thank you to the publisher for sending me an EARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

3.75 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️

okay, i have several mixed feelings regarding this book?? like some things i LOVEEEED (like the happy part of the relationship, it was great; or the amount of rep the side characters had like the hijabi character or the trans mayor 🥹🥹🥹) and things i wasn’t really a fan of? (the first 5% of the books was a little idk… ?? wasn’t vibing with the conflict that begins the whole thing, and it was repetitive as well for the first 20ish percent). that being said, i love the sapphic feel-good christmas joy this book has! i definitely felt it!!! also wow this was spicier than i thought and i truly enjoyed it!

one of my issues was the mc, who frustrated me sm at times! also the conflicts felt a little idkkk, like not enough to be as bad for me?

honestly this a very feel good, cliche christmas romcom but it’s also very queer and also wayyy more diverse than the usual christmas romcoms which i honestly ADORE! it’s an aspect that made me keep reading and i truly loved when it was mentioned or included! all in all, i saw nothing wrong with this book it just wasn’t always my cup of tea, so if you’re looking for a cute queer christmas story to feel good and relax, i definitely recommend you pick this up!!

This was such a warm, cozy, and steamy second-chance holiday romance. The feeling of community was so strong, that I felt transported to Fern Falls.
Rachel and Morgan's relationship was amazing to read. Seeing how each woman grew into their own self and learned what they truly wanted was heartwarming.
The supporting characters of their friends, and the people in the town, added depth and another dimension to the story. Life had been hard to both Rachel and Morgan, and there were struggles ahead for sure, and that made things feel so much more real. It was inspiring to see how they were planning to take on the challenges together.

This was the queer, sapphic, second chance, childhood friends to lovers, holiday romcom of my dreams!

Set in a small town complete with failing inn and Christmas tree farm, In the Event of Love follows Morgan Ross an event planner in LA who has just suffered a career destroying event and her childhood best friend Rachel Reed who still lives in the town Morgan fled a decade before. We’ve got not one, but two chaotic bisexual leads with fantastic chemistry. I’ve seen this compared to Hallmark-style holiday romances, but I’ve not watched any of those and I have to imagine just based on what I know to be true about Hallmark movies that this book is a lot more queer and way steamier. This one gave me Just Friends vibes just based on the storyline of old friends—one nursing a big flame—reuniting after one leaves home for a long time and comes back for the holidays due to circumstances mostly beyond their control.

Morgan never ever plans on returning to her childhood home, but finds herself reluctantly happy to be back and grateful to be able to use her skills to help the small businesses that make up the heart and soul of her town. I related heavily to Morgan crushing on Rachel’s new lumberjane vibe complete with the arm muscles one gains from hauling Christmas trees. HOT. I also loved how quickly Morgan fell back into a groove with her old friend group and how much they love and support one another. In the Event of Love is cozy AF, full of charming small town details and enough holiday vibes to have you ready to celebrate in October.

This one is out now and I loved it so much. I have no doubt I will return to it every year and if you haven’t read it, you’ve got plenty of time to get your hands on a copy in time for the holiday season. Thanks so much to Kensington & Netgalley for the early copy!

5 feel-good, love-hate, holiday romance stars~

This was just the feel-good romance I needed to start kicking off the holiday season. I loved the characters, the story, and the inclusivity of this one. Who doesn't love a romance where you get the warm and fuzzies? The background story and character development was also great - getting to know all the characters made it even harder to put it down.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for providing a digital ARC for review! :)

A charming and cozy book that's perfect for the holidays. I can easily see this being a Hallmark Christmas movie so if you like those (I do), you'll love this book.

This was such a beautiful and cozy read!!! I love second chance romances and this was just written so well! Morgan and Rachel had amazing chemistry that just really brought everything together. Perfect read!

