Saturnalia Blackrose’s Yuri web novel Date Her Instead has consumed my life for the past week. I am so thrilled to partner with its creator for this spotlight on her fantastic work.Date Her Instead is a classic schoolgirl romance with a loud, bombastic, and dramatic story. Childhood friends Kanako Nakatomi and Haruna Endo drifted apart as they grew older. The one thing they still have in common, their mutual crush on the boy they grew up with, Akio Miyashita. When they confess their feelings to him on the same day, the girls spend as much time starring daggers at each other as they do explaining their feelings. However, Akio refused to choose, and he has a proposal to reunite his old companions: they should date each other instead!What follows is much more than your typical “fake girlfriends” Yuri romance. Kanako and Haruna spend a great deal of their time bickering and acting antagonistic. Still, all of it is justified with deep, complex, and satisfying characteristics, explored and explained slowly over the course of the series. Each girl grows emotionally in a realistic and steady way. The series allows both to change as individuals and as a couple.This series is the perfect slow burn romance, and you will root for the two the whole time, screaming at them to stop being idiots and just get with each other. The meticulous nature of the romance makes it all the sweeter. Who would have thought that the girl hurling insults at the other would be the first to realize her true feelings? But when she finally does, you will shout for joy!For fans of enemies to lovers, steady building romances, and all the drama you can ask for, look no further than Date Her Instead.You can read the first three volumes in their entirety on WebNovel and Wattpad and follow the fourth volume as new chapters are released every week. I will be following this series closely, so be sure to message me your thoughts on the latest chapter!Post sponsored by Saturnalia Blackrose

The Holy Mother of Yuri