Delilah Green Doesn’t Care
by Ashley Herring Blake
Published: February 22, 2022
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…
I’m totally on the unpopular opinion side of this one, unfortunately.
I really wanted to like it. Wow was it a rough time getting through this. Now, I want to say it wasn’t THE WORST thing I’ve read. and I didn’t DNF it (here’s looking at you, Haunting Adeline) so it’s got something going for it.
First off…Delilah. Oh boy. I understand childhood trauma, and loss and being bullied. I’ve gone through a lot of that myself. And I understand people cope in different ways but geez. Let me explain. Delilah grew up with her step-mother and her father, when she was young her father passed leaving her in the care of her step-mother who also had a daughter (Astrid). Now, Delilah became isolated, and kind of kept to herself because of the loss of her father. I understand that, but she leaves Bright Falls as soon as she can, and doesn’t look back.
Now, I’m all for a found family trope, or a re-connecting with family. But the fact that the falling out of these two step-sisters resulted in the fact that they just misunderstood each other for YEARS. Oh, that made me so mad. You’re telling me, two adults who spoke every now and then, decided to just not hash up the past and talk it out? I have three siblings, two of which are sisters, there’s no way that these two wouldn’t have brought up this huge miscommunication. I refuse to believe it.
The romance was also a bit lacking for me, okay my sister’s best-friend. I get it. Off limits type of thing. But it felt a bit insta-love-esque to me, and that’s my least favorite romance trope. And it just felt like there wasn’t anything super special there. I wanted fireworks, like an inferno between these two and it just didn’t happen.
I wanted to like this, I really did, but it just didn’t take off for me.
Rating: 2/5 Stars
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