Fools in Love is a collection of diverse love stories from multiple authors. I loved that all the characters were of the LGBTQ community and race inclusive.

However, I want to point out that there was nothing remarkable about the stories. None of them stood out where I went "Yup! That's my favourite!"

With 15 different short stories in this collection, after a point of time, all of them started to run into each other. It was the same "style" in each of them. Yes, there are 15 different authors, but it's like all 15 of them had the same idea when it came to the execution of their stories.
The second half of the title says Fresh Twists on Romantic Tales and honestly, there were no "fresh twists" to these stories.

Furthermore, the stories had plot lines that seemed to be better suited for full-length novels. Another problem that I encountered was that either the plots were too detailed and took away from the leads or they barely scratched the surface.

Overall, none of these stories, except one, did it for me. It is shocking since there are so many of them to choose from. These were, at best, nice.
I know there are readers out there who will love these and readers who will see themselves in these characters and stories.


★ ★ ★ ★ ★



Below you will find the individual rating for the short stories in this collection.

➜ Silver and Gold: Snowed in Together, by Natasha Ngan - 2 stars

➜Five Stars: Mistaken Identity, by Amy Spalding - 2 stars

➜ Unfortunately, Blobs Do Not Eat Snacks: Kissing under the influence, by Rebecca Kim Wells - 2 stars

➜ Edges: The grumpy one and the soft one, by Ashley Herring Blake - 3 stars

➜ What Makes Us Heroes: Hero vs. Villain, by Julian Winters - 3 stars

➜ And: Love Triangle, by Hannah Moskowitz - 1 star

➜ My Best Friend's Girl: Best friend's girlfriend, by Sara Farizan - 1 star

➜ (Fairy)Like Attracts Like: Mutual Pining, by Claire Kann - 2 stars

➜ These Strings: Sibling's Hot Best Friend, by Lilliam Rivera - 2 stars

➜ The Passover Date: Fake Dating, by Laura Silverman - 3.5 stars

➜ Bloom: Love Transcends Space & Time, by Rebecca Barrow - 2 stars

➜ Teed Up: Oblivious to Lovers, by Gloria Chao - 3 stars

➜ Boys Noise: Only One Bed at the Inn, by Mason Deaver - 3 stars

➜ Girls just want to have fun: Secret Royalty, by Malinda Lo - 1.5 stars

➜ Disaster: Second Chance Romance, by Rebecca Podos - 1.5 stars


2.5 Stars!

I loved all of these short stories. They were all so dynamic and sweet, and each one made me smile really hard. I loved the amount of representation in this book. The amount of queer authors that came together for this warms my heart. Can't wait for more people to read this. Such a cute collection.

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.

**Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review**

I'm not usually a reader of short stories anthologies but when I saw the authors of this one I was instantly hooked on the pitch, even more so when I read that it was all romance stories. However I didn't like all of the stories equally which is why I rated this book a 3 stars out of 5. My favorite stories were the ones by Ashley Herring Blake, Julian Winters, Hannah Moskowitz, Laura Silverman and Mason Deaver, most of which I'd already read books of.
I mostly enjoyed the contemporaries story because I found they delved more into character development, and just because I generally enjoy contemporary more than anything. However none of the stories were bad or anything, each of them had something cute and enjoyable. Also I found the diversity of this anthology to be so refreshing and effortless, ie the characters race, genders or seualities were never the focus point of the story but just a part of a characters live. I thoroughly recommend this anthology and it made me want to read some author's books even more.

Collection of 15 Romantic stories featuring mostly LGBTQ characters.

It has a variety of tropes such as enemies to lovers, love traingle, best friend's sister, fake relationship, love at first sight, mistaken identities. And a vast range of genres such as sci-fi, sports romance, super heroes, a fantasy fictional world, time traveling, summer romance and even end of the world.

I loved and adored each of the story. And each story plot and characters are so unique and different from each other you feel like you are getting transport to different world within seconds.

Majority of the stories are about LGBTQ characters and I think this book features them in one of the best ways. Even though being short stories you connect with the characters, feel their chemistry and root for them instantly.

It even depicts a series of emotion from being insecure about oneself to being certain what they want, one sided love to being vengeful, hung up on ex to loving someone from years.

This book is full of sunshine, rainbows, unicorn and everything good in the world. This book is a warm cup of coffee on a winter's day while snuggling with your favorite blanket. This book will definitely make you smile even if you are going through your worst days. I can't recommend this book enough.

