I found these short stories very good. The only two problems I had with them was 1) I always wanted more in almost every story and 2) I felt ripped out of the story after and had to take my time reading the next after. The stories themselves are strong, and I am glad I was given the chance to read them. I have been recommending it to my friends already.

Thank you for the chance to read and review.

A great YA anthology. This book has LGBTQ+ reps
and is full of tropes love Fake Dating and many
more fs)

Individual ratings:
- Silver and Gold (Snowed in Together) by Natasha Ngan: 3⭐️
- Five Stars (Mistaken Identity) by Amy Spalding: 4⭐️
- Unfortunately, Blobs Do Not Eat Snacks (Kissing Under the Influence) by Rebecca Kim Wells: 3⭐️
- Edges (Grumpy and Sunshine) by Ashley Herring Blake: 3⭐️
- What Makes Us Heroes (Hero vs. Villain) by Julian Winters: 4⭐️
- And (Love Triangle) by Hannah Moskowitz: 4⭐️
- My Best Friend’s Girl (Best Friend’s Girl) by Sara Farizan: 3⭐️
- (Fairy)like Attracts Like (Mutual Pining) by Claire Kann: 2⭐️
- These Strings (Sibling’s Hot Best Friend) by Lilliam Rivera: 4⭐️ ***
- The Passover Date (Fake Dating) by Laura Silverman: 5⭐️ ***
- Bloom (Love Transcends Space Time) by Rebecca Barrow: 4⭐️ ***
- Teed Up (Oblivious to Lovers) by Gloria Chao: 5⭐️ ***
- Boys Noise (Only One Bed) by Mason Deaver: 3⭐️
- Girls Just Want to Have Fun (Secret Royalty) by Malinda Lo: 3⭐️
- Disaster (Second Chance Romance) by Rebecca Podos: 3.5⭐️

Overall thoughts:
When I first read the synopsis for this and saw that it was an anthology of short stories each based on a different romance trope, I was immediately interested. I love a good trope, I think they’re so fun!
This anthology covered so well-beloved tropes like fake dating and only one bed while also including a few that I feel are more underrated like snowed in together and oblivious to lovers.
There was really great diversity represented throughout the collection in the stories, characters and authors. This ranged from many different sexual orientations, races and religions.
I’ve had the pleasure of reading a few amazing YA anthologies this year and this book now gets to join that group! I love that these were spins on “traditional” tropes with diverse couples, allowing more readers to see themselves represented in literature.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, the authors and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This is an absolutely lovely collection! The stories are mostly YA and generally feature queer protagonists, though this is usually not the focus of the story, just incidental to the character's identity. The stories themselves are widely varied and often feature magical, fantasy, and superhero elements. I was very impressed by how much world-building the authors could do in such short works.

And the tropes! The tropes! I love a good trope and they were treated so well here. It made for sweet, funny, and utterly charming tales of our stumbles into love. I found something to enjoy in each of the entries and I strongly recommend this for an enjoyable read!

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!

As a romance book lover, I really enjoyed this book! I liked seeing the short stories organized by common romance tropes like "Second Chance Romance" and "Fake Dating." The representation is phenomenal, and I also appreciated how diverse the genres are. I would keep this book on my bookshelf for my students looking for LGBTQ+ options. I think my favorite was "Boys' Noise" by Mason Deaver.

This was a DNF for me. Although there were cute love-stories within this, none of these characters ever really felt full. Even in the longer short-stories, there was always an aspect lacking. I'm a trope-lover through and through, but I'd rather a trope to be poorly executed with full characters, than an amazing trope with flat characters. So sad to not finish it, but just because it's not for me, doesn't mean its not for you!

