Love takes flight in a collection of sexy, fun novellas all set at the airport from the acclaimed author of The Fastest Way to Fall.
The Love Connection An airport pet groomer meets her frequent-flier crush and finds herself in a fake-dating situation with a professional risk assessor who moonlights as a romance author.
The Missed Connection Two strangers share a romantic night only to discover months later that they're professional rivals about to embark on an extended business trip together in this grumpy-meets-sunshine romance.
The Sweetest Connection Two best friends have one week to return a lost love letter found in a candy store at the airport—and work up the courage to confess the deep feelings between them—before one of them leaves the country.
4 ⭐️ This collection of swoon-worthy novellas is a must-read!
And while these are three different stories, I loved how they were all somewhat connected and seamlessly woven together. Well done! My overall rating for this collection is 4 stars, but I've included my ratings for each novella below.
The Love Connection: 5 ⭐️
An airport pet groomer meets her frequent-flier crush and finds herself in a fake-dating situation with a professional risk assessor who moonlights as a romance author.
I absolutely adored this story. Honestly one of my favorite novellas ever. I can't even tell you how many times I smiled like a freaking idiot while reading about Ollie, the biggest sweetheart, and Bennet, a huge cinnamon roll. Their romance is a slow burn with great banter and delicious tension. There's even a hand-holding scene that made me swoon. SWOON! I'm not kidding. lol The only 'complaint' I could possibly come up with is that their story wasn’t a full novel. I just loved them so much that I never wanted it to end!
The Missed Connection: 4 ⭐️
Two strangers share a romantic night only to discover months later that they're professional rivals about to embark on an extended business trip together in this grumpy-meets-sunshine romance.
This was such a cute strangers to lovers to co-worker rivals to lovers story!!! THE TENSION! *Chef's kiss*. And the fact it has the grumpy x sunshine and 'I hate everyone but you' trope! Incredible! Gia (Bennet's best friend from the first novella) and Felix were so much fun to read about - and even though it’s a novella, I still felt like I knew them. I really liked them, but I loved the first couple more. I would read a novel of the first couple, but the novellas for these two were perfect.
The Sweetest Connection: 3.5 ⭐️
Two best friends have one week to return a lost love letter found in a candy store at the airport--and work up the courage to confess the deep feelings between them--before one of them leaves the country.
Friends-to-lovers isn’t my favorite trope, but this was sweet and enjoyable. Silas and Tegan have spent years secretly in love but are too worried about ruining their friendship. I'm not going to lie, there were quite a few times I wanted to wack them on the head for being completely clueless idiots. 🙈 I mean really, this was more of an idiots-to-lovers story than anything. Haha
But I think my favorite part of the story was the epilogue! I can't say anything without spoiling it but it was the perfect way to end these stories!
Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. As always, all opinions are my own.
Ollie has had her eyes on him for months. When she finally gets the chance to talk to him, she realizes he’s even better up close. Bennett isn’t sure how he’s missed this girl considering how often he flies in and out of the same airport but she’s sparks his creative juices so he has his eyes on her now.
Adorable novella. I love that they met while Ollie was chasing after a dog in her care in an airport. Bennett is so sweet and says what’s on his mind. I love that he’s a romance author and so open about it to Ollie. Even better that she reads all of his books.
•THE MISSED CONNECTION•
They had one kiss on New Years Eve in an airport and went their separate ways. A few months later, Gia is back at that airport to pick up a thorn in her side - her new colleague. Felix doesn’t mix business with his personal life so when he realizes Gia is his new work associate, he shuts things down before they can start again. No matter how much he doesn’t want to.
This was super cute! And wow, that epilogue was AMAZING! They’re so considerate of each other and their feelings. They’re also total opposites which is fun to witness but they really mix well together. Ahh!
•THE SWEETEST CONNECTION•
They’re best friends, nothing more. They crossed the line once and they’re not willing to risk their friendship again. Teagan leaves for France in a week and Silas is soaking it up, even taking extra shifts at the airport they both work in so he can spend as much time with her as possible.
Ugh, these two! You just want to shake them.. but you can also understand why they’re so hesitant. Especially since their friendship is so sweet and solid.
The epilogue wasn’t what I was expecting but still a great wrap up to the series. I just wish we saw their relationship a year later.
