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Bright Falls #1
Delilah Green Doesn't Care
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Best Romance (2022)A clever and steamy queer romantic comedy about taking chances and accepting love—with all its complications—from the author of Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail .
Delilah Green swore she would never go back to Bright Falls—nothing is there for her but memories of a lonely childhood where she was little more than a burden to her cold and distant stepfamily. Her life is in New York, with her photography career finally gaining steam and her bed never empty. Sure, it’s a different woman every night, but that’s just fine with her.
When Delilah’s estranged stepsister, Astrid, pressures her into photographing her wedding with a guilt trip and a five-figure check, Delilah finds herself back in the godforsaken town that she used to call home. She plans to breeze in and out, but then she sees Claire Sutherland, one of Astrid’s stuck-up besties, and decides that maybe there’s some fun (and a little retribution) to be had in Bright Falls, after all.
Having raised her eleven-year-old daughter mostly on her own while dealing with her unreliable ex and running a bookstore, Claire Sutherland depends upon a life without surprises. And Delilah Green is an unwelcome surprise…at first. Though they’ve known each other for years, they don’t really know each other—so Claire is unsettled when Delilah figures out exactly what buttons to push. When they’re forced together during a gauntlet of wedding preparations—including a plot to save Astrid from her horrible fiancé—Claire isn’t sure she has the strength to resist Delilah’s charms. Even worse, she’s starting to think she doesn’t want to...
Delilah Green swore she would never go back to Bright Falls—nothing is there for her but memories of a lonely childhood where she was little more than a burden to her cold and distant stepfamily. Her life is in New York, with her photography career finally gaining steam and her bed never empty. Sure, it’s a different woman every night, but that’s just fine with her.
When Delilah’s estranged stepsister, Astrid, pressures her into photographing her wedding with a guilt trip and a five-figure check, Delilah finds herself back in the godforsaken town that she used to call home. She plans to breeze in and out, but then she sees Claire Sutherland, one of Astrid’s stuck-up besties, and decides that maybe there’s some fun (and a little retribution) to be had in Bright Falls, after all.
Having raised her eleven-year-old daughter mostly on her own while dealing with her unreliable ex and running a bookstore, Claire Sutherland depends upon a life without surprises. And Delilah Green is an unwelcome surprise…at first. Though they’ve known each other for years, they don’t really know each other—so Claire is unsettled when Delilah figures out exactly what buttons to push. When they’re forced together during a gauntlet of wedding preparations—including a plot to save Astrid from her horrible fiancé—Claire isn’t sure she has the strength to resist Delilah’s charms. Even worse, she’s starting to think she doesn’t want to...
375 pages, Paperback
First published February 22, 2022
About the author
Ashley Herring Blake
16 books6,451 followersAshley Herring Blake is a reader, writer, and mom to two boisterous boys. She holds a Master’s degree in teaching and loves coffee, arranging her books by color, and cold weather. She is the author of the young adult novels Suffer Love, How to Make a Wish, and Girl Made of Stars (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), the middle grade novels Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World, The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James, and Hazel Bly and the Deep Blue Sea (Little, Brown), and the adult romance novels Delilah Green Doesn't Care and Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail (Berkley). Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World was a Stonewall Honor Book, as well as a Kirkus, School Library Journal, NYPL, and NPR Best Book of 2018. Her YA novel Girl Made of Stars was a Lambda Literary Award finalist. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram at @ashleyhblake and on the web at www.ashleyherringblake.com. She lives in Georgia.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 14,138 reviews
May 24, 2024
We all have our purposes in life.
There are people who come into this world solely to do things like save people's lives through the miracle of modern medicine, or to fight against inequality via nonprofit work, or to single-handedly defeat sadness (this applies only to whoever invented cake).
I'm similar, except my purpose is to be a hater.
I don't know what that really "does for others," really, beyond making them mad on Twitter, but fighting fate is a futile fixation.
And I didn't just say that for the alliteration. I said it's because it's true.
And also because alliteration.
It's not an easy life, being built on the act of detesting. It angers my loved ones. It ruins my enjoyment of perfectly fine things, like citrus fruit ortwo and a half hour torture sessions superhero movies.
But it does help me in one way, and that is in writing book reviews. Have you ever tried writing a five star review?? Yeesh. Awkward stuff. Very vulnerable and earnest. Not a fan.
Complaining about a disappointing read, on the other hand...that's fun. That's the good life.
Even when it's a universally beloved new release you really wanted to enjoy and instead just felt kind of meh about, like now.
It's like a reward for a blah reading experience.
So let's get into it.
This is a romance novel, but I don't care for the romance very much.
I have said many times that I'm not a romance reader who likes when the smut carries the love story. I'm here for the banter, luvs. Unfortch, both love interests in this repeatedly say their relationship is "just sex," which means the romance only comes from smut.
Also means that it seems to come out of nowhere that they suddenly Love Each Other, but whatevs!
That's all okay anyway, because my secret is that I don't actually read romance for the romance - I read it for the sweet kind nice characters finding and liking THEMSELVES.
But also that's not okay, because I don't care for those guys either.
Our main character, Delilah, is a tattooed hottie who is cold and uncaring. This sounds good to me, as an aspiring tattooed hottie who is cold and uncaring. However, Delilah's internal monologue involves a lot of "everyone is mean to me!!!" when she is, in fact, a b*tch to everyone, so that's kind of a lose/lose.
If you're going to be rude constantly, be unapologetic. That's what I do.
In this book, Delilah is going to her estranged stepsister Astrid's wedding to be the photographer in exchange for a lot of money and a bad time. Astrid thinks that Delilah is a b*tch and she has a troubled life, when in fact she herself is quite spoiled and Delilah has spent her life alone.
Astrid has two friends, Claire and Iris. Iris thinks Delilah is weird and has since childhood, when in fact Iris is a bully and it's weird we are supposed to like her, when she tortured Delilah as an adolescent and still talks to her in the exact same way and generally does not appear to have changed very much.
Claire, the other friend, is also the love interest, and she pulls double duty both on that and on thinking Delilah is mistreating her while she is actively hiding their relationship, continually asking Delilah to keep it secret, and generally acting like being with Delilah is something shameful.
Sheesh! What a barrel of monkeys these people are. (I don't think that's an expression in this context but I do think it is cute.)
Unrelated, but also Delilah and Claire have sex for the first time while using a Literary Witches Oracle tarot deck, which once upon a time an ex boyfriend gave me, so that was a weird and unpleasant commonality for the three of us to have.
Honestly I'm sorry I even brought it up.
Bottom line: You may be tempted to cancel me for this take, but just remember - YOU LIKE ME FOR MY UNPOPULAR OPINIONS!
---------------
pre-review
i know i've said many times that i love literary fiction about unlikable characters.
i want it on the record that that does not apply to romance.
review to come / 2.5 stars
---------------
tbr review
delilah green and i have so much in common
(ty netgalley for the e-arc)
There are people who come into this world solely to do things like save people's lives through the miracle of modern medicine, or to fight against inequality via nonprofit work, or to single-handedly defeat sadness (this applies only to whoever invented cake).
I'm similar, except my purpose is to be a hater.
I don't know what that really "does for others," really, beyond making them mad on Twitter, but fighting fate is a futile fixation.
And I didn't just say that for the alliteration. I said it's because it's true.
And also because alliteration.
It's not an easy life, being built on the act of detesting. It angers my loved ones. It ruins my enjoyment of perfectly fine things, like citrus fruit or
But it does help me in one way, and that is in writing book reviews. Have you ever tried writing a five star review?? Yeesh. Awkward stuff. Very vulnerable and earnest. Not a fan.
Complaining about a disappointing read, on the other hand...that's fun. That's the good life.
Even when it's a universally beloved new release you really wanted to enjoy and instead just felt kind of meh about, like now.
It's like a reward for a blah reading experience.
So let's get into it.
This is a romance novel, but I don't care for the romance very much.
I have said many times that I'm not a romance reader who likes when the smut carries the love story. I'm here for the banter, luvs. Unfortch, both love interests in this repeatedly say their relationship is "just sex," which means the romance only comes from smut.
Also means that it seems to come out of nowhere that they suddenly Love Each Other, but whatevs!
That's all okay anyway, because my secret is that I don't actually read romance for the romance - I read it for the sweet kind nice characters finding and liking THEMSELVES.
But also that's not okay, because I don't care for those guys either.
Our main character, Delilah, is a tattooed hottie who is cold and uncaring. This sounds good to me, as an aspiring tattooed hottie who is cold and uncaring. However, Delilah's internal monologue involves a lot of "everyone is mean to me!!!" when she is, in fact, a b*tch to everyone, so that's kind of a lose/lose.
If you're going to be rude constantly, be unapologetic. That's what I do.
In this book, Delilah is going to her estranged stepsister Astrid's wedding to be the photographer in exchange for a lot of money and a bad time. Astrid thinks that Delilah is a b*tch and she has a troubled life, when in fact she herself is quite spoiled and Delilah has spent her life alone.
Astrid has two friends, Claire and Iris. Iris thinks Delilah is weird and has since childhood, when in fact Iris is a bully and it's weird we are supposed to like her, when she tortured Delilah as an adolescent and still talks to her in the exact same way and generally does not appear to have changed very much.
Claire, the other friend, is also the love interest, and she pulls double duty both on that and on thinking Delilah is mistreating her while she is actively hiding their relationship, continually asking Delilah to keep it secret, and generally acting like being with Delilah is something shameful.
Sheesh! What a barrel of monkeys these people are. (I don't think that's an expression in this context but I do think it is cute.)
Unrelated, but also Delilah and Claire have sex for the first time while using a Literary Witches Oracle tarot deck, which once upon a time an ex boyfriend gave me, so that was a weird and unpleasant commonality for the three of us to have.
Honestly I'm sorry I even brought it up.
Bottom line: You may be tempted to cancel me for this take, but just remember - YOU LIKE ME FOR MY UNPOPULAR OPINIONS!
---------------
pre-review
i know i've said many times that i love literary fiction about unlikable characters.
i want it on the record that that does not apply to romance.
review to come / 2.5 stars
---------------
tbr review
delilah green and i have so much in common
(ty netgalley for the e-arc)
June 11, 2024
I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!
Read
December 18, 2021Source of book: NetGalley (thank you!)