3,5 Stars

- Silver & Gold, Snowed In Together (3,5 Stars) - this was really cute and such a interesting story fantasy wise.
- Five Stars, Mistaken Identity (4 Stars) - loved the writing style, even though it was very short I liked the MC immediately and loved how weird and cute this story was.
- Unfortunately, Blobs do not…, Kissing Under the Influence (4 Stars) - again, I LOVED the fantasy aspects! They were so interesting and the MC & her love interest were adorable.
- Edges, Grump & Sunshine (3,5 Stars) - This story wasn’t as memorable but I remember really liking it while reading? Even though I can’t remember a lot.
- What Makes Us Heroes, Hero vs. Villain (4 Stars) - this was surprisingly good, I don’t know what I expected from a hero & villain story, but I really enjoyed it. Especially the discussion about prejudice and why the villain is the villain.
- And, Love Triangle (2 Stars) - at least this was really a triangle but apart from that I really disliked the MC. Which is sad because as loved Hannah Moskowitzs Sick Kids in Love.
- My Best Friend‘s Girl, Best Friends Girl (5 Stars) - this story was so dorky and cute and I loved it. Would have absolutely read a whole book about them.
- (Fairy)like attracts like, Mutual Pining (3 stars) - was this cute? Yes. But it just wasn’t my favorite, can’t really say why.
- These Strings, Siblings Hot Best Friend (2 Stars) - The Brother and parents were so annoying and the MC & love interest as well. I just didn’t like anyone, sorry.
- The Passover Date, Fake Dating (4 Stars) - Fake Dating when they are already interested in each other is the best thing ever, I loved this. Also, this made me hungry.
- Bloom, Love Transcends Space Time (3 Stars) - was good but just not my fave.
- Teed Up, Oblivious Lovers (4 Stars) - who knew Golf could be so interesting? But no, really, this was cute & I was pleasantly surprised because I didn’t really like one book I read by the author.
- Boys Noise, Only One Bed (4,5 Stars) - ugh, this reminded me of I was Born for this and If This Gets Out & it was SO good.
- Girls Just Want To Have Fun, Secret Royalty (3 Stars) - was it good? Yes. I am just not the biggest fan of secret royalty and everything happened SO fast.
- Disaster, Second Chance Romance (4 Stars) - loved the topic and setting (world is maybe going to end) & discussion about coming to terms with your sexuality.

Thank you to Running Press Kids for an eARC of this in exchange for an honest review.

So, I love anthologies. It's nice and refreshing ot get a new story every few pages. Buuuut this one kind of fell flat for me? There were a few good moments, but overall there wasn't a story that made me go: this is AMAZING. I need more.

I started taking notes on each story, but I stopped because I just wasn't enjoying them as much. There is great diversity and so much lovely LGBTQIA+ rep, but overall, I was just kind of bored?

It was okay, but unfortunately kind of strange and not quite what I was hoping for.

It’s always the same with shortstory anthologies, some you don’t like, some you absolutely love and want more of the story!
It’s the same with this one, but over all I really liked them all. The most outstanding thing about this one was how absolutely diverse it was!!!
A romance anthology that is super queer and diverse is not a thing I take for granted and I applaud!!!
All of these were super quick reads and it’s amazing if you just have 10-30 minutes of reading time to squeeze into your day, without having to stop in the middle of a chapter.
I read each story on one evening before bed and it was perfect.
My absolute favourite about this was, that this book mainly consists of sapphic storys. This book is a real win for the lesbians! 😂

Natasha Ngan: A sapphic fantasy story about a competition to win a deadly race (with a wolf pack on sedges through the ice!!! I repeat: wolves!!!!). Two competitors falling in love, it was gripping and steamy! 5/5

Julian Winters: A gay superhero trying to win back his super-superhero ex…but the villain might win? 😏 4,5/5

Mason Deaver: A trans guy falling in love with his boyband bandmember while they both take a sneaky vacation together…oops. 4/5

Amy Spalding: A girl accidentally kidnapping her crush. The kissing was a little rushed, but who minds? There’s limited time in shortstories. I loved everything about this!!! 5/5

Rebecca Kim Wells: Opposites attract, enemies to lovers magical lesbians forced on a school mission together. The love interest is a purple haired badass. (I was immediately in love). The MC has a lot of anxiety. I loved them so much together! The ending was super funny. I want more!!! 5/5

Ashley Herring Blake: The grumpy one falls for the soft one? For me it was more like a popular girl and loser without friends kind of thing. I wasn’t the biggest fan of this story, there was too much squeezed into this and too little feelings for me. 3/5

Hannah Moskowitz: Honestly, this was my least favourite story in this book. It’s written in second person narrative and it isn’t my favourite thing to begin with. It’s about a poly/ open relationship and I just didn’t feel it. Don’t know how else to put it. 2/5

Sara Farizan: Another superhero/alien story, but this time not the MC. The “I’m in love with my best friends partner” trope just isn’t for me sadly. It was also solved way too easily in my opinion. I kinda liked that the story was more about the MCs friendship, but really it’s an romance anthology so…there wasn’t really any romance. 1/5

Claire Kann: A story with a fat, Black, adopted, lesbian MC! Two girls who are pining for each other in fairy summer camp without realising it, but in the end realise they have even more in common than they thought. I liked this one, but we don’t really get to know the characters a lot and the story itself wasn’t overwhelming or even very romantic. 2,5/5

Lillian Rivera: I really liked the story of this! It’s about a latinx family who’s family business is a puppet theatre. That’s nothing I’ve ever read about in a book and such a cool story. This was the first f/m (I’m not saying straight, who knows) romance in this! I wasn’t a fan of the “you kissed my sister I’m going to punch you” thing. 3,5/5

