This is my first short story compilation sort of book and so I didn't really know what to expect but I was really satisfied with this one. I'm currently on a "romance book binge" and this was such a refreshing take on the romance genre. I got to see different love stories in different genres and tropes all from the same book. Also, the representation in this is just wow. It's absolutely wonderful how much representation was incorporated here while still having heterosexual couples.

Fools In Love is such a lovely book! I personally think that this anthology of short stories is perfect for teenagers and people who are young at heart.

I like how these queer short stories were written in different genres. Each story gives you a different experience in reading as it dwells into various storylines that are totally endearing! I’m also amazed at how the plots didn’t feel forced given that they were short. However, not all stories made an impact on me—but that’s only because I’m not a huge fan of superhero stories. Nonetheless, the stories were still enagaging and I cannot put this one down!

This is such a fun read! I would recommend this to everyone, especially to teenagers (or even adults) who just discovered their love for reading because of it’s various genres compiled in a collection of short stories. This anthology has so much to offer; I think most people, if not all, will love it!

I really wanted to love this collection. Romance short-story collections are uncommon enough, but particularly collections with an LGBT+ focus. Unfortunately, there were only three stories that really held my attention. Outside of these three, I found the stories to be either 1) more poorly written than I would expect in an anthology like this or 2) severely hampered by a "show, don't tell" mentality.

To give credit where it's due, I LOVED the below three stories and will be keeping an eye on their authors:

1) "Snowed in Together" by Natasha Ngan
2) "Edges" by Ashley Herring Blake
3)"The Passover Date" by Laura Silverman

Silver and gold by Natasha Ngan - cliché 'a storm forces them together'. Cute and entertaining, but nothing too memorable⭐⭐⭐⭐.


Five Stars by Amy Spalgin - cliché 'identity confusion'. Adorable. I love these short and sweet stories. They restore my hope in humanity ⭐⭐⭐⭐


Unfortunately, Blobs do not eat snacks by Rebecca Kim Wells - cliché 'drunken confession'. I'm not a fan of romance stories that try to be fantasy and this one is no exception. I think a whole novella was needed for this story ⭐⭐.


Edges by Ashley Herring Blake - cliché the grumpy and the sweet. I don't know what it is about this author that always ALWAYS ALWAYS makes me cry. This one was no exception, although it's the first time it's from happiness ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐


What Makes us Heroes by Julia Winters -cliché 'heroes vs. villain'. It's been like a one-shot and I mean that as a compliment. Sweet, funny and predictable. I loved it ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐


And by Hannah Moskowitz -cliché 'love triangle'. I don't like love triangles, so this story was a mehh for me. I guess someone who likes it may dirgrut it more ⭐⭐.


My Best Friend's Girls by Sara Farizan - cliché 'best friend's girlfriend'. I thought I was going to hate this story, but I didn't. I loved the dynamic between the two friends, them not fighting over the girl and the happy ending. Great use of a cliché that can be very problematic ⭐⭐⭐⭐.


(Fairy)like Attracts Like by Claire Kann - 'mutual pinning' cliché. These kinds of dynamics amuse me too much in fanfics and here was no exception. I personally don't understand the magical elements, but overall I liked it ⭐⭐⭐⭐.


These Strings by Lilliam Rivera - cliché 'best friend of the sibling'. I've never understood the humor in this cliché and it wasn't my favorite this time either ⭐⭐⭐


The Passover Date by Laura Silverman - cliché 'fake relationship'. I LOVE fake dating and I LOVED this story ⭐⭐⭐⭐


Bloom by Rebecca Barrow - cliché 'love transcends time and space'. Mehh I don't know... it just hasn't been for me ⭐⭐.