Relevant disclaimers: None
Please note: This review may not be reproduced or quoted, in whole or in part, without explicit consent from the author.
Oh. My. God. This book is EVERYTHING. It made me feel so happy and seen and spoken to as a queer person that I literally hugged my kindle to my chest on several occasions while I was reading it.
So this is pretty complex stuff, okay? I know I’ve discussed the queerness of queer romance in various other reviews and let me just make very clear yet again that I am not trying to position myself as any sort of gatekeeper of queerness. Queer is not a monolith, we all see ourselves reflected in different ways and in different things, and that’s how it should be. But I will say that I have a sense that queer romance is in a complicated place publishing-wise (EDIT: in terms of queer romance published by mainstream publishers) at the moment: it’s been comprehensively proven there’s a market for it, but I think there’s a natural conflict at the heart of this market concerning the needs of queer readers versus the expectations of the dominant cishet audience. All of which is to say that I personally (and I am speaking purely personally here) can often find reading queer romance quite an alienating experience. This has nothing to do, I hasten to add, with the identity (or even the skill) of the author. It’s purely about my perception of who the book is speaking to.
And I think part of what’s extraordinary about Delilah Green Doesn’t Care is that the book delivers everything you’d want in a romance (it’s sexy, it’s funny, it’s heart-wrenching, it’s tender) alongside a sensibility that feels, to me, effortlessly and unabashedly queer. For example, there’s the fact one of the protagonists—Claire—is bisexual, and it feels genuinely like part of her identity, rather than a word on the page, shaping how she understands herself and relates to the world around her. Or there’s a throwaway line that I personally found so well-observed, which is when Delilah (who is not attracted to men) is at a bar, and the (male) bartender keeps hitting on her, and she’s irate that she’s probably going to have to come out to this random stranger to make him leave her alone - that sense of coming out as a permanent state imposed upon you resonated with me so hard. And, now I come to think of it, there’s the fact an entire subplot concerns Astrid (Delilah’s sister and Claire’s best friend) and her impending marriage to a dreadful cishet guy. That just feels like … the queerest thing in the world to me. That half-bewildered, half-alienated sense of watching your heterosexual friends make terrible romantic decisions with other heterosexuals, wondering to yourself are the straights all right, and is there anything you can do about it. The book is full of little moments like this, from the profound to the trivial, that make the fictional world the characters inhabit feel familiar and real and—to me, at least—recognisably and undeniably queer.
Anyway. The actual plot here concerns Delilah Green, a thirty-ish photographer, currently trying to make it in NYC having fled the small town where she grew up. Tragically orphaned at a young age, she was cast upon the care of her emotionally distant stepmother and her apparently perfect daughter, both of whom made no attempt to make the grieving Delilah feel welcome in their family. The perfect daughter, Astrid, is now getting married and Delilah has been summoned back to Bright Falls to be the wedding photographer. While Delilah has come along way from the lonely, insecure girl she once was, returning to the place where she grew up can’t help but stir up old memories and old hurts, particularly when it comes to Astrid and her close-knit friendship group who always contributed to Delilah’s sense of rejection.
There’s a lot going on in Delilah Green Doesn’t Care, including some Bridesmaids-style hijinks involving champagne glass towers, but I think what struck me most forcibly about its storytelling is its generosity. It’s very kind to its characters, allowing them plenty of scope to be as complicated and as damaged as they need to be, while simultaneously letting them shine in their relationships with each other, their deep needs to love and be loved. Hell, even Iris who is like Friend Trope #2673 (loud and red-headed) has her own shit going on that gives her depth and nuance beyond the usual “saying the thing” role such characters tend to be relegated to. Ruby, Claire’s pre-teen daughter, is exactly as endearing and frustrating as you’d expect from a girl of that particular age. And Claire’s irresponsible but well-meaning ex-husband gets his own little maturation arc that feels genuinely earned. Yes, there are a couple of villain figures in the narrative who come across as slightly cartoonish in their awfulness, especially compared to the rest of the cast, but by the end of the book their general irrelevance has become its own significance.
Because ultimately this is a story that is far more interested in how we show love to each other, than taking revenge on those who have hurt us, and I absolutely adore it for that. It is a gorgeous sapphic romance, a celebration of found family and a beautiful exploration of the way home and freedom, in the right context, with the right person, can feel like exactly the same thing.
A thousand heart-hands for this book. You all need to read it.
Relevant disclaimers: None
Please note: This review may not be reproduced or quoted, in whole or in part, without explicit consent from the author.
Oh. My. God. This book is EVERYTHING. It made me feel so happy and seen and spoken to as a queer person that I literally hugged my kindle to my chest on several occasions while I was reading it.
So this is pretty complex stuff, okay? I know I’ve discussed the queerness of queer romance in various other reviews and let me just make very clear yet again that I am not trying to position myself as any sort of gatekeeper of queerness. Queer is not a monolith, we all see ourselves reflected in different ways and in different things, and that’s how it should be. But I will say that I have a sense that queer romance is in a complicated place publishing-wise (EDIT: in terms of queer romance published by mainstream publishers) at the moment: it’s been comprehensively proven there’s a market for it, but I think there’s a natural conflict at the heart of this market concerning the needs of queer readers versus the expectations of the dominant cishet audience. All of which is to say that I personally (and I am speaking purely personally here) can often find reading queer romance quite an alienating experience. This has nothing to do, I hasten to add, with the identity (or even the skill) of the author. It’s purely about my perception of who the book is speaking to.
And I think part of what’s extraordinary about Delilah Green Doesn’t Care is that the book delivers everything you’d want in a romance (it’s sexy, it’s funny, it’s heart-wrenching, it’s tender) alongside a sensibility that feels, to me, effortlessly and unabashedly queer. For example, there’s the fact one of the protagonists—Claire—is bisexual, and it feels genuinely like part of her identity, rather than a word on the page, shaping how she understands herself and relates to the world around her. Or there’s a throwaway line that I personally found so well-observed, which is when Delilah (who is not attracted to men) is at a bar, and the (male) bartender keeps hitting on her, and she’s irate that she’s probably going to have to come out to this random stranger to make him leave her alone - that sense of coming out as a permanent state imposed upon you resonated with me so hard. And, now I come to think of it, there’s the fact an entire subplot concerns Astrid (Delilah’s sister and Claire’s best friend) and her impending marriage to a dreadful cishet guy. That just feels like … the queerest thing in the world to me. That half-bewildered, half-alienated sense of watching your heterosexual friends make terrible romantic decisions with other heterosexuals, wondering to yourself are the straights all right, and is there anything you can do about it. The book is full of little moments like this, from the profound to the trivial, that make the fictional world the characters inhabit feel familiar and real and—to me, at least—recognisably and undeniably queer.
Anyway. The actual plot here concerns Delilah Green, a thirty-ish photographer, currently trying to make it in NYC having fled the small town where she grew up. Tragically orphaned at a young age, she was cast upon the care of her emotionally distant stepmother and her apparently perfect daughter, both of whom made no attempt to make the grieving Delilah feel welcome in their family. The perfect daughter, Astrid, is now getting married and Delilah has been summoned back to Bright Falls to be the wedding photographer. While Delilah has come along way from the lonely, insecure girl she once was, returning to the place where she grew up can’t help but stir up old memories and old hurts, particularly when it comes to Astrid and her close-knit friendship group who always contributed to Delilah’s sense of rejection.
There’s a lot going on in Delilah Green Doesn’t Care, including some Bridesmaids-style hijinks involving champagne glass towers, but I think what struck me most forcibly about its storytelling is its generosity. It’s very kind to its characters, allowing them plenty of scope to be as complicated and as damaged as they need to be, while simultaneously letting them shine in their relationships with each other, their deep needs to love and be loved. Hell, even Iris who is like Friend Trope #2673 (loud and red-headed) has her own shit going on that gives her depth and nuance beyond the usual “saying the thing” role such characters tend to be relegated to. Ruby, Claire’s pre-teen daughter, is exactly as endearing and frustrating as you’d expect from a girl of that particular age. And Claire’s irresponsible but well-meaning ex-husband gets his own little maturation arc that feels genuinely earned. Yes, there are a couple of villain figures in the narrative who come across as slightly cartoonish in their awfulness, especially compared to the rest of the cast, but by the end of the book their general irrelevance has become its own significance.
Because ultimately this is a story that is far more interested in how we show love to each other, than taking revenge on those who have hurt us, and I absolutely adore it for that. It is a gorgeous sapphic romance, a celebration of found family and a beautiful exploration of the way home and freedom, in the right context, with the right person, can feel like exactly the same thing.
A thousand heart-hands for this book. You all need to read it.
June 6, 2022
pre-release thoughts: Sapphic adult romance and one of the MCs has tattoos 👀 I see a leni kauffman cover, i click want to read
Featured in this vlog: https://youtu.be/uXzba5_oHAM
review:
I put this book off for so long because it was one of my most anticipated romances of 2022 and I was afraid of disappointment, this book exceeded all my expectations. Delilah Green Doesn't Care is about Delilah and Claire. Delilah is a lonely artist in the big city who must go back home to her small town to be a wedding photographer for her estranged step sister, Astrid. In returning home she confronts difficult childhood memories, a complicated family dynamic and a stubborn childhood crush that still has a hold on her. Claire is a mother to an adorable tween named Ruby who she's struggling to do right by while in a messy co-parenting situation with Ruby's father, Josh. When these two women reunite sparks fly.
Y'all this was brilliant. The story was so fun, and sexy and full of romcom absurdity but it was also a really kind and heartfelt narrative full of nuanced characters and I loved it so much. I adored Claire and Delilah's connection, there was such passion and intensity between them but there was also so much tenderness and I loved how vulnerable they were with one another. I love the way this story handles Claire's parenting woes, as she became a mother at a very young age and she's constantly worried about whether she's doing what's best for Ruby and being the best parent she could be. It was just really great and I liked seeing how her parenting anxieties were handled. As for Delilah, I loved seeing how her lonely childhood led to an isolated adult life and how she struggled to break those cycles, her childhood traumas were just handled so deftly. Loved how the relationship between Astrid and Delilah was explored. The story also has a really good cast of cool side characters and I can't wait to learn more about them in subsequent books in the series. Overall this was great, delightfully queer, surprisingly sexy, and so heartfelt.
