On Her Terms

On Her Terms (publication date February 25, 2025) by Amy Spalding is the third book in her Out in Hollywood series, but could easily be read as a standalone. I found it to be a cute sapphic romance between the “baby gay” bisexual, plus-sized Clementine and experienced queer Chloe.

Clementine meets Chloe on her first trip walking to a gay bar near her work, when Chloe confronts some men who are catcalling her. Clem has known she was bisexual since college, but shortly thereafter met Will, and they stayed in a relationship for nearly twenty years. When Clem finally breaks up with him, her primary reason was that they didn’t want the same things–she never saw herself as getting married and having kids, and he clearly was wanting to go that direction.

Clem forgets that she has met Chloe at a work party, when she was with Will, and Chloe helps make her first trip to a gay bar not terrible. Chloe is a dog groomer with her own business, and Clem works for a Hollywood marketing firm in a mid-level position. She loves her job and has maintained strict work-life boundaries up to this point. But Chloe suggests that they try fake-dating to get Chloe through a friend’s wedding, as it would benefit both of them! Chloe gets an automatic plus one, and Clem gets an ex-girlfriend she can talk about so her first real girlfriend isn’t scared off by being the first girl she’s dated.

Clem thinks it a crazy idea, but her parents’ milestone wedding anniversary is coming up, and no one seems to understand why she broke up with Will. Bringing a girlfriend along certainly will solve that issue, so she agrees against her better judgment.

There goes her work-life boundaries, as Clem’s boss and owner of the company is part of Chloe’s friend group, who have weekly Sunday brunches and a very active group chat. And she can’t read Chloe very well–she says she isn’t good at relationships which is why they’re fake dating, but sometimes it feels real.

Chloe did not always treat Clem very well, but Clem stood up for herself and what she wanted, and I really loved how they worked things out. Clem’s feelings about coming out later in life hit home for me, as I had a similar experience. Spalding also wrote the novel to be clearly fat-positive, as Clem acknowledges some of the experiences fat women have, especially in L.A., and Clem is not the only fat character.