i will not be rating or reviewing outside of netgalley as long as st. martin's press is still under boycott.

I seem to be starting a trend for myself by reading novels by new authors, and Lex Croucher happens to be one of them.

This novel had a slow start, and I won't lie, I found Emily to be unbearably miserable in the first half of the book. While she may have her reasons to think negatively about life, I felt like it was too much, but she slowly grew on me, and I found myself enjoying her banter between many of the characters, especially Oliver, Aster, and, of course, our main love interest, Captain Edward's.

I thoroughly enjoyed the wide array of side characters differing between race and sexual/gender orientation and came to really love Aster and their journey throughout the story. I was happy to see the essence of found family and the strong loyalty they had for each other from beginning to end.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳, 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘦-𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺.

Remixing the Jane Eyre trope with 100% more queerness and 100% fewer secret wives in attics turns out to be a great idea!

Thank you St. Martin's / Griffin for my free ARC of Trouble by Lex Croucher — available Mar 5 in the US!

Read this if you:
💜 love historical romance with a grumpy/sunshine trope
🔆 are especially fond of charming side characters and witty banter
🐣 have ever had to babysit or teach particularly challenging children

Emily — call her Amy, if you must— has taken a position as governess in her sick sister's stead, but she is not at all qualified so she fails to mention the swap to her new employer. Her two junior charges are tricky, one chatters constantly and the other is just downright surly. But that's okay, as Emily only plans to stay long enough to snatch a few valuable objects to keep her family afloat. That is, until she finds that maybe the house and its inhabitants are actually pulling a little too tightly at her heartstrings, especially the dark and stormy Captain Edwards...

Alright, so I loved this one. I actually fell HARD for the minor characters in this story; their repartee is laugh-out-loud funny at several points throughout the book! Emily is a great character, and while I felt her relationship with Captain Edwards was perhaps a touch forced, the love radiating from the rest of the characters and the "found family" aspects of the book kept me enthralled by the story. If you enjoy historical romance and/or rom-coms, I predict that you, too, will fall for this one.

I recently discovered Lex Croucher when I picked up Gwen & Art Are Not in Love, which is also a riotous good time, and I'm so glad to see that this is a common theme across their books! I will definitely be picking up the rest of their backlist.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Trouble by Lex Croucher is a delightful addition to Croucher's recent queer regency publications, Infamous and Reputation. Trouble is the story of Emily The Reluctant Governess, a quick-witted, rightfully angry, would-be thief who cares a lot about her sister, Amy. Emily has lied her way into her new position as Governess, secretly taking the place of her chronically ill sister who can no longer take up the post.

Technically, Trouble is a romance between Emily and Captain Edwards, the dad of the kids Emily is governess-ing. And the romance arc is sweet, if a little slow for my tastes. Captain Edwards is stern and solemn but loving and open-minded and has a nice chest (and is bisexual). Emily is hot-tempered and smart and grumpy (and likely pansexual). They fit each other nicely and Croucher built their relationship tension well in the latter half of the book, in particular. And Emily's developing relationship with and love for the children she's teaching is soft and kind and full of growth, too.

But the part of this book that I found most compelling is the story it tells about chronic illness. Two secondary characters are managing disabling chronic illness -- one of the children, as well as Emily's sister -- and Croucher's portrait of living with chronic illness is deft and compassionate and felt very, very true. There are some A+ passages about the chronically ill life, and how to not let it be the only thing that defines you. It's really beautiful, and clearly resonated with me quite deeply.

If you liked their previous two regency rom-coms, you'll probably enjoy this one too.

