Heart the Lover / Writers and Lovers

February 3, 2026 /

Heart the Lover ~ Lily King
Jordan is a college student who dreams of being a writer. She was admitted to college on a sports scholarship, but quit the sport after a week or two, so is funding her education by working and taking out student loans. She becomes friends with Sam and Yash, two fellow students who live a privileged life housesitting for a professor who is away for the year. She first falls for Sam, and then Yash. This is Part 1 of the book. Part 2 takes place years in the future, when Yash comes to visit Jordan, and Part 3 takes place after that.

Writers and Lovers ~ Lily King
Casey is 31 and working as a waitress while trying to write her first novel. She is deeply in debt – she left the country for a while after college, and defaulted on her student loans. The interest and fees have pretty much doubled her debt. Casey’s mother died earlier in the year, and she is feeling unmoored by her grief and the shock of the loss. She is attracted to two men – Silas, a high school teacher her age, and Oscar, a widower with two young sons about a decade older than her.

These are the bare bones descriptions of these two novels, which are both truly lovely. I don’t want to give any spoilers away, I came into Heart the Lover knowing nothing about it, just that I had had it on hold via Libby for quite awhile. By the time it was available, I had forgotten everything, except I saw that a couple of you were reading it at the same time. It’s about friendship and love, and the consequences of certain decisions. When I finished it, I sent Birchie a text, and she mentioned that she wanted to read Writers and Lovers next, because it was the same characters. Which it is, because it turns out that Jordan is just a nickname that Sam and Yash have given Casey, though I had forgotten that detail pretty quickly. Writers takes place chronologically between parts 1 and 2 of Heart. I loved them both, both really good, both highly recommended. Of the two, I liked Writers and Lovers a bit more. Content warning for those in the midst of grief, she is missing her mom hard.

26 Comments

  • K @ TS

    February 3, 2026 at 5:07 pm

    I have Heart The Lover on hold and have for a very long time also. I did read Writers already and only have it three stars, which is the same rating that I have the other book of hers that I’ve read, which was Euphoria. I am still looking forward to reading Heart though!

    • J

      February 3, 2026 at 7:25 pm

      I hope you enjoy it, and going in you will know things that I did not, meaning the backstory of her losing her mom, her relationship with her dad, her romance with Silas.

    • NGS

      February 4, 2026 at 6:25 am

      I’ve read those same two book, K, Euphoria and W&L. I gave them both 2.5/5 stars. I want to be cool like everyone else and read HTL, but I don’t think I’m a Lily King sort of person.

      • J

        February 4, 2026 at 8:10 am

        I feel like you’ve read two of her books, and neither were for you. Probably best to skip Heart the Lover. Too many books out there to waste time on something you don’t want to read.

  • Birchie

    February 3, 2026 at 5:30 pm

    I just finished Heart, and when I saw this post, I immediately ordered up the audio book for Writers and Lovers, so I will start that soon.

    I don’t know what to say…I liked Heart A LOT but it wasn’t a toe curling love. I think I need to sit with my feelings for a bit longer.

    • J

      February 3, 2026 at 7:23 pm

      I liked Heart A LOT too, but something about her grief for her mother, and her work with writing really got me. I mean, I have zero interest in writing a book, but the struggle of it was satisfying. Also, I was a waitress who could carry many plates or drinks at once, so I liked that detail.

  • Suzanne

    February 4, 2026 at 4:07 am

    I downloaded Writers & Lovers immediately after you texted me, and I am really glad I read your summary of it because now I am even more excited to get into it. And you liked it MORE than Heart the Lover?! Super cool. This is my first foray into this author — have you read any of her other work?

    • J

      February 4, 2026 at 5:12 am

      I think as a writer, you will really enjoy that aspect to it all. No, I haven’t read any of her other work, but now I’m thinking I should.

  • Lisa's Yarns

    February 4, 2026 at 8:14 am

    It’s been so long since I’ve read W&L so my memory of it is pretty vague, but I remember appreciating it. I LOVED Heart the Lover, though, and found it extremely accessible/easy to get into, which is often not the case for literary fiction. I kind of want to go back and re-read W&L but my TBR list is so long as is so it’s tough to fit in re-reads!

  • nance

    February 4, 2026 at 10:44 am

    I don’t know…these just don’t seem like books for me. I’m not connecting at all with the storylines. I think I might skip these.

    • J

      February 4, 2026 at 1:41 pm

      While I loved them, and I loved the emotion that she brought to the characters, I also do not think these are Nance books.

  • Jenny

    February 5, 2026 at 5:49 am

    I’m SO GLAD you told me that these are companion novels! I liked them both, but knowing that makes me like them even more. I did notice that Silas uses Casey’s name at the very end of Heart the Lover, and I realized it was the first time we heard her real name. But I still didn’t connect it with the character from Writers and Lovers, because I read that one a couple years ago. I think I also like WAL better than Heart, but they were both really good.

  • Jacquie

    February 5, 2026 at 6:37 am

    I just read Heart the Lover a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed it. I discovered Writers and Lovers included the same characters and added it to my TBR list. I chose her book Euphoria for our book club last year and we all really enjoyed it, so I recommend it if you enjoyed these other ones.

    • J

      February 6, 2026 at 8:22 am

      I’ve heard mixed reviews about Euphoria, but mostly people who like her writing have liked it, and I seem to like her writing, so I’m going to put it on my TBR. I hope you like Writers and Lovers.