Laura Silverman: A second f/m story! I absolutely loved this one!!! It’s about a jewish girl who’s annoyed by her family who are asking her every year all over again where her date is for Seder…so she obviously decides to bring a fake date this year. And of course they actually like each other in the end.
I loved the talk about that romantic relationships aren’t for everyone and she and her sister deciding that they will do everything differently when it’s their turn.
This was absolutely cute and I loved to learn about all the passover traditions. Nothing was explained and I had to google a lot, but I loved exactly that. American culture isn’t the norm, so why explain everything in a jewish story?!
Her date was adorable and I loved everything about this story. 5/5

Rebecca Barrow: This one wasn’t my favourite tbh. It’s about a girl traveling time to save her mother from death and then meets a girl she falls in love with.
I didn’t get in what time this was supposed to play until the end (always good for a time travelling story) and what exactly happened to her mother. Also the feelings were super rushed. It just wasn’t for me. 2/5

Gloria Chao: A female pro golfer falling in love with a nice boy she meets at a tournament. This story was actually more about the sexist (and racist) sports world, the girl struggling to live up to her parents expectations of her and her realising what she really wants in life. Golf sadly isn’t exactly interesting to me and the romance felt a little rushed. I liked the loveinterest though and for a longer story this would have worked better. 3/5

Malinda Lo: Gays in space and a royal princess escapee. I really liked this story, the setting was cool and I loved the characters. Sadly this story was really, really short in comparison to the others and it all felt super rushed. If this would have been a whole book of even a longer story this could easily have gotten a better rating. 3/5

Rebecca Podos: An (almost) doomsday, the perfect day to win back your ex-girlfriend. This one was a sapphic second chance romance with a jewish MC and I overall really liked it. I liked the part about figuring out her sexuality a lot. Overall this was a story with a very gloomy mood and little conversation though, so I didn’t really feel the love a lot. 3/5

dnf @ 50%

Thank you to netgalley for providing an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

I started reading this back in June, and finally decided to dnf this October. I love the concept, but had a really hard time remaining engaged in the stories.

This is a collection of YA lgbtq romance short stories, each one based on a different trope. Some of the stories I loved and wanted more from (Edges by Ashley Herring Blake!!), but some I had to push through. There were so many sapphic stories which I loved and all of those ended up being my favorite!!

Overall I love the representation, the charm, and the concept, but I do think as I get older it makes it more difficult for me to enjoy YA romance to the extend I did when I was younger.

I definitely recommend this to any audience that thinks the concept sounds interesting! This was totally a “It’s not you, it’s me” type of DNF.

Fools in Love is a sweet compilation of YA love stories with plenty of LGBTQ+ representation. Each short story is a different romance trope, from "grumpy meets sweet" to "fake dating" to "only one bed at the inn," along with a whole lot of others. This collection was engaging and exposed me to stories in several genres that I wouldn't normally read, so it was a good way to take in some sci-fi, fantasy, and superhero tales that I usually shy away from.

My favorite stories from the collection were "Boys Noise" by Mason Deaver (the whole reason I requested this in the first place), "Bloom" by Rebecca Barrow, and "Disaster" by Rebecca Podos. There were a few at the beginning of the book that I wasn't particularly fond of, which made me question if I would want to continue reading, but the stories in the back half of the book were immensely better and I'm so glad I made myself finish. Overall, I give it a strong three stars.

This book literally has something for everyone. Each story has a romantic trope that leaves you wanting more.
The stories have great representation throughout and all flow so well. I definitely enjoyed some stories more than others - but that's just dependent on whether you like the trope or not.
This is a perfect book for YA readers and has something to offer every romantic.

Fools in Love is a sweet collection of short stories revolving around love. It was a cute, light read with all of the love tropes! I also enjoyed the representation in the stories. Some of the stories were hit and miss for me, which made getting through this book somewhat tedious at times. I guess that's always the risk with Anthologies. That said, there were some great stories in here and I would definitely read more by those authors.

I requested this book because ever since I read 'I Wish You All The Best' I have become Mason Deaver trash and then I saw Julian Winters and Hannah Moskowitz names and my heart exploded. I HAD to read this book.

'Fools in Love' was QUEER behind my wildest expectations and seeing all these different characters falling in love and living their truth was exhilarating.

Since this is a short story collection written by dozens of authors I'll start by reviewing each story separately and then the book in its entirety at the very end. Also, since short story collections are a great way to be introduced or give authors you only ever heard about a try, I may recommend a full-length novel from the same author or falling in the same trope at the end, just in case you liked the overall vibe of the story or just need to fill a particular craving in your reading plans.

