Welp, looks like i’ve found my second 6⭐️ read of 2022

Delilah Green Doesn’t Care was un-fucking-put down able— I started the ebook tuesday night, feel asleep like a FOOL, read it wednesday morning until I had work, and then switched to the audiobook so that I could keep reading😂

Like my lovely friend @booms.books mentioned in her review (srsly go check it out, its 😘👌🏻) Delilah Green is a capital R “Rake” straight out of a regency romance novel— playing the field, forgetting the names of last nights’ hookups, and “not being able to fall in love” bc of past heartbreak. Delilah is sarcastic, charming, and a talented queer artist in Brooklyn hustling to make it (damn was that part relatable🤦🏼‍♀️) but in order to make this month’s rent she has to go home to Bright Falls & photograph her estranged sister Astrid’s wedding.

And who happens to still be in Bright Falls? Delilah’s first crush & Astrid’s best friend, Claire Sutherland😍 of course, Claire doesn’t recognize Delilah first & hits on her at the bar before Astrid shows up (awkwarddd)

There was so much I loved about this book🥰 the chemistry between the two leads was ELECTRIC, the wedding shenanigans were comical, and the whole “oh no our straight friend is with this DREADFULLY unsuitable cis man, are the heteros ok?” feels like such a quintessentially queer experience that i fucking loved reading about😂 ~several~ characters are romance readers, we get a wonderful “obvi Anne and Diana were gay” moment, there’s this really fun/sexy tarot scene, like reading this book felt like pure undiluted joy— i couldn’t get enough!!

While Delilah Green is definitely a romcom in the purest definition of the word, as it both roms & coms to perfection, but I hesitate to refer to it as such bc i feel like that almost undercuts the powerful emotional core of the story? Like, the WORK Ashley Herring Blake is doing around love, loss, and family was so moving

like the stuff with Astrid & Delilah made my 💖 hurt— i’m lucky to have a good relationship with my big sis, but even still, the number of times we accidentally hurt each bc we don’t understand where the other is coming from is….not low. So seeing the two of them work through that was just🥺😩 I loved it! I also really loved that we got to see similar relationships in different places— like we have the mother-daughter relationships both Astrid & Delilah have with Isabel, and even Claire with her daughter Ruby, and those all look very different but VERY real— they almost felt like foils? Idk I’m still processing all my feels about this books🙌🏼

anyways Delilah Green Doesn’t Care was fucking phenomenal and y’all better go read it RIGHT NOW🙌🏻 ty to @berkleyromance & @netgalley for my review copy!!

MY THOUGHTS:
Well, first this cover is soooo freaking cute. Hello plus size rep 😍. This book was the perfect palette cleanser. It had a lot of funny moments & I loved being in the heads of Claire & Delilah - especially Delilah. They were both flawed but they went through big character arcs and it was my favorite thing to read. Delilah’s strained relationship with her step sister & step mom definitely added some complexities and seriousness to the story that created a nice balance. This book was swoony & steamy just like it promised!

IF YOU LIKE…
• Sibling’s best friend
• Single parent
• Only one bed
• Grumpy/sunshine
• Major character arcs
• Sapphic romance

This is one to add to your immediate TBR! Thank you @netgalley & @berkleyromance for the ARC!

Really cute and romantic love story set in a small town. Delilah and Claire were both really complex characters, each with their strengths and flaws, each bringing a little baggage to what started for them as hooking up, but of course evolved into something else.
Delilah was hired as a photographer for her step-sister's wedding. She needs the money so she accepts even if she hates Bright Falls and everyone in it. She didn't have the best of times when she lived there and she certainly wasn't expecting to find someone to care about in such few days. Claire became a mom young and her daughter is almost a teenager with everything that this entails. And her ex, the father of Ruby, came back in town again, but for how long? He's known for escaping without telling anyone, breaking each time his daughter's heart.
Both women have things going on, but that didn't stop them from developing feelings for one another. But Delilah lives in New York, and Claire has trust issues. Can these two women make it work?
In the span of not even two weeks, things will get serious real fast and feelings can't be ignored forever. They will both have do deal with the past, face it, and come out the other side stronger and hopeful.
I really liked this love story, how easy it was to follow, how easy it was to get the characters, even when you didn't share their views. It was definitely a very sweet book.

