น Sommelier ที่จิงจังกับอาชีพมากก แต่ก็มีด้านที่ฮี being wild อยู่นะ 😶🌫️ ซึ่งบาร์ของซาโตชิเนี่ยอยู่ใกล้ๆบ้านฟิโอน่าแบบเดินไปมาได้
โอเคพาร์ทรีวิว
เล่มนี้เป็น anticipate release ของเราเลยนะ แล้วหลังอ่านจบเราเสียดายมากๆเพราะคิดว่าจะชอบมากกว่านี้
📌 เราว่า dynamic ของ gender role ที่เอามาเป็นปมของพระนาง เป็นสิ่งที่ไม่ค่อยเห็นในโรแม้นบุ้คอ่ะ ซึ่งตรงนี้ทำได้ดีมากๆๆ บวกกับคาแรคเตอร์ของซาโตชิที่เป็นคนญี่ปุ่นแล้วคือเราชอบมากๆ แต่นักเขียนกลับทำทำ pacing ได้ไม่ค่อยดีเท่าไหร่ อาจจะเพราะมันมีคาบเกี่ยวกับเหตุการณ์ในเล่มแรกด้วย
📌 พาร์ท คสพ ทำได้ดีมากๆเขียนพระเอกได้แบบ desperate ดีว่ะ 😭 ส่วนนางเอกที่โตมาในครอบครัวแบบนี้แล้วต้อง handle it all ทั้งบ้าน ลูก การงานก็เออๆเข้าใจชี พยักหน้าหงึกๆ
🕳️ มันมีอะไรซักอย่างในช่วงครึ่งหลังที่อ่านแล้วมันขัดๆอ่ะ เหมือนตอนที่คลี่คลายเรื่องต่างๆยังไม่สาแก่ใจ
Fiona เป็นคุณแม่ลูกสามที่เพิ่งโดน cheat และกำลังหย่ากับสามีที่อยู่กันมา 12 ปี ส่วน Satoshi เป็น Sommelier ที่จิงจังกับอาชีพมากก แต่ก็มีด้านที่ฮี being wild อยู่นะ 😶🌫️ ซึ่งบาร์ของซาโตชิเนี่ยอยู่ใกล้ๆบ้านฟิโอน่าแบบเดินไปมาได้
โอเคพาร์ทรีวิว
เล่มนี้เป็น anticipate release ของเราเลยนะ แล้วหลังอ่านจบเราเสียดายมากๆเพราะคิดว่าจะชอบมากกว่านี้
📌 เราว่า dynamic ของ gender role ที่เอามาเป็นปมของพระนาง เป็นสิ่งที่ไม่ค่อยเห็นในโรแม้นบุ้คอ่ะ ซึ่งตรงนี้ทำได้ดีมากๆๆ บวกกับคาแรคเตอร์ของซาโตชิที่เป็นคนญี่ปุ่นแล้วคือเราชอบมากๆ แต่นักเขียนกลับทำทำ pacing ได้ไม่ค่อยดีเท่าไหร่ อาจจะเพราะมันมีคาบเกี่ยวกับเหตุการณ์ในเล่มแรกด้วย
📌 พาร์ท คสพ ทำได้ดีมากๆเขียนพระเอกได้แบบ desperate ดีว่ะ 😭 ส่วนนางเอกที่โตมาในครอบครัวแบบนี้แล้วต้อง handle it all ทั้งบ้าน ลูก การงานก็เออๆเข้าใจชี พยักหน้าหงึกๆ
🕳️ มันมีอะไรซักอย่างในช่วงครึ่งหลังที่อ่านแล้วมันขัดๆอ่ะ เหมือนตอนที่คลี่คลายเรื่องต่างๆยังไม่สาแก่ใจ
August 26, 2026
3.5 ⭐️
A Study in Sparkling is the second book in the Loves Notes series, following An Academic Affair. I really adored the mmc, Sato, and his unwavering support of those around him. I liked Fiona but at times really struggled with her character. She was very inconsistent with her decisions, especially when it came to her relationship with Sato, that at times it to was to the determent of Sato. I loved getting to be back with Jonah and Sadie from book one and all the family scenes! The romance was sweet but because of all the back and forth I didn’t connect with them as much as I did with Jonah and Sadie! I will say the kids in this were really sweet and Fiona’s scenes with them were some of my favorites!
Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my review!
A Study in Sparkling is the second book in the Loves Notes series, following An Academic Affair. I really adored the mmc, Sato, and his unwavering support of those around him. I liked Fiona but at times really struggled with her character. She was very inconsistent with her decisions, especially when it came to her relationship with Sato, that at times it to was to the determent of Sato. I loved getting to be back with Jonah and Sadie from book one and all the family scenes! The romance was sweet but because of all the back and forth I didn’t connect with them as much as I did with Jonah and Sadie! I will say the kids in this were really sweet and Fiona’s scenes with them were some of my favorites!
Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my review!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you, Netgalley and Atria Publishing, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
I am, quite frankly, underwhelmed and disappointed by this book. I really enjoyed the first of the series, and what stood out to me was the distinct, unique voice of the characters. But this book was bland like plain oatmeal, and the main characters did not have a unique voice at all. I hope this does not sound harsh, but I much preferred it when the author was writing the academia romance. I feel like there was much more realism in it; this book was weak.
