Fresh Romance Volume 1: A Romance Anthology Featuring Diverse Love Stories!

Fresh Romance

by Janelle Asselin (Editor), Kate Leth, Sarah Vaughn

FRESH ROMANCE is an exciting collection of romance comics from some of comics’ most talented creators, including Kate Leth, Arielle Jovellanos, Sarah Vaughn, Sarah Winifred Searle, Sarah Kuhn, Marguerite Bennett, and Trungles. From unhappy historical marriages to covert teenage romances, there’s something for everyone in FRESH ROMANCE.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Romance, Comics, Fantasy, LGBT, Queer, Graphic Novels Comics

224 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 3, 2016

Reviews

[Tracy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read more of my reviews at Cornerfolds.com!

I picked up Fresh Romance in early 2016 and had every intention of reading it. Instead it sat on my shelf for over a year and I am just now getting around to picking it up. I didn't realize when I brought this home that it was an anthology of short graphic novels ranging in genre from paranormal to historical fiction. My main takeaway from this anthology is that the stories are entirely too short. I was interested in most of them, but they were SO short that it was really hard to feel like I'd enjoyed them fully. Something I really did appreciate though was how diverse most of them were. Here are my thoughts on each of the four (five?) stories included:

SCHOOL SPIRIT
This story was cute once I got my bearings. I felt a bit thrown into things, but as I understood what was really going on I really enjoyed the romance and the paranormal elements I totally wasn't expecting. School Spirit is the most diverse out of all of these stories and, while it was hard reading about the reactions to Justine and Malie's relationship, I loved them together! Sadly, this story really had no resolution. School Spirit feels like there SHOULD be something more to it - more volumes - but I can't find them. Overall a sweet story but annoyingly unresolved. (3 stars)

RUINED
Completely switching gears, Ruined is about a woman named Catherine, her mysterious backstory with an unknown lover (I'm assuming this is where she was "ruined"? *cringes*), and her arranged marriage to a man named Andrew. I actually really enjoyed this story a lot, but I wish I could find the rest of it! Ruined ends with "to be continued..." and is titled "Volume One," but it seems like there haven't been any additional volumes published and the author has fallen off the map. (4 stars)

THE RUBY EQUATION
This story was a little too weird and fast for me. It's about a girl named Ruby who is from some other unspecified world and her mission is to make people fall in love in a coffee shop for reasons. This one just really wasn't for me. Ruby was okay, but the speed with which she changed her outlook and the lack of explanation given for anything really just didn't do it. (2 stars)

BEAUTIES
Beauties was another really, really weird story. It's apparently a Beauty and the Beast retelling in which Beauty's father is a prince with two other daughters. The Beast is made the family pet and Beauty falls in love with him for (again) reasons. This story was incredibly short and definitely could have stood to be a bit longer to fill in some (any) details. (2 stars)

FIRST, LAST, AND ALWAYS
Honestly, I don't even know what this is. I tried really hard to understand the point. I mean... at least the art was pretty. (1 star)

While I didn't love every story, this anthology had SO much potential! Unfortunately it seems like it has been abandoned and the one story that ended with "to be continued" will go unresolved. After reading I checked out the website advertised in the back of the book ("Can't wait for more Fresh Romance? Head over to rosypress.com...") only to find that there's absolutely nothing there except a link to an old Kickstarter. Keep in mind, this anthology was published in 2016. I feel fortunate to have gotten a copy for free. If I'd paid for it I would've been pretty irritated.

My rating for Fresh Romance was originally 2.5 stars, but I'm taking off a star because the story that ended on a cliffhanger (the only one I really, really enjoyed) has no next volume and the rest of the stories are so unresolved. I've read quite a few graphic novels over the years and I've never felt quite this irritated over the distinct lack of endings. I definitely can't recommend seeking this one out.

Actual rating: 1.5 stars

[destiny ♡ howling libraries · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I heard of this graphic novel, I was so genuinely excited to read it, and I honestly thought it would be something really special. It was, but not in a good way... Let me put it this way: it's very rare that I literally regret reading something, but I genuinely, 100% regret reading this graphic novel anthology. It's not that it was all bad, but...

