MY RATING:
Synopsis:
For a woman at a turning point, a small Kentucky town offers a summer of healing, unexpected romance, and rediscovery in a bittersweet novel by USA Today bestselling author Toni Blake.
Recovering from cancer, Cincinnati news anchor Jessica Fox has no choice but to take a summer leave. Her boss’s for Jessica to take it easy and recharge at his late grandmother Mabel’s cottage in the Kentucky mountains.
Read More:
The town of Lost and Found lives up to its name. Resistant at first, Jessica grows to appreciate the slower pace, the spectacular sunsets, the affable locals, and even Matt Cordray, the laid-back, too-friendly police chief next door. Most engaging of all is Mabel, who left behind a treasure map that leads Jessica to a collection of lost items—mementos and love letters—people have mailed to the town over the years. Jessica needs something to help pass the time, and she finds it in reuniting these precious things with the distant strangers who lost them.
Lost and in flux herself, Jessica has no idea just how connected to life this town will make her feel again or, by summer’s end, how transformative a season it will be.
- Pages: 338
- Genre: Romance, Contemporary
- Publication date: February 17, 2026 by Montlake
- Format: Paperback, Kindle, Hardcover, Audiobook
- Source: ARC NetGalley
PURCHASE LINKS:
AMAZON
BARNES & NOBLE
REVIEW:
FINALLY! A romance that actually feels realistic in every aspect, with very little spice, newfound family, self-discovery, and so much more!
While I was perusing NetGalley, I stumbled upon this book. Had a look at the cover and I knew I had to read it. I wend into it without even reading the blurb, and I knew nothing about it whatsoever. Thank goodness I did it because I found my favourite romance (officially) of 2026! Hands down, this was the best romance/contemporary book I have read, and I am so happy about it.
Jessica is a woman who has been through a lot. She is a cancer survivor, and she is strong, independent and self-sufficient. We follow her journey whilst she is recovering from chemotherapy and radiation, and what she found in the little town of Lost and Found turns out to be invaluable.
This story delved deeply into our hectic day-to-day lives, examining what social media and the internet mean to us, what we have lost due to these commodities, and how we can regain that lost human connection and love with others, but most importantly, with ourselves. I loved the characters; they were multifaceted, real, relatable, and so very human and flawed in a realistic way that I could recall a certain person I knew in my own life who resembled them. The author did an amazing job at pondering the self-discovery part, the human interactions and the overall small-town atmosphere.
The writing style was easy to follow and captivating. I was laughing on one page and crying the very next. Those were happy tears, tears of realisation that I feel the same way or have gone through the same thing. When it comes to the romance part, this is exactly my vision of what romance and sex scenes should be like in these books. The dialogue during the intimate scene made me cry a little; it was so touching and tender, nothing vulgar or explicit. Just pure perfection!
I was so invested in the whole lost and found bit; it was so heartwarming and inspiring. This is also a second-chance romance, but not in the traditional way; rather, the main characters are in their late 30s or early 40s and are finding love again at that age.
Honestly, read it, I cannot recommend it enough, 5 stars read!
Lin's Perspective 
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