Lex Croucher’s last book was a hit with me so when I saw her new book available I knew I had to have it! I love how she brings a different time period time life for me!

I really enjoyed reading Reputation last year after being intrigued and persuaded into Regency Romances after watching Bridgerton! Croucher certainly writes this one with the same level of wittiness that I relished in but I must admit that this one was just missing a little something for me that I can’t quite pinpoint.

The queer friends to lovers trope shines bright and Eddie and Rose have some great chemistry and make for quite a dynamic duo! I found the general angstiness of this one entertaining and it’s certainly a fun modern integration into the regency era.

I’ve seen a lot of bookstagrammers love this one so please don’t let my indifference make you hesitate from picking this one up!

Eddie is a boisterous aspiring writer. She and Rose have been close friends. When Rose tells Eddie about her intention to get married after their debutante ball. Eddie is shocked. When renowned poet Nash Nicholson invites Eddie to come stay at his Gothic mansion to focus on her novel, Eddie can't wait. Rose is there with her fiance in the travel party as well. But everything is not what it seems.

This was an interesting premise with interesting characters and plot. For some reason I was constantly distracted while consuming the book. I tried switching between the audio and the physical copy. I liked the mystery around the gothic estate. I think I may have liked this book better as a fiction without the Eddie/Rose angle, which didn't work as well for me.

Thank you @stmartinspress and @macmillanaudio for the ARC and complimentary audio book.

3.5 stars

Just as well written & funny as Reputation! I loved the setting in the creepy house on the creepy island. My main complaint is that the biggest plot “twist” was evident from very early in the story.

[What I liked:]

•Eddie and Rose are so sweet together! Their friendship & romance & sexual awakenings were well done.

•The group of weird artsy friends made for a great cast of characters. It was fun to see them interacting with the younger & more naïve Eddie.

•The creepy falling apart house on the island in the middle of nowhere was back absolutely wonderful setting! It added so much menace but also hilarity to the story!


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•It seemed positively obvious to me who would betray Eddie & how from the very very beginning, which just made her seem extra clueless & incompetent that she had no inkling of it at any point. I prefer competent heroines, is all.

CW: sexual harassment/assault, infidelity, queer phobia, sexism, racism

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

The cover drew me in, but the narrator is what kept me hooked. Through the story, even when my emotions were being tested by our leads, the narrator's voice and way of telling the story kept me engrossed in such a way that the rest of the world faded away.

Although I was given a copy of this audiobook in exchange for my review, all opinions remain my own. Thank you Netgalley and Macmillian audio for the opportunity to listen to this novel. My review: 3.5 out of 5 stars

This book isn't exactly what I thought it was at the beginning. It wasn't even what I thought it was at the middle, but by the end, it didn't matter what it was, I loved it. The only reason this book didn't get more stars from me is that it seemed a bit longer then necessary. I felt like there was quite a lot of "fluff" in the story that didn't add much to the actual plot. The characters were funny and relatable (as much as they could be for the time-period related to ours). By far my favorite part was the ending. I felt it wrapped all things up quite nicely.

The narrator was nice to listen to and didn't try to give too many "voices" to the different characters. I would definitely listen to another book with her narrating again.

Infamous follows main character, Eddie and her best friend, Rose, as they navigate the social world. After meeting her idol, Nash Nicholson, Eddie finds herself thrust into his world that is quite outside the norm. Along with this, she must figure out her life now that Rose has become engaged to a man that Eddie does not see with her friend.

Infamous is my first of Lex Croucher's novels and I will absolutely be reading Reputation after this. What a fun, heart-warning read. There is so much happening that you don't even realize you are reading (or in my case, listening). You are completely entranced in the book. Ellie Kendrick does a masterful job as narrator as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the ARL!

A misleading beginning that led to a decent story...

The first half of Infamous follows Eddie as she obsesses over her writing and her idol, Nash, largely in order to help herself get over her best friend's impending marriage.