Teed up by Gloria Chao - cliché 'idiots in love'. Yeah, I mean yeah. Give me a thousand stories like that ⭐⭐⭐⭐


Boys Noise by Mason Deaver - cliché 'there's only one bed' I love Mason Deaver's style so simple and straightforward. If you add to this one of my favorite clichés.... what more could you ask for? ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐


Girls just want to have fun by Malinda Lo - cliché 'royalty'. I think I have a trauma since Red, White and Blue because I don't enjoy romances like this anymore.... well, not true...I don't enjoy them on paper. I'm sorry ⭐⭐


Disaster by Rebecca Podos - cliché 'second chance'. Not my favorite cliché, but I really liked how Rebecca Podos treated it. That adds up to points ⭐⭐⭐⭐.

This is officially my new favorite young adult anthology. The stories are all based on different classic romance tropes and they're some of the cutest things I've read in a long time. There's a great balance of fantasy vs contemporary and the whole collection is surprisingly queer. Actually it wouldn't have been such a big surprise if I'd actually stopped to think about who the editors are, but I was too busy smashing the read now button. Some of my favorite stories included:

Silver and Gold by Natasha Ngan: This fantastical short story is based on the "snowed in together" trope, one that I'm quickly falling in love with through different short stories. It follows two girls competing in an epic sled race who get trapped in a snow storm and are forced to confront their feelings for each other. It has a great balance of world building and plot.

Five Stars by Amy Spalding: Inspired by the "mistaken identity" trope. As the new girl at school Krista is just trying to make some new friends, but when the cute girl she has a bit of a crush on hops into her backseat she panics and lets her think she's her ride share driver. This was such an adorable story and Krista's anxious inner monologue was incredibly relatable.

Unfortunately, Blobs do Not Eat Snacks by Rebecca Kim Wells.: This story follows two girls who run into some unexpected magical trouble while completing their final exams. The tension between these two opposites is amazing and the fact that it's no nonsense Tess who ends up "under the influence" results in a story that's equal parts funny and adorable.

Edges by Ashley Herring Blake: A classic "The Grumpy One and the Soft One" story that follows an adorable sapphic couple.

My Best Friend's Girl by Sara Farizan: "Best Friend's Girlfriend" trope meets "normal best friend of a superhero" trope. There are two superhero stories in the anthology and this was the one I preferred. I have a history of loving super narratives that focus on the people surrounding the hero and the awkward love triangle at the heart of this one is so intriguing.

The Passover Date by Laura Silverman: Rachel is tired of her family's ridiculous everyone brings a date to Seder tradition. For years she's been the only dateless family member and the prodding questions are getting unbearable. So she enlists a former Hebrew school classmate to come as her pretend date. This one is cheesy in the best way possible. I couldn't stop smiling while reading it.

Reimagining tropes in literature is an interesting premise for this anthology, and it's what lured me in. The diversity and range of LGBTQ+ characters are refreshing, especially since non-heterosexual, non-cisgender representation in literature is still lacking. For me, the best stories were the contemporary and realistic ones, like "Five Stars" and "Edges." Krista, the narrator of "Five Stars," is amusing and sweet. The banter between Krista and her crush was funny and helped develop both characters. "Edges" also had good character development and "The Grumpy One and Soft One" trope is a fun one. The dark, misanthropic artist and the bubbly, popular girl coming together is usually a crowd-pleaser ("She's All That" in reverse), and it did not disappoint. Both of these stories felt relatable, and many YA readers would likely be interested in these stories because they can see themselves in the narrators and characters.

However, most of the other stories did not work for me. The most important way to reinvent these tropes/themes is through the characters, but many of the stories felt rushed, or I was distracted by genre-bending elements. Stories like "Silver and Gold," "Blobs Do Not Eat Snacks," "What Makes Us Heroes", etc. were jarring. For instance, in "Silver and Gold," the unclear setting and mythical elements distanced me from the characters. It was hard for me to believe that the characters felt as strongly for one another as the narration claimed because a lot was happening in exchange for character development. The end result was an unfortunate distraction from the most important part of these stories: the characters and the exploration of themes and tropes. Readers can reimagine love and the stories that have been told to us over and over without spider squids, mages, and superheroes. Finally, I also felt like many of the stories ended in the same way: kissing. After reading the first few stories, I felt like I read the same ending over and over.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an early read of this collection in an exchange for an honest review.

