Oh freaking hell, I wanted to love this book so much. The cover is to die for and being a professional baker, I need more queer baking books, but unfortunately I feel very lackluster about this one.

I'll admit that the last hour or so of the audio was very redeeming and I loved the epilogue and it's truly sad that the rest of the book didn't meet my high expectations.

Amy is a baker. She works at a Christian bakery by day and bartends at a queer bar by night. She's closeted at the bakery and is fighting a losing battle staying that way. When she inevitably gets fired for being queer , she needs money and finds herself setting up a professional bridesmaid gig. Sadly for her, that's got her still in the closet and unable to be her true self.

This could've been so good. It had so much potential but I really didn't like Amy very much. The supporting cast of characters are the winners here and even those we get very little detail on. Amy is supposedly crushing on a woman named Charley who came into the bakery right before she got fired. New to town, Amy offers to give Charley tours of the Oklahoma city and ends up falling fast. We get so few details about their romance and it was incredibly unbelievable. Amy puts a ton of pressure on Charley then has the audacity to be upset when Charley doesnt reciprocate feelings right away.

Don't get me started on how the only thing we know about Charley is that she's new to town, butch, and is an engineer who makes a point to say how helpful she is to indigenous communities by aiding and fighting against oil companies or something. This was a point that I'm sure was meant well but felt very performative coming from a the white MC and her white LI. Like do you want a gold star sticker for being decent? Idk,. It was just an odd piece of information to repeatedly say over and over when we get no other info on Charley or her job.

Then there's the setting and time period. This is set in Oklahoma in 2013 right during the "debate" about marriage equality in the US. There's no denying that we need books with nuanced conversations about marriage equality and being queer in red states, but this one brought in so many perspectives and didn't really get a chance to delve deep into any of it. There was a brief moment where it was mentioned that marriage equality is seen as the end all of queer equality when it is really the itty bitty baby first step. There's also a point about how it's forcing queer people into heteronormative standards. There was a mention of how little marriage equality does for poly and aromantic folks. It was filled with great beginnings of conversations but none ever went further than a comment.

I know this book will mean a lot to people, and I surely seem to be in the minority, especially among queer bookstagram. It saddens me that this wasn't a favorite of mine.

It's one I will still recommend because I truly believe there's an audience for it, and I will also continue to read the author's future books, but this fell flat for me.

I wanted to love this sapphic romance, but I don’t feel like this was a romance. It felt like an after thought, like I actually forgot that there was a love interest and the resolution between the MCs felt rushed and forced.

This book was a delight to read, with a great friend group… when those friends were speaking to each other. There was waaaaaaaay too many subplots happening within this title and I felt like conflict was drawn out way to much.

While the book was set in 2013, centred around the legalization of marriage for the LGBTQIA community, the epilogue was set in the late 2020s. I feel like this book has SO much potential, but it needed another round of edits before it was published.

If you read this thinking that it’s NOT a romance, I think you might like it more.

Queerly Beloved by Susie Dumond. Pub Date: May 3rd, 2022. Rating: 🌟🌟🌟.5. First off, what an amazing cover design. Secondly, this book is full of baked goods, wedding vibes and love in all shapes, sizes and genders. Amy is a female who feels she has to hide her identity to keep her job, but all that changes when Charlie walks through the door where she works. This novel is about being your authentic self, standing up for what you believe in, loving in all forms and genders as well as believing in the beauty of love. I really enjoyed this novel. Thanks to @netgalley and @randomhouse for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review. #netgalley #randomhouse #queerlybeloved #bookstagram #bibliophile #igreads #bookworm

Cheers to Net Galley for this ARC (while my physical copy sat in the preorder queue)

I loved this refreshing and realistic twist. This novel not only has the slow burn of what could be but also emphasizes the importance of friendship.

Among many aspects I enjoyed about this novel. I awkwardly celebrated in how it stripped away the magical pretense of new relationships. Instead of insta-love, this book revels in hesitation and stumbles of new relationship anticipation.

A book about finding (and adjusting) boundaries while also mixing in a dose of historically accurate perspective. A nice reminder the importance of not making assumptions based on conjecture.

Now to go make some cupcakes..

