Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

This sapphic romance follows Delilah, a photographer returning to her hometown for her sister's wedding, and Claire, a single mom and the bride's best friend. This is a book that deserves alllll of the good adjectives. Blake has crafted deeply human heroines who are messy, prickly, hurt, and oh so relatable as they try to navigate their growing feelings for each other.

Delilah's childhood in Bright Falls left her feeling alienated. Her longing to belong somewhere was palpable, and the way she fiercely tried to protect her heart had me deep in my feelings. The weaving of the past (with all of its heaviness, misunderstandings, and pain) with the present was so incredibly well crafted, and I loved how both heroines saw those memories in a new light by the end. And through it all is the blossoming and growth of a beautiful romance between heroines with undeniable chemistry who find home in each other.

For me, the Bright Falls series is the embodiment of "If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more." I both feel like I could talk about this series for days, and also just want to shout "10/10 no notes perfection" every time they come up. If you haven't read the books in this series, do yourself a favor and pick them up!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely adore Ashley Herring Blake's books, and when I heard that she was going to be writing a sapphic adult romance, I was so excited. I really enjoyed this book, and was happy to have read another book by this author. I really enjoyed the characters a lot. Delilah and Claire were so cute together, and I really enjoyed watching their relationship progress. Sometimes I feel like romance characters aren't very interesting outside of their relationship, as individuals. However, I thought both of them were really interesting, and I enjoyed watching them work through their issues separately and with one another. I also really enjoyed the side characters, especially Delilah's relationship with her sister. This was another successful book from this author, and I can't wait to read more stories about the Bright Falls characters.

I am a member of the American Library Association Reading List Award Committee. This title was on the 2023 shortlist. The complete list of winners and shortlisted titles is at <a href="https://rusaupdate.org/2023/01/2023-reading-list-announced-years-best-in-genre-fiction-for-adult-readers/">

Ashley Herring Blake writes with wit and candor in this delightfully queer romantic comedy. The character relationships are brilliantly developed, making the main group of friends seem more real and necessary to the story. So often side characters could be taken away or changed and the story would stay relatively the same. But in this case, the personalities of the other characters create a depth to the story that is much appreciated. Delilah Green is that much loved grumpy lead that feels like the world is against them and it was nice to see her character development along side her romantic interest, Claire.
This book is the wonderful mix of emotional moments, humor and Sapphic spice that I love in a romance novel. I look forward to any future books that Blake has to offer.

This was an overall enjoyable and compelling read. My rating is a 3.5, but I rounded down for the review.

Delilah Green moved away from her hometown as soon as she could and never planned on going back. She had an unhappy childhood feeling like a burden to her cold stepmother and snooty stepsister.

But she’s brought back to Bright Falls to act as photographer for her sister’s wedding festivities because she’s got bills to pay and her stepmother is paying very well.

Back home, she runs into her sister’s best friend, Claire. Claire is raising her preteen daughter on her own as her ex continuously proves himself flighty and unreliable. Delilah is instantly taken with Claire and sets out to seduce her while also doing her best to cause a bit of mayhem for her stepsister and stepmother.

The chemistry between Claire and Delilah is really great, although the sex scenes weren’t as steamy as all that chemistry promised. They’re not bad by any means, just underwhelming. The more tender, relationship-building and romance between Claire and Delilah were the stronger aspects.

Although, the storyline of Delilah’s stepsister Astrid was oftentimes the most compelling thing happening on page. Astrid’s fiancé is a total dickhead, and Claire and their other best friend, are struggling with how to tell Astrid what they truly think of the misogynistic tool she’s planning on marrying.

In tandem with that is the exploration of Delilah and Astrid’s childhood, growing up together estranged by their circumstances and not understanding one another in their separate grief after the death of Delilah’s father. This feels just as much a book about sisters as it does about romance (very “Book Lovers” in that respect). It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but that wasn’t what I was expecting.

I generally liked this book, but there were places where it felt uneven or not quite balanced enough. The Astrid aspects often felt like they were overshadowing the Claire aspects, although it all ended up pretty well in the end.

