I really enjoyed this book!! I've been reading Ashley Herring Blake since How To Make A Wish but this was my second of her adult romances and I really liked it!!! It wasnt as good as book 1 for me but I'll get into that in a second!

My favourite character in this book honestly was Simon because he absolutely made me cackle I love him so much but apart from Simon, I loved Iris so god damn much!!! She was my favourite in Delilah Green and that hasnt changed, I love that she's so strong about how she doesn't want kids and how people including her parents shouldn't look down on her for that, I love how she's sex positive and hates that people judge her for that. Like I'm a sex repulsed asexual but I respect Iris for it like do what you want tbh !!!

As much as I loved Iris, the reason this is a lower rating is because Stevie. I did not like Stevie or most of her friends at all. She was really frustrating, I related to her GAD and the representation was really good but god she annoyed me SO much I just really did not enjoy her character.

I really really love fake dating it's the most superior trope and I think it was done really well here!! Although the third act conflict and breakup was so dumb and I did not enjoy it!!

Overall I really liked this book it really worked for me apart from a few things and I'll happily read anything the author writes from now on!!

what a phenomenal read!!

Iris Kelly Doesn't Date set the bar high for my lgbt reads! Ashley has done an amazing job bringing this group of queer characters to life and making them not only likeable but also real! each character has their own issues that we as readers follow along and some may even find themselves feeling called out i know i did!

Stevie as a new character was a breathe of fresh air she was the light for me, the depiction of her anxiety and worries was so heart wrenching

Iris as our focus was the perfect end to this trilogy.
this is defo the best 5/5

Honestly, I can see why this novel is gaining a lot of hype! However there were a few things that didn't quite gel with me continuity wise. For example, one character is described as having a 'cockney' accent but then a few pages later is said to be from Liverpool - the Liverpool accent is nothing like a cockney one (which is from London).

Iris really grew on me in the last two books of the series and I was really looking forward to seeing a love story that she deserved. I did enjoy this book but there were more than a few things that annoyed me when I read it. I really liked seeing a different side to Iris, clearly there is much more to her than meets the eye and I loved going through her journey. It took me a while to warm up to Stevie individually, while I appreciated seeing her struggles with anxiety, the way it was written made it seem like her personality was really flat and like having anxiety was all that she was, it wasn't until 75% through that I started to like her chapters. I really didn't like Stevie’s friendship circle, they were treating her like a child and made me struggle to see her as more than that as well. Plus the need to push her romantically was too much. They both had some really genuine romantic chemistry which makes the rest of the book feel lacking in comparison. The steamy scenes were quite steamy and well done, and the romantic scenes were absolutely adorable, they were really entertaining scenes to read. However, the plot felt like it just fell through about halfway which caused the story to sort of just sit there until the third act. I always struggle with the third-act misunderstanding/breakup that is so common in contemporary romance, and I struggled with reading the self-sabotage on both sides of this book, but even still, I was so invested in their love story that I was curious where they would stand. The ending was a bit lackluster and just fell short for me for it to be a satisfying ending to the bright falls series. There were also a few moments where there would be side characters introduced through weird descriptions, that other reviewers have mentioned which just didn't hit the way it was intended and often brought me out of the story. In saying that I enjoyed this book for what it was, and the romance and spice did not disappointment.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the e-ARC and the chance to share my honest review.
3.5 ⭐️

This gets five BIG, FAT, QUEER stars from me! This was the third Bright Falls instalment + I freaking ADORE this series 👏🏽 so 👏🏽 much. I obviously pre-ordered this but *SQUEALED* when I got an advanced copy through netgalley.

I could not get enough of this book: it was the perfect blend of sweet, funny, emotional + steamy and I just don’t know how Herring created a world so special and characters so precious. Also how stinking cute are these covers, courtesy of @lenikauffman!?

Iris grows SO much as a character throughout the plot + she’s damn relatable🙌🏽 The contrast between her loud, fun and flirty personality with quiet and sweet Stevie was perfectly written and I adored them both. I find these books super inclusive and it was amazing to see non binary + pansexual rep, although I was most definitely not a fan of Stevie’s completely unsupportive and frankly friendship group.

