CW: alcohol, homophobia, parental death, child abuse, misogyny, gaslighting.

Rep: bisexual, lesbian.

Pride and Prejudice and The City (or Pittsburgh) is a dual POV story that follows Audrey Cameron and Lucy Sinclair. Audrey is struggling with her application to art school following a break up with her boyfriend. She is working at her parent’s convenience store when her elderly neighbour, Mr Montgomery comes into the store, encouraging Audrey to get out of her comfort zone. Being sent back to 1812 via a “magic” coin was NOT what she thought he meant. Audrey finds herself literally in another world, in a field where she meets Lucy. Lucy is a talented pianist who is soon-to-be-married to a man twice her age and enjoying her last bit of freedom while her father (who I LOATHE) is away. Talk about a culture shock for both of them upon meeting. From clothing style, etiquette, courting and so much more.

Rachael did a phenomenal job yet again. It is a beautifully written sapphic retelling of the classic by Jane Austen meets One Last Stop with a twist on Freaky Friday. I LOVED it. It is full of pining, forced proximity, queer awakenings, humour, friendship and so much more. It also has a dog and horses. Which is reason in itself to read this book. I haven’t read much historical fiction, but this is definitely one I’m glad to have on my read pile because it was fantastic. If you enjoy Downtown Abbey, Bridgeton, Time travel, historical fiction or Jane’s novel, you’ll enjoy this book.

Thanks to Netgalley, Simon & Schuster, and Rachael Lippincott for a copy of the ebook. This review is left voluntarily.

⭐️ 5 reread
🌶️ 1 YA, not spicy

The plot is intriguing: Audrey Cameron, stuck in a life that feels paused, is suddenly catapulted to 1812 Regency England, thanks to a quirky old neighbour and a magical coin. Here, she meets Lucy Sinclair, a young woman stifled by her father's plans to marry her off to an odious suitor. Their worlds collide, sparking a tale that's rich in forced proximity, etiquette lessons, and genuine romance.

While the first half had some pacing issues, the second half more than makes up for it, creating an experience that's happily predictable yet endearing. I was especially moved by how the story delved into Audrey and Lucy's personal struggles, giving depth to what could have been just another rom-com. This isn't just a story about finding love; it's about finding yourself - a typical theme for YA romances.

While the title Pride and Prejudice in the City may be a bit misleading for diehard Pride and Prejudice fans like myself, don't let that deter you. This book isn't a retelling but offers more of the general P&P vibe, serving as an interesting blend of time travel and the Regency fiction that Austen wrote. I found both heroines incredibly charming, and I could definitely relate to their struggles with future plans and life direction. The time-travel element is creatively executed without getting bogged down in complexity. Overall, I'd highly recommend this book to anyone looking for historical fiction that includes a modern and inventive twist.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster (Australia) for a copy of this novel. ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

This novel tells the captivating tale of Audrey, a modern-day teenager transported to Regency England, and Lucy, a young woman trying to evade an unwanted marriage proposal. Their unexpected connection leads to a deep love that defies societal norms and transcends time. The novel explores themes of love and identity in a unique and compelling way, offering a fresh take on romance and time travel.

Content warnings: alcohol consumption, reference to mother's death, references to past child abuse, homophobic references, references to past gaslighting.

Rep: Audrey (MC) is cis, white, and bisexual. Lucy (MC) s cis, white, and lesbian. Everyone else was cis and white.


Thank you to the ebook deities who allowed me to have a copy of this to read. I literally pushed everything else aside to read this incredible book.

I am an absolute sucker for a time slip book and this one had me swept up in its pages so quickly.

Audrey, who has recently been broken up with, and waitlisted for her dream university, is feeling uninspired, hopeless, and has lost her spark. She can't draw anymore, and drawing was once her biggest passion, but she can't even draw stick figures anymore.

Lucy is set to wed a man more than twice her age (vom) just for her father's social standings. She's desperate for this to not happen but doesn't have a clue how to get out of this situation.

A magical coin transports Audrey to Lucy's world and the two fall into a wonderful friendship turned amazing sapphic longing.

I adored Audrey and Lucy's interactions. They were both so wildly different, and yet complemented each other so well.

Watching Lucy's walls drop was so lovely and being able to witness these two girls falling in love made my heart sing.

This book was so soft, so tender, and so heartfelt. I can't wait for everyone to be able to read, and love this one when it comes out later in the year. It's worth every second of sapphic pining.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🪙👩🏻‍🎨🎹⛈️👭🏼

Oh, my heart. Rachael Lippincott does it again with a swoony sapphic YA romcom about time travel, learning essential life lessons about being you and learning to take a risk for happiness.

