What a delight! I loved this continuation of the series!

I was not expecting to enjoy the miscommunications and wrong assumptions nearly as much as I did! I usually find it really frustrating when characters leap to (wrong) conclusions and don't communicate with each other, but in Ladies in Hating, it not only establishes the dynamic between the two main characters, as they get to know each other again more, they clear up more and more and more of the misunderstandings as the story goes along.

I also unexpectedly enjoyed the awkwardness of the interactions between Georgiana and Cat, especially in the beginning, and the softening of their regard for each other as walls started to come down. There were some real, difficult reasons for why they each are the way they are, and the vulnerability that came over time was delightful.

Not only that! Some of the secondary and tertiary characters made me laugh out loud as motivations are revealed toward the end! (No spoilers.)

Much thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy of this book!!

This is a series of interconnected standalones that you can, for the most part, read on their own. However, I really think that you need to read Ne’er Duke Well before Ladies in Hating or you will be well and truly confused. You definitely don’t need to read Earl Crush to follow along, but that’s my favorite in the series so why would you skip it?? You hate me, is that it?

Let’s get into the review:

★ Queer Love and Resilience | This book genuinely felt like such a pure a celebration of queer love, as well an assertion that queer love HAS existed and will ALWAYS exist in this world. It made for such an emotional read, as in I was openly sobbing my way through one particular chapter. Even the Author’s Note made me cry — Alexandra Vasti always pulls in real historical details to bring her books to life, and reading about the queer folks before me that inspired this story was such a powerful experience.

★ The Spice | First of all, you know a book is good when multiple reviews reference “the [blank] scene,” and Vasti has definitely carved out her spot in that lineup. The intimate moments of this story felt soft and decadent. There were moments I felt like we needed to get back to the plot, but the writing of the scenes themselves was excellent as always.

★ The Plot | Something I loved about the previous books in the series is the way Alexandra Vasti creates both a compelling romance and a propulsive plotline. The relationships in her books feel so real and earned, which perfectly balances how wild/zany her plots can get. This is the first book in the series that I feel lost that balance. Honestly, it felt like a lot of the plot happened off-page to side characters that we know relatively little about, and Georgiana and Catriona mostly experience the side-effects of that plot. The conclusion itself felt unearned for me, as the plot’s resolution was mostly due to the actions of others or things simply working out.

★ The Conflict | Most of the conflict between the love interests comes from Georgiana’s own fears, and it often felt like Catriona’s arc was left to the side. There is some inital butting-of-heads, but once Catriona starts to understand Georgiana, a lot of that tension dissipates. I love the idea of someone understanding you so fully that they can look past your worst habits and find the real you — but the transition to this understanding happened much too early in the book for me.

I struggled to rate this one and am tentatively rating it 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4. I adored the celebration of queer love and resilience, the heart-clenchingly romantic prose, and all the chapters set in the Gothic manor. Unfortunately, I struggled to connect with the romance and found myself disappointed in the plot. Had I not already been so deeply in love with Vasti’s other works, I’m not sure I would have finished this one.

I would definitely recommend you still try it, especially if you enjoyed the other books. I certainly feel like an outlier.

We get a fun dual POV romance with two rival gothic femme writers locked up in a haunted house trying to find their next inspirations, and unfurl their shared pasts and misunderstandings. This is also technically the third book in a trilogy, but happily, I was still able to follow. A neat, fun, spooky little romp with good lesbian romance and a fun plot.

Alexandra Vasti just keeps getting better and better! Ladies in Hating was SO fun. Both women are so well written with rich backstories (although Vasti does has a penchant for FMCs who are shockingly hot, clumsy, and socially inept) and their history together fun to discover. The overarching mysteries were well written, and the twist at the end surprised me. I'll always read a Vasti regency romance!

