My first book by this author and I enjoyed every second of it. One of my favorite romance tropes is a character who is seemingly so anti-love/anti-romance but under the right circumstances they are the biggest sofites (can't relate from personal experience or anything like that 😅). For that reason I loved Iris and I loved Stevie too (fantastic anxiety rep).

The spice in this was also perfect. Steamy but not overdone in my opinion!

Also, ALL THE MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING REFERENCES I LOVED.

I also see why Iris and Steview were good for each other, but felt that their ending/conflict was a bit rushed.

Lastly, I love the attention and care the author shows in addressing stigma bisexuals face and biphobia. I think she sets up realistic situations and shuts down this bad behavior with ease and lessons learned.

Can't wait to read more of Ashley Herring Blake's work!!

I really loved the previous books in this series. I was disappointed to have to DNF this book. I felt it was incredibly juvenile, the whole set up. I love a fake relationship but this felt too forced in a way that made me not enjoy this book.

I didn't like this as much as Delilah Green, but I liked it better than Astrid Parker. It was a cute third book in the series, and I'll read anything this author likes. This one didn't really stand out to me, but I still enjoyed the sapphic rom-com. I wasn't a theater kid so I just wasn't that interested in that aspect. I liked the anxiety rep in this book

"Iris Kelly Doesn't Date" by Ashley Herring Blake is a delightful rom-com with a fresh twist, offering a unique blend of sizzling chemistry, witty banter, and self-discovery. Buckle up for a review that dives into why this book might just become your next favorite read.

The Plot that Pops:

Iris, a romance author seemingly allergic to commitment, finds herself in a hilarious predicament. Everyone around her has paired off, leaving her the lone single amidst a sea of lovey-dovey bliss. Her editor hounds her for the next swoon-worthy manuscript, but inspiration takes flight when she least expects it – in the form of a disastrous one-night stand with the captivating Stevie. Faced with writer's block and desperate measures, Iris proposes a fake relationship with Stevie, a pact promising sparks for her novel and confidence lessons for Stevie.

Characters You'll Root For:

Iris is a firecracker heroine. Independent, funny, and fiercely loyal, she owns her choices and unapologetically embraces her desires. Stevie, the musician with a hidden vulnerability, complements Iris perfectly. Their dynamic crackles with undeniable chemistry, both hilarious and heartwarming. The supporting cast adds another layer of charm, from Iris's meddling best friend to Stevie's supportive bandmates.

Witty Words and Sizzling Sparks:

Blake's writing is sharp and witty, peppered with pop culture references and laugh-out-loud moments. The banter between Iris and Stevie is electric, their teasing and flirtation simmering throughout the story. The romance unfolds organically, fueled by shared passions and genuine connection, making it both believable and deeply satisfying.

Beyond the Rom-Com:

"Iris Kelly Doesn't Date" is more than just a lighthearted romp. It delves into themes of self-acceptance, societal expectations, and the courage to break free from preconceived notions. Iris's journey is one of embracing her own desires and redefining what love and happiness truly mean for her.

The Verdict:

"Iris Kelly Doesn't Date" is a refreshingly modern rom-com that will leave you smiling. With its relatable characters, hilarious dialogue, and heartwarming message, it's a perfect read for anyone who craves a good laugh and a touch of inspiration. Highly recommended for fans of Sophie Gonzales, Christina Lauren, and anyone who believes in the power of love, in all its messy, wonderful forms.

Final Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

So, is "Iris Kelly Doesn't Date" worth your time? Absolutely! It's a witty, heartwarming rom-com with a strong and relatable protagonist, sizzling chemistry, and a message that resonates. Grab a copy, curl up with a cup of tea, and prepare to be swept away by this delightful story.

I am a big fan of Ashely Herring Blake, and any romance with LGBTQ+ ladies finding themselves will have a reader in me. With all of that being said, this was my least favorite in the series. This couple just didn't click for me the way the other two in the series did. It wasn't about chemistry, it was more about pacing, I think. I spent the first few chapters of the book so giddy as they started to figure out who they really were to each other. I guess by the third act breakup, I was just sort of questioning if they really were meant to be together. If the big leap was one you should be taking after this sort of courtship. I don't know, I just don't think you should ever question if the happy ending was the right answer not. However, I still recommend this title to anyone who loved the first two books in the series. While I wouldn't recommend it as a standalone, I do think it finishes the series nicely, and I'm looking forward to seeing what AHB writes next!