💙 FF Romance
💙 Step-Sister’s Best Friend
💙 Single Mom
💙 Family Drama
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💭: I’m so, so happy I finally picked this up after it sat on my shelf for months 🤣 Needless to say I’m slightly obsessed with Delilah Green, this was such a fun, heartwarming romance that touched on so many different issues. I loved both Delilah & Claire, they had great chemistry (there was some great steam, too 🔥) & their journey together was really beautiful 😭 I adored Claire’s friend group, inclusive of Delilah’s step-sister Astrid - Iris Kelly though, what a gem! & I loved that family was such an important aspect of this story, both with Delilah & Astrid & with Claire & her daughter Ruby. & y’all I’m so happy this is a series, I can’t wait to see all of the shenanigans that are sure to go down with both Astrid & Iris (but seriously, give me Iris’ book asap ‘cause she was easily my favorite 😍) & thank you so much Ashley Herring Blake, NetGalley, & Berkley Romance for providing an ARC in exchange for a honest review!

I’m very late to the game on this one! I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The characters were fun and likable and I loved the relationship between Delilah and Claire. I also was very interested in Delilah’s relationship with Astrid as well as the look into her past and family dynamic. I’m sad I put it off for so long! Definitely a sapphic read I will recommend!

Delilah Green doesn't care and neither do I. unfortunately. Picked this up when I was in the mood for sapphic adult romance but it was definitely a lesson in being selective about books even if they are sapphic. I wasn't attached to the characters or rooting for their relationship which, kind of defeated the whole purpose of reading the book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley for sending me a copy of this book! All opinions are my own!

From the very beginning, this book had my attention caught and I absolutely wanted more. I think my favorite thing about the book was the writing style, as it immediately captivates you. It's so easy to follow and has so much flow and ease to it that it's almost impossible to put down! It made me that much more in love with the characters and made it such a fun read!

The romance was super cute, though I generally dislike the miscommunication trope, which did come into play for a bit here. But I loved the way that the romance developed and how Delilah and Claire got to know each other. It felt very natural, which is often a problem for me in romance books, but just like everything else about the book, it was so easy and free-flowing that there was zero problem!

I also really loved the way that family played into the story and how redemptive it was for sisterly love. It was refreshing to have that side to the love of the book, and as someone with a very messed up family, I really enjoyed the healing nature of that part. Of course, Astrid was very annoying, but I think that was the point, and I can't wait to read her book and see how she has grown!

If you're a romcom fan, do not miss out on this one!

Not usually a fan of small town romances but there was something about this one I really enjoyed. Smart, prickly, and sexy.

I enjoyed this one! Took me forever to get to it but I just finally read it. :) Incidentally I got to Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail first, and I did like that one better. This book started off a little slow for my taste, but the second half definitely redeems itself. There's plenty of sweet romance to go around, and quite a few emotional revelations!
I love the positive queer romance, just representing and normalizing happy, healthy lgbt relationships. Both these books do an excellent job of that. For that reason alone I will continue to be a dedicated reader of Blake's. These are some super cute, feel-good stories!
I think I wasn't as much in the mood for this as I thought I was, but it was still a fabulous book and I can objectively say it was very well-written. A great book to have on library shelves. Thanks for the opportunity to read it!

It’s a small town, single parent, sister’s best friend, secret dating, it all started with a bet, sapphic romance!

Delilah Green is grinding as hard as she can to make it as a photographer in New York. She’s had a few gallery shows but has most of her popularity online—which doesn’t pay the bills. When her estranged sister —are both sisters estranged if you’re the one who left and Astrid stayed and was loved and accepted by your step mother and even she refers to herself as her mother’s “only daughter”?…or is it just Delilah who’s estranged?…—asks her to photograph her wedding, Delilah can’t pass up the 5 figure pay check. She she packs her bags and drags herself to the small town of her nightmares, Bright Falls. There’s nothing inherently wrong with Bright Falls but it’s where Delilah lost her father and struggled to be accepted as a gloomy, artistic pre-teen in her new preppy, sports and country club family.

