I really need to stop requesting romance novels unless I think they sound incredible. Generally, I think they sound like they'll be fun and then I'm almost always disappointed.

I really, really wish that American authors would do more research if they insist on having one of their characters be from the UK. Lots of incorrect words/slang here, which was distracting and irritating. The story itself had some promise but the execution let it down.

This ended up being a really lovely, romantic story, but it took a little longer than necessary to get there. I’m all for slow-burn, but the two main characters literally don’t meet until halfway through the book. They do collaborate on some crossword puzzles and write notes back and forth a bit, but they take too long to meet. The first half of the book, because of everything both characters are going through, feels borderline depressing. The first half could have been condensed down at least by half. The book is much nicer after they’ve finally met. It’s very cozy and enjoyable to read. There’s a smidgen of drama, but it’s much more optimistic. There was a weird bit with one of her friends seemingly trying to dissuade the fmc from seeing the mmc, and the epilogue always feels a bit strange, but I liked both main characters and I liked them together.
Oh….and none of the main characters apart from the very old woman knows who Barry White is?? That was strange.
Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for providing me access to this eARC for my honest opinion!

"Crosswords and Love Letters is a delightful love story featuring Ashleigh, a cleaner, and George, the flat owner, who bond over completing each other's crosswords. Both are navigating personal struggles, George is facing burnout, heavy anxiety, and a failing relationship, while Ashleigh is dealing with the recent death of her best friend and feeling lost in her emotional relationships.

The book is split into two parts: the first follows Ashleigh and George's lives as they interact indirectly through crosswords, and the second part covers their meet-cute and blossoming relationship. The dual POV with distinct voices added depth, and the crossword interactions were a charming touch.

The slow-burn romance, while enjoyable, felt a bit forced at times. George's ongoing relationship with his girlfriend Anya felt unnecessary and more frustrating than tension-building. The side plots on self-discovery and healing were well-executed and added emotional depth to the story.

The supporting characters, like Oz and Carlos, were vibrant and engaging, sometimes overshadowing the main protagonists. The representation of anxiety and panic attacks through George was handled well, making his character relatable and authentic.

Overall, it is a heartwarming, mostly PG/PG-13 read that explores themes of love, personal growth, and finding one's path. The story, filled with charming interactions and emotional journeys, will resonate with many readers.

That was cute!
I always believed that people who are doing crosswords are my kind of people!

Love story, obviously. It is clear just after reading a title. She is a cleaner, he is an owner of the flat. They only interaction they have is through the crosswords where they fill the gaps if one of them stuck. Sound kinda cool, right?
But there is much more than that. Both of the them struggle with their life. I wouldn't say that have a horrible experience but they are looking for their way and life path and experience all the ups and downs by the way.

Sooo. it was nice. So great to read during summer, to take my Kindle out and enjoy the sun and sunbathing a little bit.

I really wanted to enjoy this. The thought of finding each other through crosswords was cute.

But why did it have to take SO long?? I don’t mind slow-burn romance, but man, not the type where the actual announcement of relationship doesn’t happen until the very end of the very last chapter. 😵‍💫 especially for a standalone.

Ashleigh and George don’t even meet until halfway through the book. I do like that they formed a friendship first, but I also didn’t like that they were in a relationship with other people for awhile. I’m not sure this kind of trope is for me.

The side-story of Carlos and Oz was fun, but I may also feel this story had a lot more development of their relationship than our actual FMC and MMC.

It's split into 2 parts. Ashleighs and George's. Ashleigh is a cleaner and starts to clean George's apartment. They both love crosswords and when George leaves 1 clue unfinished Ashleigh finishes it that starts the start of things

A nice and witty rom-com. Ashleigh is a cleaner in New York, and loves her work despite having to defend it to everyone. George, a recent client, seems to have it all. and they take pleasure in giving each other crossword puzzle clues. Until George unexpectedly returns home one day, and their lives finally meet. We have a fantastic group of characters when we include her friends, Carlos, who owns a bakery, Oz, and Hildy, George's elderly neighbour. Beautiful story with an inevitable outcome. The only downside about the story it was a slow-burn with little interactions with the main characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

This a first time read by Eve Devon, new author to this reader. This was a sweet, slow burn romance between George and Ashleigh before getting to physically meet. Two likeable characters…Ashleigh who technically will not admit that this are not as good as they seem. She tends to close herself off when dealing with situations that gets too close to home. Then there is George who is not that handsome but believes his fix is through a promotion…something that may get rid of his panic attacks. With all their nuances, they somehow click on some level. When they finally meet, things go from good to bad.

