B.K. Borison does it again! Her writing is always beautiful, and her books give me such joy. I loved the Baltimore location and the Nora Ephron inspiration. As always, I will be buying this for friends and recommend it to everyone. :)

B.K. Borison is an absolute master of romance – I loved every single Lovelight series book, and First-Time Caller was absolutely no different. I absolutely devoured this book, couldn’t put it down, and was absolutely, downright obsessed with Lucie and Aiden!!! First-Time Caller is a Sleepless in Seattle inspired romance, where Lucie’s daughter makes a call to romance radio host, Aiden, in order to help her mom find love (behind her back, of course). Inevitably, Lucie finds out & this sparks not only a beautifully raw conversation about love, but the interest of Aiden, and thus a love story that is the EPITOME of romance.

I absolutely adored how vulnerable both Aiden and Lucie were, both coming from different standpoints on love, relationships, and everything in between. This book made me laugh, shed a few tears, and swoon.

Lucie and Aiden’s characters carried so much depth, I loved them both so much. Between Aiden’s story with his mom’s health, how that affected his view on love and his relationship with his parents, and Lucie’s parents and the unconventional (but beautiful) family she’s apart of now, all I wanted to was give these two a big hug. I think a lot of people will be able to relate to both characters on various levels and I think it’ll also be nearly impossible not to love both of them, too.

Lucie and Aiden’s love story is unique, fun, sweet, and truly filled with so much banter & romance it made my heart HURT. The instant chemistry and tension between these two had me shaking in my boots, their dynamic was so perfect and their personalities flowed so well together. I loved how much they understood each other, the comfort and safety they found, the amount of love and care they showed one another. Please don’t get me started on THE LIST!!! or the grand gesture!!! or just the TENSION between these two. I seriously can’t handle it!!! I haven’t stopped thinking about these two!!! i love them i love them I LOVE THEM.

This may just be my new favorite from B.K. Borison, and I cannot wait to watch everyone else fall in love with Aiden & Lucie the same way I have!!!

I can’t even believe that I was able to read this book early but I am so honored 🫡 I will be blabbing about this book for the next month because OH MY GOD. I am obsessed with Aiden and Lucie. I’m obsessed with Lucie and Grayson’s co-parenting relationship and their beautiful friendship. I’m obsessed with Maya’s relationship with all of her parents and how Aiden wants to be apart of it all. I just can’t even express how much this book felt like a warm blanket or the biggest hug.

Aiden is our grumpy radio show host of Heartstrings, Baltimore’s Romance hotline! He does not believe in love (or so he says) after all the horrible calls he’s heard on the show and his own trauma from his childhood. Lucie believes in love no matter how many times she’s been burned. She wants magic and goosebumps and to feel special. I think everyone can relate to both Lucie and Aiden in many ways, feeling scared to dive in to love, wanting to feel wanted, like you don’t fit in to whatever boxes you’ve been assigned, like you’re more than that.

I can’t recommend this book enough, I loved it from start to finish and I know it will be a book I will go back to when I need that warm ooey gooey feeling 🧡🩷

In summary: AIDEN VALEN YOU ARE MY TYPE BARK BARK BARK 🗣️

PS: LUCIE YOU ARE EVERYTHING AND DESERVE THE WORLD 🗣️

PPS: MAYA KEEP SLAYING AND COSPLAYING AS INDIANA JONE, YOU ARE WONDERFUL 🗣️

a romcom so perfect that nora ephron would adore it. i’m sure of it. first time caller was everything i dreamed it would be and more. all of the stars that have ever existed and that will ever exist for this perfect, beautiful book.

when i first heard that becs was releasing a new series that followed in the footsteps of the Nora Ephron classic trio i was beyond excited (as someone who watches the three classic Ephrons in question like it’s her job)!! and wow did it perfectly smash any expectations i had.

a romance so romantic that it felt like a love letter to the romance genre as a whole. it was so much fun to read while also being so earnest!! the crushing and pining!! the banter!!! the looovveeeee!!!! the grand gesture!!!!!!! OH THE GRAND GESTURE!!!! no one is prepared for the grand gesture!!!!! and aiden and lucie are just so lovable!!! like omg scooch over let me join your relationship!!!
this book had me feeling GIDDDYYY from start to finish!!! i really couldn’t have adored it more!!! most definitely one of my favorite romances i’ve ever read. i am on the edge of my seat waiting for the rest of this series!!!!

