The friendship between Fran and James, her husband's friend, is simply good. Since their first meeting, which was momentarily charged by a spark of comraderie, they remained only vague acquaintances. When they meet again, their chemistry isn't full of zingers; rather, it's sweet and a little sad, and for some reason that combination is my bread and butter in romance. It's not good if it doesn't hurt, right? It's also pretty spicy, which I wasn't expecting but was, nonetheless, pleasantly surprised by.

This book really succeeds with its emotional depth. Fran is focused on making choices that further her personal growth, even though the result is often hard to bear. Simultaneously albeit unwittingly, she influences James's growth away from complacency into action against the arbitrary and malignant rules of his class. The the genre's usual reservations (aka the rightness of being together) hit harder because of the serious legal implications hanging over this couple. It never feels like a trivial conflict, so the stakes are always high.

The only thing I dislike is the last-minute secondary romance between Edward and a debutante. I appreciate that we see a different side to Edward, but this subplot is out of place, underdeveloped, and serves no purpose since an existing plot point could have achieved the same result.

Thank you to NetGalley and Xpresso Book Tours for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"A defiant Victorian wife fights to escape a bad marriage but her love for a forbidden man jeopardizes her chance at freedom." I was intrigued by the premise of The Worst Woman in London - as a debutante, Francesca made a bad marriage, and 10 years later is seeking a divorce from her unrepentantly philandering husband. Unwilling to give up what he sees as his property, and be plunged further into scandal, he sends his best friend James to convince her to give up on the divorce proceedings and settle for a comfortable yearly allowance instead.

Thrown together in this unorthodox way, James is surprised to discover a depth of feeling he didn't know existed for this unconventional, strong-willed, intelligent woman.

I loved the clear and open communication that developed between the two leads, and their romance felt quite genuine, as did the conflict - was James willing to break away from his life of status and wealth to not only stand beside the woman he loved but also to stand for his own principles, or would he stick with the comfort of an easy life? Divorce in historical romance is often handwaved away as something scandalous but largely irrelevant, and I was intrigued to see how it actually worked, and what the implications of even seeking a divorce were for Victorian women.

I wasn't convinced we needed to spend so much time attempting to redeem the soon-to-be-ex husband, or whether he even really was redeemed at the end - although I like that he did have some nuance rather than just being a straight-up bad guy, I didn't particularly enjoy reading his own romantic subplot with a woman who seemed to be another, younger version of Francesca: since we were already extremely familiar with his dislike of Francesca's character and suitability as a wife, it seemed hard to believe that things would end well between him and yet another secretly unconventional debutante.

Overall, this was a good solid read, likely to be enjoyed by fans of feminist historical romance who enjoy strong female characters, solid characterisation and good communication between the main characters. Recommended for fans of Courtney Milan and Evie Dunmore.

This book started off really strong! I enjoyed the writing style especially, but felt like towards the middle it began to drag out and failed to maintain the interest and excitement it had in the first third of the book.

Thank you for providing me with an ARC in exchange of an honest review.
Here is the review I shared on Instagram and Goodreads :


✨ My Rating : 3 stars

I loved the characters so so much, Francesca is a fierce woman who will stop at nothing to gain her freedom, while James is honestly just a softie trying to help his friend. And through everything they will each discover something about themselves that they hadn’t realised before.

The romance was not rushed and the Victorian setting made it all the more magical. It was truly a delightful read and personally I’ve also learned a lot about that era that I didn’t know before. I feel like some historical books don’t give you so much details about a specific era but in this one you can really feel that the author was very knowledgeable about the society she was writing about.

The one thing that took me off guard was that I did not expect this to be a spicy book, and although I loved the story and the romance, it took me a while to really get into the story at first because of the writing style.

But overall I did enjoy reading about Francesca and James’s love story and I feel like any fan of Bridgerton will definitely love this book more than I did.

Thank you to Netgalley and Xpresso Book Tours for the ARC. Francesca Thorne is seeking a divorce from her husband. A woman's duty is to love her husband, give him heirs and to be loyal and dutiful. Francesca has failed to provide children and she can no longer stand around waiting for a cheating husband that doesn't want her. Following the death of her parents, her aunt and uncle Lytton took her in and raised her. After pursuing the divorce, they disowned her. Much of society shunned her and her husband's family was aghast at her proceedings.

Francesca has chosen her course, spoken her mind and she is willing to live in much more humble conditions, if it means her freedom. Her husband sends his good childhood friend, James Standish, to bribe her into staying in the marriage. Even though he doesn't love her, one must not stain their reputation. Society demands its rules, etiquette and rituals. Well, Francesca dares to ride against convention. Will she get her divorce? Will she find happiness? I liked her pluck and courage. Society no doubt was confining in its rules, especially unfair to women. I enjoyed parts of the book, not all, especially the smutty parts. 3.5 stars.

