Real Rating: 3.5 / 5 Stars

It’s not that this book is a bad book that led me to rate this at 3.5 stars: it’s that this book is just as frustratingly blah and has that paint-by-numbers feel to it as just about every wedding-centered rom-com it references. And while I can respect this book may please a great many people just the same as those sorts of movies please a great deal of people, it took me a great deal of patience and actively trying to focus to even finish it.

It didn’t help matters that I didn’t really like any of the characters much, either.

To me, the best parts of this book were the parts in which our main character, Amy, is doing her new job she invented for herself. Those scenes are the ones I looked forward to, mainly because it’s where I related to her the most. I’ve played crisis manager at more than one big event (including stepping in as a bridesmaid at a wedding as a replacement, even), and chaos is where I thrive best. I loved those scenes and really identified with Amy’s conflicting emotions regarding whether or not she was doing the right thing by donning a different persona with every wedding instead of being her authentic self. I may live in a blue state, but you never know where discrimination and prejudice could be hiding just behind a polite exterior.

I just wish this book had been less rote. Then maybe I wouldn’t have actively had to make myself pay attention to it in order to finish it.

Thanks to NetGalley, Random House, and Dial Press Trade Paperbacks for early access to this title in exchange for a fair and honest review. This review will not be tagged for either publisher or author on social media due to the nature of it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publish for an eARC of Queerly Beloved in exchange for an honest review.

Queerly Beloved by Susie Dumond is an Adult romance set in Tulsa Oklahoma in 2013. This novel follows main character Amy, an out and proud queer baker working at the best Christian bakery in town. To keep herself and her wallet happy and safe she must roleplay as straight Amelia, but one day when a cute new queer stranger roles into town Amy's life is thrown for a loop and baking is no longer a viable option.

With her main income gone Amy must work quickly to find a new hustle and with all the stars seemingly aligning being a bridesmaid for hire falls right into her lap. With her DIY prowess, organizational skills and need to people please this job comes to naturally to her but how is someone supposed to love weddings and the industry so much when most of her friends can't even legally participate in it.

This novel weaves together a complicated look at being queer in Oklahoma before the legalization of gay along with softer and more fun moments like a sweet romance between a wedding loving baker and a little bit more cynical engineer.

This novel explores themes of religion (mainly bigotry), queer identity and making space for yourself in areas people don't want you in. Overall it was a good novel, I rated it four out of five stars, it wasn't anything mind blowing but was overall a good novel.

Amy has always done her best to blend in because after all being gay in mid-2010s Oklahoma isn’t easy. When she is outed at her job, she’s fired and scrambling to figure out what to do next. After what was supposed to be a one-time bridesmaid for hire situation, Amy realizes that maybe she could make a whole business of it and sets out to do just that.

I went into this thrilled to read a sapphic romance set in mid-2010s Oklahoma. I quickly began to realize that this book was not really a sapphic romance. In fact, it was something completely different with the romance as something far far in the background. I do think I was able to look past it, but that was a disappointing pill to swallow.

The plot focuses on Amy. Queerly Beloved gives her the space to breathe and grow. Readers get to see a lot of her as she navigates the waters of her bridesmaid business. The ups and downs of it, the reader gets to see it all. I did like seeing this. Amy was so uncertain about it at first, but really grew into the job and found something she really loved after losing her baking job she loved.

Now her development was nice. She really learned to be confident with herself and who she is even if everyone around her isn’t comfortable with that and that was nice to see.

Since the focus is solely on Amy and her growth, the side characters do fall short. They are underdeveloped and really feel like they are there solely to help further develop Amy. I didn’t feel the connection between any of them. Even Joel and Amy who were supposed to be incredibly close, I didn’t feel that connection with them. Their interactions were bare minimum, so there is no seeing it. Readers are simply told that they are close.

The romance falls under that too for me. Readers do get the chance to see Charley and Amy go on a few dates, so they do have more interaction than I feel like some of her friends do, but then Charley is missing throughout half the novel, so it still feels unbalanced. It’s a roller coaster of a ride and not really in a good way.

While I think the side characters are pushed out of the way and the romance is a second thought, I do feel like if someone goes into this book knowing that they might be able to enjoy it as Amy does have decent character development.

Hiding your own beliefs to stay employed? Man, been there. That is to say, if you have any kind of queer religious trauma, probably skip this one.