Part of what made this work so strong was that the MCs weren’t dumb. I can’t emphasize enough how much I appreciated the author writing them to act their age and to not make stupid mistakes for the sake of the plot. While mistakes were made, they were made for good reasons, ones that fit with the characters’ histories and backstories, and the growth that came from those moments was well done and added much to the story. Yay for dimensional characters! The secondary characters were also quite strong.

The work does start to get a little steamy towards the end, but it wasn’t overdone and probably won’t seem all that spicey to most romance readers. I enjoyed the somewhat slow burn at the beginning, and while things took off faster than I expected them to, it didn’t feel forced or misplaced. I also loved the careers of the two MCs, especially Lucie’s. And how refreshing to have a protagonist who was normal sized, especially related to height. I also liked many of the elements the author incorporated that showed how much the characters cared about each other or how they worked well together – they were little things, but it was all personality related and not looks related, adding depth and making this a real romance.

If you want to try a romance with realistic and strong characters, many cute moments, and just a little spice, then read this. My thanks to NetGalley and Berkely Publishing for allowing me to read this work, which will be published February 11, 2025. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

4.75 stars!!!!!

this book was absolutely ✨magical✨

i simply adored aiden & lucie and everything about them!! this had all the nostalgia of sleepless in seattle but like it's way better??? i had the best time reading it and the amount of times i just felt like squealing !!!!! i cannot handle how cute and adorable and heartwarming this book was. the beauty of romance, the magic of love, the soul lightness of finding your person -- bk borison captured all of this while also making me laugh out loud & swoon!

aiden - i fear i love him !!! and his poor bruised heart. lucie reminding him why he should believe in love still gets me 🥺 just thinking about it.
lucie - the way she is unashamedly herself & refuses to settle despite the hardships of modern dating!!! an icon!!!

the whole heartstrings gang & lucie's fam are amazing !!!! i love them all!!! and i CANNOT wait for the next book in the series and to fall in love alllll over again.

thank you Berkley & NetGalley for the eARC! this is my honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Thank you so much @berkleyromance and @prhaudio for this ARC and ALC!! 🫶🏼

I. AM. A. PUDDLE. You know all the feels you get from an early 2000’s romcom? Where you get to watch two people fall in love before they even realize it? That’s exactly what this book gave me. There is hope, warmth, humor, love, healing, and different bonds we all look for. I may or may not have sent @authorbkborison a million messages when I finished it. First-Time Caller is a book you’ll want to soak up every single page and revisit often.

✨Aiden is the Heartstrings radio romance hotline host who doesn’t believe in love and Lucie is a single mom mechanic who is a hopeless romantic. He is broody and most of the time only responds with hums. While Lucie is quite the opposite. She is vibrant, loves to laugh, and you can feel her take up the entire room.

✨Their flirtation banter had me giddy and laughing. My cheeks literally hurt from smiling so much. They have a pure connection that had me melting into a puddle. If you can’t tell, I absolutely adore them. They have late night conversations, slip ups with their thoughts, and longing moments.

✨The Audiobook is my favorite! It was perfect for listening to the Heartstrings radio show portions. E.J. Bingham and Hathaway Lee did a phenomenal job voicing the characters. I was smiling for almost the entirety of it. This is my favorite audiobook ever currently.

First-Time Caller has:
💖 Small town romance
📻 Heartstrings radio show
📞 Sleepless in Seattle vibes
🧡 Broody MMC
🌧️ Playful banter
🧰 Single mom
🍕 All the feels
☕️ Grumpy/sunshine

I cannot wait to get a physical copy so I can eat it up all over again.

This book was a bit of a slow start, but the second half truly turned into the style of romance we all love.

I’m just 😭💕

Firstly, let me just say I loooooooved that this was set in Baltimore 😭 it made me so happy to see all the lil city related tidbits and landmarks. I felt so at home while reading this being that I’ve lived here for the past 7 years. And even though that makes me quite biased, I felt like there was enough info included to appreciate as a resident but not be overwhelming for other readers.

Secondly, I’ve been dying to read more romances set in Bmore so freakin bad, you don’t even know. It was a need, not a want. So thank you BK for having your Heartstrings series take place in this beautiful city. It was so nice to see the magic of Baltimore cityb through this romantic lens 🫶🏽

Thirdly, this story was everything to me. It literally brought tears to my eyes multiple times. I loved the dynamic between Lucy and Aiden so much it hurt. Like a mechanic and radio show host!?!?!? Are you kidding! I thought it was so original and unique. And it was so freaking cute to see their chemistry and banter grow during their radio shows 🥰 and how everyone and their mother knew they liked each other on live radio before they even did lmao.