With nothing but a lonely childhood, a distant step family, and a lot of bad memories to hold her to it, Delilah Green left Bright Falls and swore to never return. She had her photography and dreams of making it in New York’s art scene. And her life has been pretty great, her art is doing well enough and better every day, her love life is busy if not steady. Everything is looking great until her stepsister Astrid drags her into coming back to Bright Falls to photograph her wedding with the promise of a fat pay off and weapons grade guilt. Delilah expects to do the job and get out, she can survive Bright Falls for a couple weeks, but then she runs into a gorgeous redhead at the town’s only bar. A familiar gorgeous redhead. One of Astrid’s best friends, Claire Sutherland. Delilah Green might have been able to survive Bright Falls before Claire stumbled into flirting with her, but the chance to have a little fun and make more than a little trouble is too good for her to pass up.

Ashley Herring Blake’s Delilah Green Doesn’t Care sparked a sort of line of thought for me regarding the plots of romance novels and their tropes. I was all but sure of how the ending was going to land fairly early on, barring a direct sequel there was really only one place it could go for a happily ever after ending. And I admit, I was ready to be disappointed at that point. The tropes were pretty easy to see, but largely well used and I found myself having more and more fun as I went and getting caught up in the characters.

This progression feels like it might be down to the writing feeling like it, for lack of a better term, relaxed as the story went. Early on Delilah Green Doesn’t Care felt very exposition loaded with characters thinking to themselves about events of the past, their childhood recollections of other characters and the like. It felt a little over done and a little heavy handed with regard to Delilah’s memories of how Astrid and her friends had behaved towards her and her loneliness back in her childhood. It felt a little like Blake overplayed how poorly Delilah was treated by her stepmother and stepsister so that she could build towards later reconciliation, which left me wondering how she planned to bring the reader around on these characters. But then the reader gets Claire’s perspective on Astrid, Iris, and their places in Delilah’s past. It humanizes the characters a great deal to see them from Claire’s perspective and to see them interacting with her. Herring-Blake does a fantastic job showing that these characters have more to them than just being characters in Delilah’s tragic past, that Claire cares about and has been friends with them for years because they are very different with her than with Delilah. It is an excellent use of the split narration.

It also helps that Delilah herself spends a lot of the early book being more than kind of a jerk towards Astrid, causing problems on purpose, needling Astrid about Claire being obviously attracted to her, even just her introduction where she spends the entire chapter using different names for the woman she just hooked up with. But then the reader is shown Delilah’s panic over having to deal with her stepmother, how horribly being back in her childhood home affects her. More than that, the reader is shown Delilah not knowing how to deal with herself developing feelings for Claire instead of just attraction, not knowing how to deal with people she had known as distant and stuck up praising her work and including her in things, Delilah seeing herself reflected in Claire’s daughter and helping her where she can.

I enjoyed the character work on this one, it was enough to turn me around on what started out feeling very like a bog-standard mid-tier romance and left me having a lot of fun. That is not to say that Delilah Green Doesn’t Care does not get melodramatic at times, sometimes frustratingly so, but that melodrama is usually played well and generally serves the characters and their situations. That said, I did have a little issue with the book using the phrase “women and enbies” a lot early on. It is not a bad phrase in and of itself, but it got used enough and by both protagonists that something about it just sort of itched my brain in a weird way. But, yeah, I find myself looking forward to the sequel promised after the novel properly ended and I find myself hoping that Herring-Blake’s writing stays as on point as it wound up being as the book relaxed. I give Delilah Green Doesn’t Care a four out of five. It is decidedly worth giving a read.

Ashley Herring Blake’s Delilah Green Doesn’t Care is everything you could want in a sapphic romance and more. It’s sweet, sexy, complicated, and features love, friendships, family, and even some healing from past trauma.

It all begins with Delilah Green. She’s a photographer who lives in New York City and would be happy to stay there if it wasn’t for the big check her stepmother and stepsister will be cutting her if she goes back to her hometown and photographs her stepsister’s wedding.

How much money are we talking about? $15,000! Delilah may hate her stepmother, Isabel, and her stepsister, Astrid, but she has rent to pay.

