Under Construction

by Aurora Rey

Sadie Simoneaux is finally living her dream of opening a bookstore in her hometown. Equal parts childhood fantasy and a much-needed exit from the hustle culture of tech startups, Sadie has the passion, the plan, and the perfect historic building. All she needs is someone to renovate it.

Peyton Broussard is Sadie's high school friend and friendly rival, and the town's only contractor. Rehabbing one of Duchesne's oldest buildings is a dream job. Helping Sadie reno the apartment upstairs on a shoestring budget isn't so bad either. But for once, Peyton's the expert and Sadie's the one asking for help.

Their competitive banter and long hours quickly turn their professional relationship personal until developers offer Sadie a fast exit and a fat check. If she cashes in, what happens to the love she's just starting to build?

Genres: Romance, Lesbian

273 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 16, 2026

About the author

Aurora Rey is a college dean by day and a life coach award-winning author of queer romance author the rest of the time, except when she’s cooking, baking, riding the tractor, or pining for goats. She grew up in a small town in south Louisiana, daydreaming about New England. She keeps a special place in her heart for the South, especially the food and the ways women are raised to be strong, even if they're taught not to show it. After a brief dalliance with biochemistry, she completed both a B.A. and an M.A. in English.

She is the author of the Cape End Romance series and several standalone contemporary lesbian romance novels and novellas. She is has been a finalist for the Lambda Literary, RITA®, and Golden Crown Literary Society awards, but loves reader feedback the most. She lives in Ithaca, New York with her dog and whatever wildlife has taken up residence in the pond.

Reviews

[Cherie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a story about Sadie who was her high school valedictorian who left her small Louisiana town to go to college. Then moved to Charlotte to work as an IT specialist. Sadie at 40, decides she's had it with the corporate rat race and returns to her home town to buy an old building and turn it into a book store. Peyton was her High School rival and has stayed in their home town and works for her family construction business.

Peyton's company gets hired by Sadie to do the reno on the old building and they start out arguing and become friends and then lovers. I really liked the renovation part of the story and the town itself. Sadie's character never fit with her description to me, she never seemed that smart or independent. She's portrayed as a bad ass but to me she seems very girlie and not used to any type of physical labor. I didn't get an ice queen vibe off her either. I did like Peyton better, she seemed to fit her character. She pretty much let Sadie have her way, but held her own on important things as well as all the construction scenes.

Overall I enjoyed this light hearted book, glad that there was very little angst, maybe due to both characters being more mature with their feelings and not getting angry and upset easily.

Thanks to BSB and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC book.

[Febe · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley for giving me an ARC

Under construction is a romance novel about the relationship between Sadie and Peyton. Sadie and Peyton went to high school together and were academic rivals who couldn’t stand each other. Now more than 10 years later (i think) Sadie is back in town and bought a building that used to be in Peyton’s family. On top of that, Peyton’s family business is hired to do the renovations on the building Sadie bought to turn it into a bookstore.
Even though the main characters were supposed to hate each other, they immediately started lusting after each other and there wasn’t really any rivals to lovers, but rather instant-love. I think this could’ve been carried out better.
At first i loved the details about the renovation, but by 40% of the book, it was just too much and it got a bit boring. The pace of the book was very slow as well in my opinion. In the beginning i loved the dynamics of the characters but then it got old real quick. By 70% it got boring and then there was this biphobic comment which, as a bisexual woman, i definitely did not like and which dropped my interest in the book even further.
I really did not like the character of Peyton like she was always so pessimistic and saw the worst in people. She did not deserve Sadie. Now Sadie i absolutely loved. I found her insecurities relatable and she was just so hardworking and kind.

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book follows Sadie, a startup engineer, who after suffering from burnout, returns to her small hometown in southern Louisiana to open a café and bookstore. While renovating the space she purchased, she reconnects with Peyton, her former high school rival. As they spend more time together, their connection deepens and gradually blossoms into love.

I have very mixed feelings about this book. It starts off strong, introducing Sadie, her family, and the small town she returns to. The setting gave me major Stars Hollow (Gilmore Girls) vibes, which I absolutely loved. I also enjoyed watching Sadie and Peyton reconnect, slowly rebuilding their relationship from former rivals to friends, and eventually lovers.
That being said, their romance fell a little flat for me. While I enjoyed their interactions, I never felt like the story fully showed why they fell in love with each other beyond the qualities they remembered from when they were teenagers. I did get more insight into their feelings later in the book, but I wish that development had been established earlier on.

