Laura Silverman

Hannah Moskowitz

Natasha Ngan

Sara Farizan

Malinda Lo

Lilliam Rivera

Gloria Chao

Mason Deaver

Amy Spalding

Claire Kann

Julian Winters

Rebecca Kim Wells

Rebecca Barrow

Join fifteen bestselling, award-winning, and up-and-coming authors as they reimagine some of the most popular tropes in the romance genre. Fake relationships. Enemies to lovers. Love triangles and best friends, mistaken identities and missed connections. This collection of genre-bending and original stories celebrates how love always finds a way, featuring powerful flora, a superhero and his nemesis, a fantastical sled race through snow-capped mountains, a golf tournament, the wrong ride-share, and even the end of the world. With stories written by Rebecca Barrow, Ashley Herring Blake, Gloria Chao, Mason Deaver, Sara Farizan, Claire Kann, Malinda Lo, Hannah Moskowitz, Natasha Ngan, Rebecca Podos, Lilliam Rivera, Laura Silverman, Amy Spalding, Rebecca Kim Wells, and Julian Winters this collection is sure to sweep you off your feet.

Fresh Twists on Romantic Tales

Fools in Love

alya adlina

read this last year. got no motivations to write a review for this bcs idk its just TOO MANY THINGS. im not gonna say i enjoyed reading it. two stars bcs im too kind.

Haney Hayes PR

Being this was my first story by Sterling, and I absolutely loved it. It was a super quick read, but just means I need to go read the rest of her work. This one had low drama., but it had a new trope for me Grumpy/Grumpy. I guess now I've read them all. I couldn't ask for a better read. Both Robbie and April are workaholics. However, April brings out the Mine possessiveness in Robbie! It's so good.

Abi Baker

Thiare Vergara

Thanks to netgalley for give an ARC of this book.
Spoiler free review
It was a pretty good book with some tropes that I absolutely love, is very fast paced because they are short stories. For a romance book I can say it wasn't my favorite but it has a good written stories. If you need something entertaining and to get you through a reading slump this may be for you.

Steph L 

Characters

The characters in each of the stories were well developed, and they each had their own personalities. With anthologies like this, characters can start to run together, but all the characters were different, and I could tell who I was reading about. All of the characters were sweet and really cared about the other people in the stories. The characters had interesting hobbies and backstories as well.

Plots

The plots to all the stories in this collection were interesting. Each one was different, and they were all unique based on the trope used. Some were modern stories, and some were fantasy and sci-fi. I enjoyed reading most of the stories here. Bloom, using the trope, Love Transcends Space and Time by Rebecca Barrow, follows a woman named Mera who is looking for someone she has seen in her mother’s garden and was talked about in letters. The Passover Date by Laura Silverman is a fun story following the fake dating trope. My final favorite story was These Strings by Lilliam Rivera is a fun take on sibling’s hot best friend.

 

Writing

I loved all the writing in the stories. All the writers were wonderful, even the ones I didn’t know of before, which for this anthology was a lot. All the writing matched the stories well, and I felt each author’s writing added to the story without taking away from the characters or the plot. 

Romances

All the romances in this anthology were so cute. Most of them were LGTBQ+, which made me happy, and they were all executed well. I loved how each of the stories had a trope but flipped the trope on its head, adding their own unique way to tell the story. Each romance was interesting and I enjoyed seeing the characters get together.

Enjoyment

I had such a great time reading this book. The stories made me happy seeing the romance tropes I enjoy seeing told in a new way. Some stories are longer than others are, but they were all the length needed to tell the story.

Lauren Sullivan

I am a humongous fan of romance tropes, so I was especially excited to read this anthology of fifteen young adult stories each centered around a specific trope, from snowed in to mistaken identity to mutual pining. It’s queer as all get out, with quite a few sapphic pairings as well as some gay and trans characters. It’s also delightfully diverse, in both its characters and authors.

Like most collections, there are some stories I liked more than others. First up, the fantasy/scifi stories.

“And now said competitor is trying to get me drunk. I should report them to the trail runners for subterfuge.”
“Subterfuge!” Ru looked gleeful. “What a delightful word!”
Mila rolled her eyes. “What would you call it, then?”
“Seduction.”

Natasha Ngan’s “Silver and Gold” (snowed in together) covered a moment of quiet and understanding in the middle of a fantasy Iditarod. This was delightful, atmospheric and adventurous by turns, and it was a great start to the collection.

Rebecca Kim Wells’ “Unfortunately, Blobs Do Not Eat Snacks” recounts Tess and Davina’s attempts to complete their magical academy exam…. if they can get to the small town they’re supposed to investigate some random minor magical mishap in without killing each. This is the “kissing under the influence” trope, which is not a particular favorite of mine, but I adored this story and would love an entire series starring Tess and Davina. Definitely one of my top faves!

“What Makes Us Heroes” is one where the author, Julian Winters, went all out and decided to interrogate the trope of hero vs villain. In a world where superpowers are hereditary but racial and class inequalities still exist, what is the real difference between heroes and villains?

“My Best Friend’s Girl” by Sara Farizan helpfully tells you what the trope is in the title, but the rest of the story, about a regular girl who falls for her superhero best friend’s girlfriend, was anything but boring. The world-building was fascinating, and I loved the portrayal of the relationships between all three of them. This is definitely an author I’ll be looking out for.

“Disaster” by Rebecca Podos is the last story in the collection and straddles the line between contemporary and SF. I loved this one, its sly humor and utter believability of a second chance romance resisted due to the possible complete destruction of the earth.

