Delilah Green

I had high hopes for this one and I’m sad to say that it ended up being a disappointing read for me. I found myself skimming quite a bit - a clear sign that I’m bored.

My biggest issue was romance, which for a romance book, is an issue. I felt very little connection between Delilah and Claire.

Claire is sweet and acts as a complementary opposite to Delilah’s tough-girl persona. However, neither communicate their feelings toward another. There aren’t any major obstacles to their relationship so the secret hooking up felt unnecessary. The smut was steamy and fun but it’s not enough to carry the lack of romantic development. They essentially went from instant attraction to completely into each other - in a matter of a couple of weeks.

I was more invested in Delilah and Astrid’s relationship than the romance. There was a lot of hurt between the two and I wanted to see more development regarding Delilah’s family.

The story dragged on. I felt like the book was trying too many things. This romance between a single mom of a tween daughter, an ex that’s always around, unresolved childhood pain, and wedding hijinks to save Astrid. Iris and Delilah are so childish in their antics to scare Spencer away. They’re not teens or even in their early 20s. Iris is constantly poking at Delilah and felt like such a bully.

One thing that bothered me was that Claire is very protective over Ruby, which is understandable considering her experience with her ex. But there is a moment when Delilah is staying the night when Ruby is at a sleepover. Ruby comes home early after a huge fight and wants to be with Claire but Claire tells her to sleep in her room. She tells Delilah that she didn’t want to introduce a new lover to Ruby, which makes sense. But after they become serious, Ruby doesn’t come back into the picture. There’s no discussion of Claire and Delilah talking to Ruby and how their relationship changes from that reveal. I mean Delilah and Ruby’s friendship was honestly some of the highlights of the book so the story felt a bit unfinished.

I thought this book was going to be one of the best sapphic romances of 2022. And it may be for other readers. I’m definitely in the minority with this book. Overall, it didn’t work for me like I had hoped it would.

Spice Level: R - Few on page scenes with detailed descriptions

Fun duel POV sapphic romance with a lot of heart. Pick up if you like grumpy/sunshine troupes, found family themes, and bridesmaids hijinks in the vain of the Parent Trap.

Delilah Green Doesn't Care has everything you could ask for in a rom-com: pining, swoon-worthy declarations, character development, and healing.

(C'mon, there's even the one bed trope - written incredibly well if I do say so myself)

Seeing Delilah recover from her childhood trauma when she reconnects with her sister, makes new friends in Bright Falls, and meets Claire... was pretty spectacular. The plot was so well organized and engaging that I was sad when the book ended, even though the ending was perfect for all characters involved.

Basically, Ashley Herring Blake is an amazing writer and I can't wait to read whatever she writes next!

Who doesn’t love a sapphic romance?! I really enjoyed this romance, and while like most romances I felt like the final act wrapped up a bit quickly I still thoroughly enjoyed the writing!

From the first paragraph, I knew this book would be a good one. I immersed myself into the book from the first chapter and I cannot say enough good things about this book! Honestly amazing! The writing is incredible and the plot is just one to die for. I am absolutely obsessed with this book. My favorite part would have to be the character development throughout the book. Character development is something I look forward to and this book did not disappoint.

Hoo boy. Delilah Green doesn't care is right. And by 18% of the way through the book, I did not care about Delilah Green. Here's the thing. Unlikeable protagonists are not always bad. They can be done really well and be relatable or engaging despite their flaws. However, I think at least one of two things needs to happen for this to work: a) the book universe needs to confirm that the character is awful; and/or b) the character's awful behavior needs to be justified.

Neither of these were the case for Delilah Green. I wanted her love interest to run as fast as she could in the other direction, which is not really a good feeling when you're reading the romance you specifically saved for Valentine's Day weekend. How am I supposed to root for this cute shy single mom to end up with someone whose prime goal in every interaction is to humiliate the person she's talking to and make them as supremely uncomfortable as possible?

I did keep reading past the point of hating Delilah because I wanted to make sure Astrid, the engaged step-sister, would be okay, but her fiance was so cartoonishly evil that it ended up being really hard to take her storyline seriously.

I guess I would recommend this for people who don't mind one half of a love pairing starting out as a sociopath - fans of The Proposal, perhaps. Also I am not a big fan of romances where the two leads immediately want to have sex the second they see each other and can't stop thinking about it and then emotional feelings grow from the lust, so it's possible that people who prefer those types of romances will find more to enjoy than I did.

A steamy and charming queer romance that'll make your heart melt a little. Delilah Green has to return to Bright Falls for her step-sister, Astrid's wedding, and its the last place she wants to be, but between falling in love with Claire and mending bridges with her Astrid, she finds its one of the only places she wants to be.

Obsessed. I knew super early on that I was going to fall hard for this book and I’m so so so glad that held true through the whole book!

I loved the relationships, the friendships, and the connections formed on all the levels, from Delilah getting through to Ruby when no one else could, to the sisterly bonds in Irish and Delilah, to the relationship between Claire and Delilah!

