DNF. This has a great concept, but not enough to keep me invested. I like the idea of a queer baker in the 2010s finding love, especially given the complex politics of the time, but there was nothing there to really *sell* it. There’s pretty much just Insta love that I didn’t buy, and characterization that feels really inconsistent. I feel bad, but I can’t bring myself to read further.

I was super excited to read this one, however it did fall a bit flat for me. I appreciated the story focusing on Amy’s growth, but I wish it had a bit more focus on the romance-because I went in thinking it was a romcom. Another thing that fell flat for me was the insta-love aspect of the romance. I love tension and build up for my romances and this didn’t deliver. There were a few situations that were unnecessary to the plot, but overall I appreciated the intentions the author had with this story.

2.5 stars ⭐️⭐️💫

Synopsis: After being outed and fired from her job at a bakery, semi-closeted baker Amy creates her own bridesmaid-for-hire business. While trying to get over her ex, Amy works to balance a blossoming relationship with newcomer Charley, her friendships, and her business while remaining true to her queer identity.

Review: This book is really thoughtful and mindful in how it portrays Amy’s story as a closeted queer person in Oklahoma before gay marriage was legalized. While the romance in the book is more of a subplot, Queerly Beloved follows Amy’s journey as she tries to balance her career in the wedding industry while concealing her frustrations at the marriage inequalities suffered by her fellow queer friends.

While this book has the found family trope, some of my big dislikes were the frequent miscommunication between Amy and Charley, the insta-love, and a lack of overall depth for any of the characters. Though this book is more of a contemporary fiction than a contemporary romance, it was still an engaging read even if the pacing was slow at times.

Thanks to @NetGalley and @TheDialPress for the ARC!

Thank you to Random House and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this novel!

There is a lot happening in Queerly Beloved, a wonderful LGBTQIA+ novel that is part romance, part "girl finds herself", part celebration of found family and showing up for yourself. There were so many things I loved about this book, but it didn't feel like it all came together towards the end.

In my head, I thought this was a romance, and while there is definitely a HEA, it felt the romance wasn't front and center, but a vehicle for Amy, our fun and cheery main character, to figure out what she wants and how to be herself. And that's not a complaint, just a recognition of expectations that weren't met. Amy is difficult to pin down (which I'm pretty sure is the point) and her story goes kind of all over the place as she tries to figure it all out. I had a hard time figuring out her romance though, and at times wished I got Charley's point of view, especially in the early part of their relationship. At times I worried the story was meandering and trying to deal with too much as we saw discrimination, family issues, employment setbacks, relationships destroyed and rebuilt, as well as weddings, showers, and a flash mob. There is a lot here! I don't know that all of it needed to be!

I will say that I really appreciated that this book was set pre-Obergefell in Oklahoma, it made all of the things happening to make sense and it was important to see that this novel was both contemporary, but also almost historical, while not feeling dated.

In the end, I wanted more romance, possibly more weddings, and more Red Ruby. And I will tell you one thing, I hope the Red Ruby bar exists somewhere and I eventually have a chance to go there because that place sounded amazing.

Queerly Beloved was a charming romance. It was lovely to get to know Amy, Charley, and their friends. The LGBTQIA community was well represented. Amy's idea of starting a business for hiring bridesmaids was interesting. However, it could have been edited more, as well as recommended to anyone seeking insightful information about being gay or lesbian. It was great how the ending turned out, and I am sure that everyone who reads this book will feel the same way.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing for the the ARC of this book. This was an honest review.

I liked this book both more and less than I thought I would. The romance truly is underwhelming and uninteresting and I found myself really annoyed not only with the main characters choices but also with the inconsistency other character. It was, however, so interesting to spend time considering this work, set in 2013, a work of historical fiction. I also just disagree with a lot of the arguments about marriage and marriage equality posed throughout. However, I did find myself really invested in Amy's personal growth and success, even if l ultimately disagree with the conclusions she came to. Overall, the romance lacked both centrality and chemistry, but I enjoyed the ride.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dial for this ARC

CW: homophobia Christian rejection

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for allowing me to read this ARC!

