Another excellent novel from Karelia Stetz-Waters! I’ve read a few of her works now and loved them all. The best part about this one? She co-wrote it with her wife, Fay! I loved that and all the social media posts they’ve done together to promote it - they are the sweetest couple and definitely #couplegoals! The cover couple is even drawn to look like them!!

Blue Lennox (Izzy) is a burlesque dancer and very carefree on the outside, but inside she’s a stressed out mess trying to keep her life together and her dance troupe’s theatre from foreclosure… Lillian is a black ballerina who had it tough from early in life because roles were given to the white girls (for esthetics of the roles, of course). She’s a brilliant dancer and her mom even took the dance school to court to ensure her daughter had equal rights. She now runs a dance school but it’s running into financial hardships and may be about to close its doors…

The pair run into each other at a Portland bar after Lillian’s ballet company auditions for a TV dance competition. They end up having a one night stand - something both of them agree is the only thing they do - no second night stands. When they cross paths again at the start of the TV show as competitors, it’s hard to stay away … they both desperately need the prize money, afterall, and neither is interested in that “second night stand” (both in the way of the event or the object beside the bed).

I love the play on words with the title, I love the concept of the entire book with the reality TV dance competition, and completely love the way the girls interact with each other the whole way through. This is just a darn good book! I enjoy sapphic romance at the best of times, but Stetz-Waters (and now the co-write) is generally my fave author in the genre. She has the best steamy scenes, the most realistic chemistry and dynamics, and just all-around best writing. I completely recommend this book to all!

I received an advance copy from NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing), and this is my honest feedback.

This story follows a burlesque performer and a ballerina who fall in love while competing on a reality tv show. This story is written by two wives and I loved this. They are amazing writers who wrote such a great romance story. I do have to say that the povs were a bit hard to track as it does make it hard to make a connection with the characters. This book was fun and steamy with a fast-paced storyline. The story is great especially if you love reality tv shows. I recommend checking this book out especially those who live in Portland!

*this arc was sent to me by the publisher to give an honest review in return*

I’m a few days late posting this, but not because I didn’t absolutely love it. Life got in the way. This is my third book by Karelia Stetz-Waters, and all three have been 5⭐️ for me! I was a little slow to warm up to Lillian but I really liked her character by the end. I think if I ever met Izzy in real life I would instantly develop a massive crush on her. I love that Karelia’s books (and now Fay’s) have characters with real problems, real trauma, that goes beyond the standard miscommunication trope. Their characters have flaws but they are fierce and loving and they make you love them, too. I can’t wait to see what this duo writes next.

This book gave millennial vibes, but in a good way. In my mind, I associate reality tv shows with millennials, and I don't even know why. However, I really enjoyed the way this book manages to be simultaneously funny and tender.

The ensemble cast of characters in this book was probably my favorite part about this book. I loved watching all their little interactions on the side. I loved how they all had their own personalities and interactions with our main characters. I loved the dynamic of them all together. I JUST LOVE THEM OKAY.

I LOVED OUR MAIN CHARACTERS. Lillian and Izzy are so intensely precious to me. Their chemistry was SO EXTREME I WAS ENTRANCED! I loved how they just got each other. They could read each other so easily and knew how to comfort and care for each other so well. They had so many little interactions and moments that were so tender and sweet and just SO GOOD. I need more!

I found the writing in this book so lovely. It had me so connected to these characters and their growth. I really loved it.

Professional ballerina Lillian and burlesque performer Izzy (stage name: Blue Lenox) share a passionate one stand only to reunite a few months later on the set of a dance competition reality show. Izzy is desperate to save the crumbling theater she bought on a whim to be a community space and Lillian's dance company will be forced to disband if they don't win and please their donors. With so much on the line, the two agree they can't distract each other and can't have a second night stand. But temptation is hard to resist...

This book was so much fun to read--I love romance novels set on reality shows, even the non-dating ones. Even as a white reader, I related more to Lillian's story of pressure to be perfect and striving to be the best, so I looked most forward to her chapters. Her perspective on the dance world was also just so interesting. I think the pacing of this book was great and it's so cool to see a book written by wives! I'm excited to see more from them.

Thanks to Forever for my eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 8/10

A steamy, forbidden, opposites attract, no strings, dual POV romance between "Blue" (aka Izzy), a white, curvy burlesque dancer and Lilian, a Black, classically trained professional ballerina who meet on a reality tv dance competition and can't help falling in love even though a real relationship together makes no sense. Great on audio and perfect for fans of authors like Anita Kelly or Alison Cochrun. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review. I've been a big fan of Karelia Stetz-Waters in the past and I loved that this latest was written with her partner!!