My new favorite installment in the Belvoir's Library series from Alexandra Vasti! Thank you to St. Martin's Griffin for an advanced reader's copy of Ladies in Hating. The set-up for this story is so delicious, our gothic novelist, Georgiana, returns from her previous appearances in the series, and now, several years later, is at a midpoint in her career and has grown increasingly suspicious of one rival novelist in particular. The opening scene is genuinely hilarious, and it perfectly sets up the Tessa-Dare-esque balance that Vasti always strikes between quick, witty dialogue and emotionally resonant inner monologue. Both Dare and Vasti will always make you laugh, but they will inevitably leave you weeping at the end, fair warning. This hits so many of my favorite HR beats - class difference, rivals-to-lovers, your childhood crush grows up and oh shit they're so annoyingly hot you hate them for it, ice queen melts in real time, ice queen gets a diminutive NICKNAME and it's ADORABLE, there's-only-one-ruined-manor, meddling Quakers, etc. etc. etc. What makes this an easy five-star read for me is the additional depth to Georgiana's internal conflict and the reflections on family and acceptance. I can get frustrated with a conflict that depends too heavily on self-flagellation, but when that conflict reveals a deeper fear of rejection and an internalized ocean of longing, then it makes a heck of a lot more sense to me. It works SO well here, and resolves beautifully for all involved. I felt the feels I felt at the end of Devil Comes Courting, by Courtney Milan, and if you know, you know.

Also this is really hot? I should mention that it's really hot.

A special thank you to NetGalley, Alexandra Vasti, and St. Martin’s Press for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

If you love Gothic novelist, sapphic enemy to lovers, and both found/reclaimed family, this novel is for you. The very beginnings of this novel set up a world I did not want to leave with the identity of Cat & Georgiana as Gothic novelist.

From forgotten history to reclaimed love for one another, Cat and Georgiana’s relationship was beautiful to witness, even with twist and turns of the plot/storyline. Renwick House and its journey throughout the novel was one of my favorites to see the growth both from Cat & Georgiana’s relationship and the storyline both past and present. There were many late nights ready this novel and sobbing over the dynamic between Cat and Georgiana. Never have I read such beautiful sapphic fiction in my entire life — and it now holds a special place in my heart. I will forever hold these characters near.

While I enjoyed the novel thoroughly, I am interested to see other novels in the series as this was my first exposure to Vasti’s work!

Don’t walk — RUN AND GET THIS BOOK!!!

Rating: 5/5

What a delightful read! This book does a wonderful job of bringing you back into the Belvoir's Library world, while mixing things up enough to give it its own spin. I really enjoyed getting to dive deeper into Georgiana after her initial introduction in Ne'er Duke Well. I also thought the paranormal element was a fun twist!

Alexandra Vasti can write the heck out of historical romance. This enemies to lovers sapphic gothic(esque) romcom romance is no exception (I know it’s a lots but it’s all those things). It’s fun (her books always are) it was a bit slow at the beginning but it does pick up. I received an early copy.

I absolutely loved reading this book! Sexy fun great banter. Cat & Georgiana are wonderful and have great chemistry!

Oh. My. God. This was definitely my favorite of the series by far. I love lesbians!

Review also posted on Goodreads.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this ARC! Alexandra Vasti delivers again. She writes the most fun, historical romances. I always recommend these to people who want a historical romance to feel more modern. I loved the sapphic element of rival gothic novelists in this. Her plots are always well paced, and characters fully developed. She writes strong female characters and I love that! I cannot stand in a historical romance when the MMC is far more sexually experienced and the FMC is sheltered. It’s such a fresh take on the genre.

Enemies to lovers and sapphic and gothic and novelists? This book was delightful, funny, heartfelt, and such a lovely addition to the Vasti canon.

What a great edition to this fantastic series! This book is a great historical romance with lots of tension and anger and the right amount of non-romance plot! I would've loved to see more of Lydia and Arthur but I loved the foreshadowing of Iris and Selina's brother Will... let's see where that goes next!

I'm nothing if not a Bacon stan.

This is my first run-in with the author, but a sapphic, enemies to lovers romance set in a haunted(?) house? I'm sold.

I couldn't put it down, Cat & Georgiana's romance is engaging, passionate, and so tender; their history, and the way they come together is sweet and I love them together ("Georgie mine"???!!!). It's a good blend of Gothic fiction, contemporary romance, and historical romance that I always want more of (and yearning, always more yearning). I loved the framework of competing novelists, and the hidden story of the history of Renwick house.

Thank you to Netgally, Alexandra Vasti, and St. Martin's Press for the chance to eARC "Ladies in Hating."

I think the idea of this novel was a tough tackle and it is part of why I wanted to read it so badly. Historical and LGBTQIA romance are two subgenres I wish crossed over more and this does prove why. It was flirtatious, fun, and so different from many romances I've read this year. My biggest complaint falls in the pacing, though. This dragged for me. I felt like I struggled with the first half of the book to connect to the characters and story due to the pacing. Once I felt that pick up, though, I really enjoyed it.

