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Love Me Like You Shouldn't
Therapist. Client. Catastrophic chemistry.
Dr. Nicola Forbes has spent years building a life defined by boundaries—clinical, emotional, ethical. But when Avery Hall, a rising Hollywood star, walks into her therapy office, Nic feels something she hasn’t in years: want.
Avery is bold, brazen, and struggling under the weight of queer fame.
Nic is grieving her wife, hiding behind professionalism, and failing—spectacularly—not to fall for her client.
What begins with guarded glances and charged conversations becomes a line-crossing affair neither woman can walk away from.
Nic knows the consequences. Loving Avery could cost her her license, her reputation, everything she’s built.
But not loving her might be the greater loss.
Love Me Like You Shouldn’t is a forbidden sapphic romance about desire, fame, and the kind of love that’s absolutely, dangerously worth it.
Dr. Nicola Forbes has spent years building a life defined by boundaries—clinical, emotional, ethical. But when Avery Hall, a rising Hollywood star, walks into her therapy office, Nic feels something she hasn’t in years: want.
Avery is bold, brazen, and struggling under the weight of queer fame.
Nic is grieving her wife, hiding behind professionalism, and failing—spectacularly—not to fall for her client.
What begins with guarded glances and charged conversations becomes a line-crossing affair neither woman can walk away from.
Nic knows the consequences. Loving Avery could cost her her license, her reputation, everything she’s built.
But not loving her might be the greater loss.
Love Me Like You Shouldn’t is a forbidden sapphic romance about desire, fame, and the kind of love that’s absolutely, dangerously worth it.
282 pages, Paperback
Published February 18, 2026
About the author
Harper Bliss
138 books2,469 followersHarper Bliss is a best-selling lesbian romance author. Among her most-loved books are the highly dramatic French Kissing and the often thought-provoking Pink Bean series. She is the co-founder of My LesFic, a weekly newsletter offering discount deals on lesbian fiction.
Harper lived in Hong Kong for 7 years, travelled the world for a bit, and has now settled in Brussels (Belgium) with her wife and photogenic cat, Dolly Purrton.
Together with her wife, she hosts a weekly podcast called Harper Bliss & Her Mrs.
Harper lived in Hong Kong for 7 years, travelled the world for a bit, and has now settled in Brussels (Belgium) with her wife and photogenic cat, Dolly Purrton.
Together with her wife, she hosts a weekly podcast called Harper Bliss & Her Mrs.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 85 reviews
March 9, 2026
“To unlikely beginnings that turn into something wonderful. To owning our choices. And to love, however it finds us” (p.232)
3.25 (I'm sure with Abby Craden it's a 3.5)
I may return to my review if the story lingers longer for me...
Crafting a story lightly while carrying two complicated emotional arcs is a delicate task. When one moves through an ethically ambiguous choice, impacting 30 years of dedicated work, and the other begins her journey to become more emotionally aware of trauma and triggers, character development often unfolds in very messy ways. In many stories, readers are passengers along for the ride. The slow unraveling and careful piecing back together are experiences often appreciated and marked. Here, that journey feels more distant. Some readers may appreciate being spared by the architectural process; others may wish for the design's depth. My own experience fell somewhere in the middle.
Dr. Nicola Forbes is introduced as a woman of emotional intelligence. She has layers and depth. After thirty years as a psychologist, much of it spent working with actors, she understands the fragility of the human mind. Yet the loss of her wife and the grief rooted has hollowed out a part of her life she cannot imagine rebuilding. Desire and the possibility of another love all seem unreachable.
Enter Avery Hall, young, bold, crass, and perhaps lost. An actor who’s not so happy with the “hype” of being a queer actor. She is uninterested in the symbolic weight others attach to her identity. Defiance and resistance toward one element of her life lead her to work on another: vulnerability and intimacy.
The emotional support between Nic and Avery feels uneven, with more to explore. I want so much more for Nic, and I want Avery to grow the fuck up. She does have good moments - “…it feels less like giving up control and more like finally letting someone in” (p.199). The “I have arrived” moments are sweet, tender, and certainly hit Nic hard – in a good way. Still, the path that leads Avery to those realizations remains mostly unseen. For Nic, so much sacrifice, you can't help but want to give every tender moment of validation and security to her. It’s the emotional labor, the messy human process of becoming ready to let someone in that I love. For readers who cherish this, the unfolding and rebuilding, this story may land differently. For me, it is often where the most resonant parts of a love story live.
Harper Bliss does this so exquisitely well in A Breathless Place – still my number one. Within this experience, I find myself having to accept that what draws them together is less the meeting of two minds, less the journey to the destination, and more the intensity of their physical pull and the destination itself —a forbidden sapphic romance charged by passion and desire. The story leans fully into passion. The spice unfolds in abundance!
3.25 (I'm sure with Abby Craden it's a 3.5)
I may return to my review if the story lingers longer for me...
Crafting a story lightly while carrying two complicated emotional arcs is a delicate task. When one moves through an ethically ambiguous choice, impacting 30 years of dedicated work, and the other begins her journey to become more emotionally aware of trauma and triggers, character development often unfolds in very messy ways. In many stories, readers are passengers along for the ride. The slow unraveling and careful piecing back together are experiences often appreciated and marked. Here, that journey feels more distant. Some readers may appreciate being spared by the architectural process; others may wish for the design's depth. My own experience fell somewhere in the middle.
Dr. Nicola Forbes is introduced as a woman of emotional intelligence. She has layers and depth. After thirty years as a psychologist, much of it spent working with actors, she understands the fragility of the human mind. Yet the loss of her wife and the grief rooted has hollowed out a part of her life she cannot imagine rebuilding. Desire and the possibility of another love all seem unreachable.
Enter Avery Hall, young, bold, crass, and perhaps lost. An actor who’s not so happy with the “hype” of being a queer actor. She is uninterested in the symbolic weight others attach to her identity. Defiance and resistance toward one element of her life lead her to work on another: vulnerability and intimacy.
The emotional support between Nic and Avery feels uneven, with more to explore. I want so much more for Nic, and I want Avery to grow the fuck up. She does have good moments - “…it feels less like giving up control and more like finally letting someone in” (p.199). The “I have arrived” moments are sweet, tender, and certainly hit Nic hard – in a good way. Still, the path that leads Avery to those realizations remains mostly unseen. For Nic, so much sacrifice, you can't help but want to give every tender moment of validation and security to her. It’s the emotional labor, the messy human process of becoming ready to let someone in that I love. For readers who cherish this, the unfolding and rebuilding, this story may land differently. For me, it is often where the most resonant parts of a love story live.
Harper Bliss does this so exquisitely well in A Breathless Place – still my number one. Within this experience, I find myself having to accept that what draws them together is less the meeting of two minds, less the journey to the destination, and more the intensity of their physical pull and the destination itself —a forbidden sapphic romance charged by passion and desire. The story leans fully into passion. The spice unfolds in abundance!
February 1, 2026
This book completely hooked me from beginning to end. It’s a beautifully layered, emotionally charged story about two women whose lives collide at exactly the wrong and right moment.
Avery, an actress on the brink of fame, is navigating the pressure of sudden visibility while still carrying deep wounds from her family history. Then there’s Dr. Nic, a brilliant, reserved psychiatrist still grieving the loss of her wife. She’s convinced that the part of her capable of deep connection died right along with her partner.
Their patient‑doctor dynamic sets the stage for a forbidden, slow‑burn tension that feels both intimate and impossible. The chemistry between them is electric, tender, and yes, wonderfully steamy. Like really steamy , but then again Harper Bliss is the queen of steam :)
The supporting cast was another highlight. Getting to reconnect with characters from previous books felt like slipping back into a familiar circle of friends.
