Delilah Green Doesn’t Care follows Delilah, a quick-witted, artistic and unapologetically bisexual photographer, who reluctantly returns to her hometown Bright Falls for her stepsister’s wedding. When Delilah unexpectedly runs into a former mean girl from her childhood—and one of her stepsister’s best friends—old wounds and old feelings resurface.
I’m convinced Blake somehow snuck into my brain one night and extracted everything I ever wanted in a sapphic romance and decided to turn it into Delilah Green Doesn’t Care. What struck me most about this story was how layered it was. Beyond the romance, we have so many story arcs that flesh out not only the charming setting of Bright Falls, but the characters living in it. Y’all know at this point that my god tier romances are the ones where each person has an individual storyline and Blake delivers.
Delilah is simultaneously my spirit animal and my dream woman. She’s unapologetically queer, funny, strong-willed and altogether badass. But the more we get to know her in the novel, the more we learn what has made her the way she is, what has inspired her and what has held her back. Blake delves deep into Delilah’s backstory and adds such an authentic touch to the resentment Delilah still feels about her past and her stepsister and manages to show that while Delilah tries her hardest not to care, she can’t help making other people’s lives easier with sound advice, a shoulder to cry on or a pal to drink with. And that not wanting to care only comes from having tried to do so in the past and ending up being burned. It’s an intricate story arc that shows the ups and downs of being vulnerable and letting others in as Delilah gets burned with snap decisions, sharp comments and reminders of the past while also trying to move on.
Claire, meanwhile, hasn’t had the easiest of lives, either. She’s dealing with her unreliable ex who seems at flight risk whenever he visits her and their eleven-year old daughter. Blake pulls no punches in showcasing the struggles of co-parenting when one side has a history of running for the hills. My heart hurt for Claire who has to be the responsible parent while her daughter’s father often prioritises being the “fun parent” over actually disciplining their daughter, causing Claire to constantly be the bad guy. Her daughter lashing out and Claire feeling helpless in this war she doesn’t even want to be fighting but has to to not only protect her daughter’s heart but her own was as aggravating as it was authentic. However, what I loved most about this storyline was that there was no black-and-white depiction of who’s the good or bad parent. Instead, there’s a story arc of maturation and growth that made the eventual heart-to-heart all the more satisfying.
There are so many layers to Claire and Delilah on their own—their situations in life, where they want to be versus where they find themselves in terms of success and acceptance—and though neither sees the other one coming, they end up complementing each other in the most beautiful ways.
Now, the actual romance. Oh, the romance. Blake really gives us all the goods in this novel: from a super awkward (re)meet cute where Claire flirts with Delilah without recognising her to relentless teasing and rapidly-building sexual tension only for it all to culminate in sexy, steamy goodness and emotional turmoil, there’s really no downside to this exquisitely paced courtship. On top of that, there’s a depth and growth to Delilah and Claire’s relationship that mirrors what it means to come into a new relationship with baggage, old wounds and expectations you’re sure you’re going to fail to meet. Delilah prides herself for not letting herself care too much about anyone save they hurt her and Claire absolutely ruins that in the best way.
Beyond that, the secondary cast of characters shines with personality, wit and utter charm. From Delilah’s stepsister Astrid, her best friends Claire and Iris all the way to Claire’s ex and their daughter, every character had their own little arc that somehow connected all the important points of this story with each other. Astrid, for example, is dating a downright dreadful guy and while Claire and Iris’ concerns fall on deaf ears, there’s this subplot of them trying to make Astrid realise that she deserves so much better without actively—well, sabotaging her wedding plans. This somehow opens up possibilities not only for us to get to know Astrid and Iris better but also lets Delilah shine as she reluctantly joins the shenanigans and ends up finding likeminded friends. While this is just an example, there are multiple strands of plot that are just so cohesive and make for an immersive reading experience.
While I won’t spoil the climax of both the romantic and Delilah’s individual plotline, I do want to mention how cathartic it was to watch Delilah finally get to the bottom of her fraught relationship with her sister and come to terms with the past that she has done her darndest to leave behind. Really, the only thing I would have wished for in this book was a bit more time spent on the “reveal” of the sisterhood past that felt like it was over too soon considering it plays such a key role in how Delilah not only perceives the world but herself—nevertheless, it’s a satisfying conclusion to a story that is undoubtedly one of my new favourite romances to read and recommend.
Now, all that’s left for me to do is sit here with bated breath until we get Astrid’s story.
Blake’s well-crafted adult debut Delilah Green Doesn’t Care combines everything you could want in a sapphic romance—snark, steam and sweetness—with an intricate exploration of what it means to love someone and how we choose to show it, all spearheaded by its unforgettable protagonist Delilah who you’ll simultaneously want to be and be with forever. Fans of Alexandria Bellefleur and Talia Hibbert won’t want to miss out on this emotional extravaganza.
Delilah Green Doesn’t Care is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of February 22nd 2022.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
A clever and steamy queer romantic comedy about taking chances and accepting love—with all its complications—by debut author Ashley Herring Blake.
Delilah Green swore she would never go back to Bright Falls—nothing is there for her but memories of a lonely childhood where she was little more than a burden to her cold and distant stepfamily. Her life is in New York, with her photography career finally gaining steam and her bed never empty. Sure, it’s a different woman every night, but that’s just fine with her.
When Delilah’s estranged stepsister, Astrid, pressures her into photographing her wedding with a guilt trip and a five-figure check, Delilah finds herself back in the godforsaken town that she used to call home. She plans to breeze in and out, but then she sees Claire Sutherland, one of Astrid’s stuck-up besties, and decides that maybe there’s some fun (and a little retribution) to be had in Bright Falls, after all.
Having raised her eleven-year-old daughter mostly on her own while dealing with her unreliable ex and running a bookstore, Claire Sutherland depends upon a life without surprises. And Delilah Green is an unwelcome surprise…at first. Though they’ve known each other for years, they don’t really know each other—so Claire is unsettled when Delilah figures out exactly what buttons to push. When they’re forced together during a gauntlet of wedding preparations—including a plot to save Astrid from her horrible fiancé—Claire isn’t sure she has the strength to resist Delilah’s charms. Even worse, she’s starting to think she doesn’t want to…