Okay, I finished this book last week and my first thought was to wait for the weekend to make the cupcake recipe in the back of the book. Of course! Strawberry champagne cupcakes!!! Okay but just be aware that you need a stand mixer and it makes 30 cupcakes. I do not have a stand mixer and I am not good at creaming butter but it wasn’t anything some coco whip and some fresh strawberries couldn’t fix! (I didn’t make buttercream frosting from the recipe because I don’t like it)

BUT more importantly, I cried multiple times reading this. I loved it. It is equal parts adorable rom com and important commentary. I loved Amy and Charley and the way they fit together as an opposites attract queer couple in the Midwest.

I’m a little younger than these characters, so I wasn’t necessarily fighting on the front lines, but I remember marriage equality being legalized like it was yesterday. I also appreciated the conversations about how important it is— how many rights queer people were missing out on without having it— but also how we have so far to go and how marriage equality presented the most palatable version of queerness. Disabled people also deserve to get married without losing their benefits. Polyamorous people deserve to have familial rights. And marriage isn’t the end all be all of happiness, especially for aromantic folks but also in general society provides this huge push to find Your Person and paints one as incomplete without that, and I think that’s a lie and does a disservice to everyone.

I, like Amy, love weddings, and I even coordinated a few in my day, and I loved doing it for my friends, but I tried to do it for strangers and I kind of hated it, similar to Amy’s experiences in that it brought out my people pleasing, so I was a weird, agreeable blank slate, and I didn’t like that version of myself.

I loved Charley’s passion for making the world better from within the oil & gas industry and also she has the best tattoos.

The ending was the best 💜

3.5/5 stars

TW: Homophobia

Living in Oklahoma in 2010 when gay marriage is banned, Amy has lived her life hiding who she is especially at her job at a Christian bakery. When one day she is outed and fired from her job, she tries to navigate life and see what it is she truly wants to do in life. Thanks to her baking, sewing and organizational skills, she comes upon the idea to start a business of becoming a professional bridesmaid to help brides make their big day as special as can be. What starts out as a huge success, Amy begins to struggle seeing all these happy couples when her state won’t accept for her to have her own happily ever after and that she feels like must keep her sexuality secret to maintain her business. On top of everything she has met Charley, the woman of her dreams but who also keeps her at an arms-length scared to grow too attached too quickly.

•

This was a sweet book about one’s journey of self-discovery and growth. My heart broke for Amy as she is overwhelmed by so many things in life working against her. I absolutely loved her chosen family of friends at Ruby Reds and her friendship with her best friends Joel and Damien. This book highlighted some very important issues in our society such as the homophobia and the struggle for those who feel like they cannot live their lives freely in fear of losing their friendships or careers. The romance in this one was a little disappointing to me, I feel like it was very hard to connect with Charley and I wish we were able to get some more depth to her. I also wish we could have gotten some more depth and detail of Amy’s relationship with her mother. The main star of this book is Amy and her journey as she grows and gains more confidence in who she is and starts making decisions for herself and not to please every one else. I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This title is available for purchase now!

This was such a fun story.

I really liked Amy’s journey to finding her purpose and passion in work. And I liked how that intersected with her romance and love of love.

It was interesting to read this in 2022 when so much has changed yet so much is also the same (in regards to being out and human rights). I really liked how Amy grappled with her love of the institution of weddings at a time when she couldn’t legally do so.

I loved Amy’s interactions with her girlfriend, Charlie. But I also really loved her interactions with her best friends/chosen family and even the scenes when she was a bridesmaid.

Overall a very fun read.

[cw - homophobia]

Rating 3.5

It was just so cute. it really was something I needed and it felt good to read about cute lesbian romance.

I chose this title because it was outside of my norm. it was a fun, lighter read that told the story of Amy, who lives in a small town where they are not open to same sex relationships. Amy meets Charley, who is new to town, and gets outed and fired from her job. These ladies go through a journey about finding ones self and being true to themselves.

Thank you to Netgalley, Random House, and the author for giving me an early copy for an honest review!

Queerly Beloved is the story of Amy, a lesbian in Tulsa, Oklahoma who starts a bridesmaid-for-hire business after getting fired from her job at a Christian bakery, and falls for a new transplant to town, the beautiful Charley.