Cut to her arriving in Bright Falls, Oregon. She heads to the bar and finds herself being hit on by none other than Claire Sutherland, one of her sister’s best friends.

Considering the way Astrid’s “coven” used to make fun of Delilah when she was a kid, Delilah cannot believe it. Claire Sutherland is hitting on her!

More at Culturess

Guilted into returning to her hometown of Bright Falls to photograph her step-sister’s wedding, Delilah Green’s only hope of surviving the ordeal is to focus on the desperately-needed paycheck she’s going to receive for her efforts. And maybe wreak a teensy bit of havoc on the “family” that made her feel so alone and invisible. But, when retribution turns into romance she realizes that she hasn’t truly been living at all, and that home can change right along with the heart—if she’s brave enough to give it another chance.

I wasn’t sure where to start with this review, because there was so much about this story that I really liked. Delilah Green Doesn’t Care, by new-to-me author Ashley Herring Blake was one of the best surprises I’ve had as a reader in quite a while. Funny throughout, sweet in all the right places (and not sweet in plenty of others), I had a great time reading this story, and enthusiastically recommend it.

As with all stories about relationships, time is a key factor of the conflict in Delilah Green Doesn’t Care. These characters’ hurts were inflicted during childhood and/or as teenagers, deepening and becoming increasingly fixed as they entered adulthood. For Delilah, it makes the title something of a chameleon, shifting with her evolving awareness from a disposition of longstanding habit to wishful thinking as she grapples with needing more than a string of hookups with like-minded strangers.

Romance was absolutely one of the best things about Delilah Green Doesn’t Care. Though it is sometimes wonderfully explicit (I don’t generally like “heat ratings”), the main aspect of Delilah and Claire’s story that kept my nerves singing was the wanting they shared. Desire, sharp and lovely and staccato from too many interruptions is a constant note sounding between them, and I found it impossible not to appreciate the significance of that yearning crashing into Delilah’s life when she’d spent nearly all of it endeavoring not to need anyone.

As families are complicated things, Delilah’s relationship with her step-sister was just as much a presence in the narrative to me as the romance. Generally, I believe there’s an inevitability of misunderstanding when all the words fail and no one knows what to say. In Delilah and Astrid’s case, their truths are buried in years of silence and forgotten pages, resulting in a carapace of guilt and hurt that nothing could heal until both characters are shattered in their respective ways.

Overall, I loved Delilah Green Doesn’t Care. It is sad and funny and breathless and full of possibilities. I appreciated that these characters aren’t teenagers, but adults with responsibilities, kids, mistakes under their belts, hopes yet unrealized, and so on. They’ve learned the hard way that living for others, whether in appeasement or avoidance, is exhausting business. (As an aside, I should mention that I kind of adored Iris.) Wounded, but steady amid the chaos as she’d hoped, I think Delilah’s story gets an exceptionally good ending that’s worth revisiting very soon.

3.5 stars out of 5

Delilah Green Doesn't Care follows the titled character as she goes back to her small home town and all of its issues for her step sister's wedding. It also follows Claire, a best friend of Delilah' step sister, who is now a single mom of a tween daughter. Both of them are trying to mend their past childhood tension while urging Astrid to end her engagement to a man who's horrible for her, and they start to fall fro each other along the way.

This was a really great sapphic, grumpy x sunshine, romantic comedy. It had a lot of heart and some laugh out loud funny moments to perfectly compliment the hot chemistry of the romance. The side plot of trying to end an engagement just days before the wedding was so fun and one of the best side plots I had read in a romance. Delilah and Claire were great grumpy and sunshine characters without feeling like too much. I loved that it was dual pov and we got to spend an equal amount of time with both of them.

A couple issues I had with the story had to do with the miscommunication and assumptions the two women made about each other with almost no evidence to back them up. It felt like they refused to have a real heart to heart when that would've solved their main problem. There was also a "bet" that seemed like a throwaway comment early on since it was never talked about again, but that was the crux of the third act break up somehow. It was made to be overly complicated and hurt my enjoyment of the story at the end.

Well, well, well.
I saw this cover and automatically knew I had to read it. Why, you may ask? Because sapphic romance, tattoos, and vintage clothes? SIGN. ME. UP.