“For a woman, one silly slip meant ruin. (...) It infuriated her, but it was the way of the world.”

The Worst Woman in London - 4/5 ⭐️
📍 Historical Romance
📍 Friends to lovers
📍 Banter

I loved Fran's character and the very unconventional premises of this book. The way her relationship with James takes time to evolve and has a natural progression is well depicted and the subplot that recounts the troubles of divorce and the difficulties women faced in getting a divorce was especially interesting.
One thing I didn't care for was the secondary romance story line. I don't think that the POVs other than those of the two MCs were essential to the story and it even made me a bit less interested in the characters.
Above all I enjoyed the development of the story and really appreciated the representation of social issues of that era such as women's rights, patriarchy and social class.

Thank you to NetGalley and Julia Bennet for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
The Worst Woman in London will be released on February 2nd, 2023!

i didn't expected to like this but i very much enjoyed it.
pleasant writing, loveable characters, funny and lovely dialogs.

francesca is an unhappy married woman who's trying to divorce his unfaithful husband, edward, but things get complicated in the process because she is a woman, the time (80's) is not in her favor and also, she falls in love with his husband's best friend, james.
she has to prove herself to get the freedom she profusely desires even if that means giving up her chances to be happy with james.

the characters have good development (even the villain of the story) and there is a happy ending for everyone.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Spice: 🌶🌶/5

This is a historical romance like no other I’ve ever come across. I was so intrigued when I started it, a romance (and particularly a historical), doesn’t usually start out with the fmc not wanting a divorce. No she DEMANDS a divorce.

The book starts when Fransesca meets James. She is engaged with Edward Thorne and they have a very short courtship and engagement. James notices that Fransesca isn’t what she seems and tries to talk Edward out of marrying her. But Edward thinks he’s talking shit and to him she is the perfect woman for marrying.

The book then accelerates to 10 years later and Fransesca is miserable in the marriage. Edward and her have been estranged for 8 of those years and she is sick of it, she wants total freedom, no matter the cost. Edward obviously fights her on this because the scandal will ruin him too in the process. Cue him sending out his best friend James with a proposition for Fransesca. A last resort because she won’t talk to Edwards lawyers.

The friendship that we see that grows slowly between James and Fransesca is beautiful to watch. Then you also get a second romance story line with Edward who has an infatuation with a debutante.

The struggle that James has with the rules of society, but needing the money that comes from it is so good to read. Him realizing that he wants to be free just like Fransesca wants is amazing.

I don’t want to give too much away, you’ll have to find that out for yourself. The beginning does read a bit slow but when I got to about the 30% point I read it in pretty much 1 sitting.

If you like the historical romance genre, read this. Just get the book and read it.

Special thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a e-arc copy of this novel to review.

Francesca Thorne has had it with her marriage that has been over for almost a decade. She wants to be free of it and get a divorce, but her husband is opposed to it. Since they aren’t on speaking terms, he sends his best friend to convince her not to go through with it.

James honors his friendship with Thorne and goes to Francesca. They have known each other for as long as she has been married, but haven’t seen each other for a couple of years. They both find joy in the renewed acquaintance.
They soon begin to spend more time together than is wise for a woman asking for a divorce.

REVIEW

It is a true friends to lovers romance. The relationship takes time to develop and has an organic and realistic progression.

I love how James and Francesca tease each other and can be honest with one another. It makes their friendship very believable.

I didn’t like that there were points of view other than those of the two main characters. It took me out of the main story and I am certain it made me less invested in the relationship. I did not think those scene were essential to the story.

The intimate scenes are open door but there aren’t too many. I didn’t like them very much because they felt a bit aggressive and very centered around the men, but it is personal taste.

I loved the side characters. The Ashtons were great.

I also liked the pacing of the story and enjoyed how the characters evolved through the story.

I would recommend it to fans of slower paced historical romance who like a well fleshed out story that is focused on each characters’ journey as well as their relationship together.

I enjoyed the The Worst Woman in London much more than I was expecting to. It's been sometime since I've read a historical romance and I was pleasantly surprised. Fran is unhappy in her marriage and wants a divorce from her husband even though she will lose all social standing and what family she has left. She strikes unlikely friendship with James friend of her estranged husband who tries to initially convince her to go back to her marriage. Of course that friendship leads to more and both have to decide what they really want for their futures. I found myself liking all the characters of this book even the ones we weren't really supposed to. I gave this read 4 stars rounded up from 3.75. I want to thank Netgalley and Julia Bennet for the digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

LOVED THIS BOOK. Even the unlikable characters (like Fran's husband) you ... sort of like We join the characters just before Fran's marriage to Edward - where Edward introduces James to his fiancee. James realises that Edward and Fran are ill suited - which is confirmed when the book jumps forward 10 years, and Fran is desperately trying to get a divorce. Along the way she reconnects with James.

