Another 3.5, but I feel like I need to round down for the sheer length of time it took me to finish this book. It was one of my most anticipated romances for this year and though I enjoyed the plot and the writing style, once I got into it, I found myself disappointed. Once I got to the 55% mark and the characters had barely admitted feelings for each other (even just to themselves!) I was wondering if I could classify it as a romance really? And once things got rolling there were a couple really steamy sex scenes and declarations of love, so I guess it's a romance. Just be aware it is a VERY slow-burn romance. That said, the plot was very unique and I really enjoyed that Penelope and Agatha were older protagonists (40s) and focused on careers/work. I'd still recommend this one, just go into it knowing it takes quite awhile to get anywhere near romantic territory.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher, Avon, for an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own, expected publication is July 28, 2020.

I really enjoyed this book! I like Agatha's no-nonsense demeanor and Penelope's love for bees and the environment, and the way they slowly become friends and then lovers. Another satisfying romance from Olivia Waite that has me looking forward to her next book.

The cover is terrible, though - the model in the dress looks catatonic, and the model in the suit looks like she's peering down the other's bodice and not impressed with what she sees. The whole scene feels wooden and awkward, not romantic in the least. I know you can do great f/f romance covers, Avon! (See: "A Little Light Mischief" by Cat Sebastian, which is one of the most beautiful covers I've ever seen, and Olivia's previous book, "Lady's Guide...", which was also romantic and lovely.) Covers can make or break a book, you know that, so please do better in the future!

Olivia Waite has crafted a lovely slow burn romance that should appeal to many a romance fan. She very carefully develops the main characters of Agatha Griffin who is a widow who runs a printing press while dealing with a radicalized son and a extremely competent apprentice. Penelope Flood is a woman who has been married 10 years in name only and tends to the beehives in her local vilage. She crosses paths with Agatha Griffin and they strike up a correspondence.

Soon Griffin is visiting from London on an increasingly regular basis. Griffin stops staying at her mother-in-law's house and starts staying with Flood on these visits. The sexual tension when they start "platonically" sharing a bed is off the charts. It is one of the most moving parts of the story: two women longing for each other but unsure if their attraction is recipricated.

The book has a lot of focus on bees and beekeeping and, while those sections were beautifully written, I found them struggling to hold my interest. (I am not a fan of the outdoors.)

Waite packs her book with memorable characters and social justice issues-to the point where in lesser hands the book would feel overstuffed with them.

As lovely as the romance is, I will remember this book as is a sermon on marriage. Waite highlights many different kinds of marriages: both those seen as legitimate and illegitimate in the eyes of the law. There are legitimate marriages that are healthy and loving and beautiful and there are relationships that are toxic or cold or just plain 'false'. 

As a member of a community where the right to marry is only a decade old, I appreciated this subtle sermon on marriage and legitimacy and love. This is why #ownvoices books are so important. It is wonderful to see the acknowledgement of all sorts of romantic relationships that are not legal marriages. They include straight marriages and gay marriages. These are marriages in all but name and their beauty shines through the book.

When the queer community first took up the idea of legitimizing our relationships as its primary goal, I thought that was a mistake. I thought we should be protecting our vulnerable young people instead-many of whom are homeless or in abusive home situations. Ms. Waite makes a compelling counter-argument that the right to love, and have that love legally acknowledged, is such a fundamental right that it is foundational to the queer rights movement. 

I loved the romance of this book and the quietness of Ms. Waite's writing style. I loved watching Flood stand up to the bigoted vicar. At the most foundational level though, I loved this book for the quiet, beautiful sermon it delievers on the importance of acknowledging love between consenting adults. Griffin's mother-in-law nicely sums up the book, for me by saying that you can love more than one person in a lifetime. In a genre that often focuses on a One True Love scenario, this was as beautiful statement.

I highly recommend this book to romance readers and queer readers of all genres. It is truly a moving, loving achievement by Ms. Waite.

I really enjoyed 'Waspish Widows'! It took a more graphic turn than in Waite's first book, but the language was (as far as I am aware) accurate for the time period. The historical backdrop of this sequel made the story all the more interesting, and it actually seemed to be one of the plots, of which there were a few (about five, maybe six). While I didn't necessarily appreciate how much the text relied on the social climate rather than focusing more on the relationship between the two women, it nevertheless added a note of realism to the tale. 

