I quickly listened to Reputation right before getting into the ALC of Infamous, thinking the two stories might be connected and I might need to get some character background, but they are completely separate. These are my first two reads from the author, though it doesn’t seem like she has many releases.

I’d seen a few posts and reviews that this was an historical LGBTQ romance, which is a sub genre just starting to make itself known, so I was intrigued simply from that aspect. It took quite a while to get into the story, but the second half was very interesting. Stick with it and you won’t be sorry! The beginning is very slow with a lot that feels extra (could be left out), but by the end it’s understood exactly why it was all necessary.

The relationships between every single character are critical, but most especially between Edith and Rose, from when they are young girls and “practicing” kissing until Rose is engaged but still sharing a bed with Eddie and feelings are a lot different, but also the relationship between Rose and her new fiancé, and Eddie and the shiny, interesting poet Nash, who has a whole crew out to his country estate for an extended visit (and the estate could be a character in itself). Fascinating things keep happening, relationships constantly fluid, and just a whole lot of crazy goings on at the estate - and is Eddie’s book ever going to see the light of day?!

Narrated by Ellie Kendrick, new to me with Lex Croucher’s books, but a very suited and enjoyable voice. She did a great job.

I received an advance listen copy from NetGalley and Macmillan Audio, and this is my honest feedback.

Things I liked:
✒️The characters quick witting remarks
✒️I laughed often
✒️The characters were easy to root for
✒️Eddie’s perseverance
✒️Rose’s love
✒️Acceptance
✒️Narrator - Ellie Kendrick (audiobook)

Things I didn’t like:
✒️Eddie’s naïveté - I wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake her until the light bulb finally clicked
✒️Characters through the book supported this naïveté
✒️So much happening with the plot - it’s like there were two
✒️Most of the engaging scenes took place in the second half of the book

I am not fond of third person writing and am aware that this is likely to have hindered my experience with this book. If you like third person, it’s likely you could have a better reading experience.

eddie and rose have done everything together their whole lives. but suddenly, rose is talking about marriage, which makes eddie feel really weird. when the opportunity arises to work on her novel and forget her complications with rose through staying with her favorite poet, eddie is quick to take it. however, she soon realizes that meeting your idol isn’t always as great as it seems.

i’ve read lex croucher’s ya book, gwen & art are not in love, so i went into this expecting a couple things: a slowburn sapphic novel with some comedy. luckily, i got that and so much more! with the comedic parts, though, there were serious parts, as well. there was actually a quote about this in the book that i really wish i had written down, but basically eddie was saying that stories can be both funny and important, which i loved because it’s how i feel about croucher’s books. i loved the exploration of eddie’s sexuality and her relationship development with rose. this is a book i can definitely see myself rereading in the future.

I really enjoyed this book! The first half was a little slow and I wasn’t sure where it was taking us, but things soon took shape and was really fun to write.
The main character is flawed but in a relatable way for someone her age, and her relationship with her best friend is a great coming of age example of how we change.

As much as I liked Reputation, I had a bit of trouble connecting with this novel. From the cover and the synopsis, you can kind of guess how this story goes. Edith (Eddie) Miller is a writer with a who does not like to adhere to rules and social niceties.. Her best friend, Rose Lee, is the complete opposite and seems perfectly at home amongst parties and the upper crust of society. At one such party, Eddie is taken w/ famous poet, Nash Nicholson, but Rose isn't fooled. Nash is married and pretty much washed up, but Eddie doesn't see that. She just sees the chance at getting published. When Eddie and Rose (& her fiance, Albert) get invited to Nash's house party on a remote island, things really go sideways. Rose worries for Eddie, who seems too taken with Nash to realize he's a debauched fool, And Eddie is too worried about Rose marrying and being without her forever.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this audio e-arc.*

More of a 3.75, but rounded up. I really enjoyed Reputation and was excited to jump right into this. I think I liked the writing better on Reputation, but loved the characters in Infamous much more. I liked the beginning and end of this book a lot, but got a little bored in the middle. Also lost a star because Nash didn’t get punched in the face at all and there are still some questions I have like what the heck happened when they were all on shrooms???? Did Nash actually shoot Henry???? I have no idea what to believe from that whole chapter and I’m super irritated about it! I have so many questions and literally no answers!!! Anyway, other than that, I had a really fun time with this book and I loved the chemistry between Eddie and Rose and I loved Albert. Eddie was a dumb hot mess, but I respect that and I love her for it.

This is a sweet story but I didn't not enjoy it near as much as I enjoyed Croucher's Reputation last year. This one lacked the wit and sharp characters. It's a sweet sapphic love story with some modern ideas integrated into the Regency era.