I really enjoyed this one! Highly recommend read with a solid 5 star rating.
I revived an ARC from the author.
Avery, an actress on the brink of fame, is navigating the pressure of sudden visibility while still carrying deep wounds from her family history. Then there’s Dr. Nic, a brilliant, reserved psychiatrist still grieving the loss of her wife. She’s convinced that the part of her capable of deep connection died right along with her partner.
Their patient‑doctor dynamic sets the stage for a forbidden, slow‑burn tension that feels both intimate and impossible. The chemistry between them is electric, tender, and yes, wonderfully steamy. Like really steamy , but then again Harper Bliss is the queen of steam :)
The supporting cast was another highlight. Getting to reconnect with characters from previous books felt like slipping back into a familiar circle of friends.
I really enjoyed this one! Highly recommend read with a solid 5 star rating.
I revived an ARC from the author.
March 12, 2026
2.5 ⭐️
I think the main thing I enjoyed in this was the spice. The relationship between the MCs felt so superficial though, the writing was shallow to me, and Avery was such an immature character for the most part. I also didn’t find Nic’s decision realistic at all based on how little they knew each other and without having had any meaningful conversations. It was honestly just insta lust that somehow became love with nothing really happening 🥲
I think the main thing I enjoyed in this was the spice. The relationship between the MCs felt so superficial though, the writing was shallow to me, and Avery was such an immature character for the most part. I also didn’t find Nic’s decision realistic at all based on how little they knew each other and without having had any meaningful conversations. It was honestly just insta lust that somehow became love with nothing really happening 🥲
Review of advance copy received from Author
Love Me Like You Shouldn’t is classic Harper Bliss - emotional, intimate, and unapologetically steamy. She really is the queen of forbidden romance, and this one hooked me quietly but completely from the start.
Avery, an actress on the brink of major visibility, is still carrying complicated family baggage, while Dr Nic is a therapist to the stars who is grieving her late wife and convinced she’s closed off that part of herself for good. Their patient-doctor dynamic adds a layer of tension that makes the slow burn feel both irresistible and genuinely complicated.
The chemistry is strong (and yes, very spicy), but what I liked most was the emotional depth. Both characters feel human, flawed, and in progress. The story takes its time with their growth rather than rushing the romance, which makes the connection feel earned.
I also loved seeing familiar faces from previous books as it felt like returning to a well-loved circle of friends. Overall, heartfelt, emotional, and definitely swoony. Another solid Harper Bliss read that lingers after you finish.
Many thanks to Harper Bliss for providing me a copy of this novel. ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.
Avery, an actress on the brink of major visibility, is still carrying complicated family baggage, while Dr Nic is a therapist to the stars who is grieving her late wife and convinced she’s closed off that part of herself for good. Their patient-doctor dynamic adds a layer of tension that makes the slow burn feel both irresistible and genuinely complicated.
The chemistry is strong (and yes, very spicy), but what I liked most was the emotional depth. Both characters feel human, flawed, and in progress. The story takes its time with their growth rather than rushing the romance, which makes the connection feel earned.
I also loved seeing familiar faces from previous books as it felt like returning to a well-loved circle of friends. Overall, heartfelt, emotional, and definitely swoony. Another solid Harper Bliss read that lingers after you finish.
Many thanks to Harper Bliss for providing me a copy of this novel. ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.
February 28, 2026
2⭐
At this point, I have to accept that I need to stop giving Harper Bliss chances, because this book only confirmed that her work simply isn’t for me. This was my thirteenth novel by her, and regrettably, my thirteenth disappointment.
On paper, Love Me Like You Shouldn’t should have been a guaranteed hit. An age gap romance combined with a therapist/client dynamic is usually very much my thing. Somehow, though, this story left me completely unmoved.
The novel follows Dr. Nic Forbes, a well-respected therapist still grieving the loss of her wife, and Avery Hall, a rising Hollywood star struggling with the pressures of queer fame. Avery seeks Nic out for professional help and is immediately drawn to her—and from there, things move fast.
Barely over ten chapters in, they’re already sleeping together. I don’t need a slow burn, but I do need something—tension, flirting, longing, literally anything. Here, there was none. Nothing. We’re told they find each other attractive, but I never felt it. There was no buildup, no chemistry, no emotional grounding to make their connection believable.
What truly lost me was Nic’s decision to give up her entire practice—something she has spent decades building—for what felt like a shallow, underdeveloped fling. And I do mean fling, because at that point they were nowhere near a real relationship. The choice didn’t feel earned, nor did it make sense for her character.
By the end, I didn’t feel like I truly knew either character, and I definitely didn’t believe they were in love. With a therapist/client romance, I expect high stakes, real internal conflict, and a strong focus on the forbidden nature of it all. Instead, Nic barely resists at all, which drains the story of any tension it could have had.
I finished this book feeling unsatisfied and disconnected, and the more I think about it, the more generous even two stars feels. This just didn’t work for me at all.
At this point, I have to accept that I need to stop giving Harper Bliss chances, because this book only confirmed that her work simply isn’t for me. This was my thirteenth novel by her, and regrettably, my thirteenth disappointment.
On paper, Love Me Like You Shouldn’t should have been a guaranteed hit. An age gap romance combined with a therapist/client dynamic is usually very much my thing. Somehow, though, this story left me completely unmoved.
The novel follows Dr. Nic Forbes, a well-respected therapist still grieving the loss of her wife, and Avery Hall, a rising Hollywood star struggling with the pressures of queer fame. Avery seeks Nic out for professional help and is immediately drawn to her—and from there, things move fast.
Barely over ten chapters in, they’re already sleeping together. I don’t need a slow burn, but I do need something—tension, flirting, longing, literally anything. Here, there was none. Nothing. We’re told they find each other attractive, but I never felt it. There was no buildup, no chemistry, no emotional grounding to make their connection believable.
What truly lost me was Nic’s decision to give up her entire practice—something she has spent decades building—for what felt like a shallow, underdeveloped fling. And I do mean fling, because at that point they were nowhere near a real relationship. The choice didn’t feel earned, nor did it make sense for her character.
By the end, I didn’t feel like I truly knew either character, and I definitely didn’t believe they were in love. With a therapist/client romance, I expect high stakes, real internal conflict, and a strong focus on the forbidden nature of it all. Instead, Nic barely resists at all, which drains the story of any tension it could have had.
I finished this book feeling unsatisfied and disconnected, and the more I think about it, the more generous even two stars feels. This just didn’t work for me at all.
February 25, 2026
Therapy, temptation, and enough chaos to keep it interesting.
Another solid read from Harper Bliss, complete with the trademark steam, but this one didn’t quite sweep me off my feet. I expected more sparkle from the Blissverse—especially since I’ve enjoyed the other entries more. It’s good… just not unforgettable.
The story leans heavily on Avery and Nicola’s inner monologues and conversations, especially early on, with alternating POVs each chapter. That structure gives plenty of emotional insight, though it can feel a bit talky at times.
Familiar side characters pop up like little cameos, which longtime readers will recognize.
I adore a good celebrity trope, and Bliss delivers the heat exactly where you’d expect. That said, the romance dances repeatedly on ethical thin ice—sometimes tiptoeing over it entirely.
The therapist-client dynamic and its consequences are clearly the central focus, and while the story acknowledges the boundary-crossing, it also seems oddly fixated on it. Still… the chemistry is undeniably scorching, and Bliss has always had a talent for pushing moral tension just far enough to stay compelling.
Overall, engaging, steamy, and thoughtfully messy—but not quite spectacular.
Another solid read from Harper Bliss, complete with the trademark steam, but this one didn’t quite sweep me off my feet. I expected more sparkle from the Blissverse—especially since I’ve enjoyed the other entries more. It’s good… just not unforgettable.
