The book started off slow, I could not like the husband especially because he was a cheater. But as we get more character development, the plot increases. Overall this was a decent read.

I went into this with just about no expectations. The premise was unique and interesting- a woman who seeks an actual divorce from her unfaithful husband instead of staying attached to him as society would expect.

Most of all, what I liked was the exploration of identity and the processes of divorce proceedings in this time period. The unfairness of it all and the way that affected Francesca was definitely compelling.

However, I had a lot of problems with the characters. We spend a LOT more time than I would have wanted in the head of Edward, the Awful Husband, and a random debutante. I'm not sure what purpose this served, and I really didn't want their perspective. I wanted more depth from James and Francesca instead.

This book turned into the Edward show REAL quick, at the expense of any real emotional development from Francesca and James. Though they started off well, they quickly bottomed out as shallow caricatures with ridiculous feelings and there was little to no conversation past the halfway point that meant anything.

Overall, we spent too much time on the villain and this book was not for me.

Stuck in a loveless marriage to a man who refuses to grant her a divorce, Francesca is frustrated and struggling. When her husband sends their friend, James, with a message to convince her to come back home. He doesn't understand that what she wants is her freedom, and thinks he can get her back home by threatening to cut her off financially.

As she and James spend more and more time together, they realize the feelings they have for one another. Unfortunately, if she wants to break free from her marriage, she needs to be absolutely above reproach, no affairs while she is still married.

Will she get to be with James, and will she be awarded the divorce?

I really liked this story. The characters were believable and likeable, and I wanted everything to work out for them. This is a bit outside my usual romance reading, being historical rather than contemporary. That being said, it was still plenty spicy and tension-filled. It's definitely worth a read.

*I received a digital ARC from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review

Thank you netgalley for the e-arc!
It feels forever as i read into it! For me the plot is sooo slow like i had to skimmed some part of it T_____T im sorry i thought i would love this book but turned out it bore me ( •̛̣̣꒶̯•̛̣̣ )

Such a cute historical romance! I was worried about the slow start but once I picked up I couldn’t put it down! I can’t wait to try other books by this author.

Thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I liked it! Was it a bit tedious? Yes. Could I have gone without the secondary couple? YES. Would I have liked a longer epilogue? Certainly sir. But overall I liked it! The slow burn is necessarily slow but it’s a realistic-feeling evolution of acquaintances to friends to lovers that I enjoyed.

* Thanks to NetGally and Julia Bennet for an ARC of this! *

This was great! The friendship between Francesca and James is so sweet, and then that payoff romance is even better. Edward makes a perfect villain - he's so scummy.
There's a broad commentary about women's rights in the book that I found super informative, and I think it really made the plot unique.
Definitely recommend for historical romance readers who like Tessa Dare and Julia Quinn.

I received an ARC and chose to give my honest opinion - thanks NetGalley!!


"The Worst Woman in London" felt like a historical romance with a twist (just because it wasn't as straightforward as usual). It's hard as a woman, as a feminist, to read of the divorce proceedings of the time but I do feel like I learnt quite a bit.

Now, for the important part, the romance, it was nice. Francesca and James seemed to be perfect friends and their dynamics were quite entertaining. Though as a couple, I didn't feel much chemistry. Individually I liked both of their backgrounds and how hard they were working to be better people.

My favourite part was definitely how we were given snippets into other characters' points of view that we usually wouldn't have because they weren't the main couple.

For sure, an author I'll be keeping my eye out for more books!

This book was so good!
From the beginning its clear that the author’s way of writing its perfect to be catapulted directly into nineteenth-century London. Our famale main character, Francesca, is strong, knows wats she wants and she’s so badass that she's not afraid to take what's rightfully hers; I loved her so much!! As for James, the male main character, he’s certainly charming and one thing that I really liked it’s how his closeness with Fran made him question the social rules of the period, therefore we were able to witness his personal growth.
Another thing that I enjoyed about this book was the fact that we also got povs of the secondary characters, which is a good thing as usually in romances the characters surrounding the main ones are just there and sometimes we don’t even pay attention to them.
The only downside is that maybe in some points the book was a little slow but for me it's not something that had much impact on the story as a whole. In the end it’s a book that is very easy to read and certainly keeps you entertained.