I also felt there were a few too many spicy scenes, and some of them appeared at weird moments. For me, they ended up overshadowing the relationship building rather than enhancing it. The third act conflict felt somewhat forced as well, since the characters are portrayed as very open communicators throughout most of the book, only to suddenly stop communicating when the plot required it.

Despite those issues, the epilogue was beautiful and romantic. And we finally got some Masc representation, that I really appreciate. So overall, this was a solid, feel good romance with a charming smalltown atmosphere.

Thanks to netgalley and Bold Strokes Books for the early e arc.

[ronni c · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three Stars. I thought the book was cute, but the plot and the romance felt rushed. Sadie moves back to her hometown to open a bookstore and needs the help of the only construction company in town, which happens to employ her childhood rival. Thus, a rivals-to-lovers romance begins. It felt like they were falling in love with each other from the very beginning. The rivalry didn’t feel genuine, and the timeline felt rushed. The most confusing part was introducing an important character over halfway through the book. The climax of the book surrounds the medical diagnosis of Sadie and Peyton’s middle school teacher. Maybe if the author had introduced the teacher earlier, the third-act break and the tension surrounding it would’ve made more sense.
I would recommend it to someone looking for a quick, WLW romance, but it wasn’t for me.

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with an ARC.

[The Sapphic Shelf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 4
Spice: 🌶🌶🌶

Under Construction demolished the traditional “big city hotshot comes home to a small town” trope and remodeled it into something beautifully refreshing.

✨Huge thank you to Aurora Rey and Bold Strokes Books for this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Grab a copy of Under Construction when it comes out on June 1st✨

Aurora Rey has a talent for taking the familiar and finding a fresher angle, and Under Construction is a perfect example of said talent. This reads like a cozy Hallmark romcom with its small-town charm, but Rey quietly sidesteps the clichés that usually come with that territory. The result is a book that feels warmer and more grounded in reality.

The most notable of those sidesteps is Sadie’s arc. In a more “traditional” version of this story, she’d be a woman on borrowed time in Duchesne (back for a holiday, or to settle an estate, or with some ticking clock reminding us she’s really a big city girl). Rey never gives us that expiration date. From the first pages, Sadie is here to stay, committed to her dream of opening a bookstore in her hometown, and her reasons for leaving her tech startup life behind are both clear and earned. Being able to root for her (and her dreams and her budding relationship with Peyton) is a gift from the start.

Peyton is equally well-drawn in this novel. There’s a recurring pressure in the narrative (from both Sadie and the reader’s own expectations) for Peyton to make a big dramatic gesture: quit the family contracting business, go all-in on her furniture-building hobby, reinvent herself. She doesn’t just hop right on that train, and the author deserves credit for holding that line. The character arc we actually get is quieter and more realistic, built on incremental movement rather than a single transformative decision. It’s the kind of characterization that requires real confidence to pull off.

The chemistry between Sadie and Peyton sizzles early and often. Their dynamic is perfectly described as “frenemies to lovers.” They were childhood competitors rather than true enemies, which means there’s no serious baggage of old grudges to untangle. Two adults, comfortable in who they are, drawn to each other, and capable of enjoying it. The flirty banter is one of Rey’s signatures, and it really lands here.

Where the book falters slightly is in the third act conflict. The central tension that threatens to derail the relationship feels a bit grafted on and out of step with the thoughtfulness that went into both characters up until that point. All stories need conflict, but for the low-angst romance that this had built, the conflict felt less like an organic consequence of who Sadie and Peyton are and more like something the plot required just for the sake of it. It’s not a dealbreaker, but it does somewhat interrupt the otherwise smooth flow.

That said, Under Construction was quite an enjoyable read as a whole. Peyton and Sadie are both worth rooting for, and their romance earns its happily ever after.

TLDR: A cozy, refreshing take on the traditional small-town romance with two main characters who know who they are and what they want out of life. Hallmark vibes with fewer eye rolls and clichés.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book. I love an enemies/rivals to lovers story, but sadly, this book was a struggle for me to get through. At only a fifth of the way in, I actually thought I must be halfway through it already. It was just a bit of a slog to me and there were a few times when I thought about giving up entirely, but I did eventually make it to the end. Thankfully, there were some points where it did pick up (which is why I’m giving it two stars rather than one), but it never seemed to last.

