3.5 stars.
This was a charming queer holiday romance for anyone who wishes their Hallmark movies came with a bit of spice. After a blow up at work, Morgan takes some time off and returns to her hometown to help run a fundraising event. But she's not sure if she'll receive a warm reception after she abruptly left and cut times the last time she was here.

I have mixed feelings on this one. I didn't like Morgan in the beginning, and once she reconnected with Rachel I had a hard time distinguishing their characters. I generally liked the second-chance romance story, but wish they just communicated with one another. I did LOVE the group of friends, and I think I am more excited for the prospect of the series continuing so we see their romances bloom.

I was in a bit of a reading slump/tired of romance when I picked this one up, so it may just be me. Still recommend adding to your holiday TBR.

Thanks to Kensington Books for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you netgalley for providing with an arc for this book!

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
🌶🌶\5
I liked this book
Second chance and found family AND a huge hallmark movie vibe ? Count me in!

I really liked how it didn’t just show mor reconnect with Rachel it showed her fixing her relationship with her dad, ben, her boss , etc
The town community was really refreshing and I Loved how it was a healthy queer community
Also Ben? He was like the cherry on top! Literally made the book 10 times better he’s just so sweet and all too lovable and I loved his friendship with Morgan


It was honestly a little confusing sometimes when it suddenly switched to a scene from the past And I feel like the third act breakup really bothered me here because it set back morgan and Rachel’s character development.
We see them learning to let each other in more and open up more and then the argument is a repeat of the past (it’s the same argument they had years ago that led to their breakup) so I thought it was unnecessary that it made them breakup again and just showed immaturity

I recommend this to anyone looking for a friends to lovers / second chance romance

Morgan and Rachel's cozy holiday romcom is a whimsical tale of second chances and long-awaited love. I immediately fell in love with Morgan's sparky personality, her drive, and the very defined ways she sees the world. Throughout the book, all characters go through tremendous personal growth, in a way that compliments, but doesn't distract from, the steamy romance unfolding on page.

Kae's debut captures the magic of the holiday season, the coziness of small town life, the importance of home, and the value of knowing where you come from. You won't regret diving into Morgan and Rachel's story!

*I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

When a nigh out turns into a paparazzi disaster, Morgan is forced to take some time off. She returns to her hometown for the first time in 7 years, and finds herself planning an event to save the local tree farm, potentially kindling a teenage romance she thought she had left behind.

This book has the exact same comfort-level as a Hallmark movie! It's the perfect blend of fluffy, cheesy, tropey, and emotional. It blends second chance romance with second chance friendship, and if we know anything about me by now it's that I LOVE when the author has a great cast of secondary characters to go alongside the romantic leads. While the miscommunications were a little forced, the reconciliations felt organic.

If you are looking for a steamy holiday read then this should definitely be on your list! Recommended to be read with cocoa and cookies.

Comparing this book to a Hallmark movie doesn't do it justice.

Don't get me wrong, I can see the comparison. Icy city protagonist shows up to a quaint community (against their will and ready to get out immediately) and quickly falls for the local, ruggedly-attractive love interest.

Where it goes above-and-beyond the typical Hallmark romance is the depth in the main characters Kae introduces us to. Morgan battles complex feelings about returning to her loathed hometown, mostly surrounding her father and Rachel, the girl she fell in love with in high school and who quickly shut her out after their first kiss. I love a good friends-to-lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers, and Kae delivered surprisingly well in such a short amount of time. I quickly became invested in their relationship. Morgan was so hopelessly in love from day one, and it's not hard to see why. Rachel is a hot, funny lumberjane who is basically every lesbian's dream butch. Also, she brings Morgan coffee in, like, every scene. What's not to love?

While Kae quickly made me invested in the main couple, I couldn't help but feel like she let the side characters fall to the wayside. This is a common trope in romance books, but I still found it disappointing, as everyone was interesting, they just...didn't have much time to shine. The best friend, for example (who would've been the token gay best friend in a Hallmark movie, as he's treated much the same in the narrative, but there's ACTUAL queer representation in this book, so he's just the token best friend), was friends with both Rachel and Morgan in high school. He was hurt when Morgan ditched Fern Falls as soon as she graduated, but other than a quick apology and brushed-over conversation, neither of them seemed to care very much. Morgan spends most of the book trying to rekindle her friendship with Rachel instead, while the other best friend just kind of supported from the background. He kind of ended up just falling into the trope of "wise best friend who doesn't do much except offer advice in the third act miscommunication" which was disappointing, because I liked him, but Kae didn't really bother to give him dreams or ambitions or insecurities or anything, really.