The story leans heavily on Avery and Nicola’s inner monologues and conversations, especially early on, with alternating POVs each chapter. That structure gives plenty of emotional insight, though it can feel a bit talky at times.
Familiar side characters pop up like little cameos, which longtime readers will recognize.
I adore a good celebrity trope, and Bliss delivers the heat exactly where you’d expect. That said, the romance dances repeatedly on ethical thin ice—sometimes tiptoeing over it entirely.
The therapist-client dynamic and its consequences are clearly the central focus, and while the story acknowledges the boundary-crossing, it also seems oddly fixated on it. Still… the chemistry is undeniably scorching, and Bliss has always had a talent for pushing moral tension just far enough to stay compelling.
Overall, engaging, steamy, and thoughtfully messy—but not quite spectacular.
March 15, 2026
3⭐️
Mixed feelings about this one. Harper Bliss excels with ‘forbidden’, age-gap and steamy reads. However, this one really lacked depth for me. Perhaps it’s the yearner in me but it all felt a bit fast and surface level. Whilst the spice was extremely hot, I don’t actually see where the depth of feelings came from. There is intense intimacy in vulnerability which was well explained but I still don’t think it is enough to explain the actions or what ended up feeling a lot like ‘insta-love’. The ‘Bliss-verse’ is a really nice touch for dedicated readers but also potentially spoils other book plots for readers hoping to dive into back catalogue. I enjoyed the theme of opening yourself up to love and that love can exist in those grey areas a lot of the time. The ethical and moral violations were explained by love being worth sacrifice in the end- even if it was handled wrong/ poorly. The book was freeing in some ways but ultimately left me feeling a little underwhelmed 📝
Mixed feelings about this one. Harper Bliss excels with ‘forbidden’, age-gap and steamy reads. However, this one really lacked depth for me. Perhaps it’s the yearner in me but it all felt a bit fast and surface level. Whilst the spice was extremely hot, I don’t actually see where the depth of feelings came from. There is intense intimacy in vulnerability which was well explained but I still don’t think it is enough to explain the actions or what ended up feeling a lot like ‘insta-love’. The ‘Bliss-verse’ is a really nice touch for dedicated readers but also potentially spoils other book plots for readers hoping to dive into back catalogue. I enjoyed the theme of opening yourself up to love and that love can exist in those grey areas a lot of the time. The ethical and moral violations were explained by love being worth sacrifice in the end- even if it was handled wrong/ poorly. The book was freeing in some ways but ultimately left me feeling a little underwhelmed 📝
February 22, 2026
I enjoyed this book but it was not as good as Bliss’s other books. I loved the message about opening our hearts to make room for more love. But the “drama” or struggles of the characters was glossed over. It felt much less developed than her prior books. Much more like a short story where there is not time to develop the plot and get into the decision making the characters must endure.
March 23, 2026
3.5
I really liked this one. It's my first by the author and she has a whole series in this "world", which I will probably continue with. I like that there were consequences but there wasn't any miscommunication, which tends to be the case. The writing made it a very quick read.
I really liked this one. It's my first by the author and she has a whole series in this "world", which I will probably continue with. I like that there were consequences but there wasn't any miscommunication, which tends to be the case. The writing made it a very quick read.
April 27, 2026
Hmmm this just really didnt do it for me
April 12, 2026
There are always excuses, but they don’t excuse it. There are justifications, but that doesn’t justify it. Explanations are not exonerations.
Consider that my thesis statement for this review. Someone had to swing in here (monkey, get it) with some sense. Look, Harper Bliss is a very capable writer and Abby Craden is a narrating wonder but, honestly, what the actual...Thus, using the Goodreads star descriptions: 1-star because "I did not like it" and not 2-star because what Nic and Avery did was not "okay". But it's "Forbidden love". That's the point! Fair. Then don't hand wave what was forbidden and why. Much less the consequences of it. But there were consequencers, Nic had to--NO SPOILERS from the peanut gallery!
The blurb sells this as a slow-burn collapse of carefully maintained professional boundaries — years of clinical discipline eroded by devastating chemistry. The reality is two therapy sessions and a drunk hookup after a birthday party. Avery was never particularly interested in therapy. She was eyefucking Nic from the start. Nic was more reserved but also noticed. This was to show their undeniable chemistry I suppose--but it comes at the expense of substance and sensibility (Take that Jane Austen!)
That reframe matters, because the book wants us to understand the ethical breach as a tragedy of irresistible feeling, when it's actually something simpler and harder: a therapist banged her client. Full stop. Perhaps interrobang.
Harper Bliss clearly did her homework on the APA's two-year minimum timeline between the end of a therapeutic relationship and the start of a romantic one. "Two years" is stated a few times.But the book seems not to understand that the two-year clock is rendered completely moot the moment Nic allows the first sexual encounter to happen. Someone call Erin Brokovich because the well is already poisoned. It's not safe to drink after two years. The two-year rule is prophylactic, not remedial.
Avery's position throughout (no, not "topping Nic" you filthy animals! Her ethical position! Hey, it was your joke. Shut up!) that she was a fully willing participant and therefore the ethical scaffolding is just dusty old male bureaucracy is presented with trademark sharp-tongued passion that the reader is clearly meant to find, if not wholly correct, at least understandable. But this is the oldest bad faith move in the book, and the novel never fully calls it out.
Consider the fearful asymmetry (take that William Blake! Okay, I'll stop. No, I won't!): when a teenage boy is seduced by an adult female teacher, a depressingly common reaction is "Lucky kid."When the genders reverse, the same culture correctly calls it predation. The variable isn't the act — it's who we instinctively root for, and whether the power imbalance is visible to us through the insidious dissembling veil of sympathy (wow, that's a mouthful. That's what she said. Stop!). This novel operates on exactly that logic, just rotated. Because both characters are women, because the readership (that's us, the Good Readership Lesbian-Pop, take that Shirley Temple! Ehh, that's not good.) wants them together, because Avery is bold and glamorous and "wants this", the power imbalance becomes invisible. Love is the equalizer. The rules are words in dusty tomes next to tax law.
But the structure of the wrong doesn't change based on who we're rooting for. A professor sleeping with a student in their class is an abuse of the preexisting relationship regardless of how mutual the desire is, regardless of how many happy years follow, regardless of who holds the institutional power. The ethical violation isn't a feeling. It's a structure.
Near the end, Mimi offers what the novel clearly intends as its moral resolution: "Love is love — you can try to fight it, but if it's mutual and both parties are able to fully consent, there's really no good reason to ever do so." The phrase "fully consent" is doing enormous heavy lifting here, and the book never interrogates it. Therapeutic relationships are specifically carved out of normal consent frameworks because the therapeutic dynamic structurally compromises the client's ability to consent freely. Therapy, done properly, places the client in deliberate vulnerability: defenses lowered, trauma excavated, trust transferred to the therapist as part of the healing mechanism. What presents as Avery's bold autonomous desire may in fact be transference. A responsible therapist would have to reckon with that. Jen suggests it. Nic worries about it. Avery denies it vehemently and the reader has to accept her vehemence as fact.
"Mutual" and "fully consent" are also, it should be noted, the precise words deployed in statutory rape defenses and the rationalizations of those who groom and abuse children. The adult points to the apparent enthusiasm of the younger or more vulnerable party as evidence of mutuality. The law and professional ethics correctly respond: the capacity to fully consent is compromised by the power structure of the relationship, regardless of how the feelings present. Harper has her character state the defense as wisdom. It reads, instead, as a tell.