Iris Kelly is my favourite, so I’m relieved that this book does her justice. As the final installment in the Bright Falls trilogy, Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date has to deliver 1) a fabulous romance and 2) a satisfying conclusion for the entire cast. And it does both those things! The friend group cameos are as wonderful as ever. Everything comes full circle with the wedding. It’s moving, it’s funny, it’s sexy. It’s a great last book.

Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date feels the most….lesbian to me somehow? it has some of my favourite tropes: a wingman in love with the person they are wing-manning; a beach getaway; sapphic friend group drama. And crucially: it has Stevie! Iris’ love interest is an actress and a hopeless romantic. She’s so good for Iris! They make each other feel safe! #STEVIS forever! 🥹

More things I enjoyed: Iris’ wound is that she’s afraid of being left behind by her friends, which hits harder because we’ve now seen all her friends fall in love & get ~unstuck~ in their lives. It’s how we were introduced to this world! And I LOVED the meta-romance element. Iris is a romance novelist, and there’s this scene where she’s doing her book edits, and she’s working on her novel’s third-act breakup around the time WE are expecting a third-act breakup between Stevie and Iris. It’s really clever.

I do kind of wish there’d been more of a focus on the play––I was looking forward to seeing Stevie and Iris memorize lines and rehearse together. I also wanted a better sense of Stevie as an actress, especially from her POV, since her career is important to the plot. But you know, small potatoes. I’m excited to see what Herring-Blake does next, now that Bright Falls is over!

I will read anything Ashley ever publishes! This book, just like the other in the series, gave me butterflies and had me smirking to myself.

Late to the Party

Photo by Michael Discenza on Unsplash
Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date, but I do! I date all my book boyfriends and girlfriends, and I am happily adding Iris Kelly to my ever-growing list. This is my first Ashley Herring Blake novel. I haven’t read either of Blake’s previous novels “Delilah Green Doesn’t Care” or “Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail”, though they’ve been on my radar for a while. (If you’re new here, I love my LGBTQ romance, and I’m always filling my shelves with beautiful, bright covers.) My fellow bee, Amanda, wrote a delightfully authentic review of Delilah Green in 2022 and since then I’ve been waiting for my opportunity to dive into Bright Falls and this delightful cast of characters.

While this story is the third novel set in the same world, I don’t feel like I missed anything by starting at the most recent read. Iris is a firecracker. She’s independent and comfortable behind the walls of her “No Dating” mentality, even when her family irks her by attempting to set her up over and over again.

Stevie, on the other hand, just wants to find a relationship that she’ll be comfortable in, one where her Generalized Anxiety Disorder will simmer itself to a slight hum rather than the blaring trumpets of a marching band. Stevie, coming out of her first and only relationship, tries to hook up with Iris at a club, and the result is disastrous.

Fake Dating – My Favorite Trope
There’s no better trope in my eyes than fake dating. I wish you could feel the absolute joy that radiates in my soul as I read two adamant idiots deny until the last possible minute that their feelings for each other are real.

We all know. They know. Neither will tell the other, and both will do anything to avoid being the first to admit it.

It’s pure gold.

Iris tilted her head, swiped her thumbs over Stevie’s cheeks. “You’re sort of adorable, you know that?”

Stevie just stared at her. Iris stared back. It felt like a lifetime of just… looking. And nothing about it felt fake at all.

While Fake Dating gives me the highest highs, it also brings me the lowest lows. Insert something about it’s always darkest before dawn, too. There’s something about the third act breakup in a Fake Dating novel that guts me the hardest. The breakups are absolutely brutal and leave me feeling like I need to put the book down and stop just before it happens, so I can happily live in my peaceful little bubble of fictional bliss.

“This is… it’s New York, Stevie,” Iris Said. “And you deserve it. You belong there. I would’ve never held you back from that.”

Stevie nodded, a tear slipping down her cheek. Iris curled her hands into fists, fighting the urge to wipe it away. “But you didn’t even give me the chance,” Iris said. “You cut me out of the decision, you cut me out of being happy for you, of celebrating–“


Photo by Levi Guzman on Unsplash
The Coven
As Amanda said in her original review of Delilah Green, the “Coven” plays an integral part of the Iris/Stevie story. While I said above that I didn’t think that I missed anything by starting at the newest published book, I might hedge that by also stating that I think had I started from Delilah, I would have more of an appreciation for the friend group. I’m sure there were some nuances of Claire, Delilah, Astrid, Jordan, and Simon that would have hit a bit differently had I gotten to know them from the beginning.

I think most specifically that the epilogue from “Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date” would be most appreciated by those who have read the entire series up until this point. Not only do Iris and Stevie get a Happily Ever After, but I think the friend group/coven does as well.