Fools in Love is a YA anthology where each short story is based on a popular trope (e.g., enemies-to-lovers, fake dating, and so on). This collection could've been good as it features LGBTQ+ relationships and a range of diverse characters in multiple settings and literary genres. Contemporary, sci-fi, fantasy, time travel... All the ingredients seem present to make one hell of a recipe.

Yet I didn't enjoy this book as much as I would have liked. The stories were too fast-paced and cheesy to my liking. I needed tension between the characters, some angst or something to spice up things, but it was all lovey-dovey, happy endings, and insta-love. Unfortunately, that's not my cup of tea.

My personal favourites stories though were “Edges”, “What Makes Us Heroes”, and “The Passover Date”.

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.

This was such a fresh take on romance. I loved how diverse the characters were. Each and every story had a charm to it.
Thoroughly enjoyed it.

This is definitely a great read for romance-lovers craving sweet and short stories with a diversity of tropes that will please anyone : enemies/friends-to-lovers, fake dating ... and genres (contemporary as much as Sci-fi) with BIPOC & LGBTQ+ relationships.

I'm not usually fond of romantic books so the short stories were perfect for me. (Between 20 to 40 pages per stories).

What I liked :
- The diversity of the characters
- Fast paced
- Quick summer read

What I didn't like :
- The writing style of some authors
- As much as I liked the fact that the stories were short they were often rushed, and not enough "character driven" with too much unnecessery background information
- They were all happy endings it would have been refreshing to have at least 1 or 2 different endings (but still my own personal opinion I know plenty of readers will still enjoy it this way!)

Overall a very good and cute anthology that I will definitely recommend!

Title : Fools In Love
Rating : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Review :

I LOVE THIS BOOK! This book is full with short story romances but swoon-worthy stories and I adore this book with all my heart😍 I also love that a few of the love stories in this book is about LGBTQ+ romances and as a supporter of the LGBTQ+ community, I appreciate that and I realize that this representation is important to our community, to make them realize that it's completely fine to be queer🏳️‍🌈. This book is written beautifully and the cover is so gorgeous and romantic❤ Thank you for the free ARC😄

Reviews will be short and sweet, and I'll review each story separately.

Silver & Gold - Natasha Ngan I felt this was a very strong start, I really enjoyed the story and after reading Girls of Paper and Fire by the author last year, I was excited to see something else from them. This had a trope I do enjoy Snowed In Together and the author did a good job at executing a well rounded story. Once again, very strong start to this anthology. 4/5

Five Stars - Amy Spalding This one was soooo awkward but hilarious, I honestly don't know how I would react in the same situation other than be a little terrified. I like the end too! Strong second story in this lots. This has the trope Mistaken Identity which isn't one I tend to enjoy, but was still a good story. 4/5

Unfortunately, Blobs Do Not Eat Snacks - Rebecca Kim Wells This has the trope Kissing Under the Influence I didn’t really love this one, it started off interesting but I didn’t feel captivated. 2.5/5

Edges - Ashley Herring Blake This has the trope The Grumpy One and the Soft One Same as the above, it didn’t grip me as I moved onto the next story and I wasn’t really a fan of the context within this. 2/5

What Makes Us Heroes - Julian Winters This has the trope Hero Vs. Villain I found this one super boring personally, I felt like it wasn’t well set up past the first few sentences and that's why I am rating it low. 2/5

And - Hannah Moskowitz This has the trope Love Triangle I was pleasantly surprised by the 2nd person POV, they are always a hit or miss and this was a hit for me - a proper love triangle! I do think it was a little odd only because of the POV, but outside of that the characters and story were interesting and I liked the diverse relationship in it 4/5

My best Friend's Girl - Sara Farizan This has the trope Best Friend's Girlfriend I also enjoyed this one, although I wanted a little bit more. Overall a solid story about plunked right in the middle of this anthology that has helped to peek my interests again. 3.5/5