*I received an ARC of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review with my honest opinion.*
These were sweet and fluffy, but I wanted more chemistry in each story. The couples were cute, but I felt that the pacing was off. Overall, enjoyable, but not dynamic.
I really loved all of these flight delays and all of these characters. I love that Denise can really do a lot with each novella and make me feel fully invested with each couple. I also loved how they each connected in a small way to one another so you still got to see each character as time went on. There was the right amount of background, figuring out each character's motive, and a sweet romance to each novella. This would be the perfect book to read while traveling as you could easily read a novella on a plan ride or while having your own flight delay!
We recently read this new collection of previously-published novellas by Denise Williams. It's made up of a series of three interconnected novellas that include significant time spent in the Atlanta airport: meet cutes, impromptu picnics, even dates and makeout sessions. We enjoy anthologies because you get a little taste of what an author is like without having to commit to a whole novel. We especially enjoy books that have a shared setting, like a house party or (more topical) an airport. We liked the diversity of characters in this anthology, and we got a good idea for Williams's style. Our only issue? We were expecting something a little steamier, especially from the first novella featuring a romance reader and a romance author who's known for writing the spiciest scenes.
This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.
This was so funny. I enjoyed every single short story. This book is actually a set of airport rom-com novellas. Yup, you read right: airport rom-coms. Now, read it.
Three different stories, same place, and they turned out to be all connected. I really enjoyed all of these flight delays and these characters, they were so funny and cute.
1. The Love Connection - 3.5 stars 2. The Missed Connection - 3 stars 3. The Sweetest Connection - 3.5 stars
📍 Read if you like: • Romance Novellas • Character Diversity • Interconnected Stories • Airports
Love And Other Flight Delays is a collection of interconnected romance novellas set at an Atlanta airport. We follow three different couples and I really enjoyed the diversity between them. . . . ~ The Love Connection ~
⭐⭐⭐.5
Ollie ♥ Bennett
I loved the chemistry between these characters. Ollie is an airport pet groomer, which I think is so cool. She ends up bumping into Bennett, her frequent-flier crush, while she’s chasing a dog.
There’s a fake-dating situation between the two, but they begin to learn that their feelings toward each grow stronger. It was a bit slow at times, but it is a novella so it was fun. I also enjoyed how Bennett was a romance author and how supportive Ollie was.
~ The Missed Connection ~
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Gia ♥ Felix
Out of the three novellas, this one was by far my favorite. I love the grumpy-meets-sunshine trope and it was written so well in this story. Gia and Felix had one kiss on New Year's Eve in the same airport, and soon after they went their separate ways.
Months later, both of them are reconnected. I loved the epilogue in this one, it really clicked with me. Also, I just loved how Gia and Felix were complete opposites but perfect for each other.
~ The Sweetest Connection ~
⭐⭐⭐
Teagan ♥ Silas
Two best friends, Teagen and Silas, have a week to return a love note found in this candy shop, I really enjoyed how wholesome and caring these characters were. Teagan is leaving for France in a week, therefore Silas ends up taking extra shifts so he can have as much time as possible with her.
I instantly felt the connection between both characters. They were so sweet to each other. The only issue I had with this novella was that I felt it wasn’t wrapped up that well. The epilogue for this one was not my fav, and I wish we got more from their future relationship. . . . All three novellas were previously published, but I loved how they were all connected in this one book. The couples were all so diverse and interesting to read about. I loved the airport setting for them. Highly recommend it!
Thank you Berkley Romance and NetGalley for the free gifted book and e-ARC in exchange for my honest review, all thoughts are my own!
This was a fun tastebreaker for a readathon. If I read it all at once I probably would’ve gotten really bored w it relatively quickly, just with the repetitiveness of the airport (which was the whole point of the book but here we are)
i’m being harsh but i really hate novellas. i’ve never read a collection and been like “wow that was fulfilling.” what denise should’ve done is scrapped this whole thing and wrote a whole book about gia and felix. i needed at least 200 more pages with them
The Love Connection 3.5 stars The Missed Connection 4.5 stars The Sweetest Connection 4.25 stars
I enjoyed this a lot! The first novella in this anthology was the first Denise Williams book I ever picked up, and I wasn’t sold on it. I tend to be picky about novellas, it’s easy for them to feel rushed, and that’s how I felt about The Love Connection. I did enjoy it. I liked Ollie and Bennett, I enjoyed the plot and the chemistry, but the third act break up was frustrating and not the most convincing, and it threw the pacing off. Everything that happened after that point felt too rushed to me. The Missed Connection was my favorite of the three. I adored Gia in TLC, so I was excited to get to her love story, and I love myself a grump in the vein of Felix. The banter, the tension, the angst. All of it was immaculate. This novella was so easy to get caught up in, and it was everything I’d wished the first one had been. The Sweetest Connection was a close second—largely because friends to lovers is my favorite trope. Teagan and Silas were cute, the pacing was steady and engaging, and reading this story just made me giddy. That grand gesture! The epilogue was… weird. I think it was supposed to be cute, but it felt unnecessary and I wasn’t a huge fan.
