infamous is a historical romcom that follows eddie, who is an aspiring writer, as she grapples with meeting her idol and falling in love with her best friend.

eddie was an interesting character. she was naive and very annoying at parts but she had a decent amount of development. i did want to see more out of her at the end and i thought that rose forgave her too easily. however, i did appreciate the talks around eddie’s sexuality and that we got to see her try to figure herself out.

rose was lovely!!! i wish we got to read from her pov because i wanted more! i liked how she was very sure in herself and her sexuality, i thought it was a nice contrast to eddie. you could really tell that she cared for eddie a lot which was so obvious from the beginning (eddie’s feelings were also very obvious).

now nash, he was a horrid character. he was so frustrating to read about but i did appreciate how it showed the disgusting behaviours of men who think they can take advantage of younger women who idolize them. he deserved so much worse than he got but i get it’s not always realistic.

i really enjoyed seeing eddie and rose’s relationship develop from practicing kissing to admitting they’re in love with one another! i also loved albert so much!!!

thank you to netgalley and st. martins press for giving me this e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

A historical romcom novel with touches of Booksmart, Bridgerton, and Jane Austin.

About: Edith 'Eddie' Miller is a 22-year-old aspiring writer whose dream is to become published. She has done everything with her best friend Rose - climbing trees, throwing grapes at boys, sneaking bottles of wine, practicing kissing . . .

But recently, Rose has been starting to talk about marriage, and Eddie is horrified. They promised to become spinsters together and Eddie has not forgotten.

When Eddie meets the charming, famous, and handsome poet Nash Nicholson, he invites her to his crumbling Gothic estate in the countryside. The entourage of eccentric artists indulging in pure hedonism is exactly what Eddie wants in order to forget Rose and finish her novel.

Review: Lex has done it again! I loved the first novel I read of hers, Reputation, and this one has the same vibes that I thought the characters would certainly be friends. There is a lot of fun that happens in the novel and more than a couple of times I laughed out loud. I really loved this one and loved Eddie and Rose as a pair but I did get a little annoyed at how thick Eddie could be with her and their relationship.

All of the characters are messy but that makes them even more loveable. Albert, Dayo, Kitty Liza and Nash all made for a diverse cast and I loved to root for them through this story. Even with the amount of frustrating choices they made throughout the novel I still wanted everyone to end up happy (Well almost everyone...).

I felt like I was watching a romcom where you don't want the plot to get too much because you just want to have fun reading.

🌶️ Spice Meter 🌶️ : 0 out of 5 Peppers

Final Thoughts: If you are looking for a fun, sapphic, historical book, this is for you. It is a chaotic, funny, entertaining read for the right crowd. Thankfully I was in the right crowd for this.

TW: Toxic Relationships, Alcohol, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Disclaimer:
Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Griffin for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

BUT WHAT HAPPENED TO HENRY???? :( I mean... I think I know, but do I??

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an e-arc in exchange for this review. I enjoyed Reputation but found I had to suspend my disbelief of the time period a bit more than I did with this. Which is not to say that Croucher doesn't play with boundaries of respectability and society, but I did find this book slightly less anachronistic.

I was also impressed by the portrayal of Nash. I felt it was very realistic the way Eddie's eyes opened to his true character. Eddie was not the most sympathetic protagonist but I do think she was very believable.

I enjoyed this book and will absolutely hunt down Croucher's next book should she decide to write more!

This book was so much fun to read! It was absolutely hilarious with witty banter and bonkers situations. I cannot say enough about how much I loved Eddie’s sense of humor. She’s just brilliant!

Rose was a lovely character as well. She was so supportive of Eddie and her dream of becoming a published author. You just couldn’t help but root for her to get the girl and seize her happiness.

I highly recommend this to readers who enjoy sapphic romance. It’s such a sweet and touching friends-to-lovers story with the added bonus of a regency setting. It’s so good! Seriously, do yourself a favor and pre-order this one now!

Thank you so much to St. Martin’s Griffin and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A romcom novel with historical elements that reminds you of Booksmart, Bridgerton, and Pride and Prejudice. A chaotic, funny read for the right crowd.

Infamous by Lex Croucher follows Eddie and her best friend Rose navigating growing up. Eddie is an aspiring writer that rejects the social norms of polite society and expects Rose to be on the same wavelength as her. This is why Eddie feels betrayed when Rose starts to get courted for marriage-- this is also why she tries to convince her there is more to life than marriage.

