{"id":31934,"date":"2025-10-11T10:12:57","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T14:12:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/?p=31934"},"modified":"2025-10-11T10:25:58","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T14:25:58","slug":"review-love-is-an-open-book-by-chandra-blumberg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/11\/review-love-is-an-open-book-by-chandra-blumberg\/","title":{"rendered":"Review \u2764\ufe0f Love is an Open Book by Chandra Blumberg"},"content":{"rendered":"<!--themify_builder_content-->\n<div id=\"themify_builder_content-31934\" data-postid=\"31934\" class=\"themify_builder_content themify_builder_content-31934 themify_builder tf_clear\">\n    \t\t\t<!-- module_row -->\n\t<div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_row themify_builder_row tb_vhng283 tb_first tf_w tf_clearfix\">\n\t    \t\t\t<div class=\"row_inner col_align_top gutter-narrow tb_col_count_2 tf_box tf_rel\">\n\t\t            <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column tb-column col3-1 tb_hh02283 first\">\n                                                        <div class=\"tb-column-inner tf_box tf_w\">\n                        <!-- module image -->\n<div  class=\"module module-image tb_mma1283 rounded drop-shadow customBorderRad_top image-center auto_fullwidth tf_mw\" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div class=\"image-wrap tf_rel tf_mw\">\n\t\t    <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"296\" height=\"445\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/love-is-an-open-book-chandra-blumberg.jpg?resize=296%2C445&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"wp-post-image wp-image-31935\" title=\"love-is-an-open-book-chandra-blumberg\" alt=\"love-is-an-open-book-chandra-blumberg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/love-is-an-open-book-chandra-blumberg.jpg?w=296&amp;ssl=1 296w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/love-is-an-open-book-chandra-blumberg.jpg?resize=200%2C300&amp;ssl=1 200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/love-is-an-open-book-chandra-blumberg.jpg?resize=400%2C601&amp;ssl=1 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 296px) 100vw, 296px\" \/>\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<!-- \/image-wrap -->\n    \n    \t<\/div>\n<!-- \/module image --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_i0tj283 customBorderRad_bottom repeat \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n    <p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\"><strong><span class=\"a-text-bold\">Blurring the line between fiction and reality&#8230;<\/span><\/strong><\/span><br \/><br \/><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">Mia Brady never imagined her romance novels would become bestsellers, much less inspire a hit TV show. However, after signing a deal to write the final book of the series, she\u2019s struck by a serious case of writer\u2019s block. Her fans are clamoring for a passionate payoff, but Mia\u2019s own experience with heartbreak\u2014and current lack of real-life romance\u2014is getting in the way. Do friends who become lovers ever\u00a0<span class=\"a-text-italic\">truly<\/span>\u00a0have a happy ending?<\/span><br \/><br \/><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">Gavin Lane would like to think so. As Mia\u2019s ride-or-die BFF, he\u2019s been by her side through it all and convinced himself his crush on her is a thing of the past. He\u2019s not about to let his feelings ruin their friendship, and never will. But things get complicated when Mia pitches a bold idea to help save her career: testing out tried-and-true love story tropes&#8230;together.<\/span><br \/><br \/><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">From workplace romance to fish-out-of-water, Mia and Gavin embark on a series of \u201cexperiments\u201d to spark a little creativity\u2014but they are not prepared for the flame that ignites between them. Does their friendship even stand a chance when pure fantasy suddenly becomes a little too real?<\/span><\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text -->                    <\/div>\n                            <\/div>\n                        <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column tb-column col3-2 tb_nhyc283 last\">\n                                                        <div class=\"tb-column-inner tf_box tf_w\">\n                        <!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_yi3h283  repeat \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n    <p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-16466 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/3-hearts-1.jpg?resize=135%2C44&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"135\" height=\"44\" \/><\/p><hr \/><p><strong>Release Date:<\/strong> Aug 12, 2025<br \/><strong>Heat Level:<\/strong> Sensual<br \/><strong>Publisher:<\/strong>\u00a0HarperCollins<br \/><strong>Imprint:<\/strong> Canary Street<br \/><strong>Price:<\/strong> $12.99<\/p><hr \/><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Romance novelist, <strong>Mia Brady<\/strong>, is experiencing writer\u2019s block as she struggles to finish off her popular series. The books have picked up momentum, and a new TV show is on the rise. However, if she can\u2019t find her mojo, she will leave fans disappointed. Her best friend, Gavin, suggests that they go on a few mock dates to spark some creativity.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Gavin<\/strong> knows he is playing with fire. He has always held a crush on Mia. Though he has never once made a move on her due to their friendship, he knows this could potentially be a mistake. He loves having her in his life, so why would he gamble like this?<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Gavin is so sweet and kind. I instantly liked him for Mia. The friendship is all about the vibes. Yes, he knows the dates are supposed to be fake, but he never pretends for one second, which I loved. Mia, on the other hand, takes a bit longer to develop feelings.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Why three stars instead of five? Mia. Just plain and simple. The story started to drag because of her. She is constantly in her head about her newfound feelings for Gavin. Her thoughts on friends turning into lovers got in the way. She just couldn\u2019t imagine that a relationship could develop from a friendship. Despite Gavin showing her throughout the book that he was all in, she kept taking tiny baby steps. There is little to no angst outside of that.