I've typed, deleted, typed, and deleted again to start this review. I'm just not certain where to start, partly because there's so much I want to say.

Delilah is artsy, hard, edgy. She grew up feeling slighted, by the very universe, it seems. With an uninterested step-mother, and a perfect step-sister, Astrid, what else was she top do, but blend into the walls of the home she grew up in.
Claire is a young mother, survivor, a giver. Claire's strained relationship with Josh, her daughters father, is one reason Claire hasn't trusted anyone enough to get close.
These two come together in a slow-burn, mutual attraction, find it just when you need it love. The story was great, everything flowed nicely. Even thought Delilah came to Bright Falls with malicious intent, she finds healing, friends, and love. All while sabotaging her seemingly perfect step-sisters wedding. And scheming with her sister's friends no less. I really appreciated the highlight on Delilah and Astrid's relationship, it felt like the main plot sometimes, then it would switch gears and go back to Delilah and Claire seamlessly.

I loved all the elements in this story, the found family, acceptance, remorse, forgiveness.
For me it just didn't feel complete, I think I would have liked an epilogue of just Claire and Delilah set in the future. Especially with everything they went through in the last ten percent of the book.

Thank you Berkley Romance and NetGalley for sending me an eARC! This review is being left voluntarily, all opinions are my own.

I’ve read and enjoyed multiple of Ashley Herring Blake’s middle grade books and Delilah Green Doesn’t Care is an excellent first foray into adult romance! This story is a great exploration of two of my favorite themes: second chances and found family. Blake writes well-developed, believable characters and really gives them the time to share the stories that shape their actions and decisions. And, Blake doesn’t shy away from steamy action between the protagonists, which I appreciate!
When Delilah Green returns to her small home town to photograph her estranged step-sister Astrid’s wedding events, she’s just in it for the money. And maybe a little for the opportunity to mess with the family and peers who made her adolescence so hard. She doesn’t expect to find herself attracted to Claire, one of Astrid’s friends who antagonized her as a teen. And she definitely didn’t plan on developing feelings – feelings that pull her to stay in Bright Falls with all of her complicated memories of the place and the people.
If you’re a fan of steamy female romances, check out this title. I know I’ll be keeping my eyes open for Ashley Herring Blake’s next adult novel!

If you’re a romance book lover, get this one on your tbr! It’s sexy from page one, it’s funny, and the characters are flawed, nuanced, and oh-so-relatable. I almost can’t believe how invested I was in each of them. I loved the ending of the book but was sad to say goodbye (for now) to the women who felt like my friends.

This romance has wonderfully open-door steamy scenes (I’m always here for the 🔥🔥🔥) so it might not be for everyone but if you’re looking for a book with LGBQT+ representation, grab this one today.

I promise you’ll be rooting for the characters in this book and the romance will make you swoon. The friendships are also perfectly portrayed, with all the ups and downs that come with knowing someone for so long. So much love for this book!

It’s my first book by this author but certainly won’t be my last (especially because the next book in this series is out later this year!).

OMG this book! 😭😭

A sapphic Cinderella story..

Delilah is forced (asked) to come back to her hometown to be the photographer for her stepsisters wedding. Just as she gets home one of her stepsisters bff's tries to hit on her at the bar which she's very interested in until said friend realizes she's awkward little loaner sister.

Astrid the bride and step sister is just perfect with her perfect itinerary and perfect (on paper) groom. But she's having her own feelings about this perfect person she's supposed to be.

Delilah is holding onto her old feelings of abandonment and invisibility even though she's a pretty big deal in photography or about to get a big break.

The relationships in this book were so complex and heartbreaking and just had me rooting for all sides. There were no bad guys only little girls that got used to ignoring and teasing and never knew any other way. Or old relationships that needed to evolve with communication and they were finally ready to listen.

Claire is a single mom who got pregnant at 19 and who's daughter is now 11. She's the most delightful sweet character. Hope this isn't a spoiler but I adored the instant chemistry and bonding over art Delilah had with Claire's daughter. Two misunderstood artists feeling seen is a beautiful thing.

Then there's Iris - whew love her.

