4.5 stars.
I was rooting for Clementine and Chloe the whole time, I am so grateful that I got to read this book. So thank you to netgalley and the publisher to provide me with this eARC.

What to expect:
• Fake dating
• plus size protagonist
• ADHD rep
• bisexual
• coming out
• queer friend group
• non-traditional HEA
• coming out later in life
• diversity: gender (they/them side character), sexuality, ethnicity, …
• adorable pets

Overall I really liked how the characters developed. This book was very well written. This was my first book by this author (I’m aware that this was a third book in a interconnected standalone series), I can't wait to read the other books that this author has written. Especially the book about Ari and Nina. This friend group has a special place in my heart. This book was an explosion of queer joy, and I LOVED it!

I got an advanced readers copy of this book from NetGalley and I'm so glad I did! It's a perfect addition to the out in Hollywood series and is my favorite book of the series. The romance between the characters was fun and sexy and a slow burn. It was wonderful to see characters from the other two books pop up as well. This one is definitely a can't miss!

This is the best book in the series by far. I love bisexuals falling into sapphic relationships. (I love bisexuals in male relationships too, but it’s not as fun for me!) Yes Amy Spaulding shoves character identities in your face in a way that doesn’t always feel natural, but she makes up for it with lovable characters that you root for. Also more ADHD representation ❤️ is included. Thank you so much for this e-arc!

On HER terms is a very fitting title for this WIW fake dating romcom! Clementine and Chloe find them selfs needing a fake relationship to get thru some events. Clementine finds a lot more than what she set off looking for this will they won't say definitely has me hooked and found myself laughing out loud! Never read something so relatable in my life

First, I want to thank Netgalley and Kensington Books for giving me the opportunity to read and review On Her Terms by Amy Spalding. This review is my own opinion. I was so excited to receive this ARC as I absolutely loved the first two books in this series. I did appreciate that you don't technically have to read the first two books to read this one. They just give you insight and background on some of the side characters. This story follows Clementine, a "baby gay," just out of a decade-long relationship with her boyfriend. She is ready to find herself and find what she wants in terms of the rest of her life. She runs into Chloe, a woman she's met a few times at her work holiday parties, the "first night of her new life" outside a gay bar. After talking for a little while Chloe comes up with a fake dating scheme that will get her through her friends'wedding festivities and will gain Clementine "credibility" when she meets a woman she wants to date. Craziness ensues throughout the books, and feelings begin to blossom. The story is very well written, and character development is very well done, and as I stated, characters from the previous books make appearances throughout. I give this story 4.5 stars and will definitely recommend it.

Clementine is a budding baby gay when she meets the wise and experienced Chloe at a bar. The two exchange numbers, which leads Chloe to propose a fake dating scheme. She'll help Clementine--a bisexual who is coming off a 20-year relationship with a man and therefore is new to the gay dating world--learn the ropes about dating in the lesbian community. Meanwhile, Clementine will be Chloe's date at a series of events leading up to (and at) her friends' wedding, so all her partnered friends leave her alone.

Of course, while fake dating, Chloe and Clementine spend lots of time together and feelings develop. Unfortunately, neither is known for their communication skills, and they don't do the best job of expressing these thoughts to one another. Complicating things is that Chloe's friend group includes Clem's boss, Phoebe. (If you've read any of Spalding's Out of Hollywood series, you'll recognize characters from other books, including Nina, Ari, and Sadie.)

The strength here is Clem and Chloe's slowly growing chemistry and their witty banter. It's a wonderfully realistic exploration of not just queer relationships, but queer friendships as well. Chloe's friend group is one any gay could relate to, and the book stresses how important these friendships are to those who need a found family. Chloe's focus on her issues with her own (straight) friends was harder: not that they were straight, at all, but the emphasis on not wanting to get married, have kids, and the fact that she was growing apart from her friends was covered ad nauseam. At first, it was nice to see a book exploring these issues--the whole idea is that neither Chloe nor Clem want the "typical" relationship experience. But Clem's repetition of this fact was a bit much.

Spalding does an excellent job looking at the nuances of coming out later in life and treats Clem's bisexuality quite well. She also touches on topics such as plus size relationships and difficult families. Clem's brother is absolutely awful, but the way Chloe handles him: oh my gosh, I would have fallen in love with her, too.

So, yes, there's a lot going on here, but it's all handled deftly. With the exception of Clem's storyline getting rather repetitive, this is a really cute romance, full of diverse characters, friendships, and a sweet romance.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and Kensington Publishing in return for an unbiased review.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc! I really enjoyed this journey! The queer rep is perfect clementine and Chloe are just so much fun together and I was rooting for them the entire time!!