Do you need anymore convincing or reasons to read this book? Just go buy & read now!

Executed With Panache And Flair….
Fifteen authors, fifteen tales. Each tale a reimagining of familiar romantic tropes and each done well and executed with panache and flair. A truly enjoyable book which will stir the reader as they immerse themselves in tales of the heart. Just lovely.

Entertaining, enjoyable, and sweet. This collection was wonderful. I had the chance of falling in love with short stories again thanks to this book. I loved the different tropes and enjoyed them a lot. I am sure many people will love this book. I couldn’t recommend it more to be honest! A 5 star read for sure.

I was bound to strike out sooner or later with being head over heels for every new short story collection that was coming out-- unfortunately I had to find a few diamonds in the rough rather than loving every story of romantic tales with twists. And I was even sadly disappointed in a few authors I truly enjoy not having stories that matched the books I've come to love from them.

The two that were winners for me: Amy Spalding's "Five Stars" that was a twist on the mistaken identity trope. And, Mason Deaver's "Boys Noise" which plays off of their version of "only one bed at the inn".

I was also surprised that there really isn't anywhere specifically that mentions they're LGBTQ love stories and there isn't a bit more description about explaining the trope whether in a paragraph before the start of the story or after or even at the end where they give the authors' biographies.

Fools In Love was the perfect short (and cute!) book I needed to get me out of a slump. This selection of LGBTQ+ and BIPOC stories ranging in genre, perfected so many of my favourite tropes; one bed, love triangle, fake dating and more! Some authors added their own spin to these much loved tropes and others stuck to the roots but so many of them were executed beautifully.
But although I adored most of these stories of fools in love, some were not great. They could've been improved with a longer page count possibly, to allow for more development. Despite this, I would love to see many of these stories as full length novels, especially Unfortunately, Blobs Do Not Eat Snacks

i think i'm giving this a 3.5!
I love romance stories, so i was over the moon to get to review this book! however, there were a lot of stories in this where i was just unsure of what was happening and i just didn't really enjoy. also, the way this anthology ended with the second chance romance where two exes reunite after the earth learns that an asteroid is going to kill everyone in three days.... i didn't enjoy that story and sped through it because it gave me anxiety lmfao.

Thank you to Perseus Books, Running Press and NetGalley for the earc of this anthology in exchange for my honest review.

This was such a fun array of queer, romantic trope stories! I loved seeing so many familiar tropes done in some absolutely new settings. I generally struggle with anthologies, but this one kept my attention and really turned quite a few tropes on their ear.

A few really stood out for me, and I think everyone will enjoy this collection a great deal.

Fools in Love is an anthology of queer stories from across genres and tropes and I enjoyed it so much! I have to admit, some of the tropes could have been executed better but the others were so amazing and really made my heart swell! Loved this and everyone should definitely read this!

THIS BOOK WAS SO GOOD! I love romance tropes and this anthology had them all. I couldn’t get enough. Each story took me to a happy place and left me craving more. The characters were dynamic and relatable. The stories were moving and memorable. Extra points for the queerness and beautiful writing!

I had a lot of fun with this one. The last 40% of the book really supported me through my hangover and everything becase there's nothing better then reading about meets cutes and romance while feeling like you need to vomit.
Obviously I enjoyed some more then others, that's just a fact of anthologies but none of them felt like a chore to get through. There are a fair few that I hope are being pitched for full length novels. Also, big yay for the amount of f/f pairings!!

This was super cute! I enjoyed that I didn’t know exactly what I’d be getting next. And the tropes were A+ 💜

"Fools in Love": 4⭐

(Unpaid Review: thank you to @netgalley, all the authors and publishers for allowing me to read this eArc copy in exchange for a review.)

What an amazing compillation of short stories! I don't normally read many short stories because I like to get lost in a long, more detailed story, but these ones didn't disappoint!

So fluffy and cute, perfect for when you need a pick-me-up book or even a book to make you smile!

I loved the eclectic mix of tropes and stories in this little collection, and I especially loved the diversity in representation. It was a lot of fun and filled with many, many feels! Perfect for a summer vacation, as the stories are not too long, but well-written.

This collection of stories is as charming as it is refreshing. My only wish is that it had been available when I was growing up and exploring the world of romance and romantic writing.