'Ladies in Hating' is charming, entertaining, and seductive. It has everything you could ever want from a historical romance. Fantastic characters, splashes of humour, and a gorgeous, haunted manor. Georgina and Cat have incredible chemistry, creating lots of room for romance and connection. They’re both hard on themselves and I loved seeing their growth as they worked through that.

This book is incredibly well set-up to tackle a queer romance in a historical setting. Both women are financially independent, have loving family members, and freedom to move around. Once the story switches over to the mansion, they also get to spend a lot of time together, unchaperoned. From there, the plot is fast paced; and even though there isn’t much intense conflict, there’s always a lot going on. Every chapter kept my interest, and overall, it was a pleasure to read.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for providing an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

“To be sure. But one must take into account the not-insignificant fact that ghosts are not real.” “What?” Now Cat looked utterly dumbstruck. “You do not like bats and you don’t believe in ghosts? Are you not a Gothic novelist?” “Of course I am. I am a writer of novels. Book-length works of fiction.”

“Good Lord. Do your readers know of this—this—” Cat seemed at a loss for words for the first time in their acquaintance. “This trickery? This outright fraud?” Her tone was too threaded through with amusement for her remarks to be anything but jest, and so Georgiana said dryly, “The trickery of fiction? Yes, I believe they are aware of it.” 🥰

This is the final book in the Belvoir’s Lending Library, it can totally be read as a stand alone but we met Georgiana in the previous book and I was excited to get her story.

This book had me smiling the whole time. The dialogue is just so delicious.

I was completely charmed by both Cat and Georgiana (& of course Bacon🐶).I love the touch of mystery, with the creepy mansion, the creepy bats and a naughty ghost. I could hardly put this one down.

Please be sure to also read the author’s notes at the end I loved seeing where she drew her inspiration and the parallels with queer history of that period.

Ending this series with this beautiful couple feels right to me, their love was beautiful.

“I promise you, heart of my heart, there is nothing shameful between us. You could not wish for anything that I would not want to give you.”♥️

Thank You to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and the author Alexandra Vasti for the advanced reading copy, all my opinions are my own.

If you have been looking for a historical, sapphic, enemies to lovers romance, here it is! An adorable entry in the genre, "Ladies in Hating" follows Georgiana and Catriona as they navigate the scandal of being female gothic novelists. Georgiana begins to notice that Cat's novels have too many similar plot points to her own and sets off to find out why. Of course, forced proximity comes into play, hijinks ensue, and Cat, Georgie, and Georgie's dog bacon end up closer than they expected. Additionally, there are family dynamics and class difference at play and these elements round out what could otherwise have been an uninteresting story.

This book ends up being well-rounded and very cute ("Georgie mine" is one of my favorite pet names in a romance novel to date) and the romantic scenes are well written without being particularly explicit. Overall a 4 - 4.25/5. I do think some of the side characters could have been fleshed out more to make them more three-dimensional and keep the story outside of the romantic plot more interesting.

**Thank you to NetGalley, Alexandra Vasti, and St. Martin's Press for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.**

I chose this book based on the title, as it made me laugh and the cover looked cute! I’m not much of a romance reader, but I do read a lot of gothic literature, so I couldn’t have picked a better book to start my regency romance journey!

I will admit it took me awhile to get into the story, but once they arrived at Renwick house, I felt much more invested. The pace of the plot also picks up around this time in the book, making it easier for me to follow since I finally got the “I NEED TO KNOW” feeling.

I enjoyed the build up of the relationship and loved to see so much queer joy. To be honest one of my favorite things about this book was actually the authors note at the end. Knowing that so much of this was based on historical realities was really cool.

Overall I enjoyed this book a lot. I’m not sure if regency romance is something I’ll really get into, but I’m glad I got an opportunity to check this one out.

I don’t think Alexandra can write a bad book! Every story I read just tops the one before. This book has romance, mystery, humor, angst, spice, and even a ghost!

If you liked Georgie in the previous Belvoir’s Library books, you will love her even more after this book! And Cat was the perfect companion to her. They played off each other so well and you can feel the love and admiration for each other on every page.