I normally end up reading anthologies one story at a time, and it usually takes me quite a while to get through them. I could not put this one down though - I would finish one story and then be like: "oh! That next story sounds amazing!!"
•
Natasha Ngan - Silver and Gold ("Snowed in Together") 5/5

This was just a perfect short story. Perfect. It's a sapphic story about two girls competing against each other in a deadly race, which is the coolest concept ever and which would be amazing to read a full-length novel about. Here we're just getting one night of the race, so we're not really getting the beginning or ending, and it works incredibly well. I always love stories about people who find each other in harsh environments and have to learn to be soft together, and this story had me really wanting that for the main character.
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Amy Spalding - Five Stars ("Mistaken Identity") 5/5

This story starts off so funny, with the main character's crush mistaking her for her ride share driver. And the rest of the story is just as hilarious, because instead of correcting the mistake, the main character of course drives her to her destination instead. As one does. This is again a sapphic story, yay!

"OMG KRISTA YOU KIDNAPPED YOUR FIRST IRL CRUSH BUT STILL MANAGED TO GET HER NUMBER? You are a hero for awkward girls everywhere."
•
Rebecca Kim Wells - Unfortunately, Blobs Do Not Eat Snacks ("Kissing Under the Influence") 3/5

This is the only new-to-me author in this anthology, so it was fun reading from them. This was again a sapphic story, and I did have fun reading it, although I definitely enjoyed it less than the previous two stories. The reason for that is two-fold: I didn't like the writing style that much, and I found the story lacked some necessary context and world-building. Again we're thrown in the middle of the story, which is fine but that does make it important to give a clear setting and we just didn't get that here. I did like how the trope was handled when it actually was, but it took quite some time and I felt like it was over again quite soon as well. Overall I feel like this was more a (one-sided) enemies to lovers story.
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Ashley Herring Blake - Edges ("The Grumpy and the Soft One") 5/5

Another sapphic story! Ashley Herring Blake is one of my favourite authors, and the soft vs. grumpy trope is my current favourite trope, so this story was a 5 star prediction for me and of course I was right! For how short this was, this story was chockfull of emotion and I almost cried. It's about the importance of communicating your wants and needs in a relationship and sometimes your own lack of self worth can get in the way of how you treat others, because you'll make assumptions about what they do or don't want from you.
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Julian Winters - What Makes Us Heroes ("Hero vs. Villain") 4/5

Julian Winters is another one of my favourite authors, and since he usually writes contemporary, it was really fun to read a superhero story from him! This is an achillean story and I really liked the exploration of what makes someone a villain and, again, how quick people can be to make assumptions. I would have like to see a little more world-building, though, but this was some solid fun!
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Hannah Moskowitz - And ("Love Triangle") 2/5

I very much appreciate this story for making the love triangle into a polyamorous relationship. And the 2 stars is honestly all me, but I just cannot stand reading from second person POV. I find it very uncomfortable to read and very pretentious, and it's almost never done well. Seriously, the only time I liked it was in The Night Circus. So it's really all me, but yeah, I didn't like this.
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Sara Farizan - My Best Friend's Girl ("Best Friend's Girlfriend") 3/5

Another sapphic story, and another superhero story! Unfortunately, this one fell kind of flat for me. It was very much okay but it didn't make much of an impact. Aside from that, I felt like we got to know the main character's best friend better than his girlfriend, which made it kind of hard to become invested in the romance.
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Claire Kann - (Fairy)Like Attracts Like ("Mutual Pining") 3/5

Another sapphic story, this time about a fat Black fairy who works at a summercamp for fairies. I found the set-up for this story to be really fun, but unfortunately I didn't quite feel the pining - it all felt a little underdeveloped.
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Lilliam Rivera - These Strings ("Sibling's Hot Best Friend") 3/5