This fun and witty sapphic romance story follows Clementine, fresh off a breakup with her long term boyfriend, and Chloe, the dog groomer, who doesn’t do relationships. Clementine always knew she didn’t want that typical romance with the white picket fence, babies, and a big over the top wedding that most girls dream about. But at 36, she is definitely starting to panic about spending the rest of her life alone, surrounded by cats. Even though Clementine has known she was bi for a while, she's never dated a girl before, so she thinks this breakup could be the perfect opportunity to explore that side of love. When Chloe walks into her life and rescues her from a bunch of predatory asshole dudes, Clementine can’t help but think, this is fate. Except Chloe has another plan in mind, a plan that involves lying to all her friends by being in a fake relationship and participating in a bunch of pre-wedding activities leading up to the big day so they will stop worrying about her and get off her back. And in exchange, Clementine can get some experience dating a girl, an introduction course to the ins and outs of the lesbian community, and will also get her family off her back. Yes Clementine knows this often does not play out well in typical rom-com books, but who knows, maybe it might just work for her and Chloe. Especially when faking everything starts to feel more real than either has ever experienced before.

Clementine is such a relatable character for someone like myself who came out later in life and is still navigating the lesbian community. Her fears felt real, getting into a brand new relationship (especially with a (clearly experienced) girl, when she had only previously dated the same guy for 20 years), feeling left out in friend groups while trying to navigating new friends, keeping a job in a competitive field that is also competing with AI technology, and dealing with family drama on top of everything else. Also her feelings regarding her bigger body type and not fitting in, in the gay community were nicely handled. What she lacked in communication skills, she made up for with her kind heart and witty personality. I loved that Chloe and her friends helped Clem build her confidence and welcomed her with open arms into their friend group. Her character growth was inspiring, especially in the end when she finally told her jerk of a brother off and told Chloe how she really felt about her. I also really appreciated the conversation revolving around being alone and that some people actually don’t mind living their life alone and it's okay that what some people want and desire in life is different from the norm and what everyone else thinks you should want. My only complaint is that all her worries got really repetitive by the end and her constant bringing up of her old boyfriend got real annoying real fast.

Chloe was such a complex character and I especially loved her unapologetic ways of living the life she knew she wanted to live. Even though we learn that she had been secretly pining over Clementine way before she broke up with her boyfriend, her confidence and ability to make people swoon is pure magic. So much fierceness in a 5”2 body! Though my favorite part of characters like Chloe is when they secretly try to hide their soft side, so I absolutely adored seeing that side brought out by Clementine. How she seemed to worship Clementine and her body was so cute and she never made Clementine feel bad about herself or her insecurities. I just hated how hot and cold she was and wish she had at least tried to communicate her feelings, especially to her amazing friend group. If she had been so in love with Clementine from the beginning I didn't understand why she would go to such an elaborate scheme and be so uncaring at times.

Unfortunately when it came to the chemistry and actual relationship between Clementine and Chloe, I couldn’t help but feel it still lacked that certain spark. I liked their banter and how their personalities in a sense complimented each other, but the intimacy and romance part I just couldn’t get behind. Especially because there was absolutely no build up, conversation, or any sort of hint at romance before they were all of the sudden having sex. The spice level just wasn’t there and I also didn’t like how Clementine constantly seemed to be comparing Chloe to Will. However, what Chloe and Clementine lacked in chemistry, they made up for in their individual character growth and charming friend group. I do have to say though Clementine's friends did not redeem themselves in my eyes, but at least Chloe’s friend group always shines and seems to know the perfect thing to say or do in all situations. I just love how they have each other’s backs and their ability to understand each other.

Overall, besides the underwhelming romance, I appreciated the realistic themes surrounding friendship, coming out later in life, complicated friend and family dynamics, plus size body representation, and non-conventional relationship beliefs/situations. Once again the diverse cast takes the cake, even though I will never understand their weird obsession with Diet Coke!

Amy Spalding makes me want to move to LA (almost). Her version of LA, certainly. It still has traffic and impossible-to-get reservations, but the brunches, the bar meetups, even the client meetings, all feel so real.

It is fun seeing this loose group of friends gradually get their lives together and support each other. I like that they are friends an co-workers instead of the trite "let's write four books about the four Smith sisters" series.

I hope this series can go on for a long time.

Kensington Publishing was kind enough to provide me with an advanced reading copy via NetGalley for an honest review.

It is only January, but I can already tell that this book will be one of my favorites of 2025!