Silver and Gold by Natasha Ngan - 'Snowed In Together'

I'm a fan of short stories so I started this book with very high expectations that only rose when I was greeted by this story. Natasha Ngan is one of the most recognizable names in this book and one I've been curious about for a while so I was really looking forward to being awed by her talent.

Sadly it was clear from the beginning that this was not going to impress me: from the beginning of the story to the chemistry between the characters, to how predictable and easy to overcome the hurdles were to the writing itself, nothing in this story delivered what I expected from it.

I did like some aspects like how light it went on physical description until the halfway point allowing the reader both free reign over what the characters looked like and a chance to address any of their own prejudices, the world-building was interesting even if barely there how it touched on some heavier themes very lightly and that this was a love story featuring two women. This being a sapphic story was honestly what made worth anything because if it had been a straight one, there would have been no saving it for me.


Five Stars by Amy Spalding - 'Mistaken Identity'

The second story in this book was a cute slice of life set in the space of a few hours and I liked it a lot more than the last one, maybe because I had never heard of the author before and went into it without any expectations.

Even though 'insta-attraction' is not my favourite trope, there was a lot I liked in this story: the love interest was an Asian girl that did not subscribe to any racial stereotypes, the characters spent most of their time talking and getting to know each other and there were plenty of relatable themes for the reader to sink their teeth in such as the aftermath of break-ups or the anxieties that come with being the new girl at school, making friends, coming out and existing as a proud queer person.

I wouldn't care for this story as it is as a full-length novel but as a short story, it works perfectly with a good balance between plot and romance.

Additionally, this is the second sapphic story in a row, and that is something


Unfortunately, Blobs Do Not Eat Snacks by Rebecca Kim Wells - 'Kissing Under The Influence'

Talk about a trope that might be a bit icky nowadays...but in this case, I think it was handled in an appropriate way or at least a non-triggering way.

This felt like an 'opposites attract' where a Hermione/Penelope mix, the goody-two-shoes, tight-laced characters are forced to partner with the Ron/Shepperd/Luna's of the world to pass their final exam.

It wasn't my favourite tale but the plot and world-building were cohesive enough and I loved how much it reminded me of 'Carry On'.

More importantly, this was the third sapphic story in a row!!!

Edges by Ashley Herring Blake - The Grumpy One And The Soft One

(Fourth! I never thought I would ever read as many sapphic stories in a book that wasn't specifically about WlW relationships and I'm so happy I could cry.)

This was the first story I loved reading.

There was so much depth to these characters, I would read a full-length novel about them. So many important themes were addressed: mental health, loneliness, personal discovery, consent (between girls yeah!), communication,... and while reading about all of those is still a sad novelty and all of those themes were treated with care and respect, what made this story matter so much to me personally was that it showed characters dealing with and facing up to biphobia/bi-erasure when bisexuality itself is still such an underrepresented identity in our culture and having a conversation about consent and limits between queer teens.

I might be wrong (I was flying through this story) but I only realized that the narrator was a girl near the end of this story and even though I liked that because of all the previously mentioned reasons, a part of me also mourned that this wasn't an m/f pairing because I would have loved to see a young man crying and talking about his feelings without any sense of shame or emasculation and just being bisexual and not having his identity denied for being with a girl. That is of course not a reflection on this story or author (who I will definitely be checking out now) but on the kinds of stories that we are still so rarely given the chance to read and people we get to see represented.

P.s. Hannah Moskowitz, a later contributor to this anthology has a full-length novel called 'Sick Kids in Love' whose main character is a bisexual boy in an m/f pairing where a lot of those themes are addressed, if you are curious about it or just need so bi rep in your shelf.


What Makes Us Heroes by Julian Winters - 'Hero vs. Villain'

This was one of the authors that made me request this book. Julian Winters makes the world a softer, better place with his books.

Sir, I would read this as a slow burn with all the feels and miscommunication, Mexican Telenovela style.

This story is set in a world where superheroes and supervillains exist, are treated as celebrities/influencers permanently under the public eye and managed in order to cater to certain groups of people and are to a certain extent family businesses.

One of the biggest themes in this story is prejudice, particularly racial, with our narrator being part of a superhero family and feeling pressured to get back together with his white superhero ex-boyfriend and pick friends with align with his parent's ideologies in order to elevate his family's status. The apprehensions he was already feeling about his future are pulled to the forefront of his mind when he reconnects with a childhood friend, whose family are considered 'villains', and he starts thinking about the life he wants to lead.

This was such a short and sweet story about two young black boys being joyous and happy together and I loved how consent was such a big theme throughout their interactions. I would love to read entire books set in this Universe.