I mentioned excuses and justifications. Besides it's "a forbidden romance!": Nic is five years a widow, isolated behind professional armor, blindsided by genuine feeling. Avery carries the specific exhaustion of queer fame while not wanting to be labeled queer and these feelings are deemed "self-loathing" and the cause of her violent outbursts. These are real things. They explain a great deal. They do not excuse nor justify the behavior. They certainly don't make it noble. (Actually, the book does frame it as noble, because love and--oh look, I threw up).
For those familiar with RPGs (the games not the grenades), I like to go on side quests in my reviews. No, they don't matter for the overall review, but they increase (my) enjoyment of it. As such, regarding the "Blissverse," as Harper and Harper's version of "constant readers" call it, I wanted to run down that rabbit hole for a minute. As noted, Avery chafes at having every aspect of her identity filtered through a queer lens, resenting the group chat called "Dykes in the City," calling her stance post-queer. Harper presents this as a kind of soft self-loathing, and has another character gently remind Avery that outside Hollywood's glitter bubble, queer kids are still being beaten and disenfranchised so now is not the time to set down the rhetoric and act like everything is okay.
I don't disagree with the sentiment. I also genuinely appreciate fiction where minority characters are complex human beings first, not simply vehicles for a message delivered inside a straight, cis, Christian, blinding and blinded white world. Avery, in her frustration, is actually articulating the more sophisticated artistic position: "I want to be a person in a story, not a symbol in an argument." Harper overrules her, and in doing so, produces exactly the kind of fiction Avery is complaining about. Strangely, when talking with Producer Mimi, Avery proclaims she doesn't want to BE in another queer movie and Mimi tells her the film is exactly what Avery wanted from a role and Avery is thunderstruck (take that AC/DC!). Apparently, her self-loathing position was so tenuous, she forgot what she wanted. Probably too many orgasms from, hyuck hyuck, "having sex with my therapist". Seriously, she references this many times, making a joke of it and showing the novel's true position (does it involve a strap-on this time? Actually, yes.)
The problem is that Harper Bliss is a Cakeist! That's right, I said it. WTF am I talking about? Well, you see, Cake comes from the Norse word, "kaka" and-- Oh, you mean--right. As playwright, John Heywood, noted in 1546, " "Wolde ye bothe eate your cake, and haue your cake?" Now, who can argue with that? This is what Harper wants.
You see, in the Blissverse, seemingly every prominent actress is sapphic — and not merely sapphic, but award-winning. Ida Burton has four Oscars at the start of her story. Faye has three. Avery is clearly collecting hers soon enough. These women consistently headline queer-themed films that are simultaneously indie darlings and massive commercial hits. The only non-sapphic actress currently alive is Meryl Streep--and she's the Ice Queen that begat so much queer fanfic. Queer cinema dominates critically and commercially. It is the mainstream.
And yet, society treats gay people exactly as it does today.
You cannot have both. A world where sapphic films dominate the box office and the awards circuit is not a world where queer teenagers are still being disenfranchised at the same rate as the orange-tinged nightmare of 2026. The discrimination and the dominance are mutually exclusive at that scale. Harper needs the understandable wish-fulfillment *and* the moral urgency, and she simply decrees that both exist simultaneously. I suppose if Harper were to respond to this review (she has responded to me before, but not here) she might say, "Let them eat cake!" (Take that Marie Antoinette!) Burn! Or Beheaded! Either way.
Hail, noble adventurer, here is the prize for your quest!
A slice of cake?? You know I'm gluten intolerant! This is a personal attack!
The ending is HEA. Did anyone lose consciousness over that spoiler?
Nic surrenders her practice and is given thirty days to transition her clients. The ethical framework the novel spent two hundred pages dismissing is honored; but only in its most procedural form. Not the spirit. The paperwork. What it neglected to mention is that what Nic did and where Nic did it matters too. She did this in Los Angeles. (Go Dodgers! Lakers! Rams! Whatever team has a winning record, that's how Angelenos roll, baby!)
But like I said, Los Angeles. California. Where: "Business and Professions Code Section 729 (BPC) specifies that it is a crime for therapists as sexual relations between patients and their counselors...stating that this is a form of sexual exploitation, a criminal offense."
Consent doesn't matter and sex happened when one party touches the other's genitals. And there was plenty of that lemme tell ya! Woo-hoo spicey! Forbidden! Illegal. "In most cases, this offense is charged as a misdemeanor punishable by up to 6 months in jail and a fine of $1000." Eek!
Oh, and what about Doctor Jen? Nic told her and Avery confirmed it. Jen sat on it and only acted when TMZ forced her hand because it showed Nic was outta control! The book/Harper seems to forget about her except that she stayed (bad idea) Avery's therapist. She is now also compromised. She opts not to report a self-reported (and confirmed) serious ethical violation because "Avery seems fine" and only does so because Nic wanted to be screwed by Avery in a strap-on. No, really. Oh, and the meetup not the strap, was caught by the intrepid sleaze from TMZ. TMSleaze? Hey! Neat.
By their third encounter, Nic acknowledged to herself what had been self-evident since the first: she had chosen sex over decades of practice. She calls it love, but Harper has shown us almost exclusively sex. It has been quietly (okay, noisily) substituting one for the other and trusting the reader not to notice. A couple of lines are given to how big a deal this change is, but it in no way captures the depth of what such a choice (not that she had a choice at the end) would mean. If Harper was told she could no longer write, would she treat it with such blasé utterances?
Nic, throughout, retains a sense of being starstruck by Avery (are you sure you don't want to question your judgment, Nic?) but notes how Avery is the toast of the town. The hottest in every sense new star in Hollywood (if she could). So, would she be so eager to give up her practice for "lurrrrrvvveee" if Avery was average looking as most of the readers (and authors) are? If Avery (and she herself) weren't very well off (just say it, they're rich) was simply a working actor (meaning, she probably also works at Starbucks) living in a studio rattrap apartment off Sunset? I can hear screams of 'YES!' but the answer is probably no. Call me a dream crusher.
N.E. Way: Avery, to the very end, does not get it. She remains at the emotional level of a teenager. Something that calls into question her judgment on "mutual and full consent". She faces no consequences, learns nothing, and has successfully dismantled another person's professional identity because she wanted to. She doesn't like her family for eternally unspecified reasons and it points to the true root cause of her problems, but the heck with that! She is the romantic lead. Celebrate good times, come on!! And I do mean come! (Take that Kool and the Gang!)
The supporting cast — drawn from the Blissverse are themselves products of relationships the novels initially framed as forbidden. They assemble (Avengers Assemble!) to offer their blessing. No bias here. Love is love. The chorus is unanimous. You might as well join a cult and ask fellow cult members if it's really a good idea.
Harper has spent multiple books building a supporting cast whose entire function is to normalize ethical and traditional moral violations through the weight of their own normalized ethical and moral violations. The Blissverse isn't just wish-fulfillment. It is a coherent alternative moral universe, assembled novel by novel, in which love systematically and without exception outranks every other ethical consideration. Every character who raised a concern either drops it or is overruled. The ethical framework isn't defeated by a better argument. It's defeated by attrition and orgasms. I mean love (I mean orgasms).
The book doesn't just end happily, it ends with rousing self-vindication‽
Consider that my thesis statement for this review. Someone had to swing in here (monkey, get it) with some sense. Look, Harper Bliss is a very capable writer and Abby Craden is a narrating wonder but, honestly, what the actual...Thus, using the Goodreads star descriptions: 1-star because "I did not like it" and not 2-star because what Nic and Avery did was not "okay". But it's "Forbidden love". That's the point! Fair. Then don't hand wave what was forbidden and why. Much less the consequences of it. But there were consequencers, Nic had to--NO SPOILERS from the peanut gallery!
