Ladies in Hating by Alexandra Vasti is a fun sapphic historical romance. It follows Lady Georgiana Cleeve, a successful Gothic novelist, and Catriona Lacey, a rival author who seems to be plagiarizing Georgiana. When the two end up researching together at a haunted mansion, their rivalry quickly turns into something more.

The romance between Georgiana and Cat is slow-burn, but full of tension. Their deep connection, built over years, is the heart of the story. The haunted mansion setting adds an eerie atmosphere, and their investigation into its mysteries brings them closer together.

Vasti’s writing is witty while still exploring themes of class, found family, and the challenges of being queer during this time period. The pacing slows a bit in the middle, but the romance and mystery keep the story going. The sex scenes are frequent and might feel rushed to some.

While the ending is satisfying, the mystery resolution leans a little too much on male characters. Overall, Ladies in Hating is an emotional, and enjoyable read, with good chemistry between the leads. It's a great pick for fans of historical romance and queer love stories, but just not for me.

I had so much fun reading this book from the beginning! The cover and description intrigued me to pick it up and I’m so glad I did. With just the first chapter I knew I was going to love it. Cat and Georgie are adorable and so similar. I loved how they found each other and how the story progressed with each getting their own answers. I recommend picking this book up. It is my first with this author, so I’m excited to check out the other books.

I loved this book. The characters are wonderful. The plot was compelling. I loved the setting. It was sweet and touching. Absolutely excellent.

Thank you to NetGalley and to St. Martin's Press for the ARC of Ladies in Hating by Alexandra Vasti.

In the third novel in the series, a sapphic enemies-to-lovers slow-burn, we watch Lady Georgiana find love with Cat Lacey, the butler's daughter she was infatuated with in her teenage years. Both women are now writers, but their plots and characters continuously seem to overlap in ways that seem like the other must be stealing from the other - or are they? A chance encounter at a local haunted mansion drives them together, but can they solve their differences?

Vasti does an excellent job with character development with Georgie, who has changed so much over the past seven years since the setting of the first book. She is no 25, she is self-sufficient and supports her mother - she's come so far, and yet is still so damaged from her father's treatment and the way she isolated herself from her brothers so that her writing career did not derail their success. Having her learn the hard way, with Cat's patience and understanding, that it's okay to need other people was multi-layered and showed true positive character growth. Cat has definitely had her own hard times, and her hard work to support her family out of poverty and to pursue her dreams and Georgie made her a very daring, dashing character. Vasti did a great slow burn of their romance, while also really letting us see both of these characters as people who deserve love and who deserve each other.

What I love about Alexandra Vasti's series is that none of these first three books has been the same -- the plots are all so wildly different and inventive which is so refreshing in a romance series. There is no cookie cutter plot template being used - Vasti clearly takes the time investigate the historical time period and to let that influence her characters and develop her story more fully - which is why we see in-depth characters recovering from illness, exploring supernatural phenomena, diving into politics, promoting forbidden literature, etc. She makes her characters feel real, and she makes her settings and her plot feel deeper because they are intrinsically linked to the what feels like what the lived life of that character could be given their circumstances (with the occasional extra push for a happily ever after).

Please let Iris be next!

Ladies in Hating is the 3rd book in the Belvoir's Library series, following Ne'er Duke Well and Earl Crush. I've been waiting for Lady Georgiana's story after her role in the first two books in the series, and this book did not disappoint. Lady Georgiana Cleeve is a successful Gothic novelist, and she is convinced that Lady Darling, another Gothic author, is stealing her ideas. When she confronts Lady Darling, she is shocked to find Cat Lacey, the object of Georgiana's teenage crush.

As each author researches her next book, they continue running into each other, until they end up alone in a haunted mansion. Will Georgiana trust Cat? Will Cat be able to pierce through Georgiana's armor? As they work together to solve the mystery of the history of the haunted mansion, they gain a new perspective on each other. Their mutual professional respect for each other and physical attraction grow into something deeper.

