cute little short stories that i adored!! i love these types of books a lot and i’m glad i read this one!

Multiple authors writing different stories. I didn't enjoy this as much as other stories I have read, but to others they may love it! It is a great way to check out multiple authors and their styles.

Thank you to NetGalley, the authors, and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

As with most short story collections, there are stories that you like more than others. There is a YA romance short story for every one of our favorite tropes, from forced proximity to rivals to lovers. One of my favorite things was all the queer representation in all of the stories.

While I didn't love every story, I liked enough of them to make it an enjoyable reading experience.

These were super cute!!! I love LGBTQ+ books where the premise isn't pain or trauma-centric, so this book really really was such an enjoyable read. The short format is tricky -- you can nail the story or just leave the reader confused. Some of these, thinking specifically about Disaster, where you're left feeling soooooooo invested; it doesn't feel confusing or "you get dropped into the middle of the story" but feels whole and complete.

A set of beautiful, nice stories Was happy I got the chance to read. I loved the diversity gender diversification and respectful approach, and I loved the different romances and how there were different, unique tropes in every one.
well done

Fools In Love by Rebecca Barrow; Gloria Chao; Mason Deaver; Sara Farizan; Claire Kann; Malinda Lo; Hannah Moskowitz; Natasha Ngan; Lilliam Rivera; Laura Silverman; Amy Spalding; Rebecca Kim Wells; Julian Winters. #FoolsInLove #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

This was an okay, reasonably quick read. Naturally, in a collection of short stories, you're bound to dislike some, but I sadly disliked most of them. I didn't enjoy most of them, and to be quite honest, I found that most of them bored me.

I didn't find the twists on love stories compelling enough, and I didn't find that this was in any way dramatically different from other love stories.

I didn't feel invested at all, and granted, you don't always get invested in characters' stories if it's not a full novel, but that's not necessarily true. I didn't find that the stories were too short, but that they just lacked something that would hold my attention and make me want to keep reading to find out more. I didn't get that sense of urgency with any of them, and I didn't particularly like a character, or found myself in one.

The rep was there, but other than that, I didn't feel like these stories are memorable or that any of them stood out.

It was an okay read for the afternoon, but would I pick it up again? Probably not.

An incredible collection of writers, and short romance? What is there not to like? I adored this completely.

This collection took me a while to get through. As with most anthologies, some stories were really good and others weren't my thing.

I liked what this was trying to do. Each story was a different take on a romance trope, such as fake dating and enemies-to-lovers. But I think that just adds to the "you either love it or hate it" thing.

It takes skills to write a couple-page story that gets me to connect with the characters and care about their relationship, and that's the main reason why the majority of these stories didn't work for me. Add that on top of the fact that I also don't like some tropes, and we're left with a semi-disappointing read.

But, my 2 favs from this were:

WHAT MAKES US HEROS "Hero vs. Villain" by Julian Winters
and
THE PASSOVER DATE "Fake Dating" by Laura Silverman

(Both of which were five stars)

Rating: 2.5 stars

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

A sparkling and diverse anthology of short and sweet romance stories. Perfect for a busy reader, as a tasting menu for more than a dozen excellent authors, and for anyone looking to fall in love over and over.

I really enjoyed how this anthology was set out—each story has the title and then the trope written underneath i.e. fake dating, second chance etc. I liked that because it meant I could skip the two or so tropes I knew absolutely didn't work for me. Unfortunately, there was a lot in here that didn't work for me even when I liked the tropes or authors. I think in the end I enjoyed about three of the stories, but those three were all new-to-me authors so at least some good came of this. Even though I didn't love this, I think it's a great way to test out a few different YA authors and tropes to see if you enjoy them.

Fools?? In love??? (they sure are)
That sounds like my stuff! And better yet, it's about popular romance tropes! My favourite tropes included in this anthology are: mistaken identity; the grumpy one and the soft one; mutual pining; fake dating; and love transcends space time. But I think my favourite stories were "Girls just want to have fun", the secret royalty by Malinda Lo; "Five Stars", the mistaken identity by Amy Spalding; "My best friend's girl", the best friend's girlfriend by Sara Farizan; and "What makes us heroes", the hero vs. villain by Julian Winters.

I loved how almost all of these stories were queer, and mostly sapphic. Also loved how the love triangle trope is resolved by polyamory (that's the only way I can accept this trope). All in all, this was a really nice collection of short stories that I enjoyed very much!

I really wanted to love this one as they’re some authors on here I’ve read and enjoyed books from. However, that wasn’t the case.

I’m not going to review each individual short story. Instead, I’ll give you my general thoughts and tell you my fave and least fave stories as the majority of them were not that memorable, and it’s not worth me mentioning that over again in one review.

My favourites: “Edges” by Ashley Herring Blake
“Boys Noise” by Mason Deaver
“My Best Friends Girl” by Sara Farizan

I’m still thinking about each of these stories weeks later. “Boys Noise” was such a cute story, I definitely want this to be a full length novel. “Edges” and “My Best Friend’s Girl” were both stand outs and I love the tropes these short stories were inspired by; they’re both winners in my book!

Least favourites: “Bloom” by Rebecca Barrow
“Silver and Gold” by Natasha Ngan

I had NO IDEA what was going in “Bloom” and it was unnecessarily long for a short story. “Silver and Gold” was incredibly boring; I had a hard time getting through it.

Onto my general thoughts; loved how the majority of this anthology featured sapphic (and one trans) stories. It's incredibly refreshing and I want to read more anthologies like this. If you want something to read for Pride Month, I’d recommend this.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

this collection was perfectly weaved together and had me thrilled as i read! the stories were both beautiful and heartbreaking. since reading it i’ve checked out the authors other works!