So much fun with this sapphic romance that takes place between a ballet dancer and a burlesque performer who compete on a reality talent show competition. There was a lot of depth between both character’s lives outside of the show and as they explored their own boundaries about dating. I enjoyed the complexities with their families and found their found families to be hilarious!! My frustration with the third act breakup spoke volumes to how much I adored the main characters as a couple vs apart. The ending was perfect, not rushed nor unrealistic. Thank you Forever, Fay, and Karelia for sharing the ARC and a physical finished copy with me!

This delightful romance is one of the sweetest stories I've read in awhile! Izzy performs burlesque and trying to get money to keep her inclusive, welcoming community theater open. Lillian leads a ballet troop in need of more exposure to the public to keep it getting booked at events. They both end up as contestants who compete against each other for a reality show!

This romance includes some of my favorite tropes especially the importance of our found family, how our bio family dynamics shape us into the adults we are and how it can impact our choices later in life. This romance is a love letter to found family and how we can truly be happy when we experience love and healthy, open communication with the people we love. I laughed, I cried, I cheered! I hope it becomes a series with the side characters.

Thank you to these authors, the publisher, and Netgalley for letting me read this incredible ARC!! All opinions in my review are my own.

I just reviewed Second Night Stand by Karelia Stetz-Waters; Fay Stetz-Waters. #SecondNightStand #NetGalley

This was another hit from Karelia Stetz-Waters! I always enjoy that her characters actually talk about their feelings and confront their traumas rather than just waiting until it all blows up in their faces. I think writing with her wife, Fay Stetz-Waters, brought even more depth to the relationships and especially the spice, without losing any of the trademark humor. The conceit of the reality show was very fun - I loved the variety of characters in Lillian and Izzy’s troupes and would be excited to read more about some of them in the future! Lillian’s complicated relationship with her mother also stood out for me as very realistically drawn - not just good or bad and different from each person’s perspective. I was laughing out loud at times and almost crying at others. This book took me on a journey and I was sad to see it end.

I can't explain why this did not work as well for as as other books I've read by Karelia, but something about it just didn't connect with me. I loved the diversity rep, the characters were interesting, and the reality show bit didn't overshadow the story like some with that set up seem to do. I just didn't find myself particularly invested in the romance, That won't dissuade me from reading other books from this duo in the future though, as I'm sure this was a situation of "it's me, not the book".

DNF @ 40%

I tried so hard to get into this book. Every single thing about it ticked the boxes for me. But unfortunately, I found it difficult to get into and difficult to get through.

Such a powerful read - on chosen names, on relationships, on the mess of family, and even on how to be *truly you* in the public light, both from a queerness and a body perspective. Could not put it down, devoured in one sitting! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free advance copy.

This book was so lovely, as I've come to expect from Karelia Stetz-Waters, and doubly so because she wrote this one with her wife Fay Stetz-Waters! They wrote that they wanted to write a romance about an interracial lesbian couple, a coupling that doesn't often get a happy ending, and infuse the characters and story with their knowledge from their own happy relationship. They absolutely succeeded with Lillian and Izzy, who meet by chance and agree to have a no-feelings, no cuddling, quick and dirty one night stand since that's what they both prefer. But if course, it wasn't totally chance and the reason they were there in that bar was because they'd just auditioned for a tv talent show with their respective dance troupes, and if course both teams make it onto the show. Lillian is a ballet master who leads her troupe with the severity and seriousness she was trained with and expected of by her mother. Izzy's stage persona is Blue Lenox, the defacto leader of an everyone welcome, no audition burlesque troupe who feels like people know and like the persona better than they know and like her. The women try to fight their attraction but can't help themselves and their journey figuring out how to love and support one another is collaborative, open, honest, and realistically sexy. Romances set on reality competition shows is an oddly specific subgenre I really enjoy, and the cover art is BEAUTIFUL, so I was already excited to read this novel and am so grateful for the ARC from NetGalley and Forever Publishing because it was such a deeply pleasant read full of LGBTQ+ joy and love.