Again, I really liked the set-up of the story - this time of a Latinx puppeteering family. I'm really not a fan of brothers (physically) fighting their sister's (potential) boyfriends, though. I find it really possessive and condescending, as if they own her and she can't make up her own mind. So that made me enjoy this story a lot less.
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Laura Silverman - The Passover Date ("Fake Dating") 4/5

This m/f story is about a Jewish family celebrating Seder. Rachel is fed up with her family always trying to push her into a romantic relationship and asking her why she hasn't brought a date, so she comes up with the only viable solution known to romance stories: FAKE DATING. This happens to be one of my favourite tropes and this was such a cute story!
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Rebecca Barrow - Bloom ("Love Transcends Space Time") 5/5

I don't even really know what to say about this story, other than that it was perfection and my heart is full. It's about grief, and trying to get back what you lost only to find something else in the process. It has cottagecore vibes, there's time travel, it's sapphic, it was just so good!
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Gloria Chao - Teed Up ("Oblivious to Lovers") 2/5

This story was very much okay - it's about a Taiwanese-American girl who's a female golf player in a male-dominated and very sexist field - but it just didn't do much for me. It honestly bored me a little and I kept finding myself zoning out. It also seemed quite convenient that she falls in love with the one guy who's nice to her, the bar is just so low. I just didn't see the appeal, I guess. I also didn't really see much of the trope, personally.
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Mason Deaver - Boys Noise ("Only One Bed at the Inn") 4/5

After If This Gets Out, I've been really craving more boyband romances, so this was a really great story! It wasn't quite 5 stars for me as I found that all the issues were glossed over too quickly and I found the writing style somewhat lacking at times, but despite that, I still really enjoyed this.
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Malinda Lo - Girls Just Want to Have Fun ("Secret Royalty") 3/5

This story was off to a rocky start for me, and overall, the writing style didn't quite work for me. I did however think this was a really cute story that used the trope very well! I especially liked the sci-fi setting.
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Rebecca Podos - Disaster ("Second Chance Romance") 3/5

I did really like the melancholical atmosphere of this story. It was again a sapphic story, set in summer, and, like the trope said, with a second chance romance. I really like a second chance romance, but my issue here was that I didn't like the main character very much, so I had a hard time rooting for the romance.

This book has a lot of very short love stories. They’re more like love moments really. I don’t know what I was expecting exactly when I saw all the authors, but I didn’t love how short all the stories were. Not enough time to connect with the characters, you know? On the plus side, this was a very quick read, and a lot of the stories were fun and adorable. If you are a fan of short one-shots, you’ll probably like this.

Thank you to the publishers and authors and to NetGalley for early access to this book in exchange for an honest review!

A perfect summer read, filled with all the trope-y (in a good way) romantic fluff you'll ever need, this book is absolutely adorable. No blurb necessary on this one, because it's simply an anthology (collection of short stories) tied together under the premise of subverting or exploring common romance tropes. AND. It's so, so queer, and diverse, and isn't that just the best thing ever? More than anything I love seeing diverse authors here, not just diverse characters. Inclusion beyond the page in publishing and writing is so critical, so props to Running Press Kids.

Anthologies and short stories aren't quite my thing; I prefer many pages to get to know characters and worlds with a lot of depth. Perhaps as a result, and due to the lack of continuity between sections, I didn't speed though this book like I might a different one. But I still give this anthology a solid 3.5 stars. I can't say that this book will live long in my memory—but I did thoroughly enjoy reading it, and though I liked some of the stories more than others, I overall had a lovely time.

I'm thinking I'll go through each short story, detail its trope, and give some brief thoughts to finish out this review. Here goes! As always, any spoilers (though I keep them to a minimum) will be blocked out.

Silver and Gold, by Natasha Ngan: snowed in together
Right away I could tell that this fantasy-esque mushing race was Natasha's work—the prose was excellent, the characters were compelling, and the world—even though it spans only a few pages!—was exciting and fantastical. I love this trope, and I love Ru's character. A great introduction to the book, and one of my favorite stories!