Cat and Georgiana have known and cared about each other for years. I love a slow-burn romance where the characters pine for each other for years, and this was their story. Their connection started years prior, and their time together in the story brought them even closer together. Both Georgiana and Cat have gone through and survived some very difficult challenges in their lives, and finding each other after many years felt like the ending that they both deserved. This story had so much angst and tension, which made the ending ultimately even more satisfying.

This book was another satisfying tale in the Belvoir's Library series. I can't wait to read Iris' story next! I highly recommend this entire series.

Thank you to Alexandra Vasti, St. Martin's Press/St. Martin's Griffin, and NetGalley for this advance reader copy in exchange for an unbiased review. All opinions are my own.

rating — 4.5 out of 5 stars.

alexandra vasti has been on my radar for a long time — i read her novellas back when they were offered for free with her newsletter! so, needless to say, reading one of her full-length novels was overdue for me. i’ve had the first two books in the trilogy on my tbr for a while, but as soon as i saw the sapphic one was available i had to jump on it — and it was so worth it!

there is a serious drought in the sapphic historical romance sphere, so i’m eternally grateful to alexandra vasti for finally giving us some good food. i loved the touch of rival authors to lovers that she had going on, the homage to gothic romances, and the silly moments sprinkled in for a laugh (sir francis bacon my beloved). this was a quick and super enjoyable read, which i’ve come to expect from her other works and found once again in this one! i’ll definitely be going back to read the other two books in the trilogy.

Thank you to Netgallery, Alexandra Vasti, and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.Ladies in Hating had an interesting premise, but unfortunately, it didn’t fully capture my interest. While the writing was solid and the setup had potential, I found myself struggling to stay engaged with the story. The pacing felt a bit slow for my taste, and I didn’t connect as much as I’d hoped with the characters or their dynamic.

That being said, I can see this book appealing to readers who enjoy [specific trope, like Regency rivals-to-lovers, witty banter, etc.]. Just because it wasn’t for me doesn’t mean others won’t love it! Fans of [comparable author or book] may find this an enjoyable read. While it wasn’t my favorite, I always appreciate discovering new stories and will be curious to see what this author does next.

This book cover reeled me in hook, line, and sinker, then I read the description and was INVESTED. To say it delivered would be an understatement. Ladies in Hating is my favorite read of 2025 so far. The enemies to lovers sapphic couple was everything. I adore them so much, I cannot stress this enough. The spice is great as well. The sapphic yearning is real in this one friends.

What really grabbed me though...was the setting. The crumbling gothic manor house made this book come alive (as did the lovely lady ghost helping the girls along the way).

I haven't read the first two books from the series but I'm putting them on my TBR immediately. I will read everything Alexandra writes from here on.

This book kept me up until 3AM on a Sunday night and I don't regret it one bit today. I will happily be purchasing this and adding it to my collection. Such a triumph!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this incredible book in exchange for an honest review.

What a delightful little book this was.

The premise: Lady Georgiana, an earl's daughter who is estranged from her brother/the current earl, is consumed with hatred for her rival in Gothic novel authorship, 'Lady Darling'. She stakes out Lady Darling's publisher only to discover that her rival is in fact a woman she knew in childhood. They have strikingly similar fiction and end up in a haunted Gothic manor together. What will happen???? Obviously they bone and fall in love amid attempted murder and secret encoded letters. What's better than this.

I am an enthusiastic reader of romance novels and this one was interesting to me because it has a lot of the hallmarks of modern left-liberal historicals - more racial & gender diversity, more working class characters, etc., but also nobility who behave like real human beings with meaningful human relationships. Obviously more diversity is great but books like this are sometimes so historically ignorant that they end up being the offensive kind of fantasy (oh I'm so glad Duke Whatsits pays his servants a living wage. Where did he get the money from? Slavery, but the author either doesn't know that or is refusing to engage with it. Bad!). I am delighted to report that's not really an issue here. This world IS kinder than our own but the changes are thoughtful, thorough, and not (for lack of a better term) stupid.

While I'm talking about general market trends, there is an inheritance plot whose beats will be very familiar to anyone who was reading historicals in 2006 or so. Yes, there is a gun. Yes, there are red herrings. etc. And as someone who has gone on the record saying Regencies should be required to have a sinister murder plot where someone threatens to fetch a magistrate, obviously I was delighted. Thank god. Finally some good food.