Spoilers ahead.

Perhaps my favorite part of this book was the ages of the main characters: both are middle aged women, which is somewhat unusual for erotica, though by no means rare. That the women have past relationships under their belt and awareness of their own feelings and desires (for the most part) made for a satisfying read. There was no moment when one of the two lovers suddenly decide they can't stay in the relationship, only for them to dramatically reunite upon discovering their mistake--instead both women, upon confessing their feelings, devote themselves to the other, but realistically. Neither immediately gives up their own lives, but instead they forge a way to live and love together.

The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows is a delightful romance. It's full of heart and the connection to be Penelope and Agatha will make you swoon.

This title alone should be enough to make you want to read this historical romance. I wasn't sure what to expect after reading the first book in this series. I don't think I rated it as high as many people but after reading this one, I am thinking I need to reevaluate so I will likely go back and read the other one soon. Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed this one. As soon as I started reading this one, I was taken with the story. I could not put it down. It was all one would want to read in a romance. Sometimes I have a harder time reading historical romances because the language is different, but this one was easy for me to read. Again, this one grabbed me and kept my attention the entire time. No boredom with this one. This romance is for sure slow, but even when the two Mains get together it is juicy and spicy. I have to admit, I really hope Waite has a few more in this series. Well done! 4.5 stars, but rounding to 5.

Just as adorable, lush, and incisive as the first book in the Feminine Pursuits series. 

I really admire the way Waite draws parallels between circumstances facing the characters to issues faced by women and other marginalized identities today. In Celestial Mechanics it was doxxing, dogpiling, and false accusations; in Waspish Widows it was the way changing political tides can bring out the absolute worst in people. 

In some ways I liked the romance more in this book, even though it wasn't as steamy. I really like bees on a theoretical level and love the myths and lore surrounding them, so Penelope teaching Agatha about them as part of their initial friendship was especially endearing to me. I also liked that there even was such a strong initial friendship between two 40something women. This felt like more of a slow burn romance and in a lot of ways I appreciated that. 

Waite's writing 99% of the time is just SO smart and SO pretty, there's a solidity and groundedness to the novels because the descriptions of objects are so evocative. 

While the pacing in the romance felt smoother (and thus less angsty), I did feel like the overall pacing was a bit slow, but that's a complaint I often have when reading romance, so ymmv on this point.

Having enjoyed Olivia Waite’s previous novel in this series, I have to say I loved this one even more.  A classic “slow-burn” style romance with many enticing elements. While it connects lightly to the previous book, this serves well as a stand-alone and I would actually recommend this one as an introduction to the author. 

 Without giving too much away this featured:
-Older protagonists (yes please!)
-Erotic statues
-An eye into historical queer life
-A mystery!
-Clever recounting and use of real historical events
-Beekeeping 
-Social commentary on suffrage, divorce, feminism and women’s role in society/marrriage
-Solid happily ever afters for all involved

This one is a must-read for summer!

This is a sweet historical romance (it does have some spicy bits). Not only does the story feature two women falling in love, but neither of them are particularly noble-- one even engages in *trade*.

Although this is book 2 in the series, characters from the first book get barely a passing mention, so this book can be read alone. Recommended for historical fiction fans who are tired of dukes.

I am extremely annoyed by the cover!-- both of the main characters have a lot more gray hair, as the book points out, and neither of them would wear a dress like that. In trying to appeal to the bodice-ripper crowd, the cover does a disservice to the story. Otherwise recommended.

Lesbian historical romance with older protagonists. Second in the Feminine Pursuits series. This can be read stand alone. (I, personally, liked this book better than Celestial Mechanics. The women in this book seem to be on a more even footing - age, finances, experience.) 

Agatha Griffin has been running a very successful London printing business on her own since her husband's death a few years prior. On a trip to rural Mellinton to visit a secondary print works, Griffin is forced to seek out Penelope Flood, a local beekeeper, to deal with a swarm that has colonized her warehouse. Griffin and Flood hit it off but as their friendship grows, neither woman is willing to admit that they feel more than platonic friendship, especially as Flood is technically married - Mr. Flood is a sailor and in love with Penelope's brother. 