The book was just unfortunately dull to me. I didn’t hate the characters, but I also didn’t particularly like or connect with either Sadie or Peyton or their romance. I felt like I was being told on nearly every page that they’re so attracted to each other, but I didn’t feel the sparks at all. Even the sex scenes didn’t really liven things up (well, one did slightly). The plot was your typical plot for a romance book of this nature so there was nothing especially compelling there, either.

The pacing also just felt really off to me. For much of it, it feels like nothing is really happening until everything happens at warp speed. There’s a sort of first date that just gets skipped over completely. Why? They get to the restaurant, say two words to each other, and then they’re going home and everything in between is just skipped over. Maybe I would feel more for these two if we actually got to see them interacting or flirting on this kinda-sorta-maybe date.

It also didn’t help that with as much as these two talk to each other, they really don’t communicate about a lot of things and just assume. There were also far too many side characters, who would be introduced and then not appear for a long time later, which often left me with no memory of who they were. The worst part of the book, though, was the contrived drama. I expect it from a romance book, but this is by far the most ridiculously contrived drama I've ever seen in a book. It was just beyond frustrating. As I said, expect the drama at a certain point in romance books, but the drama in this one just felt so ridiculous and unrealistic and made no sense to me.

As I said, I’m giving this two stars because there were some parts after the halfway mark where things picked up a bit and were a little more interesting, but as a whole, the book was a bit of a miss to me.

Thank you NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

[Kaye · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5 Stars) Sadie Simoneaux moves back to her home town to follow her dream. After years of working in the IT start up world, she cashes out her stock options and plans to open a bookstore coffeeshop. She is fortunate to be able to purchase a run down vacant building that was for decades a clothing store. Of course major renovations are needed. Peyton Broussard helps run the best and only renovations company in town. The pair has known each other since they were six. They were competitive with each other all through school with Sadie just beating out Peyton for class valedictorian. Surprisingly, the story doesn’t play into their rival enemies, and instead the pair take the more mature outlook of we both pushed each other to do better. (No old grudges or sabotage to get over.)

A first half of the book focuses on the renovations which puts the two together often. And there are some nice steamy bits as they move from friendship to more. I liked the banter between the two. I found it a little odd that both of them were sometimes disappointed in a response from the other but never but neither pushed for clarifications. They seemed to talk and more, but never got in depth. The story moves along almost too easily. Almost, as an after thought the author throws in another character later in the story which creates an unexpected conflict between the pair. I enjoyed Sadie’s sister but she almost disappears from the story.

I liked how easily the story flows but I also felt there was very little at stake. Sadie can easily go back to her old work if this doesn’t work out. Peyton is capable of making custom furniture but is content to stick with the family business. Everyone is likable. It is all almost too idyllic. I will add that I love Rey’s cartoon style covers. Sadie is curvy to the point she refers to herself as fat. I wish the cover matched the description.

This is a stand alone novel but it is in the same world as the author’s “Roux for Two”. The MC’s in that story make appearances in this one. I love when authors have characters overlap even when books are not in a series. Thank you to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for the eARC and I am leaving an honest review.

[jayden abel · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Possible Spoilers*

Under Construction is a Hallmark movie. A loyal small town masc falls into bed, and in love, with a big city femme. Their quirky community bands together to save a neighbor from the clutches of medical debt. The end. If you love these tropes, the predictability will be cozy and comforting, but I got bored really early on.

Sadie and Peyton are fine main characters. They didn’t spark my interest, but neither are despisable. They both are passionate, if not closed-minded. Sadie comes home, set on fulfilling her dream of owning a bookstore. Having done time in the tech industry, being her own boss sounds appealing. Being Available Aunt Sadie to her niblings and sister is also a priority. She hates asking for help, but has to learn that assistance isn’t weakness. In the process of learning grownup life lessons, Sadie develops a sense of local pride and belonging.

Peyton was a bit annoying. Maybe it’s a side effect of the handywoman masc trope. She demolishes a wall in Sadie’s building, having a hunch that something of value is hidden. That’s fine, but asking before destroying someone’s new investment just seems like common courtesy. Her anti-big corporation stance is a bit over-kill. She sticks her nose up when Sadie considers selling her bookstore to a big corporation. Like, I get it, monopolies suck, but it ain’t like you’re buying carpentry tools from Etsy. Your small business benefits from big companies, too.

