Review: Iris Kelly Doesnt Date by Ashley Herring Blake

After two failed relationships in two years, Iris Kelly has sworn off love. But as all of her close friends have settled into long-term relationships and her upcoming romance novel has hit a dead stop, her stance on love and dating may need an upgrade. Luckily for Iris, a one night stand with a beautiful stranger is the tell-all cure. Unluckily, her meet-cute with a stranger in a Portland bar ends in disaster. Just when Iris cannot think it could get any worse her new role in a queer retelling of Much Ado About Nothing leaves her pitted against Stefania, the very stranger from the bar that night and her failed one-night stand. Caught in a lie, Stevie begs Iris to pretend their meet cute led to a relationship, and Iris agrees in an effort to infuse inspiration into her manuscript. But between rehearsals and fake dates, reality and fiction start to blur, and Stevie and Iris are caught in so much more than a mutually agreed upon lie, but real feelings.

Desperately seeking: a shy theatre nerd who’s literally a total softy at heart or a closed-off romance author who deep down just wants to be loved unconditionally. Ashley Herring Blake is back with a queer take on Shakespeare, fake dating, and disaster one-night stands as cynical Iris Kelly finally meets her match. Iris has always been an intriguing character who stole my heart from the sidelines whilst being an absolute riot to read. Her one-liners were some of the funniest moments from the first two books, and I eagerly awaited her story. With all the breadcrumbs laid since the start of the series, my hopes were high and my heart was ready to be changed by another romance from Blake.

Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date is a trope-filled romp that brings Iris’s struggles front and center while introducing us to her shy theatre nerd turned partner in crime Stevie, working through problems of her own. I really admire how Blake has been able to touch on so many issues across her series, with the time and care needed to truly explore each topic. Iris Kelly focuses on the struggles of living with anxiety and the fear of getting back out there after putting your life on hold. There’s plenty of wonderful moments of friendship, queerness, and chaos to keep the pace going as the romance unfolds and these issues come to light. I love a good disaster meet cute and this book gives a whole new meaning to the concept. Stevie and Iris had truly unhinged levels of chemistry from their very first meeting on page, despite their disastrous evening, and their flirty back and forth had me losing my mind. The lessons in seduction portion of the plot was an unexpected surprise and Blake kept it sizzling while focusing on consent and honesty between the two characters. I’m honestly so sad this series is over and I may or may not have cried a bit upon reaching the last page. This is by far one of my favorite romances out there. It’s hot as hell, especially vulnerable, and just so so lovely. I’m going to keep coming back to the Bright Falls trilogy now and forever.

Thank you to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing this review copy.

Trigger warnings: anxiety, panic attacks, infidelity

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