DNF. I really liked the premise but the writing did not work for me at all. It wouldn't be fair to the book if I finished reading and gave it a low rating.

Surprisingly underwhelming. This was one of my most anticipated books for March since I love regency era and I love a good queer romance but this just wasn’t it for me. I felt so bored reading this most of the time and not really caring about what was happening or who anyone was. The ending was predictable and just meh. The narrator was great though

I was lucky enough to read the ARC of Gwen & Art are Not in Love and now having just finished the ALC of Infamous, if there's one thing that I enjoy most about both of the books is how Lex weaves the art of subtle longing.

Mix in a little intrigue, an estate crumbling around our cast of characters, and you've got yourself a really fun read.

I'll be (internally) raging about Nash for another week or so. Maybe longer.

Thank you to @netgalley & @macmillan.audio for the opportunity to listen to Infamous.

Narrator Ellie Kendrick did a fantastic job on this audiobook. There are a lot of characters in the book and she was able to portray them all distinctively and uniquely to the character. Great job with the audio for sure

This storyline was just okay for me. This story follows Eddy and Rose's best friend since childhood. Eddy has no interest in marriage and such things. However Rose is now of age and the expectations are now set for her to get married regardless of how she feels.

It's clear that Rose and Eddy have to feel for each other but I had a hard time with Eddy's response to Rose's lot in life. she can't see Rose's side at all- she is so wrapped up in her feeling that she seems insensitive at some points.

Although I feel for Eddy because she is going to be losing a lot she couldn't see beyond herself for a long time

This is a great regency romance but I just couldn't get it into it - the concept spoke to a time when I read the description but something about Eddy's lack of care for anyone but herself was hard

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!

I started listening to this audiobook at a particularly busy few weeks of my life, but had it been any other time I would’ve inhaled this in a sitting or two it was absolutely binge-able! Loved the experience of this book as an audiobook it has an amazing narrator.

The main character (Eddie) was giving Jo March and I loved her every second! She’s an aspiring author and absolutely has no time for doing what’s proper by society standards. Such a charming cast of characters, even the ones that are less relevant to the overall plot they still felt fleshed out and provided their own pockets of humor (looking at you siblings).

Great book for if you love the classics like Jane Austen, but have been wanting something a little less heteronormative. There’s so many cute scenes, there’s a few mysteries along the way and a good old fashion Mary Shelley writing Frankenstein trapped in a house with fellow writers type atmosphere. It’s a story that can make you laugh, but also make you fall in love. This book was witty and whimsical, daring and delicate, and dare I say just really really cute!

4.25+ stars

I really love the choices this writer frequently makes to highlight queer characters and relationships in realistic (ish) historical settings; they do a great job of putting a much-needed twist on the traditions of this type of romance novel.

For the most part, I liked the protagonist, and even though some of her choices were a bit frustrating, naive, and short-sighted, it wasn’t hard to imagine why she acted the way she did. I also liked the range of characters included in the story. As with the last novel I read by this author, there were definitely some examples of blatantly anachronistic language, but for the most part, they were enjoyable and didn’t take away from the story. I do still have some big questions about the fate of one of the characters…I’ll have to reread part of the ending, I think, in case I somehow missed finding out whether or not he was safe.

Previously, I really enjoyed Reputation quite a bit, and I actually think I liked Infamous even more. I’m looking forward to what this writer creates next, and I can’t wait to read my ARC of their upcoming YA novel as well.

2.5⭐️

I thought the narrator did a good job (nothing special) but I did find it occasionally hard to track some of the side characters while listening and would have to reference my eARC to make sure I understoof who was who in the supporting cast.

On the whole, I appreciated the representation of a bisexual awakening for the main character and a lesbian love interest, as well as a diverse set of supporting characters, but outside of that, there wasn’t much that held my interest in the story. I was not at all invested in where the story was going until about 60%, and even then I was still kind of indifferent and could have stopped reading at any time and would not have minded not knowing how the story ends. I found Eddie relatively unlikeable and a lot of times was annoyed how she chose to handle a situation, especially given she's 22 for the majority of the book but seemed as though she was acting younger than her age. I also thought the book was a bit too long and just tried to include a bit too much. It's definitely more historical fiction than romance so I hope it doesn’t get marketed too hard as a historical romance because I think that will mislead readers!

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the early audio copy in exchange for an honest review!

This was such a fun, historical take on queer romance. Eddie was super feisty, and I loved getting to know sweet Rose more. It was funny - a mix of Bridgerton and Little Women. It was YA, so not overly spicy, but very much a feel-good read.

I couldn’t put it down! Excellent narration as well!