These can be read as standalone’s but I can’t recommend immersing yourself in this wonderfully queer small town enough.. Pleaseeeee can we have more books @ashleyhblake? I beg 🤌🏽

You NEED to add this super fun series to your 2023 TBR pile asap + grab yourself a copy of IRIS KELLY that’s finally out today 🌷🫶🏽☁️

__________________________
[𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙧, 𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧 + 𝙣𝙚𝙩𝙜𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬 𝙘𝙤𝙥𝙮. 𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙤𝙬𝙣. 𝙍𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 @𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡 (𝙄𝙂), 𝙂𝙤𝙤𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙎𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙝.] —— 𝑬𝒇𝒇𝒚 @𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍 🌷

Absolutely love these series and this was the perfect ending.
Cmon fake dating? Teaching some 🌶️🌶️🌶️👀.

I had to get used to Iris and Stevie for a bit but that feeling quickly went away, because boy do they have chemistry!

The last two chapters made me cry and I hope one day these books will be made into movies

Romance author Iris just wasn’t built for relationships. On a night out where she is looking for a night of passion she meets Stevie, and with immediate chemistry between them invited her back to her apartment. But Stevie’s extreme anxiety ends the night early, and they think they will never see each other again. But a chance meeting at the local theatre auditions see the two agree to fake date to get Stevie’s friends off her back and to give Iris some much needed romance experience for her novel.

I enjoyed this one by far the most in this series and am really glad I read it. I felt Iris and Stevie were both very fleshed out with believable stories. As someone with similar quite extreme anxiety to Stevie I felt this was handled exceptionally well. I’m also an actress in my spare time and understood the way Stevie could handle acting but not some of real life.

This book is STEAM-Y, up there with the most I’ve read but it was so well done.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

This is a wonderful return to Brightfalls and stays true to the hallmark lovelieness of the series. Stevie’s exploration of her post break up identity is done well and whilst some parts did feel a little cliché, I found her relatable and was glad it ended the way it did.
Overall, a good read and a wonderful way to tie the Brightfalls series up in it’s happily ever after ribbon.

Full review is on Goodreads and will be posted to Instagram on 24th October.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Iris Kelly is happy being single. Happier than she was after her last two failed relationships, for sure. But Iris Kelly is also stuck. Her second romance novel has nothing to it but the main character's name and her deadline is in a month. No matter how hard she tries, she can't seem to figure out what her main character's story is. When her agent suggests doing something creative that isn't writing, her friend and fellow author Simon suggests a queer theatre that has open auditions for it's production of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. Imagine Iris' surprise when she walks into auditions to see the girl she had a absolutely disastrous hook-up with a few nights ago, Stevie. And imagine her surprise when Stevie's friends all seem to think the two women are dating...

I was more than excited when I received the notification that I got approved for this Galley! As always, Herring Blake's writing is witty and fun while simultaneously exploring difficult topics. In this book, generalized anxiety disorder and self-doubt/self hate were intertwined into a sweet romance between two women who thought they'd never find love again. I related a lot to Stevie's anxiety. I have a similar (though not as extreme) anxiety disorder and I loved the way in which Stevie's thought process was described. Especially the way she kept pushing herself and ignoring her symptoms only to have it blow up in her face. (Relateable.) I also thought Iris' self-doubt/self-hate and the way it stemmed from the genuine belief that she was not worth romancing not only because of the horrible things other relationships had done to her but also because of how her body had been objectified from such a young age and biphobia was well-written.
Of course, the characters and romance itself were well-done and intertwined with those topics. But the romance was also sweet and funny, making me want to giggle into a pillow case. And of course, there was a good amount of sapphic spice. We love!
I literally have nothing bad to say about this book. All i can do is squeal "Read Read Read"

Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date read like a hallmark movie. I was drawn to this book because of the cover and I was not disappointed by the reading experience. I will definitely go through the author’s catalogue to explore more of her books! (So excited to know it is all sapphic romance books).

Thank you to NetGalley and little brown book for providing me this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC of 'Iris Kelly Doesn't Date' by Ashley Herring Blake.

