DNF’ed at 18%. Felt too stereotypical, between the gay besties, the hot intelligent new to town love interest, and the fast friends at the wedding. The dialogue seemed clunky and what I read was way too wordy with too little action.

I really enjoyed this book. I found it to be really unique within the genre of contemporary romance and that's not easy to do in such a crowded genre!

I found myself sometimes wanting to pick up the lead Amy by her shirt tails and tell her to believe in her self a bit more - but she found her way to where/how she needed to be and in the end it's good that she did it on her own. We follow Amy through some real highs and lows and it's not always easy to stick with an MC through that, but it was worth it!

There was a huge cast of supporting characters and although I liked most of them, it was a bit confusing at times due to their sheer number.

Dumond also does a really great job of situating the issues faced by the queer community and shows us that it's not a one size fits all which I think it soooo important.

Well done!

There is no better word to describe this book as fun. I enjoyed reading this book so much I genuinely groaned when I had to put it down. Long needed representation, a glorious arc with LGBTQ+ activism, and a complimentary cupcake recipe at the end - heaven in a novel.

Going into this read, I was expecting this to fall into the standard romance novel layout, but this was actually not so much about the romance, and more about Amy's development as a Queer woman and how she fit into her own life, job, and friend group, as well as how she dealt with her romantic relationship. Part of me really enjoyed this aspect of the book in that Amy's character was fully developed and you got great insight into her thoughts and emotions.

However, on the flip side, we barely got to know Charley, so it left me feeling less invested in what happened to them as a couple.

This story was very enjoyable and had some lovely characters, but there were certain sections that dragged a little and featured too much of Amy's back and forth internal dialogue. I loved that this was set in 2013 and you got to experience the historic significance for Queer culture in Tulsa at that time. I thought that was very interesting.

Definitely great for a fun, charming, queer read. Also love any book that comes with a recipe!

Many thanks for NetGalley and Random House Publishing for providing me with this ARC in exchanged for my honest review!!

I don't usually read romance novels (I stick to sci-fi), but as a lesbian who is getting married soon and has worked in the wedding industry I couldn't pass this up when I saw the arc available on NetGalley. This book is full of love and so intensely relatable as a lesbian in a redder than I would like state. The chapters that described baking left me hungry and I could see myself in every wedding scene and during the big conflict. I absolutely recommend this cozy, sweet romance.

An adorable romantic tale, Queerly Beloved is the perfect queer romcom that we have all been waiting for.

I'm glad that I skimmed a few reviews before going into this - Queerly Beloved is much more contemporary fiction than romance, which I wouldn't have known without doing so. This way, I was able to really appreciate it for what it was. Amy's story is fun, heartwarming, and compelling. Both amusing wedding shenanigans and serious discussions are handled wonderfully. It's not quite a coming-of-age, since Amy's decidedly crossed into adulthood from the beginning, but it's a coming-into-yourself. Definitely recommended.

CW: homophobia (including homophobia rooted in Christianity), outing of a queer character, past parental illness (cancer), past infidelity, discussion of alcoholism, referenced past conversion therapy

When Amy gets fired from her job as a baker at a conservative Christian bakery after she is outed as a lesbian, she inadvertently becomes a "professional bridesmaid". She starts dating Charley, an engineer newly arrived in town.

I wanted to love this book and the premise is so promising but ultimately the storyline and characters were a bit....lacking. A majority of the characters are really underdeveloped, honestly even including the main protagonist, Amy. I'm all for a flawed character but Amy truly wasn't very likeable at all. The relationship between her and Charley was not convincing to me at all and I really didn't see the chemistry. It was also a bit odd to me that this book is just coming out and is set in 2013 (pre marriage equality) - I wonder if that was particularly necessary and if a similar outcome/lesson could be achieved without it.

I did love the diversity and the queerness in the book, of course. It did feel pretty realistic in a lot of ways, including the queer spaces within a conservative environment. In the beginning, I was a bit worried that the religious stuff would dominate the book but thankfully it didn't. Some of the conversations that the characters had about identity etc were so lovely, I wish that care was taken with more of the story.

3.5 stars rounded down to 3. Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

First things first… I think this one wins best first kiss award. It was the most adorable one I’ve ever read! This is a great coming of age story featuring Amy, who is figuring out how to be authentically herself in an area that doesn’t always accept her authentic self.

This book really struck with me. As an Oklahoman and a proud ally, it was hard to read at times. I’m glad this book was set in the time frame it was (2013-14), in order to shed a light on how much change the state has seen in terms of being queer friendly, and still how much there still can be done.

