Thank you netgalley for the arc, 4 stars
I wasn’t sure I’d fully enjoy a teen romance where a main character is an influencer but I really did enjoy this. There’s fake dating, lesbian, gay and pansexual rep, Christmas vibes, black love and a great female friendship.
I really loved Grammy Viv, she’s Lyrics grandmother who adopted her. I love that we get that as representation because not every reader can relate to having a mother/father household. We get small dreamlike moments where Lyric is being reminded of the foster care system and her mother not being the best. Nothing traumatic thankfully
I loved that Juniper has two moms. We get lesbian representation!!!! Loved that their relationship isn’t perfect either
Another character has two dads which is awesome

Now Lyric and Juniper fake date so that they can get money from sponsorships but I wish we got more cute dates and less arguments. The last date could’ve been a little longer but I still enjoyed how they made up. Though, Lyric could have lost her entire following which would’ve been selfish on Junipers part.

All in all, 4 stars and I hope we get a second book about Kiana (Lyrics bestie) and Holden

This book is such a cozy, feel good story. The way that the author writes in a different style to signify the point of view written was so interesting. Christmas needs an LGBT romance novel and this hits the mark! Lyric is kind, tough and so strong. Her relationship with her mother was honest and fitting for 2025. I feel like the way their relationship concluded didn’t feel overdone or cheesy. Juniper and their struggles with their home life different so greatly from the issues that Lyric was experiencing which added greatly to the plot. I would absolutely read sequels to this book.

I am not entirely sure how I feel about the switch between prose and free verse poetry, maybe if it was more structured poetry or maybe if Lyric had the poetry instead it would have flowed better. The relationship did not feel like it actually progressed to a relationship, one moment only one of them had feelings for the other and then suddenly they're on the couch kissing for real instead of for their followers. Fake dating and Christmas time romances are some of my ultimate favorites which is why I jumped at the chance to ARC read this book but it just fell a little flat for my liking.

This was a really fun idea for a Black YA sapphic romance, and overall I had a good time with it. The fake-dating-for-influencer-clout storyline was fresh and entertaining, and I loved how much space the book made for different identities and expressions of queerness.

Grammy Viv was my favorite. Her bond with Lyric was one of the most touching parts of the story. Watching them rebuild their relationship was heartwarming.

The narrative is told in a sort of split format, where Lyric’s chapters are in prose and Juniper’s in verse. This was definitely interesting and felt new. Sometimes it worked beautifully, especially when Juniper was wrestling with heavier emotions about her family. That said, there were times where it leaned a little too much into telling instead of showing, though not enough to pull me out of the story. I do wish we had gotten a bit more meaningful moments between Lyric and Juniper.

At the end of the day, it’s a charming, creative story with strong representation and a lot of heart. Definitely still worth picking up!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

This was a really cute feel-good Christmas story! The poetry/verse format of Juniper’s POV caught me off guard at first and took some getting used to but it was well executed. Between Lyric and Junie, my heart broke cause I FELT the pain they carried. I love a 3rd act breakup for the *drama* cause who doesn’t love a lil scandal? Can’t just have the perfect happy ending. Gotta have some turmoil

This was a pretty cute idea for a teen Black sapphic romance. The concept of a fake relationship being played for influencer brand deals isn't one I've seen before. I don't follow anyone under the age of 27 on TikTok, so I didn't know couples posts were a thing for the teen crowd. But, why not considering how many make up and fashion influencers are teenagers? I'm not sure Juniper's identity (if it was mentioned), but Lyric is a pansexual character.

To be honest, my favorite character in this book was Grammy Viv. She was a riot and so supportive! The entire arc of her being hopeful her daughter was going to return to their lives and that Lyric would be able to be more independent was quite moving. I think the story of how she and Lyric found their way back to each other was probably the strongest aspect of this book. Lyric's family obligations made her sympathetic character.

The decision to have Juniper's POV be in verse form was an interesting idea. It works well for Juniper's emotions when dealing with her parents. I didn't think it worked as well when Juniper was having conflict with Lyric because there was no way to convey her body language and expression when they were arguing.

I wanted more moments of Juniper and Lyric really getting to know each other. It seemed they were like 4/5 with interactions between them ending in arguments. It didn't make for the most romantic of YA romances I've read, but I think their dynamic was interesting. The part where they watch movies with Grammy Viv was the sweetest thing.

Regardless, I think this is a solid Black sapphic YA romance. Fake dating is a hard sell for a YA, in my opinion, so I was impressed by how Lockington employed it here. It was a believable reason, I enjoyed the family relationship between Lyric and her Grammy, and I liked seeing Juniper and Lyric's romance begin.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the eARC of I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm.

Lyric is a high schooler and beauty influencer who has garnered enough attention in the content creator space to have acquired brand deals. One of these brand deals mixed with Lyric’s desire to make her on-again off-again boyfriend jealous, leads her to approach Juniper to help with one of her beauty photo shoots. Their picture goes viral and everyone assumes the two young women are dating. The ever savvy Lyric decides to see if Juniper will play along with this fake-dating scenario, and they’re off and running.

The concept of this book was interesting and compelling enough for me to want to read this book; however, the execution of the plotline and the use of prose and verse to tell the story didn’t quite work here. Let’s talk about the writing style first.

The prose sections are primarily used in the sections where Lyric is the narrator although there are also prose sections in Juniper’s verse sections, which are used to provide flashbacks for Juniper’s character. What I found difficult in the prose sections were the expansive paragraphs – they were long. Like really long and unruly at times. I lost interest when reading some of the longer paragraphs and would have liked to have seen them broken up a bit to make for an easier and more compelling reading experience.

I had forgotten that this novel was going to be told in prose and verse, so when I flipped to chapter two, I was confused at first. I thought something had gone wrong in the digital process – since I had an eARC of the book – and that the formatting had gotten jumbled up and lost in translation. I quickly realized that the formatting was exactly the way it was supposed to be though. It took me a bit to get into this use of verse in a novel.

While I did find Juniper’s verse sections interesting at times, especially since her voice seemed to get more to the point through the use of verse, I wasn’t convinced that this style worked overall. I was left wanting more information from Juniper, and I just wasn’t getting that the way this book was written.

First person narration is a difficult task for authors, and I felt as though Lockington truly had a handle on Juniper’s voice in a way that she did not while writing Lyric.

Both characters have things in their past they are not sharing with each other, and I would have liked them to open up more to each other throughout the chapters. The beauty content part of Lyric’s and Juniper’s fake-dating deal also seemed to fall to the wayside, and it would have made more sense to keep their storyline focused on that while showing them getting to know each other better.

The third act break-up was pretty standard with a big misunderstanding turning into unneeded drama. I’m not a fan of that at all, and I felt as though this section was off for the characterization that was presented up to that point. Juniper’s grand gesture was also problematic because of what she reveals. I was shaking my head at that one.

Overall, I thought the concept of this book could have worked really well, but in the end, I was disappointed in how the information was presented and how the MCs relationship develops.

I read this in one night because black wlw is always wanted, needed, and loved. This was so sweet and warm and felt like actual teenagers in love. I would give it ten stars if I could.

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it. It was so cute and I love the cover!