Living With B

“A hopeless romantic meets a jaded radio host in this cozy, Sleepless in Seattle-inspired love story.”

Aiden Valentine, jaded host of Baltimore’s romance hotline, finds himself in the spotlight after a young caller asks for dating advice for her mom. Lucie Stone, the mom in question, is suddenly Baltimore’s favorite love story in the making—but she’s not sure she’s ready for romance. As sparks fly between Lucie and the grumpy voice behind the mic, both must decide if love is worth the risk when the whole city listens.

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My Thoughts

I liked the plot—a lot! A single mom who hasn’t been on a serious date in years, working as a mechanic, just so happens to end up on the air with the love guru of Heartstrings, a radio talk show about love? What a fun setup!

Lucie Stone is our single mom with a well-meaning daughter, Maya, who wants her to be happy. Her best friend, also Maya’s dad, wants that for her, too.

Then there’s the grumpy host, Aidan Valentine, a man who’s stopped believing in love or magical moments, unlike Lucie, who’s still holding onto those dreams. They’re an unlikely match from the get-go.

Maya secretly calls into the late-night show to help her mom find love (which—fair—Lucie isn’t thrilled about at first). But the call goes viral, and Lucie ends up sharing her hopes and dreams on air—dreams that not many, including Aidan, understand. The butterflies, the spark, the whole ten yards.

To capitalize on the attention, the station invites Lucie to join the show and go on a series of blind dates to boost ratings. She hesitantly agrees, but most of the dates are flops—poor girl.

Lucie, as a character, was a bit of a rollercoaster for me. I liked her, then I didn’t, then I did again. Finding out she liked IPAs? That sealed the deal—girls who like IPAs are built different.

Aidan was also a love-hate situation. Toward the end, he started to grate on me. I understood he was closed off because he feared losing someone again, but waiting until the final 10–20% of the book to dive into his growth felt too late.

Overall, I found it enjoyable, especially the first half, which I read pretty quickly. But after the 50% mark, things took a sexual turn. If they weren’t having sex, they were thinking about it, talking about it, or joking about it. I had to skip entire chapters because they were just focused on that.

I get that this is an adult romance, and a lot of them have smut. I just wish more popular adult romances left some of those scenes behind closed doors.

That said, it’s not as intense as Icebreaker, where the smut is nonstop. If you’re looking for something with less of that, this is a better pick.

By the 90% mark, I was ready to be done. They weren’t officially together, but kind of were—a situationship, if you will. Aidan hadn’t grown much, and if Lucie had, it felt one-sided. Honestly, I think most of what happened at the end should’ve happened much earlier. More emotional growth, less sexual tension. It would’ve made the story tighter and better.

Do I Think You Should Read First-Time Caller?

If you like steamy romances, you’ll probably enjoy this! If you want an interesting plot, you’ll like this too. But if you’re looking for real character growth, this one might fall short.

The chemistry between the characters felt organic, but there’s still something missing in their relationship, growth being a big one. It’s not a book I’d say shouldn’t be read, but it’s also not one I’d buy to display on my shelf (though, technically, I did buy the Kindle version, so I guess it is on a shelf… just not one I can see).

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