Clementine and Chloe are both compelling characters. Their growth throughout the story felt authentic. I was invested in them both. They both also have amazing pets – Clem has a cat and Chloe has a dog.

In addition to being a romance, this is a story about the importance of friendship. The book demonstrated romantic partnerships are not the only source of reliable love and care, whether that care takes the form of providing emotional support, professional advice, or showing up at the hospital. Their friend groups felt like real people who I’d love to spend time with. Sometimes, I find that romances novels focused on friendship have a less compelling romantic story line. This novel excels at both the romance and the friendship elements.

I’ve seen conversations in romance reading spaces about non-traditional happily-ever-afters. It seems like most people use non-traditional HEA to mean novels that ends without cohabitation, marriage, and children. I think it is amazing and important that romance novels celebrate all types of happy endings! This book is a great example of a non-traditional HEA and characters who find love while getting off the “relationship escalator.”

I also loved the bisexual representation in this book. Clem has known that she’s bisexual pretty much her whole life, but she hasn’t publicly come out to her friends or family because she has been in a long-term relationship with a man. I enjoyed seeing a novel that focused on what it’s like when your bisexuality is “new” to your friends and family, but is already something you’ve known about yourself for a long time. I love seeing more diversity in bisexual stories and this one is great!

I have read the other two books in the series, and this is definitely the one I enjoyed the most. I think this book could be read as a standalone, but you should still go check out the other books if you are interested.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this book!

Highlights:
- plus size protagonist
- bisexual coming out
- amazing queer friend group
- non-traditional HEA

On Her Terms is Amy Spalding's third installment of her Out in Hollywood series & once again, Amy has hit it out of the park.

This one was the most relatable for me as I felt like I had a LOT in common with Clem as someone who always identified as bisexual but didn't fully step into my queerness until my mid-30s. Worrying whether you are queer enough to exist in your own queer identity especially when surrounded by other queer people is such a common experience for a lot of us.

This one is a slow burn but in the best way. I love Clem & Chloe doing this sort of delusional dance around each other. It feels so authentic to the Sapphic experience, honestly. The meta-ness of the MC hating fake-dating tropes in fiction while agreeing to fake-date someone in real life had me chuckling.

And yes, once we get to the spice, it is exactly what I was hoping for. Every bit of the awkward attraction, gentle guidance, & irresistible sexiness that those first queer explorations tend to be is so perfectly captured on the page, it could have been written about my own experience.

My favorite bit is the through line of friendship - both queer and straight - and the importance of platonic relationships. Our society places romantic relationships in a position of highest importance & the reality is that our friendships are what keep us balanced & connected to ourselves & our world. Love on your friends, y'all!

Although this book is the newest in a series, it can be read as a standalone. However, the other books are fantastic & I adore the kind of series with an ensemble cast. If you love those kinds of books, Amy Spalding's Out In Hollywood series is a must-read.

Thank you to Kensington Publishing for this ARC.

Amy Spalding does it yet again! I cannot get enough of this interconnected series that gets better and better with each book.

First off, the storyline is engaging and the characters have such a fleshed-out feeling, making each character feel like their own. Some excellently executed tropes in this book include: Fake dating, found family, one bed.

One thing I can always count on in Amy Spalding's books is the effortlessly funny dialogue. This book had me laughing out loud on multiple occasions.

This is the first sapphic book I've read that's mentioned Chappell Roan and for this I am so happy.

Thank you so much Amy Spalding and NetGalley for the E-ARC!

Absolutely loved this book. Found family, queer joy, making your own definitions of happily ever after - this book was everything I love, tied up into one romance.

This is part of a series, and while you would be able to fully jump in without any prior context, there is a lot of character overlap, so I’d recommend reading the previous books first.

I received the ARC of this book from NetGalley; thanks to the author and Kensington Publishing for this.

This may be my favorite book in Amy Spalding's Out in Hollywood series. It isn't a requirement to have read the first two books, but it does provide more context because a lot of the characters in "For Her Consideration" and "At Her Service" are in this book. If you want that familiarity and an added layer of amusement, I would read the first two books before this one. Chloe is a part of Ari's friend group in "For Her Consideration", and Sadie from "At Her Service" is also in this book.

I love how we experience Clementine's coming out (as bisexual) journey as she navigates the fake dating shenanigan with Chloe. There is a lot of funny banter, witty dialogue, and enviable character dynamics. Like, I wish I was as clever as any of the characters in this book. I am sure many readers will wish to have a found family that is so accomplished, reliable, and entertaining as the one that Clementine fell into in this story.

