Super sweet and socially conscious romance! I love how well this book balanced romance with self discovery and early midlife crisis of the main character. Amy’s struggles of being queer in the South, wanting to be authentic, and wanting to succeed in life was really nuanced and well thought out. I appreciated the discussions of politics and social impact of laws being passed and industry influences on minorities. Loved the found family aspects as well!!

Thank you for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I had high expectations for this book, and I was extremely disappointed. The romance lacked chemistry. Charley was your stereotypical suave, butch lesbian. Which I’m not complaining about, but she had no storyline or development whatsoever. The gay side characters were just your typical GBFs. They were too stereotypical. And our main character’s storyline just didn’t feel relatable. It felt as though she was forcing the commentary, yet it wasn’t even well done. Yes, there need to be books written about those who have experienced homophobia, especially before gay marriage was legalized. Those stories do need to be uplifted. But this just lacked for me. This book needs a million trigger warnings for church trauma and homophobia. This book needs to be reworked. It also needs to stop being advertised as a fun, queer rom-com, when I just felt awkward and depressed the whole book. I would’ve much rather read a queer rom-com than whatever this was

Queerly Beloved is a truly adorable and heartfelt sapphic romance set in 2013 Tulsa, Oklahoma. By having it take place almost a decade ago, you really get to see how much progress has been made in terms of queer rights, but also how much more progress needs to be done. This book so ADORABLE!! While I am not the biggest fan of weddings (mainly due to anxiety), I love to read about them, and reading about Amy and her love of weddings and her development of her business was so entertaining. I also really enjoyed her romance with Charley. It was the perfect mix of slow-burn and insta-love and had me squealing at different points. I really loved this book and y'all should read it for a cute sapphic romance with some great side characters and side plots.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️- {QUEERLY BELOVED - Susie Dumond}

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC of QUEERLY BELOVED in exchange for an honest review!

I DO love this book! So sweet 🧁 and not just because the MC Amy is a baker! 🤪Amy is young and gay in 2013 Tulsa, Oklahoma. Closeted in one of her jobs at a Christian bakery, out and open as a bartender at the town LBGTQ bar Ruby Reds, and trying in the midst of it all to find love while still making rent. Charley walks into her life as the nerdy masc lesbian of her dreams! Unfortunately her world is about to be turned upside down after she gets outted to her ultra conservative boss and loses her steady income at the bakery and turns an impromptu bridesmaid fill in into a bridesmaid for hire business venture. Sound like a lot?!?! Luckily Amy has a great group of friends by her side to help her through with some laughable moments along the way.

The characters were great, supporting cast funny and you easily root for all the couples in the book. The sex scenes were mild, which I prefer in general because I get embarrassed super quickly. If your looking for steamy romance this aint it! I appreciate when a rom-com isn’t all sunshine and rainbows 🌈 (well in this case there were a-lot of rainbows 😆) and when there’s obstacles to get through. Just makes it more believable in my mind. I would say the main negative for me was the author did a-lot of explaining of scenes rather then have dialogue between characters so that felt forced and ongoing at times. Other than that I thought it was well worth the read!

I first want to thank NetGalley for giving me this ARC in exchange for a review!

I liked this book a lot, but I thought I was in for a different plot. I thought the story was going to be more centred around Amy (our lovely protagonist) having to hide the gay side of her life as she works at a conservative bakery. Of course, that is only the first few chapters. Amy's life goes on a rollercoaster with her finding her place as a professional bridesmaid and wooing the new girl in town. It took a while for the plot to get moving, and I thought there were too many wedding scenes. I understand that we are following Amy on her journey from her first gig and how every wedding adds to her experience, but it made the book seem a bit too long than it should have been.

Then comes the romance aspect of the book. I love Amy as a character. I think she's a well-written character, and she is also well rounded. I want the best for her, and I think Charley is an interesting love interest. I like that there is a more realistic timeline of how little they may see other because of their individual lives, but I felt like there was a lot of skirting around their own issues. That made their relationship a bit strained.

