4.75/5 stars! This is the first installment in the Bright Falls series by author Ashley Herring Blake and is a sapphic romance. This is so cute. The vulnerability and passion seated between these pages is amazing. I dislike the miscommunication trope, but it was handled really well here. Sad this series is ending.

Iris Kelly Doesn't Date delivers an engaging look at love, identity, and personal evolution. While many readers have praised its impactful and layered character arcs, others have noted that certain aspects of the story could have been more fully developed. Still, it stands out as a solid addition to the Bright Falls series, especially for fans of contemporary romance that embraces complexity and heart.

Ashley Herring Blake does it again. The third installment in the Bright Falls universe is fantastic, I adored it.
Iris has writers block, and Stevie has been going through a dry spell - it's time for some sapphic fake dating! This book was funny, emotional, and just a genuinely good time.

Did not know this was the THIRD in a series when requesting and unfortunately that hindered my enjoyment of it and I DNF'd

I honestly did not expect this book to be so smut heavy. I absolutely adored the slow burn fake dating trope and how it developed but the steamy scenes kinda took me by surprise and ruined it a little.

I’m loving this book series, and Iris’ story doesn’t disappoint.
I find the characters so loveable and the romance is perfect paced for me.

Thank you for my copy!

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a review copy!

I read Delilah Green Doesn’t Care a few months ago, and absolutely loved it. I continued with book two last month, and finally completed the trilogy.

Iris is struggling with writing romance, especially when all her friends are in relationships. After her long term relationship ends, Stevie is finding it hard to put herself out there and prove to her friends that she can do it.

Their first encounter doesn’t exactly go to plan, but when their paths cross again, Iris ends up pretending to be Stevie’s girlfriend. Both Stevie and Iris need to work on different things - intimacy and romance respectively - but it goes further than either of them expected.

I already really liked Iris from the previous books. She’s fun and seems like a great friend, but starting in book two and continuing more in depth with this one, we really got to see her vulnerabilities and development.

I found Stevie to be a great love interest. It’s not often that I have read books with similar characters, especially not romances. It’s so important to see characters be anxious and struggle with changing dynamics.

I really liked seeing how she comes to have more agency, especially in her group of friends. They really frustrated me, not just her ex, so I wish there had been a bit more confrontation. I love Iris’ friend group of course, and the end had some cute scenes.

I do think the plot wasn’t the strongest part, but I enjoyed the relationship so it didn’t matter too much. It just felt like the romance writing and the acting was just to bring them together, and they didn’t feature as much as I thought. Still, I could look past it for the most part.

I would have loved the ending to be a bit more drawn out, because I wanted even more time with the characters, especially after the resolution.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this series! The first is definitely my favourite by far, but all of them were fun and heartwarming while also dealing with important topics. I definitely want to read more by Ashley Herring Blake in the future.

Ashley Herring Blake can write a sapphic romance like no one else. I absolutely adore this series. Each book gets better and better and the romance is to die for.

Overall I really enjoyed seeing Iris’ story after loving her as a side character in Delilah and Astrid’s books. I loved the love interest and seeing her dealing with and overcoming her own issues. My main issue that brought it down from a 5 star to a 4 star was the lack of research and editing in the fact a character was described as having a cockney accent and then a few pages later the same character was apparently from Liverpool. Google is free, it takes 5 seconds to search and know that would be incorrect

This book gave me so many giggles, it was so funny!! I also cried a whole bunch, like, clutch at your chest, heaving sobs kind of tears. Also the kind of tears where you just have a single dramatic drop roll down one side of your face. An emotional rollercoaster of a book. Fitting, really, since both Iris and Stevie are emotional wrecks.

I loved Stevie and really appreciated the anxiety representation as somebody who also battles it on the daily. I felt so seen. The descriptions were so apt and so realistic and just darn, I felt that.

So many times I found myself clutching my kindle reading this book in public, wishing I had a privacy screen…because lord oh lord was this book SPICY. It had me wide eyed and grinning and hiding my kindle from prying eyes. I had to pop it away a few times because some scenes were not appropriate to be reading in certain settings 🤣

I think this was a good ending to the trilogy, and I really loved getting to see Iris more. She’s probably always been my least favourite because of her deplorable treatment of Delilah but I love how their friendship has blossomed. In all 3 books I have occasionally found some of the characters annoying, like god bless you Claire you get on my nerves!!!! But then friends can do this so I suppose this is less a problem with the writing and more a realistic representation of what friendships can be like???? Friends can annoy each other and not always be right.

I’m sad this is the last book but I’m excited to read more by Ashley Herring Blake as I think she’s proven herself an excellent romance writer.

Ich weiß ehrlich gesagt nicht, wie ich dieses Buch bewerten soll, da ich es aufgrund relativ kurzer Ausleihdauer (ohne Verlängerung) nicht lesen konnte.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc in exchange for this review.

Apologies for my delay, I’ve had a very hectic few months.

