Denise Williams, the author of HOW TO FAIL AT FLIRTING and DO YOU TAKE THIS MAN, returns with LOVE AND OTHER FLIGHT DELAYS, featuring three love stories set at perhaps the least romantic place imaginable: an airport.

In “The Love Connection,” we meet Ollie Wright, a risk-taker whose recent venture --- opening a pet grooming salon in a busy airport --- has made life pretty exciting. Ollie loves the unpredictability of working in an airport, but the one area of her life with which she refuses to take risks is her love life. She’s content, for now, to lust after the tall, broad-shouldered, sharp-jawed frequent flier who steps off the jet bridge across from her shop every Tuesday. Of course, this is a romance, so she inadvertently meets this tall Adonis when a runaway dog forces an encounter that puts her in the crosshairs of Bennett Baker --- professional risk assessor by day, romance novelist by night.

"A perfect range of tropes, love stories and narrative arcs, LOVE AND OTHER FLIGHT DELAYS has a little something for all romance readers, and those new to the genre will enjoy catching the Easter eggs and shared details that pepper each novella."

Unlike Ollie, Bennett takes comfort in stability, but this hasn’t prevented a completely unexpected case of writer’s block. His meet-cute with Ollie is the stuff of romance novels, so sickeningly cute that even he couldn’t write it, but still he can't forget her adorable laugh or confidence. As the two slowly begin a series of airport dates at pretzel booths, empty gates and cafes, they are each taken out of their comfort zones. Ollie is forced to take a chance on love, and Bennett is pushed to consider a more uncertain and adventurous life.

In “The Missed Connection,” the story picks up with Bennett’s best friend, Gia, a fierce woman in STEM who is as confident and outgoing as Bennett is timid and cautious. One New Year’s Eve, Gia engages in a flirtatious, cocktail-fueled night at the airport bar with the perfect man, Felix. They agree to keep things light but still share an earth-shattering kiss that has stuck in her mind ever since. It’s the perfect distraction; for the last few months, Gia has been battling a rival academic whose criticism of her work is causing serious trouble for her.

At last, Gia is about to meet her nemesis only to learn that he’s familiar to her: after all, it was Felix’s face she was glued to on New Year’s Eve. Now the two are charged with representing their department to five other schools, sharing planes, hotels and uncomfortable dinners as the tension between them --- both professional and sexual --- grows. In this enemies-to-lovers novella, Gia and Felix will need to put their squabbles behind them or miss the connection of a lifetime…and I don’t mean their connecting flight.

Finally, in “The Sweetest Connection,” we meet Teagan, who works in the airport candy store near Ollie’s pet grooming salon. Teagan has always wanted more from life than slaving away in retail work, and in just one week she will be taking off for the international adventure of a lifetime. But shortly before her trip, she discovers an undelivered love letter in her store and feels responsible for helping to find its recipient. Luckily, her best friend, Silas, works at the airport as an airline customer service representative, and she knows he can help her.

Unbeknownst to her, Silas is working on a mystery of his own: how to finally tell Teagan that he is in love with her. He thinks that helping her track down the love letter’s sender will give him the perfect opportunity to confess his true feelings. As the narrative turns to these best friends playing Cupid, fun clues and plenty of red herrings pave the way for a friends-to-lovers novella with plenty of emotional depth and heart.

As in any collection of stories, each of these novellas will find different fans. While I loved them all, I must admit that “The Love Connection” was a real highlight for me, perhaps in part because it set the stage for the others and felt much more grounded and cemented in its setting and narrative arc. The love story of Ollie and Bennett was perfect from start to finish, from its runaway dog meet-cute to its flirtatious banter and even the third-act breakup before the final grand gesture.

I also enjoyed “The Missed Connection” and “The Sweetest Connection,” particularly for how they build and expand upon the world introduced in the first novella, all while featuring characters diverse in age, professions, background and ethnicity. I think I was most drawn to Teagan and Silas, whose sweet friendship perfectly set the stage for their budding romance. From flight delays, missed connections and jetlag, there has never been anything romantic or sexy about airports for me, but Denise Williams has convinced me otherwise.

A perfect range of tropes, love stories and narrative arcs, LOVE AND OTHER FLIGHT DELAYS has a little something for all romance readers, and those new to the genre will enjoy catching the Easter eggs and shared details that pepper each novella. If you like your happily-ever-afters celebratory and heart-pounding, look no further than this delightful collection of swoonworthy reads.