However, the story doesn't really get going until the group ends up on Nash's private island, where the secrets come out and Eddie and Rose finally start to process their feelings. Even then, while the drama and atmosphere are great, the story is a bit slow.

Overall, I think the author had a great idea with this book, but needed to condense down to make it hit the way it should have.

It took me a little bit to get into this book. It started both slow and fast in some ways, giving you background on the friendship between Eddie and Rose leading up to where the story really begins with the debutante ball. I stopped listening for a few days and then picked it back up to try again and I am glad I did! There were a lot of fun and quirky characters in this book, lots of humor, and copious amounts of shenanigans!

The story is set in the Regency era and told from the perspective of Eddie, who is frustratingly oblivious and intolerable for a good portion of the story. If you’ve watched Bridgerton, think Eloise - but a bit more annoying and insufferable. There were several times throughout the story where I thought, “This is the moment!” But she had A LOT to learn. And some things she had to learn more than once. People driving next to me were probably wondering what was going on with how many times I was yelling at her throughout the story!

The story was much more about Eddie’s relationship and infatuation with her idol, author Nash Nicholson, than it is about her relationship with Rose. So it kind of felt like there were dual romantic plot lines to follow, but the main one is still Rose and Eddie. While they are clearly into each other and more than friends from the first chapter (with their kissing practice), Eddie is absolutely clueless to the fact that her feelings for Rose are more than friendly. No matter how many times they kiss. Or how much she wants her life to revolve around Rose, to the point of making a pact that they will never get married. Rose gave Eddie far more chances than I ever would have, or than she probably deserved. But…love, am I right? I do hope that Eddie became the person Rose deserves, though.

Ellie Kendrick did a great job with the narration! This was my first time listening to a book she narrated and I would definitely listen to her again. All in all this was a great book…but prepare to be frustrated and to yell at Eddie as you read/listen! Thank you @netgalley and @Macmillan.Audio for the audiobook ARC of Infamous!

⚠️TW: alcohol/drug use, extramarital affairs, manipulation, drug-facilitated sexual harassment/assault

4.5

🖋️Friends of to Lovers
🖋️Forbidden Love
🖋️Historical Romance
🖋️HEA
🖋️Sapphic
🖋️Coming of Age

There were times I wanted to yell at these characters, but what a beautiful ride. Love the ending for these two.

Am I the only one upset we never found out for certain about Henry?!!!?!? Nails on a chalkboard, seemed too random a part of the story to not see that storyline through.

The narration for this book was top notch.

Submitted review via Amazon waiting for approval, included link to my profile.

I’ll be perfectly honest (I mean, really, I should be. I promised I would be for this review.) I really didn’t enjoy Lex Croucher’s first book of this series. Reputation, despite being well written and intelligent, featured a heroine that I ended up feeling unable to garner much sympathy for. While she found redemption in the end as I’m sure was the point (given the Mean Girls-esque plot parallels) overall Georgiana was a largely unlikable and unrelatable protagonist. Which is typically not my preferred position to be in as a Romance reader.

So why did I read this next book? Largely because I really do enjoy the style and tone of Lex’s storytelling. The humor is very dry, and the premises lend themselves to being more thought-provoking than a lot of romances tend to be.

I’m very happy to report that Infamous was well worth giving this series a second chance. It kept the same brilliant comedy and gave a wonderfully unique take on regency romance. As you might assume, I found the protagonist here far more palatable (though I’ll admit Eddie can be quite frustrating at times) and really ended up liking more of the side characters as well. As with Reputation I also think the non-romantic plot lines were handled very well, even if I saw some of the twists coming. I genuinely found myself rooting for Eddie’s success, even while face palming how dense she could be in some ways. To read a historical romance that shines a spotlight on (what are still) modern issues in feminism, is a real treat!!