4.5 stars
Featured in this vlog: https://youtu.be/uXzba5_oHAM
review:
I put this book off for so long because it was one of my most anticipated romances of 2022 and I was afraid of disappointment, this book exceeded all my expectations. Delilah Green Doesn't Care is about Delilah and Claire. Delilah is a lonely artist in the big city who must go back home to her small town to be a wedding photographer for her estranged step sister, Astrid. In returning home she confronts difficult childhood memories, a complicated family dynamic and a stubborn childhood crush that still has a hold on her. Claire is a mother to an adorable tween named Ruby who she's struggling to do right by while in a messy co-parenting situation with Ruby's father, Josh. When these two women reunite sparks fly.
Y'all this was brilliant. The story was so fun, and sexy and full of romcom absurdity but it was also a really kind and heartfelt narrative full of nuanced characters and I loved it so much. I adored Claire and Delilah's connection, there was such passion and intensity between them but there was also so much tenderness and I loved how vulnerable they were with one another. I love the way this story handles Claire's parenting woes, as she became a mother at a very young age and she's constantly worried about whether she's doing what's best for Ruby and being the best parent she could be. It was just really great and I liked seeing how her parenting anxieties were handled. As for Delilah, I loved seeing how her lonely childhood led to an isolated adult life and how she struggled to break those cycles, her childhood traumas were just handled so deftly. Loved how the relationship between Astrid and Delilah was explored. The story also has a really good cast of cool side characters and I can't wait to learn more about them in subsequent books in the series. Overall this was great, delightfully queer, surprisingly sexy, and so heartfelt.
4.5 stars
November 21, 2022
Prior to picking this one up I had read two of Ashley Herring Blake's middle grade books and one of her YA's and given them all 5 star ratings and I am SO HAPPY to report that miss Delilah Green carries on the 5 star streak!! This book was everything my queer, romance loving heart needed and I am so!!!!! glad!!!!! that it exists. From every single character having their own distinct lives and personalities to the ~RELATIONSHIPS~ between them, this book was perfect. Delilah and Claire and Astrid and Ruby and IRIS!!!! MY HEART! This review is rambling and makes absolutely no sense but please just take my word for it that this was an absolute delight and you neeeeeed! to pick it up when it comes out in February. Also I am *desperate* to read book two because from the snippet I read it looks like that one is also going to be queer?????? WOW I JUST HAVE THE MIGHTIEST NEED PLS READ THIS BOOK SO WE CAN HAVE A MILLION MORE LIKE IT THANK YOU YOU WON'T REGRET IT XOXO
CW: death of a parent
CW: death of a parent
October 11, 2022
no wonder Delilah Green doesn’t care. everyone in this book was a dickhead.
July 3, 2024
I listened to the audiobook and it was a truly wonderful experience.
The reader gives a charming performance, which only adds to the charm of the narrative. I was easily entranced by the audiobook, and lost myself in the story. I would recommend listening to the audiobook. Check here Audiobook Version: "Delilah Green Doesn’t Care"
Ashley Herring Blake has written an exquisite narrative filled with nuance that showcases both the intricacies of relationships and personal growth. Delilah’s journey is tender and relatable, complete with moments of vulnerability and strength. Her chemistry with Claire is palpable, and Blake’s depiction of the relationship evolving is authentic and layered.
In this book we follow Delilah Green, an aspiring photographer, who is reluctantly back in her small hometown for her stepsister’s wedding. Delilah is determined to keep her distance from the people she used to know, yet the universe has something else in store for her. Claire Sutherland is a single mother and the co-owner of a local bookstore, of course to meet Delilah, challenge her walls and question everything she believed about love and family.
The reader gives a charming performance, which only adds to the charm of the narrative. I was easily entranced by the audiobook, and lost myself in the story. I would recommend listening to the audiobook. Check here Audiobook Version: "Delilah Green Doesn’t Care"
Ashley Herring Blake has written an exquisite narrative filled with nuance that showcases both the intricacies of relationships and personal growth. Delilah’s journey is tender and relatable, complete with moments of vulnerability and strength. Her chemistry with Claire is palpable, and Blake’s depiction of the relationship evolving is authentic and layered.
In this book we follow Delilah Green, an aspiring photographer, who is reluctantly back in her small hometown for her stepsister’s wedding. Delilah is determined to keep her distance from the people she used to know, yet the universe has something else in store for her. Claire Sutherland is a single mother and the co-owner of a local bookstore, of course to meet Delilah, challenge her walls and question everything she believed about love and family.
February 23, 2022
My first full 5 Star book of 2022! I loved this. This is exactly the type of romance I want to read and I could not be happier. While I have never read Blake before, I have a few of her YA books sitting on my Kindle waiting to be read, so when I saw she wrote a sapphic adult romance, I just knew I had to read it. I was also happy to see that Berkley keeps putting out new sapphic books and I hope they continue since they have all been enjoyable. Anyway, this is a book I would absolutely recommend to any romance fans and I’m hopeful that people will enjoy it as much as I did.
First, I want to mention again that this is an adult romance. I noticed quite a few people marked this YA, probably because of what Blake normally writes, but this is definitely not YA and people should know that going into it. I’ve been having better luck with YA lately so this was a real treat for me to read such a great adult romance. I was trying to figure out what tropes this book fit but it was a little tough to do. It is kind of a second change romance, but not really. The second chances are really more about different friendships. I then was thinking maybe enemies to lovers, but that doesn’t really work either -more like indifferent to lovers maybe-. This book doesn’t quite fit into any one box but that might be one of the reasons it was so good.
The characters in this book are really well done. It is not just the two mains but also a group of friends that the book centers on like Astrid, the ice queen -who you want to know more about-, and Iris, the comedic relief. I did find the sort of villain characters to have been a tad cartoonish at times, but one added to some good emotional moments where the other added to some enjoyable humor. In the end, the fact they were a bit over-the-top actually worked. There was even a well written kid character and a well done ex character which both can be pretty rare in sapphic books. Everyone was just on pointe and you feel completely transported into this small town among this interesting group of characters.
While I really loved every part of this book, the romance really shines. I loved the two mains together. They had this great mix of sweetness and heat that was exactly what you want to see in a good romance. The chemistry was perfect and it just got stronger as the book went on. I won’t go into details, for spoiler reasons, but I have to say that I just LOVED the meet-cute. It would easily make my list of top favorite meet-cutes ever. I found that it actually gave me butterflies in my stomach and it’s been a long time since a book did that. It was great, just like the whole book.
TLDR: This was a real joy to read and it was my favorite book of 2022 so far. It was not perfect, there were a few tiny bumps, but there was so much good here that anything little that might have been an issue, ended up not mattering one bit. I loved the humor, all the emotions, the friendships, and the really good chemistry and heat. It was such a well-rounded book and I want to read more. I’m happy to say that yes, there is more coming and that there will be a second book starting the ice queen character. I honestly can’t wait. This is an easy book to recommend and I'm excited to see everyone else fall in love with it too.
An ARC was given to me for a review.
First, I want to mention again that this is an adult romance. I noticed quite a few people marked this YA, probably because of what Blake normally writes, but this is definitely not YA and people should know that going into it. I’ve been having better luck with YA lately so this was a real treat for me to read such a great adult romance. I was trying to figure out what tropes this book fit but it was a little tough to do. It is kind of a second change romance, but not really. The second chances are really more about different friendships. I then was thinking maybe enemies to lovers, but that doesn’t really work either -more like indifferent to lovers maybe-. This book doesn’t quite fit into any one box but that might be one of the reasons it was so good.
The characters in this book are really well done. It is not just the two mains but also a group of friends that the book centers on like Astrid, the ice queen -who you want to know more about-, and Iris, the comedic relief. I did find the sort of villain characters to have been a tad cartoonish at times, but one added to some good emotional moments where the other added to some enjoyable humor. In the end, the fact they were a bit over-the-top actually worked. There was even a well written kid character and a well done ex character which both can be pretty rare in sapphic books. Everyone was just on pointe and you feel completely transported into this small town among this interesting group of characters.
While I really loved every part of this book, the romance really shines. I loved the two mains together. They had this great mix of sweetness and heat that was exactly what you want to see in a good romance. The chemistry was perfect and it just got stronger as the book went on. I won’t go into details, for spoiler reasons, but I have to say that I just LOVED the meet-cute. It would easily make my list of top favorite meet-cutes ever. I found that it actually gave me butterflies in my stomach and it’s been a long time since a book did that. It was great, just like the whole book.
TLDR: This was a real joy to read and it was my favorite book of 2022 so far. It was not perfect, there were a few tiny bumps, but there was so much good here that anything little that might have been an issue, ended up not mattering one bit. I loved the humor, all the emotions, the friendships, and the really good chemistry and heat. It was such a well-rounded book and I want to read more. I’m happy to say that yes, there is more coming and that there will be a second book starting the ice queen character. I honestly can’t wait. This is an easy book to recommend and I'm excited to see everyone else fall in love with it too.
An ARC was given to me for a review.
September 29, 2022
“Okay, I’ll give you that Wuthering Heights is the least romantic book in the history of Victorian romances, but Jane Eyre?”
“Is that the one where the douchebag hid his wife away in the attic and then lied about it to the girl he wanted to bang who was, like, half his age?”
Claire winced. “Well, when you put it like that.”
