Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Infamous is the story of two best friends in Regency era London as they come of age, come out into society, and come out to each other. Eddie is an aspiring writer who has grown up writing hundreds of short stories for her family and best friend Rose. Eddie is a bit of a misanthrope who doesn't see the point in fitting in with society's expectations for a young lady. Rose enjoys the dances and socializing and agrees to a marriage the Eddie just cannot understand.

This book was so delightful. I loved Eddie and Rose. I loved a story set in a Regency England that is less stiff and more diverse. As someone who didn't realize she was part of queer community until well into her thirties, it was really nice to read a story about a character coming to that realization later in life as well.

If you ever found yourself wishing Bridgerton was a bit (lot) more queer, don't pass on Infamous.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
🌶 🌶

Tropes: (queer-)best-friends-to-lovers

CW: heavy alcohol and drug usage; anger issues; using celebrity and drugs to lower someone else's inhibitions

Eddie and Rose have been best friends since they were younger. As they get older, they are both expected to find a husband. While Rose has found one she will marry, Eddie is not at all interested. Instead, she would prefer to write. When she meets Nash, one of her favorite poets, she is mesmerized by him and gladly accepts his invitation to his country estate for the month. However, things are not quite as above board as Eddie thought.
Opinion
This is a great coming of age story. The two best friends finding a way to keep their friendship as they get older certainly takes the reader through the paces. I love how alluring Nash is at first. As the story progresses, his idiosyncrasies become more alarming. This makes for a great read as you are yelling at Eddie to "wake up girl!"
Many thanks to Net Galley and to St. Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC of this book.

As much as I liked Reputation, I had a bit of trouble connecting with this novel. From the cover and the synopsis, you can kind of guess how this story goes. Edith (Eddie) Miller is a writer with a who does not like to adhere to rules and social niceties.. Her best friend, Rose Lee, is the complete opposite and seems perfectly at home amongst parties and the upper crust of society. At one such party, Eddie is taken w/ famous poet, Nash Nicholson, but Rose isn't fooled. Nash is married and pretty much washed up, but Eddie doesn't see that. She just sees the chance at getting published. When Eddie and Rose (& her fiance, Albert) get invited to Nash's house party on a remote island, things really go sideways. Rose worries for Eddie, who seems too taken with Nash to realize he's a debauched fool, And Eddie is too worried about Rose marrying and being without her forever.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this e-arc.*

After reading Lex Croucher's hilarious Reputation, I was so excited to get my hands on Infamous. As with the previous title, the characters are diverse, which makes for an interesting read. However, the main character is just so unlikeable it was hard to slog through her journey to discover herself.

Edith "Eddie" Miller is twenty-two years old and aspires to be a novelist, never to get married, and have her best friend Rose all to herself. However, Rose is quite intrigued with the season and finding a husband. Enter a famous poet who involves Eddie in some unsavory situations with many unsavory characters.

The story is very slow to unfold, and I found myself bored reading it. I really had to push myself to finish. While there are some funny moments, but for the most part, the characters were infuriatingly unrealistic. I was very disappointed that I could not enjoy this as much as Reputation. However, I do like Lex Croucher's writing and will give her another shot.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This is a sweet story but I didn't not enjoy it near as much as I enjoyed Croucher's Reputation last year. This one lacked the wit and sharp characters. It's a sweet Sapphic love story with some modern ideas integrated into the Regency era.

DNF. I really liked the premise but the writing did not work for me at all. It wouldn't be fair to the book if I finished reading and gave it a low rating.

What's it about (in a nutshell):
Infamous by Lex Croucher is a historical LGBTQ romantic comedy set in the Regency of England.
Eddie (short for Edith) and Rose have been friends since childhood. Now that they are 22, marriage becomes a priority for Rose, but it might come at the cost of Rose and Eddie's friendship. Infamous took me on Rose and Eddie's journey to find their future.
My Reading Experience:
This is the second historical romantic comedy I've read by Lex Croucher. Infamous is a book about writers (Eddie and the poet Nash Nicholson), and I loved that about it. Nash Nicholson brings Eddie into the world of the arts by inviting her to his arts nights with his friends, including other writers and artists. Such a meeting of the minds makes my heart very happy.

