A slow-paced WLW romance with passionate characters and a pinch of drama.
Dates Read: 05/06/2023 05/07/2023
Star rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Word to describe: Seducing
Genre: Romantic Fiction
Delilah Green doesn't care, except she does - massively. Delilah is a passionate no fucks given kind of woman who has a devastating past. She happily isolates herself from everyone so she doesn't have to worry about her abandonment issues. She lost both her parents young and was brought up by an uncaring stepmother in true Cinderella fashion (without the forced cleaning maid aspect). Her step-sister Astrid is adored by their mother and Delilah spent her whole life feeling like the black sheep of the family for not fitting into Astrid and her step-mother's white picket fence lifestyle. Her new life in New York consists of neverending hookups and her passion for photography and art. When she gets an invite to be the photographer at her sister's wedding there is only one thing on her mind - get paid and be in and out of her hometown as quickly as possible. Will this trip bring along some unlikely events? Of course, it will!
Claire is a single mother to a feisty pre-teenage daughter Ruby and has a bitterly depressing sex life. Her ex, and her daughter's father, is as reliable as an umbrella with holes and happily dances in and out of their lives with little to no consequences. Claire is in desperate need of some love and luckily for her, when she settles into her hometown bar to meet up with her closest friends Astrid and Iris a dark-haired, tattooed, goddess enters the bar and captures not only her heart but her ignites her lust and sex drive. In true forbidden romance fashion this edgy, leather-wearing badass, turns out to be not only her friend's sworn enemy but also her best friend's estranged step-sister Delilah Green.
Claire and Delilah have an interesting path to romance. From instant attraction to an unlikely friendship, Claire and Delilah work together alongside the hilarious Iris to break down Astrid's pending doom of a marriage. Astrid is a smart yet naive woman. She has had her life planned out for her down to her business by her controlling mother and now has fallen for a man who has no problem dictating to her and treating her like a maid in public. Feminist by nature, Claire, Delilah, and Iris are ready to pounce and rescue Astrid from a life of 1950's wifely servitude. The way these characters team up despite their shaky past is rather wholesome. Delilah starts the book as a standoff-ish character with no interest in bonding or becoming friends with the other women. As time goes on, her attraction to Claire grows so does her love and appreciation for the other characters.
Childhood wounds from Astrid and Delilah are hidden by a front of awkward sisterly love and kinship. Despite, all of this it becomes clear that miscommunication has taken center stage, and as the story unravels readers learn more about the daunting and trauma-filled relationship between each of the characters. Astrid spent her childhood trying to include Delilah only to be shut out; Delilah surrounded by grief and a new family dynamic isolated herself, to the disappointment of Astrid, as she struggled with grieving her father alone. I really enjoyed how Astrid and Delilah came to love one another. It was clear from the onset that there is a bond between the two sisters and a yearning for a better relationship but both characters feel that it was too late. The slow unraveling of Astrid's engagement left room for healing and a budding sisterly friendship between these two characters that was beautiful to read. The found-family trope in this book is unmatched by others and truly sets the standard for caring and wholesome friendships.
My main issue with this book is that at times the storyline dragged and it seemed that there were too many side plots that distracted from the main storyline. From Claire and Ruby's relationship to Claire's untrustworthy ex to Iris and her boyfriend's conflict over children to Astrid and her mother's relationship to the romance subplot, and many more. It seemed that plot points were added as a little taster into the next book of the series - but personally, I felt that some of them were unnecessary tidbits added simply to stir up drama. Some of them simply served no other purpose than to establish a character's back story and personality when this could have been shown to the reader in a way that progressed the key story.
Back to Claire and Delilah, these two hold a special place in my heart. Far different from young adult queer romances, the kinship between these two characters is both prevented and encouraged by their adult lives. It was only inevitable that the characters would fall for one another and have a climactic breakup followed by the most Hallmark Romcom epilogue ever. This book was chosen as my LGBT+ read for Pride Month and, despite my nitpicking, I am so glad I chose this one.
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