Don’t worry, I will be sure to go back and read the earlier books as soon as possible so that I’m fully immersed in the Bright Falls world. I hope you do, too, and then leave a comment telling us which couple’s book you loved the most!

This was another fun installment in Herring Blake's interlocking romance stories! I really enjoyed the romance dynamic and character backstories as always, as well as the charming setting.

My favorite member of the Bright Falls crew has finally gotten her novel! Iris Kelly is the final installment of a great trilogy. Not only was Iris her funny, witty and outrageous self, but she also showed her vulnerability and insecurities. It was nice getting a deeper look at Iris’ personal and family life.

I loved the bi rep in this book, the strong character development and the emotional rollercoaster we got to experience. I’d definitely recommend this to many of my library customers!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book. I've read all the books in this queer romance series, and this was my least favorite so far. I think because it reinforces the narrative that all people eventually want to end up in committed monogamous relationships, where the character Iris would have been the best way to explore CNM or other forms of love. I did appreciate the messy plot with exes being active in the story, felt more true to real queer life.

Hear me out but … I think this might be the best installment in the Bright Falls series??? Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date was fun and heart warming and bittersweet and absolutely brought tears to my eyes. Ashley Herring Blake did it again and has left me bereft that there isn’t another book to pick up right away. Highly recommend!

I am in love with Iris Kelly Doesn't Date. From a terrible hookup to fake dating your terrible hookup to impress your ex-girlfriend, this book had me not wanting to put it down. The pacing is really good and the plot is very easy to follow along with (especially if this is the your first Bright Falls series book) (but I would honestly read Delilah Green Doesn't Care first, then Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail second) (I wish I read those books first before reading this one).

Cute story about a woman who has writers block and what she does to overcome said writers block. I would recommend

Phenomenal. Perfect. No notes. The best end to the trilogy of Bright Falls.

Ashley Herring Blake stan for life!!!!!!!!!!!

This series just gets better and better!!!

This is sassy, swoon worthy, and I cannot recommend it more!!!!

The gesture scene was the single most romantic thing I have read in a romcom. I literally geared up by how perfect it all was!!! Read it! Read it!

I included the link to my Amazon profile as the review has not been approved yet

3.5 stars

I was entertained and engaged with this story. I've read the rest of the series and looked forward to this last piece of it. However, this falls into the trap a lot of rom-coms fall into - it lacks the necessary build up, tension, banter, connection between the two leads. I want to swoon with these characters. I want to feel that this other person is their person - that they complete each other. I want to see and feel that connection. I don't think that was here. Instead, parts that could have shown their connection and growth into something more were glossed over in montages. Steve is wooing Iris, so here is a quick list of the dates they went on. No! Show me pieces of those dates - their conversations! Something!

Also, the fake dating set up is barely utilized. Which, is fine. I didn't go into this book because I am ravenous for fake dating. But they kind of fake date in one or two scenes and then it feels kind of dropped. Honestly, this isn't a bad or good thing - in fact it could have made this story more interesting if that was leaned into more. But it felt more like the author just dropped it or got bored of it.

I know third act break-ups are a point of discussion and disagreement right now. And while I don't have a problem with them, they need to serve a purpose. I would like to see more stories not do a third-act breakup, just for something new. So, once we hit that point in this story, I started getting my hopes up. It seemed like the story was going to do something different and not have that. Stevie was fighting for Iris and asking her to stay and talk through their conflict. And it felt like Iris was going to...and then she just leaves. And the story cemented itself into a 3 star, average, nothing special rom-com again.


Oh and one more thing - Stevie's friends were the real villains in this story and I would not have forgiven Ren so easily.

https://lesbrary.com/tag/iris-kelly-doesnt-date/

First, a confession: I never liked romance novel covers. For the first thirty-five years of my reading life, I had no idea what went on between the covers of romance novels (well, okay, I had some idea), but if it had anything to do with what was on the cover—hard pass. Now, I am aware that some genre purists detest the illustrated cover trend, and I get that. For how many readers, though, has the illustrated cover been a gateway drug to the romance novel? It was for me. And that brings us to Delilah Green, the town of Bright Falls, and their creator, Ashley Herring Blake.