This book was the perfect definition of fun, loving, entertaining and cute read. And I so loved and enjoyed it.

Francesca Thorne is in the unfortunate position of wanting to divorce her unfaithful husband in a Victorian community where virtue, or at least the appearance of it, dictates the quality of her life. Whispers of a potential divorce are already ruining her chances at financial stability when she starts falling for James, her husband’s resolutely unserious friend who admires her rebellion against convention but is as bound by it as everyone else. Fran and James must decide if they are willing to sacrifice their way of life for freedom, and if their feelings for each other are worth risking it all for.

Julia Bennet’s The Worst Woman in London is everything I wanted it to be. The conflict exposes a lot of the double standards in divorce that may still linger today. I loved the complexity of all the characters. Fran feels reminiscent of Ellen in Edith Wharton’s Age of Innocence in the best way. Both are strong, interesting women who are victims of the time period. The forbidden romance was compelling because the stakes felt frustratingly high for both Fran and James. Their friendship-to-lovers dynamic is charming, fun, and beautiful. I was really rooting for them to get their happy ending.

I didn’t love reading the perspectives of the secondary characters, Edward and Sylvia. I’m not the biggest fan of having more than two POVs, especially when some of them are characters that I don’t like (and I really don’t like Edward), so readers should be aware of that. As long as that doesn’t put you off, I would absolutely recommend this book if you’re looking for a compelling historical romance, complex main characters, and angsty conflict.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Julia Bennet for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

🌶🌶/5 -- Starting off my December advanced reader copy reading with a bang! Before I get into my review, I want to explain something: I thought I would hate this book.

I'm not sure when the shift happened for me - but over the years, I became increasingly bored with traditional regency romances. Maybe you're like me, and you can remember the first one you ever read? I keep it downloaded on my kindle at all times! I thought I'd be getting the tale of a sassy heroine who has done no wrong and hates her husband, which can be tiring/boring because, as we all know - marriages take two to fall apart.

Throughout Julia Bennet's tale, I was surprised to find myself loving and hating characters in different aspects - but also recoiling at the awful choices people make in relationships and how they hurt each other. For the first time in a regency romance - I read about divorce and it was semi-sad but also refreshing! I admit that I was totally wrong to prejudge this book, and I now love Julia Bennet's take on a Victorian-era romance!

A FEW THINGS I LOVED:
- In no way did I expect to feel so attached to characters and identify with so many of the women!! I didn't expect characters across different classes to become friends and allies, and I didn't expect to find myself rooting for the characters that I did.
- This was the first regency romance I've ever read where a mother tried to shield her daughter away from a man of aristocratic standing but notorious for cheating on his wife. In other regency romances, and probably real life back then too, Victorian-era parents of the aristocracy wanted their children to marry well at all costs. The change was refreshing! (Even if that mother is later revealed to be also overbearing.)
- Really hard to create characters with depth under 300 pages, but this book is equal parts a quick read and spares us from reading another vapid romance.

NOTES:
- Something to keep in mind throughout the story: The book is set in the late 19th century (1880s). The first women's rights movement in Britain was in 1848 - less than 200 years ago! Quite literally, within the last 4 generations.. women weren't allowed to divorce crappy husbands. So this book takes place within 40 years of women having the rights they do. I'm sure you can imagine how that when over with the men of the time... like a lead balloon. 🙄
- I hope the physical copies have the same cover! Will be buying one for my library!
- TWs: cheating from multiple characters
- Satisfying ending
- Strong female main character in the Victorian Era
- Coming to Kindle Unlimited on Feb 3rd, 2023!