I will definitely come back to the book when it is fully published.

I'm partial ;) but I'd say this is a heartfelt book with a lot of love for queer communities in red states, and discussion of the past and future of queer liberation. Plus wedding mayhem, cupcakes, and a grungy queer bar!

QUEERLY BELOVED is a sweet sapphic romance set in Tulsa, Oklahoma just before marriage equality was legalized. Amy is a baker at a conservative Christian bakery where she pretends to be straight to keep her job, surviving with her second job as a bartender at a queer bar where she’s safe with her accepting found family. She meets Charley, an engineer new to town, and the two start seeing each other. When Amy is fired for being gay, she ends up working as a professional bridesmaid to make ends meet. But attending so many straight weddings when her gay best friends can’t get married is rubbing salt in the wound, and passing as straight for her job yet again makes her question what it might look like for her to risk living as her full, gay-as-fuck self.

When I heard about a book set in Oklahoma in the early 2010s I was looking forward to this book, as I got my undergraduate degree in a plains state in that exact time period. So I knew the culture that would have surrounded this book well. But when I finally got to read this book, there were things I did enjoy about the book, but overall I feel like it was trying to do too much and got lost in the shuffle.

Queerly Beloved follows Amy, a baker in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Amy can't be fully expressive about her being a lesbian as she works in a Christian themed bakery- but she has still managed to create a community around herself. But when everything seems to fall apart for her, she finds a new path career wise as a bridesmaid for hire. And along the way meets Charley- the cute soft butch engineer who just moved to Tulsa for work and throws Amy's routine off even more.

There were things to like about this book- particularly the character of Amy. Seeing her grow and develop over the course of the book was probably the best part and it's honestly what kept me reading.

Unfortunately other than Amy, I feel like a lot of the characters in this book were underdeveloped. We really don't find out much about Charley as the love interest very much at all. And for me to really buy into the romance of the book I need to be much more invested in the characters- and I just wasn't here. Her best friends really weren't super developed either besides some basic character traits.

This book also tries to have a discussion about gay marriage and heteronormative practices as it takes place when and where it does, but it doesn't fully commit. It mentions discourse and discussion on important topics then doesn't go into detail to have real conversations about the issues.

I feel like this book could use some solid editing. It has potential with Amy as a really interesting character and I enjoyed reading about her personal progression, but a lot of this book just also didn't work as well for me- particularly the romance. 2.5/5

Thank you to Dial Press and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was given an ARC of this book by NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

This book was not the queer RomCom I was hoping for, but I did mostly enjoy it. The story focused more on Amy’s growth arc and her finding herself and growing her business rather than her relationship. Amy’s business wasn’t what I’d hoped it would be until the epilogue, but I was glad to see she finally figured out her place in the world and the statement she wanted to make. Like the business, I’m glad that Amy and Charley finally got their shit together in the end, because throughout the majority of the book their relationship was really really weird, they were either all-in or taking a break, and I wasn’t really sure where they were going to end up.

I did appreciate the light that this book shined on being part of the queer community in Tulsa in the 2010s. This book paints a vivid picture of the struggles of a queer person trying to live their truth in the Bible Belt in the 2010s. I loved the message of living honestly and openly, and the emphasis on making your own family if yours doesn’t approve of your life-the Rudy Reds found family is absolute goals.

I was quite excited about this book, it look so cute, but I was quite disappointed, to be honest, the romance was basically non existent, Amy and Charley dated for a bit and then Charley pretty much ghosted Amy while Amy became a bridesmaid for hire which really meant she was a wedding planner, which fine but for me the fact the one of her clients was a woman who hired her because she thought her pregnant bridesmaid was going to ruin the pictures because she was going to be fat didn’t sit well withe, I found Amy whiney and selfish and prideful, specially regarding her friendship with Joel, and of course at the end all end up tied with a pretty rainbow bow.