P.S. The Bright Series by Lauren Shippen follows super-powered people as they struggle with their powers and identities and are some of the best YA stories I have ever read.

AND by Hannah Moskowitz - Love Triangle

OMG

Omg.

O M G

Ladies, Gents and non-binary folks, my expectations for this author and what she would gift us with were high but never in my life I anticipated being awed to this level.

This was my favourite short story and I don't know how to review it without spoiling it so I'll only say this: never in my life, I thought I would see a love story like this not only published anywhere else other than fanfic and Ao3 but actually aimed at teens and written in a respectful and loving way.

She did it. This madwoman actually did it!!! Oh, how I wish I could read more about these characters.

P.S. I can recommend some books that feature some of the same themes but none are YA. If you don't mind more adult/erotic stories Reese Morrison wrote several books featuring all kinds of (spoiler) relationships and if you are feeling like watching a great movie, there's always Professor Marsten and the Wonder Women, which I can't say enough good things about (and is based on real people!).

My Best Friend's Girl by Sara Farizan - Best Friend's Girlfriend

Another story where all I felt could be summarized by the question: can I have an entire series set in this universe? Pretty Please?

Picture a young superman, only this story focuses on his normal best friend who is in love with his girlfriend, who he keeps pushing aside in order to fight crime.

I don't know if it's canon but while reading it, I kept imagining the best friend as a Muslim girl and, that is canon for me now.

This story features communication, friendship, crushes and prioritising all kinds of relationships and self-love over only romantic ones and I loved seeing those ideas represented in a story aimed at younger readers.

Additionally, I need to know Galaxy Girl's secret identity.


(Fairy)like Attracts Like by Claire Kann - Mutual Pining

Two girls with secrets work in a fairy themed park, bringing joy and magic to children's lives.

This story was so good and full of self-love, plus-sized positivity, black history and nerd culture. And since we are talking about fandom culture, thank you Claire Kann for calling out all the ways that pop and merchandise and makeup companies ignore anyone that is not a white size zero.

Another lovely sapphic story.

P.s Not fantasy, but if you loved these themes, try Love is a Revolution by Renee Watson.

These Strings by Lilliam Rivera - Sibling's Hot Best Friend

Honestly, the romantic trope is secondary to the generational trauma, Latinx rep and ingrained misogyny the main character dealt with throughout this story (for me).

I loved seeing a young girl (and boy) learning to stand up for their dreams and refuse to be sidelined or weighted down by family expectations and traumas.

This was another short story that would make a great book, a great anything because this is a story that needs to be told to all kinds of young people.

The Passover Date by Laura Silverman - Fake Dating

This was another story in which the romantic trope took a secondary plan to the protagonists other relationships and situations. The couple was cute, don't get me wrong but I was more drawn in by all the Jewish rep and seeing a religious holiday being about sharing one's culture and joy rather than forcing someone to adhere to all kinds of exclusionist rules that force people to cut parts of themselves.

On the other hand this story also shows how something so happy as a family celebration can become stressful and an imposition when people are expected to conform and punished when they don't.

Oh I forgot, there's a height difference people!

P.S: if you want to read more books with Jewish rep, anything Becky Albertalli will really meet this stories overall vibe. Sicks Kids in Love and anything Reese Morrison (for more adult stories) are also great.

BLOOM by Rebecca Barrow - Love Transcends Space-Time

Can I please have this as a five hundred page novel followed by the movie adaptation?

I never read/seen "The Time Traveller's Wife" but I think this story runs in the same vein, only SAPPHIC! (I'm seriously in love with this book.)

This story started in a completely different place from where you think it will and that kind of unpredictability maintained itself throughout, the world-building was awesome and unique, and even though the romance was fast, it really worked for me. I consider this hard cottagecore and I loved it.

P.S movie About Time, third hp, maybe the devil makes three because if the dark academia vibe

Teed Up by Gloria Chao - Oblivious to Lovers

This was one of the most hard-hitting and necessary stories not only in this book but that I ever read. Often, when I finish a great short story I wish I had the chance to spend more time with the characters because I liked them so much and while that happened here as well (I would read/binge-watch this as a trilogy), this short story was so well crafted that it is perfect as it is as well.

Teed Up follows a teen gold prodigy who has to contend with her immigrant parent's pressure to succeed to win enough award money to start to pay her parents back for all the money and sacrifices they made in order to pay for her training and at the same time deal with the misogyny and racism, she faces while competing.