The two continue to grow closer until one fateful night when cards are laid on the table and their affair begins. While very much enjoying their new relationship but loathing their time apart, Agatha in particular is reluctant to commit to anything more permanent. But more time, walks around Mellinton to check on the town hives, and Penelope's open and kind manner may make it impossible for Agatha to stay away. 

**I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

Agatha Griffin is a 45-year-old widow who took over her late husband’s printing shop with her son and her apprentice. When she goes to the other print shop in Meliton she finds one corner overrun by bees. Her mother-in-law introduces her to 43-year-old Penelope Flood who is well known for her skills with bees. Over the course of getting Agatha’s hive settled and bonding over the other hives in town, a romance gradually develops between the two women.

I really enjoyed the discussions around divorce and women’s freedoms (or lack thereof) during the time. Queen Catherine is accused of adultery while the whole of England knows King George has also been adulterous, but because he’s a man it is her indiscretions which the law takes issue with. With that going on, riots and protests and seditious writings all crop up and add to the drama of the time.

Another thing I enjoyed with this book was the various queer experiences. Penelope is married, but both she and her husband are queer, and in fact he is in a relationship with her brother. John and Henry are often out of the country on whaling trips, and Penelope is able to conduct her affairs as she pleases. There’s also other queer couples and discussions of how they have to hide and how sometimes their relationships are essentially well-known secrets.

The romance between Penelope and Agatha has a slow burn quality to it as starts as a slow friendship over beekeeping, but as they spend more and more time in each other’s company and they open up more in their letters they each fall in love with the other. There’s also a hesitancy to their early relationship because the time doesn’t allow for explicit openness regarding queerness and because Penelope is currently married. I loved the friendship the two women have especially and the way their friendship deepens as they become closer and become romantically involved.

Overall this is a great addition to historical romances and I’m excited to see what the next volume of this series will hold. Definitely recommend if you want a historical that shows queerness existing for hundreds of years as well as discussions on the power women did and didn’t have in that time period.

Agatha is the widowed owner of a London printing business, trying to keep her teenage son out of trouble and both of them out of the notice of the law. When a swarm of bees invades their nearby warehouse, she meets local beekeeper Penelope and finds herself with a new beehive to tend. The two women strike up a friendship, and Agatha finds herself spending more time at Penelope's home and walking the beekeeping rounds with her and talking about everything. Could this be more than friendship?

This was definitely a slow burn. Penelope and Agatha were both so tentative about a possible relationship, I wasn't sure it was ever going to happen. The surrounding characters were entertaining, although I felt like the plot involving morality in the village and in England at large was a little overlong. But Waite clearly did a lot of research for this book, and I got a good sense of the politics and societal attitudes of the early 1820s.

How dare this book not be published yet. I can’t wait to share it with everyone! Loved this even more than her first, and that was one of my favorites of all time.

A truly delightful follow up to Waite's first book in this series. Agatha and Penelope are lovely and funny and so clearly smitten with each other from the start that it's a delight to watch them fall in love. The townsfolk are colorful and amusing and wonderfully queer.

Highly recommend this joyful book.

A lovely and slow-moving romance between two middle-aged, middle-class women in early 1800s England. This is a very plot-heavy book for a romance novel, with an interesting focus on contemporary political issues that I didn't know much about -- sedition laws and especially George IV's attempt to divorce his wife, Queen Caroline. One of the protagonists, Agatha, is a widow who runs a printing press, while the other, Penelope, is a sailor's wife who happens to be her village's expert in beekeeping. (The meet-cute is extremely cute: a swarm of bees infests Agatha's storage shelves, and Penelope comes to rehome the bees.) There are lots of very thoughtful details, including the relationship between Agatha's adult son and her apprentice (there is a really great scene early on in the book where all three of them talk about what they would do if they could change just one law: Sydney picks freedom of the press, Eliza picks universal suffrage, and Agatha picks the right to an easy, cheap divorce, which tells you so much about all three characters in so few words), the community in Penelope's village, and a subplot about a local musician and lyricist who's trapped in a bad marriage. There aren't many sex scenes, and it takes a while for Agatha and Catherine's relationship to become physical, but ones it does they're quite explicit, just FYI! Catherine from The Lady's Guide for Celestial Mechanics has a brief cameo appearance, but the books aren't closely related and I think they could be read independently of each other without anything being lost. Recommended especially for readers who like a lot of history in their romance -- I think KJ Charles fans would really enjoy this series.