The steamy scenes were well written, fiery but sweet, and the spark flew off the page emotionally! 👏🏻👏🏻 Loved it!

Review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Delilah Green Doesn't Care by Ashley Herring Blake

Delilah swore never to go back to back to Bright Falls, there's nothing there for her but bad memories. With her photography career finally getting some steam in New York, she still has ton honor her estranged sister's wishes by photographing her wedding. When tensions are at an all times high, meeting an absolutely gorgeous single mom was not in the plan, but she can't resist the pull between her and Claire, her sister's best friend.

CW: Cheating (off-page), orphaned of MC (Off-page), teenage pregnancy(past).

Queerly Magnificent! This book was so rich and it was so beautifully crafted, and I loved how imperfect the characters were. I loved how complex each characters were, how at the end we're left wanting so much more from these characters (Don't worry more books in this series are coming soon & this book ends in a HEA), not in an unfinished way but more like a fish line gripping on our heart and attached to the next book. I loved the dept of all the characters, but how it didn't take away from the focal Delilah and Claire romance. The sub-plots were intricate and really smart. I loved how complicated and a little uncomfortable they were; it really put our characters through yes hilarious situations, but also some deep self-reflection.

Thank you @berkleyromance for the free digital copy via @netgalley . As always, all thoughts and opinions are honest and my own.

I cackled and highlighted the whole way through. Love the plot, the characters, the growth, and resolution. Good use of a hint of classic tropes but nothing cliche and a lot of emotional maturity all around by the end of the book. I really enjoyed it!

'Delilah Green Doesn't Care' is an adorable layered queer romance that follows Delilah Green, a NYC photographer who prefers one night stands and minimal complications in her life and Claire, a single mother who had her daughter when she was 19 and has raised her with little to no help from the father.
I loved the relationships in this book. Both Delilah and Claire's as they navigated their romance and the relationships they each had with the other characters in the book. Astrid is a wonderful complex friend and semi-antagonist. I liked that the main characters had different relationships with each characters so we could see different aspects of everyone's personality.
The friendships were beautiful! I always wish more books, especially romance, showed healthy female adult friendships instead of weirdly passive aggressive competitive friendships we usually see.
This representation was also awesome! The discussion of being queer and how Delilah and Claire have different but equally valid experiences was something I desperately needed to read.

Thanks for the free book, Penguin Random House.

Delilah Green Doesn’t Care is a queer romance between two women.
Delilah is a lesbian photographer who has a complicated relationship with her family; Claire is a bisexual single mother who’s best friends with Delilah’s step sister. Delilah and Claire have known each other since childhood, but have never been friends. When they meet again after several years, sparks fly.
As for the sparks between me and this romance… they weren’t as many as I hoped.

Since 2022 has started I’ve read a lot, but I keep finishing books and feeling a bit dissatisfied. Even when I like a book, I always feel like there’s something missing.
I’m starting to think the problem is me. Anyway, I felt this way about this book as well.

The story does not revolve around romantic love only, but talks about wounds caused by family, lack of communication, wrong and toxic relationships. It also explores the journey of rediscovering oneself, the power of friendship and love.

I liked that the author tried to make the female characters flawed yet likable, but she did not always succeed, especially with Delilah. Even though her character has her reasons for acting the ways she does, sometimes she’s a bit hard to justify and simpathise with. At the same time though, I found her better fleshed out than Claire, who’s more dependent on her romantic interest.

The love story between Delilah and Claire is quite nice, the two have good chemistry, that could’ve been even better if only the whole thing didn’t feel a bit rushed. The sex scenes were a bit too explicit for my taste (as you might already know by now, I’m usually not a fan of detailed sex scenes), but I think one in particular actually served a narrative purpose, rather than being there for the sake of it, as it usually is.

The themes are not dealth with in a completely satisfying way, a couple of side storylines were never really touched on, and the characters who create conflict are actually not very good “villains” because they’re somwhow both flat and exaggerated. Moreover, the dynamics and conflicts feel a bit immature sometimes, considering their ages.

In short, it was a nice read that, unfortunately, suffers from a number of flaws which ended up preventing me from enjoying the story as much as I had hoped to do.

⭐3.5/5

This book gets all of the stars! Oh my gosh I loved this book. The writing was so good, the characters were deep and well fleshed out, and it was so funny! I laughed out loud several times! I cannot recommend this book enough. It will 100% make my top books of the year and I can't wait to see what she comes out with next!

Delilah Green doesn’t care, except of course she does because she’s the main character in a romance novel that’s full of feels and fun to read from the first page to the last.

A brilliantly witty, steamy sweet sapphic romance! Loved the chemistry, cast of supporting characters, second chance romance, small town, single mom, family drama, emotional growth and of course the grand romantic gesture and happily ever after. Can't wait for second in the series!

Ashley Herring Blake once again doesn't disappoint.

This was so good I'm in love with the characters, writing, plot - everything.

