A compilation of short stories that are LGBTQIAP inclusive! This collection is a refreshing take on love stories for Young Adults which still provides a variety of genres and tropes to fall in love with. By having an anthology with amazing authors, it gives the reader the opportunity to get a taste of each writing style the author does. Providing the reader new authors and books for them to read.

FOOLS IN LOVE is an eclectic collection of joyful teenage teenage love stories, and I loved every second of reading them. Many of these stories struck me as very experimental; concepts and techniques are developed in these stories that you wouldn't see from a full-length YA novel, which was very refreshing, if not risky. Of course, given the diversity in genre and author style there were stories I preferred over others; however there is truly something for everyone in this collection.

Each story centers around a trope, such as Mason Deaver's "only one bed" boyband romance, and Lilliam Rivera's "older sibling's hot best friend" forbidden love story. Some stories feature meet cutes, some feature second chance love stories, and others center around a coupling who has known each other for a while.

Standout stories were written by: Mason Deaver, Julian Winters, Ashley Herring Blake, Laura Silverman, Amy Spalding and Lilliam Rivera. (AKA the contemporary ones, which is my preferred genre)

Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC of Fools in Love in exchange for an honest review.

If you're looking for a diverse collection of love stories, you've come to the right place. I knew looking at the author's list that some of these authors are queer or frequently write about racial or religious minorities, but every single story in here takes a trope white-cishet people have been seeing themselves in for years and diversifies it. As with all multi-author anthologies, some stories felt stronger than others (I also think it's a lot trickier to tell a short YA fantasy/sci-fi romance than it is to tell a contemporary one so that was definitely a big factor in my enjoyment) but all in all, this rocked.

What a superb assortment of 15 short stories from 15 different authors! I think it covers every readers’ preferences. It has LGBTQ+ in different genres and almost all the “troupes” I could think of.

Each story was interestingly unique and would keep you glued till the end. In fact, you’ll be wishing it’s a full length novel!

I can’t pick a favorite since each has its own charm. I like the different writing styles -it was a real treat to read!

For those looking for good short stories with a strong diverse representation, this one’s worth to binge read!

I received an ARC of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

I’m always a fan of anthologies. It’s super satisfying to get little glimpses into multiple stories, without having to commit to reading an entire book. However, there are pros and cons that come with reading an anthology, and this particular collection was no different.

There truly is a great amount of diversity and representation in this book, and not just with LGBTQ characters and relationships as is noted. There are definitely more F/F pairings than I expected in this book, but many different sexualities and gender identities are featured and discussed throughout the book. The genre collection was also diverse. If you’re looking for a queer-inclusive, romantic, quick-read type of book, this is honestly a great choice. My favorites included “Boys Noise” by Mason Deaver and “Bloom” by Rebecca Barrow.

Some of the stories were stronger than others, as is the case with many anthologies, and so there came certain stories that I just wanted to skim through because they didn’t hold up as well as the others. For example, a majority of the sci-fi and fantasy stories were harder to get through. Since the stories are all pretty short, there isn’t enough time to give ample detail on the background of the location, the magic, the history, etc., and often left a lot to be desired (or confused about) as you kept reading. This wasn’t as much the case with the contemporary pieces. All of the endings also wrapped themselves up in a pretty little bow, which was a bit aggravating. While I love romance and understand this was an exploration in twisting cis-het tropes, some more angst, open endings, or slightly unresolved/sad endings would have been great as well. All happy endings can be a little tiresome/expected.

All in all, there was a great deal of representation, each story had its own strength, and it was a genuinely fun book. There were some areas it struggled since it is an anthology, but not so much to make it a bad read overall.