I LOVED the concept and the first half shows so much promise. I found 'the holy spirits' thing really clever and funny. The found family dynamics were good and I loved that there was a little gay bar in this small conservative town. There were several times I laughed reading this book. I was so rooting for this to be an amazing queer rom com, but was a little sad that it felt just okay to me.

This is a bakery meet cute, instant love that follows lots of lesbian stereotypes. I really wanted more buildup of the relationships, complexity in the scenarios and just 'more' overall. For people who like queer fiction, this is sweet and pretty fun overall. BUT if you are looking for an interesting queer romance' (which I felt was how it was advertised to me?) this book is not really that.

I was intrigued by the premise, a queer girl living in Tulsa OK looking for a partner and a job she loves. Just like the rest of the world in their mid-twenties.
I couldn’t get all the way into it, unfortunately. I didn’t feel the chemistry between the characters, and they seemed kind of flat. 3 stars.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Don't be fooled by this cutesy cover. This book has depth. Amy is queer and living in Tulsa OK before gay marriage is legally across the country. She wants to be a baker so has to be closeted at work, going so far as to have an alter ego at work so she can compartmentalize her job and her queer self. When she is outed and fired she falls into being a professional bridesmaid. Amy struggles with how to be authentic in her work life. She and her queer friends struggle with the gay marriage issue and what it means or doesn't mean for them. The cutesy cover does give away that there is a happy ending for Amy and her friends.

I had a really hard time reading this book because there was so much more “telling” than showing. The concept was clever but it was preachy at times and the story dragged. I also felt the romance was an afterthought. There wasn’t good chemistry between the characters and they weren’t together much. The scene with Gracie was sweet though and I liked the baking ideas. Overall it missed the mark for me.

Short summary: Amy’s fired from a Christian bakery for being gay and falls into a job as a (straight) bridesmaid-for-hire. Her people pleasing nature clashes with her desire to be authentic and she must decide what’s more important.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing. ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

Frankly just adorable and very quick and easy to read. It’s hard to phrase my thoughts without spoilers, but 100% a great pick for anyone in the mood for this style of novel.

A solid read from Susie Dumond! A really cute well done story with very lovable characters! I also really enjoyed the representation in this book and I am so glad that these books exist!

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review!

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for providing me with this ARC.

3.5 stars. I enjoyed the read. A lot of LGBT rep, but felt a lot of it was stereotypes. The premise of the book was good and interesting, but I wasn’t a huge fan of the main character. The timeline felt a little bit off too since it was 2013 but people were introducing themselves with pronouns, which wasn’t really a thing then.

Anyway,
I wouldn’t call it a romance, more general fiction.

The best parts of the book were the discussions about LGBTQIA rights/daily life.

I actually enjoyed this! The romance felt ancillary at best and the characterization was a little inconsistent, but as someone who lived through the early 2010s, it felt almost surreal to read this as historical fiction. I loved the conversations about queerness and marriage and I found myself really invested in Amy's journey.

Thanks to Dial and NetGalley for this ARC.

I loved this book! Amy was such a complex & lovable narrator, and I'm obsessed with the queer found family vibes. The setting of early-2010s Tulsa was unique and vividly captured. Highly recommended!

Thank you to NetGalley and PRH for an ARC of this book.

Trigger warnings: Religion, homophobia, alcohol, accidental outing, mentions of conversion camps.

As a former professional baker, the cover hooked me right away. Somewhere between a coming-of-age and self-acceptance story, Queerly Beloved follows Amy, a closeted Christian baker by day, and a lesbian bartender by night.

I really loved the diversity and Amy's chosen family (oftentimes better than the real deal) and how Dumond thoughtfully displayed various parts of queerness. Coming out isn't a "one and done" kind of deal, and seeing this through Amy's point of view was a very special, sometimes raw, experience.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was sweet, deeply heartfelt tale of love, friendship, and identity.

Thoughts and Themes: I was drawn to this book just based on the cover of it and I am glad I had the chance to read it. I winded up listening to this one on audio and really enjoyed the audio version of this book.

I tend to not read romance books because of the spice scenes which I am not a big fan of. This book includes a few of those scenes but they are not overdone and they add to the plot without deterring so I found them to be well done. I do think that this book is marketed as a romance but it is more of a story in which Amy is finding herself and learning to embrace that with some romance included throughout.