The two women together are exactly what you’d expect. Sadie doesn’t come to town looking for a relationship, but Peyton changes everything. It’s the people who make a place home, after all. A (not) shocking discovery is that neither fully trusts the other. A fight breaks out, apologies are issued, and all’s sound. I do not believe they’re in love, but to each their own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. I will be posting this on Goodreads and/or TikTok and Instagram in mid May.

[Randi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley, Aurora Ray, and Bold Strokes Books, Inc. for the opportunity to read this ARC.

The premise of this story sounded really cute, and I was excited about getting into it. It's a queer story about Sadie Simoneaux, who moves back home to open the bookstore she has dreamed about. Enter Peyton Broussard, her high school friend and rival, and the town's only contractor.
The story is told in third person, and this might have had a lot to do with my experience reading the book. I don't feel that we got a good connection to either Sadie or Peyton. The POV changed in the middle of chapters, sometimes several times, which messed with the pacing because there were times when I wasn't sure who was in the lead.

Both were pretty awkward with each other, to the point where one would say something and the other would overthink it, and vice versa. And it happened a lot. It is set up as a slow burn, but everything felt very fast-paced. What also bugged me was that the feelings were instantly there, even though they hadn't seen each other much since high school. Apparently, seeing each other again was enough to create a lot of sexual tension.

The story was honestly too perfect, and I mean that in the sense that there were no big stakes. Even though Sadie and Peyton were awkward and had major communication problems, there wasn't anything to hook me or make me want to keep reading until I finished it in one sitting. The third-act conflict was also weird and was resolved in two chapters. It involved a person who showed up about two-thirds of the way into the book and had obviously meant something to both Sadie and Peyton. The conflict tried to make a big thing out of it, but it fell short.

To be honest, the story fell flat because there were no real stakes, and I was bored while reading it. So unfortunately, this wasn't the story for me. I might simply not be the audience for this type of cute, fluffy, low-stakes romance.

[SullenSapphic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spice Level: 2/5 Explicit Open-Door

Sadie Simoneaux is tired and burnt out from the fast paced life of coding and tech jobs so she decides to move back to her hometown and open a bookstore, a dream of hers. Her high school rival, Peyton Broussard, is brought back into her life as her contractor. Having to spend long hours together, they form a relationship and find that friendly competitive banter they used to have back in high school. Peyton soon finds Sadie’s dream becoming that of her own but developers with money threaten to take away all that was brought back into Peyton’s life. Does Sadie take the money and run back to what she knows? Or will love find a way?

I received this book from NetGalley and the Author in return for my honest review. To begin, I am a fan of Aurora Rey’s writing so I already knew I was going to enjoy this read and I was not disappointed. I love Aurora’s writing because you get a really sweet romance with little to no angst / conflict and just the right amount of spice. I also like how her “scenes” (if you know what I mean) bring a little more authenticity to the experience. Accessories and positions are used that you don’t necessarily see in other sweet romances, that in my opinion, bring a little more reality into the situation. Chef’s kiss.

I mentioned earlier that this is a low angst / conflict book. This is about two women basically reconnecting and learning who each other is again because in high school they couldn’t be who they are today. At the very end, there is a slight conflict that could upend everything. No spoilers so if you want to know if Sadie and Peyton stay together, you’ll have to read and find out. Another thing that I love about this book is that Sadie is a plus size woman so it is nice to see that representation out there.

🔨 Bookstore Setting
📖 Plus Size FMC
🔨 Sapphic Romance
📖 Friends to Lovers
🔨 Small Town Romance
📖 Mutual Pining
🔨 Friendly Rivals

[Shannon Luchies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sadie Simoneaux has returned to her home town, intending to open a bookstore Page Turners. She's bought the building, but it'll need renovations. She also wants to spend more time with her family.

Peyton Broussard co-runs her family's construction company, so she's interested in the project. She's less interested when she learns who bought it, Sadie. They were high school rivals back then.

(Both women had crushes on the other back then, but nothing came of it.)

Sadie was expecting to deal with the dad, so she's a little surprised to see Peyton. They go through ideas for the store, as well as mentioning there's a upstairs apartment she wanted to use.

Reno begins!

Discovering the electrical box is shot cuts into the contingency fund, but Peyton suggests Sadie start the work on her apartment. Complicating matters, Peyton assumes she's done at least some reno, but she's never had.