Thanks to Netgalley I had the chance to read an ARC of the fab queer holiday romance “In the Event of Love” by Courtney Kae already. It was a really sweet time into a fabulous Hallmark-y winter wonderland town and the people who live there. The bi representation in it was fantastic. The main character, Morgan Ross, is an event planner who - as to be expected in a holiday romance - returns to her small town home after her life and career in LA hit a rough patch, and faces the dragons of her past there, as well as some real cocoa-sipping, Christmas tree decorating holiday cheer. Morgan also reconnects with her high school crush, Rachel Reed, who runs her family’s Christmas tree farm. The story is about connection and community, and overcoming emotional struggles as well as financial ones. It’s heartwarming and I didn’t want to stop reading. It’s also a steamy love story which was amaze, since WW romance still doesn’t get as much space as MM romance, at least in my own perception of romance publishing and bookstagram chatter.

At its best, “In the Event of Love” hits the notes of “Holiday Swap” and “Delilah Green Doesn't Care'' but some of the time the writing is more rough and ready than that. The plot and conflict are also clunky at times, with too much unnecessary explanation that could be avoided by streamlining the action and also trusting the reader to interpret and remember the novel, that she’ll know what things mean. Lastly, while I appreciate the many attempts at racial representation, it’s a bit lackluster and in the end the novel still is mostly a story about a couple of white people falling in love. That said, the novel still does a lot more in terms of bringing a variety of people in than most others so need to give it credit for that.

ITEOL novel also reminds me of last year’s "Snowflakes at the Little Christmas Tree Farm" and that kind of diy-y millennial women who do their own take on Hallmark; what is it that so many holiday happy ends hinge on the heroine becoming an entrepreneur?

Overall, I enjoyed reading this and would recommend it. I’m also quite curious about the author’s next book - I think there’s a lot of talent for story-telling there, and if she hones her craft just a little bit more, she could be the next big thing in holiday romance.

TW death of a parent by disease, alcoholism

Fun, sexy, steamy and full of chances and love, this was a really enjoyable book. Very nice rom com about love , and lots of inclusion , that is so hard to find sometimes.

Big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great book. I really enjoyed the characterizations and depth of emotion. I think this would be a great addition to any library collection.

I would like to thank the publisher, Netgalley, and the author for the ARC of this book. I read an advanced copy of this book, so the final edition of the book might be slightly different. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always.

I had high hopes going into this book. I mean, it’s a wintry sapphic romance, what’s not to be excited about! I want hot cocoa and snow and women falling in love! And while the book does deliver on a lot of this, it unfortunately just didn’t entirely work for me.

One thing I have to compliment this book on is its atmosphere. I feel like an important part of any seasonal romance is properly setting the scene and making readers feel like they’re also there in that season, even if in real-life it’s an entirely different time of year. This book did a fantastic job of it, and even though it’s only the early days of fall here, I felt like I was in a cabin, buried in inches of snow. It made the book so cozy overall, and I can honestly see this being a perfect read this winter just for this alone. It was incredibly atmospheric, and I can’t wait for it to be winter and for the holidays to come around again now!

Unfortunately, that’s the only part I really loved about this book. While I generally liked the romance, I was never quite into it because I couldn’t fully connect with Morgan. I actually really liked her problems (abandonment, feeling like you’re never going to be enough, etc.), and the angst that came with it, but something about the way she was developed didn’t really work for me, and she remained feeling a bit two-dimensional throughout the book because of it. It kept me a bit more distanced from the romance, too, and the third-act breakup only solidified that distance for me. I wasn’t a fan of what was chosen as the issue here, and how some characters, especially Morgan, felt out of character during that scene. Since I was never truly invested in the relationship, it also made the many cheesy moments a bit too cringy for my taste, which ruined a large part of the ending for me as well. I also just wasn’t a big fan of the epilogue, and felt that it was quite rushed and fast overall. It was hard to tell the exact timing of when the epilogue takes place, but it seemed like it was only a few weeks/couple of months after the end of the book, which only contributed to the rushed feeling.

Overall, this book was a cute, snowy read, but not one I’ll find myself rereading this winter, unfortunately. I do think many people will still find it to be the perfect holiday read, though, especially paired with a massive mug of hot cocoa!

I was so excited about In the Event of Love - sign me UP for the a queer, Hallmark movie-level-cheese romance! It was unfortunately a bit of a letdown that I just didn’t feel the magic with this one.

To start with the positives: the setting was adorable. I would kill to visit Fern Falls! The community seemed vibrant and alive, if not a bit predictable given the genre. And I love the “high powered businesswoman gets forced back home” trope - the premise is fantastic and exactly what I was looking for in a holiday read.

