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New City #7
Neon Hearts
Danger brought love, but hope?
Bea strikes up an online friendship with Josh, the mod of her disability support group, as she adapts to her new disabled reality after a serious accident. When the danger that’s dogged her for months closes in, she flees to Josh’s home during a terrible snowstorm, knowing he’s the only one she can go to.
Josh needed to cut ties with his security job and life in Chadford, to seek solace in the hills and valleys of home. His intense connection and friendship with Bea made him second guess his isolated life. He could protect her, but it would take him back to a dark place. Yet letting her go is impossible.
Being apart only makes them see how much they need each other, finding that they don’t have to be strong or alone. They are enough, disabled and scarred, and beautiful. This romance contains a happy ever after.
CONTENT WARNING: Depictions of medical care, including coma. References to past medical trauma. References to and a brief description of a car accident. Moderate threat and peril. Suspense-lite, mostly off-page references to crime. PTSD. Brief court case appearance. Challenged ableism. Strong language. Explicit sexual content, including a soft femdom dynamic, masturbation, oral, penetration including pegging.
Bea strikes up an online friendship with Josh, the mod of her disability support group, as she adapts to her new disabled reality after a serious accident. When the danger that’s dogged her for months closes in, she flees to Josh’s home during a terrible snowstorm, knowing he’s the only one she can go to.
Josh needed to cut ties with his security job and life in Chadford, to seek solace in the hills and valleys of home. His intense connection and friendship with Bea made him second guess his isolated life. He could protect her, but it would take him back to a dark place. Yet letting her go is impossible.
Being apart only makes them see how much they need each other, finding that they don’t have to be strong or alone. They are enough, disabled and scarred, and beautiful. This romance contains a happy ever after.
CONTENT WARNING: Depictions of medical care, including coma. References to past medical trauma. References to and a brief description of a car accident. Moderate threat and peril. Suspense-lite, mostly off-page references to crime. PTSD. Brief court case appearance. Challenged ableism. Strong language. Explicit sexual content, including a soft femdom dynamic, masturbation, oral, penetration including pegging.
246 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 29, 2021
5 people are currently reading
127 people want to read
About the author
Stefanie Simpson
24 books76 followersCoffee addled, twitter addicted, A disabled romance author based in the UK, Stefanie Simpson has written multiple contemporary romances as well as fantasy romance.
Most of her work contains angst, healing and conflict. Expect strong adult content and themes, language, explicit material, love and a HEA.
Most of her work contains angst, healing and conflict. Expect strong adult content and themes, language, explicit material, love and a HEA.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
April 30, 2021
A thoughtful, angsty, sexy, slightly-suspenseful romance from a new-to-me author. Both MCs have experienced significance trauma in their pasts, both physical and mental, which has changed their appearance and abilities. Seeing them negotiate a way to be together was an entirely lovely heart-squeezy journey, with wonderful frank disability rep. Also featuring some searing sex, including the best pegging scene I have read thus far. I'll definitely be reading more Stefanie Simpson.
April 5, 2021
I have and will always be completely unapologetic in my love of Stefanie Simpson's writing. From the first work of hers that I read until now, I have loved every aspect of her creativity. From the multifaceted characters and depth of personality, to the expert execution of sometimes heart-rendingly good story arcs, all the way to the comforting, realistic, and heartfelt HEAs that all of her romance ends with.
Neon Hearts is the most shining example of everything that is good and pure and beautiful about Stefanie Simpson's work.
Bea is adapting to her new disabled reality as she recovers from a serious accident. The online disability support group she joined is really helping her, and on it she begins to develop a friendship with Josh, the moderator of the group (and someone who understands a lot of where Bea is coming from). Their friendship soon grows into something more, and when a danger that lurked in Bea's periphery becomes a very present threat, Bea retreats to Josh's home, feeling that he's the only one that she can go to.
Every aspect of this romance is not only beautiful, but beautifully executed. Simpson is real and honest about disability and tells this romance from a perspective that emphasizes the importance of disabled stories. This isn't the placating, ableist-centered view of the "inspiring" disabled woman finding love, this is an unapologetic shout to the heavens that disabled people are fully fleshed individuals, trying to find ways to navigate their reality, regardless of the preconceived notions of those who traditionally oppress and marginalize them.
I cannot recommend this book enough. I can't come up with the language I would need to recommend it enough. I bought it TWICE (once on ebook, again in paperback). It's just a beautiful, beautiful story. Characters from past books appear in it (STUART AND EFFIE, YAY! That's not all, but it's definitely the cameo that gave me the deepest chuckle), there's light suspense, and we get to see two people trying to figure out the love between them, and whether or not it can last.
