Fun followup to Don't Want You Like a Best Friend! Highly recommend for those interested in some queer historical romance.

This book is a follow up to 'Don't Want you as a Best Friend' but follows Beth and Gwen's cousins, James and Bobby. I have not read 'Don't Want you as a Best Friend' yet but I can confirm you can read 'You're the Problem, It's You' and enjoy it. Because I indeed enjoyed it!

James unwillingly inherited the viscount title and is new to Parliament. He doesn't know many people and feels unhappy at home. So overall the poor guy doesn't feel like he belongs anywhere. Bobby is the second son and feels like he should be doing something more but as "The Spare" nothing much is expected of him. At first Bobby and James just seem to have misunderstanding after misunderstanding and can't help getting into it any time they interact. But of course they eventually admit to themselves and each other, they rather like the other.

A big part of the men's relationship is around keeping it secret from almost everyone because this is a regency era romance and being queer then was literally illegal. I appreciate the realness of keeping it historically accurate but it also made some parts very very hard for me to read. It's still scary for us now in the modern age but something about queer love being persecuted in a historical setting is more ominous.

I found Bobby and James' feelings of inadequacy to be highly relatable. Fear of letting down your family, fear of making mistakes your parents made, fear of being yourself, fear of being found out as "other", etc. They were very well written.

I'm going to be recommending this to many of my romance and historical romance patrons!!

I love this so so so much 😭 I don’t even know if I have the words but I just loved it so much! I’ve been yearning to get my hands on this one as soon as I finished DWYLABF in January and I couldn’t pick it up fast enough when I was approved for the ARC! I loved being in Bobby & James’ heads and getting to see them slowly fall in love 🥺 both Bobby & James were dealing with so much and felt so useless for so long and then they found each other and they trusted their found family and were able to make a life that they loved despite the odds being completely against them and seriously my heart is so full! Getting to see Bobby & James & Beth & Gwen & Albie & Meredith & Dashiell & Cordelia create the life that they wanted for themselves was a rollercoaster of emotions and humor and tears and swooning and everything in between! I love this motley crew of a family and I would happily read a hundred more stories in this world 🥰 I’ll probably have more to say over the next few months but for now, I just highly recommend & if you’re able to preorder for when it is released in August, you won’t regret it!

I really liked this book. While I didn't read the first book in the series, I still enjoyed this even though it read like you were picking up where the author left off after the first book. The relationship between Bobby and James developed very organically and James had fantastic character growth. While enemies-to-lovers isn't usually my preferred trope as I typically find the reason for being enemies to be petty and irrational, I think it made sense in this scenario. Bobby was very dedicated to his family and based on James' behavior, he seems very judgmental and standoffish for a good chunk of the book. I think the author was very wise to include James' POV since without it he would've been an entirely unlikable character. However, getting to see things from his eyes allowed us to understand him and see that he deals with extreme anxiety and has a terrible home life which has impacted how he interacts with others. I was very happy with the resolution between Beth, Gwen, Bobby, and James. It was so logical and had me cheering that people weren't just pretending that romancelandia can fix the realities of the era this book was set in. I also appreciated the consequences that Raverson faced for his actions. It was well-deserved and was not so harsh that it would've cast a heavy veil over the remainder of the book. The ending was great and had me sighing with happiness that our characters all got the HEA they all deserved. Great book, 5 stars.

I didn't read the first book, <i>Don't Want You Like a Best Friend</i> in the Mischief & Matchmaking series, which was Emma R Alban's debut, as I got this one for free. I did not feel I was missing out on the plot for missing the first in the series even though I normally read series in order even when they feature a separate couple.

Some tropes I enjoy in romance are enemies to lovers/friends to lovers along with when <spoiler>one or both main characters end up hooking up with or falling for other people before getting together officially</spoiler> and this book has those tropes.

The characters are fairly loveable but the characters you're supposed to hate are hard to hate because they seem more cartoonish villainy types--which is fine, but not my favorite for a story. I want all characters to feel more realistic and gray--parts of the lovable main and side characters seemed not quite well-rounded either but overall I enjoyed the story, tropes, and world the author built.

Charming romance, enemies to lovers trope, with engaging characters and a fun story.
Continues where the author’s previous lesbian romance ended, with the girls, in this book conspiring to get the guys together.

I enjoyed this enemies to true love story of Bobby (a second son) and James (a new Viscount) in this historical romance where complications and threats abound, but family and friends help them navigate a secure and happy future. I did not read the first book in the series featuring supporting characters Beth and Gwen, although I plan to now, but I had no trouble reading this one as a stand-alone. Recommended.

After reading the first book in this duology, I couldn't wait to get my hands on this one. James and Bobby's story is sweet, touching, and slightly suspenseful -- just enough to give the story some weight, but not enough to turn this into a thriller. This book is a warm hug of love and acceptance with a perfect happily ever after ending that wraps up both couples' stories ... happily.

Emma R. Alban had one incredible debut. You're the Problem, It's You is a fun queer historical romance. I struggled at the beginning with liking the characters but the second half was great.

