This book is the kind of angsty, emotional, utterly swoon-worthy romance that makes your heart ache in the best way. Lo and Aidan’s chemistry is undeniable, crackling with past hurt, unfinished business, and the kind of longing that makes every interaction feel like a slow burn in real time. The Irish castle setting adds a layer of magic to their second chance, while Aidan’s love-soaked lyrics and Lo’s fierce resistance make for a delicious push and pull. It’s messy, heartfelt, and brimming with passion, and I absolutely loved reading it.

Heart Strings by Ivy Fairbanks
ARC Review: 4.5/5 Stars
*A huge thank you to Putnam, Netgalley, and Ivy oh so very much*

Tropes:
🪕Dual POV
🩺Musician X Med Student
🪕Meddling best friends
🩺Miscommunication
🪕Absent Father
🩺Cancer treatment (past)
🪕A perfectly placed flock 🐏 😉
🩺 Rope/Bondage play
🪕Power play
🩺HEA

To be honest I very much liked Morbidly Yours a lot more but I would still totally say that this was a great and fantastic read of 2025 and a wonderful second half to the Galway Series!! ☘️Love sometimes has a way of coming back around if you let it. This story was a perfect example of opening your heart to the possibility for a second chance. ☘️

Okay, now going back on pace with this review, I do very much enjoy the fact that this is a TRUE slow burn romance between Lo and Aidan!!! And to add to the mix of things it kinda brings you back to the moment when they meet at the ending of Morbidly Yours which makes me a bit happy due to the fact that the storyline does pick up from there a bit… But to stop me from getting ahead of myself, this book really does show you the aspects of how to be patient and that good things do really blossom with time. I felt that the dual view was brilliant and interesting because we got to understand their feelings both separately and combined because you don’t really see that too often. I loved how open they were. Their passion was pure fire. They knew what they were missing and they both wanted that back.

I personally don’t even know what else to say about this read because it was super emotional and my heart literally pulls at the strings when thinking back to the weeks ago that I had read this, but as to not spoil anything because I swear if I have to write anything else about this fantastic read.. I might just end up saying too much and I wouldn't want that for you wonderful readers. So with that being said, I will stop this review here and just tell you that when you get your hands on this, read it while curled up with your favorite blanket. #book #booklover #bookaddict #bookworms #bookreview #arcreview #netgalley #hearstriings

Heart Strings was SO good. Lo was super relatable with being so independent and I loved how Aiden helped her see it okay to accept help and let others take on your burden with you. I also loved how Aiden learned from his past mistakes and made changes to make things work with Lo the second time around.
The deep & sensitive topics were handled with great care, and I appreciate the author including these themes.
This was a fabulous book and it was fun to have a little more of Lark and Callum, too!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC!

I received an digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own

I really enjoyed my time with this book! As a fan of Morbidly Yours, I was very excited to return to Galway for Cielo and Aiden's story.

A couple of years have passed from where we left off in Morbidly Yours and we quickly learn that Cielo and Aiden's relationship ended when he moved to London for his music career. Cielo promptly blocked him (and his family) from social media and did her best to shut the door emotionally. Meanwhile, Aiden has spent the last two years writing, recording, and touring songs about Cielo.

Cielo's plain to ignore him has one big problem, she is the maid of honor and he is the best man in Lark and Callum's wedding. They're stuck together for a whole long weekend at a romantic castle.

This is a truly lovely second chance romance! It had a lot of emotional depth, with characters working through family trauma, facing a potentially serious health scare, allowing space for vulnerability, and the pitfalls of long distance relationships.

4.5/5 stars

I fell in love with Morbidly Yours the moment I started reading it. When I saw it was time for Lo and Aidan's story to come out, I was REALLY excited - and I definitely wasn't let down. Heart Strings takes place in Galway around the weekend of Callum and Lark's wedding and is a second-chance romance between Cielo (Lo), Lark's cousin, and her former flame Aidan, Callum's friend and former lawyer-turned-musician. After two years, the two are thrust back together as Lark and Callums' maid of honor and best man, and they find that perhaps the fire between them never truly went out.