Neon Hearts is the most shining example of everything that is good and pure and beautiful about Stefanie Simpson's work.
Bea is adapting to her new disabled reality as she recovers from a serious accident. The online disability support group she joined is really helping her, and on it she begins to develop a friendship with Josh, the moderator of the group (and someone who understands a lot of where Bea is coming from). Their friendship soon grows into something more, and when a danger that lurked in Bea's periphery becomes a very present threat, Bea retreats to Josh's home, feeling that he's the only one that she can go to.
Every aspect of this romance is not only beautiful, but beautifully executed. Simpson is real and honest about disability and tells this romance from a perspective that emphasizes the importance of disabled stories. This isn't the placating, ableist-centered view of the "inspiring" disabled woman finding love, this is an unapologetic shout to the heavens that disabled people are fully fleshed individuals, trying to find ways to navigate their reality, regardless of the preconceived notions of those who traditionally oppress and marginalize them.
I cannot recommend this book enough. I can't come up with the language I would need to recommend it enough. I bought it TWICE (once on ebook, again in paperback). It's just a beautiful, beautiful story. Characters from past books appear in it (STUART AND EFFIE, YAY! That's not all, but it's definitely the cameo that gave me the deepest chuckle), there's light suspense, and we get to see two people trying to figure out the love between them, and whether or not it can last.
April 30, 2021
A moving story that centers a disabled heroine and a scarred hero, this made my heart ache in the best way. Bea is two months out from a horrible car accident that gave her permanent brain and nerve damage. She’s relearning to walk and talk and just starting to process the accident that was an attempt on her life. The staff at the rehab hospital are great but what’s really helped is the private group for other people with disabilities and moderator Josh. They don’t know what each other looks like but Bea and Josh both feel a little zing whenever they interact in the group. And then they start texting.
I tend not to enjoy epistolary literature but I love when a connection is built through something like texts or phone calls. The way things built for Josh and Bea reminded me of a couple of guys I first met online and later went on a few dates. Although they have better luck than I did! There is a certain way of knowing when you click with someone online, friends or otherwise, and Simpson nailed it.
Josh is eight years past the fire that changed his life and left him with extensive burns. He’s physically recovered but he hasn’t much dealt with it, or his unstable childhood, emotionally. He’s more of a loner. He’s also demisexual and has never been sexually attracted to anyone before Bea so he’s not sure what to make of any of it, especially since they only interact via text or calls.
When they finally meet, it’s not on Josh’s terms but because Bea needs to be somewhere safe. She’s impulsive and historically makes bad decisions and she’s still recovering from a brain injury and she panicked. There’s such attention and care paid to her recovery and the way things have changed but also what remains the same. Josh is understandably unsettled by how this all happens and his boundaries aren’t ignored, which I found refreshing. This made for some great angst. They both have to deal with their respective insecurities and hurts and Josh doesn’t believe he’ll be a good person for him. Even though he is clearly such a good guy! It was heart-wrenching and how they both dealt with it was true to them and also made their HEA that much more satisfying.
Simpson is a straightforward storyteller. The writing is spare but there’s an immediacy to it. I was right there with the characters, feeling what they were feeling. The dialogue could be abrupt at times and I wish we’d learned a little more about Josh’s childhood and what exactly happened before Bea became a mafia target. But those things aren’t really the point so I didn’t mind too much. The mild romantic suspense element provides the impetus for Bea to go to Josh and take their connection into real life but it’s not the thrust of the plot. The focus is on their respective emotional arcs and whether they can take the leap.
Also this was hot! It’s not an erotic romance like I thought going in. However, the sex scenes are very effective. The kink element is light. I’m always here for Dommes: Bea likes to be in control and I really liked how she was able to reclaim this part of herself post-accident. Josh is a virgin who has barely ever kissed someone before and it was fun to watch him experience all those firsts, including pegging. I can’t speak to the demisexual rep but I hope his depiction resonates because I really liked how it played out.
I’ve meant to read this author for a while and this was a great one to start with. I can’t wait to read more!
Character notes: Bea is a 32 year old white former waitress. She’s recovering from a brain injury and has permanent brain and nerve damage. Josh is a 35 year old white demisexual disability advocate who formerly worked in personal security. He’s remodeling his 1800s house and he’s a virgin and a vegetarian. He has extensive burns from a fire on half of his face and his upper body. Josh has a dog named Bob and there’s a vicious chicken named Barbara who belongs to his adoptive parents. This is set in Chadford and Deerbank, England.
