Passion Project: A Novel Paperback – April 8, 2025

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: 𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫: 𝐀𝐥𝐞𝐱 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟖, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓𝟓★Oh my heart! I ADORED this book and I will be one of my top books of 2025! Bennet and Henry were two of the most amazing characters EVER and I loved them so much. If this book is not on your radar, it needs to be! If this is a debut novel, I cannot wait to see what author London Sperry has in store for us next!This book tackles so many different topics, but I love how delicately it approaches grief and love after loss. Bennet Taylor has been living with grief and guilt since the death of her first love. Now, living in NYC, her roommate matches her with someone named Henry on a dating app, only for her to stand him up instead. To her surprise, she runs into Henry hours later and confesses that she’s not ready to date and she’s not really passionate about anything these days. With her confession, Henry comes up with an idea to help Bennet find a passion for life. As friends, they will meet every Saturday and try something new in NYC. And so begins their ‘passion project.” As the two begin to get to know one another, secrets are exposed and it doesn’t take long before flirting turns into more. Is Bennet ready to move on, or will the grief and loss continue to hold her back?🩷Mental Health🩵Slow Burn💚Blind Date🩷Friends to Lovers🩵Reverse Grumpy x Sunshine💚Love After Loss🩷Uplifting🩵Set in NYC💚Lots of Flirting🎧I alternated between the book and the audiobook, which was narrated by the AMAZING Alex Finke. I don’t care how you read this book, but let me tell you, Finke was absolutely amazing! She was so perfect for this book. I cannot even put it into words. I highly recommend this one on audio if you enjoy audiobooks!

“Passion Project” by London Sperry is a heart-aching romance revolving around grief. Bennet lost her long love / college boyfriend Sam and moved to New York to live out the dream that Sam wanted… Lost in her grief of Sam, Bennet is going through the motions of life and is a pretty closed book shutting out everyone from her past and unable to let anyone in.Her roommate has her go on a date that she pretty infamously messes up as she ghosts him and gets wasted at the restaurant across the street. But by chance from her mistake, she ends up meeting him. He convinces her to meetup as friends and try to experience new things in what they call the “Passion Project.” Through her exploration with her new found friend Henry and the Passion Project, she opens up a tiny bit, but is still consumed by grief.This books main focus is overcoming grief of a lost lover… however I feel this book could relate to many people who feel they are just going through the motions of life or are grieving a person or a situation (like a health condition taking an ability away, or moving far from family). I found Bennet’s struggles to be relatable whether or not grief is of a loved one.As a romance, Bennet’s past and new relationship have some great beauty on the midst of chaos. I found laughter, tears, heartache, and heart-warming moments in this book. I thoroughly enjoyed the journey of this book even when characters regressed at times… it felt very real.

Loved it! Must read! This book had me feeling all the feels. It’s a multi-layered labyrinth of realness -- grief, depression, joy, self-discovery, patience, humor, sadness, romance, chemistry, sarcasm, adventure, friendship, guilt, hope, passion, and LOVE. Through masterful dialogue, London Sperry brought her characters to life in a very relatable and intimate way. It felt like I was watching my own private screening of Passion Project.The book is loaded with quotable nuggets! In fact, there are too many to list, but here are a few of my favorites…“But losing someone slowly must be like having the person and the memory of them alive at the same time.”“Love doesn’t care if you’re anxious or depressed, or drowning in everyday life. Love just loves.”“I am strong. I am resilient. I am kind. I always have been. I am proud that I’m able to say it, and even more proud that I believe it.”