Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date

by Ashley Herring Blake

RATING : 5/5
SPICE: 3/5


I am a big fan of Ashley Herring Blake and this series. Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date is the third book in the series, preceded by Delilah Green Doesn’t Care and Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail. Just like the first two books in the series, I devoured this one. It was so much fun and easy to read. It’s one of those books that you read when you’ve just been in a slump and want something fun and quick paced to read. Just as the previous novels, Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date is a sapphic romance between just-for-a-good-time Iris Kelly and extremely-shy-and-vomit-anxious Stevie. The two have a “Meet-Cute” turned awkward before being thrown together being co-romantic-leads in a play. This book has hits so many checkboxes for me. Fake dating? Check. LGBTQ+ rep? Check. Bi-sexual trauma? Check. And even the added drama of Ex-Lovers to Friends being thrown in. It kept me intrigued throughout the entire book, not wanting to put the book down AND THERE WAS SPICE! Not a huge amount, but it definitely like a step up from the first two books in the series. I also want to mention, that it wasn’t just a fluff novel, and there were some very moving and deep moments regarding self-worth and how one’s sexuality can be so overly sexualized that it dehumanizes.

This was a wonderful book and so glad it was my first book of 2024 because I really started the year on a great foot.

Review originally written and posted 2/9/2024