Okay what can i say about this anthology which would be enough. It was filled with love stuck people who left my heart into a fuzz .
Honestly picked up this book for Mason Deaver but every single story was written with such beauty that I loved it through out .
People like me who love fast romcoms , would love how each story didn't stretch out a lot but still was it's own complete world . And all the representation just made it 10x better

An interesting anthology, despite some short stories varying in quality. Mason Deaver's, Amy Spalding's, Ashley Herring Blake's were wonderful! Also really enjoyed the diversity in each title composing this anthology despite the fact that the superheroic themes might have been quite redundant from one story to the next!

Fools in love is an anthology comprised of different authors. The book primarily focuses on coming of age, and it's got almost all of its stories filled with PoC, LGBTQIA+, multiculturalism, etc. It was a fun and quick read.

The authors tried to reimagine the most common romance tropes and then adding their unique touch to them. Few stories felt too rushed without proper character development, while some were properly paced with a good plot and execution.My favorite ones were 'five stars' by Amy Spalding that follows the 'mistaken identity trope'. Another one was "boys noise" by Mason Deaver that has 'only one-bed trope'. It follows mega-successful boy band members Felix and Lev and their forbidden love. In a way, it was a fanfiction of sorts.

It could've been better if the stories were slightly long and not rushed with irrational changes.*Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC*

Rating: 3.5
I loved so many stories of this book!
There was so many great LGBTQ+ representation, I really appreciated all the fun takes of the various romantic troupes like enemies to lovers and fake dating and those were my favourites.
The stories was also of many different genres like contemporary, fantasy and sci-fi which is great as it can appeal to more diverse fans.

This book is a compilation of 15 young adult and LGBTI+ themed stories and will be published this December!

I liked all the stories, although my favorites were Edges, , Bloom and Disaster.

In these stories we find amazing, multicultural, gender and sexual representation. And what I liked the most was the wide variety of tropes that appear in the stories.

Stories' rating:

Silver and Gold: 4,25
Five Stars: 3,5
Unfortunately, Blobs do not eat Snacks: 4
Edges: 4
What makes us Heros: 4
And: 2
My Best Friend's Girl: 4
(Fairy)like attracts Like: 3,5
These Strings: 3,5
The Passover Date: 4
Bloom: 4,5
Teed up: 3
Boys noise: 4
Girls just want to have fun: 3.75
Disaster: 4.5

Thanks to the authors and the publisher for the advance reading copy.

3.5 stars rounded up!

Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!!

Fools in Love is a series of short stories all about love, they all have different romance tropes like best friend's girlfriend, fake dating, only one bed at the inn etc and they made me really happy when I was reading them and the stories were so cute! Some of them were contemporary and others went deep into the sci-fi fantasy realm which was really fun, and the writers have such gorgeous writing styles (like, I could not get Natasha Ngan's story out of my head, some of the lines she wrote were amazing) and its really different and diverse and overall I really enjoyed this!

However, while most of them were really good, a couple of them took me forever to get through, to the point where I just wanted to skim them. I was excited about the tropes but the execution of them bored me a little bit.

I would recommend reading this, I think you'll find at least a few stories that you love!

A kind thank you to the publisher for the e-ARC.

This was a lovely collection of YA diverse stories. I enjoyed it, and I do believe that teens around the globe will enjoy it, too, and more than anything, relate to the diverse cast of characters. I also liked the variety of genres in this anthology.

My favorite stories were those by Natasha Ngan, Ashley Herring Blake, Julian Winters, Sara Farizan, Claire Kann, Laura Silverman, and Gloria Chao.

My one small issue with some of fantastical stories (except Natasha Ngan's and Malinda Lo's) was that the world-building was explained a little later, and I was already confused by the point I reached the description.

Overall, it was a nice "feel-good" collection of YA diverse stories where characters of all backgrounds and identities find love and their HEA, and what's not to love about that?!

I genuinely enjoyed most of the stories in this book! The romances were sweet and I thought building each one around a common romance trope was a clever approach that definitely drew me in. I loved the diversity in genre and approaches these authors took to 'romance tropes'!