**I received this book as an advanced reader copy, but all reviews are my own. - SLR

3.25 stars//

Thank you Netgalley and Julia Bennet for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Worst Woman in London follows Francesca Thorne who is in an unhappy marriage and wants a divorce from her infidel husband. Set in Victorian London, divorce is something that shames a woman's name and could deprive her of societal acceptance and support. Therefore, Francesca has to work through the external pressure and stand her ground for her freedom. James Standish, Edward Thorne's childhood friend, plays the love interest who ends up falling for Francesca as they got closer after Edward mistakingly sends him to change Francesca's mind. A story of forbidden love, the standing of a woman and man in Victorian London, and the right to divorce and freedom of an unhappy relationship.

First off, I loved the cover of this book. It was half the reason I wanted to read it in all honesty because it's just gorgeous. Now it had a strong start and it got me hooked. However, about halfway through, I got bored. This may be because I got into a reading slump but nonetheless this book didn't help me get out of it. It shed a lot of light on the way women were treated as inferiors and how they were held accountable more harshly than men were back in the 19th century. Francesca is a strong and remarkable character that I loved getting to know. James was boring in my opinion, but his love for Francesca gave him a few points in my book. This was really well written even if it bored me at some points, I still finished it.

Overall, it is a fun historical romance with the forbidden love and friends-to-lovers tropes. The slow burn of the main conflict and watching the characters, even the side ones, get their happy endings were my favorite parts. I do recommend this for historical romance enthusiasts; it's pretty good.

This book was just ok. I love historical fiction but this book fell a little flat for me. It was a quick easy read but I wasn't completely sold and things moved quickly. I did like the set up of their romance and liked them together but it just felt choppy.

Perhaps I've just read too many historical romances, and my expectations for the genre have become nearly impossible.
There was nothing particular to recommend this book, nor were there any glaring issues. It was just...there.

I am thrilled to see Julia Bennet again publishing historical romance. Her first two novels, The Madness of Miss Gray and The Ruin of Evangeline Jones, are four star reads for me and, were I awarding points for simply being more interesting than the vast majority of historical romances I've read in the past five years, I'd rate them even higher. Her latest, The Worst Woman in London, is a refreshing, generous tale that tells two love stories as it explores the abhorrent impact on women of divorce law in the Victorian age.

James Standish first meets Francesca Heller when she is nineteen and he is twenty-six. She is the intended of his best friend, Edward Thorne. James realizes, within minutes, the Thorne marriage is doomed.

Miss Heller simply wasn’t the right girl for Thorne. James knew by the way she hid her laughter, by her sadness when Thorne patronized her, and by a dozen other insignificant details. If the ceremony went ahead in three days, it might prove the worst mistake of her life.

If it were any other man, the two might marry, realize their mistake, and make the best of things, but Thorne was a romantic and he’d rhapsodized at length on Miss Heller’s delicacy, her girlish ignorance, and sweet compliance. When he realized she wasn’t the girl of his dreams, his spirits wouldn’t just plummet, but crash. When people tumbled from their pedestals, as they generally did sooner or later, Thorne didn’t hesitate to cut them out of his life. Even his own father.

The girl didn’t understand, not consciously, and Thorne hadn’t a clue.

Perhaps James ought to say something.

James says nothing and Francesca and Edward marry within weeks. The union is, as James foresaw, a disaster.

Our story then moves forward ten years, the Thornes have lived apart for the past eight--Edward with his mistresses in London, Francesca in the country. Francesca, much to the horror of society and Edward, is insisting on divorce. She wishes to be truly free of Edward and is unwilling to continue on as they have. Pursuing this end means she's lost her standing in society--even the uncle and aunt who raised her won't speak to her--as well as almost all of her money.

Edward finds her behavior inconceivable. He tries to change her mind--

“You didn’t used to mind doing what's expected.” Edward’s voice, quiet with reproach, brought her back to the here and now. The words hung in the air and quashed any triumph she might feel at resisting his tactics. “Are their expectations really so onerous? You don’t want to live with me. We’ll live apart then. They can tolerate that. Surely you can content yourself for your family’s sake. A divorce gains you nothing and causes them, causes all of us, a great deal of unpleasantness.”

--and when that doesn't work, enlists James to make Fran an offer.

