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French Pressed Love
Warning! This romance ain't cookie cutter. Get ready for a rollercoaster ride of jealousy, angst and messiness that rivals Tryst Six Venom. FRENCH PRESSED LOVE is a slow burn romance that will have you sipping up all the drama well past your bedtime. Strap up for a sexy, intense and emotional experience.
Jordan Alexander is in a rut. Her life is not what she envisioned for herself, and she’s barely able to scrape by on the salary she makes as a coffee shop manager. Suddenly facing the daunting prospect of either finding a new roommate or a more affordable place to live, Jordan's stress levels reach a boiling point.
Noémie St. Pierre is a customer from hell. Every weekday morning, Noémie struts into the coffee shop like she owns the place and often makes a fuss. Jordan can’t stand the woman.
But Noémie's life isn't as perfect as it seems, and when her father—founder of the globally expanding Poutine Heaven franchise—cuts off her financial support, Noémie's world is turned upside down. Desperate, Noémie gets a job at the coffee shop, and upon learning of Jordan’s housing woes, proposes they move in together. Reluctantly, Jordan agrees.
As they navigate their new living arrangement, Jordan uncovers surprising depth to Noémie that challenges her previous assumptions, and she develops feelings she never expected. But Noémie dates men, and Jordan doesn’t do relationships. So, all Jordan can hope is that her feelings won’t brew complications.
Jordan Alexander is in a rut. Her life is not what she envisioned for herself, and she’s barely able to scrape by on the salary she makes as a coffee shop manager. Suddenly facing the daunting prospect of either finding a new roommate or a more affordable place to live, Jordan's stress levels reach a boiling point.
Noémie St. Pierre is a customer from hell. Every weekday morning, Noémie struts into the coffee shop like she owns the place and often makes a fuss. Jordan can’t stand the woman.
But Noémie's life isn't as perfect as it seems, and when her father—founder of the globally expanding Poutine Heaven franchise—cuts off her financial support, Noémie's world is turned upside down. Desperate, Noémie gets a job at the coffee shop, and upon learning of Jordan’s housing woes, proposes they move in together. Reluctantly, Jordan agrees.
As they navigate their new living arrangement, Jordan uncovers surprising depth to Noémie that challenges her previous assumptions, and she develops feelings she never expected. But Noémie dates men, and Jordan doesn’t do relationships. So, all Jordan can hope is that her feelings won’t brew complications.
312 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 21, 2025
51 people are currently reading
1572 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 187 reviews
December 30, 2024
a whole lot of drama unfolded, and what did we get? absolutely nothing.
thank you netgalley and booksgosocial for providing me with e-arc in exchange for an honest review!
thank you netgalley and booksgosocial for providing me with e-arc in exchange for an honest review!
December 29, 2024
oh…my goodness? what have i just read? this is literally a “straight” woman duping her friend/roommate for however many pages and calling it a romance. that’s genuinely fucked up and all they do the entire book is fuck other people until exactly 90%. WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND????
this arc needs serious work what the fuck…
this arc needs serious work what the fuck…
November 11, 2024
Read it as a beta reader and it was dope as hell. Really loved Noemie most of all. She started as a character you’re supposed to dislike but you realise pretty quickly what a sweetheart she is under the first layer. A lot of funny “I hate her, damn she’s so hot” moments. I love a story that has some comedic relief. It doesn’t have to be all drama all the time.
I won’t get into too much detail so as not to spoil anything, but it still does have quite a bit of drama for you to enjoy. All in all, a great and cozy lesfic story.
I won’t get into too much detail so as not to spoil anything, but it still does have quite a bit of drama for you to enjoy. All in all, a great and cozy lesfic story.
April 5, 2025
1.5 stars
I have seen this author on TikTok and she has stated that the “wrong readers” were reviewing her book and bringing the ratings down. There were also comments that the poor ratings were the fault of NetGalley and that readers didn’t read the blurb. I’m a woman, I’m gay, I love sapphic romance, I’m not on NetGalley getting books for free, I read the blurb, maybe I’m the right person to read this book.
I was not. This book was sad and depressing to me. The characters were also not “messy.” There was so much toxicity, bordering on abuse, in this story and the sad part, to me, was that any attempt to make their lives better came too little too late. I think this would have been better marketed as something other than a romance.
The first 15% of the book was filled with heavy-handed references to every lesbian cliche that has ever been said. It read as though the author was saying “I am going prove how gay I am.” There was no subtlety nor nuance.
There was also no subtlety in how horrible, toxic, and outright mean the characters are. I did feel very sad for Jordan that she chose to have zero boundaries regarding the type of people she chose to surround herself with. The least horrible person was her former roommate and she was a cartoon of a character. Jordan feels like she was rip-off from Outdrawn, but without the drive to be less self-hating and improve herself.
I feel like I know very little about Noemi, since we are only told how hot she is. As the story goes on, I saw how unkind and how she is unwilling to change. She even tells Jordan that “You left someone who does the same things I am going to keep on doing. In fact, I’m going to be even worse.” Yet Jordan is ok with it because of the hot factor. There’s also a pretty significant age gap that is not addressed, but I get the impression that it doesn’t matter as Jordan probably stopped her emotional growth sometime in her early 20s.
There was so much telling and so little showing that I had no one to get attached to. I know that Jordan got her feet wet in the rain a couple of times and that she like to leave a couple of buttons unbuttoned on her shirts. But I didn’t feel like I got to know her at all. I did not root for the characters to end up together. The spice was unrealistic and felt forced. Jordan has a broken arm is able to just take off her sweatshirt and then just go to town? The after events of the spice was the absolute biggest letdown. It wasn’t a roller coaster, it was jumping off a cliff.
Despite Jordan’s disdain for men, she only decides to make a decision to go for what she wants once she’s given permission by a man. And that character was also toxic with no boundaries. The happy ending came at 94% and that just a little too late to save this book for me.
I guess that I am now the netgalley getting, nonblurb reading, straight librarian from Nebraska the author is gonna hate on social media. All opinions are my own.
I have seen this author on TikTok and she has stated that the “wrong readers” were reviewing her book and bringing the ratings down. There were also comments that the poor ratings were the fault of NetGalley and that readers didn’t read the blurb. I’m a woman, I’m gay, I love sapphic romance, I’m not on NetGalley getting books for free, I read the blurb, maybe I’m the right person to read this book.
I was not. This book was sad and depressing to me. The characters were also not “messy.” There was so much toxicity, bordering on abuse, in this story and the sad part, to me, was that any attempt to make their lives better came too little too late. I think this would have been better marketed as something other than a romance.
The first 15% of the book was filled with heavy-handed references to every lesbian cliche that has ever been said. It read as though the author was saying “I am going prove how gay I am.” There was no subtlety nor nuance.
There was also no subtlety in how horrible, toxic, and outright mean the characters are. I did feel very sad for Jordan that she chose to have zero boundaries regarding the type of people she chose to surround herself with. The least horrible person was her former roommate and she was a cartoon of a character. Jordan feels like she was rip-off from Outdrawn, but without the drive to be less self-hating and improve herself.
I feel like I know very little about Noemi, since we are only told how hot she is. As the story goes on, I saw how unkind and how she is unwilling to change. She even tells Jordan that “You left someone who does the same things I am going to keep on doing. In fact, I’m going to be even worse.” Yet Jordan is ok with it because of the hot factor. There’s also a pretty significant age gap that is not addressed, but I get the impression that it doesn’t matter as Jordan probably stopped her emotional growth sometime in her early 20s.
There was so much telling and so little showing that I had no one to get attached to. I know that Jordan got her feet wet in the rain a couple of times and that she like to leave a couple of buttons unbuttoned on her shirts. But I didn’t feel like I got to know her at all. I did not root for the characters to end up together. The spice was unrealistic and felt forced. Jordan has a broken arm is able to just take off her sweatshirt and then just go to town? The after events of the spice was the absolute biggest letdown. It wasn’t a roller coaster, it was jumping off a cliff.
Despite Jordan’s disdain for men, she only decides to make a decision to go for what she wants once she’s given permission by a man. And that character was also toxic with no boundaries. The happy ending came at 94% and that just a little too late to save this book for me.
I guess that I am now the netgalley getting, nonblurb reading, straight librarian from Nebraska the author is gonna hate on social media. All opinions are my own.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 27, 2025
Update: Lmao I REALLY went off on this one eh? It largely stemmed from disappointment. I'm glad that I'm not trying to be an author because the review below is incredibly repetitive and not very well done, hah.
Anyways I read the sequel that had Noemie's POV, and honestly its good. If someone wants to read FPL I think it might be best to get both novels and read them together back-and-forth like a supersized novel because seeing both POV's does a LOT to improve the experience of this novel (that's what I just finished doing!). While reading this one I was simply not able to get into Noemie's mind and understand her behavior (and her view of Jordan in particular) and the reading experience suffered because of it; my second reading didn't change that opinion unfortunately.
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Edit: OK! I just keep thinking about this book and wanted to add more because I think I have more of an idea as to why this book bothered me.
1) In "enemies to lovers" books they are exactly that: enemies! The conflict is out in the open, and its often two-sided. In TSV (as invoked by the author) they are horrible to each other, but the animosity is obvious and understood. In "messy" romance books they are usually in SOME kind of relationship and they can both view the situation through that lense...of a shitty girlfriend or whatever.......
In THIS novel, the situation was two friends/roommates, where one was cluelessly trying to ignore a crush (SHE WAS DIRECTLY LED TO BELIEVE WAS FRUITLESS), meanwhile the other was secretly lying/gaslighting and intentionally doing things to hurt and upset the other. Put simply, that was cruelty. The way that the abusive behavior was quiet and subtle and manipulative, instead of overt and messy, is what really bothered me. Reading a bunch of drama is incredibly entertaining, but soft cruelty and abusive manipulation is not.
Other reviewers are saying that both characters sucked, but honestly I don't see much wrong with Jordan. She has casual sex but she is honest about it and upfront with people; stop slut shaming. In regards to the relationship between the protagonists, I honestly can't see that Jordan did a single thing wrong. One-sided "messy relationships" are not messy, they are just sad.
2) It wasn't entertaining. I clearly forgot to mention this, with all the other stuff I rambled. Horrible characters and toxic behavior is fine. I LOVE horrible, messy and toxic, and I have read FAR worse characters than this. There needs to be a point to it though, it needs to be entertaining. "Character is abusive and then the novel ends" is not a good book premise.
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Eh. In summary: good writing by an author who clearly has talent, but terrible plot choices and I dislike all of the characters. Zero stars for the story, but bumped up to 2-stars because the author/writing is legitimately good.
So first of all the good things:
-The writing was really good, I can tell that the author is a good writer. The scenes, the dialogue, the descriptions, etc.. I will absolutely be interested in reading more things from this author in the future, because I can easily see that they have talent.
-I heard that the author is writing another book from the second protagonist point of view; despite my bad rating and everything I’m gonna say about this book I’m telling you right now that I will be buying that novel and reading it. I am SO curious. Maybe seeing the other point of view will somehow make everything better.