→ School Spirit — ★★★☆☆
This had a lot of potential to be adorable, once I got used to what the heck was going on, but in the beginning, you're thrown into it with no explanation whatsoever and I was actually getting really irritated while trying to figure out what these characters were doing. On top of that, I know rampant homophobia is a very real issue and I can appreciate own-voice authors writing about that, but when there is literally no happy ending in sight for these queer girls? Obviously, it's a 100% valid thing to write about, don't get me wrong! ... but that doesn't mean my queer self has to have fun reading it.

→ Ruined — ?!?!
I don't even know how to rate this story, but it's the #1 reason I say I regret reading this collection. It had a metric ton of potential to be a raging trashfire with the implication that this woman's previous relationship is why she's "ruined" (calm down, Destiny, let's save the rants about the social constructs of 'virginity' for another day...), but I don't think it was meant harmfully, and I was really intrigued by what was going on — so, naturally, it ended right in the middle of the freaking story with a "TO BE CONTINUED"?! Who the hell does that without warning the reader that they're only getting "part 1" of the story? I'm literally angry over this.

→ The Ruby Equation — ★★★★☆
Literally the only story in this collection that I don't have major issues with. This one follows a magical young lady whose job is apparently to match-make, but she's super resistant to the idea of actually being the one to fall in love, so you can probably guess where this one's headed. The art was lovely and the characters were cute.

→ Beauties — ★★☆☆☆
A painfully boring Beauty and the Beast retelling. That's all I've got.

→ First, Last, and Always — ★☆☆☆☆
While reading anthologies of any sort, I keep a note open on my phone/ipad/laptop/whatever, and I take notes about each story so that, when I write my review, I can break them down. My notes are usually a mash-up of quotes, key phrases, and so on, but if this tells you anything about how this final story made me feel, my entire note section for this one is literally just "WTF".

Like I said... I really wish I hadn't wasted my time with this collection. It was miserably disappointing and I am so, so glad I was able to get it from the library instead of breaking my book ban for it (which I almost did). The only reasons it's getting 2 stars instead of 1 from me are the diverse rep and how much I enjoyed the 3rd story.

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is nothing groundbreaking here, and like all anthologies it is a bit uneven, but I'd like to see another volume.


FOR REFERENCE:

Contents:
• School Spirit / Kate Leth, writer; Arielle Jovellanos, illustrator; Amanda Scurti, colorist; Taylor Esposito, letterer
• School Spirit Roundtable
• Ruined, Volume 1 / Sarah Vaughn, writer; Sarah Winifred Searle, illustrator; Ryan Ferrier, letterer
• Ruined Roundtable
• The Ruby Equation / Sarah Kuhn, writer; Sally Jane Thompson, illustrator; Savanna Ganucheau, colorist; Steve Wands, letterer; Sonia Harris, logo designer
• The Ruby Equation Roundtable
• Beauties / Marguerite Bennett, writer; Trungles [a/k/a Trung Le Nguyen], illustrator; Rachel Deering, letterer; Kris Anka, cover artist
• Beauties Roundtable
• First, Last and Always / Kieron Gillen & Christine Norrie

[Jasmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

School Spirit, by Kate Leth and Arielle Jovellanos
Two pairs of star-crossed lovers— the girls with homophobic parents, the boy whose parents want him to meet a nice girl and settle down and the magical girl who isn't allowed to date mortals— make out, get found out, and decide to seize the day with one last dance. I wish we had more in this world, cause I want to know what happens next! And I am reaffirmed as a fan of Kate Leth. Playful and fun.
Recommended

Ruined, by Sarah Vaughn and Sarah Winifred Searle
The beginning of a longer story in which a marriage of convenience (he needs her dowry, she's ruined and needs ANYBODY) starts to turn to love. It's slow moving and just beginning here. I really liked the sparse art, which fit with the restrained tone of the story.

Ruby Equation, by Sarah Kuhn and Sally Jane Thompson
I am super excited for more by Sarah Kuhn, because this was colourful and funny. An Alien being who's stationed on earth as a matchmaker really wants to move onto something BETTER, but then she finds out the power of luuuuuuve.
Recommended.

Beauties, by Marguerite Bennett and Trungles
GOOD GRIEF MARGUERITE. This is beautifully drawn (and coloured, and lettered), but the prose. The PROSE. I could eat that prose with a spoon. This is both the most unusual and I believe the best Beauty and the Beast retelling that I've ever come across.
And I just re-read it, and I think it's not just the prose, it's that the prose and the art work together so incredibly well. This is phenomenal.
Highly Recommended.

