I was chatting with someone today about how they hadn't left a review for any books they'd read in months, and I was all, "Ahaha... yeah."

Let's be honest. At this point, I'm never catching up.

But it can't hurt to try anyway! So let's start off with my first completed read of the year, a trope-heavy sapphic contemporary romance about a tattooed big city photographer and a sweet bisexual single mom meeting up as adults in small-town Oregon. A good read, as these things go, though I probably wouldn't have continued on with the series if I wasn't supposed to be buddy-reading it with someone else.

What Worked For Me

The Sapphicness! That probably sounds silly, but reading this made me realize that most of the sapphic books I've read have been speculative (sff) and/or YA. It was nice to read something grounded in adulthood (late 20s) and real-life (the single-mother love interest/POV angle was really refreshing).

The Depiction of Sex: Yes, I know I usually don't love when books heavily feature this much on-page sex. But I think I'll give this one a pass, since it felt really rooted in real-world dynamics, and I haven't come across that many contemporary sapphic stories that do that, period, much less ones which still ground most of the tension in the romance between the two. Also, the way the relationship started off as tentative and casual but built to something more, rather than using sex as payoff for the romance is a dynamic I always appreciate seeing depicted in fiction.

The Main Conflict: While the main romantic relationship is the centerpiece of the story and features both characters equally, the biggest struggle the two MCs have with one another is mostly just whether or not they can have a future together (caveat for other stuff that happens in the very last leg of the book). But most of the story's conflict comes from other familial relationships (and not because of their queerness, yay!). Delilah and sister Astrid are oozing with tons of unresolved hurt and resentment. Claire struggles to balance being a good mom to a child with an unreliable father, while figuring out how to process her daughter becoming a tween and what that means for both of them. The story takes place over the span of a few weeks, and balances emotional complexity with narrative simplicity in a satisfying way.

What Wasn't My Thing

The Tropy-ness: Despite reading romance and romance-adjacent stories for decades, somehow this feels like the first time I've actually come across the "There was only one bed!" trope in the wild. That, or whenever I've come across it before, it seemed so natural I didn't really notice or mark it as unusual. Here, it was like a glaring neon sign, and while it didn't ruin the story, it was a little distracting. There was also a whole deal with a Third Act Breakup and A Bet. No shade to readers who liked this (or the writer if they genuinely enjoyed writing these tropes). But I just felt so jarred by the inclusion and handling of both. They just didn't feel necessary to the story, and really felt like just box-checking for the marketers to say they included certain tropes. The plot and character dynamics held up plenty well without them, imo, so it just kind of minimized what was an otherwise nice story.

Aspects of the Romance: These are totally personal nitpicks, which have nothing to do with the overall quality of the story or whether or not I'd recommend it to others. But I felt like a big part of Delilah's emotional storyline hinged on her not having any friends, which just felt a little confusing or not as well explained as I'd like. Also, I'm not a big opposites-attract person, generally; I like to understand how two characters build up a relationship from what they have in common. These two genuinely liked each other, but when I step back I'm not sure what they really share besides a relationship with Astrid, coming from the same small town, or both being attracted to women. Both thinking Claire's kid is cool, maybe? Lastly, the whole romance happens so quickly! Over the span of a few weeks! Okay, okay, I'm done. I'm overthinking what is meant to be a quick, fun, cozy, brain-off kind of read, and for the most part, it delivers on that really well.

One More Thing, Though: This is something that has been a big point of controversy in the queer community, and I know it's very touchy. But there are a couple instances of lowkey "Haha, men are terrible, ew!" moments/offhand remarks in this book, and that's probably the biggest turn-off for me. If I wasn't buddy-reading the next installment, I probably wouldn't continue with the series or this author because of that, no matter how fun the overall book or how nuanced some of their depictions. Before I figured out I was bi, I would have been like "Haha, yeah! Men DO suck!" And just assumed that anyone who had a problem with women saying stuff like that was weaponizing their internalized misogyny. Now, I can see (and feel) how deep the ripple affects of that kind of rhetoric go, and how the people harmed by it aren't cishet men or patriarchal systems, but usually just other women and/or queer people. This isn't the first sapphic book I've read in the last few months that incorporates those kind of subtle oversimplifications, and personally I'm just... tired.

Who This Is For

The above issues aside, I do think it's annoying that there aren't more mainstream contemporary sapphic romances featuring adults, and I think this is a solid read, one which does a nice job balancing cuteness and emotional complexity. It doesn't shy away from portraying real-world aspects of being queer: reminiscences to when they realized they were queer, the sheer joy and self-actualization that comes from being a part of a queer community, the differences of queer urban vs small-town life, etc., etc. Without ever getting bogged down in dealing with overt queerphobia or trauma. Hopefully many queer people will be able to connect with some aspect of this book, at least in the abstract. And non-queer readers willing to dip their toes into someone else's story might get a realistic glimpse of queer people just being themselves in complex, authentic ways. Without seeing the thousandth coming out story or stories where people are in same-sex attraction but not notably different in their experiences than straight people. And... it's just a fun, tropey contemporary romance.