I really wanted to like this book, but it fell flat to me. Despite never having met, Ashleigh learns a lot about George through her job as his cleaner, while George remains unaware of her existence. As fate brings them closer together, they both wonder if the other could be the missing piece in their lives. Life seemingly happens to these characters, without them taking any major steps to have life work for them. It is a lot of series of events that happen exactly the way they are supposed to in order to get to the end result. The romance felt rushed, being that we read 200 pages before the two characters even meet.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to review this! 3.5 /5 stars
This book is really split into two 'parts': the first following Ashleigh and George as they just merely touch each others lives through crossword puzzles left while Ashleigh is serving as George's maid. They both are dealing with heavy emotions in their life: George facing burnout at work, heavy anxiety, and a failing relationship, Ashleigh navigating the recent death of her best friend and feeling lost in her emotional relationships across the board. The second half of the book we finally get their meet cute, navigate their growing feelings for each other, and jam pack in a ton of tropes (weddings, meeting family, one bed, etc) to drive these two together.
I really enjoyed that this was dual POV with some very distinct voices, the little crossword puzzle match ups, the lack of a third act breakup, and how lovely the chemistry was between Ashleigh/George once they met each other. But I struggled a bit with the forced nature of bringing them together: something about that dynamic just felt off, and maybe it was because it took SO long and yet SO inevitable. I did really enjoy some of the subliminal plots on self discovery and healing though: I thought those were really well done

A nice rom com. Ashleigh is a cleaner in New York, and loves her work despite having to defend it to everyone. New client George seems to have it all. and they enjoy leaving each other crossword clues. Until one day George comes home unexpectedly and their lives meets. Add in her friends, bakery owning Carlos and Oz and George's elderly neighbour Hildy and we have a great cast of characters. Inevitable outcome, beautiful story. #netgalley #thelifechangingmagicoffallinginlove

The story explores the change that love brings to us. Ashleigh & George meet when Ashleigh cleans his apartment. Their friendship grows through both of them going through difficulties in their lives. You could feel the warmth building between them & I loved that. It's something we all deserve in our lives.
Recommended read.

Ashleigh is fine. Yes, she quit the job she moved to New York to do, yes, she sleeps in her living room, and yes, she is trying to give the guys she goes on dates with a fair shot. She does like her new job, cleaning apartments, it feels safe and calming. George is not ok, he has stared having panic attacks, the girlfriend he moved across an ocean for seems more and more distant, and he might have lost his drive at work. But help is on the way for George, Ashleigh has been assigned to be his new cleaner. And George might be just what Ashleigh needs too.
This was so cute. The romance is a slow burn, but adorable to watch and worth the wait. Both our protagonists need help getting their lives into a better place and they will get help from each other a small but mighty supporting cast. Ashleigh and George are both incredibly sweet and kind people who have been dealt some hard blows and rooting for them and loving them both was incredibly easy.
Thank you to @onemorechapterhc and @netgalley for letting me have a copy to review. This one hit shelves May 29 and if you like cozy rom come this is definitely one to give a shot.
#bookstagram #thelifechangingmagicoffallinginlove #romcom #bookstagrammer #bookreview #bookrecommendations #booklovers #bookworm #bookaddict #bookcommunity #booklove #bookreader #readersofinstagram #readallthebooks #readmorebooks #readmore #reader

This book was slow for me to get into but I really enjoyed the pacing, the depth of the characters and how the author wove the story together!

2.5 stars

Overall, cute and entertaining! I really enjoyed the little notes of crosswords the FMC left for the MMC. A fun game to kinda get to know each other without meeting! I could really see this being the highlight of their day without them wanting to admit it!