Five Stars, by Amy Spalding: mistaken identity
This story was cute! Filled with (cute, not secondhand-embarrassment-level) awkwardness when a girl is mistaken for an uber driver. Not my favorite within the book, but nice.

Unfortunately, Blobs do not Eat Snacks: kissing under the influence, academic rivalry
This story was a sort of victorian(?)-era fantasy that reminded me of Sorcery of Thorns a bit in its setting and vibe. Two aspiring magicians are tasked to work together as partners for their final examination, and things go a bit wrong. I don't think the kissing under the influence quite fits here, as it's certainly not the highlight of the story, but this one is still cute. I loved how the writing style fit the era and genre.

Edges, by Ashley Herring Blake: the grumpy one and the soft one
I LOVE this trope, and although Edges didn't quite deliver enough of the grumpy-and-soft dynamic for my liking, I still very much enjoyed it. Great commentary on how one may be perceived by others while bisexual and out.

What Makes Us Heroes, by Julian Winters: hero vs. villain
Oh, I do love a smirker, and Kyan is definitely a smirker. I loved the setting of this story in an Incredibles-esque modern world with superheroes tasked to address the world's problems. Loved thinking about what it means to be a hero in today's political climate though the lens of this story.

And, by Hannah Moskowitz: love triangle
This one wasn't my favorite. I think because the tone and writing style didn't quite land for me, and as a result, I guess I couldn't quite take the characters and their conflict seriously—and the ending felt awfully convenient. Things happened to the characters in the resolution, who were quite passive, and that's not the best storytelling.

My Best Friend's Girl, by Sara Farizan: best friend's girlfriend
This one was enjoyable! More superheroes, which aren't usually my thing, but it works here. I was uncertain about the best friend's girlfriend beat, but I ended up liking this short.

(Fairy)like Attracts Like, by Claire Kann: mutual pining
I love this trope, and I loved this story! So creative and sweet, with a twist I didn't see coming until the end. There are lots of subtle touches in the dialogue that really give this couple something special. And again—I love a smirker, and Glory's a smirker.

These Strings, by Lilliam Rivera: sibling's hot best friend
The prose in this story really did not appeal to me—it felt clumsily done, and rather generic. Sort of fanfiction-y, which I wouldn't want to see in a published book, and I think it and the plot's simplicity caused the rest of the story and characters to fall flat. I also really don't like the possessive-brother beat. And, ultimately, there was no real tension—it all resolved too quickly and easily to feel meaningful.

The Passover Date, by Laura Silverman: fake dating
This was one of my favorites! It was too sweet and touched on some nice themes such as old friendships, worth within a family, and more. I loved reading about Passover, too. The ship in this one makes my heart happy.

Bloom, by Rebecca Barrow: love transcends time
Immediately I loved the premise of this story, as well as how beautifully it's written. Very well done, and so imaginative, so lush—although I think for love that transcends time, I should have been more invested in the romance.

Teed up, by Gloria Chao: oblivious (strangers) to lovers
One of my favorites, by far! This one brought tears to my eyes at the end. It was just so perfect in every way—and I don't even like golf! Very fitting time to read about these themes of modern athleticism, particularly with the discourse around the Olympics. Lovely. Squealed at the happy ending.

Boys Noise, by Mason Deaver: only onE BED AT THE INN AHHH
Ahh, boybands. Gotta love 'em, and I definitely enjoyed this story. It didn't get quite as one-bed-at-the-inn as I hoped, but there was romantic tension, and culmination in a perfect kiss. Lots of fun!

Girls Just Want to Have Fun, by Malinda Lo: secret royalty
This short was so creative! Space princesses? Count me in. I had major Cinder vibes with this one, and I loved it. Mechanic and princess run free and wild in an intergalactic space station. I wanted noodles after reading this one—very enjoyable!