Unfortunately, when it came to the execution I found it hard to connect with the characters and the storyline. While I expected some degree of formulaic plot devices, it was so predictable that I felt no stake in anything going on, and the characters’ personalities didn’t shine enough to get me invested in their love story.

Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read this book. Unfortunately, this book was a miss for me. I had a hard time connecting with Morgan and found her to be too immature. I think it was more of it just not being a fit for me, definitely think others will love this book.

If I’ll be honest I couldn’t really get into this book. I wanted to so bad but I just struggled. It had all the tropes I love but it was just missing something

OKAY BUT A SAPPHIC BOOK THAT’S SET IN MY FAVORITE TIME OF THE YEAR???
will forever be a special book to me because it’s my first arc and what a beautiful book this is.
Congratulations to @court_kae for creating such a beautiful and heartwarming masterpiece, i laughed, blushed, cried, no words can describe this book.
it’s definitely one of those books that when you read you see the whole thing in your head.
i wish there was a movie because i would be the first in like to buy the tickets, this was such a cute book and i’m DEFINITELY rereading this around the holidays.
god i love sapphic books, found family trope and christmas time!

thank you @netgalley for allowing me to read this book! and happy pub day to this wonderful book! if you like rom-coms i definitely recommend In the Event of Love <3

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

*Thank you NetGalley for the ARC*
This is such a good holiday read.
Not only is it sapphic but there’s diversity among the side characters. I enjoyed the small, cozy town vibes and found family.
Add this to your holiday tbr!

Queer, rom-com, snow, HEA! I am here and I want more! This was an absolutely adorable book that I finished in one sitting because it was impossible to stop reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books, Kensington for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

In the Event of Love by Courtney Kae is a second chance, holiday romance. I went into this book with zero expectations and I was so pleasantly surprised!

Morgan Ross is an event planner in Los Angeles and her career is on the upswing. She’s great at her job and is in line for a huge promotion until she makes a possibly career ending mistake.

Rachel Reed is Morgan’s Former best friend and the owner and operator of a tree farm in Fern Falls.

After her catastrophic career blunder, Morgan heads home to Fern Falls to head up a fundraiser and to get her career back on track with some good publicity for helping her little home town.

Morgan literally smashes into Rachel’s farm and the ex-best friends are pushed back into one another’s orbit.

This is such a cute, funny, sexy, romance! I will definitely read this again come holiday season. It’s like an adorable queer, Hallmark movie with two funny, sexy, bi women.

I whole heartedly recommend this book to warm your cold holiday heart!

Queer hallmark Christmas story, need I say more?

I knew exactly what I was getting into when starting this book, and, for the most part, it did live up to my expectations; big city girl forced to return to her small hometown and reconnect with a past love interest and family. It had just the right amount of cheesy romance that I can't help but fall for every time.

However, I do wish it was a bit more slow burn, which is interesting cause I'm not usually one for it. But it feels like they got together too quickly so the ending climax didn't feel as big as it could have been, It was missing more of the slow reconnect with building chemestry and 'will they' / 'won't they' moments.

Overall, it was a fun holiday read that's just making me excited for the season.

Event planner Morgan Ross is returning home for the holidays not because she wants to, but because she needs a tabloid story to blow up before she can go back to her life. So now she is going back to her hometown, home to her younger-crush and first-kiss failure Rachel Reed. Who she will obviously will try to avoid at all costs. Rachel Reed's farm is struggling and to save it Morgan decides to organize the best fundraiser the town has seen. While, of course, keeping it nothing but professional with Rachel.

This book was well written and both characters were cute and interesting. It was a great romance that was both a sweet quick read, but also cute, romantic, and funny.

If you are looking for a light and sweet holiday reading, this is the one!

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Morgan is headed back to her hometown to lick her wounds and restart her career. She’s agreed to help throw a Christmas festival to save the town – unwittingly signing up to work with her ex-best friend and former crush, Rachel.

While Morgan works to save the town and Rachel’s tree farm, sparks fly. I enjoyed watching Morgan gain self-awareness and learn to communicate with her old friends and family.