Pride and Prejudice and The City (or Pittsburg, depending on where you are from) has Pride and Prejudice, Freaky Friday, Outlander, Bridgerton, and One Last Stop vibes all rolled into one beautiful sapphic love story.

Audrey is sent back to 1812 with the help was an interfering, lovely old neighbor, (think the old lady in Freaky Friday with the fortune cookie) and a time-traveling coin when her life seems at a standstill to losing the passion for her art thanks to a break up with a boy. Here, she literally crash lands into the world of proper etiquette, corsets, and courting. But she also falls into Lucy's world, who is going through her own dilemma of having to endure the courtship of a man twice her age, because her (awful) father wants his money.

Cue the forced proximity, etiquette lessons, interesting courting from different men, dance lessons art inspiration, sexual awakenings, and life realizations, and this book has fast become one of the best YA books I have read this year.

I definitely recommend it to all. Especially those who love Jane Austen, Bridgerton, or if Rachael is your auto-buy author.

Thanks to Netgalley, Simon & Schuster, and Rachael Lippincott for a copy of the ebook. This review is left voluntarily.

2.5/5 stars

This was a very cute time-travel romp. This is the kind of book that I wish I had to read when I was a teen. It was fun, took us back to the regency time and had a little sweet sapphic romance. I would definitely recommend it as an escapism read, although not much more than that.

I know that I’m a little order than the target audience and I don’t want to be a buzz kill, but although this was a sweet book, I think that’s as far as my praise goes. The character’s intentions didn’t make sense, there were like three too many male love interests for a sapphic romance, and this was not at all like Pride and Prejudice so I don’t quite get the title. I know this makes me sound like a bit of a buzzkill, but I just couldn’t get these little gripes out of my mind. It also just felt like little historical research had be done, I wish a little more effort had been made beyond the surface level observations of the past.

This book clearly wasn’t for me, but I’m loving the positive reviews popping up everywhere, it seems like it’s giving lots of people joy.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster and netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this title.

Pride and Prejudice and the City is a charming, time traveling romance between two women born 200 years apart. I loved this book so much and felt all the sapphic yearning whilst reading it. The pacing of this book is amazing. It is the slowest of slow burns but in a fast paced way if that makes sense. I wanted to see where Audrey and Lucy's story would go, and how the challenges facing them would be resolved so much I just couldn't stop reading.
If this sounds like something up your alley go check it out.

Huge thank you to Simon & Schuster Australia and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for a review.

First off, I just gotta say that I HATE that they changed the title from the US title? Pride and Prejudice and Pittsburgh sounds so much better than Pride and Prejudice and the City.

Secondly, this is NOT a Pride and Prejudice retelling like I had anticipated. That’s partly my fault for not reading the blurb and just diving right in cos I love this author, but also I’ve seen LOADS of people talk about it as a retelling. It is not.

This is a fun romcom, though! Time travel, regency romance, finding yourself. What’s not to love?

Admittedly, it did take me a bit to get into this one. I found the story quite bland despite how exciting it should have been, and while I liked the main characters, I didn’t LOVE them.

What I did love though, was their romance. It was so sweet and tender and painful and beautiful, and I was so glad this had the ending I wanted.

I also really loved the side characters. Matthew, Alexander, James and Martha honestly made this book for me, especially in the second half. Matthew and Alexander towards the end??? They have my whole heart, oh my goodness.

Also, I kind of want a sequel focussed on Lucy and how she’s adapting, because I just find that so fascinating.

A sapphic rom com with time travel! I really enjoyed this one and absolutely adored the characters. I also found this a unique story and loved the regency vibes.
BUT I did feel like this book was bland; I definitely wanted a lot more!

A really entertaining YA sapphic romance about an aspiring artist, Audrey, who’s lost her creative spark after a break up, and travels back in time to Jane Austen England where she meets Lucy, a young woman who has very little freedom or agency. Audrey and Lucy try to work out why Audrey has been sent back to the last, all the while growing closer and closer. I really enjoyed this fun and fast-paced read.

My only complaint is that I want to know what happened to Martha - I hope she was ok!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Full disclosure, I mistakenly applied for this from Netgalley as I misread the author and thought it was by Rachael Lyn Solomon and it was the follow up to my favourite from last year - See You Yesterday.

Instead I got this whimsical LGBT time travel retelling by Rachael Lippincott, author of Five Feet Apart.

Completely different.

That's not to say it wasn't enjoyable.
Audrey is a quirky Pittsburgh gal from 2023, heartbroken from a recent breakup and from not getting into the art school she wanted, she's lost the will to draw and is working as a barista in her parents cafe

She is unexpectedly thrown into Jane Austen era England and Lucy's house. This is the story of how she finds herself again, and helps Lucy find herself in the process

When Audrey Cameron loses her spark and passion for art, an old friend decides to help her out--by sending her 200 years into the past right into Lucy Sinclair’s (massive) backyard. Now the two have to find out just how Audrey’s supposed to get back home, all while realising that maybe the person they’re falling in love with is each other.