This book touches on lots of different themes - women's rights, marrying young, patriarchy, social class - but without hammering you over the head with it. It's entertaining, it's sweet and it's funny and I really highly recommend it!

Thanks very much to Netgalley for the ARC - I loved this book!

This was a fast read for me, I loved it. I enjoyed the progress of the characters and the emotions that come from reading this. It had the historical romance I was looking for. I really enjoyed reading this one.

I received this from netgalley in exchange for a review.
3.75 rounded up to 4 stars.

I’m not totally well-read in historical romance, so this was the first book I’ve read where a divorce was a prominent part of the plot and honestly it made me so anxious because what Fran had to go through and consider for all of her actions just made me so sad and thankful that divorce isn’t quite that bad anymore.

I really liked the character of Fran - which is partly why I felt so anxious for her. Edward was a horrible husband and she deserved (and got!) so much better by the end, thankfully. Edward got way more than he deserved.

I liked James as the love interest and the conflict with him and his aunt and also him and Edward added a lot to the decisions that he and Fran made that helped make it fuller. I’d recommend this.

In the Worst Woman in London, Julia Bennet weaves a story about what might happen after a historicial romance novel ends: In this case a horribly mismatched couple fight wretchedly. The wife in this equation is the heroine in the story, who cannot imagine continuing on with her ill-suited marriage, while her serially adulturous husband doesn't understand why she would want to fight convention when she could live in a life of comfort (albeit with a cad of a spouse). Conflict is introduced when Francesca's husband elicits his friend to try to convince her to stay. and they find themselves compelled by each other. I was intrigued by the concept, and I gave very high marks to Ms. Bennet's previous novels. But this one, I'm sad to say, is only for masochists. I love me some good angst, but this was just pain layered onto pain, then sauced with some more pain. I absolutely despised Francesca's husband, and this novel dragged on and on as all of the characters tried to find a way through to a resolution by basically torturing each other. It simply was not an enjoyable read as everyone was MISERABLE. Ugh! I've never read anything like this before in the genre and sadly it is not a compliment. I suggest you pick of Ms. Bennet's earlier novels instead.

An ARC was generously provided by NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I ended up loving this one more than I thought I would because I loved that Francesca was determined to do what was right for her. No matter what society thought. That she was going to get herself out of a bad marriage. That it's better to be true to yourself.

If you like the Bridgerton books but wish there was a little more scandal involved, you’ll love The Worst Woman in London. Julia Bennet writes a complex friends-to-lovers romance that was so difficult to put down once started.
Very gripping, from the first page onwards, with a great cast of complexly drawn characters & fulfilling relationship & character development. The book also includes some interesting insights into what happened during a divorce trial in the late 1800s. Francesca and James are delightfully engaging as individuals and as a couple, and seeing Edward’s character grow was a happy surprise.
Definitely recommend to anyone who’s a fan of regency-era romances that have some spice!

This book was just around 240 pages but felt like 500. I wasn’t particularly attached to any of the characters and it dragged so much towards the end I had to fight the temptation to skim through.

I enjoyed this book more than I expected. I found the dilemma of divorce and the difficulties women faced in getting a divorce to be a very interesting subplot. Francesca being ostracized by her family and peers added a layer of interest and empathy to the story. James and Francesca were a great pairing and watching them navigate the complexities of a world in which women were given so little freedoms.

I also enjoyed the Edward and Sylvia subplot more than I expected to. I didn't really think I could empathize with Edward but alas, I was pleased for him in the end.

It's been a while since I've read a historical romance, but I really enjoyed this one. It is well written, has some great banter and quite unconventional premises (the story begins with a wedding, when usually historical romance ends with a wedding) and even more unconventional plot: the heroine is seeking divorce from her husband and falls for his friend. I loved the way the author depicted the injustice women encountered when trying to get divorce at the end of 19th century. The main characters were likeable, though flawed, growing during the story, the passion between them palpable, maybe just a tad too instalust'ish? And I really hated Edward, what a shitbag, his change towards the end failed to convince me, I guess I'm not a very forgiving person.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange of honest review.

I loved the way relationship progressed for the two main characters. How it went from them somewhat liking them to actually falling in love and realizing that they love this person more than their reputation and life in society. A good non-angsty read to get into historical fiction.