The final Bright Falls novel, 'Iris Kelly Doesn't Date' feels like a movie. Loveable characters, our faves from book 1 and 2 are back and just overall an enjoyable book. Stevie was a perfect fit for Iris, albeit we had a miscommunication they slowly got back together and it just felt right. I'm gonna miss Bright Falls and the characters we've fallen in love with over the journey but I'm excited to see what comes next.

thanks netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for a review!

i really enjoy the bright falls books, but unfortunately this one wasn’t my favourite. i love iris and stevie, but i couldn’t bring myself to root for them the same way i did astrid and jordan in their story. i was let down by stevie’s friend group being overwhelmingly heinous (except van, love u girl), and felt like we were told that they were good friends and expected to take that at face value, despite only really seeing them being… less than good.

i think iris and stevie learned a lot from each other and helped each other grow, but i do think that this is one of the very few romance novels where i would have been happy for them not to end up together (spoiler? hardly). i will say that i enjoyed iris’s gesture at the end, though i did think it was going in a different direction.

all that said, this was a light, easy read with relatable, likeable characters. if you like ashley herring-blake’s other works, you will most likely enjoy this too, even if it didn’t knock me off my feet.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group for allowing me to read this arc of Iris Kelly doesn’t date.
This series has been incredible from start to finish, and this book had the most perfect ending. I enjoyed every minute of it.
This isn’t my usual genre, but after seeing so much hype for Delilah Green doesn’t care I had to pick up a copy, and I fell in love with Bright Falls and its inhabitants.
All of the main characters are so unique and vibrant, and the dynamic between them feels so real. I’ve really enjoyed watching them learn, grow and heal on their respective journeys throughout this series and can’t recommend it enough!
I don’t want to say too much about this book as I don’t want to spoil it, but Ashley Herring Blake has created such a vivid set of characters, and the humour and romance is so well written. It doesn’t feel cringey like a lot of romance books I’ve read in the past, and I am now a huge fan of Blake’s writing style. Looking forward to seeing what they write next!

I was really looking forward to going back to Bright Falls with this book as I loved Delilah's and Astrid's books so I was curious to see what Iris' story would be.

I really liked the fake dating aspect of the book. How Iris and Stevie met and began their fake dating plan was funny and cute and I really liked the beginning of their relationship. Stevie was an interesting character and I liked her storyline of becoming more confident and sure of herself, and the portrayal of her anxiety felt very realistic. Unfortunately, I didn't really like Iris that much and her behaviour and attitudes annoyed me at times.

I kind of wanted the play to have more of a role since that was why they were fake dating. The story seemed to jump around a bit and suddenly the play was just finished. I also did not like Stevie's friends at all, but it was great to see Delilah, Claire, Astrid and Jordan again and I loved the scenes that they were in!

I really enjoyed this series as a whole and I'm looking forward to read what Ashley Herring Blake writes next!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌶️🌶️🌶️
🎭🏳️‍🌈🩱📖🐚

Wow. Ashley Herring Blake does it again. One of the most beautiful love stories I have ever read. Iris Kelly and Stevie Scott are the most beautiful pair. They were made for each other, each showing how the other deserved so much happiness, and they were more than their sexuality or mental disability. It was beautiful and by far my favorite story of the Bright Falls series.

Iris. We all know Iris from the other two books, so we are no strangers to the fact that she is loud, says what she wants, is beautiful, and has gone through some doozies of relationships. We know she is loyal to friends, doesn't hold anything back about her thoughts, and loves sex. We also know that she doesn't date. She does hookups, nothing past a one-night stand and she doesn't believe in romance. But because of this, and her past, she writes a romance novel picked up by a publisher who wants her to write a second book. But she has writer's bloke. So it's suggested by her editor to do something that takes her mind off it so Simon (Jordan's twin brother and published author) suggests they audition for a play, a queer remake of Much Ado About Nothing, where she gets the lead role opposite no other than her disastrous hook up from a previous evening, Stevie Scott.

Stevie Scott (the absolute light of my life - I've never felt so represented by a character. She even has my curly hair!!) has just gotten out of a long, almost toxic relationship with her girlfriend/best friend, Adri. Stevie is an actor and a barista, and she has Generalized Anxiety Disorder. One of her big anxieties is being intimate, which is quite understandable considering she hasn't slept with anyone except for her ex-girlfriend. So when another one of her queer best friends, nonbinary, Ren, takes her to Lush for her to try to have a one-night stand, she meets the beautiful Iris Kelly. When it goes from hot and sexy to complete full-on panic attack mode, she thinks she'll never see her again. So she tells her group of friends that she ended up having sex with her, and is now in a relationship. So of course it's a complete shock when she finds out who will be playing Beatrice.