The Things I Didn’t Like (spoilers):
-I didn’t like the characters. This is the main thing. They all sucked. By extension, I also therefore didn’t really like the story and I especially didn’t like the romance. The blurb and the author billed this as “messy romance” but it wasn't at all; it was just a bunch of really shitty people who were being shitty to each other. I don’t really find that entertaining if there isn’t more to it than that🤷. I love messy; this wasn’t that. I dig into the plot at the bottom (kind of went off a bit. Oops)
-The side characters; these people were also often very toxic and horrible, and I didn’t feel like it really added to the story in any way. Toxic and horrible can be great, but not when people are just shitty for the sake of it? The protagonists sister (for example) was just an objectively awful person, and I can’t understand why the protagonist was choosing to ever spend time with them, and also what they contributed to the story other than just an opportunity for more people to act crappy to each other. Any side characters that weren’t awful and toxic (Sarah for example) were instead two-dimensional cartoon characters, or overused stereotypes.
-This wasn’t “messy and toxic” like Tryst Six Venom (how dare they even make the comparison lmao), I LOVED that book. There was almost nothing at all similar between these two novels. One of these novels had incredibly complex characters and an incredibly intriguing character dynamic; the other simply had someone being really crappy to someone else while that person was sad. Tryst Six Venom was an explosive toxic romance, whereas this was someone pining quietly while the other person secretly treated them terribly. This had no give-and-take, just abuse-meets-confusion.
-The cardinal sin for a romance novel: I have zero belief that these characters ended up working out after the end of the novel. None. They get together in the very last chapter and have not taken a single step towards working out their massive problems. (“We will talk about it and be honest” -a sentence is not enough)
-Ok let’s talk plot (SPOILERS):
-The first huge section of this novel is simply a straightforward story of a person who is interested in someone and slowly falling for them except they are holding themselves back for what are honestly some good reasons. There were honestly some good parts in here although overall I would say it was “just fine”. I'm waiting to see where it goes. Through this whole part, we get to see the narrating character get treated shitty by everyone around her (without there really being a point to it), and I also REALLY didn’t like Noemie at all. I never saw a single redeeming feature for Noemie other than that she was hot and cooks well; not the basis for actually liking someone.
-THEN the big reveal happens and we find out that actually Noemie has been incredibly shitty this whole time. Way worse than initially thought. Just basically going out of her way to make the narrating character unhappy, while acting like a general POS. Extensive lies and deceit. She knows that the narrator has strong feelings for her, yet she parades around a boyfriend in front of her? Then after she realizes that the boyfriend is really upsetting her….. she keeps doing it? In the story they get hung up over the fact that they made a bet that she could get her to fall for her, which isn’t great I’ll admit, but that’s not NEARLY as bad as all the things she was doing during the bet.
—Side note: the plan doesn’t even make sense. You’re trying to get someone to fall for you, except you explicitly lead them to believe that you’re straight? And not single? The narrator is holding back from making a move for some very good reasons…. which were intentionally set up by Noemie! As soon as the narrator went to make a move Noemie grabbed a boyfriend and shut down any potential relationship development; make it make sense. “Yes, let’s make the girl who has feelings for me overhear loud sex with my boyfriend, while I repeatedly send her the message that I’m not interested in her”. She was jealous the second you KISSED the boyfriend, you didn’t need to continue dating him for months to accomplish that goal???
-The scene where they get together is spicy and emotional and all that… but the fact that Noemie had a boyfriend ruined it for me (Jordan believed that she had a boyfriend at least). I don’t like cheating: both of them are shitty people in that moment and it ruined what would have otherwise been a good scene for me.
-The characters, and therefore the author, are even self-aware that Naomi is just an objectively shit person who’s been doing a bunch of shitty things. They literally say it on the page. She isn’t “messy” or complicated, she is just cruel. She was intentionally doing things simply to hurt the narrator (her own words), while holding back the information she would need to understand wtf was happening. AND not in a fun way where we can enjoy a complex back and forth, it was simply one sided cruelty.
-In Tryst Six Venom the character wants the other girl, but feels like she can’t act on it, so she acts out with misplaced cruelty because she craves her attention in any form; it’s messy and toxic but it makes sense and it’s enthralling. It’s also two sided and they both understand what’s going on, both participate, and feed off each others energy. In this book Naomi is shitty basically just because she is? It’s a lot less entertaining if one of your protagonists has zero clue why the other is being mean. A single conversation would have resolved everything.
-In the end, literally nothing is done to resolve or overcome these issues, other than just the characters deciding that maybe they should hope for the best. Apologies are made, but Noemie is still the exact same shitty person with nothing changed.
-There was zero payoff at the end of the novel. They get together: fade to black.
-It also bothered me that things were resolved by a random 3rd party intervening. Neither protagonist was making any attempt to make up or save the relationship. Kind of lame, maybe you shouldn’t be together.
OK! I rambled too long. I was just honestly disappointed. Stopping here.
Anyways I read the sequel that had Noemie's POV, and honestly its good. If someone wants to read FPL I think it might be best to get both novels and read them together back-and-forth like a supersized novel because seeing both POV's does a LOT to improve the experience of this novel (that's what I just finished doing!). While reading this one I was simply not able to get into Noemie's mind and understand her behavior (and her view of Jordan in particular) and the reading experience suffered because of it; my second reading didn't change that opinion unfortunately.
-------------
Edit: OK! I just keep thinking about this book and wanted to add more because I think I have more of an idea as to why this book bothered me.
1) In "enemies to lovers" books they are exactly that: enemies! The conflict is out in the open, and its often two-sided. In TSV (as invoked by the author) they are horrible to each other, but the animosity is obvious and understood. In "messy" romance books they are usually in SOME kind of relationship and they can both view the situation through that lense...of a shitty girlfriend or whatever.......
In THIS novel, the situation was two friends/roommates, where one was cluelessly trying to ignore a crush (SHE WAS DIRECTLY LED TO BELIEVE WAS FRUITLESS), meanwhile the other was secretly lying/gaslighting and intentionally doing things to hurt and upset the other. Put simply, that was cruelty. The way that the abusive behavior was quiet and subtle and manipulative, instead of overt and messy, is what really bothered me. Reading a bunch of drama is incredibly entertaining, but soft cruelty and abusive manipulation is not.
Other reviewers are saying that both characters sucked, but honestly I don't see much wrong with Jordan. She has casual sex but she is honest about it and upfront with people; stop slut shaming. In regards to the relationship between the protagonists, I honestly can't see that Jordan did a single thing wrong. One-sided "messy relationships" are not messy, they are just sad.
2) It wasn't entertaining. I clearly forgot to mention this, with all the other stuff I rambled. Horrible characters and toxic behavior is fine. I LOVE horrible, messy and toxic, and I have read FAR worse characters than this. There needs to be a point to it though, it needs to be entertaining. "Character is abusive and then the novel ends" is not a good book premise.
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Eh. In summary: good writing by an author who clearly has talent, but terrible plot choices and I dislike all of the characters. Zero stars for the story, but bumped up to 2-stars because the author/writing is legitimately good.
So first of all the good things:
-The writing was really good, I can tell that the author is a good writer. The scenes, the dialogue, the descriptions, etc.. I will absolutely be interested in reading more things from this author in the future, because I can easily see that they have talent.
-I heard that the author is writing another book from the second protagonist point of view; despite my bad rating and everything I’m gonna say about this book I’m telling you right now that I will be buying that novel and reading it. I am SO curious. Maybe seeing the other point of view will somehow make everything better.
The Things I Didn’t Like (spoilers):
-I didn’t like the characters. This is the main thing. They all sucked. By extension, I also therefore didn’t really like the story and I especially didn’t like the romance. The blurb and the author billed this as “messy romance” but it wasn't at all; it was just a bunch of really shitty people who were being shitty to each other. I don’t really find that entertaining if there isn’t more to it than that🤷. I love messy; this wasn’t that. I dig into the plot at the bottom (kind of went off a bit. Oops)
-The side characters; these people were also often very toxic and horrible, and I didn’t feel like it really added to the story in any way. Toxic and horrible can be great, but not when people are just shitty for the sake of it? The protagonists sister (for example) was just an objectively awful person, and I can’t understand why the protagonist was choosing to ever spend time with them, and also what they contributed to the story other than just an opportunity for more people to act crappy to each other. Any side characters that weren’t awful and toxic (Sarah for example) were instead two-dimensional cartoon characters, or overused stereotypes.
-This wasn’t “messy and toxic” like Tryst Six Venom (how dare they even make the comparison lmao), I LOVED that book. There was almost nothing at all similar between these two novels. One of these novels had incredibly complex characters and an incredibly intriguing character dynamic; the other simply had someone being really crappy to someone else while that person was sad. Tryst Six Venom was an explosive toxic romance, whereas this was someone pining quietly while the other person secretly treated them terribly. This had no give-and-take, just abuse-meets-confusion.
-The cardinal sin for a romance novel: I have zero belief that these characters ended up working out after the end of the novel. None. They get together in the very last chapter and have not taken a single step towards working out their massive problems. (“We will talk about it and be honest” -a sentence is not enough)
-Ok let’s talk plot (SPOILERS):
-The first huge section of this novel is simply a straightforward story of a person who is interested in someone and slowly falling for them except they are holding themselves back for what are honestly some good reasons. There were honestly some good parts in here although overall I would say it was “just fine”. I'm waiting to see where it goes. Through this whole part, we get to see the narrating character get treated shitty by everyone around her (without there really being a point to it), and I also REALLY didn’t like Noemie at all. I never saw a single redeeming feature for Noemie other than that she was hot and cooks well; not the basis for actually liking someone.
-THEN the big reveal happens and we find out that actually Noemie has been incredibly shitty this whole time. Way worse than initially thought. Just basically going out of her way to make the narrating character unhappy, while acting like a general POS. Extensive lies and deceit. She knows that the narrator has strong feelings for her, yet she parades around a boyfriend in front of her? Then after she realizes that the boyfriend is really upsetting her….. she keeps doing it? In the story they get hung up over the fact that they made a bet that she could get her to fall for her, which isn’t great I’ll admit, but that’s not NEARLY as bad as all the things she was doing during the bet.
—Side note: the plan doesn’t even make sense. You’re trying to get someone to fall for you, except you explicitly lead them to believe that you’re straight? And not single? The narrator is holding back from making a move for some very good reasons…. which were intentionally set up by Noemie! As soon as the narrator went to make a move Noemie grabbed a boyfriend and shut down any potential relationship development; make it make sense. “Yes, let’s make the girl who has feelings for me overhear loud sex with my boyfriend, while I repeatedly send her the message that I’m not interested in her”. She was jealous the second you KISSED the boyfriend, you didn’t need to continue dating him for months to accomplish that goal???
-The scene where they get together is spicy and emotional and all that… but the fact that Noemie had a boyfriend ruined it for me (Jordan believed that she had a boyfriend at least). I don’t like cheating: both of them are shitty people in that moment and it ruined what would have otherwise been a good scene for me.
-The characters, and therefore the author, are even self-aware that Naomi is just an objectively shit person who’s been doing a bunch of shitty things. They literally say it on the page. She isn’t “messy” or complicated, she is just cruel. She was intentionally doing things simply to hurt the narrator (her own words), while holding back the information she would need to understand wtf was happening. AND not in a fun way where we can enjoy a complex back and forth, it was simply one sided cruelty.