I got about 10% into this book before I just couldn't anymore, so I DNFed the book. I really wanted to like this story. However I found Eddie to be a bit much and not overly likeable. I really tired to keep going, I wanted to like this book and normally would be my jam. But like I said I really did not like the main character and could not keep going. Sorry.

INFAMOUS review

⭐️⭐️.25/5

👑Another case of me judging a book by its cover and it not working out in my favor. 🤪 I read Reputation this time last year and had mixed feelings on it. When I saw how pretty the cover of Infamous looked next to Reputation I requested it on NetGalley. Unfortunately the story wasn’t quite as appealing to me as the cover. 😂

👑Here’s a summary of the plot:👇
Edith and her best friend Rose have been inseparable since childhood. Edith is fiercely independent and is nowhere near ready to settle down and get married. When Rose announces her engagement, Edith goes to a remote countryside village with famous poet Nash Nicholson to work on her writing. Edith is determined to become a successful poet all on her own without the help of a husband, but the world of famous authors isn’t all it’s cracked up to be…

👑I did enjoy the old-timey Britain vibes, and this story (like Reputation) reminded me a lot of Bridgerton. However, I felt like this story was so predictable. From the very first page I knew exactly how it would end, yet the main character Edith was completely oblivious. Even when the other characters spelled it out for her, she had no idea what was going on and that got to be a bit frustrating to read. 😂 Overall, this one wasn’t my favorite but I did enjoy the setting and the overall vibe of this story!

Thanks @netgalley for my advanced copy of this one! It publishes next Tuesday, March 21.

Infamous by Lex Croucher - audiobook publish date 3/21/2023, original book publish date 7/2022
Audiobook narrated by Ellie Kendrick
An advance copy of this audiobook was provided courtesy of NetGalley and Macmillan Audio. Opinion stated hereby is my own.

I requested this book by Lex Croucher because I have enjoyed her last book, Reputation.
I focus on reading classics and literary fiction, and romcom is my guilty pleasure between heady philosophical discussions. Reputations surprised me with wit and fun, and Infamous' cover was done in the similar style. I don't believe this is a sequel though, and one can read Infamous on its own.
The narration was great.

Infamous starts with two characters, Rose and Eddie, best of friends grown up together, coming to the age where they have to make a decision to marry in Regency-era England. Would they follow the society norm to marry as expected? Rose seems to accept her duty to marry well, especially given her ethnical minority status to lift her family, despite lack of attraction. On the other hand, Eddie struggles with the change especially with her feelings towards Rose. Eddie also wants to be a writer, and euphoric when she meets a well-established poet, Nash, Byron-like, whose Bohemian entourage seems new and attractive to young Eddie.

The book premise is interesting and read like a Regency-era coming-of-age romance story maybe geared towards YA. I was enjoying the book for the first 30% of it. Then the story muddles and sags with various incidents (too many) which doesn't seem to affect the ending, and Rose's character gets pushed to the side while Nash and his artist-type friends gets too many hours of listening. I felt as though the author wanted too many things in this book, sapphic romance, racial equity or lack thereof, gaslighting, and Byron/Shelley-like creative types vacationing by the lake which seems to be very popular nowadays thus becoming cliche and tiring. It felt like an overfilled sandwich on stale bread and I couldn't wait to put it down. The ending is also predictable, and not in a satisfying rom-com way, because both "rom" and "com" are pushed aside so far to the point we forgot all about it by the book end. I really wished the book focused on the first premise, especially on Rose.

I would recommend reading Reputation over this one if you would like to try this author. She can write well, but this book can use further editing and focus in my opinion.
2.5 stars rounded up to 3 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley for the Advanced Listening Copy of Infamous.

I really enjoyed this title! It's very much Bridgerton behaving badly. The characters are great and I felt myself liking each of them at different parts of the story and moving along the story with the main character, Edie.

This story is full of artists, secrets and a few queer romances. Definitely check this read out!

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced copy of this audiobook!

Love some historical romance! This is my first historical romance where the main couple is LGBTQ. Tbh I was intrigued about how it would be addressed and work out.

It had a great group of characters, apart of the obvious *cough cough* fuck Nash *cough*. Obviously, Eddie and Rose are delightful. I would have loved to see in Rose's head and her POV of discovering herself and her sexuality. But it was Eddie’s story.

And Eddie was not a perfect character (far from it), but she grew and learned which is admirable in a way. But I did want to pull my hair out when she was so smitten/confused with everything going on with Nash. He sucked and it was hard to watch her be so blind to it.

Overall, I was more invested than I thought I would be and I loved seeing Eddie and Rose get the HEA!

3.5/5