Gradually they flirt, them progress to dating. I love Sadie's sister and niece staying up to try to catch a goodnight kiss. Oddly, both refuse to say they're girlfriends tho.

Oof. Sadie misunderstood something and thinks Peyton is just into the sex. And she recieves a generous offer for the bookstore, but turns it down.

But then she finds out a former teacher of them both is facing a medical crisis, and needs cash so Sadie considers selling the store for the cash... but Peyton finds out from the rumor mill and pops a gasket.

Third act breakup.

Working with friends in town Peyton comes up with a charity auction concept. A meek Sadie sees Peyton, tells her she is not taking the deal.

Wrap up, declaration of love, etc.

4 stars, good if not blew me away book. We get good romance, characters, and Sadie is actually curvy. Its in the same continuity of a few of her books, but reads as a stand alone.

[FemmeFataleReviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3,5) This is a sweet, funny and predictable read about starting a new life and being stubbornly independent. It was low angst, slow paced, and not a slow burn.

Within the first few sentences I was already hooked and super excited to read the story. And it could deliver, maybe not as perfectly as I'd hoped, but it was definitely entertaining.

In the beginning, I loved the character voice and the conversational tone. It was very distinguishable and fitted the character and her situation perfectly. I also liked that I had an immediate and very clear picture of the characters in my head.
The dialogue was witty and funny and showed the cutest and considerate characters.

Then the writing got a little heavy on tell and interiority and over-explained too much, but it wasn't as bad because the story was still very exciting and I loved the flawed characters, especially the toolbelt wearing cliché of a service top masc.

Although there were a few rom-com moments that weren't too realistic, the story had its deeper themes and felt real enough to have complex characters. And I loved the rom-com feels and I even would've liked some scenes to be longer or to have a more of a slow burn.

In the end, the pace got very slow and I just wished that there were more things happening.

Overall, the writing style was engaging and the sentences flowed, but it was a little too repetitive for me. The author seemed to love to make the MCs' thoughts wander off mid conversation and have the other character point that out with a "where did you go?". Which was a bit annoying, not too bad, but maybe also a sign that the characters thought and reflected too much.

[Kayleigh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Under Construction brings us Sadie, former high school valedictorian who left her small hometown to work in tech, made a good amount of money through working in a tech startup and has returned to her hometown to buy a historic building and open a bookstore, her dream! When meeting with the contractors, she is matched up with Peyton, the almost valedictorian from her high school class who is now taking lead in her families construction company.
There is anticipated tension as Peyton and Sadie have differing opinions on the renovation and that quickly develops into a quippy friendship, and then a physical attraction.
While I wasn’t expecting anything about this story to be revolutionary (second chance romance, post high school competitors discover they had more in common than they thought, enemies to lovers, etc.) but I did feel like a LOT of this book was easy to guess. I have to commend the no third act breakup?
Personally, I wanted a bit more character development from either of them. I don’t think that Sadie contemplating selling the store to help pay for her old English teachers cancer treatment was real growth and it only left me frustrated that she spends all her time with Peyton and then didn’t think to talk to her about it, especially after all the work that Peyton put into building her the bookstore of her dreams.
It’s an easy, quick read, but since this author has written a lot of queer romance, I just wanted a bit more.
Under Construction is due to be published June 16, 2026 and I received an advanced copy from Netgalley in exchange for my review. As this is an advanced copy, some facts in my review may differ from the final version.

[Lilith Gray · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

This is the story of Sadie Simoneaux who decides to move back home after a burnout, to start her own business of a bookstore/café, while bringing back to life one of the town's biggest landmarks.

And who better to help this dream come true than Peyton Broussard, her childhood rival, with whom she has always went head to head to out best?

With the construction site as main stage, they find themselves in each other's presence more often than they expected initially and it is impossible to fight the banter and the flirt that follows, as they realize the attraction was always there but never really addressed before.
Still, they rapidly find their way into a new dynamics, 20 later, where the core of their relationship has changed and there's no real need to fight each other anymore, leaving room to discover who they are beyond their achievements.
They slowly but steady lean on each other and push one another to be better, rather than fueling any past rivalry, surprising even themselves - but not the ones around them - on how things turn out.

Adding to this, there's a strong sense community around this story, so it felt really easy, warm and cozy from start to finish, with no third act break up to worry about.

The intimate scenes are steamy and a doorway to something more.

