Frankly, if Fools in Love hasn’t been a book you’ve been anticipating all year, then I do not know what to say. It’s pretty much the perfect cosy read to curl up with this winter (or, equally, the perfect beach read, if December happens to fall in the summer months for you). Trust us when we say you don’t want to miss out on this one!
And, of course, don’t forget to follow Ashley Herring Blake and Rebecca Podos on twitter (along with all the other contributors)!
Fake relationships. Enemies to lovers. Love triangles and best friends, mistaken identities and missed connections. This collection of genre-bending and original stories celebrates how love always finds a way, featuring powerful flora, a superhero and his nemesis, a fantastical sled race through snow-capped mountains, a golf tournament, the wrong ride-share, and even the end of the world.
With stories written by Rebecca Barrow, Ashley Herring Blake, Gloria Chao, Mason Deaver, Sara Farizan, Claire Kann, Malinda Lo, Hannah Moskowitz, Natasha Ngan, Rebecca Podos, Lilliam Rivera, Laura Silverman, Amy Spalding, Rebecca Kim Wells, and Julian Winters this collection is sure to sweep you off your feet.
Fools in Love
ed. by Ashley Herring Blake & Rebecca Podos
Rep: sapphic mcs, achillean mcs, trans mc
Release: 7th December 2021
Five Reasons to Read This Book
One. There is, quite literally, in this book, a trope for everyone. Whether you’re a fan of enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, there’s only one bed, or anything else you might name: there’s a story for you here. And each story has a different take on the trope, a different setting it’s in, so that not every one of these stories is contemporary like you may have thought. Instead, we have fantasy, science fiction, apocalyptic historical dystopia… Truly, something for everyone.
Two. It’s mostly gay. Like seriously. Only three of these stories feature straight people which, quite frankly, is what we all need more of I think. And within that, these aren’t just white gay stories. If you’re looking for books you might label “diverse” (in itself quite a nebulous label I suppose), this would be one of those. It displays a vast array of experiences within the LGBT community (although, yes, there are gaps, but there are only so many hours in the day! Or pages in a book… I guess).
Three. Linking in with the above point, there’s something so freeing about seeing LGBT folks falling in love. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with books where they are dealing with trials and tribulations and overcoming them, but sometimes all you want is to see those characters living their best lives, loving and being loved. And this is a whole anthology worth of those such stories.
Four. Sometimes, you just want to have a bit of fun and binge read romances and, in this current climate, who could blame you? If you find yourself feeling that way this December/New Year, then Fools in Love is the book for you. If all you want is to curl up somewhere warm (or cool, depending on your timezone), then you couldn’t do better than doing so with this book.
Five. And finally let us mention a few of our absolute favourites here!
- Rebecca Barrow’s Bloom is, really, a real highlight of this anthology. It’s achingly, hauntingly romantic, about grief and love and revenge. And a romance between a girl and the daughter of the man who murdered her mother.
- Rebecca Podos’ Disaster involves a second chance romance at the end of the world, that leaves you with a feeling of hope at the end. And it uses the word lesbian multiple times!
- Natasha Ngan’s Silver and Gold starts the anthology with a bang (no pun intended). It’s a masterpiece in how to get you caring about characters, a relationship, and a whole world in less than 20 pages.
- Ashley Herring Blake’s Edges is a beautifully quiet tale, a story about making assumptions that turn out to be often wrong. It’s a story that says there’s more to everyone around us, everyone has their own history.
So, have we convinced you that you want to read this book?
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