After Beth's father dies, her mother can only afford one season for Beth to find a husband - and ideally a wealthy one as her father's heir is about to kick them out of their home. At her first ball, she meets Lady Gwen who promises to help her for the season. Beth and Gwen quickly become inseparable - Gwen isn't interested in having a real season as she has no desire for a husband, so the two of them set their eyes on matchmaking Beth's mom and Gwen's dad, who were young lovers until Beth's mom was made to marry a man who was to inherit.

I loved this! A Victorian, sapphic romance? Say less! I loved the transition from friends to lovers that Beth and Gwen experience and loved seeing both of their realization of their feelings. The additional side queer characters were also so sweet and it was so nice to see both Beth and Gwen have supportive families and friends. I think the stakes here are super believable and also felt accurate to the time, which is something I actually like seeing in historical romance. I also like when authors create a society in which queerness is accepted but I think how the world was built here was much more accurate to history.

There's a good bit of angst to get through but the payoff of the HEA is totally worth it! There are moments towards the end that you truly wonder how this is all going to work out and how Beth and Gwen are going to get their HEA but be assured that they do! The end of the book also got me SO excited for the next book already!

Read this for:
- Victorian setting
- Friends to Lovers
- Sapphic
- Matchmaking
- Dual POV

My only criticism is that 3rd person close present tense is often a little jarring and an interesting narrative choice. It took a couple of chapters for my brain to get used to it but ultimately I don't think the tense took anything away from the story for me, despite me needing to get used to it. I do also think that the tone in the beginning of the book made me wonder if it was going to be YA but it definitely is not and the tone gets a bit older the more you read.

Don't Want You Like a Best Friend publishes on January 9, 2024 and I highly recommend picking it up!

Thank you to Avon and Netgalley for the eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Self-discovery. Sexual awakening. Victorian lesbians! This book was just so cute and a perfect spin on the Bridgerton craze. Of course, not everything can be historically accurate, but hopefully we can all suspend reality for a second to enjoy this adorable sapphic read. More of this, please!

Bridgerton but make it sapphic?! This was such a cute read! I loved the journey that Beth and Gwen went on to discover their attraction to each other. There’s so much tension between them! Think pride and prejudice level of longing. I do think this book could have used a bit more spice hence the 4 star rating. But I’m excited to read the next book and these series for more schemes!

I was lucky enough to get a digital arc of Don’t Want You Like A Best Friend by Emma R. Alban in exchange for an honest review.

I was excited when this book was announced with the short description of Victoria Sapphic Parent Trap Novel, pulled in further by the title and the gorgeous cover so despite trying to keep my expectations low I immediately failed. Despite how high they were this book very much met my expectations!

It’s exactly what I wanted from a sapphic historical romance! I loved the characters and the writing style, the humor and the tension! The plot was so strong and the side characters really made the world feel lived in.

I would highly highly recommend this book to anyone looking for Sapphic Historical Fiction (and I’m looking forward to Alban’s future novels as well!)

This book is a take on The Parent Trap in a Victorian setting, with a central sapphic romance at its heart. There are match-making antics with a serious undertone of the reality of abusive husbands in a time when wives had no recourse to the law. It was an easy read with a good supporting cast of characters. I found the descriptions of the endless social engagements a bit tedious, but overall it was an enjoyable read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Immediately sign me up for all upcoming books from Emma, please and thank you. I AM OBSESSED OMG. The title is amazing, and a queer Victorian era book?! COUNT ME IN FOREVER

This story managed to blend a beautiful sapphic romance with a compelling “parent trap”-esque subplot in a way that left me fulfilled on both fronts. Although a Victorian romanc, the writing style felt accessible to an audience who might not have experience with the subgenre while providing the charm associsted with traditional historical romances.

Was it historically accurate? Not *always*, but historical Victorian courtship was anything but romantic by our modern standards so I’m very forgiving! All the characters were so lovable and I’m glad that, in addition to a sapphic romancd, we also got a later-in-life romance that I was rooting for equally. I can’t wait for the second book!

This was an excellent historical sapphic romance. The characters were charming, and I believed their romance. I loved that there were other queer characters and that the families were supportive of their romance. The Parent Trap twist to all of it was cute and made for an excellent B-plot. Low spice, but lots of kissing. The writing leaned modern without being completely anacronistic. I'll be recommending this to readers of both Olivia Waite and Alexis Hall.

All of that said - publishers, if you can hear me. Please, my kingdom for a historical sapphic romance that doesn't include the women husband searching or angst about how to live as a queer couple, etc. Something set in a very slightly alternate universe where queerness is accepted and the angst can just be angst. I'm tired of my beautiful, charming sapphics still being so focused on men/looking for husbands. I understand this is a reality of the historical setting, but it would be nice to read something where queerness is historical and also not so marginalized.