The book was so wine-focused that it took away from the chemistry between the main characters, which I struggled to feel throughout the entire book. Also, the age gap being referenced throughout the entire book made me feel wildly uncomfortable, and made the FMC look odd for always pointing it out.
Fiona, the FMC, has gone through horrible things, but I think she would benefit from some therapy, because her behavior and actions were quite childish. Her communication skills were absolutely lacking, and I do not think she should date until she addresses her trauma.
The writing was nothing special, but I will not remember much of this book. I would not recommend it to those who have read the first book in this series.
I am, quite frankly, underwhelmed and disappointed by this book. I really enjoyed the first of the series, and what stood out to me was the distinct, unique voice of the characters. But this book was bland like plain oatmeal, and the main characters did not have a unique voice at all. I hope this does not sound harsh, but I much preferred it when the author was writing the academia romance. I feel like there was much more realism in it; this book was weak.
The book was so wine-focused that it took away from the chemistry between the main characters, which I struggled to feel throughout the entire book. Also, the age gap being referenced throughout the entire book made me feel wildly uncomfortable, and made the FMC look odd for always pointing it out.
Fiona, the FMC, has gone through horrible things, but I think she would benefit from some therapy, because her behavior and actions were quite childish. Her communication skills were absolutely lacking, and I do not think she should date until she addresses her trauma.
The writing was nothing special, but I will not remember much of this book. I would not recommend it to those who have read the first book in this series.
September 10, 2026
Ahhh!!! I was absolutely tickled that I got the chance to read this early!! I loved the Academic Affair and read it and then listened to it on audio because I loved it so much and this was just as good!! Like !!!! It was so so fun I couldn’t put it down!!
The romance was very sweet and felt real! Like there was real stakes that were going on. She’s in the middle of the messy divorce and dealing with her kids and it’s like? Do I wanna deal with the consequences of this going bad? Ugh so good!
I also loved that we got to see a little bit of the characters from An Academic Affair! It’s always such a treat whenever that happens and I was giggling kicking my feet!!
I highly recommend this!!
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!!
The romance was very sweet and felt real! Like there was real stakes that were going on. She’s in the middle of the messy divorce and dealing with her kids and it’s like? Do I wanna deal with the consequences of this going bad? Ugh so good!
I also loved that we got to see a little bit of the characters from An Academic Affair! It’s always such a treat whenever that happens and I was giggling kicking my feet!!
I highly recommend this!!
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!!
August 3, 2026
A Study In Sparkling has much of the same magic and charm as An Academic Affair, and fellow fans of Jodi McAlister will be delighted to pick it up if for no other reason than to see more of where Sadie and Jonah end up. Once again, McAlister leaves a few doors open, both in terms of the spicy scenes (whew!) and new couplings for future books. I’ll be eagerly anticipating her next!
My full review of A Study In Sparkling is up now on Keeping Up With The Penguins.
My full review of A Study In Sparkling is up now on Keeping Up With The Penguins.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
The first book in this series got a 4.5 star from me and I was hoping this one would be the same if not better. While I did enjoy this book, for me it wasn't as compelling as the first book. I do like the characters in this one but I found the FMC, Fiona a bit hard to love at first. I can appreciate that she is going through a rough time but I didn't love the way she was treating Santoshi for the majority of the book. Her reasoning was solid but it just turned me off a bit. Once everything was out in the open I really loved their relationship. This was still a great read and I'm glad I had the opportunity to pick it up before release. I'll definitely be watching for this author's next work.
Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Pub Date: 9/15/26
Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Pub Date: 9/15/26
September 5, 2026
An Academic Affair was a really strong start to this series, but unfortunately this one didn’t quite hit the same for me. I still enjoyed the romance overall, so I’m landing at 3 stars.
I really loved getting to see more of Fiona’s relationships with her brothers and Sadie, and I thought she was such a supportive parent to Lex. I just wish we had gotten a little more depth with the other children
For me, the biggest thing missing was seeing Fiona and Satoshi’s relationship actually develop. I wanted to feel that connection growing and watch them build something together, but so much of their relationship happened through the text and email chapters, which just didn’t work for me. It became too much for me.
I also found myself getting frustrated with Fiona because she seemed completely unaware of how much some of her words and actions were hurting Satoshi. At times, it made her come across as self-centered, which made it harder for me to connect with her.
Satoshi, on the other hand, was easily my favorite part. I loved his character, his relationship with his brother, and especially how sweet he was when it came to Fiona. You could really see how much he cared about her, and I honestly just wanted the book to give me more of that.
Still an enjoyable read, just not quite the romance I was hoping for after the first book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advanced copy!
I really loved getting to see more of Fiona’s relationships with her brothers and Sadie, and I thought she was such a supportive parent to Lex. I just wish we had gotten a little more depth with the other children
For me, the biggest thing missing was seeing Fiona and Satoshi’s relationship actually develop. I wanted to feel that connection growing and watch them build something together, but so much of their relationship happened through the text and email chapters, which just didn’t work for me. It became too much for me.
I also found myself getting frustrated with Fiona because she seemed completely unaware of how much some of her words and actions were hurting Satoshi. At times, it made her come across as self-centered, which made it harder for me to connect with her.
Satoshi, on the other hand, was easily my favorite part. I loved his character, his relationship with his brother, and especially how sweet he was when it came to Fiona. You could really see how much he cared about her, and I honestly just wanted the book to give me more of that.
Still an enjoyable read, just not quite the romance I was hoping for after the first book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advanced copy!
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