Oof, this one hit a little too close to reality with the whole Christian bakery thing!

I feel like the cover is a bit misleading - it gives cute queer rom-com vibes, and then the actual content was more Women's Fic/Chick Lit, focused on Amy's growth and finding herself, with the romance plotline being more of a side story than the main focus. j

As a romance it's a 2 star read, and as Women's Fic it's a 3.5 star, so I give it a weighted average of 3 stars.

I expected this book to deliver more than it actually did. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t good. Even though I enjoyed some parts, it wasn’t memorable.

This one sounded super cute and it did not disappoint. I really enjoyed this book. I am loving all the cute Rom-Coms recently.

I love a romance book that involves baking, so I was drawn to Queerly Beloved. Susie Dumond's book is a solid contribution to the queer canon in this space, and I'll look forward to more from this author.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

I was able to get through some of this. The general consensus as to why I stopped was because of the lack of romance in a story that is marketed as a rom-com.

There didn't seem to be a lot of chemistry between the two characters the romance is focused on. There was also a lot more telling than showing, and that is something that peeves me a bit when I'm reading a book. Therefore, while the story seemed interesting based on the blurb, I didn't think it was accurate to what was on its pages.

This had promise but the setting being before marriage equality just made the story seem dated to me. At times it seemed like the timeline for the book was a bit jumbled too.

The execution was so poorly done that I couldn't continue. I had high hopes for this given all the initial reviews but it fell really flat for me. DNF @ 60%

i am so upset i have to write this review but man this book was such a let down!!! susie dumond's debut romcom titled 'queerly beloved' follows amy, a semi-closeted baker & bartender working at a very christian bakery in tulsa, just trying to do her best to make others happy. when she is very suddenly fired from the bakery for her queer lifestyle, she turns a one-off gig subbing in for a friend of a friend's bridesmaid into a full on bridesmade-for-hire business, tasked with making sure nothing goes wrong on the bride's perfect day. between this new business and charley, the hot new engineer who moved to town, suddenly amy has found a life that makes her happy. amy's friends are happy that amy is being truly herself for once, but when her desire to please kicks into high gear, all of amy's relationships are put to the test. can amy find herself (and love) in all the chaos?

i wanted to love this SO MUCH but man oh man what a letdown. first off, the book was too long for what it was -- it easily could have been 100 pages shorter and benefited the story. so much of the book was describing amy on these bridemaid trips & events, but none of them gave us anything new about amy as a person, or advanced the story forward in any way. but my biggest issue was the lack of consistency in the characterization. amy claims to be a people pleaser, but often comes across as selfish & self-centered. charley had as much personality as a brick wall. joel & damien (two of amy's friends) were lumped together to have one very stereotypical personality, as were greg & max. it was just such a letdown, and i regret investing so much time into this story for little-to-no payoff.

Enjoyed the book, but felt that the romance fell a bit flat for me. I was hoping for more complex relationships In the book. Will still give the author another read!

The potential was there but the execution was lacking.

It was great to see the journey that Amy goes through with her identity and figuring out who she is in the world around her. Her amazing friendships were a great addition to the story.

For me, that where it ended. There was just a plug and play feel to the storyline; like the author was just checking things off a "must include" list.

There were definitely some funny parts to the story and I enjoyed the comic relief. The romance aspect was lacking for me between Amy and Charley. At most they just came across as awkward and friendly.

I throughly enjoyed this novel. In fact, it’s one of the few lately that has held my attention throughout the entire story. While I could see a few things coming, I never felt like rushing though it. I would definitely recommend it to friends.

Such a cute and heartwarming story of someone truly finding themself and their growth along the way. It was great!

WHY IS THIS BOOK SO BORING!????????? It has no draw for me. None of the characters are likable or even memorable. I wanted to like this based on the premise, but I hated almost every second of this reading experience. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this book, it was super fun! Not one that I think I will remember for a long time, but a solid 3.5 stars.

I’ve read other reviews suggesting this be marketed more as fiction than romcom and I tend to agree. That said, what did work so well in this book of Susie Dumond’s is how they really let you see inside main character Amy’s closeted mind and heart. The racist bakery trope - I was worried about how it would play out but in fact was the perfect setting for Amy’s character to expand, so to speak. I truly enjoyed reading about Amy’s inside voice thoughts as juxtaposed to what was happening in her outside world. Thanks for this advanced reading copy, NetGalley and also Susie!

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

Set in 2013, the book opens with Amy, a queer, semi-closeted baker and bartender. She lives in Tulsa Oklahoma where the values are as religious as you can get. When Amy gets outed at the Christian bakery she works at, she must figure out how to pay her rent, get her poor car fixed, and live. The bartending job does not cover everything. at her cousin's wedding, she meets another couple and they offer to pay her for standing in at their wedding for a bridesmaid that cannot attend. A new business is born.

However, while doing this business, she must stay untrue to herself. She has to act hetero and keep her feelings about weddings and the exclusion of her and her friends from getting married. The novel is a look into this world that I am not a part of. However, by reading this book, it opens my eyes even more to the injustices that are being carried out in our political system. I really, really enjoyed reading this and had a hard time putting it down.

Also - the cover artwork - fantastic!

Loved this book more than I expected too! Took me awhile to get to but I was so glad when I finally did. Was a bit of a slow burn but eventually found it's footing. I enjoyed the authors writing as well- a very light read. Book was also longer than I intended and felt it could have been condensed for the story told. Last thing is I would have liked a little more depth in the MC's, but liked the story well enough.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc. Unfortunately this wasn’t for me. The timing in the book consistently felt off. I felt the book dragged for the first half.

This book was unfortunately very disappointing. I found the characters to be all over the place, very inconsistent, and there was no chemistry between the two so the romance felt very forced. I also found that the book had a lot of stereotyping. I wish I could say something good about this book, but unfortunately I can’t.

Queerly Beloved is a really cute romcom with great LGBTQ+ rep. I loved the complex characters and that Amy, the main character, saw so much growth in this book! This book made me laugh, cringe, and root for the couple - all things I want in my romcoms. Imperfect characters are the best and create such interesting stories. While a bit predictable at times, I enjoyed reading this one!

Thanks to NetGalley for the arc. All opinions are my own.