While this is a story about a girl realizing that she has to take the reigns of her own life, it is also a story about parental abuse, culture clash, first love, mental health, immigrant culture and generational pressure and trauma. It is also a wake-up call for the way athletes, particularly POC and POC girls/women are treated when they are under the limelight.

p.s this reminded me of 'To all the boys I loved before' in the vibe the romance gave me, even though they are completely different genres and the only other thing in common is that feature Asian mc girl dating a white guy written by an Asian author.

Boys Noise by Mason Deaver - Only One Bed at the Inn

This was the reason I requested this book - no one writes romance the way Mason Deaver writes romance.

Anyone that follows the author online will know without the shadow of a doubt that this story comes straight from their heart and the ocean of knowledge they have about how some of our favourite artists are treated by the teams that should protect them or the mental cost of being famous.

Even though this is a world that the reader knows nothing about, the entire story just felt so natural and flowed so well. I really cared for these characters and how sweet and naturally their relationship started as and how it progressed. From the height difference to the cuddling, to hugs, this was sweet as chocolate and I can barely wait for the chance to get my hands on the next Mason Deaver book.

Girls Just Want to Have Fun by Malinda Lo - Secret Royalty

I do love a good secret royalty romance so I went into this hoping to be amazed. To my surprise, not by the romance (even though that part was cool) but by all the Chinese culture imbued in every part of this story.

The world-building was beautiful and so complex and I have no doubt the author could write a full-length novel without much effort but this also world perfectly as a short story.

p.s. Aurora Rising series and Winter's Orbit if you want more in this YA space romance wave.

Disaster by Rebecca Podos - Second Chance Romance

This story grabbed from the first page and didn't let me go until the end.

As if the impending end of the world was not enough, two ex-girlfriends are forced to spend their last day on earth together and forced to confront each other about their relationship and how it ended.

I really cared for these characters and I found the story and worldbuilding really well crafted, dealing with themes such as mass panic and hysteria in the overall plot but communication, identity crisis, bi-erasure and fear of coming out and how confusing being queer can be when you don't know yourself enough to know how to identify but are already dealing with the discrimination more concretely.

p.s Sadly, there are only too many upcoming stories about teenagers dealing with the end of the world but I particularly liked The Forevers and Things to do Before the end of the World.

Conclusions

Even though I didn't love every single story in this collection, I loved that this book exists and I'll treasure so many of these stories. We had so much representation both on page and author wise and that made this book so rich and comforting at the same time.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Running Press for gifting me this DRC.

Rating: 5/5

This was an incredibly sweet collection of stories and a lovely blend of some of my favorite tropes!

A fun collection of different takes on familiar tropes—sone stand out more than others, but overall, a very strong anthology I can see myself going back to again.

This might be my favorite anthology of this year!! I love Natasha Ngan's story and I love a lot of these author's books, so I'm looking forward to finishign Fools in Love. Highly recommend to anyone looking for a cute YA romance to read this winter.

4 stars (there are some truly incredible stories, and then some...not so much)

Individual Book Ratings:

SILVER AND GOLD by Natasha Ngan
Trope: Snowed in Together
Rating: 3.5 stars
This story wasn’t bad. It gave me way more rivals to lovers than snowed in together vibes, or even second chance romance. I really don’t mind the setup or the couple and I do kind of like the whole, you’re too hard to look away from bit. Ultimately, I think that this story suffers from being too short. I’m not even sure if I think it could be short enough to fit in an anthology, but still. It felt like I was being info dumped because there’s so much nuance to the relationship that we just don’t get in this short of a story, and it made it harder to care about what was happening.

FIVE STARS by Amy Spalding
Trope: Mistaken Identity
Rating: 3.5 stars
Okay this one was pretty interesting but it gives me a lot of mixed feelings because for some reason I did get pretty attached to the main couple and I do like shared interests and stuff but, it’s also basically instalove. This isn’t the biggest downer since they’re literally like 16, but the entire story happens over the course of maybe 2 hours max, and the love interest goes from not knowing who the main character is to kissing her. And this may be a personal preference but the inclusion of Be More Chill honestly just brought it down for me. Overall, not a bad story but not super memorable or something I’m just itching to reread.

UNFORTUNATELY, BLOBS DO NOT EAT SNACKS by Rebecca Kim Wells
Trope: Kissing Under the Influence
Rating: 4 stars
This is the first one where I thought that the world was able to be established fairly well, and I think this is in part because Wells understands that 97% of readers will have read some sort of story with magic involved, and understand a magic school. It isn’t weighed down as heavily with exhibition and we get to see more of a development of the relationship between the main character and the love interest. And even though we as readers don’t see their past, it’s clear that the two characters didn’t just suddenly fall in love, and there’s a little more of a slowburn going on. I enjoyed the world and most of the story, although the execution of the trope was actually probably my least favourite part.

