A great romance that gives you hope!

I’ll be honest, I sorta messed up in reading this book. Not that it was bad in any way, but I grabbed it at the library before we closed for quarantine and neglected to notice it was a continuation of a series! That being said, Alyssa Cole does an excellent job of summarizing the story so far to make it easy for those of us reading it as a stand-alone.

Likotsi is a strong, intelligent assistant to the Prince Thabiso of Thesolo, who is the focus of book 1 in this series. Likotsi is visiting New York City as part of her vacation, but also in the smallest hope of getting over her last love, Fabiola, whom she met during the course of book 1. She and Fab had a whirlwind romance before Fab ended things abruptly, and Likotsi wishes she could get some closure. Of course, she and Fab end up running into one another and finally talking about why Fab ended things out of nowhere. While Fab lives in NYC and Likotsi still resides in Thesolo, can the two reconnect, location be damned?

This was a simple novella that I really enjoyed. It’s been hard for me to read during quarantine, but this was a quick story I was able to knock out in one sitting. As I didn’t read the initial meeting of Likotsi and Fabiola in the first book, some of the emotional payoff was lost on me, but I still enjoyed it. The real strength here is the way Cole approaches characters. Both felt so real and full of life, it was easy to fall for them and root for their relationship. Of course, as it’s a romance novella some things seemed to fall in place a bit quickly and too conveniently, but hey, it’s a short form romance! I’m not expecting anything overly intense here. Another thing I really appreciated about this title was the cover art. So rarely do I find smaller romance novels where the cover models ACTUALLY match the descriptions depicted in the book, but the cover for this book is perfect and gorgeous. It’s exactly how I imagined both characters and I adored them, as well as wanting everything they wear in the book! Overall, I would give this a solid 3.5 stars. A great quarantine read.

Title: Once Ghosted, Twice Shy
Author: Alyssa Cole
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 120
ISBN:9780062931870

Three Descriptors: Second Changes, LGBT+, Steamy

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