From the very first chapter of Delilah Green Doesn’t Care (2022), I wanted to spend as much time as possible with Delilah Green, Claire Sutherland, Iris Kelly, Astrid Parker, and anyone else to whom Blake would introduce me. Yes, even Astrid—who, by the way, gives off such extreme Lemon Breeland vibes that I’ve since had to go back and rewatch a few episodes of Hart of Dixie. Blake balances the sibling tension between Delilah and Astrid with the main romance plot between Delilah and Claire, all the while developing the setting of Bright Falls, Oregon. Another confession: I have been trying to escape from coastal Georgia for a while now, hoping to end up in Oregon. If the Bright Falls that Blake wrote about was real, I would have moved there immediately. Delilah needs a GenX friend who can go toe-to-toe with her sarcasm and eyerolls, right?

Imagine my surprise when I discovered what was waiting for me in the sequel, Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail (2022). Blake introduces her readers to a new character, Jordan Everwood, who has arrived from—yes, serendipity and irony are real things, folks—coastal Georgia. (It is less surprising if you know that Herring lives in coastal Georgia. But no less serendipitous.) After a crushing breakup that challenged her sense of self, Jordan finds herself an unlikely match for Astrid. Astrid learns to loosen up (sort of), and everyone in Bright Falls is happy. Almost everyone. Something truly unfortunate happens to Iris Kelly in Astrid Parker, which serves as the setup for the third Bright Falls novel.

Oh, and the plot of Astrid Parker revolves around an HGTV-esque renovation reality show. If that sort of thing matters to you.

Blake is not the first person to create a charming small town in which romance and hijinks occur. I know I said that I didn’t know what went on within the pages of romance novels, but I’ve seen Hart of Dixie, remember? For what it’s worth, though, I’d take Bright Falls over Bluebell, Virgin River, or even Stars Hollow (yes, Stars Hollow) any day. The best feature of Blake’s Bright Falls series is the way that she examines the trauma that her characters have had to face. Whether it’s the death of a parent, an overbearing mother, a devastating breakup, or a bad reputation, Blake takes her readers through what it means to be wounded by life and by the people in it. Trauma doesn’t just “scar” us; it lives on, at least until it is dealt with. Nothing, and I mean nothing—not even the illustrated covers—gets me more in a romance novel than one character telling another that their trauma is real and then helping them deal with it.

Iris Kelly doesn’t date because anyone she dates will inevitably let her down. Blake provides us with a catastrophic example of this maxim in Astrid Parker. When we meet up with Iris at the beginning of Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date (2023), she’s done with it all: cheaters and liars, people who think being bisexual means being greedy or hypersexual, and people who are convinced that Iris does not have her life priorities straight. And that is how Iris ends up at Lush, a club in Portland, where she spots her next one-night stand. All is going to plan until the stranger responds to Iris’s seduction technique by vomiting all over her.

I wonder sometimes if there are people out there who are as forgiving as the characters in romance novels. I’m sure there are, but I have no interest in the world of people who are securely attached. Another thing I’ve learned about what goes on between the covers of romance novels: no one seems to have a secure attachment style. And I am here for it. Because the fantasy (or heightened reality) of people helping each other process their traumas while finding love is one I can wholeheartedly support.

I almost didn’t write this review because, as I suspected, it was too easy to discuss what has resonated with me in the Bright Falls series rather than actually review Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date. I would argue, though, that those are not two separate things. I felt a lot of sympathy for Iris, but Stevie’s anxiety is something that I have actually felt. (Not in the way that she felt it during her first interaction with Iris, I should clarify.) Stevie is a fawner who is still friends with her ex. She also lets people tell her what she thinks (or should think), and she struggles with who she is on multiple levels. I am much more interested in those issues than I am with the fake dating plot of the novel. As far as fake dating plots go, this one’s pretty good—it involves an extremely queer production of Much Ado about Nothing.

If that sort of thing matters to you.

What I am going to remember about the Bright Falls series is thinking about how it must have felt for Delilah, Jordan, and Stevie to (re)discover a magical place that is a thousand times better than Narnia. (There is a White Witch—it’s Astrid. And Delilah and Iris have some fierce manes. Also, Astrid makes a caramel dark chocolate seven-layer cake, so those Narnia kids can just keep their Turkish Delight to themselves.) I don’t want to leave Bright Falls, and Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date certainly lives up to the first two novels in the series. As a standalone novel, Iris Kelly would still merit a solid four stars. The Bright Falls series, however, is greater than the sum of its parts. Five stars for six people who I would be glad to know in real life.

If I have to, though, I’ll settle for Delilah Green cameos in every single one of Blake’s future novels.

I'm convinced that each one of these is better than the last. Stevie is perhaps my favorite character in this trilogy and I love her to death. A lot happened in this book, but it all was done well. I loved the support from our older couples as well as all of the side characters.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.