*sobs in bi*
this is beautiful.
and you know who else is beautiful? this babe I happily buddy-(re)read this with.
i loved this book even more, this time around; i guess any book is nice if you read it with someone you deeply care about, but delilah green doesn't care is objectively a cute, entertaining and impossibly steamy novel that my heart can't help but recognise as one of my absolute favorites of the genre.
claire and delilah are amazing characters, together and individually, but i also really loved iris and astrid (or ass-trid like leni and i love to call her), and i appreciated the sisterhood-friendship part of the novel. delilah isn't an easy character to like, especially at the beginning, but i guess she had some leftover trauma and harsh feelings to process before she could become the character the author intended her to be at the end of the story.
claire, too, had her little flaws, but i saw a lot of myself in her, especially on things concerning her bisexuality and motherhood.
i'm not gonna over-analyze the whole thing or its writing, because it was alright and i don't have anything to say about it except that it was super enjoyable and so steamy i almost chocked on my pizza reading one of the smutty scenes.
oh, and i can't believe i only just found out this was ashley herring blake's debut??? i thought i'd have to catch up with all her past novels, turns out i'll have to keep an eye out for her furure ones :D
January 11, 2023
love bawling my eyes out with the first read of the year
March 29, 2022
This book was fine, and I’m sad because I wanted to be more obsessed with this than I am. This had all the ingredients to be a favorite for me, Delilah is a photographer with tattoos who has a complicated relationship with her sister, and Claire is a single mom who owns a book store… this should’ve been everything!! The premise is amazing. But there was just something missing for me? I didn’t feel a spark between these two? I don’t know if it’s because I listened to it on audio, but the sex scenes were pretty awkward and I just wasn’t feeling it at times. Also, a small nitpicky thing that doesn’t really matter, but why do the chapters have to be soooo long? It’s a small pet peeve of mine but it drives me crazy haha
I was just hoping to love this more than I did 😭
I was just hoping to love this more than I did 😭
August 25, 2023
como é bom ler sobre mulheres MUITO AMIGAS!!!!!!!!!
August 28, 2024
I honestly had no idea going into this book that it was a Cinderella retelling, and I loved it!
˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ 3.75 𝓢𝓽𝓪𝓻𝓼 ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗
“Okay, I’ll give you that, Wuthering Heights is the least romantic book in the history of Victorian romances, but Jane Eyre?”
“Is that the one where the douchebag hid his wife away in the attic and then lied about it to the girl he wanted to bang who was, like, half his age?”
Claire winced. “Well, when you put it like that.”
ೃ⁀➷ ꕤ 𝓠𝓾𝓲𝓬𝓴 𝓢𝓾𝓶𝓶𝓪𝓻𝔂 ༊*·˚
Delilah has lost both of her parents by the time she's 10 years old and she doesn't get on very well at all with her step mother or her stepsister Astrid.
Now living boldly and unapologetically in the concrete jungle - NYC. She's been burned by love before and is taking a very casual approach when it comes to her love life. Delilah is a photographer. She's just starting up her own business and is pretty much a starving artist.
She swears she will never go back to Bright Falls, not very good memories there, but when Astrid reminds her that she promised to photograph her wedding- and, she could definitely use the $15k paycheck.
It's off to Bright Falls she goes... who knew she would end up having an instant connection with one of her stepsister's best friends, Claire. Is it love? Is it just another casual hook up?
ೃ⁀➷ ꕤ 𝓜𝔂 𝓣𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱𝓽𝓼 ༊*·˚
I really enjoyed the plot of the book, it had so many elements that came together to give you something very real. From Delilah dealing with her relationship with Astrid, to her aiming for her artistic goals, to her romantic relationship with Claire, everything worked well to create realistic relationships and a dynamic story.
The story is very character driven which works because the characters are all very bold and outspoken... no hold barred.
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ I love a cute, feel good small-town rom-com and Ashley Herring Blake totally delivered.
✶ ⋆｡˚ ⁀➷ ꕤ 𝓓𝓮𝓵𝓲𝓵𝓪𝓱 ༊*·˚ - Again, she's been let down and burned by love before so she shields her heart and can come across a little cold and uncaring. But she's bold and sassy and totally someone I would hang out with.
✶ ⋆｡˚ ⁀➷ ꕤ 𝓒𝓵𝓪𝓲𝓻𝓮 ༊*·˚ - She seems to be the type of woman who wears her heart on her sleeve. What you see is what you get and she is most definitely not interested in a casual relationship. Especially since she has a little girl - Ruby who is 11 years old.
✶ ⋆｡˚ ⁀➷ ꕤ 𝓐𝓼𝓽𝓻𝓲𝓭 ༊*·˚ - As mentioned, she is the step-sister to Delilah and for the longest time the relationship between her and Delilah has been very strained. A lot of miscommunication or lack there of between these two. Astrid comes across distant and unapproachable but at her core she's such a people pleaser and a warm hearted and giving person. Loved her arc.
✶ ⋆｡˚ ⁀➷ꕤ 𝓘𝓻𝓲𝓼 ༊*·˚ - Bold and fierce and tell it like it is- this is ME in the friend group lol. I don't usually like characters that are very similar to my personality lol I don't even know why... well, let me not say that but it takes me a while to warm up to them and this was the case with Iris but I totally ended up loving her.
The LGBTQ rep is fabulous in this story with a mixture of bisexual, gay and lesbian characters.
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Definitely recommend if you like something not to heavy but impactful and realistic filled with genuine connections.
Looking forward to continuing the series!
˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ 3.75 𝓢𝓽𝓪𝓻𝓼 ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗
“Okay, I’ll give you that, Wuthering Heights is the least romantic book in the history of Victorian romances, but Jane Eyre?”
“Is that the one where the douchebag hid his wife away in the attic and then lied about it to the girl he wanted to bang who was, like, half his age?”
Claire winced. “Well, when you put it like that.”
ೃ⁀➷ ꕤ 𝓠𝓾𝓲𝓬𝓴 𝓢𝓾𝓶𝓶𝓪𝓻𝔂 ༊*·˚
Delilah has lost both of her parents by the time she's 10 years old and she doesn't get on very well at all with her step mother or her stepsister Astrid.
Now living boldly and unapologetically in the concrete jungle - NYC. She's been burned by love before and is taking a very casual approach when it comes to her love life. Delilah is a photographer. She's just starting up her own business and is pretty much a starving artist.
She swears she will never go back to Bright Falls, not very good memories there, but when Astrid reminds her that she promised to photograph her wedding- and, she could definitely use the $15k paycheck.
It's off to Bright Falls she goes... who knew she would end up having an instant connection with one of her stepsister's best friends, Claire. Is it love? Is it just another casual hook up?
ೃ⁀➷ ꕤ 𝓜𝔂 𝓣𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱𝓽𝓼 ༊*·˚
I really enjoyed the plot of the book, it had so many elements that came together to give you something very real. From Delilah dealing with her relationship with Astrid, to her aiming for her artistic goals, to her romantic relationship with Claire, everything worked well to create realistic relationships and a dynamic story.
The story is very character driven which works because the characters are all very bold and outspoken... no hold barred.
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ I love a cute, feel good small-town rom-com and Ashley Herring Blake totally delivered.
✶ ⋆｡˚ ⁀➷ ꕤ 𝓓𝓮𝓵𝓲𝓵𝓪𝓱 ༊*·˚ - Again, she's been let down and burned by love before so she shields her heart and can come across a little cold and uncaring. But she's bold and sassy and totally someone I would hang out with.
✶ ⋆｡˚ ⁀➷ ꕤ 𝓒𝓵𝓪𝓲𝓻𝓮 ༊*·˚ - She seems to be the type of woman who wears her heart on her sleeve. What you see is what you get and she is most definitely not interested in a casual relationship. Especially since she has a little girl - Ruby who is 11 years old.
✶ ⋆｡˚ ⁀➷ ꕤ 𝓐𝓼𝓽𝓻𝓲𝓭 ༊*·˚ - As mentioned, she is the step-sister to Delilah and for the longest time the relationship between her and Delilah has been very strained. A lot of miscommunication or lack there of between these two. Astrid comes across distant and unapproachable but at her core she's such a people pleaser and a warm hearted and giving person. Loved her arc.
✶ ⋆｡˚ ⁀➷ꕤ 𝓘𝓻𝓲𝓼 ༊*·˚ - Bold and fierce and tell it like it is- this is ME in the friend group lol. I don't usually like characters that are very similar to my personality lol I don't even know why... well, let me not say that but it takes me a while to warm up to them and this was the case with Iris but I totally ended up loving her.
The LGBTQ rep is fabulous in this story with a mixture of bisexual, gay and lesbian characters.
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Definitely recommend if you like something not to heavy but impactful and realistic filled with genuine connections.
Looking forward to continuing the series!
May 7, 2023
➥ 4.25 Stars *:･ﾟ✧
Buddy read with Amy 💘. So lovely to read such a great book with you!
In brief, this book ticked the box I was hoping it would: compelling sapphic romcom. It wasn't necessarily the deepest, most nuanced and realistic romance, but that's not what I require from a cute contemporary romance. Though this did have a few downsides, I overall really enjoyed this one.
This book follows Delilah and Claire, two characters who had always distanced themselves from each other in their childhood, bonding while attending Delilah's step-sister, Astrid's wedding. Who also happens to be Claire's best friend. We have fun tropes like single-parent, forced proximity, and friends with benefits. And, wow, the execution was amazing.
First of all, can I just say that it makes me so happy to see sapphics finally getting some good, new adult romcoms. I don't know how to really articulate this but I feel like we're finally getting the type of books that straight people get and it makes me so hopeful. Also, congratulations to this author for being able to get traditionally published. I'm aware that it's really difficult for publishing companies to pick up ff romances; a huge problem in the publishing industry.
I loved the small-town feel, and especially the way in which Blake wrote it so that there was no homophobia. Although Amy and Elena had told me they struggled to get into this book, I found the beginning decently gripping and I was pretty quickly enthralled. The interactions between Delilah and Claire were charged and interesting. A great book to pick up when you just need to take your mind off of the real world and just enjoy seeing a connection bloom.
I'm going to be honest, I was so obsessed with this book that I kind of forgot to take notes so this is a little messy, but just know that this book made me laugh and cry but most of all - smile. I just loved it so so much. Oh, and it's so fun once you finally get the meaning of the title.
All in all, this was a pretty delightful read for both Amy and I. I was a bit bothered by the amount of attention given to the family drama on the side. Although I know many like romance books to have a 'plot', I didn't really enjoy all the wedding shenanigans and something about photography is really boring to me 🤷♀️. I'm all for creative hobbies but, I can't lie, I don't really care about characters whose true passion is that 🙊. Though it was sweet to see Delilah teaching Ruby.
Also, although I understand that there is going to be backstory to Claire's divorce and co-parenting, the drama with Josh was just so irritating. I imagine that's how Claire felt as well, but just generally, though it's part of them, I wasn't really interested in the fleshing out of the difficulties of being a co-parents to a man who is horrible, yet your child's favourite. His whole redemption arc was ridiculous - the ideal would have been to have him go away somehow.
And lastly, where is the epilogue? We need an epilogue!!