As for ones that particularly didn’t work, “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” by Malinda Lo was, like the title says, incredibly fun, but it also reminded me a lot of Cinder.

Surprisingly enough, the contemporary stories had even more standouts, though I have a bit less to say about them.

“Earlier today she was a crush, just someone to look at, really. She was more like a metaphor than a real girl, if I was honest with myself. She was freedom and confidence and being out in a way I still couldn’t completely imagine. But now, in a matter of minutes, she’s transformed into something way more and less than that all at once. Just a girl I feel like I could understand and who maybe could understand me.”

“Five Stars” by Amy Spalding involves a case of mistaken identity when Krista, who recently moved to LA, gets mistaken for a rideshare driver by Audrey, the hottest girl in high school. It’s so cute, and Krista’s internal freakout is hilarious and so sweet. I absolutely adored this one. Almost equal to me was Laura Silverman’s “The Passover Date.” It had one of my favorite tropes, fake dating, and was cheesy (literally) in all the best ways.

Hannah Moskowitz’s “And” has one of my least favorite tropes, the love triangle, and while I liked the way it was resolved, the second-person POV was very jarring. Lilliam Rivera’s “These Strings” has the sibling’s best friend trope, a favorite of mine, but despite the interesting premise (Latinx puppeteers!) the emotions fell flat for me. In contrast, “Teed Up” by Gloria Chao deals with some of the same feelings (feeling unheard by your parents) but it worked out a lot better for me, despite revolving around golf, which is definitely not an area of interest for me.

Overall, while there were a handful of stories I didn’t particularly care for, overall the stories I liked were enough to earn this collection a solid 4 stars from me. Highly recommended if you’re a fan of romance tropes and want several fresh views!

I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

KADY BURNS

Saw it was Ashley Herring Blake and I knew I had to request this. Lots of cute and quick romance stories. Didn't realize there were so many supernatural or superhero stories in this collection, but that is probably on me.

Anna Wilson

Silver and Gold by Natasha Ngan 3 stars 
Five Stars by Amy Spalding 4 stars 
Unfortunately, Blobs Do Not Eat Snacks by Rebecca Kim Wells 3 stars 
Edges by Ashley Herring Blake 3 stars 
What Makes Us Heroes by Julian Winters 5 stars
And by Hannah 3 stars 
My Best Friend’s Girl by Sara Farizan 4 stars 
(Fairy) Like Attracts Like by Claire Kann 3 stars 
These Strings by Lilliam Rivera 3 stars 
The Passover Date by Laura Silverman 5 stars 
Bloom by Rebecca Barrow 4 stars 
Teed Up by Gloria Chao 3 stars 
Boys Noise by Mason Deaver 3 stars 
Girls Just Want to Have Fun by Malinda Lo 5 stars 
Disaster by Rebecca Podos 4 stars 


Mini summaries of the stories (bc sometimes I forget immediately what they are about 😅)


Silver and Gold by Natasha Ngan
-dog sled race there 2 girls get caught in a snow storm and rekindle a past hookup

Five Stars by Amy Spalding 
-a cute popular girls mistakenly gets into a car with the new girl. They get to know each other & kiss 

Unfortunately, Blobs Do Not Eat Snacks by Rebecca Kim Wells
-two girls off to take their final magical exam when they find themselves in trouble 

Edges by Ashley Herring Blake 
-a girls sister moves to another school is faced with her loneliness. She tutors another girl & finds love and a way to not feel so alone 

What Makes Us Heroes by Julian Winters 
-one hero waiting in a coffee shop for his ex to show up only for his arch enemy to show up & save him from his ex

And by Hannah Moskowitz
-told in 2nd person about a girl who discovers she has feelings for another boy & her current bf 

My Best Friend’s Girl by Sara Farizan 
-a superhero’s best friend has a crush on his gf. While he’s constantly making up excuses, the friend falls for the gf 

(Fairy) Like Attracts Like by Claire Kann
-2 girls at a fairy camp who both like each other but can’t say it out loud. MC has a “curse” where she can’t lie 

These Strings by Lilliam Rivera 
-in the family business, the son is always the one to carry on the tradition. Lili would like to take over & she falls for her brothers bff 

The Passover Date by Laura Silverman
-it’s the family’s tradition to bring a date to sedar dinner. Rachel’s never brought a date but this year is different. She’s brought a fake date & he’s brought a giant wheel of cheese 

Bloom by Rebecca Barrow
-a time traveling girl goes back to enact revenge on the man who killed her mother, only to meet a girl. She spends the rest of her time trying to find her again 

Teed Up by Gloria Chao
-a girl plays in a golf tournament & a boy helps loosen her up & not take things so seriously 

Boys Noise by Mason Deaver 
-labeled as the one bed trope but it’s not. Two boys travel to nyc & realize they both have feelings for each other 

Girls Just Want to Have Fun by Malinda Lo 
-cinder esque story about a princess who escapes for a night & falls for a girl. They get noodles & dance 

Disaster by Rebecca Podos 
-an asteroid is headed for earth. Two girls sort out their feelings for each other before the world ends

While I'm not normally the biggest fan of shorter stories and anthologies, seeing the authors involved I just had to read this. I loved the largest majority of stories in this particular anthology, many making me wish they were full books so I could exist with the universes and characters for much, much longer. I laughed and I cried and I mostly had the best time. I rated down for the miscommunication trop in many of them, but that's more of a personal taste.

Fools in Love Fresh Twists on Romantic Tales

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