Disaster, by Rebecca Podos: second chance romance
Aww, this one was just sweet. As sweet as a story can be when it's centered around the end of the world, of course. I love seeing a couple work out their differences, and it was a fresh change for this anthology that the romance had once existed and failed.

Overall, this was a great and fun summer read filled with romance and representation. Well done. I would recommend it to young romance fans!

Fools in Love is a nice compilation with such a wonderful array of representation and I really love the use of prompts, but despite knowing and loving a fair few of the authors involved previous works, I was disappointed. A lot of these didn't live up to expectations.

Silver and Gold by Natasha Ngan / 3 stars

Five Stars by Amy Spalding / 3 stars

Unfortunately, Blobs Do Not Eat Snacks by Rebecca Kim Wells / 2 stars

Edges by Ashley Herring Blake / 4 stars

What Makes Us Heroes by Julian Winters / 4 stars

And by Hannah Moskowitz / 3.5 stars

My Best Friend's Girl by Sara Farizan / 2 stars

(Fairy)Like Attracts Like by Claire Kann / 1 star

These Strings by Lilliam Rivera / 2 stars

The Passover Date by Laura Silverman / 4 stars

Bloom by Rebecca Barrow / 2 stars

Teed Up by Gloria Chao / 3 stars

Boys Noise by Mason Deaver / 4.5 stars

Girls Just Want to Have Fun by Malinda Lo / 3 stars

Disaster by Rebecca Podos / 3.5 stars

I am a lover of romance books, my beginning years of reading all I read were romance or rom com books.
This book is a compilations of short romance stories, sadly I was not able to bring myself to finish it. Some of their stories are actually good, very entertaining but some of them felt like it was just one of the ending chapters of an exciting book, is like they took the resolution chapters of one of their work and put them into Fools in Love, and this is what happened (in my opinion) in the first chapter/story. Like I said there are some good stories that are very entertaining, but it just didn't grave me enough for me to enjoy it more. Though thanks to this book I have discovered that I don't necessary love compilations of love stories and that instead I prefer a whole book about a story, because what I enjoy the most about romance book is being able to connect with the characters and feel like that love story is happening to me, which this failed to do, but I don't blame it, at the end of the day they are short stories.

A delightful collection of stories highlighting the diversity of love.
As is usually the case with collections I enjoyed some stories more than others. Some I loved and could of happily have read feature length books about their characters whilst others I struggled through or even had to skip ahead. Luckily these were rare as most were very enjoyable.
The first two stories in the collection - “Snowed in together” & “Mistaken identity” we’re both fine but I felt they were abit of a weaker start to the collection. It wasn’t until the 3rd title “Kissing under the influence” a magical academy inspired story that I really became invested in the collection. I personally felt this would of been a much stronger title to start with, equal parts Funny, sweet & intriguing enough that I actually wish it was longer.
My absolute favourite of the collection was “Hero vs Villian” which had major Renegades vibes which I adored. I was invested in the developing love story of the two protagonists and again could of quote happily have read a feature length story featuring them.
The most surprising story out of the collection was “Love Triangle” by Hannah Moskowitz. The selling point of this collection was exploring alternative relationships and I was pleasantly surprised to find this story centered around a Polyamerous relationship. I feel this is not a type of relationship often featured in literature especially YA so I respected the collection & author for featuring it.
I would of liked to have seen some Ace representation but otherwise this was a very sweet light read.

Thanks to Netgalley for this ARC. I really appreciated this cute collection of short stories about love. Some were more extremely heartfelt than others but this wasn’t too bad.

I think there's definitely an audience for this book, and unfortunately- I'm not a part of that audience. The good news, though, is that I'm going to do a way better job of describing this book for you than the official "description" did!

First, I somehow missed that this is a "Teens/YA" book (it's not in the description, but it is listed as the genre). If you want lots of angsty "first love", "does she or doesn't she?", then look no farther! This book is for you!

Second, nearly every couple (/throuple) in this anthology is LGBTQ+. There's nothing wrong with that, but there is zero mention of that in the description, so I'm letting you know.