Lastly, I really liked all the characters, but especially Lucy as the MC. I loved everything she stood for fr. I know I would really mess with her in real life. She was so brave to even do the radio show. But the way she literally laid herself bare to that man as well as whoever else was also listening was so inspiring. She made me want to say F it and make my own magic too 🥲💕👏🏽 and Aiden, poor poor Aiden. Ugh, I hate how much I love damaged heroes, since they can be quite toxic these days. But I really felt for himmmmmm 😮‍💨 he was just really hardened by life and I truly get that. Life hurts and sometimes avoiding it can seem like the only option if you don’t know better. I also really appreciated how Lucy ate him up so bad towards the end that he finally woke up and had some introspection. His insistence that he wasn’t worth it was getting kinda annoying by that point ngl, but at least that forced him to make some changes that allowed himself to be open to love 👏🏽

Thank you BK Borison and Berkely for sending us this ARC. I really reallyyyyyy appreciate it! 🙏🏽

- Alex

P. S - I’m also really curious to hear how the pronunciation of “Baltimore” will be in the audiobooks. Since BK lives in Bmore, I’m sure she knows but still I’ll be very pleased to hear “bawl-dah-mor” from a regular audiobook narrator lol 😅 ya gotta love that representation.

Thank you, Netgalley, Berkeley Romance, and BK Borrison, for the ARC. I truly loved getting the opportunity to read this book.
Tropes: single mom, found family, grumpy / sunshine, slow burn
This book literally stole my heart from the very first page. I am such a sucker for a single-parent romance, so I knew I would ultimately love this book. Throughout this book, I blushed multiple times (the closet scene ☺️), and the banter between the main characters had me giggling throughout the book. I absolutely loved Aidan from the start, the way that he wanted to like everything Lucie did, and the true definition of a SIMP!!! The chemistry that he had with Lucie was TOP TIER!!!! I think what really carried the book was Lucie’s relationship with her baby daddy; I just loved their interactions. We also got both POVs, which just made the book even better.

Ahhhhhh. Listen. I know it’s my first read of 2025 and I know it’ll be up there for top of the year. This was too gooood. 10% in I already knew it was going to be a 5 star read. The way this book made me feel! I truly cannot get over it. I laughed, giggled, I blushed (multiple times), *ahem* the closet scene, I even got butterflies! I don’t know what BK put in this, but give me dozen. This book is everything and I cannot wait to read it again. Oh, and the title is mentioned in the dialogue *dead* - cherry on top.

Sleepless in Seattle inspired
Single mon
Found family
Witty banter
Grumpy / sunshine
Slow burn
He wears a gold chain
He keeps a list of her favorite things

Thank you Berkley and Netgalley for the arc!

Already preordered despite having read it via Netgalley because: 1) I loved it that much and want to reread it and 2) I need to put it on display on my shelves. BK Borison is one of my favorite romance writers!

This is one of the cutest books I’ve read in a long time. Lucie and Aiden were absolutely everything in fact this whole concept of the book of “falling out of love with love” was one of my favorite things and made the book that much more cutesy and enjoyable. The entire time I was giggling and blushing that I didn’t even know what to do with myself. But come on this was written by THE BK borison of course it was going to deliver on a silver platter. I genuinely could not get enough of the humor, the slight angst, and the genuine love between Aiden and Lucie. I can read about them forever.

This was enjoyable and I really liked the characters/story. For me, it didn't live up to Borison's previous books though. It also took a bit for the MMC to grow on me. In the beginning he just kinda seemed like a jerk who needed therapy.

I would still probably recommend this to fans of Borison or Sleepless in Seattle (it's a loose retelling), but it won't be making any favorite lists.

This was such a solid romcom! If you are a Sleepless in Seattle fan, this is for you!

Aiden and Lucie meet when Lucie’s tween daughter calls into Aiden’s romance talk show to ask for dating advice for her mom. When the moment goes viral, they invite Lucie on the show to discuss love and try to find her a man. The forced proximity of the radio book does its magic and Aiden and Lucie start to grow close - but Aiden doesn’t believe in love anymore and Lucie is a hopeless romantic looking for magic.

Lucie was great - a single mom who has put her dating life on hold while she co-parents her daughter, she was so brave to get out there and try with all of Baltimore listening in. I loved her relationship with her daughter, her baby daddy, and her friends. I also love that she’s a mechanic which you don’t see as a career for a ton of FMCs.

Aiden was disillusioned with life and love, but to be fully honest I wasn’t sure I understood why. His mom has been sick with cancer multiple times (but currently alive and healthy) so he can never have a forever love? I’m not sure I bought into him and his wishy washy feelings.

I did enjoy this overall though! I did the audio and both narrators were great, especially the female narrator. The romcom vibes made it feel like a movie in my brain and it was a great medium to enjoy it in.

First Time Caller
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

That feeling when you don’t want a book to end but suddenly you’ve reached the last page. The last moment in the story where your life and the lives of the characters you’ve grown to love so much connect. When the last words fill your heart with love and hope and joy - there’s no better feeling than this. That’s how I felt at the end of reading First Time Caller.

I adored First Time Caller with my entire being. Inspired by Sleepless in Seattle, this sweet, quirky, funny, and beautiful story connects Lucie and Aiden after Lucie’s daughter calls in to Aiden’s radio show in the hopes of finding her mom love 🥹

Read if you like:
* Broody, grumpy and only smiles for her vibes
* Found family
* Close proximity
* Single mom, healthy co-parenting relationship
* Sweet and quirky characters
* Small town setting
* Invisible String vibes

Thank you @netgalley and @bkborrison for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. I really loved this one and can’t wait for pub day on 02/11/2025 💕✨

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of "First-Time Caller." I've read all of B.K. Borison's Lovelight series and absolutely loved them so I was super excited to see she was starting a new series.

I absolutely adored First-Time Caller. Aiden (be still my heart) and Lucie (can we please be friends?!?) are super cute, had fun chemistry, and I loved the banter back and forth. A bit of a "Sleepless in Seattle" twist (they live in the same city thank goodness) and I really enjoyed seeing them develop a friendship and getting to know each other. Alternating POVs kept this story moving and I was rooting for them the entire time!

Highly recommend if you love a good meet cute, great story to start the new year!

Thank you Berkley Romance for my gifted ARC.

First Time Caller by B K Borison has secured a spot on my favorite romances of all time list. This Sleepless In Seattle inspired romance stole my heart right out of the gate, and the more time I spent with Aiden and Lucie, the harder I fell for these two perfectly imperfect characters.

I’m a sucker for a single parent romance, and slow burns, and banter, and FTC delivered banter in spades. The tension that simmers between Aiden and Lucie is top notch, and when it finally boils over, it was perfect.

EJ Bingham and Hathaway Lee deliver pitch-perfect performances. They were *perfectly* cast.

This book was like a cozy hug, with all the nostalgia of a 90s romcom. 10/10. Absolutely no notes.

Please do not hate me, but I am not in love with this book as everyone else is. Like, I did enjoy reading it but didn’t love it as much as others did. I just wasn’t a fan of the female character. I don’t know why, but she just annoyed me a bit. I definitely love the male interest, though.

Before you come for me, let me explain why I don’t truly like the female character, Lucie. She was a tad too annoying with her expectations with Aiden. I know she knew she had something for him, but he was always clear about his stand. Aiden wasn’t in the right space or mind for falling in love, which he told Lucie from the beginning. Of course, Lucie forgot about it and kept insisting there is something more to them. I’m sorry, but he was clear with his intentions from the beginning. Never led you on, so I don’t understand why Lucie kept pushing him when he isn’t ready yet. Love takes time sometimes. You can’t push it, which is something that Lucie does that annoys me very much. And don’t get me started on Lucie getting impatient about waiting when she said she would for Aiden. Make it make sense.

The only reason that this book was a four-star is because of Aiden. He is truly the sweetest yet grumpiest male interest. He just needed time to learn himself again. He was going through the wringer. Let him have his time to process.

I wasn't sure how anything could live up to Inglewild but Aiden Valentine might give Beckett and Charlie a run for their money. BK Borison's writing is something that's easy to curl into so I enjoyed myself from the first page but when Lucie described wanting magic and not having to force something (a thought process I myself have had many times), I knew I was onto something special. This was the type of story that I had to force myself to put down so I wouldn't stay up past my bedtime reading. Aiden and Lucie had PERFECT banter, their friends and family (especially Maya) were such a delightful supporting cast, and the plot was fresh and entertaining. it never felt predictable while still feeling warm and inviting. to really drive home the point, I fully dropped my kindle when Aiden said "who the fuck hurt you" now that's book boyfriend material.

also I need like a short story collection or something of just Grayson and Mateo. don't give them a third act conflict. just vibes.