If I was only ever allowed, for some reason, to read one AJH book (and I've read the majority of his works). I would be fully satisfied if this was the one. Something Fabulous would be nice for the character context, however this book truly is spectacular and gives the reader the best of what his writing has to offer.. which is... so very, very much.

I came to this book like to a beautifully arranged piece of music and it had my heart from the very first notes. Like a highly skilled composer, Alexis Hall weaves seamlessly in the different tonal qualities: Here, the delightfully witty humour has the tune, there the deep meaningful reflections and emotional gravitas come to the fore, then a tinkling of desire and magnetic attraction is added to the piece.

In the second instalment of the Something something series of Regency romps, we continue to get to know Peggy Delancey, still in love with a teensy bit dramatic Arabella Tarleton. Where I struggled initially to share that love towards Arabella in the first book, her motives and conflicts are beautifully fleshed out here with the steadying influence of Peggy’s POV. Peggy was such an engaging romance hero(ine) whom it was impossible to not root for from the first page. I found all the interactions with Peggy’s found family of Bella, Bonny, Valentine and Sir Horley such a treat. Each character continues to grow here and I was left with a deep wish to continue to read on into the next instalment.

And Orfeo, the devastating, spectacular Orfeo! From their first meeting with Peggy, a solid argument was sketched for why these two and only these two should suit. Prepare yourself for some scenes of heartbreaking intimacy and smouldering desire. As well as nuanced and sensitive ponderings on identity, your place in the eyes of the society, and what a tailored to the individuals happily ever after might look like.

As a slightly epilogue resistant reader, Alexis Hall balanced the ending and a glimpse to their futures just right for me. I found this story deeply moving, wholly engaging, and with a satisfying shift in tone from the balls to the wall hilarity and ridiculousness of Something Fabulous towards the still very funny but with a little more emotional gravitas and obvious thoughtfulness we are served here. Very much an embodiment then of the hero of the book, Peggy, who is the more considerate and cautious and sensible and very very loyal and brave and fearless of this group of friends. For the love of god, will someone please brush my hair now?!

This book is an absolute delight! Something Fabulous was a delightfully silly romp, but Something Spectacular takes the world and the characters to a whole new level! It feels like a deeper, more meaningful and less silly story. And that would be because Peggy is a more thoughtful and self aware character than Valentine or Bonny.

This story is centered around Peggy, and her feeling of being slightly on the outside of everything, from drama to life goals to gender expectations. She does not by nature feel like a dramatic person, and therefore has been content to exist in the margins of the Tarleton's stories. However, this book is about her stepping out of the margins to become the hero of her own story.

Orfeo gets their own paragraph because, just....They deserve it! The fashion and the complexity of character, and the love they have and share with Peggy.... just so beautiful.

It is masterfully written, with subtle side stories woven throughout, which add depth to the world. And the side stories enhance and add extra dimensions to Peggy and Orfeo. Peggy's own very generous perspective also gives alot more depth to the characters around her. I really did not like Belle in the first book, and did not see why anyone would bother being friends with her. But, as has been pointed out to me, the first book was written from Valentine's perspective. Seen from Peggy's perspective, eveyone is given a much more generous take.

This is perfect for anyone interested in a slightly less seriously chronologically bound regency romance.

I CANNOT wait for Sir Horley's story!

What a charming and important tale! Alexis turns the spotlight onto a lovable side character from Something Fabulous, and we (along with the MC) have the chance to discover them in all their complexity and wholeness. Readers are brought into the comforting glow of being seen for oneself along with the MCs, included and not separate from the journey and affirmation. Perhaps this is what makes the novel not just feel good but Feel Good. Of course, it also has the wit and humor one expects of Alexis Hall with giggles and guffaws throughout. It reads swiftly and goes down easy; 100 more pages of Peggy and Orfeo would have been perfectly lovely.
It wouldn't be a Something Something novel without a kidnapping. Hopefully, this one will be the foundation for the next in series.

Thanks to NetGalley for an early copy of this book. Below is my honest review.