It works well if you're looking for a light, funny, easy-going comfort read, but I could have gone with a tad more tension.

Oh, and can I just say, I really liked this cover?

Thank you to Netgalley and BSB for this ARC, in exchange for my honest review.

[Sue Plant · Rating 5 out of 5]

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

Sadie Simoneaux has come home.....after years spent working on apps and everything that went with it... she is home with her family and about to start a new adventure.... she wants to open up a book shop and coffee shop ....ohhh she has big dreams and the money from her buy out has made her enough money to live her dreams...

Peyton Broussard works at the only firm that can do all the renovations around town so when the call comes in about the refurbishment of the old building that sadie has bought she gets the call to go and have a chat with sadie.... though sadie is unaware that peyton is about to turn up.... they were each competitive with each other in school to see who came top.... rivals in all subjects

and now peyton has skills that sadie doesnt have which will be a nice change for peyton to be topdog.... plus finding out that peyton wears a toolbelt has to be one of my favourite bits about this book.... means its a winner for me

this was a very enjoyable read... watching how peyton and sadie handled working around each other ... one of the best sapphics books i have read in a while plus ... who wouldnt like...

toolbelt + strap scene = happy reader

aurora rey certainly knows how to keep her readers happy with her books and i cant wait to read her next book or any book that she brings out

[Caitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sadie Simoneaux has decided to live her dream of owning a bookstore and cafe, after a number of years grinding it out o=in the ultra competitive tech start-up. And what better place to live out her dream than back home where she can catch all the missing moments with her family. Peyton Broussard grew up in Duchesne with Sadie, as classmates they competed for top awards throughout middle school and high school. Their competitive drive pushed them hard and kept them from being friends but with Sadie in town looking to remodel The Turner building and Peyton working for the only construction company in town, meant they finally reunited after 20 years. While the competitive natures haven't left, they shifted to being more compatible.

This is another cute romance by Aurora Rey. A cozy rivals to lovers. Sadie is head strong, fiercely independent woman who knows what she wants, meanwhile Peyton is loyal strong, and equally stubborn but both have grown from the need to one up each other, to a sense of confidence in ones own skill. I like both of the characters and I really appreciated the coziness/low angst of the book. Yes there are moments of them figuring out how to work together but they used their maturity to work through problems, which I appreciated.

All in all, this was another solid romance by Rey. If you are looking for a cozy, low angst romance, look no further.

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC

[Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Under Construction
Aurora Rey
ARC Review

A rivals to lovers, forced proximity, small town sapphic romance.

Under construction is a story of love in so many ways. The love for building community, love for restoring and preserving history, love for books, and finding true love.

I found there to be strong similarities between Aurora Rey’s Renovation Romance series (Sweat Equity, Good Bones, and Fixed Up) and Under Construction. All of these books feature lead characters who work for a family-run construction company and each of them falls for the person they are working for.

Under Construction changes it up from the Renovation Romance Series by adding in the complication that the FMC’s, Peyton and Sadie, were rivals in high school before Sadie moved away.

The trademark of Rey’s works with the engaging banter is present between the characters. The relationship is rich with longing and the sense of wanting someone who doesn’t seem to be on the same page.

This is a low angst book where the characters actually communicate with one another. It has romantic surprises, a small-town feel with the gossip network firmly in place, and wonderfully portrayed competent women.

If you liked the Renovation Romance Series you’ll like Under Construction.

I received a digital advanced copy from Bold Strokes Books via NetGalley.

[Jamie P-Kretzschmar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was pretty excited to pick up Under Construction by Aurora Rey. I love a good small town sapphic romance, especially with a renovation trope and capable women doing handy work.

There’s a lot to like here. i genuinely liked both Sadie and Peyton as individuals. their personalities are distinct and they play off each other well in that classic rivals-to-lovers way. It's definitely a slow burn, which works for the story, and it’s not really angsty at all. Just a nice, sweet progression. When they finally get there, the spicy interactions are really good.

But I ended up landing on a solid 3 stars because of a few structural things that kept pulling me out of the reading experience. The biggest issue for me was the POV shifts. The POV changes were honestly confusing and happened so frequently that I had a really hard time catching the switch before I was already a few paragraphs in. It made the flow feel a bit choppy. Also, the banter was fun at first, but some of the exact same jokes were recycled with the exact same wording later in the book, which felt a little unedited.