(Fairy) Like Attracts Like - Claire Kann This has the trope Mutual Pining This just wasn't for me unfortunately. 2/5

These Strings - Lilliam Rivera This has the trope Siblings Hot Best Friend I really liked this, it was pretty cute and I liked the whole set up and everything. It also dealt with more than just the love trope which was really nice. 4/5

The Passover Date - Laura Silverman This has the trope Fake Dating Legit my favourite so far, I just really love Fake Dating ok! 5/5

Bloom - Rebecca Barrow This has the trope Love Transcends Space Time I didn't like the way this was written, it's not a writing style I'm personally a fan of - and the trope is also something I don't tend to enjoy. 2/5

Teed Up - Gloria Chao This has the trope Oblivious Lovers The thing I disliked the most about this was the golf. I loved the writing style however and because of that, this is a 3.5/5

Boys Noise - Mason Deaver This has the trope Only One Bed at the Inn Ok this was adorable, and gave me major I Was Born for This vibes. I also like this trope even though it's pretty overused, so overall I enjoyed this. 5/5

Girls Just Want to Have Fun - Malinda Lo This has the trope Hidden Royalty This isn't a trope I really enjoy, but the setting for this story was on point and I would read more set in this world! I love sci-fi set in space on a station, it's always super diverse and interesting. 4/5

Disaster - Rebecca Podos This has the trope Second Chance Romance I think this was just alright, it was a good ending to the collection but I think that maybe Boys Noise would have been a better ending. I also don't know if the formatting meant some was missing, or that it really ended how it did. 3.5/5 for this story.

FINAL RATING: 3.4 - rounded up to 4*

This is a collection that I would definitely buy a physical copy of.

I'm rating this better than my average rating according to separate stories is.

It was a nice little collection but with a lot of flaws.

First, it bugged me that every story had a hapoy ending. I really wanted some heartache and some unsuccessful loves.

And then secondly, the doatribution of LGBT+ and heterosexual stories was REALLY uneven. I respect the inclusion and all, bit I would have liked for heterosexual couples to be included as well.

Finally, I found the stories with sci-fi and fantasy elements to be very boring. There was no importance of the fantastic element for the plot in all but one , which made it pointless. And the stories were way too short to give enough answers about the worlds and the supernatural.

Silver and Gold - 1
The story was completely unremarkable and boring. The execution was poor, and I had no real feelings while reading it. He writing style was very sloppy and I had a feeling of reading a story wrotten by a hobbyist and not a writer, not even amateur one. I had no feelings or liking towards the characters and I was told what I should feel more than I actually felt anything.

Five Stars - 4
This was the kind of cute that makes your heart melt. I loved it. The awkward new beginnings, the unlikely but completely possible accident, the tingling feeling when your crush is near you and likes you back. This story had it all!

Unfortunatrly, Blibs do not Eat Snacks - 2
I was more interested in the fantasy part of the story, and the romance was unnatural and just showed there somewhere yowards the end without any actual development. And, the fantasy part just fell apart amd wasn't finished, leaving me with more questions than answers.

Edges - 4
Apart from the hideous name of this story, it was pretty good. The first one in this book that actually had me feel the feelings. Pretty good.

What Makes Us Heroes - 1
Everything was pretty vague and artificial, and the superhero part was vay too shallow to give any importance to the story.

And - 2
The wriying style really bugged me a lot. I didn't like the main character who was just ready to play with everyone to get what she wanted. And I don't thing the whole threesome thing sits wiyh me well.

My Best Friend's Girl - 1
Not a fan of superheroes, especially when it has no importance to the story. Also, how can you not discuss whom you love with a person and call them a beat friend??? Or how can you call yourself someone's best friend and not see whom they love????

Fairy Like Attracts Like - 1
Placing a fat lesbian person in a story just for the sale of mentioning a fat lesbian is just shitty. If she was black or asian, you would have the whole deal! Well, it ahouldn't be done like that!