First, Last & Always, by Kieron Gillen and Christine Norrie
It's good, I guess, it just can't stand up to the fright train of the previous story.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprisingly enough, I liked this book. The first story, School Spirits was pretty great. It followed a group of friends who all had something to hide. Great art, original story. Ruined was also pretty good. I really enjoyed the art and was surprised how well the story was told. If you had told me I'd like a story about 1800's British aristocracy, I'd say you're crazy. The rest of the stories didn't really hold my interest that much.

[karli · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 stars!!

RTC

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read the first two stories

[Nore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ahh, I hate rating anthologies. Okay.

1. School Spirit - 3/5. Began abruptly, didn't gave enough depth to the characters for me to grow attached, and unfortunately centered on something I find inherently boring - high school proms! I'm not taking any stars away for that, I'm just listing it as a reason I wasn't interested.

2. Ruined - 5/5. Is this a standalone comic? Can I go read the rest of this somewhere? Beautiful art, interesting characters, and a budding relationship I wanted to see develop. This is by the same woman who wrote Sleepless, which I didn't enjoy very much because it was Ruined, except with political machinations.... which I don't care about. I also LOVED the art in Ruined! I hope this one continues.

3. The Ruby Equation - 1/5. Predictable plot, flat characters, and bland art. Maybe I would have been more forgiving if I hadn't just read Ruined, but I had, so there you have it.

4. Beauties - 4/5. Honestly, 3/5 because there was nothing to it and the storytelling was a wee bit trite, but I am a sucker for good art and this was fantastic to look at; plus, I loved the transformation.

5. First, Last, And Always - 1/5. Why.... was this included? Did they have a minimum pagecount? Did this artist run out of time and slap this together quickly? Whatever the case, I thought I was missing a chunk of pages.

[Stewart Tame · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another of those books that I knew nothing about going in. It just caught my eye. So it's a collection of romance comics, most of them containing at least a few elements of fantasy--magic, supernatural beings, etc. All but one are self-contained, although further adventures of the same characters are always possible. This was a light and fun read. The casts of the various stories tend to be multi-ethnic without being showy about it, and there are LGBTQ aspects to some of the romances, which can be either a bug or a feature depending on your tastes in reading. The stories vary in length from 4 pages to 60+. Basically, there's something here for everyone. Art and story are generally top notch across the board, with a marked manga influence. Comics romance anthologies are rare in my experience, though I've read a few in my day. This is definitely one of the better ones that I've read. Recommended!

[Lacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would love to see continuations of School Spirit and Ruined. The Ruby Equation was just ok. And the other stories I didn't really care for. But from what I've found out, the publisher no longer exists so I doubt we'll ever get any more of the the first two. I wish I had known that before I picked this book up. I also have seen this graphic anthology labeled as Queer. There's really only one Queer main couple in the very first story. The rest are all canonly straight. I do like the whole concept of graphic novel anthologies and want to read more of them.

[Sasha Elise · Rating 5 out of 5]

these were beautiful and sapphic and romantic and i actually understood everything that was happening! i especially liked the fairytale at the end and the use of magical girls. i loved how there's elements of found family to combat the homophobia. i also really liked the husband and how understanding and gentle he was.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish I liked this more, but it was slow, and the stories felt like they went nowhere :S.

[Punk · Rating 2 out of 5]

Is it unreasonable to assume that the stories in a comics anthology would be self-contained and complete? One of these straight up ends with "To Be Continued..." To be continued where? Iron Circus would never do this to me.

Five stories about romance. One isn't finished. One doesn't have any resolution. One is four pages long. One wasn't my thing. And one was my favorite. There are little Q & A segments with the artists after each story, too, but I skipped those.

The One That Doesn't Have Any Resolution

School Spirit, written by Kate Leth, art by Arielle Jovellanos, colors by Amanda Scurti: Four high school friends, two couples, some fake dating, some closeted, also there's magic immortals, just thrown in for flavor I guess. The art is great with lots of detail, expression, and bold colors. The characters are diverse. There's a main f/f couple and a background m/m couple. But the story is confusing, and the characters aren't introduced well and I couldn't keep them—or their names—straight. The story is long enough that I finally figured out who was who, but then it just ends and I wasn't invested enough in the characters (having just figured out who they were and all) to feel satisfied with their emotional accomplishment. Contains: fear of homophobia, and a dub-con kiss due to (intentional) mistaken identity.


