Rating 3.5

It was just so cute. it really was something I needed and it felt good to read about cute lesbian romance.

I chose this title because it was outside of my norm. it was a fun, lighter read that told the story of Amy, who lives in a small town where they are not open to same sex relationships. Amy meets Charley, who is new to town, and gets outed and fired from her job. These ladies go through a journey about finding ones self and being true to themselves.

Thank you to Netgalley, Random House, and the author for giving me an early copy for an honest review!

Queerly Beloved is the story of Amy, a lesbian in Tulsa, Oklahoma who starts a bridesmaid-for-hire business after getting fired from her job at a Christian bakery, and falls for a new transplant to town, the beautiful Charley.

Ultimately, I have mixed feelings about this book. It’s definitely cute, and the ending ties up very neatly. I liked reading a queer romance novel set in Tulsa, and the bridesmaid-for-hire business of the protagonist creates some interesting internal conflict. I also loved Amy’s relationship with her mom and with her chosen family, and the wedding shenanigans were intriguing. My main issue with the book is the romantic lead, Charley: I felt like I didn’t get to know her at all beyond her being beautiful and put together. She doesn’t seem to have any flaws or any three dimensionality. This means that the third act breakup doesn’t feel tied to the actual characters or plot. Parts of the book were definitely cute, but I wanted more.

Thanks for NetGalley and the publishers for giving me an eARC in return for an honest review!

Such a fun read! Recommend to anyone who needs a light pick me up in between heavier books. Definitely go buy!

I was so excited that I got a change to read this one! It's outside my normal reads but I honestly really enjoyed it. I think it's overall a great story and it's really a read for everyone. Thank you so much for the opportunity to read and review this title!

This was such a fun and entertaining book. I loved the humour, the sparkle and lots of fun wedding events.
Amy starts off as a very closed up newly out Lesbian in a small town of Tulsa. She is working at a Bakery The Daily Bread and also works at the Gay bar in town some evening shifts. You see her grapple and struggle to juggle her identity with community and even some family dynamics. She is fired from her bankers job that she loves but it brings about a lot of goof change to her life; including a new Bridesmaid Business. Amy is also struggling to find the right girl to date, having been through a rough breakup with Autumn. With the support of her friends she gets her business up and running and even meets Charley whom she falls head over heels.
While I really enjoyed this book, I felt like there was so so much in this story that at times it drowned out the main story/focus of the book. Then I realized that there was a lot to focus on; was it about Amy and her Business? Amy and Charley? IT was all about Amys personal development! not so much a ROMCOM, that is actually a part i wish was more highlighted in this book. The Romance was deffin. lacking and I went into this book expecting more Romance (ROMCOM) A little disappointed with that. Also very long, at times i skimmed through the extra stuff bc it didnt really add anything to the story. Overall a good read.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this copy in exchange for my honest review!

For romance readers, the romance definitely takes the back seat to the personal journey, but it's still a very satisfying story that hits the beats. What I appreciated most about this book is how it's a journey for someone trying to get by in a hostile environment, which is a very understandable mode, to creating a life in which she can truly be herself and thrive. And that happens by embracing community. I think people who love leisurely, talky books with lots of queer characters will really love this. The relationships in this book are really richly portrayed and show really great arcs of conflict and growth. The romance suffered a little from "why can't they just talk to each other" syndrome, but talking is never as easy as everyone wants it to be! A real gem of a book.

Queerly Beloved started promising.
I liked the beginning of the book and even had a few tears escape me at how relatable it felt being queer in an mainly homophobic environment.
I liked Amy and was looking forward to watch her romance with Charley bloom throughout the story.

Sadly enough, the story started really well but I felt it going down little by little.
The chosen family Amy has are all really nice but Amy was the one who bothered me after a few chapters. She ended feeling boring and everything with the weddings started being repetitive and I lost interest halfway through the book.

Her romance with Charely was not very intresting or didn't feel deep, which made it look as if was not really believable? Something felt off to me the whole time about their relationship.
The ending felt a but rushed to me but I was happy all the queers had their happy ending.

Also all the sweets made me want to bake and I'm definitely going to try those champagne cupcakes!