Regardless, I'm really looking forward to Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail 🤭🤭🤭.
"I...well...I want to see you again."
"You want to fuck me again, you mean," Delilah said, but she was smiling. This she knew. This she understood. She'd had lovers she'd seen for multiple days, even weeks, before one of them broke it off for some amiable and practical reason.
Pink spilled into Claire's cheeks. "Okay, fine. Yes. Don't you?"
"Want to fuck me?"
"Delilah."
She laughed, then moved their entwined hands around Claire's waist, pulling the other woman closer. When their mouths touched, she whispered, "Yes. I want to fuck you again."
━━━━━━━━━━━ ♡ ━━━━━━━━━━━
Buddy read with Amy 💘. So lovely to read such a great book with you!
In brief, this book ticked the box I was hoping it would: compelling sapphic romcom. It wasn't necessarily the deepest, most nuanced and realistic romance, but that's not what I require from a cute contemporary romance. Though this did have a few downsides, I overall really enjoyed this one.
This book follows Delilah and Claire, two characters who had always distanced themselves from each other in their childhood, bonding while attending Delilah's step-sister, Astrid's wedding. Who also happens to be Claire's best friend. We have fun tropes like single-parent, forced proximity, and friends with benefits. And, wow, the execution was amazing.
➥ Delilah (h)...whew I liked her for sure. Such a great fmc. She's so hot oh my DEAR, it's not okay!!! And she was pretty funny too. I appreciated how fleshed out her character was. She was left out of many friend groups when she was younger, so she packed and moved out as soon as she could, following her passion for photography. And I love her name, it's so pretty. I loved when Claire said it, just one word, like she was mesmerised 🥺
➥ Claire (h) was also pretty great. She was so sweet and caring, and she's been through so much :( She's a single mother, a very admirable one. I really enjoyed her character.
➥ Ruby (Claire's daughter) was such a great character. Why, you ask? Because she was written so realistically. So many single-parent romances write the children like little angels, balls of sunshine that are just the absolute cutest. And yes, they are cute and I do kind of love them, but they're beyond unrealistic. Children are rarely so simple and easy and smiley. We see Claire struggling with being the 'mean parent' while Josh (I wish I could cut off his balls fr) gets to be the fun parent that hops into her life when she feels like it. I felt Claire's pain, seeing her daughter favour the other parent so much more. It also showed how difficult children are at times, their tantrums, their stubbornness etc. Having seen what it's like to be a parent firsthand, I appreciate how the author executed this aspect so realistically. Ruby herself wasn't my favourite character ever, but that then just supports my decision to not want to pop some lmaoo.
➥ Iris (Astrid's bff) was so funny oh my god. I cannot wait for her book, you don't understand. She's such an awesome, fun, loveable character.
➥ Astrid (Delilah's sister) was a tough one. I felt for her by the end but it was so tough to like her at the beginning. I'm looking forward to her having her gay awakening though 😌, that's going to be fun.
First of all, can I just say that it makes me so happy to see sapphics finally getting some good, new adult romcoms. I don't know how to really articulate this but I feel like we're finally getting the type of books that straight people get and it makes me so hopeful. Also, congratulations to this author for being able to get traditionally published. I'm aware that it's really difficult for publishing companies to pick up ff romances; a huge problem in the publishing industry.
I loved the small-town feel, and especially the way in which Blake wrote it so that there was no homophobia. Although Amy and Elena had told me they struggled to get into this book, I found the beginning decently gripping and I was pretty quickly enthralled. The interactions between Delilah and Claire were charged and interesting. A great book to pick up when you just need to take your mind off of the real world and just enjoy seeing a connection bloom.
Delilah closed her umbrella and set it outside on the stoop and stepped inside. She pushed Claire's front door closed before crowding into her space, hands on Claire's hips and her mouth bumping up against Claire's bottom lip as she spoke.
"I missed you," she said.
Claire couldn't breathe. Didn't dare. "You did?"
Delilah nodded and she kissed her - once, twice, soft and sweet that in no way indicated that she was expecting to fall into bed immediately. In fact, this kiss, well, it felt like Delilah expected...something more.
I'm going to be honest, I was so obsessed with this book that I kind of forgot to take notes so this is a little messy, but just know that this book made me laugh and cry but most of all - smile. I just loved it so so much. Oh, and it's so fun once you finally get the meaning of the title.
"He's my co-parent," Claire said. "He's not... We're not like that."
"But you have been? I mean, since you've broken up?"
Claire blinked but wanted to be honest. "Yeah. But not for a while. Over two years ago."
"But it's still complicated."
"Why do you care?"
The question slipped out, spoken sharply and softly at the same time. Delilah watched her for a second and then slid around the island's corner, closer and closer. Claire's body shifted with her until they were standing right in front of each other, her lower back pressed against the quartz.
Delilah stepped into her space, arms on either side of Claire's hips, braced against the counter and hemming her in. Instinctively, Claire's hands went to Delilah's waist, fingers curling through the cotton of her shirt. She tugged a little, pulling Delilah that much closer. Their hips aligned, breasts, not an inch of space between their bodies.
Delilah leaned in, her bottom lip barely whispering against Claire's.
"I don't care," she said.
And that was all it took for Claire to side a hand into Delilah's hair and close the last bit of distance between them.
All in all, this was a pretty delightful read for both Amy and I. I was a bit bothered by the amount of attention given to the family drama on the side. Although I know many like romance books to have a 'plot', I didn't really enjoy all the wedding shenanigans and something about photography is really boring to me 🤷♀️. I'm all for creative hobbies but, I can't lie, I don't really care about characters whose true passion is that 🙊. Though it was sweet to see Delilah teaching Ruby.
Also, although I understand that there is going to be backstory to Claire's divorce and co-parenting, the drama with Josh was just so irritating. I imagine that's how Claire felt as well, but just generally, though it's part of them, I wasn't really interested in the fleshing out of the difficulties of being a co-parents to a man who is horrible, yet your child's favourite. His whole redemption arc was ridiculous - the ideal would have been to have him go away somehow.
And lastly, where is the epilogue? We need an epilogue!!
Regardless, I'm really looking forward to Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail 🤭🤭🤭.
━━━━━━━━━━━ ♡ ━━━━━━━━━━━
March 10, 2022
Delilah Green Doesn’t Care and frankly…..neither do I. This was a total slog to get through for me and it’s quite honestly a miracle I didn’t DNF this even 15% in.
What I expected was a funny, charming, badass queer MC that executes the relationship bet trope well, with maybe some sharp insights on family and grief. What I got was an MC who is so caught up being incredibly petty and bitter, she tries to ruin her step sister’s wedding events at every turn, she tries to use and discard someone who she knows has suffered heartbreak and has a complicated life with a pre-teen as a single mom, she doesn’t take any accountability for her actions, AND she doesn’t exhibit any self awareness or reflection of how the grief of her losses may have affected how she interacts and treats others until the very very end - and even then, it’s cursory at best.
Delilah is quite frankly - the worst. Honestly at reading that she was happy when Claire gets pregnant in high school because it means she won’t go to college with Astrid and Iris (the Covenant) I wanted to end the journey there - and I should have. How is this cool? How is this badass? How is this ok? While you can argue the petty thought is normal for a young 18/19 year old, Delilah sticks by this feeling as a grown adult of 29. It’s icky. And we see later on through Delilah that really, Claire never even bullied her, never did anything to her, so you can’t even think it’s ok because Claire was so awful to her.
A lot of the family and “bullying” excuses used to justify and excuse Delilah’s behavior were pretty thin - she’s called a ghoul monster ONCE. She sees the pressure Isabel puts on Astrid and ignores it. She shuts Astrid out just as much as Astrid did her. But of course, Delilah’s petty behavior has to be justified, she needs to be validated for trying to ruin a wedding, spill and break champagne towers at events, purposely stress and rile Astrid up when she’s already clearly unhappy, la la la la.
All of the other characters are one-dimensional and unlikeable, I think Iris is meant to be that sharp, raw honest friend and character that you somehow love for telling it like it is, but she was grating and not at all clever. Her dead pan jokes didn’t land and she didn’t feel purposeful or needed as a character. All bark, no bite, as she doesn’t even confront Astrid about her douche fiancé. Pass.
Claire was meant to be the likable character I think, but she also needed to get her shit together. Her weird sexual relationship with her baby daddy didn’t make sense as apparently “no casual sex” is a major character cornerstone for her - so why is she sleeping with him when she knows they don’t love each other anymore and they never pursue a rekindling of their romantic relationship anyway? Her dynamic with him felt too high school, which makes it worse knowing they have a pre-teen daughter they’re raising together and are adults now - they’re 30!
I also felt the baby daddy (already forgot his name) got way too much of a pass considering he constantly skipped town and abandoned his child. It felt like the author tried to soften and excuse that with a fairytale ending with lots of pretty words and promises on his end - but I was over it. Clearly this lacks insight to see how damaging that actually is to their child and Claire and was instead used as a convenient tension plot point.
The sister’s confrontation and reconciliation moments with Delilah and Astrid lacked emotional punch and true, deep self-reflection. It’s all done in a matter of paragraphs without really diving into each of their own perspectives on their grief. Both of them lost their dads. Both grew up in some sense of isolation and with a mother/step mother that is frankly an insane stepford wife wannabe. That’s A LOT of trauma and emotion, none of which is explored with any sense of meaning and purpose. We never see Delilah really take accountability for her behavior much, and I don’t mean as kids, but rather as adults, at what she did during all of Astrid’s wedding events.
I could keep going with all the issues I had, but I think my point has been made - this felt very mediocre to me, the characters read as way too immature and bratty for their ages, and it felt like there was no, or definitely not enough emotional or character depth. I’ll be skipping the rest of this series, which is a shame since I was hoping this would be a winner.
What I expected was a funny, charming, badass queer MC that executes the relationship bet trope well, with maybe some sharp insights on family and grief. What I got was an MC who is so caught up being incredibly petty and bitter, she tries to ruin her step sister’s wedding events at every turn, she tries to use and discard someone who she knows has suffered heartbreak and has a complicated life with a pre-teen as a single mom, she doesn’t take any accountability for her actions, AND she doesn’t exhibit any self awareness or reflection of how the grief of her losses may have affected how she interacts and treats others until the very very end - and even then, it’s cursory at best.