Content Warning: homophobia, misogyny, forced outing.


The only thing Amy Fariner loves more than baking is weddings. Working at a Christian bakery has forced Amy to become straight-passing "Amelia," and while she secretly dreams of being able to be her genuine self at work, she is afraid of what might happen should her coworkers or ultrareligious boss discover she's a lesbian. It's also 2013, and Amy is caught up in the conflict of loving weddings while being unable to marry once she finds the woman of her dreams. And it looks like she might've met that woman: Charley, an engineer who works in oil and gas, shows up at the bakery, and Amy is instantly smitten. When things do end up going wrong at Amy's baking job, she turns to the world of professional bridesmaids. But in order to make a life for herself -- one that she truly, really wants -- Amy has to decide: is it worth hiding herself in order to make others happy?

Going into this, I expected it to be more on the romcom side of things, but what I ended up finding here was something quite different. Instead, this is more focused on Amy's life, her ups and downs, and in particular, her struggle in trying to both find out her authentic self and who exactly she wants to be in this world. There is a romance, with Charley, who meets Amy by chance at the bakery she ends up being fired from (no spoilers here: it's in the summary). Sadly, the romance isn't quite as dreamy or steamy as I'd hoped for; Charley lacks much character outside of being a whip-smart, butch engineer, and I think that she could've benefited from deeper development of her personality and, perhaps, some flaws to make her more interesting.

The rest of the cast comes off as strangely stereotypical, especially Amy's two best friends, Damien and Joel. They're a couple, and in fact, it's hard to really tell them apart -- and they serve the role of "gay best friend" with a lack of heart that left me feeling a bit confused. It's always odd to find stereotypes like these in books about gay people written by gay people, but regardless, I wished that the two of them could have grown beyond their ill-fitting roles. I liked that Joel ends up challenging Amy and speaking up for himself, and I very much enjoyed the way that things turned out between the three of them and how their dynamics ended up developing, but I still felt as if there could've been so much more to them beyond going to pride with pink, sparkly capes, watching HGTV, and providing "sassy" remarks.

Speaking honestly, though, I actually ended up not minding that the centering of the story was more on Amy and her self-discovery, rather than the romantic aspects of her (slightly tumultuous) relationship with Charley. It was slightly refreshing to see how Amy needed time to work on herself and come to terms with some of the issues in her life before fully diving into the romantic dream of happily-ever-after with Charley. I also liked that Amy was, at first, reluctant to address her problems, something that strikes me as being authentic and also relatable. Then, when she finally did have the "aha!" moment of realizing where she'd gone wrong, and the things that perhaps she needed to work on fixing for herself and for those in her life, it was satisfying to go through the journey with her.

I do have a couple more nitpicks here, so I'll just go ahead and get them out of the way. These things mostly have to do with preference; I have no doubt that some of the issues that stopped me from fully loving this novel will pose no problem for other readers. Firstly, I think that this book takes on a little too much, and even with its 400 pages (which even seemed too long), it isn't able to fully or completely tackle all of the issues it wants to discuss. For example, there's a few meaningful conversations about what gay marriage equality means for the LGBT+ community, and how everyone in the community has different feelings towards it (whether or not it's another heteronormative trap, what it means for the future of equality rights, how it impacts things that straight people take for granted, like visitation rights at the hospital), but I'm not sure Dumond ever reaches any conclusions about it or gives these discussions the spotlight they really need. I think it's wonderful that she wanted to bring up all these topics, but I think it would've helped the book's pacing and tone if she'd cut some of it down.