EDGES by Ashley Herring Blake
Trope: The Grumpy One and the Soft One
Rating: 4 stars
I won’t get into spoilers but the overall concept of this one kind of reminds me of Rebecca Barrow’s story at the very end of the anthology (this isn’t a criticism, just a thought). I’m overall kind of unsure about this story because I do like some of the character development with the main character and some of the inner dialogue that we get to see throughout. Unfortunately what I don’t quite end up liking as much is some of the interactions between the main character and the love interest, even if I like the inner dialogue about the interaction. It doesn’t make it bad but it makes it harder to enjoy, especially when the entire point is the romance.

WHAT MAKES US HEROES by Julian Winters
Trope: Hero vs Villain
Rating: 4.5 stars
Julian Winters definitely has a signature style and it definitely comes through in this story, and I think that’s all for the better. Maybe the underlying establishment of what’s a not quite childhood friends to enemies to lovers arc (they don’t want to be enemies), maybe the way that Winters communicates the easy comfort and chemistry of Shai and Kyan with so few pages. I do think that it would have been even better with less time at the beginning building up the story without giving us any real clarity about what was going on, but really good nonetheless.

AND by Hannah Moskowitz
Trope: Love Triangle
Rating: 1.5 stars
First and foremost, there is only one good thing about this story and it’s a spoiler so [SPOILER ALERT] the only good part about this story is that it subverts the love triangle to end up in a poly ship [SPOILER ALERT ENDED]. But otherwise, it’s almost hard to explain how much I hated this story. It’s most egregious sin is that it’s written in second person, so be prepared to be forced into the role of the main character. I could maybe forgive this if it wasn’t doubled down on by almost immediately gendering the second person main character with “my girlfriend”. Now sure, the most common readers of romance books are women, but for an anthology that’s advertised as putting underrepresented characters into classic tropes, it falls so flat. And as a trans person who doesn’t identify as female, it was downright hurtful and uncomfortable to read a story that basically misgendered me the entire time. Besides that entire fact, it never felt like any of the characters had depth or were developed in any way shape or form, more like things were just happening and they were...there. If you read this book, just do yourself a favour and skip this one.

MY BEST FRIEND’S GIRL by Sara Farizan
Trope: Best Friend’s Girlfriend
Rating: 4 stars
We’ve got a bit of a Superman thing going on here, but instead focused on the sidekick and the Lois Lane. One of the best things about this story is the clear pining inherent with the Best Friend’s Girlfriend trope, along with the love interest realising that all those nice things from the boyfriend were actually because of his best friend. I liked the main character a good deal, and I liked her best friend. I honestly didn’t mind the arc and for the most part the love interest was decent. It’s a nice, pretty cute story, but I’m not just in love with it.

(FAIRY)LIKE ATTRACTS LIKE by Claire Kann
Trope: Mutual Pining
Rating: 3 stars
This story just straight up confused me. I can’t decide if it’s magical realism or just realism or just magical or what. I was so confused reading it that I couldn’t really focus as much on the romance aspect. To some degree there was a complete lack of chemistry between the two characters. Like I was being told that they liked eachother and we see them admitting it but inner dialogue and just understanding of the story just fail to convey that in any convincing way. I like the concepts behind it and some of the facets of the story (friendly rivalry, etc) but I just left it being confused and not caring that much.

THESE STRINGS by Lilliam Rivera
Trope: Sibling’s Hot Best Friend
Rating: 4 stars
A true classic of this generation as the daughter wants to take over the family business but is told no because she has a brother who’ll do it. The best part of this story is the whole story being intertwined with the theme of the puppet theater, and how the puppets are both symbolic and also a source of similarity and passion between the main character and the love interest. We do get some actual character arcs in this one, though they’re more for side characters. Also the whole “brother fights his friend for kissing his sister” is so overdone and overrated, but it doesn’t wholly outweigh the good parts of this story. I do think though that it’s another one that would have been better off as a longer story or even full length novel.

THE PASSOVER DATE by Laura Silverman
Trope: Fake Dating
Rating: 4.5 stars
Okay here’s the thing, fake dating is not the kind of trope that can be rushed, and so this story pleasantly surprised me. It combines a nice mix of hints of other tropes (not quite enemies to lovers, childhood friends to lovers), and a gradual but ultimately pretty logical buildup to the actual romance. It also, unfortunately, highlights how little we see Jewish stories in romance or YA, especially not with the main character and the love interest being Jewish. I can’t speak for how accurate of a portrayal of Jewish people this story is, but ultimately I really enjoyed it and I would definitely read more of their love story.