I love to read characters bucking the societal norms so this one was a lot of fun. Definitely not your average regency bodice ripper. The characters were fun and engaging.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

I loved this book! I love the characters and the setting, the only reason it's not five stars is because I KNEW the ending was coming and I was on pins and needles waiting for it to happen the whole book! A treat ☺️

I'm sorry, I couldn't finish this. I gave it a good go by reading 31% of this book. My issues:

1. a third of the way in and I still have no freaking clue why I need to care about any of what's happening. and they just keep going round and round on the same point that Rose is moving on and getting married, while Eddie might be hanging out with the wrong crowd. CAN we move on, please?!
2. It feels vapid. And yes, I read Croucher's previous work and enjoyed it even though it, too, felt somewhat indulgent, in there the main lead felt way more relatable. I just don't think Eddie was properly set up to give the reader expectations or relatability.
3. not a romance. Rose feels like a goal rather than an actual person.

Infamous is a friends to lovers sapphic romance set in the Regency Era by Lex Croucher.

First let me just say how much I enjoyed the relationship between Eddie and Rose. Kudos to Lex Croucher for writing such a marvelous friendship, and I'd have happily read pages more about these chums.

The romance blooms gradually over the course of the novel (though it starts with a sweet scene of the two friends "practice" kissing, very charming). I enjoyed the coming of age aspect as the young women work through all kinds of situations involving the other attendees of a wild house party. Such a wacky group!

I appreciated Croucher's commentary on womens' roles during this period of history, as well as their portrayal of LGBTQ+ folks in general.

The audio version of Infamous is narrated by Ellie Kendrick. There's a wide variety of characters in this novel, and Kendrick delivers a marvelous performance.

There was a lot that I liked about this novel! I enjoyed Eddie and Rose's quirky sense of humor, and the banter they had back and forth. The parties and group antics they both attended were interesting to listen to, and the information shared about side characters, although short, really added to the full casting and storyline. The narrator chosen for the audio version was lovely, and incredibly easy to listen to. I wish I could have heard more about Eddie's novel! She seemed like quite the unique writer for the time period.

Portions I struggled with: following the audio narrative of Eddie's time while on mushrooms, the length of time spent at Nash's estate seemed to go on far too long, some of the plot points or decisions made seemed unlikely or uncharacteristic for the time period, and Nash's intentions and actions seemed all too obvious from very early on. I wanted to shake Eddie so many times! Why are you choosing to believe Nash over your best friend and all the warning signs? Ugggh.

2.5 There were parts of this novel that really showcased the potential it had to be a great sapphic historical romance, with depth and complex characters. But in the end, it was just a slightly unbearable read.

I understand what Croucher was trying to do with this book, and specifically with Eddie's character arc. I get that she never actually loved Nash. I get that she just loved his work and that she was heartbroken over Rose and she wanted to avoid it all. I get that Nash gave her a sense of validation and a glimpse into a life in which she could potentially feel like she belonged. I get that it was all about Rose in the end and that Nash was just there as a distraction. I get that Eddie didn't want to admit her feelings for Rose and wanted to believe that her feelings for Nash were true love and not just a sense of adulation. Trust me. I get it all. But by god I hated almost every minute of it.

The thing is I actually liked the relationship between Eddie and Rose. And if the story had be exclusively those moments between them, I think I would really loved it. I loved listening to them talk to each other, tiptoe around their feelings for one another, all of those soft scenes where the lines between their platonic and romantic love started to blur. They made a really cute couple and I would've loved to see more of it.

But there was so much focus on Nash. I understand what he represents and that Croucher used him to make a point about compulsory heterosexuality and societal expectations. But I just didn't care. It was so nauseating to listen to the scenes between them. And I think it would have all been a lot more effective had I actually understood his intrigue and charm, but there wasn't a single likeable thing about him.

And the other downside of this is that I quickly grew to hate Eddie for being so stupid to fall for him at all. I'm just so over reading about these female main characters who believe they are so above it all, so different from every other woman because they don't give into societal expectations of marriage and motherhood, but then turn around and fall madly in love with the first man who smiles at them, even though he's clearly The Worst Person Ever and a borderline sociopath. And yes I understand that Eddie never actually loved Nash and she was a victim to his "charm", but him being a terrible person just felt so obvious the whole time that I spent the entire novel getting more and more angry at her. You can tell from the very synopsis of the book that he's not someone to trust so she just came off as insufferably naïve.