Another problem I had was the (in my opinion) overusage of the term "queer." Sometimes the word was used when it would've been easier, and more poignant, to be specific: lesbian, gay, transgender, nonbinary, whatever it might've been. Although it's now a commonly used term and, for many, in no way offensive, it's a word that I think we should be use sparingly and with remembering how not so long ago, it was a slur, used to make LGBT+ people feel like outsiders, feel hated, afraid. Not everyone is comfortable with that term, and we'd do one another a favor if we thought of that before using it. It particularly made me cringe when characters used it in reference to older members of the LGBT+ community. I also thought it seemed a little strange and out-of-place when characters introduced themselves with their pronouns. I don't remember this being common in 2013; even now, people don't do it much in public spaces (LGBT or otherwise). We certainly should, and we should do our best to make others comfortable and use their pronouns of choice, but things like that made this book feel distinctly as if it were happening in 2022.

All in all, I think that, for me, this book was firmly average. Lots of people will probably enjoy it, and I think it's fantastic to see a self-discovery journey that doesn't focus entirely on romance, but some of the issues were too pressing for me to become totally immersed. Dumond's writing is simplistic, pleasant to read, but often told us what was happening instead of actually allowing us to experience it.

Recommended if you love weddings, discussions of religious homophobia and the ways we can use religion positively, and happy endings!

Disappointed to say I did not enjoy this book, or even finish it. I found the plot to be slow and the dialogue lacking.

I was initially really excited about the premise of this book. The idea of a queer baker in conservative Oklahoma becoming a bridesmaid for hire sounded like such a fun and thought provoking adventure. But the romantic plot was honestly boring. The love interest was a little typical and underdeveloped. The conversations about queer rights and love were a little stereotypical and surface level. The pace was really slow and I only found myself drawn to read out of obligation rather than interest.

Good concept that had a lot of potential but would need a lot of editing and enhancing.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for an ARC of this book!

3.5/5 stars - rounded up!

Queerly Beloved follows Amy, a baker and bartender that lives in Oklahoma. Most mornings you will find her at a very Conservatively Christian bakery, but little do her co-workers know - at night Amy's bartending at the local gay bar. Amy is a queer woman, but she'd rather keep that to herself at the risk of making other uncomfortable, One day while working at the bakery, a charming, seemingly queer, engineer walks into her bakery and Amy asks her on a date!

This book focused less on the romance and more on Amy's character development. Which, honestly i enjoyed. Amy is a chronic people-pleaser. After getting a gig as a fill-in bridesmaid for a complete stranger - what luck! - we find her struggling to balance her time with Charlie and doing the things she knows how to do best. I think showing her emotional development was an interesting move and it kept me invested in the storyline more than the romance did, it reminds me a lot of the plot of Nina Lacour books, which i think is what hooked me. There is discourse on gay rights, as this takes place in the mid-2010s, which was a nice add. It mostly focuses on heteronormative practices and gay marriage.

All -in-all, if you're looking for a die-hard romance, I would not recommend this book. BUT if you're looking for a book where a queer woman learns how to be and care for herself, with a side of romance and comedy - i think you'll enjoy this book. I'm still cracking up about the penis cake incident.

2.5 stars rounded up

This was okay but I never really connected with the MC, Amy. I felt like her personality was all over the place and never flushed out. Also her LI, Charley, was kinda bland to me. I also would've never known this was based in 2013 because I thought it was within the last few years. This also doesn't feel like a romance since it was more about Amy's journey.

Queerly Beloved follows the life of Amy as she attempts to make her way in life. Amy works multiple jobs to pay rent while living in two world, one where she can be herself and the other where she must conform. Amy’s journey to finding herself and what career suits her is a long and twisty path filled with fantastic characters. The story also includes several laughs as Amy starts a side-gig where is a rent-a-bridesmaid. The constant underlying theme to the story is loving who you love when the government/ the law does not support it. Amy also has an on again off again romance with an important person in big oil. This romance is filled with miscommunications, lies, and an overwhelming sense of acceptance.