Georgiana and Cat are fun to spend time with. Georgiana has emotional derangements from her abusive father and Cat has emotional derangements from her economic instability and they are both so, so DTF each other. I am going to be blunt: the horniness is responsible for at least two of these stars. It's everywhere and it's unapologetic. They are soooo into each other and it's both fun and hot.

The pacing did lag for me a bit in the middle, as Georgiana's emotional issues drive the plot forward in some occasionally-trying ways. And Vasti is balancing a lot, emotionally, because this is both an historical romance in the fun, frothy, not-too-period register, and a story that incorporates familial estrangement and societal homophobia, and a few times I was basically holding my breath in hopes it wouldn't get weird. But for the most part it doesn't; it's a quick read that is also a touching read (and hot!! I holler. AND HOT!!!). I had a great time. Would absolutely recommend to gay people who want to read about old-timey fingerbanging.

eARC via the publisher + NetGalley with my thanks, all the opinions in this review are my own.

You hear "historical sapphic gothic romance" and you think "okay, well there's no way that's going to live up to the dreams I've been having since I first read Northanger Abbey" But: ha! Jokes on me! Because Alexandra Vasti has written a perfect book! A perfect book that would have the Bronte sisters fighting over the fainting couch! Heck, I almost needed a fainting couch, myself — but from the swooning.

Truly, Ladies in Hating has it all: two rival gothic novelists with a shared past, that kind of dramatic pining that feels like getting kicked in the guts (complimentary), a giant derelict house, spooky mysteries, a ghost even gayer than the ones Daphne du Maurier dreamed up, an adorable puppy named BACON, and two women confronting their fears and insecurities and past hurts to be better for each other, literary dreams coming true. And oh my heavens, the spice. I'm revealing too much about my own self here, but I had to shed my outer layer multiple times while reading this dang book because I got so flushed about it. And I've never even SEEN a stocking!

Five million stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this book and provide an honest review.

Ladies in Hating delivers everything that its beautiful cover promised: manor mischief, two strong-willed heroines and a whole lot of rose garden adventures.

I particularly liked:
- the supporting cast of characters, and the tender and hopeful love they helped portray
- the gothic setting, including ghostly antics and a crumbling house
- the rose garden that really deserves a second mention tbh

I thought this was also a lovely end to the Belvoir Library trilogy!

Thank you NetGalley for the arc!

Ladies in Hating is a delightful sapphic novel about two rivaling Gothic novelists, Cat and Georgiana, who are brought together via various mysterious circumstances and unknown connections.

This was a fun and romantic read. It had everything I wanted in a romance and everything I needed to make my own heart swell full of love and fondness. There’s so many types of love in this story between our wonderful Cat and Georgiana, friends, siblings, and even that of Bacon. I cheered and gasped and teared and squealed throughout reading this. Hopefully, at all the correct moments.

It was a truly lovely read and I beg curious readers to dive deep into this book and simply have a great joy of fun of romance and mystery.

I give Ladies in Hating a 5/5 rating because it is the only type of perfection I can mirror back to such a wonderful piece of writing.

I received an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Once again, Alexandra Vasti killed it. Sapphic Gothic novelist rivals in a haunted house with an extra dose of longing? Yes please. I, like other characters of this book, just wanted to stuff them in a room together until they finally figured it out! Cat was so incredibly sweet with Georgiana. Every time she called her "Georgie mine" my heart squeezed. And Georgie grows so much I loved watching it. I really appreciated that her hang ups didn't come from any shame about being queer. While Cat and Georgie obviously deal with how they will make their relationship work, neither of them are ashamed of who they are and who they love.

I hope that there are more sapphic histroms on Vasti's docket because this had the perfect amount of steam and sweetness. Also, I hope Iris gets her time to shine! There's a story there with Selinas brother Will and im dying to have it!

4 ⭐️I loved this book! This the first book by the author I have read. Ladies In Hating is a sapphic enemies to lovers historical romance. Two rival Gothic authors find themselves in a haunted house to prep for their new book.