-In Tryst Six Venom the character wants the other girl, but feels like she can’t act on it, so she acts out with misplaced cruelty because she craves her attention in any form; it’s messy and toxic but it makes sense and it’s enthralling. It’s also two sided and they both understand what’s going on, both participate, and feed off each others energy. In this book Naomi is shitty basically just because she is? It’s a lot less entertaining if one of your protagonists has zero clue why the other is being mean. A single conversation would have resolved everything.
-In the end, literally nothing is done to resolve or overcome these issues, other than just the characters deciding that maybe they should hope for the best. Apologies are made, but Noemie is still the exact same shitty person with nothing changed.
-There was zero payoff at the end of the novel. They get together: fade to black.
-It also bothered me that things were resolved by a random 3rd party intervening. Neither protagonist was making any attempt to make up or save the relationship. Kind of lame, maybe you shouldn’t be together.
OK! I rambled too long. I was just honestly disappointed. Stopping here.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 3, 2025
I loved this book! I was really rooting for Jordan and Noemie and though I wasn’t always sure *how* they would get together, it all worked. They had great chemistry and I enjoyed the push and pull of the drama and the progression of their relationship. I really felt for Jordan and thought she had a very satisfying arc that felt real and earned. This was a fast read and highly entertaining (and the cover is absolutely gorgeous)!
January 1, 2025
First off, thank you so much to NetGalley for the arc! All thoughts and opinions are my own.
What the book contains: coffee shop setting, roommates, toxic lesbians, an annoying gay man who needs to mind his business, and even more toxic lesbians.
When I say these lesbians are toxic, THESE LESBIANS ARE TOXIC! I am a lesbian. I love toxic lesbian stories—but this is toxic to the point you CAN’T stand one half of the relationship.
Let’s start off with the writing:
- It’s an arc, so if it’s already published, it may have been edited: but more scenes certainly held more attention from the author than others. At points the writing flowed well and had great descriptions, and at other times it had choppy, blocky writing that needed to be expanded on.
Now onto the characters:
- Jordan: GIRL STAND UP? Why are you on your knees for this VILE CREATURE?
- Noèmie: Never date again.
- Wayne: shut the fuck up
Oh my GOD was this romance storyline so…awful? Let me break it down for you:
Jordan hires Noèmie and ends up becoming her roommate, falls for her but feels awful over it because Noèmie is straight.
Wayne is constantly telling Jordan to leave Noèmie alone and not think about it because to him (and basically everyone else) apparently, Jordan is a lesbian that can “turn” straight women gay and he wants his new bestie to be around the coffee shop.
Jordan falls for Noèmie and feels like predatory over her emotions WHICH SHE SHOULD NOT FEEL LIKE A PREDATOR IT HAPPENS TO EVERY GAY PERSON EVER JFC WHY DOES EVERYONE SUCK IN THIS STORY AND NOT HELP HER OUT?
Jordan kisses Noèmie, has a breakdown bc she’s an SA SURVIVOR and now thinks her giving in and kissing someone is equal to what happened to her
Noèmie begins to date this dude Felix but then Jordan finds out Noèmie is actually gay just in the closet, and then Jordan gets into an accident from running off in a storm when she finds out
When Jordan expresses how she feels it isn’t fair Noèmie didn’t tell her she’s gay after Jordan confided she felt like a predator, Noèmie says something about her dead sister and goes I CAN COME OUT WHENEVER I WANT (completely dodging the fact that yes while you can come out whenever you want, you probably should tell the truth to someone WHO THINKS THEY FUCKING SEXUALLY ASSAULTED YOU WHEN THEY DID NOT)
They end up having sex and then the next morning Noèmie is on a plane to go on a trip with her fucking boyfriend
Jordan breaks down and Wayne says she’s crazy bc it’s obvious her boyfriend and Noèmie are gay and then reveals to Jordan that Noèmie and him MADE A BET in which he said Jordan is too cold and heartless to love and Noèmie bet she could tie her down, revealing he knew she was gay all along even though most of the book is him basically calling Jordan a predator for wanting Noèmie?????????
Jordan leaves and tells Noèmie to fuck off and then everyone gaslights her to the point she apologizes, even when Noèmie is explicitly telling her all the toxic things she did such as wanting to see her jealous, mad, sad, etc etc.
Like jfc that isn’t even EVERYTHING that’s just the romance? There’s also stuff about toxic families and facing interracial relationships—that aren’t ever really…worked through? Like at the end, only Noèmie gets a happy ending with her brother saying fuck you to her homophobic father, and Jordan’s family doesn’t really make much of a change…
I can’t even explain how much I dislike this book. There’s so much bad rep and I don’t like the relationship AT ALL. If you’re gonna be toxic at least be likeable like jfc.
What the book contains: coffee shop setting, roommates, toxic lesbians, an annoying gay man who needs to mind his business, and even more toxic lesbians.
When I say these lesbians are toxic, THESE LESBIANS ARE TOXIC! I am a lesbian. I love toxic lesbian stories—but this is toxic to the point you CAN’T stand one half of the relationship.
Let’s start off with the writing:
- It’s an arc, so if it’s already published, it may have been edited: but more scenes certainly held more attention from the author than others. At points the writing flowed well and had great descriptions, and at other times it had choppy, blocky writing that needed to be expanded on.
Now onto the characters:
- Jordan: GIRL STAND UP? Why are you on your knees for this VILE CREATURE?
- Noèmie: Never date again.
- Wayne: shut the fuck up
Oh my GOD was this romance storyline so…awful? Let me break it down for you:
Jordan hires Noèmie and ends up becoming her roommate, falls for her but feels awful over it because Noèmie is straight.
Wayne is constantly telling Jordan to leave Noèmie alone and not think about it because to him (and basically everyone else) apparently, Jordan is a lesbian that can “turn” straight women gay and he wants his new bestie to be around the coffee shop.
Jordan falls for Noèmie and feels like predatory over her emotions WHICH SHE SHOULD NOT FEEL LIKE A PREDATOR IT HAPPENS TO EVERY GAY PERSON EVER JFC WHY DOES EVERYONE SUCK IN THIS STORY AND NOT HELP HER OUT?
Jordan kisses Noèmie, has a breakdown bc she’s an SA SURVIVOR and now thinks her giving in and kissing someone is equal to what happened to her
Noèmie begins to date this dude Felix but then Jordan finds out Noèmie is actually gay just in the closet, and then Jordan gets into an accident from running off in a storm when she finds out
When Jordan expresses how she feels it isn’t fair Noèmie didn’t tell her she’s gay after Jordan confided she felt like a predator, Noèmie says something about her dead sister and goes I CAN COME OUT WHENEVER I WANT (completely dodging the fact that yes while you can come out whenever you want, you probably should tell the truth to someone WHO THINKS THEY FUCKING SEXUALLY ASSAULTED YOU WHEN THEY DID NOT)
They end up having sex and then the next morning Noèmie is on a plane to go on a trip with her fucking boyfriend
Jordan breaks down and Wayne says she’s crazy bc it’s obvious her boyfriend and Noèmie are gay and then reveals to Jordan that Noèmie and him MADE A BET in which he said Jordan is too cold and heartless to love and Noèmie bet she could tie her down, revealing he knew she was gay all along even though most of the book is him basically calling Jordan a predator for wanting Noèmie?????????
Jordan leaves and tells Noèmie to fuck off and then everyone gaslights her to the point she apologizes, even when Noèmie is explicitly telling her all the toxic things she did such as wanting to see her jealous, mad, sad, etc etc.
Like jfc that isn’t even EVERYTHING that’s just the romance? There’s also stuff about toxic families and facing interracial relationships—that aren’t ever really…worked through? Like at the end, only Noèmie gets a happy ending with her brother saying fuck you to her homophobic father, and Jordan’s family doesn’t really make much of a change…
I can’t even explain how much I dislike this book. There’s so much bad rep and I don’t like the relationship AT ALL. If you’re gonna be toxic at least be likeable like jfc.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 6, 2025
Ok so is Noemie a bad person and a liar? Yea… Does Jordan have a lot of issues that still need some serious working on? Yea… I still loved it tho 🫣
The characters, mainly Noemie, have a unlikable qualities, I would argue that Jordan is a lottt more redeemable (most of her issues are just internalised stuff, something we all have to deal with), however- I think that also makes them quite human? Aren’t we all kinda unlikable? I could see things in them and their relationship that I have experienced in my life and relationships, which made all this a lot more nostalgic and me more empathetic- however I understand those who feel like the characters make this a less enjoyable read.
I would like to add that they’re not just toxic or toxic for each other- they are broken people who try their best but also can’t help but do things that are wrong sometimes. It makes sense when you consider their backstories that their behaviour would be toxic sometimes! Hurt people tend to hurt people, but Noemie and Jordan do give me the impression that they’re actively trying to heal and improve themselves and find happiness! In my books that makes them worth a redemption arc. As roommates there were so many nice moments between them, and I don’t doubt that they truly enjoy each other as people.
The writing was really nice, the story telling is really well done and I only paused my read to sleep (because I have a job and couldn’t afford to stay up past midnight) but it’s definitely a story I’d read in one sitting! (And a story I’ll probably reread sooner rather than later)
Looking forward to reading more of this author, this book really hit the mark with me!
I listened to the audiobook and enjoyed the narration of that as well! Can recommend!
4.5 stars overall
(Jordan is going on my fictional crush list)
The characters, mainly Noemie, have a unlikable qualities, I would argue that Jordan is a lottt more redeemable (most of her issues are just internalised stuff, something we all have to deal with), however- I think that also makes them quite human? Aren’t we all kinda unlikable? I could see things in them and their relationship that I have experienced in my life and relationships, which made all this a lot more nostalgic and me more empathetic- however I understand those who feel like the characters make this a less enjoyable read.
I would like to add that they’re not just toxic or toxic for each other- they are broken people who try their best but also can’t help but do things that are wrong sometimes. It makes sense when you consider their backstories that their behaviour would be toxic sometimes! Hurt people tend to hurt people, but Noemie and Jordan do give me the impression that they’re actively trying to heal and improve themselves and find happiness! In my books that makes them worth a redemption arc. As roommates there were so many nice moments between them, and I don’t doubt that they truly enjoy each other as people.
The writing was really nice, the story telling is really well done and I only paused my read to sleep (because I have a job and couldn’t afford to stay up past midnight) but it’s definitely a story I’d read in one sitting! (And a story I’ll probably reread sooner rather than later)
Looking forward to reading more of this author, this book really hit the mark with me!
I listened to the audiobook and enjoyed the narration of that as well! Can recommend!
4.5 stars overall
(Jordan is going on my fictional crush list)
February 14, 2025
I dont even know how to start this review cause I have sooooo many good things to say about this book.
I havent given 5 stars so easy in MY LIFE 😭💜😍
Give me 839382 books more about Jordan and Noémie and I would read them happily.
First: DONT LISTEN TO BAD REVIEWS. Give It a chance!!! I really think this IS a case of straights reading books that are not for them, cause the amount of reviewers whose GD is 99% straight books...
Like really, since the moment i started to dive into this story I was utterly confused WTF the reviewers were talking about???
The extreme toxicity??!!! WHERE???!