The One That Isn't Finished

Ruined, written by Sarah Vaughn, art by Sarah Winifred Searle: Beautiful art with simple lines and gentle colors. A Regency-type arranged marriage story with an m/f couple, complete with a ramshackle mansion and an ill sister. Its focus is on the characters, and the art gives us lots of lovely expression. I would have read more of this if there had been more to read, alas, it's To Be Continued. Contains: hunting (for birds), nudity, an attempt at sex that one of the characters perhaps doesn't want. Also parts of it are in a script font that's nearly impossible to read.


The One I Like The Most

The Ruby Equation, written by Sarah Kuhn, art by Sally Jane Thompson, colors by Savanna Ganucheau: Ruby works in a coffee shop. Ruby is also a being from another plane dispatched to Earth to help humans find love. She's a cupid, basically, and gets help from a tiny flying...cat...butterfly. The art is super cute with a lot of detail and expression and fun colors. The story is fun, though it does have dub-con elements from the cupid magic, and I wanted it to end in a threesome, but the m/f pairing was also good. Contains: magic meant to influence behavior, a dub-con kiss resulting in a brief upset.


The One That Isn't My Thing

Beauties, written by Marguerite Bennett, art by Trungles: An original take on a Beauty and the Beast romance, and the art does remind me of fairy tales, like a woodcut, or an illustration from a nursery rhyme, kind of simple, and relying on impression more than detail, with flat colors. It's a great look and fits well with the story, but the writing is real preachy about the true nature of love and feels stiff and prosy. Contains: enslavement.


The One That's Four Pages Long

First, Last and Always, Kieron Gillen & Christine Norrie: More the idea of a story than an actual story, but I liked the slightly blurry impressionistic style of the art.

[Jannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of short and sweet, beautifully illustrated, just-romantic-enough stories. Loved the art, the characters, and the variety of settings from modern high school (with a paranormal twist) to a folktale-esque story. Can't wait for vol.2. <3

[Bookishrealm · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty interesting read especially since it was a compilation of short comics. There of course were some that I preferred to others. Here is what I thought of each one.

School spirit: I really liked this one. The whole dynamic behind the true relationships of the characters made it that much more interesting. There was also great representation. The ending left me wanting more and unfortunately I don't know if we will ever get a second part.

Ruined: I liked the Victorian vibe in this one and it was interesting to see the emphasis of gender roles as well; however, the story itself bothered me a little. I didn't really care for the overall meaning behind it but that could just be me.

The Ruby Equation: This one is great for people who love the supernatural and paranormal and I loved that it had to do with truly understanding the meaning of love and that it's not simply based of people maybe liking the same things.

Beauties: eh this one wasn't for me. I liked the themes and meanings but I've seen so many Beauty and the Beast re-tellings that this one just didn't do anything for me.

First, Last, and Always: okay honestly I just didn't understand this one lol it made no sense to me

[Alexis U · Rating 5 out of 5]

So cute. I had a friend recommend this to me, so I started reading the first story (big fan of Kate Leth!) and before I knew it I had devoured the whole thing. It was just what I wanted-- fun, cute, diverse, romantic. If any of those things appeal to you, pick this up! I'll be loaning it out to friends immediately. ;)

[Elysia · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

Overall, this was a disappointing collection of stories that I wanted more from and felt that the topics handled in some weren't fantastically/sensitively done. I'm regretting paying nearly $40 aud for the paperback.

[Larakaa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely collection of queer and straight romance comics short stories. Good for lightening up your mood of you're having a bad day

[Sans · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess Ruined isn’t going to be continued?

