Review: First-Time Caller (Heartstrings #1)

First-Time Caller, Book 1 in the Heartstrings Series by BK Borison

Published By: Macmillan
Publication Date: February 11, 2025
Date Read: February 1, 2026
Genre: Adult – Contemporary Romance
Source: Bought
Format: Paperback
Pages: 430

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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.

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

“Love isn’t always sunshine and daisies. Sometimes it’s hospital beds and shaved heads. But I wouldn’t trade any of it. Because all of it is with hers.”

Contemporary Romance is not my typical genre of choice. So when I first saw everyone obsessing over First-Time Caller, I decided it probably wouldn’t be for me. However, after reading BK Borison’s Good Spirits at Christmas time, I decided I had dismissed this one too early. I really enjoyed her writing style in Good Spirits and so really wanted to give her contemporary romance a try. I am so glad that I did as I absolutely loved every moment of this book.

When I picked First-Time Caller up, I was in a bit of a book slump, and I couldn’t really get into anything. And so, I felt like a total genre change was needed. I was correct in thinking this, as I flew through this book. Right from the start of this book, I was grinning like an idiot. This book is just so adorable and feel good and I couldn’t put it down. I really enjoyed the fact that our main characters are a little bit older than a typical romance book. I’m so used to picking up these books and the characters being early 20s, so to see our main characters being late 20s/early 30s was really refreshing to me.

Another thing I really loved about this book was the fact that the characters had good communication. Don’t get me wrong, the characters make mistakes and have their own stuff that they’re working through, but when there was a misunderstanding it was solved very quickly, with the characters having a conversation with each other and moving forward. I loved this, as miscommunication is often my most hated romance trope and so I loved that it wasn’t really prevalent in this book. I also loved that there wasn’t a third-act breakup, as I hate that!

First-Time Caller is cute, cosy, funny but also really emotional. I found this one really hard hitting. Our MMC, Aiden has closed himself off from a lot of emotion, following him seeing his mother go through a cancer diagnosis and treatment multiple times since he was a child. As someone who has a parent fighting cancer, this was super personal for me. It was something I was worried about and I had been told that it was minimal and not really discussed much…. this was a lie! But I can’t be mad about that, as I probably would have put off reading it, and I’m actually really glad I did read it. It was so moving to see Aiden come out of the other side and let someone in. I cried my eyes out, but it was just so moving and beautiful!

It’s not often I rate contemporary romance books 5 stars, but this one deserves it whole heartedly. I couldn’t put it down. I fell in love, I swooned, I cried and I feel like this book healed me a little bit too. I’m so glad I read it. This is, in my opinion, BK Borison’s best book from the three I have read so far, and she is going on my must-read authors list. This book is just stunning and beautiful and will definitely be one that I re-read. A huge thank you to everyone who recommended this one to me. You were right. I adored it! I cannot wait for Jackson’s book coming out in a couple of weeks.

“Because it’s your favourite. And I want your favourite to be my favourite.”