After continuously adding Ashley Herring Blake books to my TBR, I finally settled on this one to read. I’m not even sure what called me to this one. Maybe it was the cover that drew me in? Maybe it was all the fact that Delilah was going to a wedding and y’all know those in books are my jam? Or maybe it was the fact that I had a co-worker who was waxing poetic about Claire everyday since she had finished it? Whatever it was, something drew me to this book and now I’m immediately trying to read her backlist.

Bright Falls is not a place that Delilah wanted to be ever again. But when her stepsister’s wedding comes up and she’s offered a pretty penny to be the photographer, she knows she has no choice but to make the trip. She wants to be in and out, but she meets Claire who changes her mind, not just about Bright Falls, but everything. Claire is a single mom whose just trying to make things work with her daughter and a flaky ex. When she finds Delilah again, its quite the surprise. Can she handle the surprise?

It took me a while to warm up to Delilah because she was so stand-offish. But I knew since she was the MC I knew she had a story and I wanted to find out what it was. She was just misunderstood! (And it was the kind I didn’t mind because *SPOILER* It wasn’t between her and the love interest.*END SPOILER* Then there was Claire! She was such a sweet heart! She definitely was the right one to help Delilah shed her armor and become soft. It was so much fun to watch this transition!

However, as much as I liked the two main characters, I did not care for the stepsister, Astrid. She was just so rude to everybody. Including the people who loved her and knew her best. That always bothers me. These people who know you so much wouldn’t lie to you. Like what would they have to gain from that? And then at the end where she did what she did to hurt not only Delilah but also Claire? She didn’t have to do that and it made me dislike her more that she did it anyway. But then I went and saw that she has her own book coming out later this year…. It has a synopsis and cover and everything and man, I’m already invested, so I gotta read hers too lol Hopefully this will be more to the redeeming arc of her story since in this one it was only like 5%. I really hope she’s less insufferable in her own book.

But as much as I enjoyed this rom com, it unfortunately wasn’t funny to me? Normally I laugh at literally the smallest things. And I thought for sure I would have laughed at the camping thing, or the river thing, but nope, nothing. In fact I don’t think I even cracked a smile? It was more like I just kept going with it. I just wasn’t partial to the humor, so the com part of this wasn’t there for me. I’m sure there are others that enjoyed it tho.

The narrator was AWESOME! Literally every character had their own distinct voice. And it was cool that they also did those changes to their voice when something happened in the story. Like the nose punch?! I thought it was boss how it actually sounded like they had gotten hit! To be able to play all those different characters as well as fo the special effects? That’s pretty awesome. I wish I had talent like that lol

This book was a surprise! Not only did it leave me wanting to read her backlist, but I’m also excited for her future books. This book has made me a new fan. I’ll be surprised if I’m not caught up on her by the end of the year.

This was all of the sapphic romance that I could have wanted. This book gave me all the reels possible and I can’t wait to read the next one in the series!

full review & post: https://www.instagram.com/p/CaxczObvAh3/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

y'all can we just get a bit of commotion for the absolute bangers we are being blessed with when it comes to adult queer romance these days??? my god

delilah green was no different. an absolute rock-steady romcom with a holistic plot including: girl-gang-unites-over-shared-hatred-of-shitty-man, navigation & healing of familial trauma, immediately loveable characters throughout, non-toxic sacrifices, authentic conflict resolution, and page after page that had me full-out smirking or tearing up and everything in between🥲

what i love about queer adult romances these days is that they so often go beyond the romance - friendships and/or familial relationships are explored and see growth themselves. more often than not i find them a lot more holistic than cishet contemp romances while still delivering a romance arc that is relatable and powerful and sweet and 🥵🥵

needless to say i *highly* recommend this and cannot wait for the next book in the series following astrid!

I received an advanced copy of Delilah Green Doesn’t Care through Netgalley so I could share my review with you!

Content Warning: Toxic relationship between side characters (challenged), and past parental death

Delilah Green never wanted to return to Bright Falls, the hometown where her lonely childhood played out. She left for a reason- to pursue her career as a photographer in New York- and has never looked back. But, when she receives an offer to photograph her step-sister’s wedding for enough money to solve her financial woes for months, Delilah can hardly refuse. Astrid and Delilah have never been the best of sisters, but Delilah thinks she can put up with her step-sister’s controlling attitude and clique of stuck-up friends long enough to take some wedding photos. What Delilah wasn’t expecting was to catch feelings for one of Astrid’s bridesmaids, sweet and intelligent Claire. This wedding will be more complicated than anyone could’ve expected, and Delilah will have to fight to keep up her aloof sister act, no matter how she feels about Claire.

You can get your copy of Delilah Green Doesn’t Care on February 22nd from Berkley Publishing!

I loved this book so much! The romance was perfectly paced and balanced with fantastic humor. I think that Ashley Herring Blake just might be my new favorite adult romance author, and I don’t know how I am going to make myself wait for the next book in the Bright Falls series to come out in November!

My Recommendation-
Delilah Green Doesn’t Care is an absolute must-read for fans of romance novels! If you loved One Last Stop, you need to grab a copy of this book ASAP, as I just know you will devour it like I did!