As an Austinite, it made me so happy to see Lo representing! Something I enjoy about Ivy Fairbanks' writing in particular is that her characters are no stranger to real life complications, which she addresses both thoroughly and with a lot of sensitivity. Part of Lo's backstory is her battle with leukemia as a teenager, which influenced her approach to life in many ways, including her feelings around relationships and vulnerability. Cancer or no, I think anyone who has ever had to wait for stressful bloodwork or test results to come back could sympathize with her character (and in fact, if cancer, illness, or health trauma are triggers for you, you might want to approach this story with caution - it's ultimately a happy story, but those themes are present).

Another thing I appreciated about the story is the writing of Lo's body and identity. Cielo is Mexican-American, and one of the first scenes in the book is her connecting with a dementia patient who only speaks Spanish and being able to help put her at ease by being able to bridge the language gap. Also mentioned are the stoicism from her dad's side of the family. Finally, Lo lives in a bigger body and Aidan finds it hot, but it's never fetishized or a novelty - which to me was refreshing!

The writing and editing in this book were solid. Every character felt fully developed, and every plot point intentional. There were a few times when the story felt particularly long, but that may be a function of having read some other books where time jumps around more - it felt long, but not slow. Morbidly Yours was a lot to live up to for me. Heart Strings is a different type of story, and I'm mostly iffy on second-chance romances, but this one was done very well and overall I'm so happy with this book. I'm rooting for Lo and Aidan, and will definitely recommend this!

I was so excited to read Heartstrings after falling in love Morbidly Yours!

This story was so cute! Imagine being the maid of honor in your cousins wedding, and the ex who broke your heart is the best man whom you haven’t spoken to in a couple years, knowing you’ll be within close proximity and having to work together to make their wedding a success…this is exactly what happened for Cielo and Aidan.

I loved the setting of the wedding and so much involvement with Lark and Callum! I enjoyed the early tension between Lo and Aidan when they first started interacting again, but it didn’t take but a minute for things to fall back into place and the feelings to start feeling again. Some of the story was predictable, but it was done in a way that kept you engaged and flipping pages.

I enjoyed reading this story and look forward to the third story in the Love in Galway series.

Thank you Ivy Fairbanks and Putnam books for allowing me to read Heartstrings. 💜🧡

All opinions are my own.

This was such a wonderful surprise. Very cute and the love these two have for each other is inspiring. I had a great time reading Cielo and Aidan!

OBSESSED. This book absolutely shattered me in the best possible way. The connection between Lo and Aidan is undeniable—filled with years of longing, heartache, and a love so profound it feels inevitable. The tension between them is intense, from subtle glances to lingering touches, and the lyrics Aidan sings carry a depth only Lo can fully grasp. Their relationship is complicated, raw, and incredibly authentic.

What I loved most about Lo was her strength and her refusal to accept anything less than what she truly deserves. And Aidan—oh, Aidan. He’s the type of man who stumbles, but he’s willing to grow and prove himself. He’s not just trying to win Lo back; he’s determined to rebuild her trust, earn her love, and prove he’s worthy of her forever.

I loved Morbidly Yours so I was so excited for this book. I’m usually not a fan of second chance romance but I loved this book so much. The chemistry between Lo and Aiden was amazing and I cried so many times. Cannot wait to read her next book!

What a wonderful story. Aidan and Cielo made a lovely couple. The romance was nice and spicy, and their love for each other evident. Nice to have a HEA. Well done. I wish the author good health.

I truly enjoyed Morbidly Yours so I was excited to see that we were getting a second book. The over all writing from book 1 to book 2 was an improvement and made the story than much more enjoyable. I absolutely swooned for the love story between Lo and Aidan.

Lo deserves the world and so does Aiden I will not be taking any questions at this time.

I find the whole “burn all the bridges, you are dead to me” thing very relatable, and I loved that Aiden was like “respectfully: bet”. He was supportive and kind to her without being pushy (except for the kabob thing which tbh I would have stabbed him with the kabob stick lol).

Watching them reconnect was SO sweet and getting to see Callum and Lark living their dream in the background (and a potential setup for book 3? 👀) was lovely. Also, absolute chaos, but in a good way.