And it's such a shame because I so wanted to love her character. There were some sparse moments here and there where she undergoes some really interesting self-reflection, and what I wouldn't give to have had a main character who actually embraces her masculine side for more than one chapter at the very end of the story. There were was so much more that could have been done with her storyline, but Croucher spends so much time focusing on the most unbearable part of it all (Nash) that it made the whole thing virtually unreadable.

I actually did like Rose's character, but there isn't really much to her other than the fact that she loves Eddie. I would've loved to know more about how she came to terms with her own queerness, seen more of her own personal journey, understood more of the decisions she wanted to make for herself and her future. But I never really got any of that. Actually, if I had to choose, I'd say my favourite character was Simon and he had maybe 5 lines of dialogue throughout the entire novel.

I hated every minute of the first 40% of this novel. Then the next 40%-80% of the story had moments that were actually quite enjoyable, interrupted by a few scenes that made me genuinely sick to my stomach. Then the final 80%-100% of the book I found a little boring, saved only by the relatively entertaining and happy ending.

I really wish it would've lived up to its true potential and that Croucher had taken their characters down any number of other possible storylines. I wanted to love it, and when I was enjoying myself I could really see Croucher's true talent coming through. But sadly, it wasn't enough to redeem the overall experience for me.

I do want to read some more of their work, as long as it centers itself a lot less around insufferable men who win no matter what, because I cannot handle these types of stories anymore. So I don't think this specifically is a book I would recommend to people, but I do have hope that I could enjoy some of their other novels.

Source: NetGalley

unfortunately, this one fell really flat for me, and i’m so bummed because i wanted to love it. it’s described as a romcom, but the main couple aren’t really in a romantic situation for most of the book. i think the amount of different plotlines created a situation where i never really felt connected to the characters and i found myself wishing i was done with it sooner. this definitely could just be a ‘me’ thing, because there are so many high ratings, so if this sounds interesting to you, i would say go for it! it just didn’t work for me. i did read this partially on audio, and the narration was good!

DNF @ 30%

I'm so sad that I just couldn't push myself through this book. I absolutely adored Reputation and this gave off the same vibes, or so I thought, but it just missed the mark entirely. The characters were very one dimensional and I found myself not being able to keep them separated in my mind. The plot was....there, I guess.

Unfortunately this book wasn't for me, but I do think there is an audience for it!

"I like kissing Rose...more than I like kissing Nash!"

In the second book (Reputation is book one) of this representation romance series, Infamous by creative author Lex Croucher, it takes Edith "Eddie" Miller a long time to admit kissing, just for practice of course, her lifelong best friend Rose Li is much more enjoyable than kissing the famous poet Nash.

At 22 years old Eddie wants to be a writer and when she's invited with Rose and her boring fiance to Nash's mansion she can't wait to get his help not just in reading her manuscript but maybe introducing her to his publisher.

It is soon apparent, at least to us readers that Nash is a charming jerk, I pictured him being played by a young Hugh Grant, and his interest in Eddie is definitely self serving and at times a bit cruel.

There are some very funny moments with the cast of quirky characters at the mansion and their British humor, including a very cheeky rabbit. But there are also some reveals about hypocrisy from the so called elite of society.

I read and listened to this besties to lovers sapphic Regency romance. The ability of narrator Ellie Kendrick to go from uproarious hijinks to coming to terms with your love for someone society says you shouldn't love is inspiring and beautifully written.

Eddie is fighting her feelings but Rose is the revelation knowing how precarious her position in the world is as the daughter of a privileged Chinese man helping other immigrants. She just wants a quiet married life but as Eddie finally realizes she will lose more than her friend if Rose marries they just might become Infamous in this regency era of polite society.

I received a free copy of this book/audiobook from the publishers via #NetGalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.