Overall, it’s a decent, low-stress read if you just want some small-town romance and low angst with a nice payoff, but the formatting and repetition kept it from being a favorite for me.

ARC provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Abi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a super sweet sapphic romance. Was low conflict (and what there was, was resolved quickly), with most of the plot revolving around the renovation, community and Sadie and Peyton processing their individual insecurities and hangups. It was very much a small town slice of life, which I adored. I loved how much of the community was involved and how they all supported each other.

I liked both main characters and really enjoyed following the renovation and opening of the bookshop. The side characters were all lovely and fleshed out, and I particularly liked Sadie’s relationship with her sister. Reasonably spicy, but not excessive, I love when an author knows they don’t have to show every single spice scene to get the point across that the characters are very into each other.

I really enjoyed that Sadie and Peyton were childhood frenemies and how that played into their dynamic. Loved that they were older protagonists (in their 30s) and that Sadie was unabashedly fat, her attitude was refreshing! Overall, a lighthearted, fun and easy read. Would recommend, especially if you’re after a light palette cleanser!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

[bookswithbull · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sadie & Peyton. Small town high school rivals meet again as adults when Sadie moves back to their hometown of Duchesne, Louisiana. Peyton never left, now working for her family’s construction company. Sadie is revamping an old rundown store on Main Street into a bookstore!! They may have been rivals in high school but as adults it’s all chemistry. This story is so cute. I love how it centers two older main characters (mid 30s) and one who is plus size at that. Opening a bookstore is such a dream. I loved reading it play out through Sadie’s vision and Peyton’s construction. Sadie and Peyton have fun banter and are (mostly) open communicators which makes the book that much more enjoyable! A wonderfully spicy sapphic read.

What lost stars for me was the sometimes abrupt POV changes. In the middle of a chapter without a paragraph break or anything the POV would change from one woman to the other. (This was prevalent mostly later in the book.) The plot was also very low angst- in a way where it may have benefited from a larger central conflict.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, Bold Stroke Books, and the author Aurora Rey for an ARC of this book.

[gracie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book suffers from taking itself too seriously. The characters are so boring! One of them is putting dating on hold until renovations and her bookstore are off the ground, and like they have so much chemistry (as we're told one million times) so you'd think all the flirting and stuff would make for sensible tension to keep me reading BUT THERE'S NOTHING! The construction aspect was cool at first but 50% in and it became annoying to read about. This is not an intro to architecture or renovations book please!

One more thing that really irked me was reading,"She's decided she's bi like me, but maybe pan because there's someone in her class who's gender fluid, and she thinks they're cute." I do not know why in 2026, people are still thinking that bisexuals only like men and women, or that bisexuality excludes trans and nonbinary people. It is stupid and biphobic. You also do not 'decide' to be any sexuality, you just are and you discover yourself. I was going to give this 2 stars until I read that and it spoiled my whole reading experience even more.

I got an arc from bold strokes books and netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Anisha Chatterjee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very sweet small-town rivals-to-lovers romance. Sadie and Peyton, who were always trying to one-up each other in high school, meet again around 15 years later when Sadie quits her fancy corporate job and moves back home to open a bookstore (isn't that every girl's dream??) and hires Peyton to do the construction work. The writing was beautiful and sweet, and the banter felt so genuine. I was smiling at almost every scene where the two of them were having a conversation. I did expect a little more on the conflict part, because the plot was worded in a way which made it seem like the sale of the store would be a big plot point, even though it was actually introduced as a point of contention between the parties in one chapter and very easily resolved by the end of the second chapter. I also would have enjoyed seeing a bit more of Peyton's perspective on her decision to focus a bit more on her furniture building; that part felt a bit rushed and not explored well enough to me. Other than that, it was still a very sappy, funny and cute sapphic book, and a cozy and easy read for Pride Month!

[Stephanie Elliott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sadie and Peyton were academic rivals throughout school. Sadie went to college and stayed in the big city to work in tech startups. Peyton never left their small town or her family’s construction company. Twenty years later Sadie, burnt out in her career, returns home to follow her life long dream of opening a bookstore. Peyton’s family is the only construction company in town and the former rivals reconnect over the project.

Under Construction is fine. There is nothing wrong with the story, but also nothing to write home about. Pacing is pretty slow throughout. While I do enjoy mature characters who can talk through issues, the conflicts were so weak, they barely warranted a conversation. It’s below low angst. If the book is your speed, or you need some easy-to-read brain floss, this may work for you. For me it was just too slow and predictable to really keep my attention.

