Member Reviews

Love and Other Flight Delays by Denise Williams is a charming collection of interconnected novellas that explore love in the most unexpected places—airports. Each story is filled with delightful characters, witty dialogue, and the perfect balance of romance and humor. Williams captures the unique, fleeting connections we make while traveling and turns them into heartwarming tales of love and second chances.

The characters are relatable and well-drawn, with each novella bringing a fresh perspective while still tying into the overarching theme. While some moments felt a little predictable, the emotional depth and sweetness more than made up for it. The chemistry between the characters was spot-on, making each romantic moment feel genuine and swoon-worthy.

If you’re looking for a feel-good romance with a clever twist, Love and Other Flight Delays will sweep you off your feet. It’s the perfect escape for anyone who loves quick, heartfelt reads with plenty of charm.

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Thank you net galley for an early copy of this novella.

This book is a collection of three short stories that take place inside Atlanta airport. They are three different stories with three different couples which are interconnected with each other. They were a really fun read. And I enjoyed reading each of them.

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As a short story collection, I expected that I wouldn't love all of them equally, but I ended up skipping one entirely. I otherwise really enjoy Denise Williams, so it was a big of a disappointment.

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Love and Other Flight Delays was a fun three-novella collection featuring six people who all managed to find love in the least likely place: the airport. In the first story, we meet Ollie, an airport dog groomer whose shop – Pre-Flight Paws – looks like it’s finally taking off. But a busy workload won’t stop Ollie from noticing the handsome man who always arrives at the gate across from her shop, every Tuesday like clockwork. Bennett manages risk during the day, but even his secret career as a romance novelist can’t make him see the love around him in the terminal. With writer’s block hanging over his head, Bennett turns to the mutual attraction between him and Ollie for some inspiration. But these two opposites will quickly realize their series of airport dates won’t be enough to calm the feelings taking off between them.

FIRST NOVELLA

This first story was such a cute introduction to this collection. Ollie and Bennett had such a fun meet cute, and I loved how their circumstances put them together. Setting this romance primarily in an airport was perfect: the setting allowed for both chaos and routine which allowed both main characters to thrive in their environment. This novella was both an opposites attract romance as well as an acquaintances-to-lovers. I love a romance where ulterior motives turn into real feelings, and Ollie and Bennett had that in spades.

SECOND NOVELLA

In the second novella, we spend some quality time with Bennett’s friend, Gia, whom we met in Bennett’s story. When Gia finds out that her academic arch-nemesis is the very same guy she shared a hot NYE kiss with while snowed in at the airport, she’s shocked. Spending time with him in airports as they travel for work is not in her plans, and Felix isn’t sure he can handle that much time with the extroverted Gia. But these two opposites soon realize that their NYE chemistry wasn’t a one-off, and their newfound close proximity will bring them closer than they ever imagined.

After getting to briefly meet Gia in the friend role, I loved to see her feature in her own romance. She’s feisty and loud, and she definitely gave the introverted Felix a run for his money. This academic romance managed to be both related to the first story and yet nothing like it. From their first kiss to all their traveling from school to school, Gia and Felix spent a lot of time at the airport, yet this second novella squeezed in a lot of time outside the terminal as well. I enjoyed both the grumpy/sunshine trope and the academic rivals trope; Williams made scholarly travel steamy and fun.

THIRD NOVELLA

In the third and final novella, a familiar face gets her own turn as main character. Due to several chocolate cravings in the previous novellas, we’ve already met Teagan when both Bennett and Gia pick up something from her candy shop (or shoppe, to Ollie’s discontent). Giving us yet another trope, Williams crafted two best friends – Teagan and Silas – who try to solve a mystery within the airport. As they both try to track down which airport employee might have written the mysterious love letter, Teag and Si realize there might be a love story unfolding right in front of them as well.

After getting opposites attract, ulterior motives, and academic rivals-to-lovers, I loved that Williams gave us a friends-to-lovers, workplace romance. I thought this third and final novella was the cutest; Silas had been pining for so long, and watching him love Teagan from afar while simultaneously helping her help others find their lost love was something straight out of a Hallmark movie.

Overall, Williams gives readers something to love in each of these novellas. This is a solid collection that covers multiple tropes in each novella and has surprisingly unique storylines for each couple, despite the primary location of an airport.

While all three novellas can be read as standalones, Williams did use just enough detail from the previous novella to enhance the story when read in order. I enjoyed all three novellas for different reasons, but Williams ability to craft entertaining characters in unique situations remained constant throughout.

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What a fun concept! A series of interconnected novellas all surrounding an airport terminal. This had the perfect blend of witty banter, steamy chemistry, and engaging plot.