CW: past car accident and attempt on heroine’s life , heroine was in a three week coma and has a brain injury , heroine wears an eye patch due to eye injury, heroine has vertigo and memory loss, hero has extensive burns on his face and upper body from a fire , panic attack, PTSD, person who tried to kill heroine before stalks her , past attack/assault while protecting someone, past homelessness as a child, off-page physical assault of villain, ableism (countered), hero’s adoptive mother has a heart attack and recovers, gendered insults, discussion of grandmother who had a stroke
I tend not to enjoy epistolary literature but I love when a connection is built through something like texts or phone calls. The way things built for Josh and Bea reminded me of a couple of guys I first met online and later went on a few dates. Although they have better luck than I did! There is a certain way of knowing when you click with someone online, friends or otherwise, and Simpson nailed it.
Josh is eight years past the fire that changed his life and left him with extensive burns. He’s physically recovered but he hasn’t much dealt with it, or his unstable childhood, emotionally. He’s more of a loner. He’s also demisexual and has never been sexually attracted to anyone before Bea so he’s not sure what to make of any of it, especially since they only interact via text or calls.
When they finally meet, it’s not on Josh’s terms but because Bea needs to be somewhere safe. She’s impulsive and historically makes bad decisions and she’s still recovering from a brain injury and she panicked. There’s such attention and care paid to her recovery and the way things have changed but also what remains the same. Josh is understandably unsettled by how this all happens and his boundaries aren’t ignored, which I found refreshing. This made for some great angst. They both have to deal with their respective insecurities and hurts and Josh doesn’t believe he’ll be a good person for him. Even though he is clearly such a good guy! It was heart-wrenching and how they both dealt with it was true to them and also made their HEA that much more satisfying.
Simpson is a straightforward storyteller. The writing is spare but there’s an immediacy to it. I was right there with the characters, feeling what they were feeling. The dialogue could be abrupt at times and I wish we’d learned a little more about Josh’s childhood and what exactly happened before Bea became a mafia target. But those things aren’t really the point so I didn’t mind too much. The mild romantic suspense element provides the impetus for Bea to go to Josh and take their connection into real life but it’s not the thrust of the plot. The focus is on their respective emotional arcs and whether they can take the leap.
Also this was hot! It’s not an erotic romance like I thought going in. However, the sex scenes are very effective. The kink element is light. I’m always here for Dommes: Bea likes to be in control and I really liked how she was able to reclaim this part of herself post-accident. Josh is a virgin who has barely ever kissed someone before and it was fun to watch him experience all those firsts, including pegging. I can’t speak to the demisexual rep but I hope his depiction resonates because I really liked how it played out.
I’ve meant to read this author for a while and this was a great one to start with. I can’t wait to read more!
Character notes: Bea is a 32 year old white former waitress. She’s recovering from a brain injury and has permanent brain and nerve damage. Josh is a 35 year old white demisexual disability advocate who formerly worked in personal security. He’s remodeling his 1800s house and he’s a virgin and a vegetarian. He has extensive burns from a fire on half of his face and his upper body. Josh has a dog named Bob and there’s a vicious chicken named Barbara who belongs to his adoptive parents. This is set in Chadford and Deerbank, England.
CW: past car accident and attempt on heroine’s life , heroine was in a three week coma and has a brain injury , heroine wears an eye patch due to eye injury, heroine has vertigo and memory loss, hero has extensive burns on his face and upper body from a fire , panic attack, PTSD, person who tried to kill heroine before stalks her , past attack/assault while protecting someone, past homelessness as a child, off-page physical assault of villain, ableism (countered), hero’s adoptive mother has a heart attack and recovers, gendered insults, discussion of grandmother who had a stroke
March 30, 2021
Oh how I adore this book! It's the last novel in Stefanie Simpson's New City Series, and as sad as I am to see the end of one of my favorite romance series ever, I couldn't imagine a more beautiful book to close things out.
The love story between Bea and Josh is incredible. They're both such sweet and kind characters who have been through so much and deserve only good things to happen to them. I love how they start out falling for each other online and also how Josh is demi sexual. You don't see that a lot in romances and it's SO DAMN refreshing to see a different sexuality represented in this genre. He also survived a fire and has scarring as a result, but he's not treated as a sad disfigured character. He's insanely hot, people want to get with him, and that made me so happy.
And the way Bea's disability is depicted is so heartening. She's not inspo p*rn or a disabled character who only exists to help teach abled characters a lesson. She's a fully fleshed out person navigating her own journey and that is so incredibly satisfying.