I was IN LOVE reading the sincere and human way in which they communicate.
Not saying they communicate well, they struggled! But they communicated that struggle with each other and It was just so so natural.
The characters:
~ JORDAN: I love this woman with my whole heart. I really dont understand the hate. I empathise so much with her, with her fears, her defense mechanism, her avoidant tendencies. She was so human 🥹
I LOVE how the author crafter everyone' personality. She took so much care. Jordan is my baby and i'll protect her agaisnt anything 🤬🔥
~ NOÉMIE: GIRL I LOVE YOU TOO!!!! She is sososoosos much more than your "mean girl" stereotype. She is a cutie who love cooking and spending time with people she love (Jordan cof ) and watching Netflix and Jordan and did i say Jordan?
The way they cared about each other was so tangible through the book. I loved the slow burn. I loved seeing them get to know each other being roommates. I loved every single event of this book, like REALLY.
This book reminds me about "She gets the girl" in the way that I literally was FUCKING HAPPY every single moment.
I loved how we meet their families and how the "conflict" isnt resolved. I read people complaining about that but It felt so realistic.
jordan's family is a part of who she is but she IS a lot more than that. We see her struggle but we also see her in many other aspects of her life. Just like real life. I actually loved that we didnt get a super deep conclusion or reflection of her struggle with her family. Things wont be perfect just because is a book. Her family homophobia wont be solved just because you want a conclusion or a happy ending in that aspect.
Idk, It felt so natural and real and human how Jordan went in her life. I loved that she had a normal job, normal hobbies, that she drawed and that she struggled to put the work in the world.
I just enjoyed so so so much this book. REALLY.
I cried, and smile and laugh and was so into everything.
It felt like I was intruding in Jordan and Noémie's domestic life.
My only complain would be the ending. A bit rushed and I honestly needed Noemie to beg a little. BUT EVEN THAT FELT REALISTIC!!!
I heard the author is going to write a book from Noémie's POV AND PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!!
The jealousy was top-notch too!!!!
THIS ENTIRE BOOK IS MY LITERAL CHEF KISS 🤌🏻🤌🏻🤌🏻🤌🏻
I'm gonna re-read this so many times it's not even funny....
Rep: LESBIANS MC!!!! One struggle a little with internalised and external homophobia and """""date"""" a man (but It was fake date and well, other things that are spoilers lolol)
I dont know if this contain spoilers so i'll tag it as such just in case <3
I havent given 5 stars so easy in MY LIFE 😭💜😍
Give me 839382 books more about Jordan and Noémie and I would read them happily.
First: DONT LISTEN TO BAD REVIEWS. Give It a chance!!! I really think this IS a case of straights reading books that are not for them, cause the amount of reviewers whose GD is 99% straight books...
Like really, since the moment i started to dive into this story I was utterly confused WTF the reviewers were talking about???
The extreme toxicity??!!! WHERE???!
I was IN LOVE reading the sincere and human way in which they communicate.
Not saying they communicate well, they struggled! But they communicated that struggle with each other and It was just so so natural.
The characters:
~ JORDAN: I love this woman with my whole heart. I really dont understand the hate. I empathise so much with her, with her fears, her defense mechanism, her avoidant tendencies. She was so human 🥹
I LOVE how the author crafter everyone' personality. She took so much care. Jordan is my baby and i'll protect her agaisnt anything 🤬🔥
~ NOÉMIE: GIRL I LOVE YOU TOO!!!! She is sososoosos much more than your "mean girl" stereotype. She is a cutie who love cooking and spending time with people she love (Jordan cof ) and watching Netflix and Jordan and did i say Jordan?
The way they cared about each other was so tangible through the book. I loved the slow burn. I loved seeing them get to know each other being roommates. I loved every single event of this book, like REALLY.
This book reminds me about "She gets the girl" in the way that I literally was FUCKING HAPPY every single moment.
I loved how we meet their families and how the "conflict" isnt resolved. I read people complaining about that but It felt so realistic.
jordan's family is a part of who she is but she IS a lot more than that. We see her struggle but we also see her in many other aspects of her life. Just like real life. I actually loved that we didnt get a super deep conclusion or reflection of her struggle with her family. Things wont be perfect just because is a book. Her family homophobia wont be solved just because you want a conclusion or a happy ending in that aspect.
Idk, It felt so natural and real and human how Jordan went in her life. I loved that she had a normal job, normal hobbies, that she drawed and that she struggled to put the work in the world.
I just enjoyed so so so much this book. REALLY.
I cried, and smile and laugh and was so into everything.
It felt like I was intruding in Jordan and Noémie's domestic life.
My only complain would be the ending. A bit rushed and I honestly needed Noemie to beg a little. BUT EVEN THAT FELT REALISTIC!!!
I heard the author is going to write a book from Noémie's POV AND PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!!
The jealousy was top-notch too!!!!
THIS ENTIRE BOOK IS MY LITERAL CHEF KISS 🤌🏻🤌🏻🤌🏻🤌🏻
I'm gonna re-read this so many times it's not even funny....
Rep: LESBIANS MC!!!! One struggle a little with internalised and external homophobia and """""date"""" a man (but It was fake date and well, other things that are spoilers lolol)
I dont know if this contain spoilers so i'll tag it as such just in case <3
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 19, 2025
4,5
as a lesbian with a lot of unresolved trauma and a couple of red flags (as one usually does, sue me) I find this book funny and relatable, highly recommended
as a lesbian with a lot of unresolved trauma and a couple of red flags (as one usually does, sue me) I find this book funny and relatable, highly recommended
January 6, 2025
Thank you Netgalley and M.C. Hutson Press INC for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
2.5 stars*
If you are looking for a quick-paced, messy, and toxic sapphic romance you may like French Pressed Love.
I am not going to lie, I was really excited about this book. A coffee shop romance with roommates to lovers by a Canadian author? I was sold when I read the blurb.
This book really did check all the boxes when it comes to stereotyping lesbians, from mentions of Hey Mamas, to uhauling, to sleeping with your ex and also roommate. However, at times, it did feel like the author was trying to name-drop as many lesbian references as possible. But hey, maybe some people like that! I just didn't personally, it sort of felt like a caricature of the sapphic experience (?)
Overall, this was a fun ride, though it lacked the depth I'd been hoping for! If you're looking for a quick, toxic and messy sapphic read, this one's for you!
2.5 stars*
If you are looking for a quick-paced, messy, and toxic sapphic romance you may like French Pressed Love.
I am not going to lie, I was really excited about this book. A coffee shop romance with roommates to lovers by a Canadian author? I was sold when I read the blurb.
This book really did check all the boxes when it comes to stereotyping lesbians, from mentions of Hey Mamas, to uhauling, to sleeping with your ex and also roommate. However, at times, it did feel like the author was trying to name-drop as many lesbian references as possible. But hey, maybe some people like that! I just didn't personally, it sort of felt like a caricature of the sapphic experience (?)
Overall, this was a fun ride, though it lacked the depth I'd been hoping for! If you're looking for a quick, toxic and messy sapphic read, this one's for you!
January 3, 2025
Received this as an ARC in exchange for honest review. I went into this book with no expectations, I did not read the little blurb, but I knew of MC through TikTok and podcasts. And I have to say that this was probably my favorite read of 2024. I devoured this book in <24 hours. I don’t like reviews with spoilers. So, I am going to attempt to not spoil anything. The plot of this was unique and the fine details were certainly not predictable in the best way, which is new for me given the amount of sapphic fiction that consume. This is a well-written, slow burn. The spice was perfect for the pace of the book. Love the masc representation, diversity of characters and language, depth of characters, single character POV (even though I would devour another book from the other MC’s POV as well), character growth, beautiful artwork, and finally the pop punk nostalgia (My eclectic little heart loves this playlist). This book has layers and I cannot wait to re-read it! Highly recommend.
April 24, 2025
2.5 stars because I really think this author has potential but this wasn’t it. LOVED the Narrator, Dara Brown.
I wanna say I bought this book with my own money & I’m a black lesbian young woman.
Both characters are completely unlikeable. I never found anything redeeming about Noemi and Jordan is extremely contradictory and self-loathing. Noemi literally never really opens up and completely manipulates her relationship with Jordan which made me hate her even more. Noemi literally LIES throughout the entire book. Neither character cares about communicating
J: “I always knew Noemi was a bitch but I thought I knew her” WHEN?? At what point did you ever actually get to know this woman? We know nothing about her besides the fact that she’s “hot”, French, rich, and a completely manipulative character.
I have never rooted for the two main characters to NOT get together. I rolled my eyes throughout the one sex scene at the END of the book.
I went into this book with no expectations and some excitement and I honestly got to the 45% mark and wanted to quit. There was no real character development throughout the book. Jordan starts off hating herself and continues to hate herself until the end. (And honestly becomes MORE anxious throughout her time with Noemi because they never communicate with one another about ANYTHING) Noemi starts off completely aloof, closed off, reserved and non-communicative and by the end of the book you can add the fact that she’s a manipulator too.
Also, why is Jordan ALWAYS having sex with someone? Has she never heard of a vibrator? Jfc, she’s always sleeping with a different woman or drowning her feelings in sex. Like, girl please get a better hobby!
Can’t think of one character I liked in this book.
I wanna say I bought this book with my own money & I’m a black lesbian young woman.
Both characters are completely unlikeable. I never found anything redeeming about Noemi and Jordan is extremely contradictory and self-loathing. Noemi literally never really opens up and completely manipulates her relationship with Jordan which made me hate her even more. Noemi literally LIES throughout the entire book. Neither character cares about communicating
J: “I always knew Noemi was a bitch but I thought I knew her” WHEN?? At what point did you ever actually get to know this woman? We know nothing about her besides the fact that she’s “hot”, French, rich, and a completely manipulative character.
I have never rooted for the two main characters to NOT get together. I rolled my eyes throughout the one sex scene at the END of the book.
I went into this book with no expectations and some excitement and I honestly got to the 45% mark and wanted to quit. There was no real character development throughout the book. Jordan starts off hating herself and continues to hate herself until the end. (And honestly becomes MORE anxious throughout her time with Noemi because they never communicate with one another about ANYTHING) Noemi starts off completely aloof, closed off, reserved and non-communicative and by the end of the book you can add the fact that she’s a manipulator too.
Also, why is Jordan ALWAYS having sex with someone? Has she never heard of a vibrator? Jfc, she’s always sleeping with a different woman or drowning her feelings in sex. Like, girl please get a better hobby!
Can’t think of one character I liked in this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 10, 2025
Disclaimer: I received an e-ARC from netgalley in exchange for a review.
I have to admit that the main reason I picked this book up was that I saw that the main character Jordan was a stone butch. That is an identity that is not featured enough in lesbian media imo and so even though I don’t read romances that often I just knew I had to read it.
Jordan is… a complicated main character. In true stereotypical butch fashion, she has a lot of trauma, that she bottles up and never talks about. I did like that that was something she managed to improve on over time. I also think that the way she treated her friends was unfair at times. But I like messy characters and seeing them do dumb stuff that messes up their lives, so I enjoyed that part of the story. And I really loved that Jordan’s stoneness was something she refused to change, even when people tried to shame her for it.