Lo’s tumultuous relationship with her mom and lack of relationship with her dad was constructed so well, and made it clear why she set the boundaries she did with everyone in her life. Aiden being receptive to that and not holding it against her was exactly the reassurance she needed. His dynamic with his family was such a sharp contrast and they welcomed her in without hesitation even after all the time that had passed.

Heart Strings is an adorable follow up to Morbidly Yours. I loved that this story could be a standalone book, but the characters were all featured in morbidly yours, and it was a wonderful continuation of that storyline. I found myself rooting for both Lo and Aiden. I love the character development, and this book was unexpectedly spicy, which I was not mad about. This whole series is cute and I cannot wait for the third one to come out!

So happy to be back in Galway! I enjoyed this one so much more than Morbidly Yours. Lo’s story pulled me in from the jump and I could see so much of myself in her. Loved Aiden’s family - they reminded me of the Weasley! Looking forward to seeing whose story we get next!

Cielo doesn’t give second chances and holds grudges closer than tattoo ink, so being reunited with her ex after two years in order to make their BFFs’ wedding weekend run smoothly is not something she’s looking forward to. She just wants to focus on her medical training, her best friend’s happiness, and getting another all-clear on the annual testing that ensures her childhood cancer is still in remission.

Aiden reluctantly let Cielo go when she refused to do long-distance while he recorded his first album (which was a love letter to her). He sees the wedding weekend reunion as a chance to show her they can make it, if she’d only let go of trying to control everything around her at all times.

The wedding reunion gives us lots to love, but what happens afterward really grabs the reader by the heart. This story has tingles, chuckles, swoony songwriting, relatable complicated family dynamics, great friendships and hope.

An enjoyable second in the Love in Galway series. Fingers crossed that we get to see what’s up with Saoirse next!

Read the content warnings.

Read if you like:
Contemporary Romance
Second-chance love stories
Dimples
Latina American x Irishman
Doctor x singer-songwriter
Laughs
Curvy female main characters
Wedding shenanigans
Open-door spice
Respectfully inclusive and accepting stories
Tattoos

I liked that we got to see Lark and Callum's wedding and I thought that was a good way to bring Aidan and Cielo back together. Overall I enjoyed this but not as much as the first book.

3.5 stars, rounded up.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

As a huge Ivy Fairbanks fan, this was a treat to read! Aiden and Cielo (Lo) are really fun to follow in this second-chance romance. Lo's dealing with a post-cancer life that has it's own challenges as she works to complete her studies and become a doctor. Aiden is a music star on the brink who is clearly still hung up on Lo and hoping for another chance.

I really liked Lo's development as she navigates what life looks like as someone who has to monitor her health and care for it despite a busy medical student schedule. Aiden is far from an annoying rock star and I adored how much he didn't fall into the traps of fame.

Overall this was a fun continuation in this series and I enjoyed the chemistry and longing between the leads.

Special thanks to Penguin and NetGalley for this ARC!

I received this book as an ARC and I enjoyed it immensely. I really liked Morbidly Yours and Ivy Fairbanks has delivered again with Heart Strings. This story is about two soulmates that find their way back together after being apart for two years. This book explores difficult themes and how we must overcome our past trauma in order to open ourselves up to love. I highly recommend reading Cielo and Aidan’s story. You won’t be disappointed!

The banter was cute, the characters were charismatic, the side characters were fun, and the writing was great. Another solid book from Ivy,

Ivy Fairbanks simply never misses. This was such a great follow up to Morbidly Yours (which I also loved). Cielo and Aiden were such complicated, relatable characters and even though their initial breakup was so frustrating you get to see why they broke up as well as seeing them learn how to build back that trust. This was a fun, sweet book but it also had a lot of emotional depth. Cielo and Aiden both had to grow and change in ways in order to be in a relationship together and they both had past issues that made that hard for them. I loved their willingness to put in the work and how strong it made them.
I also really loved that most of this book centered around Lark and Callum’s wedding so we got to see them again. This was an incredible book that I’ll definitely be reading again and again.

Read if you like:
-Irish musicians
-second chance romance
-forced proximity
-“it’s always been you”
-fun with ropes
-a little bit of angst

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC!!