Claire Sutherland has had a rough few years, having split with the father of her own tween and running a business while trying to prevent hormonal breakdown. Claire needs some fun in her life. So she goes up to the beautiful, tattooed stranger in the bar. Flirts a little. Laughs a lot. All the while not recognizing her best friends weird step sister is the goddess in front of her.

Can they resist the pull and keep it professional for Astrid’s planned-to-the-moment wedding events? Can Astrid and Delilah find any common ground? Will Claire’s flakey ex finally step up and parent his kid?

I loved all of the Ruby interactions. I really hope to see more of Ruby and Delilah really understanding eachother in book 2. Also I like the coparenting while understanding they aren’t soulmates and wishing eachother the best and supporting eachother and Ruby.

Delilah Green Doesn’t Care was a sexy rom-com with a complexly emotional core that surprised and delighted me. Sarcastic commitment-phobe Delilah has returned to her hometown for the first time in years to photograph the wedding of her estranged stepsister, Astrid. Claire is a single mother and bookstore owner who can’t do casual relationships - and is also Astrid’s maid of honor. As Claire and Delilah get to know each other over the course of wedding events, it’s clear their instant attraction might be developing into something more.

Both women have serious issues that they need to work through; given that Ashley Herring Blake is known for her hard hitting YA contemporary, it shouldn’t have surprised me that this book handled such complex topics and did it so well. Claire is struggling with a flakey co-parent who constantly leaves her and her daughter disappointed. Delilah has to confront her grief over losing both of her parents young and the rejection she faced at the hands of her stepmother and stepsister. Despite the heavy topics, this book was also laugh out loud funny and sexy as hell - Delilah and Claire have insane chemistry on page and I was rooting for them to get together from their first interaction. An absolute must-read for anyone looking for a sapphic, spicy rom-com!

I loved Delilah Green, Ashley Herring Blake is a fantastic writer. Not only did she pull me into Delilah and Claire's romance, but she also did a fantastic job with side characters and giving me a true picture of Bright Falls.

I tried so hard to like this book because sapphic grump-sunshine is my kryptonite but I just couldn't get into it.

I absolutely loved this book. It was cute and funny, but their was an emotional level beneath the surface that was easy to identify with. I loved that Delilah, when faced with issues from the past, took a stand. It was such a good book and I can't wait to read the next one!

The friendship between Delilah, Iris, and Claire + Astrid and Delilah's sibling relationship vastly outweighed the entirety of the romance, which says it all, I think. Not an unenjoyable romance, simply forgettable.

Having sung the praises of AHB's MG and YA titles for so many years now, nobody is more disappointed than me to say that this book was a struggle. I actually set it aside 50pg in the first time I tried reading it, and had to pick it back up with an audiobook to force myself past the first few chapters because I disliked Delilah's character so much. Thankfully, the audiobook narrator was fantastic and I gradually was drawn in enough to give the story a solid chance.

In the end, Delilah slowly redeemed herself a little bit for me, but it took a very long time to get there and I still wasn't a huge fan by the time I reached the last page. I typically LOVE prickly, unlikable protagonists, but Delilah's particular flavor of attitude was so petty and self-centered that I had a hard time working past it. I will admit that I felt a lot of empathy for her unresolved traumas and I loved watching her bond with Ruby and play pranks on Astrid's disgusting groom-to-be, but I spent most of the book wishing I could tell her to grow up.

All of that said, I thought Delilah and Claire had a lot of chemistry, and I actually loved Astrid's character from the start, so I'm very eager to read the next book and see her get the love she deserves. AHB's narrative voice is engaging and fun, and I can see why so many people loved this book. I'm sad that I wasn't one of them, but I have high hopes for the sequel!

Delightful, sweet and heart-wrenching. I loved the characters in this book, which makes me really excited that this is a series! Ashley Herring Blake does a great job of making her characters three-dimensional, and the worldbuilding is nice in this one, especially now that I know I'll have at least two more books to read.