Be prepared for miscommunication (or well, no communication) playing a relatively big part in this story. Unfortunately, there is a lot of things that could have been prevented if people talked to each other and that was a bit annoying, particularly the [spoilers] constant assumption that Noémi’s ex must have been a man, when Noémi always tried very carefully not to use any pronouns. Stuff like that is fine for the first half, but when I still get assumptions like that 200 pages in it gets a bit boring. I do understand why the big reveal hit Jordan hard, when it did happen, but it felt a lot like drama for drama’s sake. [spoilers end]
What I really disliked was the constant biphobia and predatory lesbian stereotyping featured in the story. While I do certainly believe that those are conversations that happen in queer circles, it was tiring to keep hearing Jordan called a predatory lesbian who turns straight girls gay even by other gay people and those she considered her friends. It got a lot worse when she turned it onto herself, but thankfully that is resolved pretty quickly. The idea that any of the characters who show or are assumed to show attraction to more than one gender are never even thought of as bisexual, but only straight, also bothered me.
I also really, really disliked the reveal at the end, when we [spoilers] find out that actually Noémi and Wayne had a bet going on for Noémi to seduce Jordan. I always heavily dislike that trope and to have it be done to Jordan by people she considered her friends was just heartbreaking. Since it happened so late in the story, I also think that it shouldn’t have been made Jordan’s responsibility to forgive. There just wasn’t the time there for her to forgive her naturally and I think it would have worked better if Noémi had been the one to beg her forgiveness. [spoilers end].
Also, there’s a harry potter reference. In a book that’s published in the year 2025. No, thank you!
And finally while the ending was sweet, I do wish there had been a bit more focus on Jordan’s backstory instead of on the miscommunication drama or that the book had been longer and allowed for more time for the forgiveness-arc.
All in all, I didn’t hate this book and again, I loved seeing a stone butch character being loved without someone trying to change her, but I wish that either the messyness of the characters had been accepted as messy but intriguing or that they had been given more time to actually fix their communication issues.
If you enjoy your slow burns to be really slow and enjoy drama a lot, maybe you'll like this more than I did though :).
TW: past prejudice against a stone person, slight aphobia from side character (it’s not natural to want to be alone), homophobia, colorism, past rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, victim blaming, trauma, fatphobia, addiction, cheating
I have to admit that the main reason I picked this book up was that I saw that the main character Jordan was a stone butch. That is an identity that is not featured enough in lesbian media imo and so even though I don’t read romances that often I just knew I had to read it.
Jordan is… a complicated main character. In true stereotypical butch fashion, she has a lot of trauma, that she bottles up and never talks about. I did like that that was something she managed to improve on over time. I also think that the way she treated her friends was unfair at times. But I like messy characters and seeing them do dumb stuff that messes up their lives, so I enjoyed that part of the story. And I really loved that Jordan’s stoneness was something she refused to change, even when people tried to shame her for it.
Be prepared for miscommunication (or well, no communication) playing a relatively big part in this story. Unfortunately, there is a lot of things that could have been prevented if people talked to each other and that was a bit annoying, particularly the [spoilers] constant assumption that Noémi’s ex must have been a man, when Noémi always tried very carefully not to use any pronouns. Stuff like that is fine for the first half, but when I still get assumptions like that 200 pages in it gets a bit boring. I do understand why the big reveal hit Jordan hard, when it did happen, but it felt a lot like drama for drama’s sake. [spoilers end]
What I really disliked was the constant biphobia and predatory lesbian stereotyping featured in the story. While I do certainly believe that those are conversations that happen in queer circles, it was tiring to keep hearing Jordan called a predatory lesbian who turns straight girls gay even by other gay people and those she considered her friends. It got a lot worse when she turned it onto herself, but thankfully that is resolved pretty quickly. The idea that any of the characters who show or are assumed to show attraction to more than one gender are never even thought of as bisexual, but only straight, also bothered me.
I also really, really disliked the reveal at the end, when we [spoilers] find out that actually Noémi and Wayne had a bet going on for Noémi to seduce Jordan. I always heavily dislike that trope and to have it be done to Jordan by people she considered her friends was just heartbreaking. Since it happened so late in the story, I also think that it shouldn’t have been made Jordan’s responsibility to forgive. There just wasn’t the time there for her to forgive her naturally and I think it would have worked better if Noémi had been the one to beg her forgiveness. [spoilers end].
Also, there’s a harry potter reference. In a book that’s published in the year 2025. No, thank you!
And finally while the ending was sweet, I do wish there had been a bit more focus on Jordan’s backstory instead of on the miscommunication drama or that the book had been longer and allowed for more time for the forgiveness-arc.
All in all, I didn’t hate this book and again, I loved seeing a stone butch character being loved without someone trying to change her, but I wish that either the messyness of the characters had been accepted as messy but intriguing or that they had been given more time to actually fix their communication issues.
If you enjoy your slow burns to be really slow and enjoy drama a lot, maybe you'll like this more than I did though :).
TW: past prejudice against a stone person, slight aphobia from side character (it’s not natural to want to be alone), homophobia, colorism, past rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, victim blaming, trauma, fatphobia, addiction, cheating
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 1, 2025
thanks to netgalley for the arc!
so that was a lot of toxic drama for a coffee shop romance !! both of these mcs are a little bit horrible (jordan is constantly leading people on, noemie is just.... well, that is actually established in the book.) and i'm still not sure what's actually going on with her money situation? did her father cut her off or did she just lie about that for fun? and if she did lie for fun (VERY possible) why didn't they ever talk about that before they just got together for a supposed happily ever after?
jordan spends a LOT of time worrying about being a 'predatory lesbian' for having a crush on noemie and it was kind of exhausting. and wayne really didn't help with that? i know he and jordan are supposed to be besties but he was nothing but kinda rude to everybody.
things i did like: jordan's realistic relationship with her family, her exasperation with her family members balanced with pride for her jamaican heritage, jordan's webcomic (probably?) working out well
so that was a lot of toxic drama for a coffee shop romance !! both of these mcs are a little bit horrible (jordan is constantly leading people on, noemie is just.... well, that is actually established in the book.) and i'm still not sure what's actually going on with her money situation? did her father cut her off or did she just lie about that for fun? and if she did lie for fun (VERY possible) why didn't they ever talk about that before they just got together for a supposed happily ever after?
jordan spends a LOT of time worrying about being a 'predatory lesbian' for having a crush on noemie and it was kind of exhausting. and wayne really didn't help with that? i know he and jordan are supposed to be besties but he was nothing but kinda rude to everybody.
things i did like: jordan's realistic relationship with her family, her exasperation with her family members balanced with pride for her jamaican heritage, jordan's webcomic (probably?) working out well
May 14, 2025
When I started reading this book I thought for a while that it would be one of my favorites. Unfortunately, all the cliches appeared along the way. Although there was tension between the main characters, when they kiss you immediately understand that something is off about them being together.
I was so looking forward to something happening between them and when it did, the book was ruined for good. There was no chemistry at all, the conversations during sex were cringeworthy and the ending was terribly predictable. I honestly can't remember how many times I've read lesbian books that end in a wedding but I hope this was my last.
I can't say I didn't like it at all. I was very excited to see what would happen between them until it happened. Then it just got worse and worse until in the end my disappointment was huge.
I don't really understand why they want to be together. Noemei is kinda of a bad person and Jordan is the most immature character I have ever seen in a book.
I was so looking forward to something happening between them and when it did, the book was ruined for good. There was no chemistry at all, the conversations during sex were cringeworthy and the ending was terribly predictable. I honestly can't remember how many times I've read lesbian books that end in a wedding but I hope this was my last.
I can't say I didn't like it at all. I was very excited to see what would happen between them until it happened. Then it just got worse and worse until in the end my disappointment was huge.
I don't really understand why they want to be together. Noemei is kinda of a bad person and Jordan is the most immature character I have ever seen in a book.
January 3, 2025
Read this in one go. Couldn't put down. these characters need help tho lol
December 17, 2024
This book is so so so good. There’s one or two reasons it hasn’t ended up as a five star but heavens if I haven’t enjoyed every second of it. Somehow, once again, I have devoured an entire Hutson novel while on an airplane (or in this case, two airplanes!) and once again find myself somewhere between in love and sobbing.
This book is a truly passionate endeavor. I’ve read quite a lot of sapphic romance at this point (arguably too much) but not every novel I read feels like it’s been written from a place of pure and utter love. I’ve always been a believer in the idea that every romance features love a little like the way the author loves. It’s something I like to examine in every romance I read but French Pressed Love just feels like that and so much more.
The story follows our lovers — Noémie and Jordan — as they stumble their way through love that they can’t seem to escape. Noémie hails from a rich family ensconced in homophobia and dysfunctionality. Jordan comes from a similarly disjointed family but was born to Jamaican parents in a much less fortunate situation. Their opposing upbringings lead them to clash but from their first meeting, there’s a distinct spark. They’re two broken people who are somehow perfect for each other, and soon that spark is a fire nobody can put out.
A fire is not an inaccurate term either. The tension is palpable. In fact, such would be my one major warning about this book. If you are not ready for an absolute rollercoaster ride of a book, a web of push and pull, miscommunications, jealousy, and extraordinary yearning, I would not recommend this title. If that sounds like your game, I absolutely recommend this title!
Overall, I’ve loved the experience of reading this book. It is a web, yes, but it tells an amazing narrative that truly leaves you on your seat. There are, however, a couple of issues I’d like to quickly note — the reasons for me why this didn’t clock as a 5-star.
Note that these absolutely will include spoilers.
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— For the most part, I’ve found the story does a really good job of tying up individual narratives into the overarching plot. There are a couple of exceptions to that, loose ends that I would’ve liked to have seen resolved. Jordan’s family situation is never really talked about after about halfway through the book (aside from one scene which is mostly intended as a plot piece). Similarly, Noémie’s situation with her parents remains iffy. Both of those could’ve been given more room to grow as an important part of each character’s lives.
— The other loose end is sort of specific, but throughout the book we get all these references to Noémie having this mystery money paying for everything, and that just never gets resolved. We never get to learn why and I don’t think I missed something (though knowing me and the way I devour books, I very well may have). It’s clear that she’s spending money on Jordan and it’s cute and adorable, but there’s just this little note every time of “how does she have the money to pay for these things?” and it never gets answered.
— Wayne kind of sucks. He’s just kind of a bad friend, and spends a lot of the book taking advantage of Jordan whenever we see him. He literally betrays his friend over a designer bag and I could not find it in my heart to forgive him for that one, despite the book clearly trying to push that narrative forward.
— I wish there’d been some form of epilogue. That’s a pretty common problem I have with romances I’ve read (yada yada, genre with few sequels), but in particular, I think this one could’ve used one. We view, over the course of the book, a very rocky and tense relationship and because of this, the ending feels a little abrupt. I love these characters, but I want to see them create a relationship together, and even though they’re perfect for each other, I want to see them succeed. I think an epilogue also could have very easily helped solve some of my problems with loose ends.
I think I’ve yapped enough as it is, so I’ll finish this one up by thanking our lovely lovely author for lending me an Advanced Reader’s Copy. I’d also like to thank all of you folks who read this amazing genre and contribute to the lovely community of sapphic romance! Love you all!