And I also enjoyed the wit, snark, and absolute cleverness found in the main characters. Eddie reminded me so much of Jo March (Little Women); what a great character to be reminded of. Also, the story overall (minus the much more modern LGBTQ+ storyline) reminded me of movies from the 1940s, such as Life with Father and Meet Me in St. Louis. Even though these movies occurred almost a century later than the book, many social conventions still existed, and the humor was very similar.

However, I found Infamous to be highly predictable. I love predictability, usually in a romantic comedy, but not this completely. The story failed to surprise me even in minor ways and lacked the tension often a given in any romance. The story simmers from beginning to end and barely even reaches that level. For that reason, I became bored very quickly, and that boredom didn't change at any time in the story. I never became invested in the characters, their romance, or their struggles, so even though this story has the snark and wit that I love in a romantic comedy, that was the only thing it did have to my disappointment.

this was so boring to me, and that just added onto the fact that i haven’t been reading as much lately and haven’t felt as in the mood for reading. i might be being extra harsh because of that, but i really didn’t find this to be an interesting book. i skimmed through sooo much of it (literally most of the book). there was wayyy too much nash for me, and i didn’t expect that at all. i expected there to be more eddie and rose, which i didn’t care about either of them that much, especially eddie. i just didn’t care about any of the characters, really.

thank you so much to netgalley for sending me a copy of this book !! <3

This one was just okay for me. This story follows Eddy and Rose's best friend since childhood. Eddy has no interest in marriage and such things. However Rose is now of age and the expectations are now set for her to get married regardless of how she feels.

It's clear that Rose and Eddy have to feel for each other but I had a hard time with Eddy's response to Rose's lot in life. she can't see Rose's side at all- she is so wrapped up in her feeling that she seems insensitive at some points.

Although I feel for Eddy because she is going to be losing a lot she couldn't see beyond herself for a long time

This is a great regency romance but I just couldn't get it into it - the concept spoke to a time when I read the description but something about Eddy's lack of care for anyone but herself was hard

4.25+ stars

I really love the choices this writer frequently makes to highlight queer characters and relationships in realistic (ish) historical settings; they do a great job of putting a much-needed twist on the traditions of this type of romance novel.

For the most part, I liked the protagonist, and even though some of her choices were a bit frustrating, naive, and short-sighted, it wasn’t hard to imagine why she acted the way she did. I also liked the range of characters included in the story. As with the last novel I read by this author, there were definitely some examples of blatantly anachronistic language, but for the most part, they were enjoyable and didn’t take away from the story. I do still have some big questions about the fate of one of the characters…I’ll have to reread part of the ending, I think, in case I somehow missed finding out whether or not he was safe.

Previously, I really enjoyed Reputation quite a bit, and I actually think I liked Infamous even more. I’m looking forward to what this writer creates next, and I can’t wait to read my ARC of their upcoming YA novel as well.

2.5⭐️

On the whole, I appreciated the representation of a bisexual awakening for the main character and a lesbian love interest, as well as a diverse set of supporting characters, but outside of that, there wasn’t much that held my interest in the story. I was not at all invested in where the story was going until about 60%, and even then I was still kind of indifferent and could have stopped reading at any time and would not have minded not knowing how the story ends. I found Eddie relatively unlikeable and a lot of times was annoyed how she chose to handle a situation, especially given she's 22 for the majority of the book but seemed as though she was acting younger than her age. I also thought the book was a bit too long and just tried to include a bit too much. It's definitely more historical fiction than romance so I hope it doesn’t get marketed too hard as a historical romance because I think that will mislead readers!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the early copy in exchange for an honest review!

I didn't like this one as much as I liked Croucher's previous book but this one was still a good time! And unfortunately I too would fall for Nash's obnoxious, troubled, poetic artiste routine so I can really sympathize with Eddie here!

You can definitely tell this was inspired by Dickinson and I say that with love because that shoe is so good. I wouldn’t say this is a typical romance book because it was more of a coming of age/out story. I still liked it though!