There were quite a few things that I really enjoyed throughout this book. I really enjoyed how we get a chance to see what it is like for Amy to have two separate lives, one in which she is out and another in which she is closeted. I like how this book brings up how hard it is to be a queer person of color or someone who doesn’t fit the binary living in that small town. I also really enjoy how this book talks about what marriage equality means for Queer people but also how it isn’t everything people think it is and how there is still more work to be done.

I also really enjoyed Amy being a baker and also her brief time as a backup bridesmaid. I really enjoyed getting to see her be in her element even as she hides a piece of herself that is important to her. I liked getting a glimpse at some of the weddings that Amy has to work at and the mess that she gets herself into at some of them.

Characters: In this book you get introduced to several characters through their interactions with our main character, Amy. You get to meet some of her friends, Damian and Joel, her family, the love interest, Charley, and more.

I really enjoyed all of the relationships that are included in this book and love hearing about Amy’s relationship with her friends. I loved getting to see how she allowed herself to just be who she is around them without worrying about others finding out about her queerness.

I also really enjoyed the relationship between Amy and her mother. I love how Amy goes to her mom for so much yet her mother pushes her to make Queer friends to talk to because she doesn’t understand everything. I love how supportive Amy’s mother is of her and how you also see Amy’s mother in Amy when she is supporting a Queer youth later in the story.

Writing Style: This story is told in third person through the perspective of Amy. I really like having romance books be written in third person because I can detach from them and am able to enjoy the story as an outsider. I like that we only get things told to us in the perspective of Amy because we don’t see how others are feeling as things fall apart. I also really liked how this story is more than just a romance story and has parts that aren’t just about Charley and Amy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc of "Queerly Beloved" by Susie Dumon,

Amy is a baker by trade with a love of weddings. When she gets fired from her job at a bakery for being gay only a day after she has finally met someone she wants to date Amy doesn't know what to do with herself. So when she meets a couple who ask her to come help at her estranged cousin's wedding she doesn't hesitate, at least the cash will be good.

I started the book really liking Amy but for me her people pleasing attitude, willingness to change to whatever is needed, and passive-aggressive avoidance of arguments started to really annoy me midway through the book. However, the character change in Amy toward the end was great, it was what made the book fun and enjoyable again. Amy's change to be more true to herself, after advocating that to her ex-boss's daughter, turned things around. I also thought the setting was great if a little unsettling, of only because you know that this is still happening (or at least was when the book was set) and that these feelings are still there. Charley's explanation at the end did feel a bit of a cop out for her on again off again feelings and reaching out even with Regi's push for Amy to be herself toward the end as well.

Overall I enjoyed the baking aspects and the wedding aspects as well as the growth of the characters at the end of the story and gave it 4 stars.

Not my usual read, so much the better! Amusing book with weddings and baked goods to boot. A light, quick read when you need it.

I really wanted to love this book just based on the title and cover alone, but I found it very difficult to get into. I honestly did not finish the book, but after reading more than half of it, I just couldn’t tell what Amy’s actual goal was. It felt like it was very focused on her anxiety around coming out and nothing else. It just didn’t feel like a cohesive book to me.

"𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦."

Amy is a queer baker in pre-marriage equality Oklahoma struggling with balancing being her authentic self and making a living in a conservative state. While this may look like a romcom based on the cover, it's really the story of her journey.

I loved Amy's supportive family and her LGBTQ friends but the book was just okay for me. Some aspects really threw me (did people really introduce themselves using their chosen pronouns in 2013?) and others (like her love interest) felt underdeveloped. What I appreciated most was the discussion of gay marriage and how some characters saw it as a heteronormative construct while others yearned to be able to make that commitment. With LGBTQ rights under attack throughout the country right now, it's an important reminder about why marriage equality should not be taken for granted.

Thanks to Random House for a copy to review.

3.5 stars

I ended up DNFing this book, unfortunately. I found the actions of a lot of characters unbelievable to the point where I could no longer suspend my disbelief; I was too annoyed but how many times I found myself saying, "who does that??" The pacing felt very off as well; it felt like it was moving through events too fast but at the same time nothing was actually happening. Like the author was simply checking boxes in a list of things they wanted to happen in this book.

The first thing I noticed about this book was the cover - it is absolutely gorgeous. Once I read the synopsis I knew I had to get my hands on it!
The premises of the book is so good. LGBTQ+, handling homophobia, baking, and finding love? Sounds like the makings for a great read. Somewhere in the middle it felt a little slow and I was finding my mind wander while reading. Overall it's still a great read that I would recommend.