All in all—highly recommend, especially if you liked Ali Hazelwood’s Loathe to Love You collection. This will scratch that itch for sweet, steamy, fas paced fun.
These were adorable. My personal favorite was the first but I really did enjoy the other two. I think that they all mainly took place in the airport but branched off into different couples but they all intersected in some way. They were super fun and quick reads (This is an omnibus of all three novellas). The spice was good and the relationship timeline felt realistic and wrapped up nicely which is important when the story is under 200 pages. I continue to enjoy Denise William's writing and can't wait to read more.
Love and Other Flight Delays is a bind-up collection by Denise Williams of interconnected, yet standalone novellas that all take place at an airport. These are super short, snack-size stories that are cute and so quick to get through. The cover is adorable and what grabbed my attention!
The Love Connection: 3.5 stars. Bennett is a professional risk assessor by day and writes steamy romance novels by night! He is charming, rambling, and adorably awkward. He’s currently facing writer’s block until one day he rescues a dog running through the airport which leads him to Ollie, the airport pet groomer, who immediately inspires him! Ollie can’t believe her luck when she finally gets to meet and speak to Bennett, her frequent flier crush! This was just cute: cute airport dates, cute pets in the airport, two adorably cute characters. I loved that Bennett writes steamy historical romances and Ollie reads them. I was expecting steamier times between Bennett and Ollie and that was a let down, but otherwise so cute!
The Missed Connection: 3 stars. Gia and Felix meet while on a layover at the airport, they end up spending some time together and even share a New Year’s Eve kiss before going their separate ways. Months later they meet again, at the airport, only this time they meet as professional rivals. They actually spent months working together, before meeting up in person, without realizing they were the person they shared that magical airport night with. Felix has been the one challenging Gia’s research so she is not that happy to meet him. This is a grumpy hero, sunshine heroine read. They become colleagues and even have to travel together for a five-school tour for work. Lots of travel time, airport trips, and a shared motel room for these 2! This one was okay, didn’t feel as connected to the romance or characters chemistry in this one sadly.
The Sweetest Connection: 3.5 stars. Best friends turned lovers, they both work at the airport. She finds a pros/cons list of someone contemplating a relationship with their friend and secretly hopes it’s the hero’s list. When it’s not his, they set out to find the couple it belongs to and confess their own feelings along the way. Told in present day and then flashback from when they first met 7 years ago during buddy video calls for college.
Thank you to the publisher (Berkley Books) for an e-ARC via NetGalley. All thoughts in this review are my own. Love and Other Flight Delays has a pub date of March 14, 2023!
Denise Williams is one of those authors I've had on my TBR, courtesy of bookstagram. So I sorta jumped at the opportunity to read and listen to this novella collection. I know novellas aren't for everyone, but I find them to be great for those moments when life is hectic and a shorter story is easiest OR to sample an author I've been wanting to try. I binged these one after the other and liked the first best. However, all three did me a huge favor by spanning a decent amount of time so I felt like none of the couple's experienced a rushed loved story even though the page time was limited. I got a dose of different tropes and personalities and three individual HEA's for the price of one. I love that each novella featured a different narrator duo. As I bounced back and forth between my kindle and earbuds, it was far easier to keep their stories straight with different performers cast as the MCs. Thanks to @prhaudio for the #complimentary audiobooks and @berkleyromance for the advanced copy! All thoughts are my own.
