This was the perfect cozy, swoony romance read. So many beloved tropes were present but with fun unique twists, making a beautiful sapphic love story that felt both comforting and fresh. The chemistry between characters was clear on the page and kept me reading, unable to put the book down. The small-town setting was so immersive that reading this book really felt like going on a little holiday of my own — the perfect escapist read that you makes you happier and lighter by the time you put it down.

Courtney Kae took all of our favorite things about Hallmark holiday movies and made it bisexual and I love that. We have a big city businesswoman going back to her small hometown in the mountains, a second chance romance, a group of townspeople coming together to protect their businesses and way of life from the evil corporation, wintry beverages. This book has it all!

I'll admit, this book had a bit of a slow start for me. Maybe I just wasn't in the holiday spirit yet, haha! (I started reading this book in July and really read most of it in the first few days of August.) I don't think I fully connected with the main character and her issues at the beginning, but once the story shifted away from LA and to the fictional town of Fern Falls, it really started coming together for me.

I think my absolute favorite part was the end! I love the way everything was resolved in the most Christmas-y romance-y way and then the Epilogue was the cherry on top. Such a delightful world Courtney Kae has created and I'm so glad she'll get to tell the stories of the rest of the Fern Falls gang!

Thanks to Kensington and NetGalley for the ARC!

What a deliciously cozy, heartwarming, and touching book. This book is a dream come true for me. Sapphic + Hallmark + a touch of spice = so good. I was hesitant about an event planner (Morgan) going back home where she reconnects with her first love (Rachel). But the author nailed it. I would die in happiness if this was made into an actual move. It’s so damn cozy and sweet—it’d be a perfect holiday movie. This book had the perfect amount of angst, grand gestures, family and community, and the love story between Rachel and Morgan? Gah, perfection. This book was like a warm hug. Tender and sweet and oh, so cute. I loved the message that Morgan struggled with throughout the book and her realization of her being enough all along. I can’t recommend this book enough! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for letting me read the eARC copy of this lighthearted sapphic romance!

Morgan Ross is an over-worked and stressed-out event planner. One night, as she’s preparing for one of her biggest events, her life gets turned upside down.
She flees LA and decides to go back to the town she escaped from when she was younger: Fern Falls.
As she struggles to get her life back on track, an old flame is rekindled and she falls for her high school friend, Rachel Reed, once again.

What I liked about this book:
- sapphic romance, finally some cute representation of a wlw couple!
- hallmark-movie-like setting with a lot of Christmas vibes!
- noticeable character development
- spicy scenes

What I didn’t like:
- The romance felt a bit rushed. Morgan and Rachel hadn’t seen each other for years and yet they fell in love in a very short period of time.
- The drama. This book contains alcohol abuse and a parent’s death, but these two heavy topics are barely talked about. They are used to further the plot for a few pages and I have to admit I would have liked it more if I didn’t have to read through those scenes. They were supposed to add tension and other emotions, but I personally felt a bit… bored?


Overall, this book was a nice getaway from the heavy high-fantasy worldbuilding I was reading.
I’d say that if you enjoy reading a cute sapphic love story, then this is definitely the book for you!

This feel good romance had me wanting nothing more than this to be made into a queer focused Hallmark Christmas movie - because if we are being honest, we could use some more of those.
Cringey at parts, overall this was a feel good, small town, second chance romance. The characters were lovable and made you want to be apart of the community of Fern Falls.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for this ARC eBook in exchange for my honest review.

This is the perfect lgbtq version of a hallmark Christmas movie. It even has the city girl stranded in an adorable small town in need of saving.

Morgan and Rachel were best friends growing up before feelings started developing for both near graduation, until a falling out that had Morgan run to LA.

After an LA scandal has Morgan retreat home, she is determined to help throw a fundraiser to save Rachel’s small town tree farm from the big, bad corporation.

This book was everything you want out of a Christmas movie and I had so much fun reading it. It had light and fun moments as well as a deep character dive into self love and self acceptance.

Add a fun group of friends and you have a holiday treat, just add hot cocoa.

I provided 1 link to a post teasing the book cover and will post a more in depth review closer to PubDay.

Really fun queer holiday rom com. A nice light read and will get you wishing it was winter!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC. All opinions expressed are my own

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a fun, queer, holiday rom-com that’ll match perfectly with a hot mug of tea or hot chocolate! Courtney Kae’s writing quickly envelopes you in a progressive small town full of festive cheer and heart that’s straight out of a Hallmark movie. Like many of those movies, some plot points felt a little rushed and predictable, but the atmosphere created and how loveable the Fern Falls crew is makes up for it.

Definitely a great lighthearted, sapphic, holiday romance for anyone looking to escape into a winter wonderland filled with coffee, events, and lumberjanes!

In. Love.

This book was absolutely all my favorite things about feel-good holiday romances rolled into one.

I ADORED Morgan and Rachel’s romance. They were so so sweet together, and I couldn’t get enough of the love scenes. The little stories from their past completely endeared me to them, and I loved how Rachel kept Morgan’s memory alive even after she left town.

If you love sweet holiday romances, saving the small town, and steamy f/f love stories, you absolutely need to read this book! I cannot wait to read what Courtney Kae writes next. This was the best debut I’ve read this year! Definitely a must-read this holiday season.

4 stars

Courtney Kae is turning classic Hallmark tropes on their head in this debut novel that puts queer love in holiday romance centerstage. In the Event of Love has everything that you would see in a Hallmark movie: a quaint town, a evil corporation, a cast of fun characters, and a love story that brings two people (and a community) together in the end. What this book has that Hallmark typically doesn't show is a love story between two women and some excellent, excellent smut.

I thoroughly enjoyed delving into the world of Fern Falls and seeing our two leads Morgan and Rachel find their way back to each other with a little help from the magic of Christmas. The inner conflict preventing them from getting together does get a bit repetitive at the beginning of the story, but things do certainly start to pick up when we get to the 50% mark and Kae does a wonderful job of avoiding some of the more irritating third-act conflicts that Hallmark movies typically utilize.

I love the world that Kae has created and I sincerely hope that we get more books in lovely Fern Falls in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

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).