The blurb sells this as a slow-burn collapse of carefully maintained professional boundaries — years of clinical discipline eroded by devastating chemistry. The reality is two therapy sessions and a drunk hookup after a birthday party. Avery was never particularly interested in therapy. She was eyefucking Nic from the start. Nic was more reserved but also noticed. This was to show their undeniable chemistry I suppose--but it comes at the expense of substance and sensibility (Take that Jane Austen!)
That reframe matters, because the book wants us to understand the ethical breach as a tragedy of irresistible feeling, when it's actually something simpler and harder: a therapist banged her client. Full stop. Perhaps interrobang.
Harper Bliss clearly did her homework on the APA's two-year minimum timeline between the end of a therapeutic relationship and the start of a romantic one. "Two years" is stated a few times.But the book seems not to understand that the two-year clock is rendered completely moot the moment Nic allows the first sexual encounter to happen. Someone call Erin Brokovich because the well is already poisoned. It's not safe to drink after two years. The two-year rule is prophylactic, not remedial.
Avery's position throughout (no, not "topping Nic" you filthy animals! Her ethical position! Hey, it was your joke. Shut up!) that she was a fully willing participant and therefore the ethical scaffolding is just dusty old male bureaucracy is presented with trademark sharp-tongued passion that the reader is clearly meant to find, if not wholly correct, at least understandable. But this is the oldest bad faith move in the book, and the novel never fully calls it out.
Consider the fearful asymmetry (take that William Blake! Okay, I'll stop. No, I won't!): when a teenage boy is seduced by an adult female teacher, a depressingly common reaction is "Lucky kid."When the genders reverse, the same culture correctly calls it predation. The variable isn't the act — it's who we instinctively root for, and whether the power imbalance is visible to us through the insidious dissembling veil of sympathy (wow, that's a mouthful. That's what she said. Stop!). This novel operates on exactly that logic, just rotated. Because both characters are women, because the readership (that's us, the Good Readership Lesbian-Pop, take that Shirley Temple! Ehh, that's not good.) wants them together, because Avery is bold and glamorous and "wants this", the power imbalance becomes invisible. Love is the equalizer. The rules are words in dusty tomes next to tax law.
But the structure of the wrong doesn't change based on who we're rooting for. A professor sleeping with a student in their class is an abuse of the preexisting relationship regardless of how mutual the desire is, regardless of how many happy years follow, regardless of who holds the institutional power. The ethical violation isn't a feeling. It's a structure.
Near the end, Mimi offers what the novel clearly intends as its moral resolution: "Love is love — you can try to fight it, but if it's mutual and both parties are able to fully consent, there's really no good reason to ever do so." The phrase "fully consent" is doing enormous heavy lifting here, and the book never interrogates it. Therapeutic relationships are specifically carved out of normal consent frameworks because the therapeutic dynamic structurally compromises the client's ability to consent freely. Therapy, done properly, places the client in deliberate vulnerability: defenses lowered, trauma excavated, trust transferred to the therapist as part of the healing mechanism. What presents as Avery's bold autonomous desire may in fact be transference. A responsible therapist would have to reckon with that. Jen suggests it. Nic worries about it. Avery denies it vehemently and the reader has to accept her vehemence as fact.
"Mutual" and "fully consent" are also, it should be noted, the precise words deployed in statutory rape defenses and the rationalizations of those who groom and abuse children. The adult points to the apparent enthusiasm of the younger or more vulnerable party as evidence of mutuality. The law and professional ethics correctly respond: the capacity to fully consent is compromised by the power structure of the relationship, regardless of how the feelings present. Harper has her character state the defense as wisdom. It reads, instead, as a tell.
I mentioned excuses and justifications. Besides it's "a forbidden romance!": Nic is five years a widow, isolated behind professional armor, blindsided by genuine feeling. Avery carries the specific exhaustion of queer fame while not wanting to be labeled queer and these feelings are deemed "self-loathing" and the cause of her violent outbursts. These are real things. They explain a great deal. They do not excuse nor justify the behavior. They certainly don't make it noble. (Actually, the book does frame it as noble, because love and--oh look, I threw up).
For those familiar with RPGs (the games not the grenades), I like to go on side quests in my reviews. No, they don't matter for the overall review, but they increase (my) enjoyment of it. As such, regarding the "Blissverse," as Harper and Harper's version of "constant readers" call it, I wanted to run down that rabbit hole for a minute. As noted, Avery chafes at having every aspect of her identity filtered through a queer lens, resenting the group chat called "Dykes in the City," calling her stance post-queer. Harper presents this as a kind of soft self-loathing, and has another character gently remind Avery that outside Hollywood's glitter bubble, queer kids are still being beaten and disenfranchised so now is not the time to set down the rhetoric and act like everything is okay.
I don't disagree with the sentiment. I also genuinely appreciate fiction where minority characters are complex human beings first, not simply vehicles for a message delivered inside a straight, cis, Christian, blinding and blinded white world. Avery, in her frustration, is actually articulating the more sophisticated artistic position: "I want to be a person in a story, not a symbol in an argument." Harper overrules her, and in doing so, produces exactly the kind of fiction Avery is complaining about. Strangely, when talking with Producer Mimi, Avery proclaims she doesn't want to BE in another queer movie and Mimi tells her the film is exactly what Avery wanted from a role and Avery is thunderstruck (take that AC/DC!). Apparently, her self-loathing position was so tenuous, she forgot what she wanted. Probably too many orgasms from, hyuck hyuck, "having sex with my therapist". Seriously, she references this many times, making a joke of it and showing the novel's true position (does it involve a strap-on this time? Actually, yes.)
The problem is that Harper Bliss is a Cakeist! That's right, I said it. WTF am I talking about? Well, you see, Cake comes from the Norse word, "kaka" and-- Oh, you mean--right. As playwright, John Heywood, noted in 1546, " "Wolde ye bothe eate your cake, and haue your cake?" Now, who can argue with that? This is what Harper wants.
You see, in the Blissverse, seemingly every prominent actress is sapphic — and not merely sapphic, but award-winning. Ida Burton has four Oscars at the start of her story. Faye has three. Avery is clearly collecting hers soon enough. These women consistently headline queer-themed films that are simultaneously indie darlings and massive commercial hits. The only non-sapphic actress currently alive is Meryl Streep--and she's the Ice Queen that begat so much queer fanfic. Queer cinema dominates critically and commercially. It is the mainstream.
And yet, society treats gay people exactly as it does today.
You cannot have both. A world where sapphic films dominate the box office and the awards circuit is not a world where queer teenagers are still being disenfranchised at the same rate as the orange-tinged nightmare of 2026. The discrimination and the dominance are mutually exclusive at that scale. Harper needs the understandable wish-fulfillment *and* the moral urgency, and she simply decrees that both exist simultaneously. I suppose if Harper were to respond to this review (she has responded to me before, but not here) she might say, "Let them eat cake!" (Take that Marie Antoinette!) Burn! Or Beheaded! Either way.
Hail, noble adventurer, here is the prize for your quest!
A slice of cake?? You know I'm gluten intolerant! This is a personal attack!
The ending is HEA. Did anyone lose consciousness over that spoiler?
Nic surrenders her practice and is given thirty days to transition her clients. The ethical framework the novel spent two hundred pages dismissing is honored; but only in its most procedural form. Not the spirit. The paperwork. What it neglected to mention is that what Nic did and where Nic did it matters too. She did this in Los Angeles. (Go Dodgers! Lakers! Rams! Whatever team has a winning record, that's how Angelenos roll, baby!)
But like I said, Los Angeles. California. Where: "Business and Professions Code Section 729 (BPC) specifies that it is a crime for therapists as sexual relations between patients and their counselors...stating that this is a form of sexual exploitation, a criminal offense."