-Ell
This book is a truly passionate endeavor. I’ve read quite a lot of sapphic romance at this point (arguably too much) but not every novel I read feels like it’s been written from a place of pure and utter love. I’ve always been a believer in the idea that every romance features love a little like the way the author loves. It’s something I like to examine in every romance I read but French Pressed Love just feels like that and so much more.
The story follows our lovers — Noémie and Jordan — as they stumble their way through love that they can’t seem to escape. Noémie hails from a rich family ensconced in homophobia and dysfunctionality. Jordan comes from a similarly disjointed family but was born to Jamaican parents in a much less fortunate situation. Their opposing upbringings lead them to clash but from their first meeting, there’s a distinct spark. They’re two broken people who are somehow perfect for each other, and soon that spark is a fire nobody can put out.
A fire is not an inaccurate term either. The tension is palpable. In fact, such would be my one major warning about this book. If you are not ready for an absolute rollercoaster ride of a book, a web of push and pull, miscommunications, jealousy, and extraordinary yearning, I would not recommend this title. If that sounds like your game, I absolutely recommend this title!
Overall, I’ve loved the experience of reading this book. It is a web, yes, but it tells an amazing narrative that truly leaves you on your seat. There are, however, a couple of issues I’d like to quickly note — the reasons for me why this didn’t clock as a 5-star.
Note that these absolutely will include spoilers.
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— For the most part, I’ve found the story does a really good job of tying up individual narratives into the overarching plot. There are a couple of exceptions to that, loose ends that I would’ve liked to have seen resolved. Jordan’s family situation is never really talked about after about halfway through the book (aside from one scene which is mostly intended as a plot piece). Similarly, Noémie’s situation with her parents remains iffy. Both of those could’ve been given more room to grow as an important part of each character’s lives.
— The other loose end is sort of specific, but throughout the book we get all these references to Noémie having this mystery money paying for everything, and that just never gets resolved. We never get to learn why and I don’t think I missed something (though knowing me and the way I devour books, I very well may have). It’s clear that she’s spending money on Jordan and it’s cute and adorable, but there’s just this little note every time of “how does she have the money to pay for these things?” and it never gets answered.
— Wayne kind of sucks. He’s just kind of a bad friend, and spends a lot of the book taking advantage of Jordan whenever we see him. He literally betrays his friend over a designer bag and I could not find it in my heart to forgive him for that one, despite the book clearly trying to push that narrative forward.
— I wish there’d been some form of epilogue. That’s a pretty common problem I have with romances I’ve read (yada yada, genre with few sequels), but in particular, I think this one could’ve used one. We view, over the course of the book, a very rocky and tense relationship and because of this, the ending feels a little abrupt. I love these characters, but I want to see them create a relationship together, and even though they’re perfect for each other, I want to see them succeed. I think an epilogue also could have very easily helped solve some of my problems with loose ends.
I think I’ve yapped enough as it is, so I’ll finish this one up by thanking our lovely lovely author for lending me an Advanced Reader’s Copy. I’d also like to thank all of you folks who read this amazing genre and contribute to the lovely community of sapphic romance! Love you all!
-Ell
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 25, 2025
Addition after listening to the audiobook, provided for free by the author.
I confess, I was wrong originally. I think I was too harsh in December 2024 when I first read French Pressed Love. Some of the lies and manipulation hit me the wrong way and I couldn't forgive Noémie. After re-visiting the book as audiobook (July 2025), I still don't *love* Noémie but I do understand her better. I upgraded the rating to 4.25 stars.
Like I said in my original review, Jordan and Noémie fit great together. They could have an epic romance although the story takes a wrong turn for me. Now after experiencing this hot mess of a sapphic romance for the 2nd time, I can see the grey tones between the black and white lines.
The audiobook experience, that is *excellent* despite a few editorial technical issues, enhanced the slow burn and yearning of French Pressed Love. There are so many scenes and bits that made my heart ache and tremble and the narrator gave an extra oomph . I felt their pining and yearning in my bones and I almost got teary eyed at one point. The writing and plotting in the novel is great and the slow burn is Delicious. The new to me narrator, Dara Brown, is excellent in this romance set in Toronto. I don't speak French but I bought those Canadian French bits 100%.
I cannot wait for the 2nd (companion) book to be published. I really want to read Noémie's side of the story.
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Original review:
I've let the book marinate for almost 24 hours. I have very mixed feelings about it. For most of the book, up until around 80% mark, I was going to rate it with 5 stars. Then it dropped to 4 and quickly to 3-3.5. There are some minor spoiler below.
Jordan is an interesting main character. I really liked her although I'm not a fan of her one night stands. She feels real in every way. There's toxic family relationships, dead parent, asshole ex, past trauma, professional setbacks... There are similarities in her trauma to Jess's from L.A. Metro by RJ Nolan. I think French Pressed Love could have and should have discussed and processed the issues a bit more and at least start the healing process (like L.A. Metro did). If that was the only issue I had with the book, it wouldn't have mattered that much but with all the rest it has an effect on the overall rating. Jordan still is worth at least 4 stars as a main character.
I also liked Noémie (up until the rating started to drop). She's one of those characters that you first have to dislike and slowly start to understand and eventually love. She could have been a 5-star love interest. For me, the *big reveal* was off putting and ruined the novel and the character for me. She's toxic. She has toxic family, asshole ex, and asshole brother, but those don't give her any excuses to be the way she is. Jordan deserves better.
I think Jordan and Noémie would fit well, even great together. They could have had an epic romance but the story took the wrong turn for me. I'm almost mad about how the story evolved. There were so many scenes and bits in this slow burn romance that made my heart ache and tremble. I felt their pining and yearning in my bones. Yes, I'm mad how the story crumbled after the slow burn turned to flames.
Like said, I have mixed feelings. The novel is well written and the slow burn is delicious. The first 80% are really good, parts of it even great. There are one or two almost unnecessary side plots, like the François plot, that could have either been left out or would have needed more pages or refining. Those weren't the cause for the lower rating, though.
The *big reveal* or conflict that caused the 3rd act breakup was cheap and immature. In my opinion, it was from another story all together. It just didn't fit well with the first 80%. The conflict could have been smaller or more about their insecurities and feelings instead being this big game. The ending could have been the same even with different reason for the breakup. I'm still mad.
Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for providing the free ARC of the book.
I confess, I was wrong originally. I think I was too harsh in December 2024 when I first read French Pressed Love. Some of the lies and manipulation hit me the wrong way and I couldn't forgive Noémie. After re-visiting the book as audiobook (July 2025), I still don't *love* Noémie but I do understand her better. I upgraded the rating to 4.25 stars.
Like I said in my original review, Jordan and Noémie fit great together. They could have an epic romance although the story takes a wrong turn for me. Now after experiencing this hot mess of a sapphic romance for the 2nd time, I can see the grey tones between the black and white lines.
The audiobook experience, that is *excellent* despite a few editorial technical issues, enhanced the slow burn and yearning of French Pressed Love. There are so many scenes and bits that made my heart ache and tremble and the narrator gave an extra oomph . I felt their pining and yearning in my bones and I almost got teary eyed at one point. The writing and plotting in the novel is great and the slow burn is Delicious. The new to me narrator, Dara Brown, is excellent in this romance set in Toronto. I don't speak French but I bought those Canadian French bits 100%.
I cannot wait for the 2nd (companion) book to be published. I really want to read Noémie's side of the story.
--
Original review:
I've let the book marinate for almost 24 hours. I have very mixed feelings about it. For most of the book, up until around 80% mark, I was going to rate it with 5 stars. Then it dropped to 4 and quickly to 3-3.5. There are some minor spoiler below.
Jordan is an interesting main character. I really liked her although I'm not a fan of her one night stands. She feels real in every way. There's toxic family relationships, dead parent, asshole ex, past trauma, professional setbacks... There are similarities in her trauma to Jess's from L.A. Metro by RJ Nolan. I think French Pressed Love could have and should have discussed and processed the issues a bit more and at least start the healing process (like L.A. Metro did). If that was the only issue I had with the book, it wouldn't have mattered that much but with all the rest it has an effect on the overall rating. Jordan still is worth at least 4 stars as a main character.
I also liked Noémie (up until the rating started to drop). She's one of those characters that you first have to dislike and slowly start to understand and eventually love. She could have been a 5-star love interest. For me, the *big reveal* was off putting and ruined the novel and the character for me. She's toxic. She has toxic family, asshole ex, and asshole brother, but those don't give her any excuses to be the way she is. Jordan deserves better.
I think Jordan and Noémie would fit well, even great together. They could have had an epic romance but the story took the wrong turn for me. I'm almost mad about how the story evolved. There were so many scenes and bits in this slow burn romance that made my heart ache and tremble. I felt their pining and yearning in my bones. Yes, I'm mad how the story crumbled after the slow burn turned to flames.
Like said, I have mixed feelings. The novel is well written and the slow burn is delicious. The first 80% are really good, parts of it even great. There are one or two almost unnecessary side plots, like the François plot, that could have either been left out or would have needed more pages or refining. Those weren't the cause for the lower rating, though.
The *big reveal* or conflict that caused the 3rd act breakup was cheap and immature. In my opinion, it was from another story all together. It just didn't fit well with the first 80%. The conflict could have been smaller or more about their insecurities and feelings instead being this big game. The ending could have been the same even with different reason for the breakup. I'm still mad.
Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for providing the free ARC of the book.
March 27, 2025
Drama filled. Jordan Alexander has a degree in fine arts but gets by being a coffee shop manager in Toronto. She feels unlovable and plays the field, not doing relationships. Noemie St. Pierre is a high fashioned, regular customer at the shop. Her father owns an expanding successful restaurant chain. When her father cuts Noemie off she seeks a job at the coffee shop. And when Jordan’s roommate moves across the country, Noemie suggests leasing a room from her.
The story is told entirely from Jordan’s POV and she can be an unreliable narrator. She has feelings for Noemie but firmly believes she is straight. She also is pushy about how Noemie spends her money, making assumptions about her. This book is not miscommunication but is full of no communication. I’m not sure how much they truly know each other by the end. It is also a very, very slow burn romance. Three fourths the way through they are still interacting with others. I would almost call this realistic drama fiction more than romance.
There are a lot of other issues touched on in the story: homophobia, death of a sibling, class, race, SA, depression and more. I did like Toronto as the setting and Toronto slang word guide in the beginning of the book. It is compelling reading but it is not a light romance. If you enjoy books with characters who are harder to like and warm up to this may work for you. Thank you to the author and BooksGoSocial for the digital copy via NetGalley and I am leaving an honest review.
The story is told entirely from Jordan’s POV and she can be an unreliable narrator. She has feelings for Noemie but firmly believes she is straight. She also is pushy about how Noemie spends her money, making assumptions about her. This book is not miscommunication but is full of no communication. I’m not sure how much they truly know each other by the end. It is also a very, very slow burn romance. Three fourths the way through they are still interacting with others. I would almost call this realistic drama fiction more than romance.
There are a lot of other issues touched on in the story: homophobia, death of a sibling, class, race, SA, depression and more. I did like Toronto as the setting and Toronto slang word guide in the beginning of the book. It is compelling reading but it is not a light romance. If you enjoy books with characters who are harder to like and warm up to this may work for you. Thank you to the author and BooksGoSocial for the digital copy via NetGalley and I am leaving an honest review.
