Fools in Love

 Book 43 of my 2021 Reading Challenge

Fools in Love: Fresh Twists on Romantic Tales

Summary (via Goodreads)

Expected publication date: December 2021 (I read an ARC)

Join fifteen bestselling, award-winning, and up-and-coming authors as they reimagine some of the most popular tropes in the romance genre. 
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.

First Impressions/Judging a Book by Its Cover

I selected this book while browsing on NetGalley (full disclaimer below).  The cover, along with the tagline "Fresh Twists on Romantic Tales", attracted my attention and the description kept my interest after I clicked through.

I've been especially drawn lately to books of short stories, especially by multiple authors, because that's about what my attention span can handle at the moment.  There really isn't a downside - I hope to enjoy it but it's not a huge commitment if I don't (I'm one of those that HAS to finish a book I've started).

My Opinion

4 stars

**I received an electronic copy of this book via NetGalley and would like to thank the author and/or publisher for the opportunity to read and honestly review it**

I read this book in August and it was a perfect light vacation read.  It embraces the tropes in a "wink-wink-nudge-nudge" way but also doesn't make fun of them; they became tropes or formulas for a reason and that's because there are readers that respond to them.  Each story also listed the trope they were leaning into and that was fun - there were some I hadn't thought of as tropes before.

I also think short stories worked well because part of the reason I get frustrated with certain tropes is because if people JUST TALKED there wouldn't be so much miscommunication and unnecessary drama but with the entire story only lasting a few pages, things are condensed and cleared up quickly.  After looking at my notes and seeing how many times I noted "good length", this format definitely worked for me.

As always with collections with multiple authors, I liked some stories more than others but looking at the book as a whole, I liked or loved all of them.  I took a few notes on each story individually so I might as well include them.

"Silver and Gold" by Natasha Ngan: 

I really liked this one.  It had an unique concept and went deep enough to care without being overly gushy.  

"Five Stars" by Amy Spalding: 

First crushes and butterflies is exactly what my jaded heart needed to read at this moment.  There was a meet-cute that was still semi-plausible.

"Unfortunately, Blobs Do Not Eat Snacks" by Rebecca Kim Wells:  

I would read a longer version of this for the plot and the adventures, not even just the romance.  I also loved the line, "Davina kissed her and it was like the answer to a question she'd only recently realized she'd wanted to ask."

"Edges" by Ashley Herring Blake:

This was deeper than I expected for a short story.  The author packed a lot in but it felt natural.  It was cute.

"What Makes Us Heroes" by Julian Winters:

Light and fun.

"And" by Hannah Moskowitz:

Having a poly type relationship at a young age wasn't something I'd read before, especially to have it handled so maturely with clear and open communication.

"My Best Friend's Girl" by Sara Farizan:

Everyone is just chill.  It's nice to read a story with queer relationships where the act of coming out isn't the whole plotline.  

"(Fairy)Like Attracts Like" by Claire Kann:

I felt the characters' relief at being seen.

"These Strings" by Lilliam Rivera:

This is the kind of story that I liked for the reasons above...having it in a short story format kept the time before the confession of feelings manageable so I was still invested and not screaming at the book like a maniac.

"The Passover Date" by Laura Silverman:

The kind of ending that made me sigh.  New love.

"Bloom" by Rebecca Barrow:

This story was good but since most of the story had them apart from each other, there weren't as many 'romance' aspects as in other stories.

"Teed Up" by Gloria Chao:

Cute.  I know exactly what the author means when they describe someone as "tasting like sunshine" when they kiss.

"Boys Noise" by Mason Deaver:

Long but cute.

"Girls Just Want to Have Fun" by Malinda Lo:

This one was fine.  Again, it's something that would have driven me crazy as a longer book but as a short story, it was a whirlwind and fun.

"Disaster" by Rebecca Podos:

Not plausible but what end-of-the-world scenarios are?  It was fine.