BLOOM by Rebecca Barrow
Trope: Love Transcends Space Time
Rating: 3 stars
I’ll be honest, I don’t think that this concept was more. I’ve never been a fan of this trope and honestly I can’t think of any other stories/books with this trope that I’ve read. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t my thing. I did particularly enjoy the establishment of the lore behind the flowers and the parts where the main character was alone in the house, building back her life and trying to return to the girl she loves. The writing and world building was beautiful but it just falls flat in that it didn’t really draw me in. All the elements are at least somewhat connected but it just seemed like some were being connected by a thread that was about to snap. I genuinely think that a lot of people will really enjoy this story, but I’m not one of them.

TEED UP by Gloria Chao
Trope: Oblivious to Lovers
Rating: 4.5 stars
Was I immediately excited for this story because it featured a golfer? Yes I was. And Gloria Chao absolutely delivered. The romance was very cute and very sweet and I thought the pacing of it all was pretty great. I think the best part for me though was the character journey that we see Sunny go on throughout the story. She grows so much as a character just in how she looks at herself and golf, and ultimately in deciding whether or not to do what she enjoys. The romance isn’t just good because it’s a romance, it’s good because we see the two characters making eachother better, happier people not by pressing the other, but by providing them with support. I highly recommend.

BOYS NOISE by Mason Deaver
Trope: Only One Bed at the Inn
Rating: 5 stars
Maybe five stars is overzealous, but what can I say, I really loved this story. The story of two boys who are together in every aspect of life, scrutinized by the public and everyone else in their life, hiding their true feelings because of the possible pushback. A boy band. Two boys just falling in love. I was obviously a big fan of the inclusion of a trans main character, but I think it’s important to point out this story isn’t about his trans journey. It’s about a teenage boy who happens to be trans falling in love with another boy, and it’s wonderful. Probably my one complaint is that I personally prefer a little more tension in an only one bed trope story, but I still think this story checks a lot of boxes and I am such a fan.

GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN by Malinda Lo
Trope: Secret Royalty
Rating: 4.5 stars
Okay so I wasn’t expecting a science fiction take on this trope but I’m honestly here for it. This romance almost feels more like yearning than anything, and probably the main reason I can’t give five stars is because the ending just feels a little too perfect and out of character. But it’s still a great story, and such a great take on the classic commoner x secret royal trope. In a way, I think it’s (at least for me) making up for the fact that Barbie Princess and the Pauper isn’t sapphic (I know they’re sisters but the girls in this story aren’t!), and that alone makes it amazing. Ultimately, Lo takes two people who seem very different on the outside but want similar things and brings them together, for one night, or for forever.

DISASTER by Rebecca Podos
Trope: Second Chance Romance
Rating: 3.5 stars
Second chance romance is genuinely one of my favourite tropes and I regret to say that this story didn’t live up to expectations. This book feels more like an end of the world or miscommunication trope than anything. I really like the character work done and the whole concept of people’s reactions to the end of the world. But honestly, it both felt too rushed and too long at some points. Yes, technically, it is a second chance romance but there’s so few actual stakes for a story that involves the literal end of the world. It’s not impossible to root for the characters, but you don’t really get to that point, and it kind of made me want to bang my head against the wall because of how awfully they misunderstood eachother. Overall, there were some really good elements (it also gave me lots of We Are Okay by Nina LaCour vibes), but I didn’t root for the romance very much at the end of the day.

Final thoughts about the book: Overall, this book is kind of all over the place. There are some truly incredible stories that are so worth reading, a lot that are just okay, and then one that’s just plain bad. I definitely think it’s worth picking up the book just for the good stories, and I also think that there are some stories that might appeal to some people more than me. So I’m definitely recommending this book, but not every story is as good as the next.

There were some cute stories but I felt that they were just way too surface level to go anywhere. Totally understand how they were short stories but I felt that there could have been just a little bit more in terms of “swooniness” or development. Really enjoyed the one by Gloria Chao - that was probably my favourite.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the copy!

Fools in Love is a collection of short stories that are essentially about love. The summary really pulled me in, I guess because of all the tropes listed and I'm a sucker for tropes in general so it was an easy pick for me to request. And to make it even better, these stories are mostly revolved around LGBTQ+ stories as well which, again, is an auto-request for me!

Although I'm a sucker for tropes, short story collections are a hit or miss to me, and this was okay at best. I love some of the stories, such as Malinda Lo's (are we even surprised) and Julian Winter's but some of the stories are a miss for me. No matter, I would recommend this still to people and I enjoyed my time reading it. I also really appreciate how this book is essentially using all these popular tropes for LGBTQ+ stories, which I think was really refreshing to read.