CBR16 Book 43: "Don't Want You Like a Best Friend" by Emma R. Alban

Page count: 384 pages

Rating: 4 stars

Nowhere Book Bingo: 2024 Debut Release

Smart Bitches Summer Bingo: New to Me author

CBR16 Bingo: Scandal (Gwen and Beth's friendship lead to a scandal in the latter half of the book)

Beth is the daughter of the Viscount Demeroven, but has no brothers, and as a result, the title will pass to her cousin. If Beth doesn't find a wealthy and suitable husband during her first season, she and her mother will be left with barely anything (because her father was a very unpleasant man who didn't settle any money on them in his will). She hates being out in society, though, smiling and nodding and pretending to be a ninny just so some man might like her.

Her season gets a bit more bearable when she befriends Gwen, the daughter of a notorious rake. Gwen is in her fourth season, but since her father is wealthy, there is no real need for her to marry, and with each passing year, she becomes more certain she probably doesn't even want to. She takes an instant shine to Beth and promises to help her find a suitable match. The young ladies also notice that there is something strange going on with their parents, and discover that Beth's mother and Gwen's father were friends, and possibly more, back before Beth's mother got married. Now they seem determined to avoid one another, which is difficult as their daughters are becoming best friends.

Beth wouldn't have to get married if her mother married someone wealthy, so the young ladies start scheming (rather ineffectually) to get their parents to fall in love. While trying to push their parents together, the girls grow ever closer, and it becomes obvious that one of the reasons neither of them want to get married, is because they are madly in love with each other. Meanwhile, Beth has managed to catch the attention of a very eligible young man, and their matchmaking plan isn't going as well as they are hoping. Will our young lovers be separated because of Beth's need to secure her future?

A Victorian romance novel with a pair of lesbians with a title inspired by a Taylor Swift song? Sign me up. The book is set shortly after the introduction of the crinoline, or hoop skirt, so there is quite a lot of descriptions of the intricate garments the ladies have to wear during the various balls and such. Both young ladies, upon discovering their queerness, are able to be open with their various family members and instantly accepted, which seems unlikely for the time period, but also avoided some of the angst often present in queer historicals.

The story is mostly frothy and fun, some of the dialogue and attitudes felt anachronistic, but the characters (both the protagonists and the supporting cast) are very charming and I really enjoyed readin it. As is often the case with historical romances (hi Jane Austen!), women's rather unfortunate situations if left without generous male relations are highlighted. Beth's mother was in a similar situation to her daughter before she got married, and since Gwen's father was an untitled nobody at the time, he felt heartbroken when she chose to marry Viscount Demeroven rather than him. Sadly, the now late viscount was abusive and Beth is very aware that her parents' marriage was less than ideal. She dreams of being able to marry for love, but is all to aware that a lot of the eligible men of the ton might hide cruelty and unpleasantness behind their well-dressed facades. Gwen's father is in Parliament and trying to gather enough support to pass a bill that would make it possible for wives to divorce their husbands in cases of abuse or cruelty. Unsurprisingly, there there are a lot of noblemen opposing the bill, and as such, are not big fans of Gwen's father. 

This is Ms. Alban's debut novel. In the final part of this, she pretty heavily foreshadows the sequel, where Beth and Gwen discover that their male cousins (one of them the new Viscount Demeroven) both seem to be gay, and while they are trying to hide it, rather interested in one another. So they decide on another matchmaking scheme. I'm already looking forward the the hijinks that will no doubt ensue. 

Judging a book by its cover: Yet another wonderful cover by Leni Kaufmann, although based on their descriptions, I think Beth (the dark-haired one) should quite a bit shorter than Gwen (the blond one). Their dresses are lovely, and it's a nice touch that the main colour choices can also be found in the lesbian Pride flag. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read 

#CBR6 Book 86: "Match Me If You Can" by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Page count: 416 pages
Rating: 4 stars

Annabelle has taken over her dead grandmother's matchmaking service, and is determined that this is the business she will actually manage to make successful. Her mother wants her to become an accountant (her successful older brother could get her a job in his firm), but Annabelle is having none of it. Of course, making a living as a successful matchmaker is difficult when most of her current clients are her grandmother's old clients, mainly pensioners, who insist on getting the same prices as they did twenty years ago. If Annabelle could just get Heath Champion, Chicago's most sought-after bachelor as her client, and actually find him the woman of his dreams, she's convinced that her business will be a success.

Heath Champion, sports agent extraordinaire, popularly nicknamed "The Python" in business circles, is indeed ready to find himself a wife. Because he is busy wheeling and dealing and hand holding top athletes all over the country, he's already hired Portia Powers from the top matchmaking firm in Chicago to find him promising candidates. So when a flustered redhead in a wrinkly yellow suit shows up at his office, late for her appointment, to try to convince him to use her services instead, he's inclined to tell her to get lost. She is the close friend of his top client's wife, though, and amuses him with her tenacity. He agrees to let Annabelle set him up for one date, and if he likes the woman, he'll sign with her agency too.

Portia and Annabelle become rivals in trying to find Heath's perfect woman. Their job is made more difficult in that Heath usually only sets aside twenty minutes for each candidate, and after a few meetings, insists that Annabelle sit in on all the meetings to make conversation flow more smoothly. Portia is furious that a badly dressed, flighty amateur seems to be moving in on her turf, and to make matters worse, Heath's menacing thug of a driver is trying to blackmail her into dating him.

I'm not spoiling it for anyone when it's obvious from early on that Annabelle is Heath's perfect match and he just needs to put down his mobile phone and get out of the office for long enough to realise it. With an utterly miserable childhood, I'm not surprised that he wants a stable and idyllic family life for his future (isn't this the case for at least half of all heroes in Romancelandia, be they historical or contemporary)? He goes about finding his dream woman in a very cavalier way, though, and as Annabelle is the only woman he spends any time with for more than about twenty minutes to an hour for most of the book, I'm not surprised she's the one he falls for.

To be fair, Annabelle is awesome, and I can absolutely see why she'd want to make her own way rather than settle into her family's expectations for her. She's clearly kind and sees the best potential in people, and still hurting from her broken engagement - because her fiancee didn't tell her until fairly late in the game that he actually wanted to become a woman. That's going to make you wary about new dating experiences. She finds Heath exasperating, but is one of the few people who dares tell him to his face that he's being horrible, and tackles every challenge her failing matchmaking business throws at her with a sense of humour and a determination to succeed.

The secondary romance between Portia and Bodie (who's not really just Heath's driver, but his best friend) is also fun and Portia has to change her snobbish perception a lot, not to mention change her own priorities to make things work out in the end. It's due to her own romantic journey that Portia in the end figures out exactly how to get Heath the woman he most needs in his life, and helps him to grow truly worthy of the lovely Annabelle. Cause yeah, Heath is quite a lot of a d*ck for a lot of the book, and while he has good looks and wealth going for him, he also has a deplorable personality and is a workaholic. It takes him a long time to come up to prove that he's worthy of her, but he gets there in the end.

This book would also have been more enjoyable if I hadn't read and loathed This Heart of Mine. The Tuckers and the Calebows are frequently appearing and important supporting characters in this one, as Molly and Annabelle went to college together and Heath is trying to move heaven and earth to get into Phoebe Calebow's good graces, after screwing up a business deal with her years ago. It's hard to fully enjoy a book when you hate several supporting characters. If you haven't read other books in the series, though, and you like a romance with some quality banter, this is not a bad one to pick up.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.