This is my first NetGalley read and the first romance novel I've read as an adult. And what a delight! LeBlanc wove a mesmerizing tale of a lovers kept apart by societal norms and dramatic moments. Great to see so many othering traits celebrated in a historical romance - queerness and polyamory and neuro diversity (oh my!).

There were an unfortunate number of distracting typos and an occasional 'extra' moment. But the fast paced story line and the truly lovely characters more than made up for it. Quite an enjoyable beginning to my NetGalley reads!

I hesitate to leave a review for this, for a few reasons.

1) I don't want to dissuade authors from writing lesbian romances. We need more!!
2) I didn't realize this was part of a series when I requested it on NetGalley, and so I felt like I was missing something - especially during the back half of the book
3) The cover is so, so, so beautiful

From the above, you can probably tell I had some quibbles with this novel. My main issue is that it's set in ... well, I have no idea. There's hardly anything in the descriptions that will tell you about the time period. The dialogue is full of anachronisms, which threw me straight out of the action. Honestly, hearing a Duke talk about someone "cheating" on another person is just... no? Nope. Don't want it. I want to feel immersed in the time. I want to feel as if I'm shadowing the characters, smelling what they smell and hearing what they hear. Instead, I was caught in a Beverly Hills 9020* and Outlander* mash-up. It was jarring.

Further, I had a difficult time discerning which heroine was which. There's hardly anything about Ellie or Louisa as individuals that stood out. I can't remember which one had a mother who died. Which one was Amelia's maid? Etc, etc. Not to mention their raging case of insta-love, which was all birds and flowers and oh, your dress is so pretty! Is that really how women fall in love? Ask me, I've done it, and it's not.

Lastly, the use of rape as a plot device was ick (again, reminded me of Outlander - what shall we do to create tension here? I KNOW, RAPE!!) and I also wasn't the hugest fan of [Ellie being deflowered by a dude (hide spoiler)].

I'm sure from my review you're wondering why I didn't just throw the towel in. Well, for the simple fact that a lesbian historical romance is such a novelty. Unless you're reading Sarah Waters (and bless her, she puts out a book every 4 years - I wish I could clone her, not even kidding), there is a dearth of good lesbian fiction out there. Especially lesbian historical fiction. I was so excited when I saw the cover that I think I hyperventilated briefly.

Finally, I will say that I found the characters' plight in the back-half of the novel to be moving, and I really did want to see how they ended up untangling the web they found themselves in. I don't want to dissuade any other authors from tackling lesbian historical fiction - I WILL READ IT. Just please, ditch the modern phrasing. Do some research! Get me into your time period! Let me feel any of this could possibly happen! (I did not feel any of this could possibly happen).

3 stars for writing this in the first place.
And 5 ginormous stars to the cover artist. ;-)

*I love both of these shows. Well, Outlander in the first season. Now, it's garbage. (Yes, I know they were books first)

I'm not typically drawn to historical fiction, but when I saw this book, three things called to me; the title, the blurb, and the cover.

The leads are wonderful characters, I was rooting for them from the get-go. Hugh, how can you not love him? Amelia, I could've done without.

There's some darker content but, thankfully, nothing too graphic. Just enough so you know what's going on.

My one complaint is the pacing. At times the story came to a virtual standstill. I starting flipping pages in the hopes it would pick up again.

I normally cry foul about any kind of straight sex in lesfic, but what transpired was so beautiful and selfless, and fitting, it simply had to be there!

Copy received via NetGalley

This was the first lesbian romance I had read in awhile. The setting of the time period added a whole new level of interest to the story. Everything was tastefully done. I am excited to read the rest of the series!

This book was incredibly slow to begin, and fairly early on in the story there's an incredibly graphic rape scene with no lead up in the story or warning for the reader.

I will not be finishing or recommending this book.

I was very excited for this book, but unfortunately I just couldn't get into it and ultimately ended up setting it aside. The characters were more vehicles for a plot than actual, fleshed-out people; if you asked me to describe them, the only thing I could tell you with any amount of certainty is their eye color, which the author likes to remind us of every other page as though lavender eyes are supposed to be a personality trait. The dialogue was clunky and the insta-love was unconvincing, even for me, someone who loves the "love at first sight" trope above all things. The sex scenes were oddly framed and executed; I'm astonished that a woman, and presumably a queer woman, would write erotica that feels more like what a straight man thinks lesbians do in bed than, well, what lesbians actually do in bed.
Relative to a lot of other historical, erotic romance books, this one might not actually be that bad, but I have read some truly good stories within this genre and so I've come to have very high standards. I started this book with high expectations but it ended up feeling more like someone finding an excuse to write a basic '80s-era bodice ripper with none of the tension or energy of a relationship of true passion.
I hate to leave such a negative review, but I was really looking forward to a juicy, super queer period romance, and this book just failed to deliver. :(

This book is part of a series, but each book can be read as a standalone but this book, in particular, has spoilers for The Duke and The Baron: book 2 in the series. I have read several of the books in this series out of order, and there is crossover with the characters. 

Lady Louisa Present has been attending society functions for the last three years, but the thought of marrying is far from her mind much to her father's dismay. Her entire world is disrupted when she meets the one person she has felt a connection with. 

Maitland "Ellie" Eliott- Rigsby is attending the season for the first time, and her mother has every hope she will secure a titled gentleman and elevate the families standing. When she feels someone watching her, she is expecting to find some rake ogling her she wasn't anticipating to see Louisa. 

In a time when same-sex love was a crime, these two women must overcome horrific circumstances if they wish to be together. 

This is an LGBTQ novel featuring two women who fall in love. There is also a trigger warning for those sensitive to sexual assault. There are complicated romance scenarios that are outside the norm even for today's standards featured in this book, Miss LeBlanc excels in creating characters that have unconventional romances. This book is about love and the different ways it can strike people. I would recommend it to anyone who is tired of typical romances and is looking for a change.

The story mainly revolves around Louise and Ellie who live in a time where same sex love is prohibited. Also in the story is another love triangle that involves Hugh, Amelia and Charles and the struggles they face. Hugh and Louise are the best of friends but he loves Amelia. When Louise’s father finds her and Ellie is a compromising situation, he takes Amelia to an asylum and pays them to keep her. At the same time Hugh, who does not trust Louise’s father, learns what her father did to her and follows to rescue her. The book is full of danger, forbidden love, and HEA. There is a lot to this book that you need to discover for yourself. I loved the book and would highly recommend it as a great read and new addition to this series.

This is a really quick read, and I guess if you're looking for the ~sexy~ parts of a romance novel, this is for you. However, I thought the instant connection that the two characters had really unrealistic. The secondary characters were also rather one-level. I do think it's great that there is more LGBTQ representation in romance, and I loved the discussions of expectations placed on women during the time period. It was just a little too light for me.