This wasn't my cup of tea. I was not a fan of the writing. I didn't appreciate that she was outed. The ending was too much.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

While I loved the concept of In Fashion, I felt the execution fell flat for me, mostly due to the writing style. It did not flow well to me and I often had a hard time following the dialogue. I also was not pulled in by the romance. Darcy's feelings for Kate did not seem to develop organically and seemed to happen very quickly, especially considering her more icy exterior. I just didn't buy it.

Another round of edits could bring this up to a 3 but overall I just wanted more from the characters that I was not receiving.

This was an interesting book about Darcy, known as the Style Surgeon. She can make a duckling into a swan while everyone is watching the transformation. Most women are thrilled to be chosen. That is not the case with Kate, who is a security guard whose Mom loves the Style Surgeon. Kate's Mom wrote to the Style Surgeon to be on there and Kate had no idea, until she was contacted. Now, Kate has to appear that she is fan because her Mom wrote that. Kate and Darcy are not on the same page at all, until they start to work together. The two must spend a lot of time together due to the show, but they notice there is sparks starting to fly the more time they spend together.
I would recommend.

Can love win in the world of fashion and fame?

I received an advance copy from Netgalley for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Darcy McGregor is a bitch. A bitch with a highly popular make-over show. A bitch and former super model. A bitch with a lot of skeletons in her closet. Darcy is more than fine with all of that. She is not fine, however, with her daughter not liking her very much. Darcy’s public persona hides a very sensitive woman that has been heartbroken by her own lack of courage to live authentically. Darcy is gay, but she doesn’t like to be gay. So she hides herself away and resigns to a life of loneliness and a lack of romantic love.

Kate just doesn’t get it. The whole world seems to be in love with Darcy McGregor, the Style Surgeon. To Kate the woman does nothing more than focus on the outside to make someone beautiful instead of looking within. When her mom, also a huge Darcy fan, tricks her into being a makeover candidate on her show, she decides to play with her a little. She knew Darcy was gorgeous, but up close? Man, she is the most beautiful woman Kate has ever seen. She can’t help but develop a huge crush on the tv-star. She must be kidding herself, but does Darcy flirt back?

It took me a long while to get into this story. The writing was a bit choppy and the characters just didn’t grab me. The premise is fun, candidate falls for the host of the makeover show. It’s very hard to like Darcy though. She is the ultimate bitch on the outside, stealing cabs from old ladies and all. She started winning me over when she started showing glimpses of her own vulnerabilities, but she takes a very long time to get there.

Kate, on the other hand, is very easy to like. Her relationship with her handicapped younger brother is so sweet. The way she gets under Darcy’s skin is hilarious. Kate just doesn’t budge on her own beliefs about beauty. The challenge to let her makeover Darcy in return is a fun idea, but for me the essence of that is glossed over. Same for a lot of the descriptive imagery, it’s just not there.

As said before, the premise is fun, for me, the actual story needed more.

I would have appreciated headings at the top of each chapter so I knew which point of view it would be written from. Thanks Netgalley for this advance copy.

I love getting these eARCs of previously published sapphic fiction. It makes feel like I hit the jack pot of unknown treasures. Given the recent increase in consumption of Romance novels in general, I appreciate the attempts at giving these worthy stories a second chance. In Fashion was a perfect example.

Jody Klaire was able to successfully create a believable celeb/normie, reality show, romance storyline. She would have benefitted from a bit more editorial oversight but overall an enjoyable experience.

Thank you to Ylva Publishing and NetGalley for providing an eARC for an honest review.

This book follows to main character Darcy, the star of a fashion makeover show, and Kate, the star of the pencial factory. Kate becomes a guest on Darcy's show and from there tensions rise and romances are grown. As a kid I always dreamed of being a fashion designer and I felt like I got to live out part of that dream while reading this book. The writing style of the book had some flow issues that made it hard to follow. The author does a good job giving the characters different personalities, my favorite was sproutman. I also found Darcy's lack of gaydar almost frustrating lol. The ending was a real movie star ending but it was cute.

Overall this was a good read but not a great read. If your looking for a sapphic romance book that features a fashion storyline I would recommend!
3.5/5

I received this ARC from NetGalley!

This book was first released in 2018, I read it just this week. It either aged really well, or has gotten a good update.
I liked this story, when I got into it about 3-4 chapters in. The fashion bits weren’t to my liking, but too in the nose. What I disliked most were the crazy soon I-love-yous, just don’t. This was a pretty ridiculous instance of uttering these three words way too early.

In general this story is pretty decent and about body positivity, finding inner strength and confidence and saying f4ck off to bullies

Darcy McGregor loves her perceived persona as a fashion guru. She is star of the makeover reality tv show called The Style Surgeon. Her latest makeover is a challenge. Kate Bonvilston is a security guard at a pencil factory. Her last two exes left her and she is now content with her life as is. Her mother and nine year old brother are the ones that submitted her name. Funny thing is that her strong butch appearance is catnip to Darcy, who doesn’t want to get into her own attractions. There are some very funny lines and moments and somehow the pair keep kissing even when Darcy denies her feelings. I couldn’t help but chuckle at some of the antics. Originally released in 2018 this is a very fun read.

She doesn't need a fashion expert trying to fix her perfectly good style, but maybe a kiss or two is okay.