January 29, 2025
Let me be real here, I have rarely read something that the premise sounded interestingly good for this to be possibly the most toxic sapphic what the f*ck I have ever read.
I thank NetGalley for the opportunity to read this but honestly my overall annoyance to the general nonsense that I read is mind blowing. So much unnecessary drama, where one MC basically sleeps around with any woman that moves and the other is well… manipulative. Both MCs are so toxic that not even the worst trope ever of miscommunication can save this.
The family and friends are horrible people, truly awful. Rich vs poor dynamic which honestly didn’t make sense, homophobia / internal homophobia which really was a poor plot lead back to a weird try at being “hetro-normative”. Which I found actually a bit insulting to any queer person! Ridiculous volume of jealousy, lots of trauma that really is not explored nor anything moved forward to support them. The only positives I can take away was great to see some Jamaican culture with some top notch food choices and that the story was fairly short!
I am sorry to say but I would not recommend this, honestly what have I just read! Enjoy getting through this for everything to happen in the last 95% and then just end. There is no pay off plus by that point who actually cares!
I thank NetGalley for the opportunity to read this but honestly my overall annoyance to the general nonsense that I read is mind blowing. So much unnecessary drama, where one MC basically sleeps around with any woman that moves and the other is well… manipulative. Both MCs are so toxic that not even the worst trope ever of miscommunication can save this.
The family and friends are horrible people, truly awful. Rich vs poor dynamic which honestly didn’t make sense, homophobia / internal homophobia which really was a poor plot lead back to a weird try at being “hetro-normative”. Which I found actually a bit insulting to any queer person! Ridiculous volume of jealousy, lots of trauma that really is not explored nor anything moved forward to support them. The only positives I can take away was great to see some Jamaican culture with some top notch food choices and that the story was fairly short!
I am sorry to say but I would not recommend this, honestly what have I just read! Enjoy getting through this for everything to happen in the last 95% and then just end. There is no pay off plus by that point who actually cares!
December 9, 2024
I want to start off by thanking MC Hutson for providing me with this ARC!
I loved quite literally every second of this book. It was fast paced and so easy to read, it felt like I flew through the entire book. At some points towards the ending, I even had to stop reading because I did not want it to be over. I loved the characters, both the main ones and the side characters. I think everyone in this book felt very real and I could see them so clearly. Some romance books tend to sort of forget about the side characters and don't really develop them enough or make them interesting but I definitely Hutson did a great job at making them interesting.
The only criticism I have is that it felt a tiny bit too fast paced at the end, I would have enjoyed it more if there was a bit more to it. And that is why I'm giving this a 4 star and not a 5 star.
Overall I had a good fucking time and cannot wait to read more books by MC Hutson! I definitely recommend this to anyone who wants to read a fun, messy and cute sapphic book with a dash of spice. 🙏 (I need Noémie asap🫡)
I loved quite literally every second of this book. It was fast paced and so easy to read, it felt like I flew through the entire book. At some points towards the ending, I even had to stop reading because I did not want it to be over. I loved the characters, both the main ones and the side characters. I think everyone in this book felt very real and I could see them so clearly. Some romance books tend to sort of forget about the side characters and don't really develop them enough or make them interesting but I definitely Hutson did a great job at making them interesting.
The only criticism I have is that it felt a tiny bit too fast paced at the end, I would have enjoyed it more if there was a bit more to it. And that is why I'm giving this a 4 star and not a 5 star.
Overall I had a good fucking time and cannot wait to read more books by MC Hutson! I definitely recommend this to anyone who wants to read a fun, messy and cute sapphic book with a dash of spice. 🙏 (I need Noémie asap🫡)
January 18, 2025
Many thanks to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I wanna start by saying how much I wanted this to work for me. The premise sounded as a great start for a novel full of sapphic yearning and tussle between the characters, however, it was not at all like it.
First of all, the writing does not feel natural at all in my opinion. Some paragraphs were almost full of very simple sentences, most of them starting with "I did this, I saw that, I felt that"; much tell, not so much show, which is what makes a narrative interesting for a reader. Therefore, I think the lack of complex sentences and sentence variety should be looked upon before publishing the book. Some sentences also looked like they were "forcely" included in a paragraph just so for the reader to be introduced to some very clear statement, and it felt unnatural to read. There were happenings, conversations or thoughts repeated or directly implied in previous paragraphs, making the writing repetitive at times and too "on the face"; not everything has to be explicitly told by the author, by showing it throughout a scene this can be more than enough for a reader to grab the exact characteristic the author wanted to associate to said character, for example.
There was also not plenty of description, so I could not get immersed in the story completely, and although that can be a matter of writing style, there were also moment were descriptions were given, but they were either too simple or completely unnecessary to the plot or exact moment. Linking this with the simplicity of the sentences, some descriptions did not feel like a natural train of thought, no connectors, no connection at all between one sentence and the next one. It. Just. Read. Like. This. At. Times. Therefore, a description which is supposedly given for a reader to imagine a room, or to create an atmosphere just ends up giving 3 specific images of, for example, a white floor, a dishwasher, and windows. When the description of something was better, for example Noémie's house, it was clearly exaggerated in order to create a certain opinion in the reader: there was no need for that house, in which only her and her dog lived, to have THREE floors. Although this is something rich people do, get more space than they need, that detail just felt super extra in that situation. In my opinion, this inconsistency in descriptions can take a reader out of the story and disorient them.
Not only that, some of the metaphors that were used... although I understand that they somehow fulfilled their function, they were not great. Comparing someone to a "cyst" and saying that a dress fits someone "like a condom"; I'm sorry but these do not read natural at all and work really bad as metaphors.
Lastly, there were some plot holes that left me quite confused. We as readers still do not know why Noémie goes on vacation with Felix and answers so rudely to Jordan on the call. Was she mad that her "love" was not reciprocated in the moment? That issue is not really tackled at all not even by the characters themselves.
Why is Jordan so extremely closed up if all we have been reading about is her opening up to Noémie while saying that she is so afraid of having a relationship because her last one broke her heart. We still do not exactly know what Samira did to make Jordan so closed off and what made Noémie so special that Jordan started telling her all the things she supposedly has not told anyone in her life. I will talk about Jordan as a character in a moment, bu she feels extremely inconsistent as a character.
Jordan's trauma about feeling out of place in her father's part of the family, who were white, how her sister and her were completely ignored by them should have taken a bigger part in the plot. You are telling us that a black person, who feels the white supremacy not only of the society in general but inside her own family, is just now hanging out in the chillest way with Noémie and her white rich family and friends? No repercussion at all in Jordan's mental health? That sounds like a plot part with so much background and history that was not explored at all, just mentioned to give the illusion of depth for the character.
The last plot hole I could think about is Noémie's money situation. We are told her dad cut her money off because he did not agree with her liking women. However, how is Noémie still able to pay for the house, buy so many different things and spend so much money on Jordan's gift we still do not know. I as a reader have assumed that the coffee shop could not pay for her expenses as it did not for Jordan, and once she started publicly dating Felix her dad started giving her money back. However, Jordan herself notices how Noémie still receives so many Amazon packages daily before the Felix thing, how is that possible? A problem that is not tackled at all.
Finally, some words about the character building and development which I do not want to extend on because I have had enough of them. Jordan is not a good narrator to read. Although it is human to not be perfect and be contradictory and make/say things you regret... she was just such a horrible person it difficulted my reading for the most part of the story. She was so extremely judgy and full of prejudices without any reason, so rude to her supposed "friends" (who were also horrible people and were given 0 depth), she victimises herself when she is also a horriblle friend who does not seem to care for others... She was just not a pleasing charcter to read at all and made it so difficult for me to care about the story at all.
Noémie and Wayne were also not well built characters either, using the bet plot was just an easy excuse for difficulting the plot, and both characters were also so inconsistent it gave me whiplash at times. One thing is to create characters which are humans, make mistakes and sometimes do not take the right decisions, and another is to made them such an easy target for hate reading. Noémie was labeled as a Karen, just for it to be falsified with her interactions with other characters, only for her to be WORSE than a Karen and be a horrible person with such inconsistent actions. Wayne is just a horrible friend who would betray his friends for a Birkin bag. That is all you need to know about him. Sarah was also not the bestest of friends but I cannot completely tell as she is not developed at all. None of these characters really have a character development, they do not improve, do not care about the consequences of their actions, do not grow at all. Each and every one of them made me want to stop reading the novel altogether.
And it makes me mad. I can see the author having potential, having great ideas, trying to give the story a thread to follow, a plot which could have been ideal for so many readers. Sapphic representation is so so needed in literature, but the toxicity of all these characters was just too much to handle. One thing is to have certain toxic behaviours and situations, another is for the whole story and all characters to be so toxic that the reader does not root for.
I wanna start by saying how much I wanted this to work for me. The premise sounded as a great start for a novel full of sapphic yearning and tussle between the characters, however, it was not at all like it.
First of all, the writing does not feel natural at all in my opinion. Some paragraphs were almost full of very simple sentences, most of them starting with "I did this, I saw that, I felt that"; much tell, not so much show, which is what makes a narrative interesting for a reader. Therefore, I think the lack of complex sentences and sentence variety should be looked upon before publishing the book. Some sentences also looked like they were "forcely" included in a paragraph just so for the reader to be introduced to some very clear statement, and it felt unnatural to read. There were happenings, conversations or thoughts repeated or directly implied in previous paragraphs, making the writing repetitive at times and too "on the face"; not everything has to be explicitly told by the author, by showing it throughout a scene this can be more than enough for a reader to grab the exact characteristic the author wanted to associate to said character, for example.
There was also not plenty of description, so I could not get immersed in the story completely, and although that can be a matter of writing style, there were also moment were descriptions were given, but they were either too simple or completely unnecessary to the plot or exact moment. Linking this with the simplicity of the sentences, some descriptions did not feel like a natural train of thought, no connectors, no connection at all between one sentence and the next one. It. Just. Read. Like. This. At. Times. Therefore, a description which is supposedly given for a reader to imagine a room, or to create an atmosphere just ends up giving 3 specific images of, for example, a white floor, a dishwasher, and windows. When the description of something was better, for example Noémie's house, it was clearly exaggerated in order to create a certain opinion in the reader: there was no need for that house, in which only her and her dog lived, to have THREE floors. Although this is something rich people do, get more space than they need, that detail just felt super extra in that situation. In my opinion, this inconsistency in descriptions can take a reader out of the story and disorient them.
Not only that, some of the metaphors that were used... although I understand that they somehow fulfilled their function, they were not great. Comparing someone to a "cyst" and saying that a dress fits someone "like a condom"; I'm sorry but these do not read natural at all and work really bad as metaphors.
Lastly, there were some plot holes that left me quite confused. We as readers still do not know why Noémie goes on vacation with Felix and answers so rudely to Jordan on the call. Was she mad that her "love" was not reciprocated in the moment? That issue is not really tackled at all not even by the characters themselves.