Third, the authors (this is an anthology of about a dozen short stories) are described as "up and coming" and I will say, all of the stories have a bit of a "fanfic" feel to them.

Fourth, nearly every story is somewhat fantastical- superheroes, time travel, magic, fairies, space, futuristic, etc.

Reading for enjoyment is deeply personal and it's important to get a good description so that you find your "just right" book. Hopefully this review will help this little baby book find the right home!

My thanks to the authors, publisher and #NetGalley for the opportunity to read an arc of this book. #FoolsInLove

This book was incredibly cute.
I had requested this knowing it has one of my favorite authors in it, Mason Deaver, and I really enjoyed the rest of the short stories as well.
I love anthologies and this was cute.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book for this honest review!
I LOVED this book! Each of the stories was fun and quick to get through, with memorable characters and quirky plots! There are super heroes, end of the world scenarios, deadly races, to just ordinary days in people’s lives. It was so much fun to read! A bunch of cute, queer love stories. Each story follow a popular trope, such as "hero vs. villain", "fake dating" or "snowed in together", and the settings are super diverse : fantasy words, science fiction or regular high-schoolers.
The diversity of genre and plot means that everyone can find a story that speaks to them. It's also a great way to discover several authors.

My favourites was girls just want to have fun, What Makes Us Heroes and Edges! But every single story in this book is worth reading! I will be buying this book when it gets published!

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review*

Fools in Love is a collection of 15 short stories written by 15 authors.

All 15 of the stories are cute, I will admit that. However, some of them just felt too short (if that’s even a thing with short stories). This is my first time reading a collection of short stories, so that could be it. But I liked some, and didn’t like some. My favourite was definitely Boys Noise by Mason Deaver.

Each story had representation, from LGBTQ, multicultural, and poc! It’s refreshing to read a book that isn’t just white cishet people.

The stories are also different genres! Fantasy, sci-fi, magic, contemporary, and more!

Super cute collection that I will be purchasing to reread during winter break and fully enjoy each story!

Very enjoyable anthology! Especially loved Mason Deaver, Malinda Lo, Natasha Ngan and Julien Winters' stories :)

Love this collection of young adult romance short stories. Has an amazing variety of authors with unique writing styles.

This is such a beautiful compilation of short stories with various romance tropes that you could ever think of. This is also a great way of acquainting yourself with the works from new authors as they are quite short.

Most of the short stories were very easy to read and the time just flied by. Some put a smile on my face, some made me tear up and definitely left me wishing to check out the author’s other works.

So yeah, overall I really enjoyed this anthology and recommend to read it!

This was a great read. Introduced me to many authors and genres to try out. I don’t often read short stories as my degree was all short stories, but I really enjoyed reading these diverse pieces. A couple of them fell short for me and felt rushed or incomplete, but I liked the majority of them.

Anthologies are a great way to sample new authors and fools in love is no exception. I had only read from Malinda Lo’s work previously, but almost all authors were authors whose work I’d heard about and considered checking out.
As is always the case some stories were stronger then others. Some spend a bit too much time on setting the scene that it didn’t leave a lot of time to spend with the actual relationship, but there were definately highlights too. I really liked the diversity. Especially that this anthology included polyamory representation as I know of little books that have polyamory representation.
My favorite story was What makes us heros by Julian Winters, so I look forward to reading more of his work.

This is my first short story compilation sort of book and so I didn't really know what to expect but I was really satisfied with this one. I'm currently on a "romance book binge" and this was such a refreshing take on the romance genre. I got to see different love stories in different genres and tropes all from the same book. Also, the representation in this is just wow. It's absolutely wonderful how much representation was incorporated here while still having heterosexual couples.

Fools In Love is such a lovely book! I personally think that this anthology of short stories is perfect for teenagers and people who are young at heart.