I adored Queerly Beloved. The writing was sharp and witty and the characters were absolutely charming.

Amy lives in Oklahoma and works at the hottest bakery in Tulsa. Baking is Amy’s passion and she adores her job. The only issue is that Amy is gay and her boss and coworkers would not accept her… so Amy is closeted while at work. Amy lives in fear of her bosses finding out and firing her. Then a new girl, Charley moves to Tulsa and Amy is smitten. Suddenly Amy’s worst nightmare happens, her boss finds out and as expected, fires her. Amy starts a business as a “professional bridesmaid” for straight couples at their weddings. Amy’s new business is booming and her new romance is blossoming. But why does Amy still feel like an imposter? Gay marriage was still illegal in Oklahoma and she finds it hard to love, love while also being personally discriminated against. As Amy struggles to find a balance, she may just lose everything with Charley.

"A people-pleasing bridesmaid-for-hire falls for the crushable new lesbian in town"?? Yes please!!

This was super cute read. It felt more like a coming-out / self-discovery story than a romance in full. Not that that's a bad thing by any means, but the romance felt more like a background plot and it's heavily marketing as romance/romcom so it feels worth mentioning. From word I've seen about it so far, I think a lot of people assumed it would be much more lighthearted all around. There's some heavier themes to it regarding the times prior to the legalization of gay marriage. Readers need to be prepared for that. It's a bit slow, but definitely worth pushing through.

I personally enjoyed it overall and would like to see more from this author.

I wanted to really like this book, but I struggled with it. The description was very promising, the title quite clever, and I was excited to read it - it gave me Love & Other Disasters vibes (which I really liked). Queerly Beloved's being billed predominantly as a romance, but I think that it's not really the focus of the book at all - it seems as more of a secondary storyline. The focus is more on Amy's personal and professional development, which I would have appreciated more if I knew that I shouldn't have kept waiting for more of the romantic storyline to come to the forefront. It also felt like it dragged a little bit too, as if there was a lot more padding to bolster the plot than strictly necessary - it probably could have been 25-30% shorter and would have been much more digestible for it. I also had to keep reminding myself that this was taking place in a much less progressive time and place - which I inexplicably had a hard time understanding why this really was necessary. On the plus side, Amy was extremely relatable and authentic, and her friends and family were great additions to support the overall story. I think the book would have been more powerful on it own, without trying to force it as a romance, unless the romance angle being more refined and advanced.

Thanks for Random House for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review. Looking forward to seeing what this author comes up with next, despite my lack of enthusiasm with this one.

this was one of the most touching and funny books I'd read in a while. The bulk of the story is set in 2013 and follows a lesbian woman as she navigates life in a small Oklahoma town where she is both closeted and out depending on the social / professional setting. She is surrounded but a great cast of friends and family and each of them play an integral part to her journey. I found the book to be fast paced and fun while sometimes covering topics that were sad or heartbreaking and frustrating. The author did a beautiful job of creating a safe place for the reader to identify with the characters and to open up to how we don't always know what is just under the surface. I am so happy to have read this book and love the journey as well as the hea.

*SLIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD!*
This book was fine. As you can tell from my read dates, it was a bit of a slog, and I can't entirely put my finger on why. Overall the story was fine, but I guess a bit boring? Not a lot happens. Or rather, a lot of stuff happens, but nothing that is substantial or meaningful to the storyline. Like, you could cut out huge chunks of the book, get the same ending, and not feel like you missed anything.

I didn't like the MC, Amy. She felt selfish and I really didn't empathize with her at all throughout the book. The LI, Charley, is pretty one dimensional (short haired masc lesbian who wears suits) and I just didn't buy the love story. Even their meet-cute in Amy's homophobic bakery didn't feel cute and flirty, it felt kind of forced? And then Amy was dropping the L bomb and I think they'd been on 3 dates and she didn't understand why Charley needed space? Also, Charley worked in the oil and gas industry, and it felt like the author was trying really hard to show that not everyone who works in that industry is evil, but, sorry, they mostly are. Or, if they're not, it's mostly greenwashing to make it look like the evil extractive industry isn't really that bad (but they are). Perhaps this was not the book for me personally, as I want to see all oil and gas operations shut the hell down.