Consent doesn't matter and sex happened when one party touches the other's genitals. And there was plenty of that lemme tell ya! Woo-hoo spicey! Forbidden! Illegal. "In most cases, this offense is charged as a misdemeanor punishable by up to 6 months in jail and a fine of $1000." Eek!
Oh, and what about Doctor Jen? Nic told her and Avery confirmed it. Jen sat on it and only acted when TMZ forced her hand because it showed Nic was outta control! The book/Harper seems to forget about her except that she stayed (bad idea) Avery's therapist. She is now also compromised. She opts not to report a self-reported (and confirmed) serious ethical violation because "Avery seems fine" and only does so because Nic wanted to be screwed by Avery in a strap-on. No, really. Oh, and the meetup not the strap, was caught by the intrepid sleaze from TMZ. TMSleaze? Hey! Neat.
By their third encounter, Nic acknowledged to herself what had been self-evident since the first: she had chosen sex over decades of practice. She calls it love, but Harper has shown us almost exclusively sex. It has been quietly (okay, noisily) substituting one for the other and trusting the reader not to notice. A couple of lines are given to how big a deal this change is, but it in no way captures the depth of what such a choice (not that she had a choice at the end) would mean. If Harper was told she could no longer write, would she treat it with such blasé utterances?
Nic, throughout, retains a sense of being starstruck by Avery (are you sure you don't want to question your judgment, Nic?) but notes how Avery is the toast of the town. The hottest in every sense new star in Hollywood (if she could). So, would she be so eager to give up her practice for "lurrrrrvvveee" if Avery was average looking as most of the readers (and authors) are? If Avery (and she herself) weren't very well off (just say it, they're rich) was simply a working actor (meaning, she probably also works at Starbucks) living in a studio rattrap apartment off Sunset? I can hear screams of 'YES!' but the answer is probably no. Call me a dream crusher.
N.E. Way: Avery, to the very end, does not get it. She remains at the emotional level of a teenager. Something that calls into question her judgment on "mutual and full consent". She faces no consequences, learns nothing, and has successfully dismantled another person's professional identity because she wanted to. She doesn't like her family for eternally unspecified reasons and it points to the true root cause of her problems, but the heck with that! She is the romantic lead. Celebrate good times, come on!! And I do mean come! (Take that Kool and the Gang!)
The supporting cast — drawn from the Blissverse are themselves products of relationships the novels initially framed as forbidden. They assemble (Avengers Assemble!) to offer their blessing. No bias here. Love is love. The chorus is unanimous. You might as well join a cult and ask fellow cult members if it's really a good idea.
Harper has spent multiple books building a supporting cast whose entire function is to normalize ethical and traditional moral violations through the weight of their own normalized ethical and moral violations. The Blissverse isn't just wish-fulfillment. It is a coherent alternative moral universe, assembled novel by novel, in which love systematically and without exception outranks every other ethical consideration. Every character who raised a concern either drops it or is overruled. The ethical framework isn't defeated by a better argument. It's defeated by attrition and orgasms. I mean love (I mean orgasms).
The book doesn't just end happily, it ends with rousing self-vindication‽
April 5, 2026
Avery Hall is Hollywood’s newest hot queer actor, her indie movie Queer Girl Summer with two of her best friends was a surprise box office hit, catapulting her from a long run on a soap opera to the big time. However, a homophobic guy in a bar caused her to be in the media when she retaliated. As a result, she is pushed by her agent Leslie to see a therapist. The therapist happens to be Leslie’s sister.
Dr Nicola Forbes has built a Hollywood practice over thirty years, where a large proportion of her clients have some celebrity status. After the sudden death of her wife five years previously, she threw herself into her work as a coping mechanism, and since that time she hasn’t looked at another woman in that way. However, Avery changes all that. About twenty years her junior, Avery isn’t someone she should be interested in, but Avery reminds her so much of her late wife Lois. But Nic’s biggest problem is the professional ethics of her crush.
This story is really so sexy, the way they dance around one another, debating the ethics and optics of their relationship, until the choice of how and when is taken out of their hands.
A really deep, thoughtful warm and loving story, but oh so sexy too. I liked how much detail was put into their emotional relationship as well as the next level sex. The emotion and their connection makes the sex so much hotter. Every wonderful character in this is written so we can visualise them, even the minor ones, and the cast is extensive.
Dr Nicola Forbes has built a Hollywood practice over thirty years, where a large proportion of her clients have some celebrity status. After the sudden death of her wife five years previously, she threw herself into her work as a coping mechanism, and since that time she hasn’t looked at another woman in that way. However, Avery changes all that. About twenty years her junior, Avery isn’t someone she should be interested in, but Avery reminds her so much of her late wife Lois. But Nic’s biggest problem is the professional ethics of her crush.
This story is really so sexy, the way they dance around one another, debating the ethics and optics of their relationship, until the choice of how and when is taken out of their hands.
A really deep, thoughtful warm and loving story, but oh so sexy too. I liked how much detail was put into their emotional relationship as well as the next level sex. The emotion and their connection makes the sex so much hotter. Every wonderful character in this is written so we can visualise them, even the minor ones, and the cast is extensive.
March 11, 2026
Nicola is the ultimate professional, she has been a therapist for many years, has no interest in finding love since loosing her wife and knows how to handle clients who may take a glance at her twice, but all that changes when Avery, a movie star struggling with queer fame.
For me Harper Bliss can do no wrong I have listened to so many of her sapphic books at this stage and I really rate them. They are the perfect escape-ism and I hope that they are still many more to come, especially if they are as forbidden as this one!
For me Harper Bliss can do no wrong I have listened to so many of her sapphic books at this stage and I really rate them. They are the perfect escape-ism and I hope that they are still many more to come, especially if they are as forbidden as this one!
March 14, 2026
I especially liked the moral dilemma, and that was a very important part of the book all right, but it's too heavy on the heat for me, enough to feel like a filler. I get that many people like the high spice factor, and I'm definitely not offended by it, but I prefer less of it and more plot.
March 15, 2026
Yeahhh, nope. I need a Bliss-break
March 25, 2026
I knew I probably wasn’t going to like this book, but as a therapist in training, I wanted to see if there was any ethical lens here.
Nope. The author claims it’s about owning your mistakes and… yeah, at no point do they really acknowledge the power dynamic. The whole thing just felt so icky.
Nope. The author claims it’s about owning your mistakes and… yeah, at no point do they really acknowledge the power dynamic. The whole thing just felt so icky.
May 6, 2026
this book could’ve been so much more…
May 7, 2026
Nothing kills the vibe more than ethical thought experiments mid penetration
March 25, 2026
Harper Bliss is a very talented writer, and I usually enjoy her books. That said, I found this book cringe-worthy, not enjoyable. Under no circumstances is the breach of boundaries and ethics described acceptable. The very experienced therapist had the responsibility to maintain the therapeutic boundaries, despite the strong attraction. That the attraction started and escalated so quickly should have alarmed her and immediately had her request supervision from a colleague. Her first instinct to transfer the client to another therapist was the correct one, but she failed to follow through with what she knew was ethically correct until after the breach of professional conduct. She should especially have been careful with such an immature, needy client, about whom there are several red flags. She didn’t know the client well enough to justify her acceptance that she wasn’t at risk of harming the client. We’re more used to criticizing male therapists who behave this way, but we shouldn’t accept such unprofessional behaviour from any licensed psychotherapist. The blasé treatment of this in the book and the ease with which the therapist gives up her practice minimizes the importance and impact of both the unethical behaviour and the very serious loss of the ability to practice.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 14, 2026
I like this book but it was so frustrating. There was no angst no yearning. It’s like I was more worried about the consequences than they were at any given moment. All they do is sleep together repeatedly.