Note: This can be read as a standalone, however, events from Something Fabulous are mentioned. Even though it isn’t necessary, I believe this book is more enjoyable if you have read the first. Several fun lines and throwbacks would be missed. (Did anyone know Valentine is … a duke?)

Overall, this has the same fanciful nature as Something Fabulous. Peggy is one of the two MCs this time around. She is joined by Belle, Bonny, Valentine, Sir Horley, and a few new friends. Oh, and Peggy’s parents are the bees knees!

This book takes place after those in Something Fabulous. Without spoilers, Belle is bored and wants to fall in love. She writes to Peggy, in quite the dramatic Belle fashion, to ensure Peggy will return London to help her find her person. As part of Belle’s journey, they go to a musical performance and meet Orfeo, a famous opera singer. Sparks fly, someone faints, and Belle decides she wants Orfeo to be her true love. Will Peggy help Belle, or will she fall for Orfeo herself? Will there be any misadventures? Will Orfeo realize what they have gotten themselves into with this group?

I enjoyed this book very much. Personally, I prefer stories that are character driven and this found family did not disappoint. They clearly care for one another and go to great lengths to show it. (Sometimes they go too far but in the very best way). This is clearly a work of historical fiction, but the dialogue is modern. Somehow, it is just outrageous enough to work. The characters are still the ones we met in Fabulous, but their growth in this is well done and leaves me wanting another book. Someone please tell me there will be a third starring Sir Horley?

A sequel to Something Fabulous that follows Peggy finding her own happiness in the wrong places. The rep & writing were top notch. Started off great but the humour/fun relied too much on the supporting cast but still enjoyable.

Thank you NetGalley!

I love this author and i was sure it was gonna be amazing and it did not disappoint!
I adored them and this story in general.
The synopsis did not lie one bit, it sure was perfect!

Much like Something Fabulous, Something Spectacular is a romp of a romance that takes place in an extremely modern "Regency" setting and a core theme of being true to oneself. Thankfully, unlike Something Fabulous, Something Spectacular stays on this side of the line between fun and frustrating, which given the feeling on wanting to crawl out of my skin while reading Something Fabulous, says something. Characters still speak and act like they're on the stage (which, in Orfeo's case, is semi-intentional) or in a Tumblr post, but there's a lot more heart to this one, now that there's only one mad dash across the countryside in a curricle.

Most of that is due to Orfeo and Peggy's romance centering around both of them coming to terms with what it means to live as they wish and learning to identify and embrace their needs and wants (not just desires, they're both fairly set in terms of knowing what they like in bed) for a future. Both of them occupy different liminal spaces in a society that wants rigid roles, and sorting out defiance from desire takes some time. A nice side effect of the wish-fulfillment setting is that while nebulous societal pressures exist in terms of consequences or factors in decision-making, anyone who comes on-page is accepting (even if not immediately understanding) of each person's identity and desires. For all that we see the stress of Peggy's worries and anxieties on her, all the actual drama and conflict comes from them or from within their circle.

There are, of course, a lot of strange tongue-in-cheek asides or lines that don't quite fit either with actions or lines from Something Fabulous, or even actions or lines a few chapters prior, but at the end of the day, Something Spectacular, while not spectacular, is quite fun.

Also Peggy gets to peg, and Hall has written some of the better sex scenes that elide specific genitalia terms, so that's a definite plus in my book.

I loved this book! I liked Something Fabulous, but it was a bit too over the top chaotic for me to truly love it. The story in Something Spectacular is a bit more grounded in reality, which I appreciated. In this book we follow Peggy, Arabella’s companion from the first book, as she tries to move on from unrequited love and get on with her life. Of course love is not so easily controlled and things don’t go according to Peggy’s plans.

I loved meeting the characters from book one. Aside from Peggy, we spend a lot of time with Belle, Bonny, Valentine and sir Horley. This book gave a chance to really get to know the side characters from book one. Especially Arabella who I honestly hated in the first book grew on me significantly once I got a chance to understand her better. I genuinely hope we will get additional stories in this series about Arabella and sir Horley.

This book has all of the wit balanced with emotional gravitas that you would expect from a book by Alexis Hall. I laughed out loud on several occasions and there were many truly touching moments of romance and friendship. Not to mention the relationship between Peggy and her parents, I wish everyone could have that kind of relationship with their parents!