I've quickly and irrevocably become a Lex Croucher fan, and this one did not break the streak. I'm a bit of a sucker for Sound of Music type plots, and this one subverts all the tropes of that kind of narrative with so much vulnerability, heart and irreverent humor. The author masterfully weaves such an original tale despite its obvious source of inspiration, and just hits it out of the park by creating such a lived in and textured world of lives. Multiple characters in this live with chronic illnesses, both protagonists are on the bi/pansexual spectrum, the governess is a children-sassing misanthrope, the household staff are each vividly characterized and personable, and the children aren't just "the children"- they have their own individual journeys that directly interweaves into the protagonist's own growth. Emily is a curmudgeonly, skittish cat of a human who doesn't trust love and friendship and companionship, borne of circumstances where she has had to become world-weary and a hustler. What I particularly appreciate about this romance is how even when she reaches her narratively scheduled happy ending, we still see her thinking that everyone who loves her is deluded but she can learn to let herself be cared for because she has learned to care for them. This is such a realistic depiction of a trauma-healing journey and I am so delighted that the author trusts the reader to not expect magic wand assisted unearned endings. I want to hang with and hug everyone in Fairmont House, and I cannot wait to read more such brilliantly, hilarious and honest stories by Croucher.

**This book will be published on 03/05/2024!**
I received this e-book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and the author/publisher for the copy!

I have read almost all of Lex Croucher's Regency Era books and enjoyed them and this one did not disappoint! It was just as funny, witty, and enjoyable as the others. I do love that as I read this one, my vocabulary started to change, but that is just the joy of reading!

Throughout the story, we follow Emily Laurence trying her best to deceive the Edwards family, whom she is now the governess for. Her sister, Amy, was supposed to come on as the governess, but because she is sick and unable, Emily decided it was best for her to pretend to be Amy so they could bring in some money for her sister to see a doctor. During her stay, she plans to steal some items to sell and leave or be dismissed, as soon as she has enough funds for their family. But when Emily starts to get close to the family & staff, her plan doesn't work out exactly how she thought it would.

This book was so lovely! I had a great time reading - I love a book where the FMC is the grump, and boy oh boy is Emily a grump! But she's also endearing and clearly protective of the people she loves. This gave allllllll the Sound of Music vibes I could have possibly asked for. Although there's a power imbalance given that Emily is the family's governess, Captain Edwards never makes that power imbalance feel important or insurmountable.

As always with Lex Croucher's books, the casual queerness of the world is one of my favorite things. At face value this book looks like a cis/het romance, but it's anything but! I love the way Lex brings queerness into their books so so much!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book was really cute. Kind of like a single dad nanny trope but how cute that she’s a governess. I love that it’s a historical romance. Very cute. .

A special thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press & Wednesday Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Meh. I wasn’t a fan. It was a really slow read and took awhile for anything interesting to happen. Everything just felt forced. The love story was only based on maybe three interactions and didn’t feel natural. Kudos for the diverse characters, but even their storylines felt forced and out of place for that timeline.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This was my first Lex Croucher novel and it won’t be my last. It was so much fun! Emily and the Captain and all the family and found family are absolutely enchanting.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I loved this story from Lex Croucher. This books has all the 'olden times' vibes but with modern language and representation... I love this project and look forward to each installment.

This book has Sound of Music vibes with a fair number of changes. The main character is pretty unlikeable, especially at the beginning of the book, but I enjoy that type of character. I found her grumpiness and cruel intentions amusing not offending but this character will not be for every reader.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing access to an advanced reader's copy of this book published on March, 5 2024

governess x single father

Emily unexpectedly becomes a governess to provide for her struggling family. She gets shipped off (well more like carted away in a stuffy carriage) to the Edward’s household. She is tasked with educating Captain Edwards’s teen daughters who seem to remind her of herself and her ailing sister. But guess what…she actually hates children…

One of the things I truly enjoyed about the book is the coastal setting. The way the Fairmont House was described it reminded me of Jane Eyre 🎩 including her romance with Captain Edward’s! Although the use of modern language in this book made it much more readable!

I did have a slight beef with our main girl Emily. It was a real struggle to like her at the beginning because of her prevalent distaste towards children. I totally get not wanting children (I mean girl same!) but she was outright mean at times. Emily was really miserable and resented everyone but also wanted to steal from the family on the down-low? Wouldn’t you try to be nice and unsuspecting in this case?

