First-Time Caller (Heartstrings, #1) by B.K. Borison 
Series: Heartstrings #1
Published by Berkley on February 11, 2025
Genres: Contemporary
Pages: 448
Format: eBook
Source: Netgalley, Tantor Audio
I received this book for free from Netgalley, Tantor Audio in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
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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.
First Time Caller needed more On-the-Air banter.
Single Mom Lucie Stone gets quite the surprise when she catches her young daughter calling into radio station 101.6 LITE FM, more particularly to Aiden Valentine, host of Heartstrings, Baltimore’s Romance Hotline, asking Aiden to help her mom find a date. Now the whole city knows that Lucie hasn’t had a decent date in…years. Yes, okay, it’s been years.
After so many people called into the radio station to ask for more information about helping Lucie, she was invited to the station to get a date on-the-air with Aiden himself. But what was supposed to be an evening interviewing dates, showed how well Lucie and Aiden played off each, and their on-air chemistry turned into several weeks of co-hosting Heartstrings. Suddenly the city’s desire to set up Lucie on a dream date has turned into the city just turning in to hear Lucie and Aiden flirt live.
But it appears the host of Heartstrings doesn’t believe in love and isn’t looking for romance for himself, except trying to find Lucie the perfect date isn’t as important as it used to be.
THOUGHTS:
First Time Caller had a lot of great characters. We love Lucie and her daughter, Maya. Lucie’s gay BFF from childhood (also Maya’s father) and his husband. Honestly, Lucie has quite the full life. She has wonderful family group who care for her, it isn’t surprising that her dates don’t measure up to the love and support of her made family. Although I did like Aiden, his constant “no romance for me” kept taking the fun out of the by-play between Lucie and Aiden. I can understand the initial purpose was getting Lucie a date, but when they were spending so much time together and their time in the booth showed what great chemistry they had, why was he still dragging his feet and denying his interest in them being together. It kept jerking all the fun to a stop.
While we do have a lot of time spent with Lucie and Aiden, I didn’t feel like we had enough of the on-the-air banter which all of Maryland was tuning in for. I don’t know if that was a we only get so many pages in the book and the author wanted more scenes in person, but when the whole premise is the co-hosting that the city can’t get enough of, we are only left to suppose it is awesome. There wasn’t as much of that on page as I would have liked. Don’t tell me they are amazing together, show me.
Favorite Scene:
Aiden and Jackson (the station’s weatherman) are so mean to the intern.
She’s here to find a date. Elliott is her date.
Jackson swivels back and forth in his chair, frowning. “I don’t like it.”
“We don’t have to like it,” I grumble.
But I don’t like it either, despite trying my best to feel exactly nothing about the situation. I open my mouth to suggest he retreat to the break room to give me a goddamned break from all his ruminating when Hughie suddenly appears in front of the glass window outside the booth. His shirt is untucked, his hair is sticking up, and he has a panicked look on his round face.
“Why does Hughie look like he’s about to be the first to die in a horror movie?” Jackson asks.
“He always sort of looks like that.” I watch as Hughie gestures wildly, mouthing something through the window. “What’s he saying?”
“I don’t know. Should we–“
I tilt my head to the side. “Let’s wait it out.”
Neither of us moves. Hughie bangs his fist against the glass once and then points in the direction of the lobby.
“He’s showing some urgency,” Jackson mutters.
We aren’t. We stay in our chairs, watching him as he bustles around the length of the soundproof room. He attempts to push the pull-open door for about thirty seconds, then finally figures it out.
The man is a mess.
He swings into the room, breathing heavily.
I stay exactly where I am. I only have three minutes left in my break. “What’s up, Hughie? All good?”
“Uh, nope. Things are not all good.” He jerks his thumb over his shoulder. “There’s an angry guy up front asking for you.”
Jackson lifts himself from his chair with a groan. “The guy who gets mad about the snow? I told him I can’t do anything about it. It’s not my fault it’s been an unseasonably dry winter. I can’t summon snow, no matter how much I’d like to.”
Hughie shifts on his feet, impatient. It does seem like a masked man is about to leap from the storage closet with a steak knife. “No, it’s not the snow guy.” He looks at me nervously. “It’s someone looking for you. He’s threatening to handcuff himself to a radiator if he doesn’t get to talk to you?”
“Me?”
Hughie nods.
“What does he want to talk about?”
“He says it’s about Lucie.”
I stand so fast my chair rocks back into the table with the coffee machine. The whole thing rattles. “Lucie? What about Lucie?”
“I don’t know, but you need to come up here and handle it.”
Eileen pokes her head out from her office down the hall, where she does all the real-time audio control. “Someone needs to stay in that booth,” she threatens. “We’re back on in less than a minute.”
I shove Jackson in the chair. “Talk about the weather,” I order. “I’ll be right back.”
I don’t bother waiting for an answer. I make my way to the front of the station, my heart somewhere in my throat.
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