Delilah is quite frankly - the worst. Honestly at reading that she was happy when Claire gets pregnant in high school because it means she won’t go to college with Astrid and Iris (the Covenant) I wanted to end the journey there - and I should have. How is this cool? How is this badass? How is this ok? While you can argue the petty thought is normal for a young 18/19 year old, Delilah sticks by this feeling as a grown adult of 29. It’s icky. And we see later on through Delilah that really, Claire never even bullied her, never did anything to her, so you can’t even think it’s ok because Claire was so awful to her.
A lot of the family and “bullying” excuses used to justify and excuse Delilah’s behavior were pretty thin - she’s called a ghoul monster ONCE. She sees the pressure Isabel puts on Astrid and ignores it. She shuts Astrid out just as much as Astrid did her. But of course, Delilah’s petty behavior has to be justified, she needs to be validated for trying to ruin a wedding, spill and break champagne towers at events, purposely stress and rile Astrid up when she’s already clearly unhappy, la la la la.
All of the other characters are one-dimensional and unlikeable, I think Iris is meant to be that sharp, raw honest friend and character that you somehow love for telling it like it is, but she was grating and not at all clever. Her dead pan jokes didn’t land and she didn’t feel purposeful or needed as a character. All bark, no bite, as she doesn’t even confront Astrid about her douche fiancé. Pass.
Claire was meant to be the likable character I think, but she also needed to get her shit together. Her weird sexual relationship with her baby daddy didn’t make sense as apparently “no casual sex” is a major character cornerstone for her - so why is she sleeping with him when she knows they don’t love each other anymore and they never pursue a rekindling of their romantic relationship anyway? Her dynamic with him felt too high school, which makes it worse knowing they have a pre-teen daughter they’re raising together and are adults now - they’re 30!
I also felt the baby daddy (already forgot his name) got way too much of a pass considering he constantly skipped town and abandoned his child. It felt like the author tried to soften and excuse that with a fairytale ending with lots of pretty words and promises on his end - but I was over it. Clearly this lacks insight to see how damaging that actually is to their child and Claire and was instead used as a convenient tension plot point.
The sister’s confrontation and reconciliation moments with Delilah and Astrid lacked emotional punch and true, deep self-reflection. It’s all done in a matter of paragraphs without really diving into each of their own perspectives on their grief. Both of them lost their dads. Both grew up in some sense of isolation and with a mother/step mother that is frankly an insane stepford wife wannabe. That’s A LOT of trauma and emotion, none of which is explored with any sense of meaning and purpose. We never see Delilah really take accountability for her behavior much, and I don’t mean as kids, but rather as adults, at what she did during all of Astrid’s wedding events.
I could keep going with all the issues I had, but I think my point has been made - this felt very mediocre to me, the characters read as way too immature and bratty for their ages, and it felt like there was no, or definitely not enough emotional or character depth. I’ll be skipping the rest of this series, which is a shame since I was hoping this would be a winner.
April 30, 2022
adult sapphic romance vlog coming to my channel soon!
Deliah Green Doesn’t Care is a fun, swoony romance novel. I have been highly anticipating this book ever since the cover was announced because, honestly, who could resist such a pretty cover? Not to mention the characters are hot. So I’m happy to say that although Delilah Green was not the new favourite I hoped for, it still definitely lived up to the hype.
This book is told from a dual point of view and I really enjoyed reading from both Delilah and Claire. They each had a unique voice and distinct personalities. Delilah was equal parts snarky and charismatic and vulnerable. Claire was kind and caring – the ultimate mum friend. They saw the world and the people around them differently based on their life and previous experiences with them which was really interesting. This was particularly clear when it came to Astrid, Delilah’s step sister. Claire saw through Astrid’s hard exterior to her best friend from childhood while Delilah, who never got to know her step sister that well and had some bad experiences with her as a child, only saw that hard exterior. It meant that both narrators would experience a scene entirely differently so it was really fun switching between POV’s.
I also loved Delilah and Claire together. From the initial tension and flirtation to realising they actually wanted each other was a delight to read. Both our main characters yearned for love and connection in different ways and I loved seeing them find that in each other. The sex scenes were well written and enjoyable, and the way the two characters described each other and thought about each other was so good. They’re both so hot I would like to date them both. I also adored the scenes between Delilah and Claire’s daughter. This is what I’d been looking forward to most about the book as I am a sucker for romances where one of the characters has a kid and we follow the other partner meeting the kid and falling a little in love with them too. Delilah Green definitely lived up to my expectations there.
I really enjoyed the main plotline of trying to call off the wedding and get Astrid to dump her fiancé. It really made the friendship between Claire, Iris and Astrid shine and I loved seeing Delilah find her place in that dynamic. It was also a great vehicle to develop Astrid and Delilah’s relationship and I loved this exploration of the complications of grief and misunderstandings and family. This was truly the heart of the novel and it was so well written. I can't wait to continue this journey in Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail!
Overall, Delilah Green Doesn’t Care is a wonderful romance novel guaranteed to make you swoon, even as the emotional beats make your heart twinge. It is a book about healing and growing and love in all its forms and I so highly recommend it.
I also talk about books here: youtube | instagram | twitter
*eARC received in exchange for an honest review via Netgalley*
Deliah Green Doesn’t Care is a fun, swoony romance novel. I have been highly anticipating this book ever since the cover was announced because, honestly, who could resist such a pretty cover? Not to mention the characters are hot. So I’m happy to say that although Delilah Green was not the new favourite I hoped for, it still definitely lived up to the hype.
This book is told from a dual point of view and I really enjoyed reading from both Delilah and Claire. They each had a unique voice and distinct personalities. Delilah was equal parts snarky and charismatic and vulnerable. Claire was kind and caring – the ultimate mum friend. They saw the world and the people around them differently based on their life and previous experiences with them which was really interesting. This was particularly clear when it came to Astrid, Delilah’s step sister. Claire saw through Astrid’s hard exterior to her best friend from childhood while Delilah, who never got to know her step sister that well and had some bad experiences with her as a child, only saw that hard exterior. It meant that both narrators would experience a scene entirely differently so it was really fun switching between POV’s.
I also loved Delilah and Claire together. From the initial tension and flirtation to realising they actually wanted each other was a delight to read. Both our main characters yearned for love and connection in different ways and I loved seeing them find that in each other. The sex scenes were well written and enjoyable, and the way the two characters described each other and thought about each other was so good. They’re both so hot I would like to date them both. I also adored the scenes between Delilah and Claire’s daughter. This is what I’d been looking forward to most about the book as I am a sucker for romances where one of the characters has a kid and we follow the other partner meeting the kid and falling a little in love with them too. Delilah Green definitely lived up to my expectations there.
I really enjoyed the main plotline of trying to call off the wedding and get Astrid to dump her fiancé. It really made the friendship between Claire, Iris and Astrid shine and I loved seeing Delilah find her place in that dynamic. It was also a great vehicle to develop Astrid and Delilah’s relationship and I loved this exploration of the complications of grief and misunderstandings and family. This was truly the heart of the novel and it was so well written. I can't wait to continue this journey in Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail!
Overall, Delilah Green Doesn’t Care is a wonderful romance novel guaranteed to make you swoon, even as the emotional beats make your heart twinge. It is a book about healing and growing and love in all its forms and I so highly recommend it.
I also talk about books here: youtube | instagram | twitter
*eARC received in exchange for an honest review via Netgalley*
Read
March 14, 2022Tremendous romance. Wonderfully real characters--this is a book that isn't afraid to have its characters be messy, sometimes self-centred, with real and thus often difficult, misplaced, and highly unflattering emotions. (They also drink an incredible amount *without the story once punishing them for it* which is sufficiently rare in US romance as to be noticeable.)
Super queer, with glorious female friendships as well as the central romance. And really well written, too. A fabulous and hugely enjoyable story of people finding their place and each other. Enormously recommended.
Super queer, with glorious female friendships as well as the central romance. And really well written, too. A fabulous and hugely enjoyable story of people finding their place and each other. Enormously recommended.
June 19, 2022
Delilah’s character is a really cool one. She has goals she is working towards and generally seems to not care what others think of her. Her step-sister, Astrid, is getting married and is looking to use Delilah’s photography talents for the occasion. Deliah really does not want to go back to that town, but also, it’s a lot of money! She does and she sees Claire, who is part of Astrid’s coven. Delilah’s words, not mine. They are attracted to each other and that also becomes a major part of this book.
The part where we explore Delilah’s childhood, including her relationship with her family, was what I was genuinely interested in. I also enjoyed exploring how it has affected her and her many relationships today. Astrid’s storyline was also interesting. Pleasing parents syndrome is a struggle we often see in many books, but Astrid’s struggle in this one felt a bit more unique than others I’ve read. I don’t really care for other stuff in the book, with some being predictable.
Overall, an enjoyable read that gave a little “average” vibes.
The part where we explore Delilah’s childhood, including her relationship with her family, was what I was genuinely interested in. I also enjoyed exploring how it has affected her and her many relationships today. Astrid’s storyline was also interesting. Pleasing parents syndrome is a struggle we often see in many books, but Astrid’s struggle in this one felt a bit more unique than others I’ve read. I don’t really care for other stuff in the book, with some being predictable.
Overall, an enjoyable read that gave a little “average” vibes.
March 17, 2022
really cute and lesbian slay
May 28, 2023
Finally a 5 star romance 😭 I loved this so much, zero complaints.
September 27, 2022
I always get so nervous about books that get a lot of buzz because I'm afraid that I won't feel the same way as other readers, but this one did not disappoint. I can't wait to read more from Ashley Herring Blake.
Delilah Green Doesn't Care is the first in a new series that centers the relationship between tattooed photographer Delilah and her step-sisters best friend Claire. Delilah vowed never to return to Bright Falls after leaving, but makes the decision to come back when her estranged step sister Astrid decides to hire her for a wedding. Of course, things get a little more complicated with Delilah meets Claire again for the first time in years. What starts off as a ploy to break up Astrid and her atrocious fiancé becomes a much deeper exploration of love, self-worth, and family.