Geared toward a young adult audience, these stories run the gambit from paranormal fantasy to contemporary romance and all the tropes in between. Since it's a collection of short stories, you can pick and choose the ones that speak to you, read them completely out of order, or just hunker down with a cup of cocoa and read the book straight through.

Bite-size romantic fiction, chock full of emotion. This collection is just fun.

Dear Fools in Love, it’s not you, it’s me. I mean, it might also be you, but I’ll take my share of the blame.

Anthologies are hard because there can be parts you like and parts you don’t, so coming up with an overall rating can be hard. That wasn’t really the case here because honestly, I just think this collection one wasn’t for me. I went into it expecting something totally different, and what I actually got just didn’t work for me. I’m a bit of a romantic, but I don’t think there was one couple in this collection that I liked. This just wasn’t my thing. Sorry Rebecca Barrow and friends 😬

1. Silver and Gold – Natasha Ngan
Rating: 1 out of 5.
Trope: Snowed In Together

"All had to do was cross the lake safely, and the silver medal was hers.
Mila had always preferred silver to gold, anyway."

Mila Solis is one of the few remaining competitors left on the Kiroki Trail during the annual race through 21 miles of treacherous terrain (basically it’s the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race set in an undeveloped fantasy world with wolves instead of huskies.) After navigating deadly obstacles, she faces the more daunting task of surviving the night stuck in a snowstorm with the reigning champion and her former one night stand, Rushanka Laikho.

I love SFF but one of my pet peeves is when authors throw a bunch of names and terms at you before the world has been established, and Natasha Ngan does exactly that in her short story. There is no worldbuilding whatsoever, and the romance is not convincing at all because it doesn’t seem like the two have interacted with each other outside of their one night stand. The action is a little exciting, I guess, but I found it hard to warm up to Silver and Gold.

2. Five Stars – Amy Spalding
Rating: 1.5 out of 5.
Trope: Mistaken Identity

"Friendly driver, good music, great kissing."

Navigating rush hour traffic in LA is the least of Krista Parker’s worries when her secret crush, Audrey Kim, mistakes Krista for her Rydr driver.

Nothing super original or exciting. It’s pretty much what you’d except from the synopsis. The two female leads are probably the main draw for most people.

3. Unfortunately, Blobs Do Not Eat Snacks – Rebecca Kim Wells

I know how much you love snacks. And blobs don’t eat snacks.
Rating: 1.5 out of 5.
Trope: Kissing Under the Influence

Tess Griffin is one step away from becoming a junior investigator of magical malfeasance. The only problem is that the one girl she can’t stand, Davina Winters, is her partner for their final exam. Well, that and the fact that their exam has apparently been highjacked for nefarious purposes.

The story isn’t too bad until you reach the title/trope part when things get a little too weird for me. There also isn’t really a satisfying resolution to the whole Leeside problem. There is some light worldbuilding here, but the slight Harry Potter vibes doesn’t cut it for me. I personally find the whole magical mumbo jumbo kind of boring.

4. Edges – Ashley Herring Blake
Rating: 1 out of 5.
Trope: The Grumpy One and the Soft One

It’s like she’s two different people. Or maybe I’m two different people. Maybe we both are, and all those little moments stolen in the quiet of my house are just that–stolen from our real lives.

Clover Hillock is the “queer queen bee” of Stoney River High School. Mac is…not. Since her twin sister left New Hampshire for sunny California, she’s pretty much been alone except during her private tutoring sessions with Clover when Mac teachers her how to draw and kiss and stuff.

I kinda feel bad for saying this, but I was bored. Like, I forgot this was part of the collection until I went back to write my review. I can see why people would like this; it just wasn’t for me.

5. What Makes us Heroes – Julian Winters
Rating: 2.5 out of 5.
Trope: Hero vs. Villain

I snort, barely maintaining a scowl. ‘Since when do villains apologize?”
He pffts. “I’m not a villain. You know that.”

Shai Spencer (aka Artic) is definitely not stalking his ex- by staking out the coffee shop he frequents. And he’s definitely not doing it because his mom thinks they’re perfect for each other and because the publicity surrounding a level-one superhero and a level-two hero-in-training would be great for the Spencer family supers. And he’s most definitely not pretending to be dating his childhood friend-turned-villain, Kyan Coles (aka Levin,) when Logan (aka Magz) shows up with a girl on his arm.