And wow the steam in this book!! 🔥🔥🔥

The snippet in the back for Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail 😍😍 OMG you caught me with that one!

Read if you like:
❤️‍🔥 Complex characters
❤️‍🔥 Steam to fill a sauna
❤️‍🔥 Parent trap style shenanigans

Thank you berkleyromance and netgalley for my e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.


Check out content warnings

I have come to rely on @berkleypub @berkleyromance for publishing so many of the romance books I love and this definitely hit the mark! Even better this book had such perfect representation. I love that romance in books are no longer cookie cutter, boy meets girl, falls in love gets married. Life is not cookie cutter and there are so many more ways to love and these books show that. Life is not a cookie cutter and I love seeing all the different representations of life and love. I read this one in one sitting and I loved it! This book has characters to cheer on, humor and pure heart. It is available I'm

When Delilah's estranged stepsister Astrid hires her as the photographer for her wedding, Delilah begrudgingly returns to the small town of Bright Falls where she spent her painful teen years isolated and ostracized by Astrid and her friends Iris and Claire.

Delilah's intentions are simple: mess with her stepfamily, get paid, get back to New York. Things are, however, immediately complicated by an obvious mutual attraction between Claire and herself, and further so when it becomes clear that Astrid's fiancé absolutely sucks. When Iris and Claire loop Delilah into a half-baked plan to make Astrid see sense before the wedding, Delilah begins to seriously question her initial intentions.

This was a cute, quick read. I really liked the sisterhood aspect and general theme of past misunderstandings being reevaluated. For a book pitched a romcom, I will say I felt it tried a little too hard on the comedy aspect (especially through the character of Iris) and didn't pull it off for me, but i still found lots to enjoy. The bi rep, co-parenting, and friendships were all really refreshing. The romance was sweet and the emotional payoff was nice and fulfilling, though I wish it had gone a little deeper all around.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley publishing group for providing this digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.

TW: past death of parents, toxic relationships, past infidelity, past emotional neglect

My first full 5 Star book of 2022! I loved this. This is exactly the type of romance I want to read and I could not be happier. While I have never read Blake before, I have a few of her YA books sitting on my Kindle waiting to be read, so when I saw she wrote a sapphic adult romance, I just knew I had to read it. I was also happy to see that Berkley keeps putting out new sapphic books and I hope they continue since they have all been enjoyable. Anyway, this is a book I would absolutely recommend to any romance fans and I’m hopeful that people will enjoy it as much as I did.

First, I want to mention again that this is an adult romance. I noticed quite a few people marked this YA, probably because of what Blake normally writes, but this is definitely not YA and people should know that going into it. I’ve been having better luck with YA lately so this was a real treat for me to read such a great adult romance. I was trying to figure out what tropes this book fit but it was a little tough to do. It is kind of a second change romance, but not really. The second chances are really more about different friendships. I then was thinking maybe enemies to lovers, but that doesn’t really work either -more like indifferent to lovers maybe-. This book doesn’t quite fit into any one box but that might be one of the reasons it was so good.

The characters in this book are really well done. It is not just the two mains but also a group of friends that the book centers on like Astrid, the ice queen -who you want to know more about-, and Iris, the comedic relief. I did find the sort of villain characters to have been a tad cartoonish at times, but one added to some good emotional moments where the other added to some enjoyable humor. In the end, the fact they were a bit over-the-top actually worked. There was even a well written kid character and a well done ex character which both can be pretty rare in sapphic books. Everyone was just on pointe and you feel completely transported into this small town among this interesting group of characters.

While I really loved every part of this book, the romance really shines. I loved the two mains together. They had this great mix of sweetness and heat that was exactly what you want to see in a good romance. The chemistry was perfect and it just got stronger as the book went on. I won’t go into details, for spoiler reasons, but I have to say that I just LOVED the meet-cute. It would easily make my list of top favorite meet-cutes ever. I found that it actually gave me butterflies in my stomach and it’s been a long time since a book did that. It was great, just like the whole book.

