With the final installment in her Lovelight Farm series, B.K. Borison (Lovelight Farms, In the Weeds) gives readers a sweet, sincere novel about what can happen when two people allow themselves to reach for the life they want--and each other.
In Inglewild, a small town where everyone knows your name and shares your business on the local phone tree, Nova is opening a tattoo studio. She's also flirtatiously sparring with New York investment banker and spreadsheet enthusiast Charlie, a frequent town visitor who has come to temporarily run his honeymooning sister's business. Nova proposes that the two act on their attraction but keep things casual--business casual, in fact. Despite claiming to be uninterested in a relationship, there's nothing nonchalant about Nova and Charlie's connection or the tranquility they find with each other, something they desperately need. Neither is well-versed in letting their guard down--Nova believes she has to prove herself on her own to earn her family's faith in her, and Charlie feels undeserving of everyone and everything.
As their month together unspools and Charlie's departure approaches, Borison exchanges the typical third-act breakup for vulnerable conversations and an agreement to try long distance. But they can't bear being apart, and the novel's crescendo is as emotionally satisfying as it is expected (this is a romance, after all). Charming, sexy, and cozy, Business Casual is both a gratifying series conclusion and a worthwhile novel on its own about love and the perennial beauty of finding (and making) a home. --Kristen Coates, editor and freelance reviewer