I really wanted to like this one because I loved the last book. This story was hard to connect with because parts of it felt unrealistic. The competition where no one seemed all that competitive but both teams were overly interested in the leaders love lives. Like, really? I get that the story was about the two leads falling for each other but they always came across as friends with benefits. There was quite a bit of telling readers that the feelings changed but I didn’t understand why. They had only hung out a handful of times. The chemistry between the two never clicked on a deeper level for me so I never became fully invested. I still would encourage others to check it out but I didn’t love it as much as the first book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

This book was so unlike anything I’ve read before and it was so refreshing! The representation and diversity is simply amazing with messaging throughout of self love and expressing who you are.

I loved the emotional journeys of Lillian and Izzy both together and on their own. The openness around themes of communication, therapy and trauma was also really well done and highly relatable.

The relationship itself was so sweet and healthy and I had a lot of fun reading about them!

I really enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it if you’re looking for a sweet sapphic romance with well-developed characters.

I love that this book was written by a married couple, it just brings me joy. Seeing characters who are so career driven that they don't have time for love is my bread and butter. Lillian is so against being in a relationship but she can't stop the pull she feels towards Izzy. They give each other a safe place and a place where they can talk about anything happening to them. They are really sweet.

I received an arc through netgalley.

⭐⭐⭐✨3.5/5

First of all, the cover for this book is AMAZING!! I was very much looking forward to this book - a romance between a prim and polished black ballerina and a curvy and quirky blue haired burlesque dancer with forced proximity and rivals-to-lovers vibes - what’s not to love! The personalities of these two could not be more different, but underneath the personas they project to the world, they are both a lot more alike than it first appears. They have an amazing one night stand when they meet in a bar. And that was supposed to be it. No full names (or even real names in Blue’s case). No numbers. Nothing. But then they both end up on the same reality TV dance competition. They both feel something between them. Something that wasn’t left behind in that hotel room. But they both have a lot at stake in this competition too. Lillian is trying to save her ballet company from going under, leaving all her dancers unemployed. Izzy/Blue is trying to save the theater she bought to give her queer burlesque troupe a safe space to perform.

Both Lillian and Izzy are incredibly fleshed out characters with unique personalities - and as different as they might seem, it somehow just works. They feel safe with each other. Safe enough to share pieces of themselves they don’t show the rest of the world. And it’s beautiful. There are also some really amazing side characters and I loved getting to see all the friendship and family dynamics that were part of this story, too.

All the black and queer joy, body positivity, and messages about loving yourself were the biggest positives of this book! We need more books with those things in them!! These themes were woven throughout the whole book - through the performances, the conversations, the relationships, and everything in between. And it was incredible. Absolutely loved it!

All that being said though, this story didn’t quite live up to my high expectations. It was sweet and sexy and beautiful, but it just didn’t “wow” me like I was hoping it would. I did enjoy it though and recommend it, especially if you like sapphic romance and found family stories with amazing characters and lots of queer joy and body positive fat representation!

Rep: Black, Lesbian/Sapphic, Plus Size, Queer

Tropes/Themes: Rivals to Lovers, Dance Competition TV Show, One Night Stand, Rivals to Lovers, Opposites Attract, Forced Proximity, Stranded Together, Only One Bed, Found Family, Family Relationships

TW/CW: Sexual Content, Mentions of Parental Abandonment/Child Abuse, Minor to moderate: homophobia, racism, body shaming, transphobia

What a fun read! Y'all know I love a queer romance, and I'm a huge reality TV fan, so I'm 100% the target audience. The setting and interpersonal conflicts really worked for me, and I was pleasantly surprised when the plot took some turns I didn't expect. I know the authors wanted to put an emphasis on good communication, and I feel like they succeeded in creating human conflicts without leaning into oft-used miscommunication tropes. Overall, I had a nice time with this quick read and would definitely recommend adding it to your summer TBR!

This is the SAPPHIC ROMANCE I have always NEEDED!!!

Oh my gosh this was so good.
So unique and swoony.
One night stand and they meet again in a REALITY SHOW?!!!
They cannot stay away and stop themselves from falling for each other.
This was everything I needed.

Thank you so much @toallthenerdygirls and @faykarelia for the opportunity to read Second Night Stand early! I absolutely adored it. I lovedddd the MCs, and in reading this you will definitely want to be a part of their found families as well. The book gets very steamy several times, and oh my gosh the chemistry between the MCs! I loved Lillian and Izzy, and I wanted them to be happy in a way that had me really invested in how they would resolve some dilemmas and stay together. Did I cry at the end? While I was on a plane? MAYBE! But it was worth it. This comes out May 21 and you should absolutely check it out. I’m already looking forward to Fay and Karelia’s (who had their own HEA IRL) next novel collab!