This was cute!! Think... Eloise and Benedict from Bridgerton. The vibes, the teasing, the sibling-like bond between our two main characters all are so eloquently tied together in this novel.

Lex Croucher did a fantastic job of characterizing and taking us along Eddie’s journey specifically from ignorance (often portrayed as innocence) to a more well-rounded understanding in a classic Bildungsroman style. We as readers are taken along this journey and I personally felt as though I grew alongside Eddie as the story progressed.

There was nothing particularly "new" or exciting about the events portrayed in this novel, but because of that it was an easy read, and it allowed me to more fully enjoy the novel and the journey that we were taking. Eddie as a character is flawed; often self-absorbed and far too quick to make uninformed decisions. However, that allows us as readers to more fully connect with her, as we don't feel that she is unreachable and "too perfect" as MCs tend to be.

Overall, I enjoyed this quite a bit, and would be happy to recommend to my friend's who enjoy this style of novel. Infamous is set to be published on March 21, 2023. Thank you to St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin, NetGalley and the author for the digital advanced copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

INFAMOUS was so cute, and so exactly what I needed, that I preordered a copy as soon I finished reading. I just know that it's going to be one of those books that I read again and again. It was so gosh darn cute.! A definite trigger warning for sexual assault on-page (by the villain), so readers be duly warned., but if you're looking for a queer regency romance, I highly recommend! Eddie's journey to realizing her sexuality was oh so painfully relatable.

I was drawn into the story of Eddie, a young woman with firm goals of becoming a writer.

Her childhood friend Rose, her constant companion and true champion quickly stole my heart. As I assumed she had done with Eddie.

Despite the catchy and hilarious banter and prose Lex Croucher served up in the first half of this book, I quickly grew weary as the book played out.

Eddie’s “quirky” behavior soon grew dull and tiring as she muddled her way through writing her debut book and fawning over her grotesque idle, poet Nash Nicholson.

Her constant need to overlook his cruel behavior in favor of getting her manuscript sent to his editor turned me off from her character completely. In the end she definitely wasn’t deserving of Rose who offered her nothing but support from the very beginning.

It’s hard for me to describe this as a sapphic (maybe bisexual?) romance when it felt like a better part of the plot was focused on Eddie’s feelings for Nash. She only truly comes around to her affections for Eddie when she’s made known of Nash’s ultimate betrayal. Only seeing how vacant he truly was despite all the terrible acts he displayed against various characters in the story.

Thank you to St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Queer love set in Victorian era
This is a cute story about Edith “Eddie” finding her place in the world. Both in love and in herself. It was funny and sweet. I did feel like I had questions at the end though.
However, this is the first book I’ve read from the author and will probably read more

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for my honest review

This book wasn’t for me. I liked the cover. The plot will be appealing to many readers. I couldn’t immerse myself in the characters or the dialogue..
It was a miss for me.

It took me a bit to settle into Infamous. The story had promise but was moving towards it slowly, in my opinion. Yet, I stuck with it and did reap the rewards when it all began to gel.

Rose and Eddie have been best friends since childhood. As they are older now and on the "marriage market," things are changing and Eddie definitely isn't happy about it. Rose is moving forward and embracing it while Eddie is dragging her feet and wants things to stay the same. Then Eddie meets one of her literary idols, Nash Nicholson. a renowned poet of the time. He takes a liking to Eddie and starts to include her in his artistic gatherings. Eventually, she's invited to a house party with many of his other "artsy" friends to work on her novel in the country. That's where things truly come undone.

Even though there were a few things in the plot that I found predictable, there were several that I didn't see coming. The path that this author took to deliver the storyline was clever and well-written and it was an overall enjoyable read.

AUDIOBOOK: I was also fortunate enough to receive an early copy of the audiobook. The narration of this was spot on. It lent itself to the time period and area so I was able to really feel as if I was in regency England. Such a fun book to listen to. 4 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for early copies of both the ebook and audiobook.

I hated this so much. Eddie and I are the same age but she is so immature and dumb. She never understood what was happening around her and it was so annoying. Rose was too good for her and never should have forgave her.

I received an arc through netgalley.