I enjoyed this book but I did not love it. Perhaps because it was not so much a romcom as suggested as it was women’s literature, focusing on the evolution of the primary character, both personally and professionally, relegating her “partner” to supporting character status. Has the book been categorized as such I might have had different expectations while reading it, rather than awaiting a romance that never really materialized, accept peripherally.

Amelia (Amy) is a baker working at popular Oklahoma “Christian” bakery while concealing her sexuality from her homophobic employers, colleagues, and clients, so that she can gain the best training and experience. Unbeknownst to them, Amy also bartends at lesbian bar. Out to her family, she is often alienated and dismissed by all but her mother. After losing her bakery job.

While recuperating from a break up with a cheating ex (Autum), a subplot that was never developed and was wholly unnecessary, Amy meets Charley, an engineer recently relocated to Tulsa from Austin. Their romance endures some typical literary obstacles but the story is more focused on Amy’s growth, both personally and professionally. I enjoyed the portions of the story devoted to the development of Amy’s business as a “professional bridesmaid” and, ultimately, into something far more rewarding. I wish there had been some meaningful confrontation between Amy and her homophobic former employer. I wish there had been more focus on the cultivation of Amy and Charley’s relationship, as I just did not “feel” that they were besotted or well-matched.

The book was a little preachy—to the choir, frankly—as most of its readers are likely to be people who understand about anti LGBTQ+ legislation, the impact of such politics, and can perceive the experience of LGBTQ+ people growing up in and living in unaccepting, unreceptive geographic areas, whether they have lived it or are an ally.

As I suggested, had the book promised a tale of one young woman’s journey to realize her place in the world, I would not have been disappointed by awaiting a romance that was never really the focus. I did like Amy and her gang of supporting characters. If Amy and Charley were not as well developed as one might like, enough description about the environment was provided to explain their experience and make their choices seem authentic.

I do recommend the book; though I caution the reader to expect more of a women’s fiction story with a touch of romance.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dial Publishing for an electronic arc of Queerly Beloved.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I enjoyed this read but to me it was more a woman’s fiction book than romance, since it’s more about character growth than actual romance but it was a very good read. I also liked the fact it was set in 2013 and 2014 not currently.

Although this novel is too mature for my students, I thoroughly enjoyed it! I"m looking forward to discussing with my friends!

Queerly Beloved is the sweet, fluffy baking romance you've always dreamed of. Perfect for fans of The Princess Switch on Netflix. This book perfectly covers the art of moving on after heartbreak and giving new love a chance. 4 stars!

Thank you Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for the eARC! All opinions expressed are my own. This review does NOT contain any spoilers. :)

☆☆☆☆ Overall

Trigger/Content warnings: mentions of alcoholism, homophobia, HIV/Aids, cancer, cheating. (If I’m missing anything here that should be included, please let me know and I will edit and add! Thank you!)

I have so many big feelings about this book. I was super excited to receive this ARC, because this book has been on my TBR since it was announced.

I love weddings, romance, baking, found family aspects - and this book has all of that and more. At times, it feels like there is so much going on, which could be a good thing, but in my experience reading this book, I felt like I didn’t strongly connect with so many aspects of the world that Dumond built until around the halfway point. I like this book, but not because of the romance. I feel like the romance plot between Charley and Amy is secondary to the rest of the story, which is much stronger and relatable to me. I really wish that these two had more chemistry that we got to see firsthand in order to help us see more of how they fall in love, instead of it just being thrown together, if that makes sense.

I remember being a young queer kid and those years leading up to the marriage equality ruling in 2016. I remember how frightening it was to be living in the deep South as a young gay woman, and I related to these characters so strongly on that front. Navigating casual homophobia in schools, workplaces, etc. didn’t automatically get easier or anything, but it was a turning point in our history. Stories like these, that focus on queer perspectives in red states dealing with these common experiences, are so important because for a lot of us, this was our daily life.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, and I really loved Dumond’s storytelling and I am excited to read more of their work! I definitely think everyone who reads this book should make sure they read the author interview included toward the back of the text, because I think knowing more of the author’s perspective in this case helps you understand the voice behind the novel a lot more.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this digital ARC.