These Strings - 3
More of a friendship story than a live story. Unlikeable characters

The Passover Date - 3
Okay. Old friends find love.

Bloom - 3
Fantasy about traveling through time to find love. Both child-parent love and romantic love. Refreshing.

Teed Up - 2
I'm just not a fan of insta-love or manipulative parents.

Boys Noise - 3
Trans gay celebrity teenager falls in love with a band member who loves him back. It is cute, but nothing special. I didn't feel that the intetnal battle of falling in love with someone you shouldn't was ptesented in its full potential.

Girls Just Want to Have Fun - 1
As I said, I HATE insta-love stories. I'm also not the biggest fan of sci-fi.

Disaster - 3
I would probably have liked it more if it wasn't so obvious that there will be no disaster.

Fools in Love was an utterly refreshing anthology that I absolutely loved. I started reading it at 8PM and I finished it by 11PM. Every story was so beautiful and so well written, that I just did not want to stop reading. And so, I finished this all in one setting. Every author has created such interesting characters and even in the span of a few short pages, you can't help but fall in love with them all. I'm a sucker for romance so I don't think I could pick one favorite story. But seriously though, everyone should read this. I think you'll find yourself connecting to one character, at least.

These stories were hit and miss for me. I loved some, and others weren’t my favorite. None of them were bad, but some weren’t for me.

The stories I enjoyed the most were “the grumpy one and the soft one”, “Hero vs Villain”, “mutual pining”, “oblivious to lovers”, and “only one bed at the inn.” Those stories had all of my favorite tropes.

I really liked the characters in each story, it’s just the tropes that made me like some more than others.

This has something for everybody. I can’t think of any very popular tropes that aren’t in this. It has everything.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. It was very entertaining, and I at least liked all of the stories.

3.5⭐️/5⭐️

I would start by saying how unique this book is. I have never read a book that was written by multiple authors but I honestly loved it. It is a collection of romance stories and each one is written from a different author and they also include different types of genre. It has an amazing representation as there’s diversity of race, sexuality and more. I am so glad that authors are finally stepping up and including more diversity in their books. For those who are worried that this will be just a romance book, it really isn’t. Fantasy, sci-fi and even more are included through these different stories. For the readers like me that love the fake dating trope or the one bed trope, you will definitely enjoy this book as these tropes are present throughout some of the stories. I personally would recommend this book to all the people that enjoy reading different genres with romance always in it. One suggestion would be to make the stories a little bit longer but overall it was very well written.

I chose this book because of its popularity but that was a complete miss for me. I don't think I realized the genre until after I got the book.

Thank you Netgalley for a free copy.

There is something for everyone to enjoy in this collection of LGBTQIA+ inclusive Young Adult short stories, which re-imagine popular tropes in Contemporary, Sci-fi, and Fantasy books.

My Favorites:
What Makes Us Heroes by Julian Winters
And by Hannah Moskowitz
My Best Friend's Girl by Sara Farizan
The Passover Date by Laura Silverman
Boys Noise by Mason Deaver

These stories were wonderful! I was looking for a lighthearted romance type of book and this was the perfect one for me. All of the stories were very solidly written and kept me engaged, I loved it!

This is a cute anthology filled with love stories across a variety of tropes and genres. The writing itself didn’t blow me away and that, combined with the short-story style, made it hard to keep my attention. I think this would be a great section for someone who’s trying to find what tropes they like best or who wants to fly through a lot of different stories, very quickly. I think I need more context to engage with romance stories, especially YA.

Before I actually read this, I saw another review that said that this book was perfect if you're in a reading slump and seriously that is so true! I ABSOLUTELY loved it! It had great diversity and representation and was such a great book that gives you all of those light and fluffy feelings when reading! I will definitely be picking up a physical copy of this when it comes out! Perfect for so many different people, and i loved that there were so many different stories. This is the first book that I have read that had multiple authors and stories, and I loved how refreshing it was going through each story. It didn't feel redundant at all, and it kept me wanting more and more as each story passed! One of my favourite reads this year so far!