There's also a "stranded together in a blizzard" trope in this and OMG it is SO GOOD! When Josh and Bea finally get together is off-the-charts hot! And their HEA is the sweetest!! Highly recommend this book, it will blow you away!
The love story between Bea and Josh is incredible. They're both such sweet and kind characters who have been through so much and deserve only good things to happen to them. I love how they start out falling for each other online and also how Josh is demi sexual. You don't see that a lot in romances and it's SO DAMN refreshing to see a different sexuality represented in this genre. He also survived a fire and has scarring as a result, but he's not treated as a sad disfigured character. He's insanely hot, people want to get with him, and that made me so happy.
And the way Bea's disability is depicted is so heartening. She's not inspo p*rn or a disabled character who only exists to help teach abled characters a lesson. She's a fully fleshed out person navigating her own journey and that is so incredibly satisfying.
There's also a "stranded together in a blizzard" trope in this and OMG it is SO GOOD! When Josh and Bea finally get together is off-the-charts hot! And their HEA is the sweetest!! Highly recommend this book, it will blow you away!
April 13, 2021
I would feel really bad about giving this a star rating, because it would be low, but it would also be because of me and not because of the book. As of writing this there's only one rating on it because it came out today and I'm not going to tank the rating for reading a book I should have known I wouldn't have enjoyed. I picked this up because of the promise of the representation but so many other aspects of this book weren't for me. I generally don't like romantic suspense, which was the main issue with this one. Just... not for me
April 4, 2021
Neon Hearts is a beautiful angsty romantic suspense
Neon Hearts is an angsty romance with a little suspense that will have you intrigued from the first page. Bea and Josh are perfect together.
Neon Hearts contains an Author’s Note which I will try to quickly summarize here: this book is a disability centered romance, it’s not emotionally manipulative, it’s not an inspirational meme, no one is magically cured. This is told from the perspective of a disabled person without bias as a lot of stories are told from the abled perspective. It’s about adjusting to disability, accepting new realities and learning who you are within that, The question is asked “Who am I in this new brain?” As a disabled person, she still exists.
There are also content warnings which I will list here: Depictions of medical care, including coma. References to past medical trauma. References to and a brief description of a car accident. Moderate threat and peril. Suspense-lite, mostly off-page references to crime. PTSD. Brief court case appearance. Challenged ableism. Strong language. Explicit sexual content, including a soft femdom dynamic, masturbation, oral, penetration including pegging.
Bea woke from a coma with a traumatic brain injury, unable to remember how to walk, or speak, or who she was.
She is slowly undergoing treatment to help her to re-learn how to walk and talk again. She has a support group online and feels connected to the group moderator, Josh.
Something nefarious and criminal happened where Bea was working and she went to the police. She doesn’t remember what exactly happened, only that it resulted in her ending up at the rehabilitation clinic where she is now.
Bea sees a therapist regularly who tells her: “You are not a tragedy, but that doesn’t mean it's easy. It’s painful and hard. Surviving what you did takes huge strength and resources. There’s a cost to it.” She is finally able to cry at this session over all that has happened.
Josh Cotterill is the moderator of Bea’s online support group and an ex-patient of Bea’s current rehabilitation center, CAPTA. He was burned in a fire while working for his security company on a job. When he goes in to resign they ask him to do one more job, protect a woman who was almost murdered who is at CAPTA, but Josh is too traumatized to agree.
Bea and Josh begin messaging each other. She wants to confide in him but is afraid to put him at risk.
Neon Hearts is the story of a woman learning how to function again after a traumatic brain injury, the story of her connection and romance with a man who has also experienced trauma and the suspenseful tale of the criminals who tried to kill her and are still after her.
The romance in Neon Hearts begins as a tentative situation starting on the message board and then moving on to texts and phone calls for a long period before an in-person meet-up is forced upon them. We get to have the “snowbound in a cabin” trope which is one of my favourites. It’s all keeping warm in front of the fireplace and lots of snow. Love it!
Josh is demi-sexual so that added another level of tentativeness to the situation. However, the romance builds with the appropriate amount of tension and sensitivity.
There’s angst as things come to a head with the villains getting closer to finding Bea and Josh and Bea’s relationship hitting a rough patch.
The angst is beautiful and painful and the resolution is tender.
WRITING STYLE: 4/5
PLOT: 4/5
WORLD-BUILDING: 4/5
PACING: 4/5
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: 4/5
ROMANCE: 4/5
HEAT: 4/5
Neon Hearts is an angsty romance with a little suspense that will have you intrigued from the first page. Bea and Josh are perfect together.