Kate has just been through a rather bad break up after her ex left her for her best friend. Making things worse the two of them are getting married and Kate is still quite single, heartbroken, and not sure she can trust again. But her life is fine besides that, with her good job and great family, what more does she need right now? Well, according to her mother, a makeover. Kate finds herself the most recent guinea pig for the celebrity fashion export, Darcy, and a contestant on her show the Style Surgeon. Kate and Darcy clash at first, but soon sparks begin to fly and romance blooms - as do old secrets and tensions.

Darcy is one of those characters who's just a terrible person but great to read on the page. She's a classic ice queen, all business, all ambition, scared of genuine feelings. Kate is wonderfully herself, and her mistrust after her break up is completely understandable. Other side characters, especially Kate's brother Mikey and Darcy's daughter Susannah, were great supporting characters to the romance.

The writing style felt as if it was complicating the story, instead of supporting it. I found myself going back and rereading more than a few times. With that said, I was still able to somewhat immerse myself in the story and enjoy it.

If you're looking for a fun ice queen romance, check this out!

I received a free copy from Netgalley for an honest review.

The writing was a bit manic for me. There were times when the characters would be in a conversation, and they would jump from topic to topic so quickly that I'd get lost. But they themselves seemed to follow along without any problem, so I just felt disconnected. And right from the get-go, other characters would mention events or people as if we already knew them. Yes, you'd learn about them or what happened later on, but it just added to me feeling like I was plopped down into the middle of a story.

I'll still give it 3 stars since the characters definitely seemed interesting and it was quirky, but it wasn't my jam.

This was so easy to read and really funny. I love reading lesbian novels so this really hit the mark for me.

It's rare to see multiple lesbian couples on page at the same time, especially happy at the end so this was a pleasant surprise. A sweet ending and appreciated the overcoming of internalized homophobia.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley.

The story had the basics to be good but unfortunately the characters and the story all described at such high level so you never get the right feeling for them. Yes the Kate and Darcy gets together in the end and Darcy admits to being gay but you never really care.

As much as I wanted to love this, and as much as I loved the concept of this book, I still struggled. I really think this book could use a good edit. Some of the dialogue and the transitions between the characters were bit confusing. I really didn’t like how we had to keep identifying Darcy as a bitch. I feel like that was pretty obvious in the first chapter right out the gate how shallow and conceited and what a horrible mother that she was I’m pretty sure we didn’t need to keep saying it throughout the book because it was pretty obvious with how she was acting.

This also felt a little too instant love for me I get this was supposed to be enemies lovers, and I mean it was for about five seconds, and then it quickly turned into them, lusting after each other. Even with Darcy being a lesbian, her internal homophobia was extremely discouraging that it literally took , her ex-boyfriend outing her in order for her to come to terms with a public knowing about her sexuality. You can tell that there was a lot of self loathing and self hatred and Darcy‘s character.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this very funny book

Darcy McGregor can make anyone over and make them feel like a million dollars.... and she loves being a bitch about it....

so when security guard Kate Bonvilston is put forward much to her disgust... well her mother added her name and now she has to go with it.... well its never really going to go well

kate has been very unlucky in the love department being dumped by her last two partners so why darcy thinks that kate needs to attract a man is beyond her

but as they all start working together its not long before sparks fly between kate and darcy... but being outed isnt what darcy wants...

move over kinky boots theres a new play in town.... wow that ending a very funny read

Darcy McGregor, model and TV star and daughter Susannah do not get along. Mostly. After breaking up with her latest boytoy, Darcy is eager to get back to work on her makeover show.
,
Kate Bonvilston, recovering from her lover taking off with Kate's best friend, has been selected for a makeover on Darcy's show.

(She was entered by her Mum. Also, Kate HATES the show. Ha.)

Good solid read. The characters are good, the situation entertaining and I thought Darcy 's issues mostly made sense. My only complaint is I felt Kate seems to just suddenly be interested in Darcy, despite disliking her at first.

Funny and timely story about what true beauty is
I've been a fan of Jody Klaire's 'Above and Beyond' series for years and was both delighted and curious when I saw this book was coming out; where drama, action and suspense are prevalent in that series, Klaire shows a sense of humor here with In Fashion while delivering some timely messages about social media, what constitutes beauty and more.
This story is very funny and several characters had me frequently laughing out loud. I loved the supporting characters: Zoe, Blanche and Susannah have some memorable moments and are easy to care about but Mikey will capture your heart with his radiance and truth telling. Darcy and Kate's interactions with these characters provide history and insight into who everyone is and how they are connected or interconnected in some cases. Kate is an inspiring character and challenge for Darcy from their first meeting and although there is tangible chemistry between the two them, it was the romance aspect of the story that I liked the least. Darcy begins the story as very unlikable and for me that didn't change much later in the story despite her character's personal growth; I suspect other readers will feel differently. That aside I still loved the book and the moments of 'fish out of water' for Kate going to London from her native Wales. The author does a good job of incorporating social media into the story and its power over celebrities and everyday people; how it can be used to manipulate the public for good or ill, open or close off opportunities for career advancement and access to events etc. The ugly side of social media is on display equally with the power it can harness to unite people in a common cause; one scene near the end had me repeatedly choked up or outright crying thanks to its sheer cinematic beauty and poignancy.
I'm thrilled that Jody Klaire has the chops to write humor and drama, action and suspense all with equal skill and hope this means a greater output of stories from her in multiple genres in the future. I read this book in just over a day, found it hard to put down when real life called my attention away from it; it really got under my skin and pulled me in to this world even though fashion and makeovers are of no real interest to me. It's great writing and I hope the typos I found in my copy of the book were corrected before publication so the story can shine fully and be without unnecessary distractions for the reader.
(reviewed September 8, 2018)