[H. Bentham · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's an anthology of 5 stories with differing themes and art styles, ALL beautiful!
•
School Spirit is the first story in this anthology and I'll admit that the highschool setting sort of reminded me of Archie. I also thought, because of the first few pages, that the main trope was gonna have love triangle but oh my goodness, it totally took a different direction, and it's all the better for it. I started it without knowing anything about any of the stories and being pleasantly surprised by this first serving was amazing.⠀

Without saying much to spoil the story I'll say what I loved about this was the queer relationships. There's the against-all-odds aspects on both main relationships but the queer ones clearly take the cake for me. There's also tiny flavorings of magic (that reminded me so much of Sabrina Spellman in the Archieverse!) to twist and turn the romance, but in the magic-less couple, it helps fix some of the problems towards the end. ⠀
•
The second story, Ruined, is actually the first one I've read (upon the insistence of @chachic because it has ~bastos illustrations. LOL). I will admit I didn't fully appreciate it when I read it that first time bec I'm not a big historical romance reader (not yet, at least) but after finishing P&P last December, and letting the slow pacing of this story charm me, I got it. ❤️

There's something in the emotionally tense situation Catherine has found herself into, especially at the time period the story is set. This is also the first installment of the whole story, so it kind of ended at a cliffhanger for me, but I'm excited to find out more about Catherine and Andrew's marriage, the potential problems outside of their relationship (familial reputation, estate issues etc.), and a past lover that may or may not appear in the next parts. The artstyle seems underwhelming in relation to the others in this collection, but I think it perfectly frames and highlights the great dialogue and writing. *Also there's ~bastos drawings that surprisingly didn't hold back (even when the story did!) so there's that to look forward to. LOL
•
My personal favorite among the stories here is Beauties. I mean, the art work (inspired by Edmund Dulac, Rose O’Neill, and Harry Clarke according to the artist in the roundtable discussion included in this volume) is breathtaking! AND I LOVE FAIRYTALE RETELLINGS!!!⠀

In this subverted version of Beauty and the Beast, we get to see a not-that-furry humanoid "Beast" (that reminded me of Curran from the Kate Daniels series now that I think about it) captured by a family and is subjected to imprisonment and abuse. Beauty, the youngest of three sisters, views Krasna differently and (ugh spoiler alert!) they fell in love. •
I loved how just transgressing the social conventions of their world wasn't enough, and instead they have to ~earn their right to be with each other in a magical turn of events. I love the ending so much! I mean, I read at least 1 Beauty and the Beast retelling every year but this is high up in the ranks of my faves thus far.
•
The most light-hearted story has got to be The Ruby Equation. And once again the art style (gracing this volume's cover!) reminded me of a comic book series I collected in my teen years, W. I. T. C. H. ! Ruby has some semblance to Orube, looking somewhat Asian, and her magical animal (alien?) sidekick also reminded me of the mischievous We. I guess I felt that way bec the light and romcom-y vibe of this story is the same feeling I got from all those comics.⠀

I loved the pacing, the conflict and resolution of this story's plot. The diversity of the characters presented, as well as the fantastical aspect was an added plus, but it's the no-fuss, straight-on cutesy romance of this colorful short that caught my heart. My highlights has got to be the Cafe au Love coffeeshop setting, Clarabella, and a part of the narrative where they discuss how love can be ignited by a meet cute spark, but it would take a whole lot of other things to really make a relationship work.
•
The last, and shortest at just v few pages, story is the most reminiscent of more mainstream graphic novels I've read before. This is also the second Christine Norrie work I've read after I read Cheat early last year. ⠀

In this unique magical realist tale, a woman has clairvoyant abilities that allows her to experience the last kiss together with her and a partner's first. What I loved most about this is the distinct illustration that differentiates the time jumps, as well as rich storytelling done in such limited page count! I wish this was longer and delved a little more deeper into this uncanny gift, but its shortness is also its appeal, so IDK. LOL. 😅 You have to read this to get what I'm yapping about.

*This review first appeared as a series of bookstagrams on my IG: @bentchbites

[Bonnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I enjoyed myself most of the time as I read this anthology, I ultimately feel like I can't really recommend it, for reasons why I'll discuss in the individual reviews of each story.

School Spirit: 3.5/5

This one took a second to get a handle on, as it really throws you into things without much explanation at first, I found myself really enjoying it! A f/f romance! Magic! Cute art! But then it ended and I thought, that's it? To me it seemed to leave off in such an odd spot and really left me wanting more. It would have been really interesting to see this continue into its own full series, especially as it doesn't exactly end happily.