TLDR: This was a real joy to read and it was my favorite book of 2022 so far. It was not perfect, there were a few tiny bumps, but there was so much good here that anything little that might have been an issue, ended up not mattering one bit. I loved the humor, all the emotions, the friendships, and the really good chemistry and heat. It was such a well-rounded book and I want to read more. I’m happy to say that yes, there is more coming and that there will be a second book starting the ice queen character. I honestly can’t wait. This is an easy book to recommend and I'm excited to see everyone else fall in love with it too.

Delilah Green is my new book girlfriend-- I absolutely adored this gem of a sapphic romcom. Sweet and steamy and full of incredible characters whose voices leap right off the page, this book has quickly become one of my favorite queer romances ever.

i absolutely adored this sapphic romance, and it felt packed with so much love!! between the dynamic between characters and the familial moments, as well as the beautiful writing, i absolutely fell in love with bright falls!!

delilah green doesn’t care follows delilah green, a new yorker and budding photographer forgoing any emotional attachment in her hookups, who is roped into returning to her hometown of bright falls, oregon to photograph her step sister astrid’s wedding. our love interest, who shares point of view, is claire sutherland: bookstore owner, mom to an angsty tween, and best friend of the bride. the dynamic between these two was undeniably amazing, given not only how much tenderness there was in every interaction (absolutely swoony), but also the character development each of them faced throughout this novel. being in a way reunited childhood enemies, plus their attempts to keep feelings out of the equation, keep things superficial, honestly made for so much tension and longing and ugh it was so good!

delilah, arms laced in tattoos, camera around her neck, has so much struggle to work through returning to bright falls, as she doesn’t have such a bright history there. her dad died when she was ten- and her mom dead since she was a toddler, her stepfamily was all she had. we hear a lot of her adolescence, because it shaped so much of who she is today: she’s lonely. she’s lost too much, and she’s scared to continue trying. claire, her vintage clothes and curvy body and constant care, has known delilah since she was young, growing up aside astrid, there is so much reconciliation between these two. claire, though conventionally not lonely, with her best friends astrid and iris by her side, also struggles trusting others. pregnant at 19, she has a ten year old daughter, ruby, who’s dad, josh, is back in town after leaving them. ruby is a major part of claire’s story, and i loved how delilah opened up to ruby too.

therefore, it’s about love, and it’s about family. it’s very much the overlap between these two things, about letting your burdens rest with someone else, and finding a family in your roots. claire and delilah worked because there was so much respect, and so much trust. they knew what each of them had been through, are going through. this is a romance, but it’s also about healing. i can’t wait to continue discovering bright falls through the next book, and hear more of astrid’s story!!

4.24 Stars. This was really really good y'all. I enjoyed the heck out of this one. With some small issues here and there, I thought that the book was complex with its queerness taking front and center. It also is about the intricacies of family and how families can be simultaneously vexing and a group of people that you want to please, even if they hurt you.

The bulk of the story revolves around our titular Delilah Green, a NYC photographer who was essentially bribed by her step-sister to participate in her upcoming wedding as the photographer. Delilah doesn't want to be in her hometown because it was a place where she was bullied and cast out by just about everyone, including her step family after her father died. But when she starts hanging out with Claire, an old crush and sort of tormentor, she might find something worth while to care about.

This book has it all, from Delilah's sister, Astrid, buckling under the pressure that her mother puts on her, to Delilah being ignored at best to being treated with distain at worse. Claire has to deal with a flighty ex-husband who really draws out both her daughter's and her abandonment issues. To the ex who is trying, but kind of failing. Astrid herself is in a really toxic relationship to the man she's supposed to be marrying. This is not really including the budding feelings that Claire and Delilah develop for each other over the whirlwind couple of weeks that lead up to the wedding. A lot of stuff happens in the short period of time laid out in the book, and boy does it lead to some excellent character drama.

I think the only issue that I have in the book is that Delilah's and Astrid's mom and Astrid's fiancé. In a book where all the main characters are dynamic, Astrid's mom never really understands the harm she's done to her kids, and while the fiancé does get his comeuppance, he is just singularly bad. I get that he is essentially a plot device, but he is pretty glaring, especially given that Claire's immature ex is handled fairly well.

I think this will hold up to be a top five queer romance (and maybe romance in general) for the year. It is very much worth the look.