Thank you NetGalley and BSB for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[aribooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this arc !!

The story is about Sadie who comes back to her small town to open a bookstore and will hire her rival from high school Peyton, to renovate the building.

I loveee sapphic book and even more when it’s rivals to lovers AND in small towns. So I was really excited to read it ! To my surprise it was really disappointing….
I did like the characters and the storyline but everything else was hard to get through …The pacing was not very enjoyable and the more I read the more I, sadly, got bored..One thing happens then nothing then another…like it was a weird pacing for the book…Some dramas didn’t even make sense to me, and I think some moments could have been more developed….
Something that also bothered me was the changing of pov in middle of chapters which was confusing because there wasn’t any mention or anything….

I don’t think this was bad bad…but it could have definitely been better…or maybe my expectations were too high….

[Marianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley, Aurora Rey and Bold Strokes Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really sweet, cozy sapphic romance with major small-town Hallmark vibes, but with more depth. Sadie returns home to open her dream bookstore and ends up working with Peyton, her former high school rival (and secret crush), on the renovation. I loved the chemistry between Sadie and Peyton, their playful banter, and the supportive community surrounding them. The fact that both leads are in their 30s—and that Sadie is confidently plus-size—made the story feel especially refreshing. It's low-angst, light spicy, and focuses more on personal growth, community, and second chances than big dramatic conflicts. The pacing slowed down a bit toward the end, and I wouldn't have minded a little more tension, but overall this was a warm, charming, easy read that left me smiling.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy Aurora Rey's writing, she creates wonderful sapphic characters with supportive families and communities around them. The story is developed well, I enjoyed the details about the renovations and the joy of ordering books and shelving them. The energy between the Sadie and Peyton is fun, spicy and I really enjoyed Peyton's calm ways. There is a moment that jars when Sadie refers to herself as fat and Peyton objects and from the cover art Sadie is curvy. We get to know more about Sadie's family, especially loved Lillian and the retired English teacher Marion. Definitely extra enjoyment for those of us who love reading and bookshops.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Meghan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rey is an author I've always enjoyed, but this one failed to hit the mark for me.

It was a decent read that is funny and predictable, but also low angst which was nice. The story got my attention from the beginning, but I wish it would have kept it. I thought Sadie and Peyton had a good give and take and enjoyed the chemistry along with the deeper themes in the story, but this was a bit fast for me. I would have liked it to be more of a slow burn with their relationship.

By the end, the book dragged and I struggled to finish. It was hard to read at times with the overtelling, instead of showing.

Not a bad book, but Rey has much better books out there that I've enjoyed a lot more. I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[trix · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had never read any of Aurora Rey's books but I'm so glad I requested this ARC. I loved her writing style and I can't wait to check out her other works. One of my favourite things about this book was the dynamics between the characters. It had the perfect amount of banter and conflict without reaching the miscommunication trope. I also loved the plus size representation and the butch x femme dynamic that the main characters had.

The only reason why I haven't rated this book higher is because of a comment about bisexuality that, even though I am sure it's an ignorant and unintentional mistake, it harms and perpetuates a stereotype about this identity.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for this ARC.

[Aleana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.


Sadie and Peyton were rivals in school with everything. Sadie returns to town after working on apps and everything that’s comes with it she finally gets to live her dream of opening bookstore/coffeeshop. Peyton is the only contractor in town who always wanted to work on one of Duchesne’s oldest buildings in town she gets the chance to. Sadie is unaware she be working with her rival from high school as both of them adjust to who they are now they slowly start to fall for each other this was low angst romance that I like the characters had chemistry love the banter and atmosphere of the town.

[Scott Cutlip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Under Construction is about Sadie, who is opening a bookstore in her hometown after leaving a tech startup, and Peyton, who was Sadie’s high school rival (albeit mostly friendly). She is working on renovating the building where Sadie’s bookstore and apartment will be. The banter between the two is fun, and the novel is for the most part low angst.

Overall I enjoyed the novel, although there was the type of misunderstanding one often finds in these types of novels during the third act that stuck out like a sore thumb. If it were removed, the novel wouldn’t have really changed much at all, except raising my enjoyment a little bit. Fortunately, it doesn’t last long, but it is really the only bad mark I have against the book.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.