A nice ending (I think?) to my favorite romance series of all time.

Overall this was a very enjoyable read, but it didn’t quite live up to my expectations (based on the previous books in the series).

This is an incredible final to the Bright Fall series! The last paragraph just broke me! All three stories are sensitive, steamy, and funny in equal measure! The way the author built the girls is realistic and possible. I highly recommend starting the reading with the first book: Delilah Green doesn't care and then Astrid and Iris's books. I can't wait for the new book from Ashley. Hope it will be as delightful as those were!

I have had such a great time reading this series, and I was very much looking forward to Iris's story, as I have adored her character throughout. This book lived up to my expectations! I really loved the contrast between Iris and Stevie's characters, at first Stevie longs to be as confident as Iris, but soon learns Iris has her own insecurities. I am such a theatre nerd, and so the extra plot of community theatre made my heart swell!

1.5 stars

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC! Okay so I’m going to be honest I originally DNFed this at 54% but then decided to give it another shot and finish it. Unfortunately it still wasn’t for me but I am glad I finished it because it wrapped up the series nicely.

The only things I liked about this was the plus size rep and the spicy scenes. Mostly this was a bit messy and didn’t live up to my expectations. So many tropes were crammed in and done so half-assedly (I know that’s not a word but I’m using it) for example we have the fake dating trope. I’m sorry but Iris was the only person putting any effort at all into the charade. Stevie mostly acted disinterested in her and barely showed any fake affection, in fact most of the affection was shown when they weren’t in front of Stevie’s friends which kind of defeats the point of fake dating. Iris is suddenly a romance author which fine, I don’t mind a career change but it’s just so random and obviously included to cater to a certain trope/audience.

Stevie is an actress but I never really felt her passion or desire for acting. Her only characteristic really was her anxiety which annoyed me because anxiety is not a personality trait. I understand anxiety dictates your whole life but this woman literally had no personality apart from being anxious. She also lets her ex repeatedly insult Iris but then gets mad at Iris for defending herself. There’s also the fact that she clearly wants her ex for most of the book which isn’t exactly what I want to see in a romance book that isn’t a second chance romance. Adri basically emotionally cheats on her new girlfriend Vanessa for the entire book and it’s never addressed. There were are so many plot holes as well. For example, Effie the owner of Bitch’s is from Liverpool but has a cockney accent? And then Stevie eating a strawberry moonpie after stating she was allergic to strawberries earlier in the book?

Talking of Adri and Vanessa, Stevie’s friends were absolutely HORRENDOUS. None of them even seemed to really like each other and they either made decisions for Stevie or were way too insensitive to her anxiety and forcing her into situations she wasn’t comfortable with. The romance itself was okay but I didn’t really buy the chemistry between Iris and Stevie until like 65% of the way in and I wasn’t particularly rooting for them. The third act breakup was really poorly done because Stevie is the one who majorly messed up but she just expects Iris to forgive her and we as the reader are expected to be angry at Iris? Not only that but Iris’s friends aren’t even angry with Stevie, they actually support her? I was confused. There was also the fact that we didn’t really see much of Iris and Stevie as an actual couple. One chapter they’d started dating officially, the next everything went pear shaped so I wasn’t as invested as I could have been and that applies to the whole book really. I just wasn’t invested.

So do I recommend it? A lot of people seem to like it so you might but I wasn’t a fan so I don’t personally recommend it. I tacked on an extra .5 stars because I feel bad.

Another great sapphic romance from Ashley Herring Blake. The fake dating felt realistic and progressed into romance at a believable pace, as did the transition from a purely physical to a deeper relationship.

That's not to say that this was the perfect story. AHB still has this tendency to introduce pretty much every character by mentioning their race, sexuality and gender identity, which reads incredibly unnatural. On top of that, Stevie's friends were just the absolute worst, to the point where I started dreading Stevie's chapters because it would mean seeing more of her friends.

But this book does tie a neat little bow on the entire series. The couples from the previous two books pop up frequently, so definitely read those first for the full experience.

I'm eagerly waiting to see what AHB will come up with next.

Ashley’s writing always feels like a warm hug! So much joy in this book. Definitely a comfort read kind of book with loveable characters and great representation.

This is the third book in a series, and albeit it’s a standalone, I really wish I’d read the others first! But alas, it can’t be helped.

Having not read many queer romances, I thought this was a sweet, at times, angsty story. And as a former theatre nerd, I just loved this character plot line! Definitely keen to go back and read the other books in the series too.

3 stars,

Ashley Herring Blake did an amazing job at making you feel all the emotions. I laughed, I wanted to cry and I was rooting for the characters. It was a real journey and I loved it.

I will admit it took me a while to warm up to the characters but once I did, I really enjoyed it.
I haven't read the previous books but that didn't take away my reading experience.

Overall I did enjoy it, yes there were a few things that did annoy me but overall it was a fun, emotional journey.

Thank you to the publisher, author and netgalley for a copy of this earc.