I enjoyed watching Amy grow as a person and in all of the relationships in her life! This book is a must read for you if you love coming of age stories, Oklahoma (woo hoo!),cupcakes, and the LGBTQAI+ community! 5 stars

I enjoyed this book! It wasn’t the light romance I was expecting but I wasn’t disappointed. It was more fiction and about the main character finding herself. The romance part I could’ve done without honestly. It felt a bit like insta love and the romance didn’t seem fully fleshed out. I would easily read more books from this author!

I was intrigued by the synopsis of this book, and was hoping to read about a character that comes into her own, and finds love and happiness as a result. This is, of course, what happens, but it happens in a preachy, clunky, poorly edited, awkwardly paced way. There is a lot of focus on the LGBTQ community, but it all so overly underdeveloped. Charley, the love interest, is described in stereo typical lesbian ways: Short hair, charming, sexy, engineer. That's all we know, and we know this because the author tells it to us, but doesn't show us otherwise, in fact, none of the characters besides Amy are developed. They are all just one dimensional diversity checkboxes. There are a lot of conversations about important topics that just fizzle. Speeches are made often, as a way to drill in the point trying to be made, but then the next character comes along and refutes that point entirely. This book doesn't seem to know what it wants to be known as. As another reviewer said, super interesting premise but a poor execution.

I was very excited about this book but found it lacked depth on multiple levels and left me disappointed.

Essentially, Amy is a closeted (at times) queer woman living in conservative Oklahoma circa 2013 who falls into the paid bridesmaid game (it’s a thing?) after being outed and fired from her bakery job. If you can tell from that run-on sentence, there’s a lot going on in this book. And unfortunately I feel the width doesn’t leave much for depth.

After reading the whole book, I could only give you 2-3 words to describe any character - even the main crew. The love story didn’t offer much in the way of spice or chemistry. The family drama is set up in the beginning of the book but rarely if ever addressed again.

Don’t get me wrong, I appreciated the wide range of representation in queer characters and allies. I also found it nice that we jumped into the future slightly (2023) to see how everyone’s stories have turned out.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was completely fabulous. I truly adored it. The characters are delightful, I just wish we'd gotten to see a bit more of Charley. To be honest, I kept waiting for Amy to find out she was secretly married or something, because she seemed so secretive. Something felt off about her. But I liked Amy a lot, her friends were great, and I really loved watching her grow her business.

I personally found it a little disorienting to read a book set before marriage equality came to pass. But I understand why the author chose to set the book in the very very recent past. Overall, a great read.

Review based on ARC.

I enjoyed Queerly Beloved! I personally think that Amy is a really interesting character and seeing her develop was nice. So this book is set in 2013 which was the pre legalized gay marriage era so you’ll see a lot of closeted and homophobia but it’s just to understand the story better. Amy’s relationship that she has with Charley was enjoyable and the interview along the end of the book gives you insight on why the author wrote some parts the way she did.

Set in 2013, Amy is a semicloseted lesbian working at a conservative bakery in Tulsa, Oklahoma. There she meets Charley, a brilliant, attractive engineer. After being outed as queer and fired from her job, she begins a new business as a people-pleasing bridesmaid-for-hire. It’s not until Amy’s precarious balancing act strains her relationships to the breaking point that she must decide what it looks like to be true to herself.

I would classify this book as women's fiction or LGBTQ+ rather than romance as most of the story is about the protagonist's personal journey rather than a courtship. The reader does not get to see enough of Amy and Charley's relationship to feel chemistry leaping off the page. Unfortunately, most of the supporting characters lacked depth too, coming across as stereotypical tropes instead. Representation is important, but almost everyone was too underdeveloped.

One of the things I had trouble buying into was Amy's business model. I find it so hard to believe people would want a stand-in-bridesmaid instead of using a wedding planner. While I'm not in the business, I did work events for one summer and acted as the bride's personal assistant on those days and didn't need to insert myself into their bridal party/photos.

I did appreciate the author attempting to tackle important conversations surrounding being gay while living in a red state, institutionalized homophobia in religion (Christianity), inequality and the institution of marriage.

***I received an ARC from Netgalley and the Publisher in exchange for my honest review.***

Enjoyable debut from an author that is sure to grow in her following due to her ease of wordage on paper and connection with the LGBTQ community. This is exactly what I look for in a beach read - an easy to follow story with some plugs to keep me engaged. Although this book struggled to hook me in right off the bat, the overall plot was relatable and kept my interest!