The side characters were also really one dimensional. Like, Damian is a personal trainer and his partner is a bartender. And that's all I know about them. There was just nothing there.

Overall, I guess the story was fine. I feel really bad being critical of a debut queer author, but this book just did not at all do it for me, and it honestly felt like a chore to read (esp when there are a bunch of other books that I am really excited to get to!). One other review I saw said that the author did a lot of telling and no showing, which is something I've had a hard time wrapping my head around with other books that this has been said about, but I totally agree with it for this one. There was just no feeling; it was a bunch of words on pages, and I'm not sure what could be done to change that?

This is a truly delicious delight of a book!
Amy, the main character is so relatable in her journey. I appreciated that this book was more so a coming out type of story versus other wonderful stories where the main character has already been out.
I also appreciate the author's writing style, its smart and quirky. I felt myself smiling at the pages with the funny banter of friends. I would have liked more of the romance element though, more courting and more drawn out details of the couple. But other than that this book left me wanting some yummy wedding cake. This read came at a perfect moment in my life. My cousin is getting married so all the wedding lingo was just perfect!
Plus this cover is just so adorable. I would def read another book by Susie Dumond!

Queerly Beloved is a delight! It’s super gay, full of amazing friendships, a cute romance, and tons of baked goods!

I really enjoyed this book and following Amy on her journey of discovering what she wants to do with her life. Her life turns upside down when the bakery that’s employed her for a few years discovers she’s gay and fires her. Her road to being who she fully is and not doing things just to make other people comfortable is wonderful and inspiring.

I wish everyone would read this, queer or not, to better understand what it’s like to feel different and unsafe and excluded, and then on the flip side to feel welcome and whole when you find your people. I’m cisgendered and straight, but reading this made me better understand Amy’s life and struggles, the fears of people turning away from her for who she is, and the happiness when small steps are taken towards equality.

I did think that this was going to be more like a romance or romcom, but it’s more of a self-discovery or coming of age kind of story with a bit of romance thrown in. Amy and Charley are really cute and I couldn’t help but root for them, but they’re dates are few and far between, and the book is more about Amy’s jobs. Just putting that out there in case anyone thinks it’s a full on romance.

Definitely worth a read and it will make you want to eat all the cupcakes!

*Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy.

While I am thankful for the opportunity to try this book through an ARC, I couldn't get through Queerly Beloved - it really just dragged for me and didn't keep my attention, despite its super cute premise. DNF at 26%.

Read this book if you like: books about bakers, LGBTQ books, 2010 ish timelines, queer representation

Amy is a semicloseted queer baker and bartender in mid-2010s Oklahoma. She has spent a lifetime putting other people’s needs before her own. Suddenly she’s been fired from her job at a Christian bakery and turns to a strange job, a paid bridesmaid for weddings. Before losing her job she meets Charley, an attractive engineer who’s just moved to Tulsa. They go on a series of dates.

I liked this book. It was funny. I loved the fact that Amy had to get a crazy job like fake bridesmaid. I loved the baking aspect of the book and the recipe at the end. I loved that it showed the importance of finding family when your blood family doesn't accept you for who you are. I do feel it was lacking a bit in the development of Charlie and Amy's relationship. I didn't love Amy at first but she grew on me. The book wasn't really relationship forward like you would expect. I was hoping for more of that. It did a lot of focusing on the times before gay marriage was allowed. I'm bisexual so I really appreciate that. It paints an accurate picture of the times. I really enjoyed it!

This comes out May 3rd! Thank you to NetGalley, the author Susie Dumond, and Random House Publishers for my gifted copy. ❤