Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book early.

Like in Love with You follows Catherine and Rosalie, two young women in Bath whose mothers have encouraged them to be in completion to marry the same man, but they instead fall for each other.

This book was so fun! The banter between the characters was very enjoyable and I loved the slow burn and the yearning that the relationship had on both sides. I also loved how involved Rosalie’s friends and brother were in the story and how invested they were in seeing both Rosalie and Catherine happy. Aunt Genevieve was also a delightful character and I enjoyed how she ended up being a part of Catherine and Rosalie’s story as well as the mothers’ reconciliation.

I also thought the story of the scandal and the fall out between Catherine and Rosalie’s mothers worked really well as a foil to their love, as well as the pressure from both sides to marry the same man. It could’ve been too much but I felt like there was just the right balance between Catherine and Rosalie’s love and the obstacles keeping them apart.

Overall, the story was very fun and I cried when everything was revealed on all accounts at the end.

Thank you again to Avon and NetGalley for the chance to read this early.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5 stars.

Ngl I was going to say No notes perioddd but I realized I actually got this as an eARC to give an actuuuual review. So, YES 💖
But seriously, I’ll never get tired of reading regency from this author. It’s what I dreamt of as a growing Sappho 😭 the vibes, the truuuuth to it, the steam, oh yes.
Cannot wait to have in print!

Another beautiful regency romance! I could never tire of reading something like this.

Perfect for lovers of:
- Regency romance
- Sapphic romance
- Enemies to lovers
- Jane Austen Retelling
- Mean girls

“Like in Love with You”, follows two women- Rosalie and Catherine.
Rosalie has been courted by Mr. Dean for quite some time and is expecting a proposal soon.
This is suddenly threatened by the arrival of a new, beautiful woman- Catherine.
Their mothers have a past rivalry, and now they begin to develop one of their own.
Each woman works with her mother to sabotage the other, in hopes of winning the affections of Mr. Dean.
Throughout their pranks and shenanigans, Rosalie and Catherine discover that neither of them really wishes to marry him. Instead, they have become quite fond of each other.

This is so good!
It took me a while to get into it, but once I did- I was invested!

I LOVE Rosalie and Catherine.
Each of their characters is written so well, and their romance is dreamy.
The rivalry? The forbidden love? The yearning? Perfect. I could die happy.
I adored their dedication to each other. Them publicly humiliating themselves to ward off their suitor, was quite adorable.

I like the writing style here. It is written in the third person, but still feels quite personal.
Each chapter alternates to discuss one of the women- so it kind of feels like dual point of view.

Lastly, I just want to say that I LOVE the cover of this! I think it is so pretty and so cute! It is such an eye-catcher.

Fantastic story overall! I really enjoyed this.

Thank you to Netgalley, Avon and Harper Voyager and author Emma R. Alban, for providing me with the eARC of “Like in Love with You”, in exchange for my honest review!
Publication date: January 13th, 2026
Reviewed on Goodreads: July 24th, 2025

Rather more like Emma than Northanger Abbey, Alban's Like in Love with You rather disappoints. While hopeful and romantic, while the love interests do have romantic chemistry (and are not, thankfully, stepsisters,) this book leaves you wanting. I couldn't tell half of the characters apart (don't ask with a gun to my head,) and the ending rather dragged on. I started skipping descriptions to read the dialog towards the end, liking the book but knowing I would forget about it soon after. This isn't a bad book by any means, just a slightly boring and forgettable one. Thank you, Netgalley, for the arc. I'll still read anything Alban writes in the future-- mostly because there are so few lesbian novels set in the regency and victorian era.

This was another darling and delightfully sinful addition to Emma’s collection. I loved the characters and their shenanigans as they navigated through their growing attraction to each other. I especially loved the brother and how caring and wonderful he was! My only criticism is there were a few modern phrases that took me out of the story momentarily. I have no idea if they are time period accurate (the Tiffany problem) but they were current enough where it bugged me.

Regardless 5 stars!

First of all, I would like to thank Netgalley for accepting my request and for providing me with the ARC. Like in love with you, was my most anticipated book and I am so happy and honored that I was able to read it before it released. I had so much fun with it. I loved both of the characters. I found the story really unique and fun and light, and if you are a fan of historical Romance, I 100% recommend this one to you. You will not regret It.

I really enjoyed this! I’ve read Alban’s other works and this follows them very well. The characters were interesting and so was the plot, though the pacing was a little slow at times. I don’t think it necessarily needs to be as long as it is, but I still had fun reading it!

Ahhh!! I am always so in awe of Emma and this queer period novels! I'm so grateful to have been able to read this book early and fall in love with Rosalie and Catherine. It was such an incredible story and I never quite knew how they were going to solve all of their problems until a solution was proposed and all of a sudden it was obvious! Queer period stories are truly one of my favorite things to read and this feels so beautiful. I love the support these two get throughout the story from those around them!

I did enjoy this but neither of the leads felt like three dimensional characters and the pacing threw me off.

Reading this felt like watching a early 2000's romcom set in the 1810s (complimentary). I wish some aspects of the romance had been developed a little better, but it was still an incredibly fun time!

This was a decent read overall, I liked parts of it and found some moments genuinely enjoyable. The writing had its strengths, and there were characters and scenes that held my attention. However, I struggled to stay engaged throughout.The pacing dragged in places, and the plot felt a bit thin, like it never quite came together or built toward something meaningful.
By the end, I realized it just didn’t resonate with me the way I hoped. It wasn’t a bad book by any means, but I think it simply wasn’t the right fit for me.

This was an enjoyable read and there were parts that I enjoyed more than the first book, but it felt like the plot was lacking and ultimately didn't connect for me.

Historical fiction is MY genre. It'll be hard for a good writer to make me hate their book. Alban is a good writer and I loved Like in Love with You.

Sapphic regency perfection. I hope there are so many more stories in this series from Alban in the works.

✨📚LIKE IN LOVE WITH YOU by Emma R. Alban📚✨

Okay, so I’m not usually a Regency girlie. The corsets, the ballroom politics, the proper etiquette... it’s not really my vibe. I love my contemporary romances, BUT I will gladly make an exception when we’re talking sapphic rivals to lovers with Mean Girls energy in historical Bath (especially during Pride Month, hello), and sprinkle in some Bridgerton à la Francesca and Michaela energy. Yes. Please. 🫖💅

Lady Rosalie is Bath’s resident It Girl™. She is gorgeous, clever, and the queen of a perfectly curated life she’s secretly so over. Catherine Pine is the country bred newcomer with a grudge, a mission, and a whole lot of unexpected gay panic when she realizes her “enemy” might just be the most magnetic person she’s ever met. 🥵

The vibes? Northanger Abbey meets “what if Regina George actually fell for Cady Heron”.
The banter? Witty, funny, filled with sexual tension. 10/10.
The chemistry? Off. The. Charts. 🔥
The petty mom drama? ICONIC.

This book is deliciously witty, gloriously queer, and absolutely a must read if you love Regency era timelines and settings, Mean Girls but make it Bridgerton, and sapphic romance. Think elaborate tea parties with undercurrents of lust and shade. Think emotional yearning in between societal scheming. Think enemies to girls who make out in secret. 💋🌈

If you’re even remotely into:
✅ Queer historical romance
✅ Sharp tongued FMCs falling HARD
✅ Sapphic tension in silk gloves
✅ A plot that makes fun of the genre while absolutely thriving in it

Then Like in Love with You is perfect for you. Even this Regency skeptic was completely enchanted!

Thank you to NetGalley, Emma R. Alban, and Avon for the eARC of this book.