Of course as soon as I read the blurb, I was sold! And at the first chapter when I read Georgina’s voracious interest about Viking funerals and the reaction she got from dear auntie and uncle she’s sent to live with, I thought that girl is my teenager self’s spirit animal! I was so sure, my love for this girl would grow at next chapters and I wasn’t wrong! I really enjoyed my time with this story, the only reason I couldn't quite give it 5 stars was that I would have liked the relationship between Emily and Captain Edwards to have been fleshed out just a tiny bit more. They barely had any interactions up to the 50% mark — and I do understand that that time was spent establishing Emily's relationship with Grace and Aster (their dynamic btw, 10/10) — I just felt that that caused the romantic aspect of the story to fall a tiny bit flat. A big part of me wished I was in a book club so I could discuss the 'reading group suggestions' at the end.

Twenty-two-year-old aspiring writer Edith (“Eddie”) Miller and her best friend Rose have always done everything together―from climbing trees and sneaking bottles of wine, to extensive kissing practice. But Rose has started talking about marriage, and Eddie is horrified. Why can’t they continue as they always have? Georgina is unique, smart, quirky as hell but she lives inside the wrong body in the wrong place at the wrong time. She’s sheltered, voracious reader, having hard time to form proper relationships but thankfully or regretfully she meets enigmatic mean girl Frances Campbell who may be the key for Georgina to take her first steps to a secluded, special circle for being part of wheels of Regency Aristocracy. I loved Georgiana and Thomas so much and that scene in the cellar when they almost kissed was delicious with tension and everything you want in a romance plot. I would have loved to have seen more of Frances and Jane's relationship and I'm hoping that might follow in a sequel... The handling of sexual harassment felt perhaps a little too twenty-first century, but I wouldn't have wanted it to be any other way. So much of how we write fiction set in the past is revisionist anyway, so why not imagine a past where people really did believe women?the queer rep was so well done. both the mc and the li are bi, and despite the time period it’s not seen as a big deal amongst the main cast. their is also side gay and trans characters! This book does have some difficult topics in and some could be triggering but the author has handled them well. TW for sexual abuse, drugs and alcohol, abuse.

Croucher infuses this energetic Regency era friends-to-lovers sapphic romance with zany wit, joie de vivre, and a distinctive literary bent." –– Publishers Weekly Reputation is the fresh, fiercely feminist, and utterly irreverent sendup of Jane Austen that I didn't know I needed. Lex Croucher is unafraid to poke fun at the romanticized ideal of the Regency, and the result is a novel that blends a loving-but-cheeky homage to the genre with biting social commentary and an exploration of class and gender roles. Hold on to your bonnets: this is not like any Regency novel you've ever read before." This is not the case for Lex Croucher's Reputation, which promises a fresh new take on the Regency romance. Georgiana Ellers has been sent to live with her aunt and uncle, abandoned in their dreary country home whilst her parents enjoy some fresh seaside air. Absolutely gagging for a hint of adventure, Georgiana is thrilled when she meets Frances Campbell, local socialite, and her circle of wealthy and wild friends. Frances takes Georgiana under her wing, drawing her into a world of drink, drugs and debauchery. Despite copious misgivings, Valentine finds himself on a pell-mell chase to Dover with Bonny by his side. Bonny is unreasonable, overdramatic, annoying, and…beautiful? And being with him makes Valentine question everything he thought he knew. About himself. About love. Even about which Tarleton he should be pursuing.Emily's charges - sisters - rebellious Aster and kind-hearted, pleaser Grace keep Emily on her toes - particularly Aster and never mind their father - Captain Edwards - who Emily initially mistakes for a stable hand. Then at her lowest point, she meets Thomas Hawksley, a quiet complex gentleman she coincidentally bumps into several more times under humiliating circumstances. But she thinks she has unrequited feelings as she realizes he’s acting reserved and unimpressed.