In 19th century London, Jo is a printer in an untraditional lavender marriage and Emily is a buttoned up doctor who is called in to tend to Jo’s husband’s pregnant paramour.

While I enjoyed reading about queer people existing in the 1800s, I had mixed feelings about the novel itself. The plot felt meandering and because of that was not entirely engaging for me. There were also modern words tossed into historical sounding dialogue that took me out of the story.

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Books for the ARC!

I love this series and the found family nonsense that goes along with it.
Overall I found this book sweet and simple. There is not much plot within the romance, almost no issues between the couple once they get past their initial dislike. Even the outside forces are really not disruptive to their story. I think there could have been a lot less focus on Noah and David, they’ve had their story (And it’s a WONDERFUL one!) but this wasn’t about them. Jo and Emily are less different than they are made out to be and I think that helps to keep this a low stakes book.
PS. I LOVE. Love. Vanessa and Paul.

This is the third installment in Jess Everlees "The Lucky Lovers of London" series, and we find ourselves back again in the queer underground of London during the Belle Epoque of London! This story focuses on two female side characters who we were introduced to in the previous books--Jo Smith, a dapper lesbian smut-seller, and Dr. Emily Clarke, a buttoned up lady doctor.

The previous books introduced that Jo is in a open marriage to her best friend, Paul. When his long-term lover becomes pregnant and decides to have a baby, Jo takes up the task of securing pre-natal care for her (a daunting task for a unwed mother in an unconventional relationship). Jo fears that Paul will divorce her and marry his lover, because it seems to be the most secure path for the baby, and wants to make herself indispensable. Through her connections, she meets Dr. Emily Clarke. A suburban Doctor struggling to be respected in her field, Dr. Clarke is not eager to be pigeonholed into womens' medicine like most other female medical professionals. It takes some convincing for her to take on a new client, but her sizzling hot-and-cold connection to alluringly butch Jo definitely helps.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The slow burn romance between Jo and Emily was super fun, and there were some excellent spicy scenes. It was fun to explore the world of sapphic women in London that we had glimpsed in the previous books that had focused on relationships between men. However, I am still confused about some of Jo's motivations. It was kind of confusing to me in the beginning about why she would be so distrustful of Paul divorcing her, and wary of talking to him--she avoids communicating directly with him for most of the book. Their relationship really didn't make sense to me. Maybe if some of the history that was revealed later about her tendency to run away from situations had been hinted at more clearly earlier, it would have made more sense. I felt like Emily's character motivations--her profession, her family, her goals--were more clear, so it would have been better to understand more about Jo so she could be more multidimensional.