Does Love Always Win is a sapphic coming of age young adult novel that explores coming out and understanding one's sexual orientation.
Sam "Shorty" Daniels has a plan for her senior year, but her romantic life being a hot mess was not part of the agenda. Shorty quickly discovers she's not attracted to her newest boyfriend and fellow marching band member Zack, despite her many hours of daydreaming of what it would be like to date him. Their previous flirting had been so intense that those feelings have to come back again, right?
When Shorty's asked to show the snarky new girl around high school, Shorty's instantly intrigued by Kristy's wit, and they bond over their love of writing. They quickly become inseparable, and Shorty has a breakthrough moment realizing why none of her other relationships worked out.
Just as Shorty is about to break up with Zack, her bitter ex-boyfriend Bryan threatens to out her to the entire school and Shorty's conservative parents. Will Shorty be able to overcome Bryan's ridiculous blackmail scheme and get her dream girl?
Date Published: 06-20-2023
Publisher: Creative James Media
MY THOUGHTS
The plan for senior year was to enjoy it, and hopefully it would be a breeze. But Sam didn’t plan on all of her drama in the love department. After wanting it for so long, her boyfriend, Bryan, finally broke up with her, and she was free to go for Zack, the band nerd she had a crush on. But when she realises that she feels as little for Zack as she did for Bryan, she recognizes she is once again simply stuck in a relationship she is not comfortable in.
When Sam is asked to show around a new girl at school, she thinks nothing of it. When she meets Kirsty, though, something changes. Kirsty quickly becomes a very good friend of Sam’s, and as they grow closer, Sam starts to understand why she didn’t find herself wanting to kiss, or do anything more, with Bryan or Zack. She did, however, want to do those things with Kirsty, and the feelings were so strong and new, she simply couldn’t deny them.
I absolutely adored every second of this book. I could not put it down! The pages seemed to turn themselves, and I was simply along for the ride as the story played out in front of me. I loved Sam, she is an absolutely amazing character. She jumps between relationships without a break, and finds herself struggling with each one, but is almost trying to prove to herself that she is straight because she ‘has a boyfriend’. Although it never feels right, and she is always looking for excuses not to spend time with them. She is certainly troubled by the fact that she does not feel anything for any of her boyfriends, it is something that clearly worries her. She had grown up in a conservative, Christian household, and having gone to church so often, she has always been taught that things like homosexuality are a sin, and that a woman must marry a man and have children with him. The problem is that she definitely does not want to get that close to any man, but would quite happily do so with Kirsty. This book brings across Sam’s emotions wonderfully. She is nervous and afraid, but she doesn’t show it to anyone. The secrets she keeps to herself are enough to make her extremely unsettled, and bouncing between different people and the things they expect of her is slowly wearing her resolve down.
This book is full to the brim with drama, not only with Sam’s relationships but also with the people around her. There are break-ups, and a few stray kisses between people you wouldn’t expect would like each other, and on top of it all, it’s still school, and everyone has classes and homework! The social calendar gives Sam little time to sit and figure things out, for she is always going to one person’s house, or she has marching band, or has to do her homework. How she had time to even sleep with so much going on is remarkable!
Obviously, there is one character that I must loathe in every book. Sam’s ex-boyfriend, Bryan, is absolutely nasty. He can’t quite believe that Sam doesn’t want to be with him, and that after he broke up with her, she didn’t beg him to take her back. Whether he was slightly heartbroken or just bitter, there is no excuse for his actions in this book. He affected so many different people and made Sam’s life misery as he conducted a very serious blackmail agenda. Despite Bryan claiming to be heartbroken because of his previous girlfriend, and Sam leaving him bringing up past traumatic feelings, I could not find an ounce of sympathy to give to Bryan. Zack, on the other hand, was quite lovely, although rather full-on in the kissing department. Although she wasn’t attracted to him, he did treat Sam wonderfully, and I did feel sorry for him because there was no way Sam was ever going to like him back as much as he liked her.
Sam spends a lot of this book completely terrified that someone is going to find out about her and Kirsty, and mess up her life. She knows how strongly she feels for Kirsty, but her terror does cloud her judgement on quite a few occasions, and she brings a lot of drama down on herself. The fear that can surround realising you are not straight, and worrying about spending time with the person that you love in case someone sees you, is heartbreaking to read about. I just wanted to give Sam a hug, and tell her that I loved her no matter what.
This book was an absolute delight to read, and I enjoyed every second of it. If you love books with relationship drama, this is certainly the one for you! This is definitely an author to watch, as this book was amazing, and I can’t wait to read more by this author.
Diane Billas lives in Philadelphia with her husband and son. When she’s not writing she can be found reading multiple books at once, performing the French horn and piano, or dreaming of the next country she’s going to visit. Diane can be found at dianebillas.com, on Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook @dianebillas, and on Instagram @dianebillaswrites.
Diane Billas is the author of the YA contemporary romance LGBTQ+ novel DOES LOVE ALWAYS WIN? releasing June 2023 and the YA superhero LGBTQ+ novel SUPERFICIAL releasing September 2024.
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