Ruined: 4/5

This was definitely my favorite in this anthology. It followed a woman named Catherine who gets married, though it wasn't her choice and she seems to have her heart set on another. I loved the art and the setting was really interesting and I felt invested in the story. There felt like there was a lot more to come with these characters and I wanted to know more about Catherine's past. It left off kind of in the middle of things, but it was fine because it was noted "to be continued." But apparently it's not going to be continued, so now I'm just left feeling frustrated.

The Ruby Equation: 3/5

This was just okay. Cute enough, a strange if not interesting presence, but I didn't feel really good or bad about it by the time it was over. Just okay.

Beauties: 2/5
A pretty generic Beauty and the Beast retelling that wasn't particularly captivating, and I wasn't a fan of the art, either. It was short though which made it easy to get through, otherwise I might have just skipped it.

First, Last, and Always: 1/5

It was only upon reading other people's reviews of this that I realized this was even supposed to be one of the stories. I literally thought it was a sneak peak at a future graphic novel or something, it was like maybe three pages and didn't make any real sense. Oof.

So, in conclusion, the stories in here were either bad, just okay, or good but not long enough. And the best one is only half of a story that apparently isn't going to be finished. This is why I really can't recommend it. But it was fun and fast, for the most part. Hope "Ruined" gets continued one day.

[Gabrielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alright. Time to rate the individual stories in this anthology I guess

School Spirit- super cute. Kind of hard with the whole getting dropped straight into a story but you catch up quick. Art was great. And overall like the story 4 out 5

Ruined- Um well the title comes because the main character Catherine was "ruined" before her marriage? Which, no. And also ends on a to be continued.
3 out 5

The Ruby Equation- Also cute. Loved that the main character was dropped off on Earth to help people fall in love. And the ending while you can see it coming was still adorable.
4 out 5

Beauties- A retelling of Beauty and the Beast, I'm generally on board for those. Not this one. I understood what they were going for but it did not deliver.
2 out 5

First, Last, and Always- The last story. It is only 4 pages. Art was messy. But like you want to talk about jarring story. We get jo names. We barely get a plot.
1 out 5

[Greyson | Use Your Words · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fresh Romance Series Ratings:
Fresh Romance, Vol 1: ★★★
Fresh Romance, Vol 2: Lost Interest in Series
—
School Spirit: 4.5★'s
I loved School Spirit!!!
Ruined: ★★★
This one was a bit boring and didn't give much, if at all, back story.
The Ruby Equation: 4.5★'s
This was super cute!
Beauties: ★★★
This was an interesting take on Beauty and the Beast. I wasn't into the art style though.
First, Last and Always: ★★★
Short and sweet.
—
I read this book as part of my 2018 Library Love binge, where I read as many library books as possible to take advantage of my great local library network before I move interstate!
___
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[Lili · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

The art was really beautiful and that's already a huge win for a graphic novel. But I think I might have misunderstood the premise of the anthology. I thought the short comics would be complete but none of the stories felt really completed and one even ended with a "to be continued"... So that's that. I am not sure if you can call it it romance without a HEA or HFN. I don't know if the stories will continue in a next volume (seems like there are contrary information out there) but at this point I am honestly too disappointed to pick up a next installment.

[Jessie Winterspring · Rating 5 out of 5]

This anthology has been in my TBR for a year and I finish reading it in one day. I love all the story. My least favorite is the first story, but all the 4 stories are worth reading.

My most favorite is Beauties (the last story). It's an amazing retelling of Beauty and the Beast ❤

Ruined hooked me from the first page and the most interesting of the 4 stories... sadly it's not a complete story but an intro 😞 it's so disappointing. I wished it was complete 😭

[Arianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the 4th story the best. I liked this collection overall, but I think I was hoping for a little more depth in the stories. That can be hard to convey in short stories, comics or prose alike. Nevertheless, not a bad read!

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me, romance doesn't really work well in short form. I suspect all of these stories in this anthology will continue later in subsequent volumes, of the four, three feel like they could stand alone. The artwork is consistently fantastic and if these volumes weren't so hard to get my hands on, I would happily read on in the series.

[Kiera Beddes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was anthology of different love stories. My biggest complaint was that all of the stories were just first volume so they all ended without a great ending and I couldn’t figure out how to read the rest of the stories.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three stars for the whole thing but four for School Spirit - it was short but lovely!

[Madeleine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely collection of romantic short comics.