[finishes book]
[three and a half weeks later]
I don’t know why I’m having such a mental block about writing this review, so I’m just going to go and see what happens.
[two days later]
This is an adult queer Regency romance featuring two young women as the protagonists, and it’s the first sapphic historical I think that I have really loved*. There still isn’t that much f/f historical romance or ones involving nb folks to begin with, but the ones I’ve read have not been my favorite, so I was still trying to figure out what my brain was wanting from a book like this. It’s this. This is what I want.
*I have read really enjoyable ones in the past from authors like Olivia Waite and Cat Sebastian, but those faded from my memory pretty quickly.
[two days later]
Gwen and Beth meet on Beth’s first season out in society, and Gwen’s fourth. They form a special bond almost immediately, and then only grow closer. Meanwhile their parents appear to hate each other, but it turns out it’s because they used to be in love. Neither Beth or Gwen wants to marry (for reasons they will explore coughcough in the book) so they come up with the idea that their parents should marry instead, and then neither of them will have the financial necessity to do so. Their parents are even still young enough to produce another heir! This is all against the backdrop of Victorian England, not Regency for once, and Gwen’s father (who is an MP) is fighting to pass a bill that would make it possible for women to divorce their husbands, and thus leave abusive situations. So all the shenanigans have a backdrop of something that is actually quite serious. And then there are epic levels of pining and angst when what everyone wants conflicts with the norms of their societies.
Something great about this book is that for once, the families all know that Gwen and Beth are queer, and they are openly accepting. This is probably not strictly historically accurate, but it was very much appreciated, since most queer historical romance involves the MCs having to hide their relationships from anyone else who isn’t queer, aside from maybe a confidante here and there. Here, it’s seriously everyone who knows. It’s so great.
[the next day]
Anyway, I need to buy this now after librarying it (I did half the audiobook and half the physical copy).
That was like pulling teeth. I’m so glad to be done. Why, brain. Why.
[4.5 stars]