The story strikes the perfect balance for its subgenre, reflecting queer people’s authentic experiences while keeping the mood light and frothy. What I liked most about this book is the cast of characters, mains and secondary alike, especially in its diversity. Kris is fiercely supportive and protective--almost pushy on that at a couple of points, for me, as when she insists on PDAs in front of D'Vaughn's family that D'Vaughn is uncomfortable with--but D'Vaughn really wants that level of someone fighting her corner. If they pull off the deception and make it to the altar, they can choose to either accept prize money or get married for real. I wish we had seen a little bit more of the influencer side of Kris's life as well as more dealing with the show—maybe more of the impact after it aired—and contestants.

This entry was posted in Lesbrary Reviews and tagged afro-latinx, afro-latinx main character, black author, black main character, butch, butch main character, butch/femme, Chencia C.This book follows the story of D'Vaughn and Kris who are on a dating show where they are paired together to try to trick their families into believing that they are getting married in six weeks. I didn't say a word, just gently squeezed her hand and linked our fingers, trying to give her strength through our connection as unobtrusively as possible. The whole premise of the novel is a fake engagement stunt, but frankly the fake part falls away pretty quickly. They are paired for the show and are really into each other, but will those feelings turn into something real?

One thing that I particularly appreciated here is the way D'Vaughn's coming out to her mom was portrayed, it was somewhere in a hurtful and confusing middle, neither full acceptance nor complete rejection, acknowledging that even the "I've known all along"" is hurtful and quietly violent when you have been struggling in hiding for so long, without the other person ever extending a branch. Moderate: pregnancy, racism, colorism, lesbophobia/lesbomisia, religious bigotry, alcohol consumption, emotional abuse, fatphobia. And based on the ways Kris and D'Vaughn's families were characterized earlier in the book, they should've had questions.So I've been an in general reading slump for a good part of last month from just burnout and just the book I read were just not good. Higgins gives world-weary readers looking for an inclusive and thoroughly enjoyable escape exactly what they need . The atmosphere of the book was filled with such love, warmth, and light, it was an easy, cozy novel to sink into!

I had been looking forward to it since I heard about it late last year and I have finally gotten to it and I couldn't be happier with how much I loved it. Particularly loved how D'Vaughn's coming out was handled and how Kris showed up for her over and over again.There’s so much unconditional love mixed with a failure to understand, the ambivalence was hard to take. I mean I would do this to my immediate family, because who cares about their opinion, not me, but both of these women had so close relationship with their family.