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amberinpieces's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Cursing
Moderate: Outing
Minor: Racism, Pregnancy, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia
unwise_samwise's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
A truly wonderful book, there wasn't even the standard 3rd act conflict or if there was it was so minor and done so well I didn't even get stressed. I love these characters and watching them fall in love was a treat
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Sexual content, and Cursing
Moderate: Lesbophobia, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, and Transphobia
lolajh's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Features two black lesbians who comfortably call themselves lesbians! Absolutely adored these two characters and their relationship (apart from the miscommunication trope that happened a lot). Something about full grown adults getting flustered over their partner gets me every time.
Kris, my beloved butch lesbian, is such a gym bro, which always comes off to me every single time as kinda problematic in a disordered eating way, especially her talking about her weight loss story and being kinda fatphobic and that she was only “healthy” once eating less and losing weight. Quick weight changes just always seem a bit iffy, especially since she doesn’t see D’Vaughn’s fatness that way, so it seems to be something that she’s internalised that I think didn’t get a lot of attention. Other than that, though, Kris has had issues with past relationships only being short-term and she wants to settle down and find a real romance for herself, which is admirable and seeing her character overcome her toxic behaviours with other people and really learning to love with D’Vaughn.
D’Vaughn is a plus-size closeted femme lesbian, who had a coming-out arc with her family that was very emotional. D’Vaughn’s body type really meant everything to me. She is explicitly described as fat, yet she has genuine love and appreciation for her body that I really respect and admire. Not once is weight loss ever a goal for her, which is just so different to the majority of media that has fat people in it, and I just really, really loved how her body wasn’t something she wanted to fix. That’s just who she is, how her body was when she ate enough and was healthy, because skinny absolutely does not equate to being healthy. God I just really loved her,and loved being surprised at her being the dom and Kris the sub when they have sex. Kris is always this cocky and flirty character so her getting flustered for the first time and getting railed by D’Vaughn was such a masc lesbian experience, I loved it.
And their relationship, although having far too much miscommunication between them, was ultimately quite wholesome (and a happy ending) where the pair absolutely make each other better people. Not usually a fan of marriage tropes in books, but this one proved that they can be tolerable.
Also, the very mild descriptions of the trans characters seemed off, unnecessary, and quite stereotypical and they had no plot lines and just seemed to be there for trans rep and may as well not have been in there. Also, there are talks of queer sex between Kris and a gay guy, and the convo is not at all trans-exclusive, with the guy saying he needs his “meat hard and throbbing”, perpetuating guy equals penis and girl equals vagina and excluding the vast amount of trans people in queer relationships. Being cis and in relationships with cis people is fine, just don’t automatically assume everyone else is like that. This kind of language is very normalised, excluding trans people from everyday conversations is normalised, but I’m sure that this was not intentional and that with education it can definitely improve.
Kris, my beloved butch lesbian, is such a gym bro, which always comes off to me every single time as kinda problematic in a disordered eating way, especially her talking about her weight loss story and being kinda fatphobic and that she was only “healthy” once eating less and losing weight. Quick weight changes just always seem a bit iffy, especially since she doesn’t see D’Vaughn’s fatness that way, so it seems to be something that she’s internalised that I think didn’t get a lot of attention. Other than that, though, Kris has had issues with past relationships only being short-term and she wants to settle down and find a real romance for herself, which is admirable and seeing her character overcome her toxic behaviours with other people and really learning to love with D’Vaughn.
D’Vaughn is a plus-size closeted femme lesbian, who had a coming-out arc with her family that was very emotional. D’Vaughn’s body type really meant everything to me. She is explicitly described as fat, yet she has genuine love and appreciation for her body that I really respect and admire. Not once is weight loss ever a goal for her, which is just so different to the majority of media that has fat people in it, and I just really, really loved how her body wasn’t something she wanted to fix. That’s just who she is, how her body was when she ate enough and was healthy, because skinny absolutely does not equate to being healthy. God I just really loved her,
And their relationship, although having far too much miscommunication between them, was ultimately quite wholesome (and a happy ending) where the pair absolutely make each other better people. Not usually a fan of marriage tropes in books, but this one proved that they can be tolerable.
Also, the very mild descriptions of the trans characters seemed off, unnecessary, and quite stereotypical and they had no plot lines and just seemed to be there for trans rep and may as well not have been in there. Also, there are talks of queer sex between Kris and a gay guy, and the convo is not at all trans-exclusive, with the guy saying he needs his “meat hard and throbbing”, perpetuating guy equals penis and girl equals vagina and excluding the vast amount of trans people in queer relationships. Being cis and in relationships with cis people is fine, just don’t automatically assume everyone else is like that. This kind of language is very normalised, excluding trans people from everyday conversations is normalised, but I’m sure that this was not intentional and that with education it can definitely improve.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Racism and Cursing
caseythereader's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Thanks to Harlequin for the free advance copy of this book.
- Queer screaming time! I adored this F/F romance between a butch Afrolatina and a curvy Black woman as they fall in love while fake engaged for a reality show. It's deeply queer and deeply lovable. It's laugh out loud funny while also handling some hard emotions.
- This book strikes the perfect balance between electric chemistry and gentle, caring support.
- POSSIBLE SPOILERS: I admit I was a bit nervous about the part of the plot where D'Vaughn is using the show to come out to her family (especially as Colton Underwood's show is under fire for doing just that). But Higgins uses the situation to talk about a coming out experience that is under-discussed: how even when your family is supportive after you come out, the fact that they kept quiet before can be hurtful and damaging in a different way.
- Queer screaming time! I adored this F/F romance between a butch Afrolatina and a curvy Black woman as they fall in love while fake engaged for a reality show. It's deeply queer and deeply lovable. It's laugh out loud funny while also handling some hard emotions.
- This book strikes the perfect balance between electric chemistry and gentle, caring support.
- POSSIBLE SPOILERS: I admit I was a bit nervous about the part of the plot where D'Vaughn is using the show to come out to her family (especially as Colton Underwood's show is under fire for doing just that). But Higgins uses the situation to talk about a coming out experience that is under-discussed: how even when your family is supportive after you come out, the fact that they kept quiet before can be hurtful and damaging in a different way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Cursing, Pregnancy, Racism, and Sexual content
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Homophobia
amivireads's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Thank you Netgally and Carina Adores for an arc, here is my honest review.
TW/CW Moderate sexual content/cursing, minor homophobia, coming out scene, minor racism
5 stars
5 stars
D’Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding is everything I need in a romance book, black lesbians falling in love. The chemistry between D’Vaughn and Kris never felt forced, and unlike most romance books, the miscommunication trope wasn't used. I recommend this to anyone
who loves romance but is looking for diversity.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content and Cursing
Minor: Homophobia and Racism
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