This novel is definitely for a certain audience-- if you're looking for a fun, sapphic, historical book, this is for you. It's a lot of fun, and reminds me of watching a romcom where you don't want plot intricacy because you just want to have fun reading. Its not serious, and it doesn't have to be!

Some of my grievances-- I know this is a fun book, but I cannot stand when historical aspects and ignored. A woman would not be able to live in this way and think she is going to be okay in life if she does not eventually get married. Its so unrealistic for the time. Infamous has an Asian love interest and while that is great, she is conveniently not connected to her culture.

Infamous is great for a certain audience, but personally I could not really get into it. If you're looking for a light read that reminds you of Bridgerton and Booksmart, this is definitely for you. If you are looking for Regency period accuracy and something more developed and serious, maybe skip Infamous.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

Lex Croucher has once again delivered a wonderfully enjoyable period piece story! I really loved this one and loved Eddie and Rose as a pair. This story honors the diverse, queer communities that have always existed and is an ode to those whose stories have quietly existed in history, waiting to be found. I love Croucher's take on pulling the curtain to a far more debaucherous, complicated place than Regency England is often portrayed as in media. Her characters are messy and tough and good-hearted and I loved to root for them through this story, even as they made frustrating choices through the novel. Eddie had me occasionally wanting to yell at her through the pages, but I loved her character evolution and I absolutely loved the way the novel wrapped up. Highly recommend this one.

After seeing this was a queer historical romance, I had high expectations and they were unfortunately not met. I didn’t like Eddie’s personality and I didn’t care about the plot. I wasn’t fond Eddie’s infatuation with Nash and everything that happened was very predictable. I was under the impression that this was a romance, but the romantic elements were only a small feature. This didn’t hold my attention so I had to DNF sadly.

Infamous took me on quite a ride. I initially started off loving it. I thought platonic kissing lessons between two female best friends was gonna give way to a fantastic queer friends to lovers story but that all quickly went downhill. I think going into this story you need to understand what a significant role Nash Nicholson, a writer who Eddie, the MC, has idolized for years will play in the story. I understand having unlikeable, antagonistic characters in a book as much as anyone, but the extent and page time that this dreadful character gets in this book is simply unnecessary. He is one of the most unlikeable vilest characters I have read all year. He has no respect for anyone, including our MC who he gets very drunk before initiating physical intimacy with and refuses to take her “no.” to his physical advances seriously. It was all very heavy handed and uncomfortable to read.

This ultimately soured any positive feelings I had towards our MC Eddie, because she constantly makes excuses for Nash despite him repeatedly showing her what a terrible human he could be. Eddie abandons her long time friendship with Rose in order to be the punching bag and footstool to this horrible man all because he is her childhood idol. What I thought was going to be a sapphic friends to lovers stories quickly turned into something ugly and by the end of the novel, I thought Rose deserved better.

Eddie is torn between her best friend and new love interest. She has very complicated feelings for both of them. I love the first book by this writer and this book is just as good. I love that Eddie has her own literary ambitions. She is a terrific character. I love how funny and witty the book is. A terrific book!

Thanks to the publisher for the arc.

I was really excited to jump into the story after reading Reputation.
And I must say Infamous by Lex Croucher was charming, delightful and such a unique story.
Which I wouldn't expect anything less from Ms. Lex!
The writing was amazing and the characters Eddie, Nash and even Rose were funny, sweet and just amazing characters.
A clever, compelling story. The witty dialogue captured my attention. And kept me hooked.
Such a fun, light-hearted tale that has some laugh-out-loud moments which kept me flipping till early morning hours.
This Regency-era romantic comedy from Lex Croucher will be one story you tell absolutely everyone about!

“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

St. Martin Press,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!
I will post my review to my blog, platforms, BookBub, B&N, Kobo and Waterstone closer to pub date.

Loved the LGBTQ representation. Definitely felt like a nice combo of booksmart and bridgerton!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

This book was so much fun! Infamous is billed as Bridgerton meets Booksmart, and it certainly delivers on both sides. The characters are nuanced and complex, developing in a believable way.
It's just such a great sapphic romance with two amazing characters in Rose and Eddie. Overall entertaining, well structured and romantic.

A special thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press & Wednesday Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I liked this book!! I felt like Eddie was a very relatable character, and I really enjoyed watching her grow, and the diversity in characters in this book. The romance in this was good, and I felt like the plot was just as important as the relationships. I definitely saw/felt the bridgerton-vibes, so if you liked those books but wanted more self-discovery by the main character then this might be for you!