Also, this is kind of a petty complaint, and it's probably just because I'm 19 and reading a book written by a millennial, but I was a bit annoyed by the amount of slang that I think will very quickly date this book. There's only so many "FML"s and "smash the patriarchy"s that I can read, really. It's not a big deal, but I am worried that in a few years, it will keep this book from becoming a timeless romance.

Overall, though, this was SUCH a cozy read, and I recommend for any kind of romance reader. Also, the effortless queer representation (not just the main couple) was amazing to see.

One more thing: this is SO much hornier than any Hallmark movie (and it's for the better, tbh)

• Fairies
• Second Chance Romance
• Holiday Time

In the Event of Love is a novel about an overworked Los Angeles event planner, Morgan Ross, who accidentally kisses her client. She is then offered to take a break and go back home to relax and plan a small festival there. Reluctantly, she goes home, only to crash into her ex’s business sign and her. Morgan finds that Rachel has been struggling keeping her family’s farm afloat. It becomes Morgan’s mission to save the farm, and possibly her love for Rachel. Will she succeed? Will she go back to L.A. to her city job?

This read was so fast for me because ir was so delightful! Imagine a holiday Hallmark movie, but make it sapphic, inclusive, and a little spicy! Although Morgan is the protagonist, Rachel was my favorite because she was understanding and had depth to her. I loved all of the inclusion of the queer community, the hinting of Adam and Ben, fairies, and the surprise ending!

#IntheEventofLove #CourtneyKae #NetGalley #KensingtonBooks #ARC #eARC #BookReview

<i>Thank you to Courtney Kae, and Kensington Books for the Digital ARC in exchange for an honest review through NetGalley.<i>

Steamy.
Sapphic/ Bi- rep
Small town
Only one tent

Yes this is definitely the small town sapphic Hallmark type story I needed. High school crushes that didn't get a chance with the world coming in. Then a second chance when Morgan comes back it rekindles her feelings and mixed emotions with Rachel. They also have to fight a corporation trying to "fund" the town but we know what that means. We need to save the Christmas Tree Farm! And get steamy!! I hope we get some stories with the other characters.

I love the event with all the religions. We celebrate Jewish and Christian holidays in our house as well. I love latkes but need my husband to find a good sufganiyot recipe.

Joined the author chat with @lovearctually and it was so fun!

Thank you kensingtonbooks for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
🏳️‍🌈👭👬🏳️‍⚧️
🎄❄️☕

In The Event Of Love by Courtney Kae is a cute holiday rom-com filled with LGBT characters that you just want to bundle up and protect. It's about second chance love and realizing that you are worth being loved.

This cute story follows Morgan Ann Ross, an event planner who was caught up in a scandal and had to return home to take a forced break, but at the same time, prove that she could do a job to earn the promotion that she (thought) she desperately wanted. Both girls are bisexual (yay for bi rep!)

With returning home, she had to face her past best friend, Rachel Ross, who she fell in love with in high school, only to fall apart only after days after their first kiss.

I really enjoyed this book, because it was cute and easy to follow. You felt for the characters, including a gay best friend, who has a will they or won't they kind of relationship with Rachel's brother Adam.
Everyone is pretty much gay in some way, including a trans woman Major.

The 👅🤌💦 scenes for amazing. The relationship was believable, especially because many internal feelings were involved and they had to get past those.

I can't wait for this book to come out to put on my shelf. I hope the next Fern Falls book follows Ben's story.


Thank you @court_kae for this amazing holiday romance story.

And thank you @netgalley and @kensingtonbooks for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In all of my years of watching Hallmark movies, I never knew how badly I needed to have a book that was an actual Sapphic Hallmark love story featuring a sexy Lumberjane. Add in a second-chance romance, small town vibes, return to hometown, endless queer characters, a loving community, an actual tree farm, and once again, A LUMBERJANE.

This story is a truly sweet romance following our main character – Morgan – picking herself up and dramatically throwing herself back into her hometown nestled in the mountains at the beginning of December (snowy hills, pine trees, and endless coffee descriptions to stimulate your senses). She comes face-to-face with her former best friend/love interest Rachel after 7 years away and reacquaints herself with her hometown, lost friends, and her complicated relationship with her father. As she tries to determine her next steps and will-she-won’t-she help plan an event to save the town, Morgan also has to discover how to manage her lusty and unending feelings for her former friend.