I like how these queer short stories were written in different genres. Each story gives you a different experience in reading as it dwells into various storylines that are totally endearing! I’m also amazed at how the plots didn’t feel forced given that they were short. However, not all stories made an impact on me—but that’s only because I’m not a huge fan of superhero stories. Nonetheless, the stories were still enagaging and I cannot put this one down!

This is such a fun read! I would recommend this to everyone, especially to teenagers (or even adults) who just discovered their love for reading because of it’s various genres compiled in a collection of short stories. This anthology has so much to offer; I think most people, if not all, will love it!

I really wanted to love this collection. Romance short-story collections are uncommon enough, but particularly collections with an LGBT+ focus. Unfortunately, there were only three stories that really held my attention. Outside of these three, I found the stories to be either 1) more poorly written than I would expect in an anthology like this or 2) severely hampered by a "show, don't tell" mentality.

To give credit where it's due, I LOVED the below three stories and will be keeping an eye on their authors:

1) "Snowed in Together" by Natasha Ngan
2) "Edges" by Ashley Herring Blake
3)"The Passover Date" by Laura Silverman

Silver and gold by Natasha Ngan - cliché 'a storm forces them together'. Cute and entertaining, but nothing too memorable⭐⭐⭐⭐.


Five Stars by Amy Spalgin - cliché 'identity confusion'. Adorable. I love these short and sweet stories. They restore my hope in humanity ⭐⭐⭐⭐


Unfortunately, Blobs do not eat snacks by Rebecca Kim Wells - cliché 'drunken confession'. I'm not a fan of romance stories that try to be fantasy and this one is no exception. I think a whole novella was needed for this story ⭐⭐.


Edges by Ashley Herring Blake - cliché the grumpy and the sweet. I don't know what it is about this author that always ALWAYS ALWAYS makes me cry. This one was no exception, although it's the first time it's from happiness ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐


What Makes us Heroes by Julia Winters -cliché 'heroes vs. villain'. It's been like a one-shot and I mean that as a compliment. Sweet, funny and predictable. I loved it ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐


And by Hannah Moskowitz -cliché 'love triangle'. I don't like love triangles, so this story was a mehh for me. I guess someone who likes it may dirgrut it more ⭐⭐.


My Best Friend's Girls by Sara Farizan - cliché 'best friend's girlfriend'. I thought I was going to hate this story, but I didn't. I loved the dynamic between the two friends, them not fighting over the girl and the happy ending. Great use of a cliché that can be very problematic ⭐⭐⭐⭐.


(Fairy)like Attracts Like by Claire Kann - 'mutual pinning' cliché. These kinds of dynamics amuse me too much in fanfics and here was no exception. I personally don't understand the magical elements, but overall I liked it ⭐⭐⭐⭐.


These Strings by Lilliam Rivera - cliché 'best friend of the sibling'. I've never understood the humor in this cliché and it wasn't my favorite this time either ⭐⭐⭐


The Passover Date by Laura Silverman - cliché 'fake relationship'. I LOVE fake dating and I LOVED this story ⭐⭐⭐⭐


Bloom by Rebecca Barrow - cliché 'love transcends time and space'. Mehh I don't know... it just hasn't been for me ⭐⭐.


Teed up by Gloria Chao - cliché 'idiots in love'. Yeah, I mean yeah. Give me a thousand stories like that ⭐⭐⭐⭐


Boys Noise by Mason Deaver - cliché 'there's only one bed' I love Mason Deaver's style so simple and straightforward. If you add to this one of my favorite clichés.... what more could you ask for? ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐


Girls just want to have fun by Malinda Lo - cliché 'royalty'. I think I have a trauma since Red, White and Blue because I don't enjoy romances like this anymore.... well, not true...I don't enjoy them on paper. I'm sorry ⭐⭐


Disaster by Rebecca Podos - cliché 'second chance'. Not my favorite cliché, but I really liked how Rebecca Podos treated it. That adds up to points ⭐⭐⭐⭐.