This book definitely isn’t a romcom - more like new adult Women’s fiction - but once I adjusted my expectations for it’s genre, I really enjoyed it.

Amy is a lesbian working at an ultra-conservative bakery in Oklahoma in 2013 (prior to gay marriage being legal nationwide). After she meets Charley, a new lesbian engineer in town, she’s outed to her coworkers and promptly fired. Desperate for cash, she starts a business as a rent-a-bridesmaid, putting her baking, DIY, and organization skills to use. She also starts her own bakery gig on the side. Throughout the book, Amy is navigating what it means to be authentically herself while working in the wedding industry at a time before marriage equality.

Amy was, admittedly, a little all over the place and I thought the storyline dragged at times. I didn’t love how the romance element developed and thought Charley treated Amy pretty poorly. I could deeply identify with living in Baptist Christian culture, and thought Dumond did a nice job representing that subculture. I switched back and forth between the ebook and audiobook, and thought the narration by Kimberly M Wetherell was really enjoyable (which probably bumped my overall rating to four stars instead of 3).

Content warnings: pretty intense homophobia throughout the book

Thanks to Random House for the early copy. All opinions are my own.

This was a sweet, cute and sometimes funny Sapphic romance novel.

It was very interesting that the author chose to set this novel in the past in 2013. If you read her author's notes, she goes into why she made that choice. She thought it could really expose how people were feeling around the issue of gay marriage being legalized. I thought it made this book unique and really did help the reader to understand more around what it was like during that time period.

Amy is a queer baker who loves weddings. When she loses her job by being outed for being gay, she stumbles into a business idea of being a professional bridesmaid. While she is juggling the loss of her job, and starting a business, she meets Charley. They instantly have a connection and start to date.

Amy struggles to be her true self and own the fact that she is gay in her life. While she is the perfect friend to her bridesmaid clients, her close and personal relationships start to crumble. This all is happening while there is the fight for marriage equality going on in her state of Oklahoma.

There are a cast of characters that are part of Amy's crew that surround her in friendship. I think it would have been nice to go into more depth with some of the friendships, but it was cute to see them all love working and hanging out at their neighborhood bar Ruby's.

This book was more about Amy's journey and her ability to find her real self underneath all the pretending she had done for years to fit in. I think the romance with Charley was secondary to Amy figuring it out and getting her life in order.

There were some really funny scenes that I enjoyed like the peacock cake. That was hysterical. I appreciated what the author did to confront a time that is important in history.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for access to this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Although the cover denotes a lighthearted romcom, this book confronts homophobia and evolving personal views. I appreciated the themes of a found family and am so grateful we have a plethora of books with queer characters - normalizing what is inherently normal. This would be a good book discussion choice for a group that skirts real issues because it handles issues with a soft touch. This came across a little too YA or simple for me although appreciating the effort. Thanks to Dial Press for the advanced copy!

This is a #LGBTQ #romance set in 2013 Tulsa, OK. Amy a talented baker who is closeted in her conservative town so she can work in a successful bakery. But after they somehow find out they just fire her. Like because of religious freedom or something. Like wwJd, pretty sure it wasn't that. 

"Then they will reply, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and didn’t do anything to help you?' Then he will answer, 'I assure you that when you haven't done it for one of the least of these, you haven't done it for me.'"
MATTHEW 25:44 - 45

Just throwing a scripture in without context like everyone else seems to. I'm a Presbyterian all are welcome here Christian. So listening to this kind of hateful interpretation of religion and how it affects people's lives when really love is love and how does anyones love life affect others lives personally. 

I love the idea of hiring a bridesmaid to lean on for the tricky issues instead of a relative who might say nope. Amy falls into that job right when she needs a job. This was still when gay marriage wasn't legal and being gay was not accepted. Ok I guess in some places people are still bigots.

Amy really wants that fairytale after watching so many weddings and why can't everyone love the magic of uniting two souls for life. Her dating Charley felt so much like my 20's and her mistakes and heartache and seeing her out with someone else, I have felt all those shooting feelings of pain and joy. The highs and lows of new relationships are the best and worst. Her relationship with her friends Damian and Joel was perfect, perfect, perfect.