Is it bad I started imagining a teen Frozone when I realized Shai was a black superhero who freezes things? Interesting concept, decent story writing, a little too preachy for my tastes.

6. And – Hannah Moskowitz
Rating: 0.5 out of 5.
Trope: Love Triangle

So you date two boys. They whisper about it in the halls. Your parents give you sideways glances. Enzo continues dating other girls and boys and Billy looks at girls but never touches and holds you extra tightly at the end of the night.

She loves her boyfriend, Billy. Then she meets Enzo and likes him too. She dates Billy and Enzo. Like the title.

Bold choice using second person narrative, but this story was not it.

7. My Best Friend’s Girl – Sara Farizan
Trope: Best Friend’s Girlfriend

"He told me he couldn’t believe the girl of his dreams was someone he could finally get close to because of me. He said I was the ultimate wing-woman. We joked about it, but I didn’t find it funny. It was only later that it occurred to me that I didn’t laugh because maybe she was the girl of my dreams."

Alia’s best friend, Hal, is actually an orphan from planet Zyxbrog masquerading as a human and the vigilante Heatwave. She’s the only one who knows his secret and is stuck covering whenever he needs to dash off to save Gateway City. It basically involves a lot of lying to his girlfriend, Clara, who she might know even better than Hal does.

The superhero angle didn’t work as well in this one and felt a bit forced. The story was flat, the characters were pretty generic, and the romance wasn’t convincing. Like, the resolution at the end was way too convenient.

8. (Fairy)like Attracts Like – Claire Kann
Rating: 0.5 out of 5.
Trope: Mutual Pining

"That never worked on Glory, the only person she’d never been able to fool completely. No, she was always watching Nia, always testing her. And even though she knew she shouldn’t, Nia let it become a thrilling game between them."

Nia has a secret: she’s cursed. She can’t lie, has to answer direct questions and sees sparks shoot out of someone’s mouth when they lie. At Fairydust Sleepaway Camp, she’s stuck with the only person she’s never been able to completely hide her secret from. To make matters worse, Glory decides to make things interesting by challenging Nia to a bet: whoever can prove she’s the best fairy can redeem a wish from the other person.

I was honestly just confused for most of this. Are they fairies, are they not? I’m not the biggest fan of magical realism to begin with, and it didn’t work for me here. I guess I can see the mutual pining if I squint, but I wasn’t into the relationship anyway.

9. These Strings – Lilliam Rivera
Rating: 1.5 out of 5
Trope: Sibling’s Hot Best Friend

"Funny, I always thought Oscar was just my brother’s annoying best friend growing up, but ever since he returned from a summer spent in Costa Rica things changed."

Lili has a lot of ideas for her family’s business, Marin’s Magical Teatro of Puppetry, but is largely ignored because she’s a girl. While her brother, Julián, spurns all the opportunities she’d kill for, Lili’s stuck collecting tickets. The only one who listens to her dreams and ideas is Oscar, Julián’s best friend…Julián’s very attractive best friend.

It started off pretty strong, but the resolution was so anticlimactic I ended up feeling kind of “meh” by the end.

10. The Passover Date – Laura Silverman
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
Trope: Fake Dating

“And it’s not a date,” I repeat. “It’s just, you know, to keep my family from being annoying.”

Bringing a date to Seder is a Ableman family tradition, and after six dateless dinners, Rachel’s tired of hearing all her family’s comments about her singleness. Matthew Pearlman and Rachel were kind of friends before he joined the cool crowd and he’s interested in her sister, so he’s the perfect candidate for a fake date. Who knew he was such a good actor?

I like fake dating. I like crazy chaotic families. This was…not terrible.

11. Bloom – Rebecca Barrow
Rating: 0.5 out of 5.
Trope: Love Transcends Space/Time

"There is no way to control the orange blossom; it is the wildest and unwieldiest of all flora. It gives you what you need. It takes you where it is that you need to be, when you need to be."

It’s been eleven years since Mera’s mom died, and she’s finally ready to use the orange blossoms from their magic garden to go back in time and kill her mother’s murderer. But the blossoms have a mind of their own and when she arrives at the farmhouse, Richard Wells is dead. His daughter, Delphine, is very much alive though.

Time travel and I generally do not get along. I liked the prose though?