Positives:
* Diversity in characters with regard to race, sexuality, and body type.
* Characters were in their 30s and still trying to figure things out.
* Clementine's character development isn't just about her sexuality; she also grows as an independent person.
* Two adorable pets.

Negatives:
* I had to google the slang "twee" because it is used a lot in this book.
* I felt that the number of comparisons to Will, Clementine's ex, was a bit excessive.

Amy Spalding never disappoints me, and this book was no exception. This is my favorite book yet of the Out in Hollywood series, perfect for anyone who enjoys the “why won’t these two fools realize they’re already dating” version of fake dating and the infamous “only one bed” trope. A slower burn, it had three great spice scenes after things heated up.

I found Clementine so relatable, and it was refreshing to see an older baby bi who didn’t want marriage or children. I loved her dynamic and chemistry with the relationship-phobic but clearly smitten Chloe. And the found family group of queer friends was fantastic, and I desperately wish I could join their weekly brunch. Plus the pets were so cute! I wanted to adopt both Small Jessie Pinkman (the cat) and Fernando (the dog).

I received an advanced copy from the publisher and am voluntarily leaving this review.

It was actually quite fun to see the whole friend group together for a lot of this book. The reason for fake dating was dumb but Chloe was just too scared to actually ask her out and that was cute.

I received an arc through netgalley.

This story follows Clementine, who is a plus size bi woman coming out of a long-term straight relationship in her late 30s and gets into a fake dating situation with Chloe. I found it refreshing to read a romance where the MC's happiness did not revolve around having kids and marriage. I absolutely love the found family in Chloe's friend group since Clementine's brother is awful and her own two best friends weren't really that great either. This story was funny and sweet, with a little bit of spice. I really enjoyed this book by Amy Spalding.

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Book 3 of the Out in Hollywood series by Amy Spalding was an enjoyably spicy modern fake dating tale. Book 1 is still my favorite, but this entry was another romantic treat by the author. Clem and Chloe had very distinct journeys in this story, but they complimented each other spectacularly. Also, always a fan of cameos from much loved characters of the previous books. Highly enjoyed!

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

I really enjoyed the first two in this series. I was so surprised by how much I did not enjoy this one! I slogged through it. The only non-insufferable characters were the friend groups. Why is Greg allowed to just do whatever for so long? Why does Clementine talk about her ex soo much in a book about a different romance? Why is Chloe so mean and why is it all fine at the end?! Why do C + C not have any chemistry? Why do they have sex with no build up or tension whatsoever?
I loved the emphasis on friendships, community, life changing, late bloomin’ and that everything was resolved with Clem’s friend group. I think if the book had just focused on that and didn’t try to force a romance then it could have been really good? the romance part was super confusing. I loved all the side characters tho. (Except Greg. F*ck you, Greg!)

“On Her Terms” by Amy Spalding features the POV of Clementine, who just broke up with her long-term boyfriend, Will. She is reintroduced to an acquaintance, Chloe outside of her first attempt at entering a queer bar. Chloe saves her from a few men harassing her. They come up with a fake dating scheme to appear more adult or settled in life with their friends and family.

Like the other books in the “Out in Hollywood” series, this can be read as a standalone novel. Though a few characters make appearances such as Ari and Nina from the first novel, “For Her Consideration” and Sadie from “At Her Service."

While I loved the previous two books in the series, this one felt like it was lacking something for me. Mostly, the chemistry between Clementine and Chloe felt off and not as romantic. I didn’t feel sparks. I barely felt like the two of them could be friends. I found myself thinking Clementine had more chemistry with Chloe’s friends than Chloe. I even felt more chemistry between Clementine and Sadie, yikes. Perhaps one of the obstacles to their chemistry was how often Clementine thought of and discussed Will, her ex. I get their relationship existed for the majority of her life, but by the end of the book, I was sick of her constant thoughts of comparing Chloe to him or thinking about how different her life was without him. Another aspect that bothered me was the way Clementine thought about fake dating. At one point, she even mentions disliking the trope when she’s reading novels. The inclusion of the trope in this book felt too meta and as though the author was trying to convince the reader that, yeah, maybe this book was a fake-dating trope, but it’s okay because it’s not like those other books!

One aspect of the book I did appreciate was again having a plus-sized MC and the positive body representation. I also appreciated the found family feeling of each woman’s friend groups, even though Clementine’s friends didn’t seem like the greatest people at first.

While the book honors the romantic endings of the previous two novels in the series, this one sits at the bottom of my list. Even with my critiques, the book was enjoyable. I will still recommend the series to fans of sapphic romance.