‘For another tiny, brief moment, her gaze flies past him to meet mine, and the room slows, all the voices and the faces and the music a blurry and distant hum.’

A very cute and entertaining read about a modern century girl being transported into 1812 London in an attempt to find her passion for art and life again. I enjoyed this book and was super excited for the ARC, considering it’s from Rachael Lippincott, an author whose books are pretty much an instant buy for me.

Audrey and Lucy had an amusing dynamic and you have all of the period-piece typical tropes in here--dance lessons and balls, in the rain confessions, the sapphic yearning that comes with helping each other undress, watching the other dance across the room, sitting together in a carriage so close yet so far. It was fun seeing how Audrey navigated the 1812 world and how Lucy reacted to a lot of Audrey’s modern slang and behaviours. The two both have their own coming of ages and their realisations about their sexuality, and it’s so heartwarming to see how they were both learning to accept their feelings and fight for each other, even in 1812.

I think my only problem was that I put too much expectation into the time travel aspect, so I guess I was a bit let down by how it was resolved--but happy nonetheless, and that was definitely just a personal issue.

Overall, definitely a sweet sapphic historical romance with a time travel twist.

i read this in three hours!!!

if you like fluffy romances, time travel, books set in regency England and/or wonderful queer representation, get this book on your TBR right now!

thank you to Simon and Schuster & Netgalley for the early reading copy of this! this book was an absolute gem and i enjoyed every minute of it! i was so fascinated by the magical realism aspect of this story and i’m glad we got an explanation to the time travel in the end.

i LOVED the characters, especially Lucy! being able to read about both of the main characters coming to terms with their sexualities was amazing.

this is just a really happy story that i really, really enjoyed.

Audrey settles into her corner behind the till in her dad's small corner store. At 17, she is still in high school, but has helped out in the store ever since she can remember. The city of Pittsburgh has changed around the store, but it remains the same as ever, with its loyal customers and a history she is part of.

Working in the store after high school seems a safe bet for Audrey. She had planned to attend Art School, but those plans fell apart when a relationship did. Two rejections from the two most important things in her life has left her smarting, uncertain about going out in the world after high school, and definitely wary of falling in love again.

The shop has many special customers and one of these is Mr Montgomery. He is almost part of the shop, coming in every day for coffee and a newspaper. Her father never charges him for them - never has. This elderly gentleman has seen Audrey grow up, and he tries to give her advice about her art and her heart. She won't hear of it, until he makes her listen... She wakes up in a field in 1812.



Lucy can't believe her eyes. The girl lying on the ground in front of her is wearing trousers! The cloth is strange and Lucy can actually see the girl's skin showing on her body!

She helps her up and takes her back to her house. Luckily her strict father is away for the next few weeks, and she and her house maid Martha can find out where this strange girl is from. But the answer she seeks is preposterous. The year of 2023?!

Audrey quickly proves who she is, and all doubt is left behind as she speaks so strangely, is very confident and outspoken and doesn't seem to have any etiquette training at all. Lucy is perplexed but fascinated at the same time in this stranger. While her father is away, Lucy and Audrey get to know each other. Lucy teaches Audrey all she needs to get by in Regency England, and Audrey slowly draws Lucy's real personality out.

Lucy has been brought up by her father since her mother died. Her parent's had a loveless marriage, and Lucy's mother had wished for more for her only child. But Lucy's father sees her only as a pawn to increase his wealth and standing in the county and business community. Lucy must marry a man much older and richer to cement her father's aspirations.

Together, the girls begin to work out why Audrey has been thrown back in time, all the while becoming their true selves around each other. Does Audrey have to find love to return home to 2023? Can Lucy marry a man she doesn't love? Can Audrey find her love of drawing again? Can Lucy admit the feelings she has for a girl?


As a huge fan of Pride and Prejudice, just the title of this YA novel was enough to dive in. It is told in two points of view. Audrey is 17, and lives in Pittsburgh USA in 2023. Lucy lives on her wealthy father's estate in 1812.

Thrown together when Audrey travels back in time, the contrast between them is captivating. Both dealing with uncertain futures, it was wonderful to watch them unfurl on the page - slowly becoming themselves again after past hurts. Their growing attraction is almost painful to watch as they doubt themselves, then each other, and right before I just about couldn't stand it a page longer, the plot shifts and I'm gripped again.

One of the best romance novels I've read in ages, with a fantastical time twist, finishing with a glimpse of their future together.

(Thank you Net Galley for my ARC of Pride and Prejudice and the City)