Content Warnings

Outside of the "dating men sucks!" aspect mentioned above, I think most of the content people might take issue with comes from the painful, messy familial dynamics all the characters are coping with. The warnings below include one plot spoiler.

Warnings for:

Past parental death/orphaning. Overbearing parents, parental abandonment (physically and emotionally). Single-parenthood. Third parties actively trying to sabotage a wedding; weddings being called off. Mentions of offscreen marital tensions over the decision to have or not have children. Several on-page sex scenes. Misogyny.

Content Warnings

themiscyra_anna's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

meghanm404's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny sad tense 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

3.75

Content Warnings

microbemom's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

overflowingshelf's review

Go to review page

emotional lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Review originally posted on Overflowing Shelf

Overall Rating: 3 Stars
Performance Rating: 4 Stars
Story Rating: 2.5 Stars

CW: death of parents (past); grief; teenage pregnancy (past); strained relationship with stepfamily; abandonment; references to infidelity (past)

Dani doesn’t really care for this book. I was so excited to finally get to read this as I heard so many people rave about it, but finishing this book proved to be a bit of a struggle. I think this book was returned to the library about five times before I finally finished it.

Delilah Green has zero desire to return to her hometown of Bright Falls. Nothing is there but the memories of her lonely childhood, where she was a burden to her distant stepfamily. Her life and career as a photographer are just gaining steam in New York. But unfortunately, she needs to head back to Bright Falls to photograph her step-sister’s wedding. She plans to breeze in and out of town, but on the first night back, she runs into Claire Sutherland, one of Astrid’s best friends, and decides there is some fun to be had in Bright Falls. Meanwhile, Claire is dealing with raising her 11-year-old daughter and is not prepared for Delilah Green. While she knows Deliah from their childhood, she doesn’t really know her. As the two spend more time together doing wedding activities, Claire cannot resist Delilah’s charms.

So, let’s start off with the positives, shall we?

I loved Delilah and how she was unabashedly herself the entire book. She doesn’t care much about what others think and will do what Delilah Green wants to do. She has a tough, sarcastic exterior, but it’s just a shell, a coping mechanism for her, and it was nice to see her softer side as well. I felt sympathy for her as her upbringing wasn’t the easiest. It seems miscommunication and misinterpretation stopped her from having a relationship with her stepsister, something that Delilah craved after her father’s death.

Speaking of her stepsister, I really enjoyed Astrid. There was so much more to her than meets the eye. Delilah’s perspective colors your initial feelings towards her, but the more I got to know Astrid, the more I liked her. Watching Delilah and Astrid reconcile their relationship gave me lots of happy feelings. However, Astrid’s fiancé Spencer was trash, and I’m so glad everyone was united in that opinion. I loved the antics Astrid’s friends and Delilah got up to make his life a living hell. I’m curious about book two in the series, mainly because I want to see more of Astrid living the life she wants to live, not the life others want her to live.

I listened to this on audio, and Kristen DiMercurio did a fantastic job bringing this story to life. Her Delilah was excellent, and I loved all the personality and nuances she brought to each character. She was one of the reasons I kept going with this book, even though the story didn’t entirely work for me.

Now on to some of the things that didn’t work for me. First, Claire and I just did not click at all. I don’t think I’ve been this annoyed with a main character in a while, but Claire annoyed me. I felt she treated her child’s father like trash CONSTANTLY. She doesn’t let him speak and always assumes the worst about his intentions. I know her reactions are based on his actions in the past, but she jumps down his throat over every little thing even though it was clear to me the guy was genuinely trying to make amends for past actions. Claire’s also the worst type of helicopter parent! The girl has major trust issues (she even acknowledges it), and it was just a lot for me. Claire is Deliliah’s total opposite, and I was hoping some of Delilah’s carefree attitude would rub off on her, but it didn’t really.

The romance in this book is very slow-burn and mellow. It also felt like something was missing from it. There is a mutual attraction between Delilah and Claire, and I liked watching Delilah develop serious feelings, as she hasn’t had those in a long time, but it was a little heavy on the insta-love. Also, would I have liked Claire to be open and honest with her friends about her relationship with Delilah? Yes. It felt like Delilah was Claire’s dirty little secret, which hurt Delilah. Delilah 100% falls first, and I was a little frustrated with how long it took Claire to realize the full extent of her feelings towards Delilah. Overall, the romance in this was fine, but not my favorite.

This book also felt long and dragged for me. A lot is going on emotionally with all the characters, but not a lot going on in terms of the plot. I wish the story centered more on Astrid and Delilah reconciling their relationship rather than Delilah’s romance with Claire, as that felt where the story’s real heart lay.

I was so disappointed that this book didn’t work for me, as I was so excited to read it! I just wanted a bit more than I got, you know?

Now, I do think I will be checking out book two. As I mentioned, I liked Astrid in this book, and I’m excited to see where she goes from here. It feels like she finally has the opportunity to lead the life she wants, and I’m excited to see that journey for her.

Content Warnings

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