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A rare gem of a legitimately adorable take on romcoms in the world of airports and everyday people's travel.

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All in all this was a fairly quick read of short stories. Some being better than others, but almost all of them left me wanting a bit more. Maybe I am just not made for short stories, as I never seem to gain an attachment to the characters in the short amount of time. Without that attachment, I can bring myself to really care what happens in the end.

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Denise Williams is a wonderful author and her books are so well written and easy to read. I can't wait to see what future books she writes.

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Lots of fun! Well, travel issues are never fun except when it leads to love! I enjoyed the characters and situations in this book. Very enjoyable and believable

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This book is a collection of 3 romance novellas based around airports. Each couple meets at the airport and develop their romance from there. From fake-dating to enemies-to-lovers, this books showcases plenty if different tropes and interesting characters.

As someone who loves travelling, I really loved to see the magic of airports and could feel the atmosphere if the airport through the writing, whether it was with Ollie’s little shop or Gia’s business travelling. I also loved the connection between the novellas.

However, I wasn’t a fan of some of the characters and the way they communicated. In the first novella, Ollie and Bennet stood out to me as awkward and I didn’t feel a connection between them that I’m longing for in romance novels. In the last novella (The Sweetest Connection) I felt like there was a lack of communication between the two friends, but I still enjoyed them once they got together!

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These novellas were cute, quick, and fun. Sadly, I wasn't absolutely swooning for it, but that may be because these are short stories. These definitely make a good airport read. I gave this 3.5 stars

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There are moments that are hard to read, and even harder to overcome, but Ms. Williams keen-eyed ability to deliver a compelling, multi-faceted human tale through her characters is the very reason her books continue to feed my soul. The emotional rollercoaster that she is able to conjure on the page is so vivid, you’ll think she’s writing about you. And through it all, Williams’ writing is simply flawless and unforgettable.

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Thank you so much @BerkleyRomance for giving me this ARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased review (Release Date | 14 March 2023)

SYNOPSIS | Three romance novellas set at Atlanta airport

WHAT I LIKED:
- the Atlanta airport setting (fun fact: I actually met my husband there… & yes, it was a meet-cute)
- how they are completely different stories but still managed to be intermingled
- the cameo appearances throughout each of the novellas
- my favourite of the bunch is definitely The Sweetest Connection

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
- I didn't actually realize this was a series of novellas until I hit the epilogue of the first one
- sadly none of the romances really made me swoon & I would have preferred more time to really root for the relationships

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I love a book with multiple swoony novellas. it made this a very quick and easy read. many different stories made it more enjoyable as apose to reading just one story.

cute, quick and fun!

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I absolutely love Denise's writing!!!!!



Thank you soooooo much netgalley, the author and the publisher for the advanced review copy if this book💗
"I voluntarily read and reviewed the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

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I was surprised by how much joy I got from these short stories. Denise Williams really takes that fantasy of falling in love in an airport and gives us all the scenarios in which that could possibly happen!

This would be the perfect companion to take with you on your next flight!

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I always love books from Denise and listening to this collection of three novellas was such a fun way to enjoy more of her delightful writing. With fun characters, amusing situations, and hot romance these stories were a fun way to indulge in love stories on a warm summer day.

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3 short stories collected in one work, all taking place in an airport. I was really looking forward to this one especially because before I started it I had a few trips planned and figured it would put me in the perfect mindset to enjoy the airport. And it’s not that it didn’t do that, I’m not sure what I didn’t like about this one but I just hated it? I tried to read this one for over 3 months and only ever made it through the first short story. And even that one took me 2 months to power through. Idk if I just didn’t like the characters or the writing or just the stories themselves, but I didn’t like this at all. And also keep in mind these opinions are only from the first short story, I never even made it to the second one because once I saw it followed a related character to the first short story I was totally checked out.

I think my biggest issue stems from how unrealistic this first story was? A dog groomer in an airport? The fact that she was able to notice one person consistently week after week, and when she shares that she was obsessed with him it didn’t creep him out? A male romance author that is good and not misogynistic? Also not to mention this was sold as a fake dating story but there was no fake dating? Idk if the author even knows what fake dating is after reading this. Idk. Nothing was believable and I didn’t like any of the characters enough to keep reading about them. DNF 33%

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The love connection - 3 stars
The missed connection - 4 stars
The sweetest connection - 3.5 stars

Overall: 3.5 stars

These stories were a lot of fun, and I loved the creativity of having them set mostly in airports. The second book, the missed connection was my favourite. I prefer Denise william’s full length novels but I had a fun time reading this, and would recommend for something quick!

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Thank you NetGalley for the e-arc.

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

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