The first half of the book has the most paranormal activity. The build up and tension between Georgiana and Cat is done well. The second half of the novel has more to do with Cat and Georgiana’s budding romance. Georgiana often gets in her own way and believes that she hurts everyone she gets close to. I do feel at times the pacing was off. The story ended up having a love story within a love story. I would have thought that the novel both women were trying to write would be more at the forefront of the plot, but after the second half it’s not.

Overall, it was beautifully written and touched on subjects of found family, class, poverty and misogyny. The spice was well done and didn’t overwhelm the plot but wasn’t scarce either.

This is a book in a series but it was able to be read as a standalone. I am not sure if the other books are connected but if they are, the author was able to explain dynamics without the reader having to read the other books.

Gorgeous rival Gothic romance novelists writing under noms de plume to mask their scandalous careers from society (with mixed success) make the sexiest sapphic enemies-to-lovers I’ve read in quite a while.

I’ve been waiting for Lady Georgiana’s story since she was first unmasked: not when she revealed herself as the author of a good portion of salacious novels in the Belvoir Library to save her friend, but when she worked up the bravery to stop pretending to be astoundingly if charmingly stupid and finally found her best friends.

This book dives into daddy issues that complicate the plot in genuinely delightful ways: Lady G’s father was a terrible Earl who ruins basically everyone’s lives in some way or another, and (my own daddy issues notwithstanding) I loved being along for the ride as these lovely characters untangled the messes he left behind.

Ladies in Hating moves through the will-they-or-won’t-they at the perfect pace, with enough tension to make it interesting but not so much that it made me truly anxious for them.

I teared up in more places than I would prefer to admit, and it was in all the places that our lovely heroines are made to understand that they are seen and loved by those who know them best.

This is a truly enjoyable read, and perfect for those who want a romance that is wholesome in all the best ways but downright dirty where it counts.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher and Alexandra Vasti for this ARC!!! I was so excited to get an early look at the next book in the Belvoir series which is fast becoming one of my favorite historical romance series of all time. Seriously I’m obsessed with these characters and this world and Vasti’s brilliant writing. Inject anything she creates straight into my veins. And a FF love story? New heights reached with this installment, read it as soon as you can get your hands on it!

I loved this book more than I expected - I always adore Vasti's novels, but this one made me cry three times. It's soft? It's tough? It's sapphic? It's spooky? It's everything???

Alexandra Vasti’s upcoming release — Ladies in Hating — is the final book in her delightful Belvoir’s Lending Library series. And much like its predecessors (Ne’er Duke Well and Earl Crush), it is pure joy.

Ladies follows Georgiana and Catriona, unrequited teenage crushes who discover they are now unwitting literary rivals — both gothic novelists whose books continue to bear one uncanny resemblance after another. As they try to get to the bottom of this mystery, their bitterness towards one another turns into something more. Throw in a haunted estate, their messy history and some hilarious scheming and you’ve got this sweet, spicy sapphic romance.

Alexandra’s writing somehow makes every one of her historical romances feel equally modern — the comedy, the female friendships and the A+ love interests never fail to bridge that gap between wholly unique and comfortingly familiar. This book is the perfect finale to an adorably fun series and I miss Georgie and Cat already.

Ladies in Hating by Alexandra Vasti comes out 9/23
.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC!

I love a historical romance and I also love sapphic books so this one really hit the spot! There was angst and tension and some real sweet moments too! I have really been enjoying this series and I am so excited for the next one!

The way I dropped my current reads when this much anticipated ARC landed in my inbox! I've read all of the Belvoir's Library series (and everything Vasti has published), but you can absolutely jump into this this highly entertaining gothic sapphic historical romance as a standalone.

This book grabbed me from the start. If you're in the romancelandia community on any platform you will get all the absolutely period-appropriate nods to the shenanigans we see going on today (two authors with the same idea, one must be a copycat!). It was SO FUN! And you can feel how much Vasti just loves the genre.

The romance was charming. Georgiana is a starchy virgin and Cat is delightful.
The setting was fantastically gothic, and came with some great twists.
My only quibble is that I am not a fan of MCs who hold on tight the weight of their parents wrongs for the bulk of a book, and Georgiana really had that down solid.

Overall an entertaining and swoony read!