Language of Love - Edited by Astrid Ohletz & Lee Winter - ★★★

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EDITORS: Astrid Ohletz & Lee Winter
GENRE: Sapphic Romance Anthology.
RATING: 3 stars.

In a Nutshell: An anthology of lesbian romances set around Christmas. A good collection for the right reader. Unfortunately, many of these weren’t my kind of romance stories, so please take this review with a pinch of salt.


This anthology has eleven stories of Sapphic love connections written by lesbian fiction writers. I never pick up a romance anthology because the genre is a mixed bag for me. What made me opt for this book was one magic phrase in the blurb: “Curries in India.” A lesbian love story set during an Indian Christmas? The curiosity of this Indian Christian was immediately piqued!

What worked for me is the intent and the approach of the collection. The collection is diverse in terms of inclusivity as well as cultural setting, with the stories being set in Australia, England, India, Jamaica, South Africa and Germany amid other locations. Most of the stories, except one (which is about Chanukkah), are set around Christmas time. The themes are also varied, with some stories being lighthearted and other being more sombre. Authenticity of voice is not an issue at all, thanks to the background of the authors. The beautiful cover is the perfect representation of the heterogeneity of the tales.

Where the collection didn’t suit my reading palate is in the writing style and romantic content of a few of the tales. The tagline promises a ‘flirty’ anthology, so I knew there would be oodles of romance herein. But many of the tales had almost insta romances, and one even went too steamy – both of which aren’t what I enjoy reading. Moreover, there is a distinct YA flavour to quite a few tales, again something that isn’t my cup of tea. Because of the YA and insta love factor, the emotions felt somewhat superficial and light-hearted, even when the plot itself was emotionally charged.

As always, I rated the stories individually, but most of the tales ended up on the mid-range of the scale, not because the tales were bad, but because they didn’t suit my reading preferences. My favourite story was Sheryn Munir’s ‘Mask’, which not only was a touching story of closeted lesbian feelings but also had a beautifully representation of an Indian Christmas celebration. I relished the experience of seeing a Christmas tale where holiday food included delicacies like mutton cutlets, fish fry, onion salad, and rose cookies. The traditions of family carol singing and exchanging Christmas sweets with all neighbours – Christians and otherwise – also finds a mention. Indian Christians rarely get a fair representation (if at all we are represented) in fiction, even by Indian writers, so this story made me feel seen.

All in all, this isn’t a bad collection, but I wasn’t the right reader for it. If you enjoy more YA-style romances, and don’t mind insta attraction, you might like this better. I am just going hit the midway rating for this one as the lack of connect was mostly due to my romance-reading tastes.

My thanks to Ylva Publishing and NetGalley for the DRC of “Language of Love”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

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