I am a true sucker for historical romance and I gobble up a good governess trope. While I think Emily bonded with the two sisters and experienced character development through meaningful exchanges…this is definitely a more realistic version of the trope.

Thank you to the publishing house NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I accidentally pasted my review for this from my notes onto a different book :(

This book was so fun and charming. It's funny and engaging with characters representing a wide range of experiences and identities. I expected to like anything after Gwen & Art, but I loved this even more than anticipated!

"A Regency-era romantic comedy with a deliciously feminist and queer twist, from the author of Reputation and Infamous.

There's a new governess at Fairmont House, and she's going to be nothing but trouble.

Emily Laurence is a liar. She is not polite, she's not polished, and she has never taught a child in her life. This position was meant to be her sister's - brilliant, kind Amy, who isn't perpetually angry, dangerously reckless, and who does (inexplicably) like children.

But Amy is unwell and needs a doctor, and their father is gone and their mother is useless, so here Emily is, pretending to be something she's not.

If she can get away with her deception for long enough to earn a few month's wages and slip some expensive trinkets into her pockets along the way, perhaps they'll be all right.

That is, as long as she doesn't get involved with the Edwards family's dramas. Emily refuses to care about her charges - Grace, who talks too much and loves too hard, and Aster, who is frankly terrifying but might just be the wittiest sixteen-year-old Emily has ever met - or the servants, who insist on acting as if they're each other's family. And she certainly hasn't noticed her employer, the brooding, taciturn Captain Edwards, no matter how good he might look without a shirt on...

As Fairmont House draws her in, Emily's lies start to come undone. Can she fix her mistakes before it's too late?"

Oh, you KNOW you need to read this Regency Romp!

Trouble was an easy 4 star read for me! It was a fun and cute regency era romance, with so much great representation (including most notably: chronic illness, trans character, queer characters).

Emily, our main character, and perhaps the grumpiest MC ever, pretends to be her (currently ill) sister and takes a job as governess of a household belonging to a widowed former Navy Captain. Despite trying to remain apathetic to the well-being of everyone around her, Emily can’t help but become entwined with every member of the very peculiar-for-the-times household. There are hijinks, mischief, and scandal, and of course, a slow burn romance (0.5 🌶️, but still swoon worthy by the end).

The only things keeping this from a 5 star for me is the fact that it sometimes got a bit repetitive and there was room for more fleshing out of the relationship between Emily and Captain Edwards in my opinion. The romance element of the story didn’t really start until roughly halfway through the book. That being said, the children under Emily’s care (both teens) and the house staff were without a doubt all incredible side characters, so I loved seeing those relationships play out, too!

Overall, I just really had a fun time reading this book. There were more than a few points where I laughed out loud - Lex really knows how to bring the banter in their writing! I also loved the casual queerness (multiple characters come out, and it’s just accepted in the household without much question). Trouble is definitely worth a read!

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

As a Sound of music and an Austen lover this was a must read for me. I do feel that Emily's character is missing something.
I loved the ambiance and the storyline. Also the casual queerness and the "just be yourself" vibes of the book.

I started off disliking Emily but she grew on me. I could've used a bit more simmer in the slow burn. The romance was so cool for so long there wasn't really romantic tension on the page. I didn't love the lies hanging over Emily the whole book either. But overall I had fun and all of the side characters were great.

Lex Croucher's latest work is an enchanting tale featuring Emily, an initially grumpy governess, who transforms the unconventional household with her wit and charm. The characters, vibrant and three-dimensional, feel like real friends by the end. The casual queerness adds a wonderful layer of inclusivity. The audiobook's excellent performance enhances the humor, making it hard to put down. While the story delves into complex relationships, the only slight drawback is the need for more development in Emily and Captain Edwards' romance. Overall, a delightful read with a 4-star rating. Thanks to NetGalley and Bonnier Books for the early copies.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Another great read from Lex Croucher! Representation! Romance! Fun! And an important lesson to be yourself, always.