Although I remember liking the first book in this series, this one was a complete miss for me. The writing wasn’t engaging, I didn’t care about either of the main characters, the plot was kind of all over the place, and the romance wasn’t at all convincing.
About halfway through the story Bobby begins to realize he’s in love with James, yet he’s still calling James by his surname, and they’ve really only slept together, not forged any sort of meaningful connection beyond physical that I could detect. That level of detachment persists throughout most of the book, which meant that I didn’t get any chemistry between them, and that I didn’t care if they ended up together.
Despite being really disappointed with the main couple and the storyline, I did enjoy seeing Gwen and Beth, and I loved Meredith. She was an absolutely wonderful side character. I also loved the lavender marriage plot point, because that’s something that doesn’t show up enough in queer historical fiction. All in all, this wasn’t my favorite, but it could be a good fit for anyone who likes reading about viscounts and doesn’t mind an instalove connection.

This book felt like I was watching a period piece movie! Not the biggest fan of the miss communication trope which is why at some parts I struggled. I did love both Bobby and James and their chemistry. This was an overall cute and lighthearted queer romance that is perfect for a quick read!

All of the problems that the first book had with pacing and the development of the central romance were amplified here. I didn't buy the relationship between James and Bobby, and actually found the POV of the former character quite grating. The ending stretched far past the limits of my belief suspension (has the author ever met a child before? They would not be able to keep this secret at all!). It takes too long for anything to happen and by the time it does it falls flat because the buildup is so half-baked. I normally can zip through a book of this size and yet it was a chore to get through, actively putting me in a reading slump to boot. In spite the pretty covers, shoddy slowburn and pacing problems will likely keep me from checking out this author's future work.

This book was fun and enjoyable. I personally wasn’t the hugest fan of the plot or the characters, but Alban’s writing still had me very attached to them, cheering at every good moment and feeling sad when things went wrong. I did lose track of all the new side characters in this book, but as a whole the entire cast and community was very sweet and well thought out. While I liked the first book in this duology more, You’re the Problem, It’s You was a fitting, heartfelt end to the series.

Thanks to NetGalley, Avon, and Harper Voyager for the ARC!

I just loved these books so much! The storytelling is so creative and fun. The chemistry/enemies to lovers vibes of these two was unreal. So happy with how this came together and excited to see what Alban writes next.

Thanks to Avon and NetGalley for the ARC.

This was adorable!

After reading DWYLABF, I was anxiously awaiting this sequel. The tension had me stressing but it led to a syrupy-sweet romance. I love that everyone got their happy ending. 3.5/5⭐.

You're the Problem, It's You is the perfect followup to complete the duology that began with Don't Want You Like a Best Friend. In You're the Problem, It's You, we get to continue Gwen and Beth's story, but now through the lens of our new love interests, James and Bobby. James has been interested in Bobby from afar, but after meeting him, fears it was a waste of time. Bobby finds James to be insufferable, but is tasked to help James find his place in high society. Not wanting to disappoint Gwen and Beth, he begrudgingly accepts their request, creating a forced proximity enemies-to-lovers setup. The resolution felt a little empty, as everyone was almost too forgiving to past transgressions. Overall, the heart of this story is sweet and accepting almost to a fault, but what is fiction if not the opportunity to rewrite past as a more loving world.
Thank you to NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager for the e-galley in trade for my honest review.

this was all over the place and not in a fun way. I don't need my historical romances to be history textbooks but I do wish this (like the first one) felt more strongly rooted in a time and place. even ignoring that for the sake of the vibes, I still wasn't into James and Bobby as either individual characters or as a couple tbh. there were both too many plot threads and also somehow nothing happening for so. many. pages.

Did not finish-- the numerous characters are identical and boring and I would rather leave this review than try to force myself to continue reading. Loved the first novel in the series, and I read the epilogue chapter about the lavender marriages (so cute!) but I can't force myself to read past the 20% mark.

I honestly found myself not really caring as much about the couple in this book as I did in the first one. I wasn't as compelled to read their story, just see the little hints of Beth and Gwen's relationship.

Emma R. Alban's 'Don't Want You Like a Best Friend' was one of my top five books last year, and I'm so happy to see Beth and Gwen again, even as supporting characters. And I'm extra happy to see them get a double HEA! 'You're The Problem, It's You' follows Bobby Mason, Gwen's younger cousin (we met him and his older brother, Alibe, in the first book) and the newly anointed Viscount James Demeroven (the one who inherited all of Beth's money in the first book!!!!) as they grapple with their abusive fathers, their sexuality, their true dreams of family, and their blossoming feelings for each other. Alban completely — just absolutely completely — nails the theme of toxic masculinity hurting men almost as much as it hurts women. She also does a brilliant job exploring how queerness would have been so different for men and women in Victorian times. (You know, criminalized, etc. Watch Gentleman Jack for more!) And, best of all, there's so many gloriously teary found family feelings in You're The Problem.

The only real issue I have with this duology is that it's not named: Today Was a Fairytale. And actually, this book, especially, does go way into the deep end of fairy tale endings for the last 15% of the story. I liked it a whole lot, but if you're not into syrupy sweet goodness, you might roll your eyes once or twice. That's okay! More syrup for me!

Thank you to Avon/Harper Voyager and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book and provide an honest review.