So I thought about rating this one three stars while noting that if it had been a book about straight people, it would be only two stars, but it's great that we've got at least one gay main character.

But then I thought about it, and what is there to this book? There is zero substance. The beginning excited me as there's a set up of rivalry in a work environment, but there is no chase and within a few chapters there is a romance. And it's oh. so. gosh. darn. predictable.

There were so many opportunities for discussion--like maybe the fact that pansexuality and bisexuality are things??? that sexuality can be a spectrum and you don't have to fall into nice neat boxes???--that were just completely ignored. Instead, there were a lot of people that were boxed up and had labels put on them. (Can we talk about Cassidy and her best friend? What's that all about? Can we get some context for this girl's history, or is she just a stray?)

So yeah. It's GREAT that we've got a gay couple. Everything else? Not worth my time. The more I think about this, the less I'm impressed by this book. You know, I think I'm going to one star this because lesbians aren't all nymphomaniacs banging in bar bathrooms. And that's the impression this book gives. ( )

this book is dogshit ( )

Star and a half. When I first read this in 2018, I was clearly starved for good lesbian romances, and probably a little bit bored with my general selection of library books for that day. Such explains why I originally gave this book a five-star rating and a nice review of a few sentences. I remember thinking the title both kind of clever and quite cheesy: a play on "When Harry Met Sally," lesbian style. Now, I think it's maybe just that titles are hard for some authors. I write short stories as a hobby and have trouble with titles, so. For people who have seen "When Harry Met Sally," the author of this book could have been trying to tell you what to expect. I haven't seen the movie, only the I'll Have What She's Having clip. I'm not trying to make a dig at the movie.

Okay, this--the author's favorite character from "The L Word" is clearly Shane. I wrote a three-thousand word essay for my Queer Studies class as my final paper, when I was in my early twenties, on why I hated the show so much. It's racist, sexist, has so much self-internalized homophobia I could explode, anti-Semitic, able-ist, the plots are so stupid as the show goes on, and the show writers did -not- like straight girls who discovered they weren't straight after college. The show also decided to point out over and over and over what it really thought of people with addiction problems, especially those with addictions that are lesser understood. Unsurprisingly, in the age of Impeached President Drumpf, the show is getting a reboot.

The above paragraph is what I was definitely thinking about as I read this book again. Katie and Cassidy are both so unlikeable that I just--why? Why do I have to sit through a whole story about them? Stereotypes, much? We've got the straight girl who's fiancee just left her for her best friend, but oh actually, both of them suck too. Straight girl is a Southern gal, but not a Georgia Peach since that's Too Close to A Ew-Icky-Homo Stereotype. Instead she's from Kentucky, and bourbon is part of her characterization--it becomes her nickname, and she drinks it a lot. Katie seems to wish she hadn't left the South at all, and, dude, nothing is stopping you from moving back home. You can find another job and quit whining. Oh, but Cassidy's here to save you from your dashed hopes of love and prevent you from--(groans). They both go meet Katie's parents, and they go horseback riding. I liked this scene originally. Now, I just--this book was so frustrating and annoying.

Cassidy is a few stereotypes wrapped up in one, in ways that don't normally intersect. She didn't come out to herself until after college, so that's an inverted Lesbian Until Graduation stereotype. I'm not saying everyone needs to come out immediately. I come from a generation that is lucky enough to feel on the whole comfortable coming out in their teen years, and I understand that's not a fair expectation of others at all. Here, the way it was portrayed in the book, though--just--realistically, Cassidy should have come out much, much earlier. That's how she was being characterized, and the author then made different decisions. She's dressed in kinda raggedy clothes but goes and gets a $300 haircut, and then goes on a shopping spree for men's clothes? And -that's- a huge part of her -sexual- awakening? OH MY G-D, AUTHOR. And this is coming from someone who insists that people know that it's normal to express oneself and their sexuality through their clothing! Author, when women cut their hair and buy all new clothes, they're -expressing- themselves differently. Most women don't get turned on. A surge of confidence and total comfort, yes. Not sexual arousal due to cloth, which is what the author wrote.

She's in her 30s, yet runs with a much younger crowd at the requisite Icky Homo Sticky Floor Dyke Bar. She's the requisite heartbreaker who desperately should get checked for STDs, yet is totally proud of her behavior and the author is probably going to make her immune. This is such an irresponsible portrayal. Somehow, probably because the author demands it, Cassidy and Katie fall in love. It's not convincing. There is no buildup, no romance, no UST. They're paper dolls being mashed together, to borrow a phrase from Jenny Trout about another book. The ending made absolutely no sense. Katie was absolutely disgusted by the Icky Homo Sticky Floor Dyke Bar and especially its patrons, and now she's teaming up with Cassidy to open up a new one? On the bottom floor of a sparkling new building since corporate everything is pricing out anything remotely indie? I hated that ending both times.
Please don't waste your time reading this book. ( )

This was a short and sweet queer romance that I read in two days. Katie is reeling after her fiancé, Paul Michael, has dumped her so she spends all her free time obsessing over work and drinking at home. While closing a big deal at work she encounters Cassidy. At first she assumes she is a man - but soon she is taken in by Cassidy's masculine and beautiful appearance. As the two find themselves crossing paths more often, Katie has to decide what her feelings are towards Cassidy. Cassidy is very open and proud about being a lesbian, but Katie only likes guys? Or does she? A romantic and honest look about trying to understand sexual attraction and be more authentic. ( )

Full review to come. ( )