Ultimately, I have mixed feelings about this book. It’s definitely cute, and the ending ties up very neatly. I liked reading a queer romance novel set in Tulsa, and the bridesmaid-for-hire business of the protagonist creates some interesting internal conflict. I also loved Amy’s relationship with her mom and with her chosen family, and the wedding shenanigans were intriguing. My main issue with the book is the romantic lead, Charley: I felt like I didn’t get to know her at all beyond her being beautiful and put together. She doesn’t seem to have any flaws or any three dimensionality. This means that the third act breakup doesn’t feel tied to the actual characters or plot. Parts of the book were definitely cute, but I wanted more.

Thanks for NetGalley and the publishers for giving me an eARC in return for an honest review!

Such a fun read! Recommend to anyone who needs a light pick me up in between heavier books. Definitely go buy!

I was so excited that I got a change to read this one! It's outside my normal reads but I honestly really enjoyed it. I think it's overall a great story and it's really a read for everyone. Thank you so much for the opportunity to read and review this title!

This was such a fun and entertaining book. I loved the humour, the sparkle and lots of fun wedding events.
Amy starts off as a very closed up newly out Lesbian in a small town of Tulsa. She is working at a Bakery The Daily Bread and also works at the Gay bar in town some evening shifts. You see her grapple and struggle to juggle her identity with community and even some family dynamics. She is fired from her bankers job that she loves but it brings about a lot of goof change to her life; including a new Bridesmaid Business. Amy is also struggling to find the right girl to date, having been through a rough breakup with Autumn. With the support of her friends she gets her business up and running and even meets Charley whom she falls head over heels.
While I really enjoyed this book, I felt like there was so so much in this story that at times it drowned out the main story/focus of the book. Then I realized that there was a lot to focus on; was it about Amy and her Business? Amy and Charley? IT was all about Amys personal development! not so much a ROMCOM, that is actually a part i wish was more highlighted in this book. The Romance was deffin. lacking and I went into this book expecting more Romance (ROMCOM) A little disappointed with that. Also very long, at times i skimmed through the extra stuff bc it didnt really add anything to the story. Overall a good read.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this copy in exchange for my honest review!

For romance readers, the romance definitely takes the back seat to the personal journey, but it's still a very satisfying story that hits the beats. What I appreciated most about this book is how it's a journey for someone trying to get by in a hostile environment, which is a very understandable mode, to creating a life in which she can truly be herself and thrive. And that happens by embracing community. I think people who love leisurely, talky books with lots of queer characters will really love this. The relationships in this book are really richly portrayed and show really great arcs of conflict and growth. The romance suffered a little from "why can't they just talk to each other" syndrome, but talking is never as easy as everyone wants it to be! A real gem of a book.

Queerly Beloved started promising.
I liked the beginning of the book and even had a few tears escape me at how relatable it felt being queer in an mainly homophobic environment.
I liked Amy and was looking forward to watch her romance with Charley bloom throughout the story.

Sadly enough, the story started really well but I felt it going down little by little.
The chosen family Amy has are all really nice but Amy was the one who bothered me after a few chapters. She ended feeling boring and everything with the weddings started being repetitive and I lost interest halfway through the book.

Her romance with Charely was not very intresting or didn't feel deep, which made it look as if was not really believable? Something felt off to me the whole time about their relationship.
The ending felt a but rushed to me but I was happy all the queers had their happy ending.

Also all the sweets made me want to bake and I'm definitely going to try those champagne cupcakes!

This book definitely isn’t a romcom - more like new adult Women’s fiction - but once I adjusted my expectations for it’s genre, I really enjoyed it.

Amy is a lesbian working at an ultra-conservative bakery in Oklahoma in 2013 (prior to gay marriage being legal nationwide). After she meets Charley, a new lesbian engineer in town, she’s outed to her coworkers and promptly fired. Desperate for cash, she starts a business as a rent-a-bridesmaid, putting her baking, DIY, and organization skills to use. She also starts her own bakery gig on the side. Throughout the book, Amy is navigating what it means to be authentically herself while working in the wedding industry at a time before marriage equality.

Amy was, admittedly, a little all over the place and I thought the storyline dragged at times. I didn’t love how the romance element developed and thought Charley treated Amy pretty poorly. I could deeply identify with living in Baptist Christian culture, and thought Dumond did a nice job representing that subculture. I switched back and forth between the ebook and audiobook, and thought the narration by Kimberly M Wetherell was really enjoyable (which probably bumped my overall rating to four stars instead of 3).