This is a collection of 3 novellas! The first is meet-cute strangers to friends-to-lovers, the second is academic rivals-to-lovers, and the third is a friends-to-lovers with looots of pining 🥰
What they all have in common is boatloads of steamy tension, hilarious banter, mutual obsession, a little spice, and a LOT of heart. I loved them all, but the borderline enemies-to-lovers tension in #2's Gia and Felix had me wishing their story was a full-length novel. I can already tell this is going to be one of my new go-to books when I need a romantic little pick-me-up. ❤️
Williams takes a unique approach with this title by presenting three different stories that are all interconnected. Each love story is different but share the common denominator of the airport. Although good in theory, each story feels rushed.
Every romance trope is presented in this book. First, it's the "fake friends/business relationship to lovers". Then "enemies to lovers" followed by "friends to lovers". For those that love to read romance, this book feeds your appetite. However, by the time I got to the third story, I was tired. I was no longer interested in any of these characters.
It would have been great for Williams to make independent books with each of these stories. I wanted to know more about each character. Most importantly, I wanted a more fully formed story.
Nonetheless I love Denise Williams writing and I am so fortunate to have gotten an advanced copy of this book!
Cute novellas all set in the same universe (minor overlap in the characters between stories). Did I read this in an airport & on a plane? You betcha. I'm nothing if not extra. (Case in point: this is yellow book cover #5 for June.)
Minor spoilers: the tropes are strangers to lovers, enemies to lovers, and friends to lovers. I surprisingly liked the ETL story the least, most surprising because it's set in STEM academia and I would give Ali Hazelwood my left kidney.
I liked some of the issues she touched upon (long distance relationships, workplace misogyny, older love) but while the writing was pleasantly solid, it didn't bowl me over. Some low-stakes fun!
Cute stories between people that meet and/or work at airports. I found each of the stories to be just the right length for character development and get the story across. I’m not a huge fan of novellas but this was the perfect read for dog walking with each story being long enough for my long walks over the holiday weekend. The ending was cute, tying up a fourth story, but I don’t know how believable I find having a dog grooming salon in an airport. Other than that, a good way to pass the time.
This is her collection of her 3 novellas that were previously released which were still on my TBR. I loved each of these! They were all so unique and took place in the airport. These were all cute and sweet novellas. I enjoyed them all. 🔸The Love Connection - Fake dating 🔸The Missed Connection - Professional rivals, enemies to lovers, one bed 🔸The Sweetest Connection - Best friends to lovers
Thank you berkleyromance and net galley for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.
I love Denise Williams! So when I saw this book contained three airport novellas I knew I needed to read it. Each one has different tropes; best friends, fake dating and grumpy-meets-sunshine.
It has been quite awhile since I’ve last read a romance. I was excited to dive into these!
They were super cute and just a little dash of everything you want in a romcom. My favourite story was hands down the first one!
just a really damn cute collection of love stories. fav is def gonna be teagan and silas tho, love me a good best friends to lovers x mystery (sorta). loved the recurring characters and just the idea of romance happening in an airport - both a place where people reunite but also say goodbye. all three couples were very unique, though the first story is prob my least fav cuz of the miscommunication trope smh.
Okay seriously this collection of novellas was the CUTEST thing I have ever read. I wish they were longer because they were SO GOOD. I actually saw this book funnily enough… at an airport 😅 I didn’t get it at the time and I wish I did. It would have been perfect but I got it now and it was so precious!
So this is a collection of 3 novellas all centered around an airport and the characters all kinda co-exist with each other. I love when this happens! Here’s a basic synopsis of each novella (retrieved from back of the book)
The Love Connection 🐶: airport pet groomer meets her frequent-flier crush and finds herself in a fake-dating situation with a professional risk assessor who moonlights as a romance author.
The Missed Connection 🧪: two strangers share a romantic night only to discover months later that they’re rival chemistry professors about to embark on an extended business trip together in this grumpy-sunshine romance.
The Sweetest Connection 🍫: two best friends have one week to return a lost love note found in a candy shop at the airport- and work up the courage to confront the deep feelings between them- before one of them leaves the country.
Denise does an amazing job of interconnecting these characters and making their own separate trope love stories. This was a perfect read right before I travel in a couple weeks. If you’re looking for a cute summer vacay read- check this out! 🥰
Rating: 5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Spice: 3/5 🌶️🌶️🌶️ Series or stand alone: collection of stand alone novellas 📚
2.5⭐️ I liked the second novella the best, but they were all pretty forgettable tbh. I’d recommend skipping this and reading Denise Williams’ other books.