Why is Jordan so extremely closed up if all we have been reading about is her opening up to Noémie while saying that she is so afraid of having a relationship because her last one broke her heart. We still do not exactly know what Samira did to make Jordan so closed off and what made Noémie so special that Jordan started telling her all the things she supposedly has not told anyone in her life. I will talk about Jordan as a character in a moment, bu she feels extremely inconsistent as a character.
Jordan's trauma about feeling out of place in her father's part of the family, who were white, how her sister and her were completely ignored by them should have taken a bigger part in the plot. You are telling us that a black person, who feels the white supremacy not only of the society in general but inside her own family, is just now hanging out in the chillest way with Noémie and her white rich family and friends? No repercussion at all in Jordan's mental health? That sounds like a plot part with so much background and history that was not explored at all, just mentioned to give the illusion of depth for the character.
The last plot hole I could think about is Noémie's money situation. We are told her dad cut her money off because he did not agree with her liking women. However, how is Noémie still able to pay for the house, buy so many different things and spend so much money on Jordan's gift we still do not know. I as a reader have assumed that the coffee shop could not pay for her expenses as it did not for Jordan, and once she started publicly dating Felix her dad started giving her money back. However, Jordan herself notices how Noémie still receives so many Amazon packages daily before the Felix thing, how is that possible? A problem that is not tackled at all.
Finally, some words about the character building and development which I do not want to extend on because I have had enough of them. Jordan is not a good narrator to read. Although it is human to not be perfect and be contradictory and make/say things you regret... she was just such a horrible person it difficulted my reading for the most part of the story. She was so extremely judgy and full of prejudices without any reason, so rude to her supposed "friends" (who were also horrible people and were given 0 depth), she victimises herself when she is also a horriblle friend who does not seem to care for others... She was just not a pleasing charcter to read at all and made it so difficult for me to care about the story at all.
Noémie and Wayne were also not well built characters either, using the bet plot was just an easy excuse for difficulting the plot, and both characters were also so inconsistent it gave me whiplash at times. One thing is to create characters which are humans, make mistakes and sometimes do not take the right decisions, and another is to made them such an easy target for hate reading. Noémie was labeled as a Karen, just for it to be falsified with her interactions with other characters, only for her to be WORSE than a Karen and be a horrible person with such inconsistent actions. Wayne is just a horrible friend who would betray his friends for a Birkin bag. That is all you need to know about him. Sarah was also not the bestest of friends but I cannot completely tell as she is not developed at all. None of these characters really have a character development, they do not improve, do not care about the consequences of their actions, do not grow at all. Each and every one of them made me want to stop reading the novel altogether.
And it makes me mad. I can see the author having potential, having great ideas, trying to give the story a thread to follow, a plot which could have been ideal for so many readers. Sapphic representation is so so needed in literature, but the toxicity of all these characters was just too much to handle. One thing is to have certain toxic behaviours and situations, another is for the whole story and all characters to be so toxic that the reader does not root for.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 30, 2024
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC
Jordan works at a coffee shop and aspires to be an artist. She's mildly obsessed with the very high femme local influencer who is the daughter of the local homophobic rich guy and is annoyed at herself for it because Noémie is rude and kind of a shit when she comes in for her coffee order. Due to circumstances, they become roommates and coworkers and, dare I say, friends? As far as Jordan knows, Noémie is hot but straight.
I enjoyed this overall because it's a quick and easy read with a lot of emotions and drama to keep you going. Sadly, there isn't much depth to dealing with trauma (Jordan has some significant trauma from her past with sexual assault) and being up front and honest (Noémie's brain is a mystery throughout this story and I wish we got more insight into her thoughts) or just being adults about miscommunications instead of just icing each other out in turns. Once again: high drama and if you enjoy that sort of thing, you'll love this.
The characters are messy and often unlikeable (Jordan needs better friends and family, my god) but the chemistry between the two main characters is definitely there and enjoyable.
TL;DR: high emotional stakes, lots of drama, and incredibly messy situations but a fun read.
Jordan works at a coffee shop and aspires to be an artist. She's mildly obsessed with the very high femme local influencer who is the daughter of the local homophobic rich guy and is annoyed at herself for it because Noémie is rude and kind of a shit when she comes in for her coffee order. Due to circumstances, they become roommates and coworkers and, dare I say, friends? As far as Jordan knows, Noémie is hot but straight.
I enjoyed this overall because it's a quick and easy read with a lot of emotions and drama to keep you going. Sadly, there isn't much depth to dealing with trauma (Jordan has some significant trauma from her past with sexual assault) and being up front and honest (Noémie's brain is a mystery throughout this story and I wish we got more insight into her thoughts) or just being adults about miscommunications instead of just icing each other out in turns. Once again: high drama and if you enjoy that sort of thing, you'll love this.
The characters are messy and often unlikeable (Jordan needs better friends and family, my god) but the chemistry between the two main characters is definitely there and enjoyable.
TL;DR: high emotional stakes, lots of drama, and incredibly messy situations but a fun read.
August 11, 2025
This book was such a fun and wild read. The drama was crazy, the twists and turns had me clutching my chest, I laughed, I cried and it was the cutest messy romance I've ever read. I had the audiobook and it was done very well, the narrator had a really nice voice and did the accents flawlessly and inflicted the emotions of the characters very well. I loved this story, I loved how messy it was and I loved the character development.
Jordan's best friend and roommate is in love with her, so she's going to move to Vancouver with her new girfriend. This leaves Jordan unable to afford rent in her city anymore and finding a roommate seems impossible. Meanwhile, at the cafe she works at, her least favorite customer stops showing up and leaves her curious about why cause though she hates how difficult Neomi is, Jordan can't deny how attracted to her she is. But Neomi is straight and the daughter of Canada's biggest bigot, but when Neomi asks for a job at the cafe and invites Jordan to be her roommate, Jordan can't get herself to say no.
Jordan's best friend and roommate is in love with her, so she's going to move to Vancouver with her new girfriend. This leaves Jordan unable to afford rent in her city anymore and finding a roommate seems impossible. Meanwhile, at the cafe she works at, her least favorite customer stops showing up and leaves her curious about why cause though she hates how difficult Neomi is, Jordan can't deny how attracted to her she is. But Neomi is straight and the daughter of Canada's biggest bigot, but when Neomi asks for a job at the cafe and invites Jordan to be her roommate, Jordan can't get herself to say no.
January 6, 2025
I loved this book. Jay is one of my favourite characters ever. There is so much pining, yearning…it was emotional and not too moody but not too light either. I was happy to read about a stone stud, because authors often don’t write about them. I adored all the culture and the insight into Toronto life. It was definitely a bit messy but it’s cozy and sweet too with good character arcs. I Will definitely be reading this author’s other book and highly anticipating any and all future ones!!!
December 30, 2024
4.5 🌟
With a cover this stunning I shouldn't have had doubts but I'm happy to report that this lived up to all my expectations. I was obsessed with this from start to finish. I need my sapphic romances to hit this hard because this was so good. The sexual tension and chemistry between the MCs was palpable. These two made sense on all levels and I loved going on this journey with them. It was sexy in all the right moments and packed just the right amount of heart.
This author is one I'll be keeping my eye on going forward.
December 22, 2024
Starting off, thank you for letting me read this amazing ARC. French Pressed Love is written from the point of view of Jordan. Her story begins at Grind That Bean coffee shop in Toronto, Canada. This book follows Jordan’s journey navigating friendship, life’s challenges, and love. This is a slow burn, filled with yearning. The end will have you smiling from ear to ear with even a few happy tears streaming down your face. This book contains many lovable characters, and you are bound to find at least one that you connect with. I highly recommend this book to fellow lovers of queer stories.
February 12, 2025
The slowest of slow burns but so worth the read. The tension and the angst and the build up of friends to lovers. I sped through it. It was well paced and I also loved the illustrations inside.
January 19, 2025
i received an e-arc from the author in exchange for an honest review.
okay, let’s start by saying: i went into this book fully aware of the drama and toxicity the author promised. m.c. hutson has been very upfront about french pressed love being messy, and honestly? i respect that. life is messy, people are flawed, and not every love story has to be wrapped up in a neat, wholesome bow. plus, i was so excited to see a stone butch lead—sapphic stories rarely center characters like jordan, and that representation got me hyped to dive in.
that said… ugh. there’s messy, and then there’s straight-up unpleasant, and jordan firmly lands in the latter. her drama? sure, i can live with that. life throws curveballs, and not everyone handles them gracefully. but jordan as a person? she’s just plain horrible.
let’s break it down. she’s catastrophically unprofessional at work—like, firing an employee for missing one day while she herself called in sick for three? hypocrisy, much? and don’t even get me started on her judgmental attitude. she’s constantly passing snap judgments on people she admits she doesn’t know. it’s offensive and frustrating, especially as a masc lesbian, to see this kind of representation. i was hoping for nuance and depth, but instead, it felt like every negative stereotype rolled into one character.
the lack of character growth was the final nail in the coffin for me. by the end, i wasn’t rooting for jordan or even noémie (who, by the way, is also a hot mess). instead of tackling their very real issues with some much-needed therapy, they’re… planning a color analysis? no, ma’am. priorities, please.
look, i get that this book isn’t meant to be a warm-and-fuzzy romance, and i appreciate the author’s boldness in creating flawed, complicated characters. but for me, there’s a line between “toxic but relatable” and “toxic and just exhausting,” and this book crossed it.
while french pressed love didn’t work for me, I can tell that the author poured her heart into it. i hope it finds readers who connect with jordan and noémie’s chaotic, drama-filled journey—unfortunately, i’m not one of them.
okay, let’s start by saying: i went into this book fully aware of the drama and toxicity the author promised. m.c. hutson has been very upfront about french pressed love being messy, and honestly? i respect that. life is messy, people are flawed, and not every love story has to be wrapped up in a neat, wholesome bow. plus, i was so excited to see a stone butch lead—sapphic stories rarely center characters like jordan, and that representation got me hyped to dive in.
that said… ugh. there’s messy, and then there’s straight-up unpleasant, and jordan firmly lands in the latter. her drama? sure, i can live with that. life throws curveballs, and not everyone handles them gracefully. but jordan as a person? she’s just plain horrible.
let’s break it down. she’s catastrophically unprofessional at work—like, firing an employee for missing one day while she herself called in sick for three? hypocrisy, much? and don’t even get me started on her judgmental attitude. she’s constantly passing snap judgments on people she admits she doesn’t know. it’s offensive and frustrating, especially as a masc lesbian, to see this kind of representation. i was hoping for nuance and depth, but instead, it felt like every negative stereotype rolled into one character.
the lack of character growth was the final nail in the coffin for me. by the end, i wasn’t rooting for jordan or even noémie (who, by the way, is also a hot mess). instead of tackling their very real issues with some much-needed therapy, they’re… planning a color analysis? no, ma’am. priorities, please.
look, i get that this book isn’t meant to be a warm-and-fuzzy romance, and i appreciate the author’s boldness in creating flawed, complicated characters. but for me, there’s a line between “toxic but relatable” and “toxic and just exhausting,” and this book crossed it.
while french pressed love didn’t work for me, I can tell that the author poured her heart into it. i hope it finds readers who connect with jordan and noémie’s chaotic, drama-filled journey—unfortunately, i’m not one of them.
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