The epilogue of how her budding company evolved into 2023 and everyone's relationships was the icing on the cake.

Thank you randomhouse and netgalley for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

SUMMARY: When closeted Amy is outed then fired from the ultra-conservative bakery where she works, she begins moonlighting as a secret bridesmaid. But does working in league with the straight wedding industrial complex mean she’s betraying her community?

This was an interesting book. I thought it was going to be a classic romcom, but it was more of a novelized quarter-life crisis in which a queer woman in Tulsa, OK circa 2013 comes to terms with her floundering career and conflicts in her interpersonal relationships. Much of the action is focused on how Amy has to act differently (essentially hiding her true self) depending on who she’s with.

It reminded me of Written in the Stars—and not just because of the FF romance. It was also similar in tone, focused on career/friendships, and had a strong sense of place. This was the author’s debut, and she said she wrote the book she wanted to read. Maybe others will feel the same!

I will say that I found some of Amy’s behavior a bit immature—constantly bringing up her own lack of love life, even when her best friends have just gotten engaged—but maybe I just have zero patience for that.

Overall, it was interesting, and I think it could definitely resonate with people who are looking for this story to be told!

Thank you to @netgalley, @randomhouse and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Set in mid 2010’s, Amy grew up in Oklahoma as a southern baptist and is a lesbian. She has become the black sheep of her family and has to keep her sexual identity hidden from her job as a baker, at the Daily Bread that is owned by devout Christians. She works part time as a bartender at a popular gay bar, and also loves anything to do with weddings.

When she is outed by a mysterious person she loses her job at the bakery and becomes a bridesmaid for hire. She also meets Charley, an engineer that recently moved to Tulsa, and they share an instant attraction to each other.

At times this felt like a new adult novel as Amy tries to navigate her life, new love, friendships and doing the thing she loves even though her and are friends do not have the opportunity to have the same equality as others.

This is a very cute palette cleanser, considering I have read a lot of serious books lately. It does have all the typical cliches of a romantic comedy, so you won’t be surprised, but nonetheless I found myself enjoying this one a lot. Great for the beach as it does not take a lot of concentration to get through this one.

Thank you NetGalley and Dial Press for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

The premise was promising, but I didn’t love this story as much as I’d hoped I would. There was a mix of light and heavier elements to the plot, which was nice, and the tone was a blend of taking-on-relevant-issues and also a bit preachy at times. I didn’t love the protagonist; she annoyed and irritated me often, but she did grow as a character by the end of the novel. As much as I wanted to love the central romantic relationship, I just didn’t feel the chemistry there…it felt like the real spark was missing for me. All in all, it was pretty good, and I enjoyed it, but I do think it could’ve been made even stronger. Either way, I’m really glad I was able to read this advance copy of Queerly Beloved.

As a romance, this just didn't really work for me. I couldn't get into the characters, particularly as a couple. Maybe women's fic would be a better categorization for this book.

Perfectly queer. Such and entertaining book to read! Also made me when to bake sweets! It was interesting to read a book set pre-gay marriage laws. Thanks for netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was sooo hopeful for this queer bakery story but it just didn’t work for me. There was no chemistry between the love interests, all of the characters felt the same, and the writing didn’t flow naturally.

I think if this had been marketed as a queer women's fiction it might have been better. There was more about Amy's relationship with her two best friends, her finding herself, and being true to herself then there was with her love interest. Overall, it was underwhelming because I had thought it was a rom-com and was disappointed when I didn't get it. The other characters were almost one dimensional, Charley definitely was.

"Queerly Beloved" hooked me with it's name alone and I just knew I had to read it! Overall, this was a quick, engaging read about a woman coming to terms with her own sexuality and being comfortable in her identity. I felt that the romance was actually more background to the self discovery journey Amy was taking. I love that the author set this novel in 2013 - a time where acceptance of queer individuals was still up in the air. It made Amy's struggles more relatable while also reminding us how far we've come. The only things I didn't enjoy about the novel were that there was a bit less dialogue than I expected, especially between our two love birds, and the fact that a lot of the conflicts were resolved too easily, i.e. with Amy/Charlie, Amy/Joel...but otherwise, this was a fun read!