Fake dating, romance lessons, sex lessons, and self-lessons are key points of this book. Learning to love, learning to put yourself first, and learning that you get to be happy is what I get from this book. It was emotional, it was real and it was so heartwarming that I found it difficult to put down. The one thing I am mad about now is that the story is over. I didn't want Iris Kelly and Stevie Scott's story to be over. These two beautiful women will be forever in my heart.

And of course, we have a very queer cast of characters with love birds Delilah and Chloe, Astrid and Jordan, Simon and Emory, and Ruby. But we are introduced to a queer cast in Much Ado About Nothing, and Stevie's friends, Ren, Adri, and Vanessa (who is now Adri's girlfriend.)

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this ebook. This review is left voluntarily.

Thank you to Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for this e-ARC of Iris Kelly Doesn't Date by Ashley Herring Blake.

I started this book without having read the other two instalments in the Bright Falls' series but it was easy to follow the story and the characters. I'm sure those who have read all of the previous books and who are waiting to read this one will not be disappointed.

The story follow Iris who, like the title say, doesn't date. She prefers hookups after some terrible relationships. Then she meet Stevie who is not used to hookups. Because of the pressure of her friends, she asks Iris to be her fake girlfriend. No way they could catch real feelings for each other... right ???

I read this book very easily and I really related to the main characters Iris and Stevie, both for different reasons. I was so happy to read a sapphic rom-com with a happy ending. It is such a hopeful story. I laugh, I got teary eyes, I roll my eyes. It was such a fun experience to read this book. I really love the growing relationship between Iris and Stevie and their personal growth.

I removed a star because I felt like the side characters such as Stevie's friends were not explored enough which I know is hard in a 400 pages book. I also loved the diverse representation but the diverse cast is just... featured extras in the movie of Iris and Stevie's life, they have no depth and it's a shame.

I was sent this eARC from Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK, in exchange for an honest review.

I love a good dual POV book and found both characters interesting with a lot of depth written for their personalities. At the start, I loved Stevie's character but found myself struggling to connect with Iris. However, the character development was done really well, and I really loved Iris in the end.
A cute, fake dating romance, starting with a one night stand that goes very wrong into a great, supporting, and lovely romance.

As much as I enjoyed this book, I found myself actually feeling angry towards the build-up to the end. I won't say what specifically angered me as I don't want to post any spoilers. But due to this, I had to mark it down. Otherwise, I would have rated it higher. Other than that, I really enjoyed this read and found the way Iris supported Stevie through her anxiety and the chemistry to be written really well.

This series of books are one on my favourite romance series I’ve read. Everything I want in a romance book. So easy to read and get hooked on. I hope there will be more!

I knew I would love this book because the first two are fantastic and I love fake dating. It gave me everything I want in a romance and I loved getting to know Iris a lot better. I also thought Stevie was wonderful and I felt like her struggles with anxiety were so relatable for me. It was nice to see that portrayed in a romance books love interest.

I also think it was really clear that the author has heard the audience comments on the previous books in the series because this one had a much more diverse cast and it was good to see lesbian being used in reference to many of the characters (rather than just queer which happens all too often).

I think introducing a new cast of characters in Stevie's friends and colleagues was great because it opened the world up to being more diverse but ultimately I think some of the side character were a tiny bit undeveloped. I think Vanessa deserved more space in the story give than she's supposed to be one of Stevie's best friends. Though ultimately in a "standard" romance I feel like often the MC and love interests friends are sidelined a bit to make space for the main story. I mean even the previous books characters weren't as prominent in this book (I wanted more Astrid).

Still loved every second of it and it was exactly what I needed right now. Can't wait to get hold of a physical copy and do a reread of the whole trilogy.

Having not read the other books in this series I wasn't really sure what to expect from 'Iris Kelly Doesn't Date' but I absolutely adored every moment of it!

A perfect balance of sweet and spicy, I especially loved the way Stevie's anxiety was written about, it is clear the author wanted to make sure it was a respectful and encouraging portrayal of anxiety.

I look forward to going back and reading more from the Bright Falls gang!