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">At this point, when I read romance novels, I want to experience some sort of passion with the characters. Mia and Gavin\u2019s passion was behind the door, so I never got to feel like that evolved into parts of a friendship. I am told that, but the physical intimacy is lacking, which kind of turned me off.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Overall, fans of the friends-to-lovers trope will still enjoy this book.<\/p><p><em>~ Samantha<\/em><\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_ve8r283 customBorderRad repeat \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n    <p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/4q6VkbW\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Amazon<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text -->                    <\/div>\n                            <\/div>\n            \t    <\/div>\n\t    <!-- \/row_inner -->\n\t<\/div>\n\t<!-- \/module_row -->\n\t<\/div>\n<!--\/themify_builder_content-->\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mia Brady never imagined her romance novels would become bestsellers, much less inspire a hit TV show. However, after signing a deal to write the final book of the series, she\u2019s struck by a serious case of writer\u2019s block. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31935,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[572,105,106,48,50],"tags":[146,217,324,421],"class_list":["post-31934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-canary-street-press","category-harlequin","category-harpercollins","category-reviews","category-samantha","tag-3-stars","tag-contemporary-romance","tag-interracial-romance","tag-romantic-comedy"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Review \u2764\ufe0f Love is an Open Book by Chandra Blumberg - Smitten by Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/11\/review-love-is-an-open-book-by-chandra-blumberg\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Review \u2764\ufe0f Love is an Open Book by Chandra Blumberg - Smitten by Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mia Brady never imagined her romance novels would become bestsellers, much less inspire a hit TV show. 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However, after signing a deal to write the final book of the series, she\u2019s struck by a serious case of writer\u2019s block. Her fans are clamoring for a passionate payoff, but Mia\u2019s own experience with heartbreak\u2014and current lack of real-life romance\u2014is getting in the way. Do friends who become lovers ever\u00a0truly\u00a0have a happy ending?<br \/><br \/>Gavin Lane would like to think so. As Mia\u2019s ride-or-die BFF, he\u2019s been by her side through it all and convinced himself his crush on her is a thing of the past. He\u2019s not about to let his feelings ruin their friendship, and never will. But things get complicated when Mia pitches a bold idea to help save her career: testing out tried-and-true love story tropes...together.<br \/><br \/>From workplace romance to fish-out-of-water, Mia and Gavin embark on a series of \u201cexperiments\u201d to spark a little creativity\u2014but they are not prepared for the flame that ignites between them. Does their friendship even stand a chance when pure fantasy suddenly becomes a little too real?<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/3-hearts-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"135\" height=\"44\" \/><\/p><hr \/><p><strong>Release Date:<\/strong> Aug 12, 2025<br \/><strong>Heat Level:<\/strong> Sensual<br \/><strong>Publisher:<\/strong>\u00a0HarperCollins<br \/><strong>Imprint:<\/strong> Canary Street<br \/><strong>Price:<\/strong> $12.99<\/p><hr \/><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Romance novelist, <strong>Mia Brady<\/strong>, is experiencing writer\u2019s block as she struggles to finish off her popular series. The books have picked up momentum, and a new TV show is on the rise. However, if she can\u2019t find her mojo, she will leave fans disappointed. Her best friend, Gavin, suggests that they go on a few mock dates to spark some creativity.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Gavin<\/strong> knows he is playing with fire. He has always held a crush on Mia. Though he has never once made a move on her due to their friendship, he knows this could potentially be a mistake. He loves having her in his life, so why would he gamble like this?<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Gavin is so sweet and kind. I instantly liked him for Mia. The friendship is all about the vibes. Yes, he knows the dates are supposed to be fake, but he never pretends for one second, which I loved. Mia, on the other hand, takes a bit longer to develop feelings.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Why three stars instead of five? Mia. Just plain and simple. The story started to drag because of her. She is constantly in her head about her newfound feelings for Gavin. Her thoughts on friends turning into lovers got in the way. She just couldn\u2019t imagine that a relationship could develop from a friendship. Despite Gavin showing her throughout the book that he was all in, she kept taking tiny baby steps. There is little to no angst outside of that.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">At this point, when I read romance novels, I want to experience some sort of passion with the characters. Mia and Gavin\u2019s passion was behind the door, so I never got to feel like that evolved into parts of a friendship. I am told that, but the physical intimacy is lacking, which kind of turned me off.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Overall, fans of the friends-to-lovers trope will still enjoy this book.<\/p><p><em>~ Samantha<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/4q6VkbW\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Amazon<\/a><\/strong><\/p>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31934"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31934\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31944,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31934\/revisions\/31944"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}