A collection of short romance stories encompassing all the classic tropes - fake dating, forced proximity, love triangle, mutual pining, and second chance romance to name a few.

Always a fan of Ashley Herring Blake and Malindo Lo!

Sincere thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Asterisks indicate my favourite ones.


*Silver and Gold by Natasha Ngan – 5 stars! This was so good! The spider squid sounded absolutely terrifying and I never want to see anything like that. I really enjoyed the characters and loved how they played off each other.

*Five Stars by Amy Spalding – Just like the title says – 5 stars! So so so good! I love Amy Spalding and this was so funny 😂😂😂 I would’ve died and also grabbed anything to possibly defend myself. I totally understand being too anxious to say anything. Represent!

Unfortunately, Blobs Do Not Eat Snacks by Rebecca Kim Well – 4 stars. MAGES, MAGE SCHOOL. I did like this. I didn’t like the whole confessing things under influence. I know thats the trope… But I dont like it. I wouldve starred it 3 but magic!

Edges by Ashley Herring Blake – 3 stars. Cute but not enough to capture me and interest me much.


*What Makes Us Heroes by Julian Winters – 5 stars! I mean, Julian Winters, so of course. It was all so cute and I more than likely squealed my way through it all.

*And by Hannah Moskowitz – 5 stars. Really really cute!!! Such a soft introduction into polyam and a natural change from 2 in a relationship to 3. And also, yes, that love triangle resulted in polyam because yes!! Those typical love triangles in books aren’t even proper love triangles!

My Best Friend’s Girl by Sara Farizan – 2 stars. I didn’t like the characters. I didn’t like the plot either. Hal was a weak character and I sort of didn’t believe he could be a hero? Like his character just didn’t fit the personality – superhero or ‘normal’. And not like the usual ‘oh the superhero isn’t a superhero once they’re not in costume’ – no, that’s totally different.

(Fairy) Like Attracts Like by Claire Kann – 1 star. I struggled to get through this. Glad this was a short story. I couldn’t get into the story and had no connections to the characters. The story makes no sense as well?


These Strings by Lilliam Rivera – 2 stars. I’m all for girls doing what they wanna do. It’s not 3 stars because I didn’t like the language – the narration and writing.

*The Passover Date by Laura Silverman – 5 stars. This was so super cute! It’s a little… CHEESY but that’s exactly why I liked it. Silverman does it again!!

Bloom by Rebecca Barrow – 1 star. It was very confusing, especially as this is a short story so you wouldnt expect to find so much world-building here


*Teed Up by Gloria Chao – I know absolutely zero about golf (because I find it really boring lol) but this was absolutely 5 stars and gorgeous!! I loved the discussion about pressure, especially from your parents, and I think even more when you’re a woc in a very male-dominated area.

I love Liam. He was so nice and proud of Sunny and wanted her to succeed – but ONLY if it’s what she actually wanted.

*Boys Noise by Mason Deaver – 5 stars!! So so good!! I love boy band books and this one was so so good! I loved it so much!

*Girls Just Wanna Have Fun by Malinda Lo – 5 stars! So so sweet!! Loved the characters 😌😌

Disaster by Rebecca Podos – 2 stars. I liked the concept but it wasn’t written well enough for me to go wow and everything.

I'd forgotten how much I truly enjoy a well-done short story until I read this collection. Natasha Ngan's fantastical and sapphic "Snowed In Together" was a standout favorite for me. Can't wait to check out more full-length works from all of these authors!

Cute cute cute. Some were a little stronger than others, but that's to be expected in a collection. Loved the diversity. Just mega cute.

I really liked that this book had so many stories with diverse characters. The stories themselves were a little bit hit or miss for me though. Some stories did not provide enough background information while others provided too much.

My favorite stories were: Five Stars; Edges; The Passover Date; Boys Noise

Many of these others have other releases that are on my radar so it was nice to get a little sneak peek into their writing styles.

I am a romance girlie through and through and am happy to say that this is another win for the books.

Fools in Love is a YA anthology of stories based on romantic tropes with fresh twists celebrating how love always finds a way. This anthology is truly YA and I really appreciate that. The authors allowed their characters to be teens and exist without the pressure to age up the content or conversations for the sake of older readers. This book is for, anyone really, but mainly for the teen/young adults in your life and I think it will mean so much to them.

Overall the romances in the stories were so cute, I swooned and laughed but of course in an anthology you cannot always love every story. My favourites, the ones that made me smile and kick my feet the most were: Teed Up by Gloria Chao, The Passover Date by Laura Silverman, and What Makes Us Heroes by Julian Winters. These stories were all fairly different in content ranging from fake dating, to moral greyness of heroes to the weight of providing for your family. All these stories had me engaged throughout and the authors managed to achieve so much depth in their stories that I was craving 300 page novels from then just to spend time with these characters.

There were some stories that used tropes that I traditionally love in adult romance but just didn’t enjoy in YA as I feel they start to miss certain elements that make them so enjoyable to me. An example of this was the “one bed trope” that I go feral for in adult romance, that just fell flat in YA. I did unfortunately dnf some stories as they just weren't doing it for me, but those were tropes that historically don't work for me anyways.

I love that we got to see teens of all different backgrounds, sexuality, and genders being loved and loving others. This is one of those books that give you that ”i wish I'd had this when i was young” moments.


Fools in Love is definitely an anthology I’d recommend to any YA and romance readers that will give you a cute, heart warming time.

Thank you to #NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC for review purposes.

I loved how Fools in Love had multiple authors. It have readers a new sense of adventure! An amazing novel and I loved the adventure that I went on