In summary, I can’t recommend the book enough and I will definitely read it again!

While I really enjoyed Something Fabulous, this was even better. Something Spectacular has the humor and absurd moments I’ve come to expect in an Alexis Hall book, but it has so freaking much heart too. It’s at turns poignant, tender, heartbreaking, hopeful, joyful, and beautiful. With both MCs being nonbinary, there are some really profound conversations around what it means to inhabit your own skin vs what your choices might mean to society (and if you can live with that perception or not).
I loved still getting to see Valentine and Bonny and their others friends we met in the last book. Belle wasn’t quite so insufferable (but she’s still my least favorite).
Highly recommend for a wonderfully inclusive AND spicy book!

4.5 stars

Also many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a requested copy to review. All opinions are my own.

I truly loved Something Spectacular. Chapter 21 may have been the funniest thing I've ever read. Alexis Hall writes with such wit and warmth, and as with Something Fabulous and A Lady for a Duke, I'm always impressed by Hall's ability to adapt prose to suit the needs of the world and time with such a deft touch and confidence. Something Spectacular involves the same group of characters as Something Fabulous, but it isn't necessary to have read the first book before reading this one. Although I always loved Valentine, I found myself appreciating Bonny and Bella a lot more in this book, with a loveable and basically all-round good egg such as Peggy as the protagonist. Orfeo very much was the rock star in a kind of Freddie Mercury-esque no-apologies power self, even though there's still care taken to weave in their grief and trauma. I loved the nuance with which Peggy and Orfeo's gender and sexual identities were explored, and I was cheering at the end when Bonny and even Valentine were welcomed in to the group's plans for the future. This is a book for those trying to discover who they are and trying to find a place where they belong. It's funny and tender and a classic Alexis Hall mix of modernity and Regency appreciation. It felt to me as though the author was having an enormous amount of fun in this book, and it really shows.

rep: nonbinary MC; genderqueer/gendervoid LI; gay secondary characters; demisexual secondary character; aromantic secondary character (please note these are my interpretations, not specified on-page) in a queernormative(ish...) ahistorical world
cw: dysphoria; references to castration; misgendering; religious trauma; religious abuse; sex; abusive relationship; sex shaming; arophobia; homophobia (more provided by the author).
favourite character: Peggy, Orfeo and Valentine. I felt the characters all worked well together in this instalment.
CAWPILE: 9.4 (5*)

I am grateful to have received an ARC of this book from Montlake via NetGalley and I am voluntarily leaving this honest review.

3/5 stars! I have loved several books by this author but this one was not for me. I felt like there was a lot of harshness in the treatment of Peggy in this story and it made it hard to digest the story. This was a good historical romance and the LGBTQ+ representation was nicely done, but I couldn't find myself rooting for the characters. Just an ok book for me.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

When trying to help the girl you have been hopelessly in love with pursue her latest crush... and end up attracting said crushes attention for yourself, things are about to get complicated. Peggy Delancey has been in love with Arabella Tarleton since forever, they are former flames but Peggy still holds a one sided crush on her. When Arabella asks Peggy’s help in pursuing her latest crush on the famous and flamboyant opera singer Orfeo, Peggy can’t say no. What Peggy doesn’t expect is that Orfeo is much more interested in Peggy than Arabella. Peggy and Orfeo have an instant chemistry that Peggy just cant deny. but being in a relationship with a famous opera singer was never going to be easy and now Peggy and Orfeo have to see if they have any space in their lives for the other or if their love was doomed from the start. This was definitely an interesting read as it’s main characters dealt with a lot of issues from differences in lifestyle to differences in their views of love and what they can expect in a relationship to what it means to love without condition. They have a complicated relationship but they are both learning and growing as they both have never met someone like the other. Peggy is learning what she wants and what it means to go after what you want while Orfeo is learning what it means to have freedom and love that isn’t transactional. They went through a lot of back and forth and relationship drama as well as other things and found a way to work it out in the end. I think this would be a great read for fans of historical lgbtq romances!

*Thanks Netgalley and Montlake for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*