One of the most enjoyable things that I found about this book was the complexity of the plot. And I don't mean complex in a way that means it was difficult to follow, but it contained so much depth. Not only are readers getting the opportunity to see the development of the relationship between Delilah and Claire, but there is also plot development that occurs in relationship to characters and their family members as well as internal development. For Delilah, there is internal conflict related to how she perceives herself due to the ill treatment of her step mother. Then there is external conflict with her step-sister Astrid that has to be worked through. Claire struggles greatly with the relationship she has with the father of child. While it may seem like this is too much conflict, it created dynamic and well developed main characters and side characters. It felt realistic. In no way shape or form do any of us enter in a relationship without internal and external conflicts so it was nice to see Delilah and Claire not only have to work through their feelings about each other, but also the ways in which they saw themselves and others around them.
And let's talk about Blake's writing style. It was so fluid and entertaining. The way she seamlessly wove in a dual narrative with complex side characters is brilliant. Everyone had distinct personalities and characteristics which can be hard to capture. Her writing was layered lending to a complex plot that was unexpected. I was extremely invested in this story and the characters which usually isn't a thing for me when it comes to traditionally published romances. Honestly, if everything by Blake is like this (I mean in terms of writing style, plot development, and character development) then I can't wait to pick up more of her works. And the steamy scenes!!!! Whoooo, I was fanning myself at one point. Blake does a great job illustrating both the physical and emotional attraction that Delilah and Claire have to each other.
Honestly, if you haven't given this one a try and you enjoy small town romances and/or sapphic romances then you definitely need to give this a try. I promise it won't disappoint.
Delilah Green Doesn't Care is the first in a new series that centers the relationship between tattooed photographer Delilah and her step-sisters best friend Claire. Delilah vowed never to return to Bright Falls after leaving, but makes the decision to come back when her estranged step sister Astrid decides to hire her for a wedding. Of course, things get a little more complicated with Delilah meets Claire again for the first time in years. What starts off as a ploy to break up Astrid and her atrocious fiancé becomes a much deeper exploration of love, self-worth, and family.
One of the most enjoyable things that I found about this book was the complexity of the plot. And I don't mean complex in a way that means it was difficult to follow, but it contained so much depth. Not only are readers getting the opportunity to see the development of the relationship between Delilah and Claire, but there is also plot development that occurs in relationship to characters and their family members as well as internal development. For Delilah, there is internal conflict related to how she perceives herself due to the ill treatment of her step mother. Then there is external conflict with her step-sister Astrid that has to be worked through. Claire struggles greatly with the relationship she has with the father of child. While it may seem like this is too much conflict, it created dynamic and well developed main characters and side characters. It felt realistic. In no way shape or form do any of us enter in a relationship without internal and external conflicts so it was nice to see Delilah and Claire not only have to work through their feelings about each other, but also the ways in which they saw themselves and others around them.
And let's talk about Blake's writing style. It was so fluid and entertaining. The way she seamlessly wove in a dual narrative with complex side characters is brilliant. Everyone had distinct personalities and characteristics which can be hard to capture. Her writing was layered lending to a complex plot that was unexpected. I was extremely invested in this story and the characters which usually isn't a thing for me when it comes to traditionally published romances. Honestly, if everything by Blake is like this (I mean in terms of writing style, plot development, and character development) then I can't wait to pick up more of her works. And the steamy scenes!!!! Whoooo, I was fanning myself at one point. Blake does a great job illustrating both the physical and emotional attraction that Delilah and Claire have to each other.
Honestly, if you haven't given this one a try and you enjoy small town romances and/or sapphic romances then you definitely need to give this a try. I promise it won't disappoint.
July 22, 2023
rep: lesbian mc, bi mc, bi side characters
listen. the intensity of the sapphic love!! the character development, the relationship btwn sisters, the way nothing is what it seems to be when it comes to emotions & the narration uses it to its advantage...
listen. the intensity of the sapphic love!! the character development, the relationship btwn sisters, the way nothing is what it seems to be when it comes to emotions & the narration uses it to its advantage...
July 12, 2022
4.25 ⭐️ Delilah Green may not care but guess what? I CARE DEEPLY. this book was so cute & everything I needed right now. i’m a sucker for the small town vibes and this delivered.
as hannah montana says… you’ll always find ur way back home <3
“to us” 🫶🏻
as hannah montana says… you’ll always find ur way back home <3
“to us” 🫶🏻
August 13, 2023
— 2 stars ☆
i felt too much and now i'm exhausted. anger, mainly, frustration and sadness, maybe a little happiness too but that was really buried under.
this book made me so fucking mad bcos you know what happened every 5 mins?
DELILAH DIDN'T CARE. that's right. i mean, i'm directing this towards you, Astrid and Iris - did y'all forget she was an actual person with actual feelings? ever heard of that? 😤
i just have to say this one thing. sorrynot sorry i'm gonna have to SCREAM IT.
Delilah Green deserves 5 stars for all the shit she had to put up with, okay? 🥺
i would have totally given this 5 stars only just for her 🥰 but i just couldn't. let me explain.
Delilah Green. how can i say this? I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT HER. I WANNA BE HER. I WANNA HUG HER FOREVER. okay that's it. i love her igdaf attitude, especially after the way everyone shunned her 😭💔 my bb. she was wild and reckless and beautiful and marvelous and i just adore her more than words can express.
the way she thought no one gave a shit about her so she started trying to stop giving a shit about the world was truly fucking heartbreaking. and the way her own (supposed) sister and mother treated her. 😭 neglect is just as bad as abuse, people.
Astrid at least had some people on her side, to be with her, to hold her when she fell apart. and okay, maybe she had to behave like a doll or whatever, but at least she had someone!! Delilah was the one who was all alone and lonely and then these people have the audacity to speak shit to her. i'm seriously raging.
and why the fuck did Iris and Claire and Astrid have to behave so fucking badly towards her when they were young? it was just not right. okay, so Delilah ignored her sister, but she was also grieving! i'm not saying she got a free pass for that, but that's a shitty excuse for what they all did. Iris was still petty and rude and mean towards her even tho she didn't even fucking do anything this time except simply exist. EVEN CLAIRE (even though i did like her a bit, but she was bland, sorry not sorry).
now for Claire. she was just so so sweet and kindhearted and all, but i didn't feel all that much for her? i mean, yeah, she had her moments. but the moments were all with and for Delilah (who's the loml). she also was taken advantage of too many times for my liking by people like Josh (like why the fuck did he not have any retribution at all? what's the conclusion with him? they hugged and it was all cool. NO IT IS NOT COOL-)
basically, this was just fucking painful to read. everyone was very shitty. but i'll still definitely be reading the second book (bc i'm so intrigued about Astrid Parker and her prickly exterior and bi awakening lol and i wanna know if at least her development is done properly, cause if not that's just gonna piss me off even more).
i felt too much and now i'm exhausted. anger, mainly, frustration and sadness, maybe a little happiness too but that was really buried under.
this book made me so fucking mad bcos you know what happened every 5 mins?
DELILAH DIDN'T CARE. that's right. i mean, i'm directing this towards you, Astrid and Iris - did y'all forget she was an actual person with actual feelings? ever heard of that? 😤
i just have to say this one thing. sorry
Delilah Green deserves 5 stars for all the shit she had to put up with, okay? 🥺
i would have totally given this 5 stars only just for her 🥰 but i just couldn't. let me explain.
Delilah Green. how can i say this? I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT HER. I WANNA BE HER. I WANNA HUG HER FOREVER. okay that's it. i love her igdaf attitude, especially after the way everyone shunned her 😭💔 my bb. she was wild and reckless and beautiful and marvelous and i just adore her more than words can express.
the way she thought no one gave a shit about her so she started trying to stop giving a shit about the world was truly fucking heartbreaking. and the way her own (supposed) sister and mother treated her. 😭 neglect is just as bad as abuse, people.
Astrid at least had some people on her side, to be with her, to hold her when she fell apart. and okay, maybe she had to behave like a doll or whatever, but at least she had someone!! Delilah was the one who was all alone and lonely and then these people have the audacity to speak shit to her. i'm seriously raging.
and why the fuck did Iris and Claire and Astrid have to behave so fucking badly towards her when they were young? it was just not right. okay, so Delilah ignored her sister, but she was also grieving! i'm not saying she got a free pass for that, but that's a shitty excuse for what they all did. Iris was still petty and rude and mean towards her even tho she didn't even fucking do anything this time except simply exist. EVEN CLAIRE (even though i did like her a bit, but she was bland, sorry not sorry).
now for Claire. she was just so so sweet and kindhearted and all, but i didn't feel all that much for her? i mean, yeah, she had her moments. but the moments were all with and for Delilah (who's the loml). she also was taken advantage of too many times for my liking by people like Josh (like why the fuck did he not have any retribution at all? what's the conclusion with him? they hugged and it was all cool. NO IT IS NOT COOL-)
basically, this was just fucking painful to read. everyone was very shitty. but i'll still definitely be reading the second book (bc i'm so intrigued about Astrid Parker and her prickly exterior and bi awakening lol and i wanna know if at least her development is done properly, cause if not that's just gonna piss me off even more).
September 28, 2022
Having sung the praises of AHB's MG and YA titles for so many years now, nobody is more disappointed than me to say that this book was a struggle. I actually set it aside 50pg in the first time I tried reading it, and had to pick it back up with an audiobook to force myself past the first few chapters because I disliked Delilah's character so much. Thankfully, the audiobook narrator was fantastic and I gradually was drawn in enough to give the story a solid chance.
In the end, Delilah slowly redeemed herself a little bit for me, but it took a very long time to get there and I still wasn't a huge fan by the time I reached the last page. I typically LOVE prickly, unlikable protagonists, but Delilah's particular flavor of attitude was so petty and self-centered that I had a hard time working past it. I will admit that I felt a lot of empathy for her unresolved traumas and I loved watching her bond with Ruby and play pranks on Astrid's disgusting groom-to-be, but I spent most of the book wishing I could tell her to grow up.
All of that said, I thought Delilah and Claire had a lot of chemistry, and I actually loved Astrid's character from the start, so I'm very eager to read the next book and see her get the love she deserves. AHB's narrative voice is engaging and fun, and I can see why so many people loved this book. I'm sad that I wasn't one of them, but I have high hopes for the sequel!
I read a final copy I purchased myself, but for the sake of disclosure, I was also sent an early review copy by the author/publisher. All thoughts are honest and my own.