I really liked the cover and was excited by the premise. I was expecting more of a rom-com and this was much more a character driven story about the protagonist, Amy, with the love story part of it being more peripheral. Which is fine, I guess, I like regular fiction and women’s fiction, but it may be a bit misleading for those looking for a romance driven book.

Amy is a skilled baker who lives in a non-LGBQT friendly state and works in a very queer unfriendly bakery. The book follows her story, as she progresses from a somewhat chameleon-like existence that downplays and masks her queerness to someone who can be open and confident and pro-active.

There is a love interest but Charley, the nerdy engineer Amy falls for, doesn’t have a whole lot of page time and we don’t learn much about her other than her career details and some tidbits about her family—not really all that much about her as a character. And unfortunately that’s true for a fair number of the side characters in this book—they’re relevant to the story but not really fleshed out much at all. Kind of stand-in cardboard cut out best friends/co-workers etc that didn’t feel like they were more than that. We’re told they’re close to Amy but we don’t really see it all that much. Regi, who isn’t even one of Amy’s close friends, gets more development than some other characters who are more pivotal in Amy’s life.

The pacing and flow was uneven as well. I liked learning about Amy’s new job and the various wedding vignettes, but the book spends a lot of time in Amy’s head and there is a fair amount of telling rather than showing. It could have used some editing in that respect.

I think that may be why I didn’t connect with it as much as I had hoped—I think I was looking for richer character development and relationships, which I didn’t get as much of, being in Amy’s head and having her tell me so much rather than show.

The food sounded luscious and Ruby Red’s sounds like a great bar.
Daily Bread sounded like a place for spectacular food offerings, completely marred by the frankly offensive strident homophobia and bigoted attitude that permeated the establishment.

Overall a pleasant weekend or beach read. It had a lot of potential with the story idea and I think the themes of inequality and restriction of rights were well founded and important to confront. But overall this didn’t reach the potential I expected from the premise/summary.

I didn’t love it. I didn’t hate it.

Disappointing. The romance here takes a back seat to the main character’s struggles as a lesbian in conservative Tulsa. DBF about half way through.

Bridesmaid for hire: check. A lesbian bar that feels like home: check. Queer friendships: check. Champagne strawberry cupcakes: check. And a story of self discovery set against a highly conservative backdrop: check and check.

Queerly Beloved follows Amy and her journey through her “quarter life crisis” after she is fired from a job she loves in Tulsa, OK. With the help of some childhood friends, supportive family, and the intriguing Charley, Amy rediscovers her priorities and finds both love and happiness. As a queer person who grew up in the South, much of the story (the conservative relatives and friends, the conflicted inner dialogue) felt familiar. The storyline and the descriptions of mouthwatering pastries kept me hooked, but as the story drew to a close, I found myself craving more from the characters.

Queerly Beloved is the perfect beach read for any of you seeking something uplifting, light, and beautifully queer. Thank you to @netgalley and @thedialpress for an advanced reader copy of this book! Get your copy of Queerly Beloved on May 3!

I was so so excited to read this book and I am so sad that for me it just sort of fell flat. It took me a while to get into Queerly Beloved and once I was in, it didn't really hold my attention. I don't know if I didn't particularly vibe with the writing style or if it was something else. But I'm pretty sure that this book was just not for me.

Apparently, I'm a sucker for baking-themed rom-coms because this isn't the first I've read this year. A baker/bartender turned bridesmaid-for-hire, while being closeted to her work and clients but out to her friends, family, and fellow queer community, there is a lot of tension throughout the novel with Amy debating if doing the THING that she loves is going against the PEOPLE that she loves. I could picture Charley so clearly in my mind and am already ready for this to be a Netflix movie!

(Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!)