I found this to be a bit middling. Some of the included stories were GREAT - they're fun tropes, the writing is exceptional, etc. There were a handful that just left a lot to be desired and didn't really keep me engaged despite their short length.

Overall, the good stories outweigh the less-than-ideal ones, so I would definitely recommend this - just with a caveat that not all of them will be great.

3.5/5 rounded up to 4/5

As is to be expected for a collection of stories, there were some I liked more than others. Overall, I wouldn't say there were any I hated, and I really appreciated the inclusion in each story. I also (spoiler) loved that they all had happy endings - currently, it's just the sort of thing I need and appreciate. I'm also a MASSIVE fan of tropes, so this was already right up my alley.

My favourites:
What makes us heroes (I adore the hero / villain trope, even if I think there could have been a bit more drama between the two MCs)
Unfortunately, blobs do not eat snacks - really liked the dynamic in this one and the magical bits
Teed up - who knew a short story could get me so invested in golf?

My least favourites:
These Strings - the brother's best friend trope is one I'm not a fan of and the story didn't grip me
And - liked the change on the love triangle trope but didn't care much for the writing itself
My Best Friend's Girl - was a superhero story...not about the superhero? Maybe that's why I wasn't interested...but also I just don't think the story was as good as it could have been

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I like short stories for moments when I want to read but I need something light and this was cute, funny, and romantic, a really good combination

Very cute little anthology of love stories and the range was really nice to read and change between!

A lovely collection! I enjoyed how the tropes were played with in these stories. I especially enjoyed the LGBTQ+ rep!! Each author added something different to the collection and each stands out in their own way, which I think is important in a collection.

It was a very light and easy read. Some of the stories were really cute and I enjoyed being able to read each one of them.

I normally end up reading anthologies one story at a time, and it usually takes me quite a while to get through them. I could not put this one down though - I would finish one story and then be like: "oh! That next story sounds amazing!!"
•
Natasha Ngan - Silver and Gold ("Snowed in Together") 5/5

This was just a perfect short story. Perfect. It's a sapphic story about two girls competing against each other in a deadly race, which is the coolest concept ever and which would be amazing to read a full-length novel about. Here we're just getting one night of the race, so we're not really getting the beginning or ending, and it works incredibly well. I always love stories about people who find each other in harsh environments and have to learn to be soft together, and this story had me really wanting that for the main character.
•
Amy Spalding - Five Stars ("Mistaken Identity") 5/5

This story starts off so funny, with the main character's crush mistaking her for her ride share driver. And the rest of the story is just as hilarious, because instead of correcting the mistake, the main character of course drives her to her destination instead. As one does. This is again a sapphic story, yay!

"OMG KRISTA YOU KIDNAPPED YOUR FIRST IRL CRUSH BUT STILL MANAGED TO GET HER NUMBER? You are a hero for awkward girls everywhere."
•
Rebecca Kim Wells - Unfortunately, Blobs Do Not Eat Snacks ("Kissing Under the Influence") 3/5

This is the only new-to-me author in this anthology, so it was fun reading from them. This was again a sapphic story, and I did have fun reading it, although I definitely enjoyed it less than the previous two stories. The reason for that is two-fold: I didn't like the writing style that much, and I found the story lacked some necessary context and world-building. Again we're thrown in the middle of the story, which is fine but that does make it important to give a clear setting and we just didn't get that here. I did like how the trope was handled when it actually was, but it took quite some time and I felt like it was over again quite soon as well. Overall I feel like this was more a (one-sided) enemies to lovers story.
•
Ashley Herring Blake - Edges ("The Grumpy and the Soft One") 5/5

Another sapphic story! Ashley Herring Blake is one of my favourite authors, and the soft vs. grumpy trope is my current favourite trope, so this story was a 5 star prediction for me and of course I was right! For how short this was, this story was chockfull of emotion and I almost cried. It's about the importance of communicating your wants and needs in a relationship and sometimes your own lack of self worth can get in the way of how you treat others, because you'll make assumptions about what they do or don't want from you.
•
Julian Winters - What Makes Us Heroes ("Hero vs. Villain") 4/5