*I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

It is hard to put into words all that this book touched upon. With Delilah having lost her mother at the young age of two, and then her father at ten she finds herself staying with her cold image obsessed stepmother. Her stepmother doesn’t know what to do with her, a child in grief. She gets painted as the weird girl who is quiet and lurks in the shadows by her stepsister and her friends.

As an adult Delilah, is back in her hometown to photograph her stepsisters wedding. When she gets hit on by Claire, their is no denying their chemistry.

Claire is trying to move forward from her ex with their on and off relationship while raising their daughter. She can’t deny her feelings for Delilah, but she is also seeing her in a new light. Different than how she saw her growing up.

During the weeks long wedding celebrations Delilah and Claire connect, while Delilah also seeing her stepsister differently. Like the man she is supposed to marry just isn’t good enough for her, constantly ordering her around.

Delilah may have had a rough childhood in this town, but the connections she makes this time around just might make it feel like home.

A wonderful story of finding yourself, living your truth, owning your self worth, and finding friends in the unlikeliest of places.

Wow. I loved this book so much and stayed up way too late to finish because I could not put it down. This book is not only beautifully written, but so emotional and dives into some abandonment issues( (both familial and romantic) for a few characters that was so raw and heartbreaking. I love love love Claire and Delilah together and how they just fit together perfectly. Delilah is kickass and funny and sassy and I loved getting to know her and how she's truly a softy inside. Claire is strong and has so much responsibility on her shoulders, while spending all her energy making sure everyone around her is okay. The banter and the steam between these two is mesmerizing and I could not get enough. The way they could become so close, so quickly, despite their prickly past was amazing to read about. I even loved getting to know some of the side characters and am SO EXCITED this will be a series! I need everyone to read this book.

✨don’t you love it when . . . women 😏✨

this is a sapphic, redeemed bully romance with steam, sarcastic heroines, and emotional scenes that will have you clutching your heart. . . need I say more?

Tropes:
😤 redeemed bully
👩🏼‍❤️‍💋‍👩🏻 best friend’s sister
🏡 small town
🥺 emotionally damaged heroine
👩🏼‍🏫 bookstore owner
🥰 single mother
🗣 sarcastic banter
👩🏼‍🤝‍👩🏻 found family vibes
😩 grump/sunshine vibes

Whenever I see a book illustrated by Leni Kauffman I know I will not be disappointed. I mean, just look at that cover 😍

This book was effortlessly woven with string of emotional development as it delivered us a book full of humor, sarcasm, ✨women✨, and delicious steam 😩😩

I could not get enough of Delilah and Claire as they navigated the paths life took them down and tried to deny the sizzling chemistry between thee two of them 🥵🥵

I don’t know about you guys, but as much as I love a grump hero, grump heroines are just SOMETHING ELSE 😩🙌🏽 I loved Delilah and all of her grumpiness as she healed her inner child and allowed herself to fall in love.

What’s better than a grump heroine healing on her own? A grump heroine slowly opening up as she gets sucked into a chaotic friend group who become her new family 😩🙌🏽

Not only does this book have a wonderful romance, it is also a story about sisterhood, the true meaning of family, and learning how to break off from the toxic people in your life 😍🥺 It is not easy to do that without getting preachy or cheesy. As an older sister who was forced to grow up too fast and practically become a parent for her siblings without so much as a thank you in return, watching two estranged siblings reconciling and slowly healing together sent me into absolute water works. Just in general, Ashley Herring Blake held my heart in her brilliant hands as all of the characters healed from their trauma and found happiness. The lesson Blake teaches us, how it is never too late to fix relationships and be happy, is one that I know will spring tears in a lot of our eyes 🥺😭

I don’t know how she did it. One minute my heart was squeezing from bittersweet, heartwarming pain and the next I was stifling a laugh, trying not to wake my roommates up at 4 in the morning. I could not put this down 😍😍😍

I haven’t read any of her YA books but now I am thinking I definitely should look into those 😍

If you have been looking for a queer rom-com that just ✨hits the spot✨(in more ways than one, if you know what I mean 😏). . . what are you waiting for? why haven’t you picked this up yet?!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars | 🌶🌶.5/ 5 steam

Thank you to Berkley Romance, Netgalley, and Ashley Herring Blake for an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion ❤️