Review: On Her Terms

Title: On Her Terms
Author: Amy Spalding
Series: Out in Hollywood
Release Date: February 25, 2025
About this Book: Here
Source: Netgalley. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Would I buy it? I’m just waiting for the whole series to come out in hopes there will a boxset or special editions.

God, I love that there’s romance with people who are older than 22. I love it so much. I love it even more because it’s sapphic, and has both lesbian and bi rep for its main characters, and diverse representation amongst the background characters.

I took a while to read this, simply because I love this series so much, and rushing through it makes me super sad while I wait for the next book. It really does. Amy Spalding is a special writer who is on my auto-read list.

I was drawn into this book from the first line, a mantra of mine.

“I think I can, I think I can.” Because in the end, aren’t we all little trains trying to overcome challenges, obstacles and massive hills?

Chloe has one of the best character introductions in a book ever. She is tough as nails, she hides her inner vulnerability and weakness, and, in general, is pretty much hilarious. We have seen her in books before, of course, but she is irresistible in this as she pretends not to care, when in fact, she cares very much. And that’s not a bad thing. Some moments with her did come across as particularly harsh, but by the end, they were smoothed over as readers began to realize she was full of bravado. She is cynical, for sure.

Clementine, in this case, is the sunshine to Chloe’s grumpy, albeit with some ADHD thrown in, the inability to stand up for herself at first and an adorable hobby she turned into a money maker. She is a character who has slightly blown up her life when you first meet her, but is easily commiserated with because of why she did it.

She did not want to follow everyone else’s expectations of what a life should look like.

This made me cheer out loud, and I am not lying. Families and “milestones” look very different for different people, and this book really serves to celebrate that in a way where neither side of the “argument” is a dick.

Well, except Clementine’s brother.

He’s a total dick.

These two characters are, in turn, supported by their friends (some more supportive than others), and what a cast of characters those friends are.

Chloe’s friends are easily recognizable from the previous books, Ari and Nina (For Her Consideration), Max and Sadie (At Her Service), and I am not complaining. It was interesting to see them from another character’s point of view, even if at times it is an unreliable one.

The plot in this book is not unheard of if you’ve been a romance reader or even a fan fiction reader over time. Fake dating for various reasons, such as needing a date to a wedding, needing a date in front of parents and…needing a date to practice your bisexuality? Sure, why not?

There are stereotypes about this trope, and, luckily, this one doesn’t feel exhaustively repetitive but rather relatively fresh and entertaining.

This book is my second fave out of this series, with For Her Consideration being first and man, I cannot wait for In Her Spotlight, which I already know is going to be brilliant.

Also.

There was only one bed.