“To be precise, I’m willing to offer five thousand pounds per annum to be paid in quarterly installments. She’ll be able to maintain her own establishment, if that's what she wishes, and in grand style. She ought to be happy. Any sane woman would be.”

James grudgingly agrees to visit Fran and convey his friend's proposal which he, James, thinks is astonishingly generous. James is a man well aware of the value of money. He was raised by his acerbic aunt Miriam whose heir he is. He's never worked a day in his life--men of his class just didn't--and though he doesn't love answering to his aunt, he knows better than to threaten his own financial security. But when he goes to Bloomsbury to see her, Fran has no interest in Edward's offer. Nothing is worth more to her than her freedom.

James didn’t believe in freedom. She might as well say she wanted a genie to appear and grant her three wishes or the ability to spin straw into gold. It wouldn’t sound more improbable to his ears. Everyone, even the privileged elite, had a role to play and a script to follow.

He leaves her house unsettled. Their conversation makes him feel somehow less for caring about having nice things, for wanting to be a part of high society. James finds himself, over the next days, thinking more than he'd like about Francesca. She's certainly a lot more interesting to him than beautiful, eighteen-year-old Sylvia Randle, the woman Miriam has decided he should consider. The next time James sees Fran, at the opera where Edward is flaunting his diamond bedecked paramour, James asks Fran to come riding with him the next day. That date leads to another which leads to a kiss and suddenly, for the first time in his life, James is in love with the worst woman (for him) in London.

Though this is a short book--it comes in at under 300 pages--The Worst Woman in London feels expansive. Ms. Bennet has clearly researched the laws of the time. Women and men were treated very differently in matters of divorce, much to the detriment of the former. Fran meets regularly with her solicitor and those conversations are fascinating. James muses--and we are privy to his thoughts--a great deal about work, money, and the roles men are assigned in his aristocratic world.  This is a book whose intellect is obvious and enjoyable--my favorite kind!

It is, however, first and foremost a romance novel and, as noted earlier, contains not one but two sets of lovers. The primary romance between James and Fran is sexy and believable. I liked them--they are admirable, honorable, and ethical leads. James becomes a better man because of his love for Fran and Fran gets the kindness, passion, and love Edward denied her. But--and this is a bit of a problem--they weren't as compelling to me as the other lovers: Edward and Sylvia.

Edward is a thorough bounder--and, in historical romance, I have a weakness for such men. Sylvia is reckless, resentful, and believably immature. Each takes one look at the other and thinks, I want THAT. Their courtship--it barely qualifies for the term--is heedless and hot and quite likely to end in ruin for Sylvia. Neither she nor Edward care--and I loved them for it. I'd have happily read as much about them as I did about James and Fran--to be honest, I'd have been happier to have read more about them than James and Fran. I suspect the reason I can't is that Ms. Bennet knows that today's modern reader is likely to have a hissy fit if a genuine cad, even a somewhat redeemable cad, is the hero. To me, romance is the less for it but that's just me.

The Worst Woman in London gets a DIK from me. It's romantic, feminist, and shimmers with intelligence. Let's hope Ms. Bennet keeps writing--we need more historical romance just like this!

The Worst Woman in London is a friends-to-lovers story about Francesca, a scandalized lady who is fighting for a divorce in a bad marriage, and connects with her estranged husband's lackadaisical friend, James. It has MCs over 30, great banter, and a strong heroine for sure.

This may or may not be your kind of story, since it involves a husband, who, while estranged (and despicable in my opinion), is quite central and present in the story. On the other hand, it is fantastically written and a fresh perspective.

It started off strong in the first 30%, and I was really loving it. But then drags along past 35% when the pace slowed, which was mostly okay except it also starter to follow a 2nd couple, who... I don't know how the reader is supposed to be invested in at this point. One of the characters is very explicitly the antagonist of the story, and he wasn't written with redeeming qualities. And the other his literally half his age, which I could not enjoy.