I also didn’t like how from start to finish, their only connection was sex and without fail would say ‘this is more than sex.’ Their connection wasn’t formed on anything concrete. I don’t even think they know anything about each other.
The book lacked a level of depth that I have lacked from Harper Bliss’ book. I kept waiting to see a ‘two years later’ chapter. I’m sorry, but a huge part of love is not wanting your partner to give up everything for you. A 30 year career was thrown out in the trash for sex. Ugh! I was so disappointed.
3⭐️ because I still liked the writing; and it was a good story, I guess.
I also didn’t like how from start to finish, their only connection was sex and without fail would say ‘this is more than sex.’ Their connection wasn’t formed on anything concrete. I don’t even think they know anything about each other.
The book lacked a level of depth that I have lacked from Harper Bliss’ book. I kept waiting to see a ‘two years later’ chapter. I’m sorry, but a huge part of love is not wanting your partner to give up everything for you. A 30 year career was thrown out in the trash for sex. Ugh! I was so disappointed.
3⭐️ because I still liked the writing; and it was a good story, I guess.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 19, 2026
Harper once again delivers characters you can’t help but fall in love with. The emotional tension is irresistible — both characters know they shouldn’t feel what they’re feeling, yet every moment between them proves how impossible it is to fight something that feels so right. It’s heartfelt, addictive, and exactly the kind of chemistry Harper writes best.
April 17, 2026
this one was a little wacky. I was constantly torn between having such a hard time believing that this uber rule follower and highly ethical person for all these years would sleep with a client after 3 sessions and the blow up her practice……. but then also knowing that it’s a celebrity she’s had a major crush on and has been dreaming over for years. So I mean!! Idk!!!
April 7, 2026
This book just wasn’t for me. The ideas and thoughts portrayed in this book about giving up your career for someone (you literally just met) didn’t feel romantic - it felt chaotic. Their love story didn’t feel earned, and yet Nic gives up her career for Avery anyways. It read as love addiction/s3x addiction to me, and it felt unhealthy and cringe to read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 24, 2026
3 Stars
It was fun, it was light and more comfort than angsty.
While I could resonate to the overwhelming feeling that makes us do things without necessarily thinking them through and changing our world upside down, there was just something that did not 100% clicked for me.
I liked the honest way it was not about undeniable love from the start and it was okay to just see it as lust more than anything else as a trigger, and how it evolved from there - as things would.
And while it was fun all the teenage fever, that we sure look to find again out of our teen years, I just couldn't fully understand Nic and the way she handled her choices in such light manner, in the end, it did not make sense to me the way things played out.
It felt a bit unbalanced too, the dynamics between them, potentially because the cost of that leap of faith was a bit one-sided and I did not feel that Avery was fully aware of what that actually meant.
Personally, at this moment in time, it was nice this not being a fully angsty spiral that could have been, dealing with the full duality of the situation, however, it still felt a bit too easy...
I suppose I was expecting some more dwelling around it all things considered. And I do wish we could have had more of the complicated, messy part which makes us people, and all the unraveling in a slower way to make it justice.
Despite the clear ethical dilemma around it, at least in theory, it did not feel like such a big deal - which I wish could have been a bit more explored too.
Nonetheless, it was a fun read, good if you are looking for something light and easy, with more heat and than depth.
First book from Harper Bliss but certainly not the last.
It was fun, it was light and more comfort than angsty.
While I could resonate to the overwhelming feeling that makes us do things without necessarily thinking them through and changing our world upside down, there was just something that did not 100% clicked for me.
I liked the honest way it was not about undeniable love from the start and it was okay to just see it as lust more than anything else as a trigger, and how it evolved from there - as things would.
And while it was fun all the teenage fever, that we sure look to find again out of our teen years, I just couldn't fully understand Nic and the way she handled her choices in such light manner, in the end, it did not make sense to me the way things played out.
It felt a bit unbalanced too, the dynamics between them, potentially because the cost of that leap of faith was a bit one-sided and I did not feel that Avery was fully aware of what that actually meant.
Personally, at this moment in time, it was nice this not being a fully angsty spiral that could have been, dealing with the full duality of the situation, however, it still felt a bit too easy...
I suppose I was expecting some more dwelling around it all things considered. And I do wish we could have had more of the complicated, messy part which makes us people, and all the unraveling in a slower way to make it justice.
Despite the clear ethical dilemma around it, at least in theory, it did not feel like such a big deal - which I wish could have been a bit more explored too.
Nonetheless, it was a fun read, good if you are looking for something light and easy, with more heat and than depth.
First book from Harper Bliss but certainly not the last.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Heartfelt, intense, unforgettable
Harper is truly a master when it comes to writing forbidden romances, and this book is yet another powerful reminder of why her stories linger long after the final page. From the very first chapter, I was completely intrigued, hooked in that quiet but relentless way where you know you’re about to experience something special. The kind of story that pulls you in and refuses to let go.
There are so many things to love about this book, it’s hard to know where to start. The story is beautifully developed, unfolding at a pace that allows every moment to matter. The characters are deep, dimensional, and incredibly human; you don’t just read about them, you feel them. Their emotions, doubts, desires, and fears come through so vividly that it’s impossible not to become emotionally invested.
This is a heartfelt story in the truest sense. It stirs strong emotions, touches sensitive places, and explores longing and connection with such care and intensity. The chemistry between the characters is undeniable, sizzling, electric, and perfectly balanced with tenderness. Every interaction feels charged with meaning, making their relationship both intoxicating and unforgettable.
By the time I reached the end, I realized just how deeply invested I had become. I was so absorbed in the story that words almost fail me, because some books are better felt than explained. All I can truly say is that this is a great book, one that stays with you. Harper has done it again, and I already know this is a story I won’t be forgetting anytime soon.
I received an ARC for an honest review.
Harper is truly a master when it comes to writing forbidden romances, and this book is yet another powerful reminder of why her stories linger long after the final page. From the very first chapter, I was completely intrigued, hooked in that quiet but relentless way where you know you’re about to experience something special. The kind of story that pulls you in and refuses to let go.
There are so many things to love about this book, it’s hard to know where to start. The story is beautifully developed, unfolding at a pace that allows every moment to matter. The characters are deep, dimensional, and incredibly human; you don’t just read about them, you feel them. Their emotions, doubts, desires, and fears come through so vividly that it’s impossible not to become emotionally invested.
This is a heartfelt story in the truest sense. It stirs strong emotions, touches sensitive places, and explores longing and connection with such care and intensity. The chemistry between the characters is undeniable, sizzling, electric, and perfectly balanced with tenderness. Every interaction feels charged with meaning, making their relationship both intoxicating and unforgettable.
By the time I reached the end, I realized just how deeply invested I had become. I was so absorbed in the story that words almost fail me, because some books are better felt than explained. All I can truly say is that this is a great book, one that stays with you. Harper has done it again, and I already know this is a story I won’t be forgetting anytime soon.
I received an ARC for an honest review.
April 1, 2026
I went into Love Me Like You Shouldn't by Harper Bliss expecting a romance, but what I got was something so much deeper and more introspective.
This book is very character-driven, and Avery is honestly not the easiest character to love at first. She’s guarded, defensive, and constantly deflects with humor—but that’s what made her feel so real to me. Watching her navigate therapy, slowly unpack her emotions, and confront parts of herself she’d rather ignore was both frustrating and incredibly compelling.
The therapy sessions were one of my favorite parts of the book. The conversations between Avery and Nic felt raw, layered, and sometimes uncomfortable—but in a way that felt necessary. It wasn’t just about romance; it was about identity, emotional repression, and learning how to be vulnerable.