Oh my GOODNESS what a freaking DELIGHT!!!!!! I loved every single page of this book. It's exactly what it says on the label, only better. I loved how visual this entire book felt -- the author's background as a screenplay writer shone through, in the best way possible. Even though there was a fair amount of angst (nothing too strong, don't worry!), knowing a HEA was coming at the end kept me ravenously reading -- even though I knew the HEA was going to arrive, I wasn't quite sure how it would til the very end. (& beyond that, I am sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for the sequel lol.)

Highly, highly recommend. I will definitely be recommending a purchase for my library, as well as pre-ordering a copy of my own.

Third person present tense didn’t work at all for me. I was ready to give up immediately, although I pushed through the prologue. When I made it to chapter 1, I just wasn’t feeling good about it. Who is spying on the characters such that they know all the goings-on immediately? The narrator is a creep, and I couldn’t break past this mental hurdle. It’s certainly a me thing.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the ARC.

Beth, daughter of the widowed Viscountess Demeroven, has one shot at the London Season to find a husband because after that, she and her mother will be out of funds and out of a home. She quickly makes friends with the gregarious Lady Gwen, daughter of the Earl of Havenfort, who helps Beth learn who's who in the ton and shows her the fun that can be had during the Season. Gwen doesn't want a husband, and Beth doesn't really want one, either, though she feels compelled to do so. But if they could match up their parents instead -- especially since the two apparently have a past -- maybe that would save them both to enjoy the life (and the love) they both want?

A fun romantic romp that features friendship, sexual awakening, and merry machinations to bring together the Earl and the Viscountess. My main frustration with the book is that it is told in 3rd person close, but present tense, so the beginning of every chapter feels almost voyeuristic. The POV switches regularly between Gwen and Beth, so the reader gets to experience the yearning and frustrations they both feel. And it's wonderful that this same-sex couple has a great deal of support from family, friends, and even staff. 4 stars.

Thank you, HarperCollins and NetGalley, for providing an eARC of this book. Opinions expressed here are solely my own.

A queer Bridgerton/Parent Trap AND a Taylor Swift reference? Sign me up.

The story follows Beth and Gwen, two debutantes, who meet in London during the season. Neither is particularly interested in finding husbands and throughout the summer, they realize they are more interested in each other. After they realize that their widowed parents have a romantic past with each other, the girls decide to try and pair their parents up so they can avoid marriage themselves.

I love LGBT+ books as well as historical romance so I absolutely loved this book. The friends and parents in the story were way more accepting than they probably would have been in that time period, but that’s the great thing about fiction.

Overall, this story left me with a warm, fuzzy feeling even though you have to go through a little bit of angst first. I rated this a 4.75/5⭐ and rounded it up to 5⭐. If you ever wished that Bridgerton had a Sapphic storyline, then this is the book for you. Excuse me while I go play Dress by Taylor Swift on repeat.

Don't Want You Like a Best Friend by Emma R. Alban is a fun and funny Victorian era queer romance. It follows two debutants who are trying (sometimes not very hard) to find husbands amid the high pressure noble society of Victorian England.

Beth and Gwen come into the season with very different motivations and experiences. Beth is on her first season, and needs to find a husband by the end of the summer so that she and her recently widowed mother can have a place to live come autumn. Gwen is the wealthy only child of a playboy Lord who has been avoiding a match for four years, and hopes to make it out of another season unbothered.

The two meet and become fast friends, especially once they realize that they may have found an answer to all of their problems: a match between their parents.

Can the co-conspirators convince their parents to look beyond the hurt feelings of seasons past and see the potential they have with each other? And what happens when romantic feelings emerge from an unexpected source...one another?

I enjoyed the fact that this book acknowledged the visible and invisible ways in which lesbian relationships existed across different classes during the time period. Because female sexuality was seldom discussed or acknowledged in Victorian society, Sapphic relationships were often overlooked and ignored. This was especially the case when compared to the aggressive anti-gay legislation that was popular at the time. Conversely, women were unable to hold property, file for divorce, or inherit wealth.

Much of the social pressures among the upper class of the era surrounded the importance of producing a viable (read male) heir to ensure that wealth could be passed down within a family. Beth's story of being put out of the house and property after her father's death in favor of a male cousin was a real concern of women of the era.

These laws and traditions are instrumental in setting up the circumstances of both Beth and Gwen, as Gwen's father was initially not the heir to the fortune he ultimately inherited, but only became wealthy after the death of several other family members ahead of him in precedence. His poor prospects are what initially led to Beth's mother rejecting him roughly 20 years ago in favor of a more advantageous but unhappy match.

Alban uses more modern language to convey her ideas rather than trying to stick to the more flowery phrasing of the time, and I think the book is funnier and easier to read because of this.

Emma Alban plans to continue this series, likely next focusing on a male couple. I look forward to her treatment of the different circumstances between the gay and lesbian protagonists.