12. Teed Up – Gloria Chao
Rating: 2 out of 5.
Trope: Oblivious to Lovers

“Don’t you want to be just like Yani?” Because I was over the moon about seeing a girl who looked like me on television, seven-year-old me yelled “Yes!” without fully knowing what I was agreeing to. Since then, my life has been teed up for me.

Winning the US Junior Amateur as its first female competitor is the next step in launching Sunny Chang’s professional golf career. When she’s paired with the overly eager, excessively friendly Liam Russo, she knows he’s just another boy trying to throw her off her game.

I will never understand Gloria Chao’s insistence on discussing genitalia in her opening scenes. The love interest was fine if a bit generic, but I liked the exploration of immigrant parental expectations. I just wish the writing were…less cringe.

13. Boys Noise – Mason Deaver
Rating: 2 out of 5.
Trope: Only One Bed at the Inn

"Our first song was titled 'Boys Noise' by the band Boys Noise, from the debut album, wait for it…Boys Noise."

Felix Young is taking Lev to NYC for a surprise birthday trip. Between running away from fangirls and a tiny hotel room with–wait for it–only one bed, two boy banders take on the Big Apple and their big feelings.

I feel like Mason Deaver wanted another trope, got stuck with “just one bed,” did the bare minimum to check off that box, then wrote the story he wanted to write. At this point in the anthology, I was so over it I didn’t really care, but the story seemed like a weird choice for the trope. The commentary on the toxic nature of the entertainment industry was interesting, I guess.

14. Girls Just Want to Have Fun – Malinda Lo
Rating: 0.5 out of 5.
Trope: Secret Royalty

“Where did you find her?” Malika asked.
Jing told her the whole story, and then asked, “What do you think?”
“Let’s go back and talk to her. See if she does anything princessy.”
“Princessy?” Fei said skeptically.
Malika shot Fei and exasperated look before she left the shadow of the support strut. Princessy, she mouthed.

A slightly suss pretty girl visits The Fix Is In and asks Fei Cheng to repair an old comm. She ends up becoming the tour guide for the aforementioned girl at the night market. Around the same time, an announcement goes out that Princess Qīnghé is missing. This all takes place in space, but you can’t really tell if you miss a throwaway line in the first paragraph.

The opening scene reminded me so much of Kai and Cinder’s first meeting in The Lunar Chronicles (but like, set in Sci-fi Taipei instead of Beijing) that was pretty much the only thing I could think about for the rest of the story. I also don’t really get the romance; it was insta-love at it’s finest and not convincing at all. Like, they ate noodles together and fell in love? Maybe it was the endorphins from the Xi’an hot noodles that they thought was love. Also, the constant repetition of the princess’ “sugary cupcake smell” was weird.

15. Disaster – Rebecca Podos
Rating: 1 out of 5.
Trope: Second Chance Romance

"I decide to kill two birds. Three, actually:
Spend the apocalypse in comfort (or not–still have my fingers crossed for the interstellar construction workers)
Make my parents happy
Make Jem miserable at the maybe-end-of-the-world"

It’s 1999 and there’s an asteroid hurtling towards the earth. Everyone has abandoned the Frost Preparatory School for Girls in Boston except for Adina. What do you do when you’re alone and have three days left to live? Foist yourself on your ex’s rich family.

I’m running out of ways to say “this was not for me,” so I’ll save those of you who’ve made it to the end and just end the review now. Expect a lot of 90s references in this one.

I received an early digital copy from Perseus Books/Running Press in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Note the quotes are taken from the galley and may be different in publication.

Fools in Love: Fresh Twists on Romantic Tales, edited by Rebecca Podos and Ashley Herring Blake, is full of short stories with twists on romantic YA tropes by some of the most popular authors working in YA right now. You’ve got everything from fake dating to missed connections to love triangles and enemies to lovers, usually with a brilliant twist. And pretty much all of these stories are queer or diverse in another way – no straight white cis stories centred here, no ma’am – and my, how happy that makes me. I read this book spread over a couple weeks, reading just one or two stories to cheer myself up as all of them are just really lovely and delightful and positive. This is the kind of feel-good book that will make you feel better about yourself and the world and just kind of has the same effect as a hug or a cup of hot tea. While none of the stories were especially brilliant in a standout-favourite sort of way for me personally, none of them stood out as weak either – a solid anthology without clear weak spots. Highly recommended if you’re looking for something to cheer you up!