Nic’s character added such a calm and grounded contrast to Avery, but she wasn’t without her own depth and pain. I really appreciated how their dynamic developed slowly and naturally, without feeling rushed.
What stood out to me the most was how the book handled queerness. It didn’t present it in just one way—it explored different perspectives, especially through Avery’s struggle with labels and what it means to “fit” into a community. That aspect felt very honest and refreshing.
This isn’t a light or fluffy read—it’s messy, emotional, and at times a bit heavy—but it’s also thoughtful and real. If you enjoy character-driven stories with complex emotions and slow-burn development, this one is definitely worth picking up.
Overall, a raw and introspective read that stays with you even after you finish.
This book is very character-driven, and Avery is honestly not the easiest character to love at first. She’s guarded, defensive, and constantly deflects with humor—but that’s what made her feel so real to me. Watching her navigate therapy, slowly unpack her emotions, and confront parts of herself she’d rather ignore was both frustrating and incredibly compelling.
The therapy sessions were one of my favorite parts of the book. The conversations between Avery and Nic felt raw, layered, and sometimes uncomfortable—but in a way that felt necessary. It wasn’t just about romance; it was about identity, emotional repression, and learning how to be vulnerable.
Nic’s character added such a calm and grounded contrast to Avery, but she wasn’t without her own depth and pain. I really appreciated how their dynamic developed slowly and naturally, without feeling rushed.
What stood out to me the most was how the book handled queerness. It didn’t present it in just one way—it explored different perspectives, especially through Avery’s struggle with labels and what it means to “fit” into a community. That aspect felt very honest and refreshing.
This isn’t a light or fluffy read—it’s messy, emotional, and at times a bit heavy—but it’s also thoughtful and real. If you enjoy character-driven stories with complex emotions and slow-burn development, this one is definitely worth picking up.
Overall, a raw and introspective read that stays with you even after you finish.
Review of advance copy
Harper Bliss's newest, upcoming sapphic romance novel, Love Me Like You Shouldn't, is good, very good. "Catastrophic chemistry", from the blurb/promotional materials, is an understatement: risky premise, wonderful execution, very spicy (for a Harper Bliss novel, and she executes it brilliantly)!
I really enjoyed my time with this one, the set up was great - definitely had the potential to be "a Marmite read" (like A Family Affair was), for some, but for me it worked well; the only thing I would have liked to see more of is, funnily enough, more conflict and more internal-fighting before the MCs crossed the rubicon: all things considered, things went quite swimmingly for them (it could've been a bit longer with a bit more angst/slow-burn, but that's personal taste).
A fun, spicy read with lots of great characterisation. Definitely one of my favourites by Harper Bliss!
Love Me Like You Shouldn't is out now on the Bliss Shop (i.e. direct from the author), and it will be available from other retailers on 18 February 2026; the audiobook (narrated by Abby Craden) will be out in March!
Note: I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
She’s not here because she’s my client—that’s just the unfortunate fact of how we met.
I really enjoyed my time with this one, the set up was great - definitely had the potential to be "a Marmite read" (like A Family Affair was), for some, but for me it worked well; the only thing I would have liked to see more of is, funnily enough, more conflict and more internal-fighting before the MCs crossed the rubicon: all things considered, things went quite swimmingly for them (it could've been a bit longer with a bit more angst/slow-burn, but that's personal taste).
A fun, spicy read with lots of great characterisation. Definitely one of my favourites by Harper Bliss!
Love Me Like You Shouldn't is out now on the Bliss Shop (i.e. direct from the author), and it will be available from other retailers on 18 February 2026; the audiobook (narrated by Abby Craden) will be out in March!
Note: I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
February 18, 2026
I need to start this review by saying I loved this book and devoured it in one sitting! This is Harper Bliss at her scorching nuanced best.
Bliss never shies away from controversial pairings and “Love Me Like You Shouldn’t” is no exception,. Perhaps it is her most contentious yet due to the ethical questions and dilemmas it raises. The beginning of Avery and Nic’s relationship is difficult to condone, both ethically and morally, especially if you have either worked or been treated in a therapeutic environment. However, Bliss excels at pushing the boundaries of the forbidden romance trope and in “Love Me Like You Shouldn’t” she effortlessly conveys a sense of the inevitability of human connection between the two main characters and the fallibility of even the most conscientious professional. Some emotions are too strong to resist and some choices impossible not to make. What sets this book apart is Nic’s need to be accountable for her ethical violations and her acceptance of the consequences of her choices and actions.
“Love Me Like You Shouldn’t” shows us how healing comes in many forms. I was screaming “No! No! No!” then sighing “Yes, Yes! Yes!” throughout this book because in Avery and Nic’s story Harper Bliss gives us a love so strong that the morally grey becomes a beautiful rainbow!
Bliss never shies away from controversial pairings and “Love Me Like You Shouldn’t” is no exception,. Perhaps it is her most contentious yet due to the ethical questions and dilemmas it raises. The beginning of Avery and Nic’s relationship is difficult to condone, both ethically and morally, especially if you have either worked or been treated in a therapeutic environment. However, Bliss excels at pushing the boundaries of the forbidden romance trope and in “Love Me Like You Shouldn’t” she effortlessly conveys a sense of the inevitability of human connection between the two main characters and the fallibility of even the most conscientious professional. Some emotions are too strong to resist and some choices impossible not to make. What sets this book apart is Nic’s need to be accountable for her ethical violations and her acceptance of the consequences of her choices and actions.
“Love Me Like You Shouldn’t” shows us how healing comes in many forms. I was screaming “No! No! No!” then sighing “Yes, Yes! Yes!” throughout this book because in Avery and Nic’s story Harper Bliss gives us a love so strong that the morally grey becomes a beautiful rainbow!
Review of advance copy received from Author
The heart wants what the heart wants.
Sometimes in life, you reach a point where you have to follow your heart. You have no choice.
However, you have to bear the consequences and live with them.
In the case of actress Avery Hall and Dr. Nic Forbes, their professional relationship is that of therapist and client, and this comes with strict ethical boundaries.
This relationship—or rather, the imbalance between the client's vulnerable situation and the therapist's not insignificant position—can otherwise cause harm.
There are boundaries that must be respected for good reason.
But what do you do when both want each other so badly and are powerless against the attraction and the feelings that arise between them?
Avery is also very famous as the latest hottie in Hollywood, and Nic Forbes is no stranger to the spotlight either.
After all, she's the therapist for the rich and famous!
So it's hardly something that can be kept secret...or is it?
The undeniable attraction between these two, the explosive physical intimacy they develop for each other, was extremely steamy and beautifully written.
I could hardly put it down. Phew!
I loved everything about this book!
Another favorite of mine by Harper Bliss! Thank you so much!
Sometimes in life, you reach a point where you have to follow your heart. You have no choice.
However, you have to bear the consequences and live with them.
In the case of actress Avery Hall and Dr. Nic Forbes, their professional relationship is that of therapist and client, and this comes with strict ethical boundaries.
This relationship—or rather, the imbalance between the client's vulnerable situation and the therapist's not insignificant position—can otherwise cause harm.
There are boundaries that must be respected for good reason.
But what do you do when both want each other so badly and are powerless against the attraction and the feelings that arise between them?
Avery is also very famous as the latest hottie in Hollywood, and Nic Forbes is no stranger to the spotlight either.
After all, she's the therapist for the rich and famous!
So it's hardly something that can be kept secret...or is it?
The undeniable attraction between these two, the explosive physical intimacy they develop for each other, was extremely steamy and beautifully written.
I could hardly put it down. Phew!
I loved everything about this book!
Another favorite of mine by Harper Bliss! Thank you so much!
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