When Love Comes Around by Radclyffe

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I know for a lot of people, Radclyffe is a no-brainer but for me, I’m hit and miss with her books. But I’m a sucker for a kid in a sapphic romance. And Rad does do angst very well. And chemistry. Ronica Black was a fave of mine back in the day, so I figured I’ve got to take the chance. This one is definitely a hit for me.

Here’s the blurb:

Maya Sanchez never planned on starting over—not like this. After losing her wife in a tragic accident, she moves back to her Arizona hometown with her four-year-old daughter, determined to rebuild their lives. But their fixer-upper needs more than she can handle alone. Enter Nolan Wright—skilled contractor, ex-Army machinist, and exactly the kind of reliable help Maya needs. What she doesn’t need? The way Nolan makes her feel something she thought was long buried.

Nolan is trying to move forward, too—one renovation, one day at a time. Helping Maya should be just another job, but from the moment they meet, the connection is undeniable. As attraction kindles, so do the secrets neither of them are ready to share.

Falling wasn’t part of the plan, but love doesn’t wait for perfect timing. Can they trust each other enough to build something real, or will the past tear them apart?

Maya, the widow trying to make a better life for her 4-year-old daughter, has to work through the grief of losing her wife and the guilt of realizing she’s developed feelings for another woman. Nolan, the recovering alcoholic, has no idea what a healthy relationship really looks like. But both women want to try and I loved their journey. I absolutely loved that practicing honest communication was such a big part of the later chapters. One of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to romance novels is non-communication, so this was a great discovery.

My only real gripe was some of the strange descriptions. There were a lot of instances of something passing over someone’s face or their eyes. How can you pick up vulnerability in someone’s eyes who you just met? What does that look like? I’ve always struggled with authors who use this type of device to show the emotion of the non-POV character. I suppose if you know someone well enough, you can pick up on micro-expressions or a subtle shift in the eyes, but it didn’t feel believable to me. That and the bathroom that smelled of grief. What?

Oh! Another smallish issue – who are those people on the cover? They look like the whitest mom and kid ever. Maya and her daughter both have dark, curly hair.

Anyway, the story, itself, was beautiful and the characters lovely. I definitely recommend it for anyone looking for some medium-level angst and heat.

Big thanks to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for giving me an ARC and helping me to get my angst hit for the week.




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