But unfortunately I couldn’t connect with the characters, more or less with the MMC. To be he felt for of a side character. And that’s the reason for bringing down the stars on my rating But again, overall a sweet and fun read!

Wholesome and entertaining!
Reminded me so much of "You've Got Mail."

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a lovely book. Mostly PG/PG-13 -- so no true spicy scenes. But the character backstories and development was wonderful to be along for the ride as we discovered both. The cast of supporting characters was fun, eccentric, and everything you might find in your own.

Overall, I think this book will connect with a lot of us. In a lot of ways. But you also get the cute adventure of "Will-they-won't-they" Ashleigh and George as they both discover what they thought they wanted out of life and what they actually want out of life and a relationship. It was kind of healing in a way.

Despite my problems with some of the plot contrivances in the book, I would recommend it if you like slow burn romances and the premise interests you. I am not personally a fan of slow burn romances, at least not in the way this particular story went about its slow burn, if that makes sense? I don't think the book is irredeemable by any stretch of the imagination, just didn't do it for me.

3.5/5 stars

As we spent about half the book getting to know the characters while they kept missing each other, I felt like the slow burn aspect made me not really care about any relationship-related drama the two were having up until that point. George being in a relationship did nothing to increase tension, it only served to annoy me every time he let his girlfriend treat him like crap. When you know that your MMC and FMC will eventually be together it's frustrating to watch him waste his time with Anya in real time at the same time that you are not getting a single moment of these two interacting face-to-face. While their crossword-related interactions were really cute and I liked what the author did with that premise, I feel like his girlfriend was unnecessary to the entire drama of the story. It would have been enough for him to be facing stress at work and to be feeling unfulfilled in that way. Since him and Ashleigh don't meet for so long there isn't a reason to make a barrier between him and her, the plot is already kind of doing that on its own. Zach suffers from a similar problem of just... not doing anything really, even though he has more impact on whether Ashleigh and George can be together.

I really liked the anxiety/panic attack representation through George. I really like the two main characters meeting the way they did and what Ashleigh's response to George was. I'm not going to get into more of that just to avoid spoilers. I just really love it when authors include anxiety rep and this author did it pretty well. I say this as someone who has suffered from anxiety and panic attacks for years.

I think the major strength and also the major flaw with this book are the same: the side characters are far and above more interesting than our protagonists. I cared way too much about what Oz and Carlos were doing and not enough about whatever Ashleigh and George are doing. It's been a few days since I read the book and I honestly don't remember what was going on between the two of them, but I remember pretty clearly all the drama going on with Oz and Carlos. I also found them to be more interesting and dynamic characters.

Overall, despite my problems with some of the plot contrivances in the book, I would recommend it if you like slow burn romances and the premise interests you. I am not personally a fan of slow burn romances, at least not in the way this particular story went about its slow burn, if that makes sense? I don't think the book is irredeemable by any stretch of the imagination, just didn't do it for me.

Ashleigh is going through the motions of her life. She works at a job she loves and is good at but turns down a promotion. She gets set up on dates by some friends but doesn't really have her heart into actually meeting anyone. She is still dealing with immense grief and guilt from the passing of her best friend.

George has everything he could want. He just got promoted at work, a job he loves and is very good at. His girlfriend pushes him in his career. Only now he is suffering from debilitating panic attacks and is in denial about what is causing them

Ashleigh and George don't know each other and have never met, but Georg has just hired Ashleigh as his cleaning lady for his apartment, and over their shared love of crosswords and some nosy neighbours they may realize they were what was missing in each other's lives

This book took me by surprise. This book is very much a slow burn, and has a heavy emphasis on self discovery and healing. Both characters are dating other people for a big chunk of the book but there is no cheating, physical or emotional of any kind. The aspect of crosswords was so nerdy and niche but I have been really into crosswords lately so it helped me connect so much to the story. The chemistry and respect both characters had with each other felt so natural. They both very much made the other a better person not by changing the other but by supporting and encouraging the other. It explored grief, adult friendships, work-life balance, and anxiety and panic attacks.