Neon Hearts contains an Author’s Note which I will try to quickly summarize here: this book is a disability centered romance, it’s not emotionally manipulative, it’s not an inspirational meme, no one is magically cured. This is told from the perspective of a disabled person without bias as a lot of stories are told from the abled perspective. It’s about adjusting to disability, accepting new realities and learning who you are within that, The question is asked “Who am I in this new brain?” As a disabled person, she still exists.
There are also content warnings which I will list here: Depictions of medical care, including coma. References to past medical trauma. References to and a brief description of a car accident. Moderate threat and peril. Suspense-lite, mostly off-page references to crime. PTSD. Brief court case appearance. Challenged ableism. Strong language. Explicit sexual content, including a soft femdom dynamic, masturbation, oral, penetration including pegging.
Bea woke from a coma with a traumatic brain injury, unable to remember how to walk, or speak, or who she was.
She is slowly undergoing treatment to help her to re-learn how to walk and talk again. She has a support group online and feels connected to the group moderator, Josh.
Something nefarious and criminal happened where Bea was working and she went to the police. She doesn’t remember what exactly happened, only that it resulted in her ending up at the rehabilitation clinic where she is now.
Bea sees a therapist regularly who tells her: “You are not a tragedy, but that doesn’t mean it's easy. It’s painful and hard. Surviving what you did takes huge strength and resources. There’s a cost to it.” She is finally able to cry at this session over all that has happened.
Josh Cotterill is the moderator of Bea’s online support group and an ex-patient of Bea’s current rehabilitation center, CAPTA. He was burned in a fire while working for his security company on a job. When he goes in to resign they ask him to do one more job, protect a woman who was almost murdered who is at CAPTA, but Josh is too traumatized to agree.
Bea and Josh begin messaging each other. She wants to confide in him but is afraid to put him at risk.
Neon Hearts is the story of a woman learning how to function again after a traumatic brain injury, the story of her connection and romance with a man who has also experienced trauma and the suspenseful tale of the criminals who tried to kill her and are still after her.
The romance in Neon Hearts begins as a tentative situation starting on the message board and then moving on to texts and phone calls for a long period before an in-person meet-up is forced upon them. We get to have the “snowbound in a cabin” trope which is one of my favourites. It’s all keeping warm in front of the fireplace and lots of snow. Love it!
Josh is demi-sexual so that added another level of tentativeness to the situation. However, the romance builds with the appropriate amount of tension and sensitivity.
There’s angst as things come to a head with the villains getting closer to finding Bea and Josh and Bea’s relationship hitting a rough patch.
The angst is beautiful and painful and the resolution is tender.
WRITING STYLE: 4/5
PLOT: 4/5
WORLD-BUILDING: 4/5
PACING: 4/5
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: 4/5
ROMANCE: 4/5
HEAT: 4/5
July 17, 2022
As always with this author the representation is stellar. I enjoyed this a lot, it had a nice slow burn and the chemistry is lovely. There are some lovely moments with family too, and one thing I noticed was older adults talking about queer and/or disabled ancestors in really caring ways.
I think the thing that held me back from loving it was the third act breakup. It was essential to the characters, but I just didn’t love it.
I think the thing that held me back from loving it was the third act breakup. It was essential to the characters, but I just didn’t love it.
May 1, 2021
I have no chill when it comes to Stefanie Simpson's writing and this is no exception so while it wasn't perfect (mainly the suspense elements didn't really work for me) I just really enjoyed the parts that worked - the epistolary element of meeting online, the heroine rediscovering herself after the accident and the hero's journey with learning to trust etc.
November 18, 2022
Stefanie's romances are always so thoughtful and amazing. She always brings a wide range of characters and disabilities to her stories and her romantic elements are just heart melting. Neon Hearts is just a great romance with some nice thriller elements.
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January 24, 2025Josh from Neon Hearts is demisexual!
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November 19, 2022
Trigger & Content Warnings
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Panic attack
Memory loss
Physical injury, including brain trauma, eye trauma & nerve damage
Burn scars
Chronic illness (vertigo)
Coma recounted
Heart attack & stroke mentioned
Physical assault recounted
Stalking
Car accident recounted
Fire recounted
Homelessness recounted
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Panic attack
Memory loss
Physical injury, including brain trauma, eye trauma & nerve damage
Burn scars
Chronic illness (vertigo)
Coma recounted
Heart attack & stroke mentioned
Physical assault recounted
Stalking
Car accident recounted
Fire recounted
Homelessness recounted
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews