Sweet Slow Burn Romance

Rowan is keeping her family’s hardware store going and making her way in life doing odd jobs and making furniture. Maia is staying with her aunt’s while trying to mend her broken heart, when she meets Rowan, and there is an instant attraction. They end up spending time together as Rowan renovates a house she has inherited and Maia needs a quieter space to work, but an unexpected storm brings them even closer together.

Loved this! It was the perfect slow burn romance born from instant attraction. Rowan broke my heart, she was so unsure of herself and really didn’t give herself enough credit, so I am glad that Maia could help her get to a place where she really recognised her worth and was deserving of her dreams. She was under so much pressure to help her mom with the debt and keep things going for her family that she was neglecting her own wants and needs, and really talking things through with her mom to make sure they all got the best of the situation.

Maia had really been through a heartbreaking situation, so to have someone as kind and caring as Rowan come into her life was just what she needed to raise her spirits. Everything she did with Rowan remaindered her there was more to life than her career, and all those experiences lead to her rethinking her plans in the end. I really enjoyed witnessing the love slowly blossom between them, and then that moment when they realised that everything they’d built together had potential for a happy future neither of them had envisioned.

A really lovely romance with a strong sense of community and family playing a big part in Maia and Rowan finding peace and happiness for the future they didn’t know they wanted but they definitely needed.

This was one of those kind of cookie cutter friends to lovers feel good stories but I enjoyed it !! Lots of lessons in being your true self and doing what’s best for you rather than what’s best for other people. Sacrifices were made by the characters but it was all to get to a happier future.

I will say this one was a little too cookie cutter for me when I read it. I may have been burnt out on sickly sweet romances because I felt a little bored. Perhaps if I read it at a different time I would have enjoyed it more ?? I still liked it but I feel like it could have been a little more engaging.

All in all something you could definitely read casually or quickly if you’re looking for something sweet and romantic with a happy ending !!

Flipping Hearts and Homes by Chris Zett is a delightful, feel-good romance that’s perfect for a relaxing read. The story follows Rowan, a soft-hearted butch who’s always blushing, and Maia, whose warmth and kindness shine through every page. Reconnecting in their small hometown after missing a chance to be together in high school, they find themselves navigating life’s expectations and discovering a renewed sense of purpose.

The romance between Rowan and Maia is incredibly sweet and low angst, which was completely ideal for me last week as I needed a cozy love story. The book is rounded out with charming side characters, including animals and friends that add depth and a sense of community, making the story feel even more welcoming.

If you’re looking for a heartwarming escape with a touch of substance, this book is a fantastic choice. It’s easy to read, uplifting, and leaves you with a smile – now my definite favourite from Zett!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Ylva Publishing for a copy of this novel. ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

A low angst, small town, romance. After leaving her cheating fiancé Maia seeks a break by staying with her aunts in a small town of Ashlake, New York. She is a radiologist and can work online. She connects with Rowan, a local handy-woman. They remember each other from a year they attended high school together but weren’t friends. There is a nice butch/femme dynamic between the pair. Rowan unexpectedly inherits a house that could pay off some medical bills for her mother. And with Maia renting a room as an office she has funds to start refurbishing the house.

Maia is very caring as a physician and I like that she enjoys her work. When Rowan opens about her struggles with reading (dyslexia) Maia is understanding and helpful. I married a person who I went to middle school and high school with. We weren’t in the same friend groups and re-met later after college. So to me it is delightful and believable when I find similar stories in books.

Reading two books back to back by the author makes me appreciate her well developed characters. I like the lack of game playing and honesty between the pair. I always find it a bonus when the author writes the books in the same universe. A situation from Irregular Heartbeat (Oct 2018) and a character from Heart Failure (Jan 2020) are briefly mentioned. It is a treat to careful readers.

The romance is easy to recommend. I enjoyed the characters including the aunts and Rowan’s friends. I think my only negative was how often the term city girl was thrown in to describe Maia. (4.5 Stars)

A sweet and easy butch-femme, small town, low angst romance. All ingredients are there. An insecure, sexy butch with a tool belt and skills to die for. A smart, femme doctor with a heart of gold leaving the big city to lick her wounds in a small town after a break up. And, last but definitely not least, an undeniable attraction between these two adorable women.

Maia did not see this coming. After finally moving to Seattle to be with her long distance boyfriend, she learns that he cheated on her the whole time they were together. That’s how Maia ends up with her life in boxes stacked into the small guest room of her aunts’ house in tiny Ashlake. Taking on a remote job as a radiologist for now, Maia is determined to pick up her life and figure out her next steps. She didn’t expect actually liking life in this tiny town and especially liking Rowan. Mmmm, Rowan, the extremely sexy, handywoman that offers to introduce Maia around town.

Rowan likes her life. Living in her hometown of Ashlake she is content in working as a handywoman for her parent’s hardware store, hanging out with her friends and swimming in the gorgeous Lake Ash. After a failed marriage and multiple girlfriends leaving to chase excitement in the big city, Rowan has lost hope of finding someone to love. She did not account for Maia though. The beautiful niece of her friends Ann and Gabby. The attraction Rowan feels is undeniable but is she really falling again for a woman again that is bound to leave town and break her heart?

This story follows all the plot points you would expect from a classic small town trope. That does make it predictable but sometimes that’s just what you need, right? The characters are well developed and both Rowan and Maia feel like real people.

Rowan struggles with dyslexia and has had very bad experiences with people not understanding the condition. Maia is a breath of fresh air for her. She never once makes Rowan feel inferior or dumb. For Maia dyslexia is something like bad eyesight, you wear glasses or contacts for one condition and for the other there are other ways to make life easier. Maia doesn’t think twice about it and her approach enables Rowan to feel more powerful and less of a failure than ever before. For me that’s a sign of true love and care. It made me feel all warm inside, especially because for Maia it’s such a small and normal gesture.

The town of Ashlake and its inhabitants are so endearing. It’s easy to see the appeal of living there. Friendly people, quite a few queers, breathtaking nature..I would seriously want to live there too!

Flipping Hearts And Homes is a cute romance. Did it put me on the edge of my seat? No. Is it an enjoyable read, very much so!

This is a story about Rowan who helps her mom with a hardware store in a rural New York small town. She also does handywoman repair jobs around town. Maia is a radiologist who temporarily moves back home to live with her aunt after she discovers that her finance is cheating on her. Maia finds an online job diagnosing cases for various hospitals throughout the country. This is only a temporary job until she can get her old job back in NYC.

I enjoyed this easy going romance, both characters were very likable and well written. Both were strong, independent characters. There was good dialogue between them to keep their relationship honest.

I did question how easily Maia got her online job. It seemed way too quick and easy.

ARC received from Net Galley for an honest and voluntary review.

Flipping Hearts and Homes is the latest Chris Zett romance, and it’s the perfect recipe of angst free, heart-warming romance.

After finding out her boyfriend has been cheating, Maia is left homeless and without a job. She retreats to the small town her aunts call home, a place she spent a little time in during high school. She takes on a working from home job and prepares to assess what lies ahead for her. She never expects to run into her high school crush Rowan, but when she does, she finds the attraction is still there, and begins to go out of her way to spend time with her.

Rowan has had her heart broken by city girls who think country living is for them, but then don’t stick around. She is guarded, and trying to come to terms with what is expected of her; taking over the family hardware store. Maia coming to town pushes her out of her comfort zone and has her reconsidering what her capabilities are. As friendship turns to something more, both Rowan and Maia begin to question whether the paths they have always envisioned for themselves, should be altered.

Zett has created two very different yet compatible characters, with flaws and expectations that readers can relate to in one way or another. The plot is smooth and steady, with just enough oomph to keep it gliding along without unnecessary upheavals. The inclusion of a few characters from previous books is a cute bonus that Zett's fans are sure to love.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book. It was a fun book to read!

Cute and heartwarming! I love the characters and their friendship groups so much. They were amazing! A very cozy read.

First, I want to thank Ylva Publishing and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read Flipping Hearts and Homes by Chris Zett. This review is solely my own opinion. This story is very low angst, that's not to say there is not any conflict, but there is no 3 quarter break-up. Rowan grew up in a small town in northern New York and stayed in her hometown to work at her family business and take care of her parents. Maia has found love and moved to Seattle to marry her fiancé, only to move there and find out he was cheating on her their entire 2 year relationship. Maia moves to Rowan's hometown to live with her aunts and get her life back together. The story is definitely cute and has a bunch of animal co-characters. While I generally I enjoy a little more angst in my stories, I did like this book. While there wasn't any major relationship drama, there was still enough drama to keep me reading. I gave this book a very strong 3.

Maia, upon discovering her fiance is a cheat, agrees to go to the country to recover with her lesbian aunts.
Rowan, a local, had a mild crush on Maia when they were younger. Now the town handywoman she meets Maia again while helping out the aunts.
When Rowan has to renovate a home she inherited, she rents a room to Maia as a office while working on it. They become friends, and as Maia recovers, more.
Like Christiana Zett's other books, this is a well written, well plotted romance. The heroines are nice, as is the extended cast, and the town is well realized. I liked the love story, and their coming together felt realistic, too.
4 out of 5 stars.

One of the things I struggle to find in most sapphic fiction is good butch representation in stories that are more plot-driven than spice. Don't get me wrong, I love good spice! But sometimes I want a feel-good story with well-written butch characters. And hey, if they get a little spicy, all the better.

And this book has that and more. Talk about wish fulfillment!

Rowan is delightful & almost real enough to touch. She is a caring & careful woman who plays off Maia so well I never wanted the book to end. Just let me keep reading this cozy, small-town, slow burn love story forever.

Chris Zett writes like someone who has the heart of a poet & the beautiful descriptions of settings, people, & emotions pull you right into the pages.

This book is released tomorrow 10/22/24, definitely recommend!!

Thanks to Ylva Publishing for this ARC.

Maia starts working at the Seattle Hospital where Zett has set two other novels, but, soon, she finds herself at her Aunts' that is most definitely not in Seattle because of an unexpected change to her relationship status. And, where she winds up is most definitely not the city.

She meets Rowan. They did technically both go to High School at the same one Senior year, but, didn't really meet. They do in the present though, and quickly find ways to help each other, and get closer. But, they both have baggage to unpack. Can they unpack it soon enough to wind up together.

Loved the characters in this book. I also liked how both characters were pretty well established before they got really involved as a couple. I also really liked all the secondary characters. They made me want to read more about them. Kai anyone, heh...

My first book by Chris Zett was a beautiful story, new friends to lovers. I loved the scenic descriptions. Although the MCs were familiar with each other, they began their friendship with one MC returning to her aunts home where she spent her senior year of high school.
The chemistry grows between the MCs as they are both guarded. Zett does this with sweet gestures and deep conversations. The secondary characters were well flushed out and brought more to the MCs.
The MCs both evolved and were beautiful together. Having honest and fulfilling conversations was a wonderful refreshment to the angst there could have been. The angst that the story held was more internalized based on previous relationships. The story was beautiful and flowed smoothly.
This was my first book by Chris Zett and Im a new fan of her work. I look forward to more in the future.

This book was so cute and heartwarming. I really love small town romances, i enjoy them so much. Makes me want to live in a small town😂 Love the characters, they are so fun and nice together. Really love their friend group. And how they are all kind of different. Also love the diversity of the characters. The story was also nice, liked how there was also a serious moment. With the whole storm and events. But the ending was a little predictable. Still nice and cute tho.

4,5 stars

This novel is about a girl named Maia who, on the verge of getting engaged to her boyfriend, accidentally discovers that he's a real player who's been cheating on her. This turns her whole world upside down because she was counting on starting her new job at the same hospital where he worked, then getting married and starting a family. But this discovery makes her abandon all those plans and take refuge at her aunt's house, in a small town where she spent a short time as a kid. There, she'll reconnect with some old classmates from that brief stay, people she thought she had nothing in common with but now has the opportunity to get to know better. Maia's going to reconnect with Rowan, who was on the swim team and still swims. And heir first meet is super cute.

They've both got baggage from their pasts that has shaped their choices. Maia's last relationship was a total bust, and Rowan's been dealing with mental health issues and family drama that has really messed with her decisions. Maia's also got this whole idea in her head about what it's like to live in the country, and she's totally idealized city life. But Rowan, Jasper the dog, and everyone else in the Ashlake community are about to show her that things aren't always as we see them.

Thanks to Ylva Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book.

I have been a fan of Chris Zett ever since I read "Irregular Heartbeat". So when I saw this new book, I simply had to get it. I liked how low angst and overall sweet the story was, essentially a perfect autumn read. I connected to Maia and Rowan easily, and to the telling of their romance as well. Definite recommend!

There’s something wonderfully cozy about Zett books. They squeeze in between your heartbeats and make the rhythm slow, they unclutter a messy mind, and best of all, they make you smile all stupid even with early declarations of love. The two MCs are adorable together and their made family makes me miss my upstate NY roots. From lake swims to summer storms- this book serves up a steamy sapphic fic to get lost in for a few hours. No triggers, no third act life swaps with hearts shredded, just sweetness with dollops of romance. Enjoy the adventure.

Flipping Hearts and Homes follows Maia, a radiologist that moves Ashlake to live with her aunt after finding out her fiancee was cheating on her. While settling into the town and figuring out her next steps, Maia runs back into Rowan, the local handywoman, and a former schoolmate of Maia's when she lived with her aunt in her teens. As Rowan and Maia get reacquainted, they both help each other find their way to their next chapter.

This book has been a long time coming. I loved Zett's first 2 books, Irregular Heartbeat and Heart Failure, so I was super excited to see another book come from her. I really enjoyed this book. It is promoted as a low angst book and the romance was wonderfully low angst. There is still some exciting moments, but they are everyday moments and not relationship oriented, which I greatly appreciated. I really liked Maia! She was funny and passionate, and I really like how she took what life gave her and rolled with it. There wasn't a lot of angst in the decisions and life changes that came her way. There was uncertainty and doubt but not angst. I would love to have the same level of grace when facing changes. Rowan was also wonderful, but I will leave her story for, you, dear reader to enjoy when you read this book. Which I would definitely recommend.

All in all, I very much enjoyed this book and would recommend it to fans of Zett's other works as well as fans of contemporary romance with minimal angst.

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Handywoman Rowan is rooted in her small-town community, accepting every odd job to keep her family’s hardware store afloat. When she inherits an old house, it’s the perfect opportunity to flip it to pay off her mom’s debt.

She never intends to get tangled up with beautiful, adorably nerdy Maia, a visiting big-city radiologist, staying at her aunts’ place to mend a broken heart. Evenings at a nearby lake, renovation projects, and a wild storm keep throwing Maia and Rowan together, and an undeniable attraction sparks.

Lovely, Hallmark-esque realistic slow burn romance. While this felt a little slow at times, I really appreciated the characters unique realness. It was a delight to watch them move from friends to more. If you enjoy warm fuzzy stories and want to read about lesbians in a low-angst way, you will love this!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced digital reader's copy (ARC) in exchange for an honest review!