I'll happily admit when a cover is the reason I took a chance on the book, which was the case for this one. Lucky for me, the cover contained a lovely and heartwarming historical story.

The Gentlewoman Companion by Emily Opal is a tender and emotionally rich book in her Gentlewoman series. (Disclaimer: I have not read the other books.). The story follows the lives of strong, independent women who have each found their voice and purpose in a restrictive historical world. In this installment, secrets from the past emerge, testing the strength of the relationship.

Opal weaves a clean, character-driven romance with careful attention to emotional growth and historical detail. The writing is warm, thoughtful, and quietly powerful, with a blend of feminine resilience, soft wit, and gentle intimacy. The Gentlewoman Companion offers a satisfying, heartfelt read with an emotionally satisfying finale that honors the characters.

Note: I can't say if not reading the other series books first made a difference; I didn't have any issue following along.

I enjoyed the originality of this story, and the fact that this wasn’t a heroine who just sits in the corner and simpers, but who actually gets stuff done. I also appreciated that this was a clean read, so you can safely recommend to your young teenager sister, as well as your elderly grandmother, with both enjoying the storyline just as much as you did. My only criticism is that the ending felt a bit unfinished, however I noticed there is another book in the series featuring a character out of this book, so hope that characters from this book make appearances in the one also

The premise of this story is an interesting one. Unfortunately the main character lacks depth and flits from one thing to the next. The writing was very dramatic and over the top. There was so much happening at one time, on one page that it was hard to keep track of it all.

This is a well-written novel with a lot of heart. I adored James and Louisa as characters, even though Louisa’s fortunate circumstances despite her choices requires some suspension of disbelief given the setting (but that’s part of the fun of novels!). The book is rich with historical details and allusions to thinkers and issues of the era. In fact, the book was a lot more heartbreaking than I expected and spent a lot of time on the plight of children in poverty and on the oppression of women. It was also horrifying to see press gangs at work. I applaud Emily Opal (and Louisa and James!) for standing up for their views. I enjoyed this novel and will look forward to more in the future from Emily Opal. I give it 4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

Thank you to NetGalley and Victory Editing CoOp for the free eARC. I post this review with my honest opinions. This review is cross-posted to Goodreads and will be posted on Amazon and Instagram within one week of the book’s publication.

Content warnings: mentions of forced marriage; impoverished mother giving up her child and discussions of children who are in poverty and unhoused; implied abuse; mention of extramarital affairs and children born out of wedlock; kidnapping of an adult to be pressed into service for the Royal Navy; very brief kiss between consenting adults

you are taken into a really well built world by the author. a time where two people live their lives with the walls they've built for different but the same reasons. to stop being hurt. to prove themselves. and to prove they are ok on their own doing it their way. but this is after all protection and both their hearts might want more when they see in each other so many things they thought they'd lost and so many things they might yet be to find. but will they be able to get over what others see and what they see in themselves...and let love in?
i felt i truly got to know these characters. and get to know why they did the things they did. they were also really great characters in their own right but when they came together that connection was a joy to read too.
i liked how even in these times there was people so obviously wanting to be outside in society's 'musts' for themselves. Louisa wanted just that and so she gets herself a job as a companion instead.
however she lives under the constant fear of being exposed. but when she meets James the son she cant deny the chinks it makes in the walls she built, rules shes built for herself. how can she have run away from the wants of her family to wed, when she has this connection to someone? it would be like giving in, wouldn't it? but with time she starts to see it differently. she starts to understand this new feeling. new sense of herself.
but James is pulled in by her too. and this man has his fair share of protective layers to his own heart and life. hes got issues all of his own surrounding his father. and is there something about his new magnet that hes think shes hiding from them,him?
i really liked being in our pairs orbit for this book. a really enjoyable time was had,