Did I say lusty feelings? Yes, this book is spicy. I would expect nothing less from a book with an actual Lumberjane. (She also happens to be an amazing artist and my new biggest book girlfriend crush…and the spice was on point.)

My one main wish for this book is that it had been dual POV as I truly enjoy “watching” a romance progress from both perspectives and I really feel it would have developed Rachel’s character even more and shown us all the wonderful and messy parts of the relationship and hometown from another perspective. However, I’m still holding out hope that this will be turned into a movie so I can cry over this story…AGAIN.

Thank you to Kensington Books for providing me with an e-ARC of this book via NetGalley!

3.5 stars rounded down.

Very Hallmark-y, which i can hang with, and i will say now that my disbelief in second chance romances always starts me off sulky with this kind of book. It was better than i hoped for on that front--rather than feeling like whatever was wrong is still wrong, i just felt like, "well, 17 year olds are a mess, sooooo that tracks."

BUT. If that's the problem from before, then they need to really get to know each other as adults! Which they don't really! So i don't buy a lot of the contemporary part! And it just threw me off, to feel like, in some ways Morgan is working harder to excavate the reasons for their failure in the past than to learn about Rachel in the present--which keeps ME from learning as much about Rachel in the present and in turn keeps me from liking her, or them, enough.

All that said, i had fun and was glad i read it, but not like, glad enough to tell my friends to read it too unless they are either into that trope or really into queer Hallmark books (which certainly some of them are, so fair enough).

After a possibly career-ending scandal, Morgan returns to her charming hometown. She just wants to get away from the paparazzi, take a break and salvage her career. But in order to do so, she will have to work closely with her one-time friend and crush Rachel. Who was part of the reason why Morgan left her hometown in the first place. Can the two of them work together and not only save Morgan's career and Rachel's livelihood, but maybe salvage even more? This is a charming slow-burn, friends-to-lovers, second chance Christmas rom-com and I enjoyed it very much. There is lots of romance, banter and fun as well as a moderate amount of spice in this story. But underneath it is a story about trust and self-worth with great character development throughout. The plot may not be revolutionary, but it works and is well executed. The pace works well with the story and the writing style is descriptive and suitable for both this novel and its genre. The main couple consists of two bisexual women and there are also gay and trans side characters.
Overall, I rated this story 4.5 stars, because I was very entertained and enjoying myself quite a bit. The story also had me quite emotional towards the end, which I enjoy in a good rom-com. I would absolutely recommend this novel, especially for the upcoming winter, when it's colder outside and you can cozy up with a nice cuppa and go to town on this sweet rom-com.

Check the TWs: sexual content, alcoholism, infidelity, car accident, death of a parent (cancer)

Are you looking for a cozy and steamy book that feels like a Sapphic Hallmark holiday movie? Search no more: In the Event of Love is exactly that.

I'm usually not in the habit of reading a holiday book in the middle of summer, but some change is always welcome. And I absolutely do not regret it! (although I do think it's even better to read it in winter, to be in the right setting).
This book was everything I wanted: a group of friends, a second chance at romance, mutual pining, a sexy lumberjack, and a small town romance. Yep, these are great ingredients for a holiday book.

The pace sometimes felt a little rushed, but I kind of expected it so it didn't really bother me. However I was a little annoyed that most of the book revolves around miscommunications (I really don't like that trope). And I think having double POV would have also helped with the plot. Because yes, we get Morgan point of view about the whole "coming back to her hometown" thing, but what about Rachel's feelings when that happened? It would have been such an interesting point to explore too.

Anyways. It was still a very enjoyable read. It's the perfect queer holiday romcom, and I can only recommend you to read it!

In the Event of Love is a fast paced, romantically driven, Hallmark-style holiday novel. It's got a fun but easy to follow premise, endearing characters, and a very cute romance. I'd recommend it as a holiday read, to anyone looking for some more WLW contemporary romances, or simply anyone looking for a quick but enjoyable romance.