✨ Representation: several sapphic (lesbian and bi) characters, one very minor side character uses they/them pronouns
✨ Content warnings for:
———
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In the end, Delilah slowly redeemed herself a little bit for me, but it took a very long time to get there and I still wasn't a huge fan by the time I reached the last page. I typically LOVE prickly, unlikable protagonists, but Delilah's particular flavor of attitude was so petty and self-centered that I had a hard time working past it. I will admit that I felt a lot of empathy for her unresolved traumas and I loved watching her bond with Ruby and play pranks on Astrid's disgusting groom-to-be, but I spent most of the book wishing I could tell her to grow up.
All of that said, I thought Delilah and Claire had a lot of chemistry, and I actually loved Astrid's character from the start, so I'm very eager to read the next book and see her get the love she deserves. AHB's narrative voice is engaging and fun, and I can see why so many people loved this book. I'm sad that I wasn't one of them, but I have high hopes for the sequel!
I read a final copy I purchased myself, but for the sake of disclosure, I was also sent an early review copy by the author/publisher. All thoughts are honest and my own.
✨ Representation: several sapphic (lesbian and bi) characters, one very minor side character uses they/them pronouns
✨ Content warnings for:
———
twitter | booktok | bookstagram | blog
August 14, 2022
i almost DNFed this at page 250 but decided to stick it through, and i'm really sad this didn't live up to the hype for me. i think the storyline could've been great (other than the fact that characters with kids is a really big turn off for me), but the writing absolutely decimated my enjoyment of this.
having read middle grade books by this author, it gave off the same energy where she was over-explaining everything to the reader. other than making the book pointlessly long and overwritten, it also felt really condescending and corny. there were other little things that i didn't like, like all the character banter and comebacks felt really contrived and i hated that the friend group called each other "sweetie" and "honey" CONSTANTLY. just so many little icks that added up over time that i almost couldn't do it.
i'm disappointed because i really really loved how to make a wish but this one was a total let down. i hope i'm not alone because it kinda feels homophobic to not love this as much as everyone else does lol
having read middle grade books by this author, it gave off the same energy where she was over-explaining everything to the reader. other than making the book pointlessly long and overwritten, it also felt really condescending and corny. there were other little things that i didn't like, like all the character banter and comebacks felt really contrived and i hated that the friend group called each other "sweetie" and "honey" CONSTANTLY. just so many little icks that added up over time that i almost couldn't do it.
i'm disappointed because i really really loved how to make a wish but this one was a total let down. i hope i'm not alone because it kinda feels homophobic to not love this as much as everyone else does lol
Shelved as 'dnf'
April 8, 2023DNF at page 281
Delilah Green doesn’t care because Delilah Green is in need of some intense therapy.
I hate to say this, but I’m gonna say it anyway: this book was boring. I had to DNF it.
I was over 200 pages in and realised I did not understand why the main characters were into each other. I could not tell you.
Other than the attraction maybe, but by page 200, there should have been some substance to this attraction.
Also, there were way too many running plot points that were quite frankly, useless.
Let me list them for you.
* Delilah having a strained relationship with her step-mother and step-sister.
* A wedding.
* A wedding that they were trying to stop and ruin because the fiancé was a dick.
* Delilah being a starving? artist (I honestly wish we had more of that)
* Delilah being offered an opportunity for something she really wanted, which never went anywhere. Or maybe it did, but I was nearing the end of the book and there was no mention of it. Which is stupid, considering how excited she was.
* Delilah and her issues with commitment because of her childhood and an ex.
* Claire and the difficulties surrounding motherhood.
* Claire and her ex.
I mean, why? Was this honestly necessary? None of it felt fleshed out.
On top of that, there’s the romance which we didn’t get to see develop, because of the above mentioned useless plot points.
I also couldn’t connect to the writing. It’s not that it was bad, but I felt nothing.
I was looking forward to reading a sapphic romance, but I’ve read novellas that had more of an impact. I did not believe anything that was between Delilah and Claire.
Delilah Green doesn’t care because Delilah Green is in need of some intense therapy.
I hate to say this, but I’m gonna say it anyway: this book was boring. I had to DNF it.
I was over 200 pages in and realised I did not understand why the main characters were into each other. I could not tell you.
Other than the attraction maybe, but by page 200, there should have been some substance to this attraction.
Also, there were way too many running plot points that were quite frankly, useless.
Let me list them for you.
* Delilah having a strained relationship with her step-mother and step-sister.
* A wedding.
* A wedding that they were trying to stop and ruin because the fiancé was a dick.
* Delilah being a starving? artist (I honestly wish we had more of that)
* Delilah being offered an opportunity for something she really wanted, which never went anywhere. Or maybe it did, but I was nearing the end of the book and there was no mention of it. Which is stupid, considering how excited she was.
* Delilah and her issues with commitment because of her childhood and an ex.
* Claire and the difficulties surrounding motherhood.
* Claire and her ex.
I mean, why? Was this honestly necessary? None of it felt fleshed out.
On top of that, there’s the romance which we didn’t get to see develop, because of the above mentioned useless plot points.
I also couldn’t connect to the writing. It’s not that it was bad, but I felt nothing.
I was looking forward to reading a sapphic romance, but I’ve read novellas that had more of an impact. I did not believe anything that was between Delilah and Claire.
May 25, 2022
3.5⭐
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻All the applause for Ashley Herring Blake for understanding the difference between Young Adult and Adult 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I've read her YA and enjoyed them, but was skeptical about her branching into adult. She understood the assignment! It was ADULT. Yes, they were stunted youths. But it was adults acting YA or YA acting like adults. It was full grown adults who needed to work through their shit. And I love AHB for doing it.
She had full sapphic sex scenes. She was serving f/f romance. AHB came to PLAY y'all.
Now, I will say I have a bias because Lilah is my favorite name and Green is my favorite color. Also, I heavily identified with Delilah when she was goth in high school but grew up to have black hair and wear black skinny jeans. I mean, HELLO, ✨me✨.
BUT. being a reader who doesn't lean toward cutesy romance, this didn't press my buttons.
And let me tell you that I did not like the ending AT ALL. A T A L L. I get it's realistic. But that's not what I come into a romance for.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻All the applause for Ashley Herring Blake for understanding the difference between Young Adult and Adult 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I've read her YA and enjoyed them, but was skeptical about her branching into adult. She understood the assignment! It was ADULT. Yes, they were stunted youths. But it was adults acting YA or YA acting like adults. It was full grown adults who needed to work through their shit. And I love AHB for doing it.
She had full sapphic sex scenes. She was serving f/f romance. AHB came to PLAY y'all.
Now, I will say I have a bias because Lilah is my favorite name and Green is my favorite color. Also, I heavily identified with Delilah when she was goth in high school but grew up to have black hair and wear black skinny jeans. I mean, HELLO, ✨me✨.
BUT. being a reader who doesn't lean toward cutesy romance, this didn't press my buttons.
And let me tell you that I did not like the ending AT ALL. A T A L L. I get it's realistic. But that's not what I come into a romance for.
July 2, 2023
4.25/5
Zabawna, urocza, z postaciami, w które mogę uwierzyć i które nie są płaskie i jednowymiarowe>
Zabawna, urocza, z postaciami, w które mogę uwierzyć i które nie są płaskie i jednowymiarowe>
May 22, 2022
I really enjoyed this but I did have some issues. I’d give it a 3.75/5 if we’re getting technical.
CW: mentions of cancer, loss of parents.
Delilah lives in NYC and is a struggling artist. Her family is back in Oregon but she doesn’t go often because she doesn’t have a great relationship with them. But her step sister, Astrid, is getting married and hired Delilah as the photographer, so she’s going back home for 2 weeks.
My biggest issues were the author was trying to make it a point that she is an intersectional feminist, which is great, but my god, can you be anymore blatant ? Every time a person was described it was she was a white woman. He was a cishet white man, she’s a white woman. It doesn’t sound bad but it happened so often if felt clunky.
Another thing was I thought the subplots were almost more of the focus than the main romance. Delilah has family issues. Claire has baby daddy issues. And they both take up a lot of the story. Claire’s issues were more interesting to me than Delilah’s, I just didn’t really care about the sister/ step sister drama.
One of the friends is named Iris and this is so dumb but they shorten her name to Ris and that bothered me. Her name is only TWO syllables and got shorten it?? Hate hate hate. And Iris was annoying overall.
I did like Delilah overall; even tho sometimes I was like GROW UP. Both Delilah and Claire are hotties from their description, both my type LOL. I thought they had good chemistry but Claire’s issues with her baby daddy sometimes made me feel she still had real feelings for him too?
Oh and the sexy times were giving chiiiiile 😏
Overall really enjoyed and would read more from this author. I’ve seen the titles for future books and I don’t know if I’d care to read Iris’ story but we’ll see …
CW: mentions of cancer, loss of parents.
Delilah lives in NYC and is a struggling artist. Her family is back in Oregon but she doesn’t go often because she doesn’t have a great relationship with them. But her step sister, Astrid, is getting married and hired Delilah as the photographer, so she’s going back home for 2 weeks.
My biggest issues were the author was trying to make it a point that she is an intersectional feminist, which is great, but my god, can you be anymore blatant ? Every time a person was described it was she was a white woman. He was a cishet white man, she’s a white woman. It doesn’t sound bad but it happened so often if felt clunky.
Another thing was I thought the subplots were almost more of the focus than the main romance. Delilah has family issues. Claire has baby daddy issues. And they both take up a lot of the story. Claire’s issues were more interesting to me than Delilah’s, I just didn’t really care about the sister/ step sister drama.
One of the friends is named Iris and this is so dumb but they shorten her name to Ris and that bothered me. Her name is only TWO syllables and got shorten it?? Hate hate hate. And Iris was annoying overall.
I did like Delilah overall; even tho sometimes I was like GROW UP. Both Delilah and Claire are hotties from their description, both my type LOL. I thought they had good chemistry but Claire’s issues with her baby daddy sometimes made me feel she still had real feelings for him too?
Oh and the sexy times were giving chiiiiile 😏
Overall really enjoyed and would read more from this author. I’ve seen the titles for future books and I don’t know if I’d care to read Iris’ story but we’ll see …
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