I really did enjoy the characters of James and Fran though. The dialogue and banter between them was great. I liked the topics of divorce and independence, which you don't really get in historical romances. Overall the writing was very well done and engaging. We get to see Fran stick up for herself and make the sacrifices to have the life she wants. And we get to see James learn and grow and make his own sacrifices for what truly matters to him.

“She belonged with him. She excited him, made him happy, full”
The best controversial, unique, women’s rights driven regency romance I’ve read this year !!!!
Absolutely amazing !!! When I started reading it, i felt completely enchanted by the story, the plot and the characters !!!
In a society that, to women, is more than unfair and cruel, Francesca wants to reclaim her freedom and James finds himself in between the fires !!
A woman who’s seeking divorce and a man who falls in love with his best friend’s wife … what could go wrong??
Everything apparently!!! I loved every second of reading this book and, of course, as expected, I fell madly and completely in love with Jammy !!! The way the romance develops in the book (and of course the spicy scenes) were an absolute delight. And despite me being a bit disappointed in how certain characters ended up (talking about unfairness) I loved how our main characters overcame it all !!!
I’m so glad I had the chance to read this book and I honestly hope to read more from this author.
“Because you’ve become my greatest friend, because I like you tremendously, and because last night, I fucked you and you enjoyed it”
“I can’t imagine anything more wonderful than spending the rest of my life with you”

The friendship between Fran and James, her husband's friend, is simply good. Since their first meeting, which was momentarily charged by a spark of comraderie, they remained only vague acquaintances. When they meet again, their chemistry isn't full of zingers; rather, it's sweet and a little sad, and for some reason that combination is my bread and butter in romance. It's not good if it doesn't hurt, right? It's also pretty spicy, which I wasn't expecting but was, nonetheless, pleasantly surprised by.

This book really succeeds with its emotional depth. Fran is focused on making choices that further her personal growth, even though the result is often hard to bear. Simultaneously albeit unwittingly, she influences James's growth away from complacency into action against the arbitrary and malignant rules of his class. The the genre's usual reservations (aka the rightness of being together) hit harder because of the serious legal implications hanging over this couple. It never feels like a trivial conflict, so the stakes are always high.

The only thing I dislike is the last-minute secondary romance between Edward and a debutante. I appreciate that we see a different side to Edward, but this subplot is out of place, underdeveloped, and serves no purpose since an existing plot point could have achieved the same result.

Thank you to NetGalley and Xpresso Book Tours for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"A defiant Victorian wife fights to escape a bad marriage but her love for a forbidden man jeopardizes her chance at freedom." I was intrigued by the premise of The Worst Woman in London - as a debutante, Francesca made a bad marriage, and 10 years later is seeking a divorce from her unrepentantly philandering husband. Unwilling to give up what he sees as his property, and be plunged further into scandal, he sends his best friend James to convince her to give up on the divorce proceedings and settle for a comfortable yearly allowance instead.

Thrown together in this unorthodox way, James is surprised to discover a depth of feeling he didn't know existed for this unconventional, strong-willed, intelligent woman.

I loved the clear and open communication that developed between the two leads, and their romance felt quite genuine, as did the conflict - was James willing to break away from his life of status and wealth to not only stand beside the woman he loved but also to stand for his own principles, or would he stick with the comfort of an easy life? Divorce in historical romance is often handwaved away as something scandalous but largely irrelevant, and I was intrigued to see how it actually worked, and what the implications of even seeking a divorce were for Victorian women.

I wasn't convinced we needed to spend so much time attempting to redeem the soon-to-be-ex husband, or whether he even really was redeemed at the end - although I like that he did have some nuance rather than just being a straight-up bad guy, I didn't particularly enjoy reading his own romantic subplot with a woman who seemed to be another, younger version of Francesca: since we were already extremely familiar with his dislike of Francesca's character and suitability as a wife, it seemed hard to believe that things would end well between him and yet another secretly unconventional debutante.

Overall, this was a good solid read, likely to be enjoyed by fans of feminist historical romance who enjoy strong female characters, solid characterisation and good communication between the main characters. Recommended for fans of Courtney Milan and Evie Dunmore.