Julian Winters is another one of my favourite authors, and since he usually writes contemporary, it was really fun to read a superhero story from him! This is an achillean story and I really liked the exploration of what makes someone a villain and, again, how quick people can be to make assumptions. I would have like to see a little more world-building, though, but this was some solid fun!
•
Hannah Moskowitz - And ("Love Triangle") 2/5

I very much appreciate this story for making the love triangle into a polyamorous relationship. And the 2 stars is honestly all me, but I just cannot stand reading from second person POV. I find it very uncomfortable to read and very pretentious, and it's almost never done well. Seriously, the only time I liked it was in The Night Circus. So it's really all me, but yeah, I didn't like this.
•
Sara Farizan - My Best Friend's Girl ("Best Friend's Girlfriend") 3/5

Another sapphic story, and another superhero story! Unfortunately, this one fell kind of flat for me. It was very much okay but it didn't make much of an impact. Aside from that, I felt like we got to know the main character's best friend better than his girlfriend, which made it kind of hard to become invested in the romance.
•
Claire Kann - (Fairy)Like Attracts Like ("Mutual Pining") 3/5

Another sapphic story, this time about a fat Black fairy who works at a summercamp for fairies. I found the set-up for this story to be really fun, but unfortunately I didn't quite feel the pining - it all felt a little underdeveloped.
•
Lilliam Rivera - These Strings ("Sibling's Hot Best Friend") 3/5

Again, I really liked the set-up of the story - this time of a Latinx puppeteering family. I'm really not a fan of brothers (physically) fighting their sister's (potential) boyfriends, though. I find it really possessive and condescending, as if they own her and she can't make up her own mind. So that made me enjoy this story a lot less.
•
Laura Silverman - The Passover Date ("Fake Dating") 4/5

This m/f story is about a Jewish family celebrating Seder. Rachel is fed up with her family always trying to push her into a romantic relationship and asking her why she hasn't brought a date, so she comes up with the only viable solution known to romance stories: FAKE DATING. This happens to be one of my favourite tropes and this was such a cute story!
•
Rebecca Barrow - Bloom ("Love Transcends Space Time") 5/5

I don't even really know what to say about this story, other than that it was perfection and my heart is full. It's about grief, and trying to get back what you lost only to find something else in the process. It has cottagecore vibes, there's time travel, it's sapphic, it was just so good!
•
Gloria Chao - Teed Up ("Oblivious to Lovers") 2/5

This story was very much okay - it's about a Taiwanese-American girl who's a female golf player in a male-dominated and very sexist field - but it just didn't do much for me. It honestly bored me a little and I kept finding myself zoning out. It also seemed quite convenient that she falls in love with the one guy who's nice to her, the bar is just so low. I just didn't see the appeal, I guess. I also didn't really see much of the trope, personally.
•
Mason Deaver - Boys Noise ("Only One Bed at the Inn") 4/5

After If This Gets Out, I've been really craving more boyband romances, so this was a really great story! It wasn't quite 5 stars for me as I found that all the issues were glossed over too quickly and I found the writing style somewhat lacking at times, but despite that, I still really enjoyed this.
•
Malinda Lo - Girls Just Want to Have Fun ("Secret Royalty") 3/5

This story was off to a rocky start for me, and overall, the writing style didn't quite work for me. I did however think this was a really cute story that used the trope very well! I especially liked the sci-fi setting.
•
Rebecca Podos - Disaster ("Second Chance Romance") 3/5

I did really like the melancholical atmosphere of this story. It was again a sapphic story, set in summer, and, like the trope said, with a second chance romance. I really like a second chance romance, but my issue here was that I didn't like the main character very much, so I had a hard time rooting for the romance.