It’s still summer so it might be a little early for a book which takes place in December with all the snow, hot cocoa, flavored lattes, tree farms, and holiday cheer - I wasn’t feeling ready and put off starting this buddy read for @loveARCtually for longer than I should have. BIG MISTAKE - HUGE!
In the Event of Love was a (gay) Hallmark movie in book form - in the best way! I loved the subtle movie references to Castaway and Elf, the second chance romance, the event planning, the small town setting, and the rally against corporate greed trying to buy up and mass produce the local charm! I am not a big holiday book or movie person (I know, hard to admit it!), but this book really felt like a cozy hug on a snowy night, even though I read it during a 90+ heat wave in Boston!
I can not wait to read more from Courtney Kae - please put this one on your TBR immediately, as it comes out August 30th. Yes it's before holiday season, but I promise it will STILL make you feel all the good holiday feels.
Thank you to Kensington Books for sharing a widget with us via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Literally the queer hallmark romance of your dreams! The big hotshot event planner, Morgan, from LA goes back home for a month after a major scandal. And what’s back home? The childhood crush, Rachel, who runs the Christmas Tree farm. Morgan agrees to plan a huge fundraiser to save the town and the tree farm from the corporation trying to turn the town into a tourist trap.

Plot: 3/5
I mean you know what you’re getting with a hallmark style romance. There’s plot holes a plenty and improbable deals made that just really wouldn’t happen. BUT it was fun and I got totally sucked into it.

Characters: 3.5/5
Morgan is a bit of a hot mess and she doesn’t realize it. She has a classic emotional avoidance issue and thinks she’s never good enough. She has a fair bit of character growth before she falls back into her old habits. I really loved seeing how she repaired each of her relationships.

Rachel is the broody lumberjack type. Honestly her character depth fell a little flat for me but that may be because we only get Morgan’s POV. It seemed like she was stuck in her own way and she definitely managed to turn her life around.

I’m getting those companion book sequel vibes with Adam/Ben and and Whitney/Tanner??


Writing: 4/5
Courtney Kae is a strong writer for sure and I’m curious to see what she’ll do in the future genre wise. There’s no shame in sticking with queer hallmark stories if that’s how she continues (god knows there a lot she can do in that market).


Overall: 3.5
I love a bingeable holiday romance as much as the next reader. I am more of a high fantasy person which is why this doesn’t rate at a 4+ for me but this was a perfect little romance break and I did enjoy it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

In the event of love was such a cute swoony holiday romance, with second-chance friends to lovers and found family. Second chance is usually not my preferred trope but it was honestly done so well!! The pacing was really good, it was never boring and I loved all main chracters, especially Rachel and Ben. I can't wait for this series to continue and see what happens probably having Ben and Adam's story next and then Whitney and Tanner's :)

Steamy. Sapphic. Holiday. Romance. If those words appeal, you will love this book! Morgan and Rachel are swoony and sweet, and the setting oozes quirky small town charm. This book like is the perfect mug of hot chocolate topped with an excess amount of whipped cream. I devoured it and was sad when it was over because I need more. Amazing!!

I loved every minute of this book. It was like a warm hug - hallmark movie meets sapphic love story. I was rooting for Morgan and Rachel the whole time and the whole concept of a second chance, holiday love story was such a great change of pace for me. Would HIGHLY reccomend. Spicy, charming, warm, sweet - everything you need for a good holiday read. Pick it up, get it - love it. Can't wait to read more in the series.

The world needs more queer holiday romances. In the Event of Love Is one that is sure to make a hit this holiday season.

Morgan is an event planner in LA who has just made a crucial mistake: accidentally dancing with one of her client’s fiancées. Against her best wishes, Morgan agrees to return to Fern Falls to head up a fundraiser. She hasn’t been home in years, not after her best friend Rachel refused to talk to her and her dad rejected their twosome.

Immediately, Morgan is thrown back into the whimsical town and Rachel’s family tree farm. Quickly, she learns that her high school friend, Ben, has actually dragged her back to save the tree farm and fix lost friendships. In the event of love, he calls it.

I enjoyed reading Courtney Kae’s debut novel and look forward to anything else she may publish. The enemies toward instant lovers holiday romance had everything of a Hallmark romance but with a little bit of spice added in. Readers will instantly fall in with the small town vibes of Fern Falls and the cause of saving a tree farm.

What a perfect holiday read! Hallmark vibes, but steamy and sapphic. What's not to love?? I truly was swept up into this world and I enjoyed my time in Fern Falls so much (and I'm hoping for more stories set here). Lovely cast of characters and rich storytelling. This story is like having a cup of hot chocolate while you're curled up in front of the fire at a ski lodge and I loved every second of it! Thank you to Kensington and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!