Some things I loved about this book:
-Relatable characters
-Delectable desserts (and now I’m hungry again 🎂)
-Unique job description (Amy’s 2nd job…read to find out! So creative!)
-The Bridezillas (Think “Say Yes to the Dress?”)
-Finally seeing the main character grow and be comfortable in her own skin (warm fuzzies).
-Amy’s mom ♥️. Clearly an amazing woman who supports her daughter with a fierceness.

Some things I could have gone without:
-Donna - I think introducing as more of an avid Church-goer, etc., and giving more background about her from the start might have helped with the overall flow and SHOCK of the conversation between employee and boss; in other words, it was sudden but didn’t flow in the way that it should have.
-Charley - she is definitely not good enough for Amy with her constant flakiness; she was very in and out of the picture which I found exhausting and hard to root for.
-The length of the fight between Amy and Joel-for as close as they were I expected them to make up and support each other sooner….especially as Amy was trying to pave her own way; she could have used that friend as she tried to figure things out. It also seemed very out of character for Joel to call Amy selfish.

Overall, a quick read with some coming-of-age feels and some politics sprinkled throughout.

First off, love the cover! It made me want a big slice of cake (and so I got one!).

This novel starts out with the main character, Amy, a lesbian woman in a red state (in the Bible Belt) working both at a bar and a bakery. The owners of the bakery are very religious and Amy is unceremoniously let go when they find out her sexuality, despite Amy being one of if not their most talented baker.

At the very end of her shift at the bakery before being let go, Amy meets a woman named Charley who is new in town and based on visual cues (a pronouns pin on her bag) asks her on a date (and she says yes). The relationship evolves from there.

I would definitely classify this novel more as either LGBTQ fiction or Women’s fiction than a romance, as there’s a lot going on here with Amy and her independence than just the relationship with Charley. However, I really liked that this novel dealt with so many different kinds of relationships and the work and communication that go into keeping those relationships strong. That sometimes friends fight, sometimes we just need to communicate better and sometimes people will like us just for who we are.

Amy clearly deals with a lot of self doubt and anxiety (both in general and when it comes to the judgment from those around her regarding queer identity) and I felt that was portrayed in a really clear manner without directly stating it.

After bonding with a couple at her cousin’s wedding Amy starts a business adventure as a bridesmaid for hire who also helps with a lot of things in a pinch. I’m not gonna touch on this more but suffice it to say it grows and evolves and it’s a fun adventure to see Amy grow on.

I loved Amy’s relationship with her mom and her two best friends Damian and Joel and especially her moms closest friends, Max and Greg (they were absolute gems).

I really loved the conversation between Charley and Amy talking about how Amy, as a queer woman is allowed to like feminine/girly things and that what you like and enjoy comes down just to who you are as an individual. I really enjoyed a queer woman unapologetically loving “girly” things.

I loved truffle. Cats are the best. All books should have a cat.

I think my biggest issue is I wish we could’ve gotten to know Charley better. I know she’s this successful and poised engineer working in oil and gas and has a close relationship with her family but beyond those things and her relationship with Amy I wanted to dig deeper into getting to know her.

The epilogue of this made me smile SO BIG. I love an ending where all the queer characters get to be happy and thriving.

There’s also a cupcake recipe! Which I think is a fun touch.🧁

4 stars!

Thank You to NetGalley, Dial Press and Random House for this ARC!

What a fun, queer romance!
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An OWN Voices book, about a midwesterner queer baker who is closeted due to small town homophobia. This novel has many various queer representations
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This novel taking place in 2013 adds an interesting twist because it is before gay marriage was legalized.
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This definitely wasn’t my favorite story. It was missing that special something that leaves you wanting more b

2.5 rounded up.

As a lesbian from Oklahoma, I had really high hopes for this book. I liked it, but it's not a romance. It's more of fiction about the MC finding herself. However, character development is not very consistent and despite being set in early 2000s, there's very out of place language. An editor needs to go through for consistency as well as some grammar.

I wanted to love this because the idea of a closeted queer woman working for a Christian company was equal parts intriguing and hilarious, but this was not at all what I expected it to be.

The cover and synopsis had me thinking I would be going into a funny and cute romcom, but instead got hit with an extremely fast paced insta-love romance where the characters have zero romantic buildup, and was more about Amy finding and accepting herself with a sprinkle of romance.

Outside of that I felt it was overly long and drawn out, and wasn’t overly connected with Amy or her story.

Womp

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Pub for giving me the opportunity to read this!