Content warnings: pretty intense homophobia throughout the book

Thanks to Random House for the early copy. All opinions are my own.

This was a sweet, cute and sometimes funny Sapphic romance novel.

It was very interesting that the author chose to set this novel in the past in 2013. If you read her author's notes, she goes into why she made that choice. She thought it could really expose how people were feeling around the issue of gay marriage being legalized. I thought it made this book unique and really did help the reader to understand more around what it was like during that time period.

Amy is a queer baker who loves weddings. When she loses her job by being outed for being gay, she stumbles into a business idea of being a professional bridesmaid. While she is juggling the loss of her job, and starting a business, she meets Charley. They instantly have a connection and start to date.

Amy struggles to be her true self and own the fact that she is gay in her life. While she is the perfect friend to her bridesmaid clients, her close and personal relationships start to crumble. This all is happening while there is the fight for marriage equality going on in her state of Oklahoma.

There are a cast of characters that are part of Amy's crew that surround her in friendship. I think it would have been nice to go into more depth with some of the friendships, but it was cute to see them all love working and hanging out at their neighborhood bar Ruby's.

This book was more about Amy's journey and her ability to find her real self underneath all the pretending she had done for years to fit in. I think the romance with Charley was secondary to Amy figuring it out and getting her life in order.

There were some really funny scenes that I enjoyed like the peacock cake. That was hysterical. I appreciated what the author did to confront a time that is important in history.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for access to this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Although the cover denotes a lighthearted romcom, this book confronts homophobia and evolving personal views. I appreciated the themes of a found family and am so grateful we have a plethora of books with queer characters - normalizing what is inherently normal. This would be a good book discussion choice for a group that skirts real issues because it handles issues with a soft touch. This came across a little too YA or simple for me although appreciating the effort. Thanks to Dial Press for the advanced copy!

This is a #LGBTQ #romance set in 2013 Tulsa, OK. Amy a talented baker who is closeted in her conservative town so she can work in a successful bakery. But after they somehow find out they just fire her. Like because of religious freedom or something. Like wwJd, pretty sure it wasn't that. 

"Then they will reply, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and didn’t do anything to help you?' Then he will answer, 'I assure you that when you haven't done it for one of the least of these, you haven't done it for me.'"
MATTHEW 25:44 - 45

Just throwing a scripture in without context like everyone else seems to. I'm a Presbyterian all are welcome here Christian. So listening to this kind of hateful interpretation of religion and how it affects people's lives when really love is love and how does anyones love life affect others lives personally. 

I love the idea of hiring a bridesmaid to lean on for the tricky issues instead of a relative who might say nope. Amy falls into that job right when she needs a job. This was still when gay marriage wasn't legal and being gay was not accepted. Ok I guess in some places people are still bigots.

Amy really wants that fairytale after watching so many weddings and why can't everyone love the magic of uniting two souls for life. Her dating Charley felt so much like my 20's and her mistakes and heartache and seeing her out with someone else, I have felt all those shooting feelings of pain and joy. The highs and lows of new relationships are the best and worst. Her relationship with her friends Damian and Joel was perfect, perfect, perfect.

The epilogue of how her budding company evolved into 2023 and everyone's relationships was the icing on the cake.

Thank you randomhouse and netgalley for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

SUMMARY: When closeted Amy is outed then fired from the ultra-conservative bakery where she works, she begins moonlighting as a secret bridesmaid. But does working in league with the straight wedding industrial complex mean she’s betraying her community?

This was an interesting book. I thought it was going to be a classic romcom, but it was more of a novelized quarter-life crisis in which a queer woman in Tulsa, OK circa 2013 comes to terms with her floundering career and conflicts in her interpersonal relationships. Much of the action is focused on how Amy has to act differently (essentially hiding her true self) depending on who she’s with.

It reminded me of Written in the Stars—and not just because of the FF romance. It was also similar in tone, focused on career/friendships, and had a strong sense of place. This was the author’s debut, and she said she wrote the book she wanted to read. Maybe others will feel the same!

I will say that I found some of Amy’s behavior a bit immature—constantly bringing up her own lack of love life, even when her best friends have just gotten engaged—but maybe I just have zero patience for that.

Overall, it was interesting, and I think it could definitely resonate with people who are looking for this story to be told!

Thank you to @netgalley, @randomhouse and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.