Title: First-Time Caller
Series: Heartstrings, #1
Author: B. K. Borison
Narrators: E.J. Bingham & Hathaway Lee
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: February 11, 2025
Print length: 420 pages
Audio length: 11 hours 54 minutes
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Library
Rating:

A hopeless romantic meets a jaded radio host in this cozy, Sleepless in Seattle-inspired love story from beloved author B.K. Borison.

Aiden Valentine has a secret: he’s fallen out of love with love. And as the host of Baltimore’s romance hotline, that’s a bit of a problem. But when a young girl calls in to the station asking for dating advice for her mom, the interview goes viral, thrusting Aiden and Heartstrings into the limelight.

Lucie Stone thought she was doing just fine. She has a good job; an incredible family; and a smart, slightly devious kid. But when all of Baltimore is suddenly scrutinizing her love life-or lack thereof—she begins to question if she’s as happy as she thought. Maybe a little more romance wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

Everyone wants Lucie to find her happy ending… even the handsome, temperamental man calling the shots. But when sparks start to fly behind the scenes, Lucie must make the final call between the radio-sponsored happily ever after or the man in the headphones next to her.

I’m going to keep this short. After seeing a bunch of positive reviews, as well as hearing good things about the author’s previous series (Lovelight), I thought I’d give First-Time Caller a try when I saw it available to borrow from the library. And while there are aspects I enjoyed, my overall impression is that this book is a pretty run-of-the-mill example of a contemporary romance. It’s fine… but nothing special.

Aiden is the disillusioned host of a romance radio show called Heartstrings. Lucie is the 29-year-old single mom of a 12-year-old named Maya, and Maya has decided that she wants her mom to be happier. Maya calls into Heartstrings late one night to ask for dating help for Lucie, and while Lucie is initially suspicious and furious, she ends up having an honest conversation (on the air) with Aiden about finding magic. The radio show segment goes viral, and the station manager asks Lucie to join Aiden as co-host three days a week, where they’ll take call from listeners and try to find a romantic match for Lucie.

Naturally, Aiden and Lucie develop feelings for one another, but it takes a while for them to admit it. Meanwhile, they have to navigate their working relationship, while keeping up the pretense of arranging dates for Lucie with other people (none of which actually pan out).

Without going into a ton of detail, I’ll just say that neither of the characters particularly made sense to me. Their pasts are sketched in, leaving some major (to me) questions unanswered. We get an explanation for why Aiden no longer believes in love… but I didn’t buy it, at least not as presented. For Lucie as well, there’s little to no information about any sort of love life up to this point, and questions linger (again, at least for me) about her past relationship with Maya’s father.

There are elements that are supposed to be cute or funny that don’t always land, and overly long and detailed sex scenes are uncomfortable — particularly via audiobook, where it feels like they just won’t ever end. (I will say, though, that overall the narrators do a good job with Aiden and Lucie, and their delivery helps keep lighter moments upbeat and engaging.)

This isn’t a bad story — but my overall reaction by the last third or so was a resounding “meh”. I just didn’t buy the characters or their motivations, leaving some of their actions feeling arbitrary and with no clear reason other than (as a book group friend of mine likes to say) “because plot”.

I know a lot of readers (and listeners) loved this book. For me, it was just okay. Not a bad book, but not one I particularly felt drawn into or invested in.

First-Time Caller is the first in the Heartstrings series, with a second book (focused on Aiden’s best friend and coworker at the radio station) due out in 2026. Given my lack of interest in that character, as well as my ho-hum response to First-Time Caller, I doubt that I’ll be continuing with the series.

Purchase links: Amazon – Audible – Bookshop.org – Libro.fm
Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.

Save