DRC Review: Love Felt Like This by Julie Olivia

Release Date: 8 September 2026

Rating: 4.5/5

Synopsis:  A grumpy rock star and a joyful children’s show creator revive television magic in this cozy small-town romance.

Griffin Harvey lives his life in the spotlight. Reluctantly. The brooding famous singer-songwriter is on the cusp of composing his sophomore album . . . if only he could find the notes. But after gaining custody of his two-year-old daughter, the only music he’s writing is about shapes and counting to ten.

Enter Beverly, who lives her life in the background producing children’s television and laughter. Except joy is hard to find when her nonprofit loses funding. She sinks all of her savings to revive the children’s show by herself, but when her variety show appearance collides with Griffin’s, their banter and chemistry is caught on live television.

Suddenly, Griffin is singing a new tune. He needs a muse, and Beverly needs all the help she can get. With his secret daughter in tow, they hide out in her cozy mountain hometown, attempting to script, compose, and revive television magic. Their dynamic shouldn’t work. He’s all harsh tattoos and rough hands while she’s bright colors and gentle touches. Once their three months of work are done, they’ll return to their separate worlds. But what happens when it seems the true magic might be found in each other?

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Review

Man, I was not expecting this book to be as good as it was. I've never heard of or read this author before, but I will be looking up Olivia's backlist and checking out the books on it.

When I read romcoms, I expect both the ROM and the COM parts to come through very clearly. Since I've started reading them, I always find them a mixed bag; but Love Felt Like This is one of the few novels that has a great balance of both. With a quirky storyline and endearing characters, the book did not feel as long as its page count. In fact, I felt like it was over way too soon, and there were far too few parts with a beautiful blue bird in it.

The best stories always have really great characters to go along with a plot that can immerse me enough to suspend my disbelief but not be so outlandish or ridiculous that I just want to stop paying attention. In rom-coms that, that usually presents as a third-act break-up with an overabundance of melodrama or conflict lacking logic outside the boundaries of what I consider mature for the age of the adult characters. I thankfully found none of that here, and the resolution satisfied my need for a wrap-up that is only slightly based in reality.

Griffin and Beverly are endearing characters, charming one another and the reader while falling in love with each other on the page. With plenty of side characters to bounce their quirks off of, the two also give the readers a wonderful, heartfelt story to enjoy for the fall.

My thanks to Berkley and Penguin Random House via NetGalley for the DRC, for which I willingly give my own, honest opinion.

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