This is the historical sapphic romance that I've been waiting for! I love Olivia Waite and Erica Ridley's books on the same theme, and DON'T WANT YOU LIKE A BEST FRIEND is a great addition to the cannon of lesbian historicals. This book is swoony, so fun, and very compelling. We are introduced to Beth, an anxious debutante who is determined to find a husband who will provide the financial stability that she and her mother desperately need. Beth meets Gwen who is on her fourth season and is terribly bored of the whole endeavor. Gwen is the daughter of a wealthy widower, and she has no pressure to marry if she doesn't want to. Gwen and Beth quickly realize though that their parents are perfect for each other, and Alban weaves the most fun Bridgerton/Parent Trap crossover. As they spend more time together, Beth and Gwen develop feelings for one another rather than for any of the eligible bachelors that they are supposed to be paying attention to. This book is funny, charming, and so full of heart!

thank you to avon and harper voyager + netgalley for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for my honest thoughts <3

the rise of taylor swift lyrics as book titles is an era in books that i'm so glad i get to experience. dress has long been one of my favorite t.s. songs because it perfectly captures the yearning of friends to lovers. i knew the second i stumbled upon Don't Want You Like a Best Friend that it was made for me. a sapphic, friends-to-lovers, regency romance... i ate it up.

i really liked the characters to the point that i just wanted to protect them from everything. they were messy and real and so in love with each other. i was particularly attached to beth whose story is one of sacrifice for those she cares about most. the angst and yearning that make up these characters was like a gut punch toward the end. i couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel, but i wanted it for them so badly.

between the prose and the romance, this was such an effervescent debut, and while it took me a while to read this one, i found myself picking it up whenever i could. it was easy to find myself whisked away into a world of afternoon teas and ball gowns. i'm foaming at the mouth for any future f/f regency romances after reading this.

A queer historical romance set in 1857 Victorian England. Beth is entering her first season and must make a match or she and her widowed mother will be without a home. Her father’s heir has come of age and is sending them from his estate. She meets Gwen who has already had a few seasons. All the girls look to Gwen for her fun games that made the balls more adventuresome. Gwen and Beth notice the reaction when their respective single parents meet and plot to put them together instead. Along the way the two become closer. Complications come when Beth catches the attention of a nice guy with a horrible overbearing father. Politics enter the fray as well regarding a new marriage act.

Kudos to the author for writing a fun historical romance that is inclusive and with passion on the page. I especially like that it isn't a slow burn letting the pair steal moments together midway through the book. Gwen’s understanding father get an extra nod for allowing two servants to be her confidants. I like the title being a Taylor Swift song reference but that kind of playfulness doesn’t continue in the book. The language may be too modern for historical romance purists but I didn’t mind it and they kept most of the basic rules of the time period. The Parent Trap trying to get the parents together moves the story along. I think the only thing that slows reading is the story is written in third person present tense. I got used to it but it isn’t common in the books I read. I kept thinking why is this sounding different.

This is a good debut novel and I hope the sequel includes more of Beth and Gwen as I really like their characters. Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC and I am leaving a voluntary review.

Don't Want You Like a Best Friend is an incredibly fun read. I loved the characters and their friendships with each other.

Oh. Oh that was *wonderful* !!! I don't know if I've ever read a sapphic historical romance that completely holds its own in the romance department like this one does. I felt all the ups and downs and the passion Beth and Gwen felt for each other. It easily rivaled the gay historical romance novels and m/f historical romance novels I love.

We have sort of a parent trap situation going on, but instead of sisters Beth and Gwen are... more. The scheming and banter and scandalous behavior was absolutely wonderful and I loved every minute I spent reading it. All of the characters were wonderful (well, except Lord Ashford, but there has to be at least one villain) and felt wonderfully real and well fleshed out. I loved Gwen's cousins, and her and Beth's parents, and Meredith, and Gwen's servants.

Beth and her mother are witty and clever; Gwen and her father are charming and roguish. They make the perfect matches. And Gwen's father is a truly excellent father. I loved the fencing scenes and their other shared mischief.

This was an emotional rollercoaster, and I felt the pain and heartbreak and glee and joy and all of it. Emma Alban did a phenomenal job capturing all of that. She also did a great job writing passionate scenes that I didn't want to just skip over.

After that ending, I absolutely need to read the sequel immediately. I can't wait for more matchmaking and hijinks and fun.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Avon for providing an early copy for review.

Rounded up from 4.5 stars!

WHAT A FUN BOOK. If you like the Parent Trap, read this book. And that should be most people, who doesn't like the Parent Trap. It's basically a period retelling of Parent Trap except instead of being sisters they're gay best friends. Truly, what isn't to love.

I was immediately so invested in this book and the relationships in it. Shockingly, I don't think Beth and Gwen were even my favorite romance in this book. My entire soul was grabbed by the relationship between Lady Demeroven and Lord Havenfort (Beth and Gwen's parents, respectively.) Their relationship is such a sweet second chance romance of broken hearts brought on by sacrificing your own happiness for the others, and the need to eventually put yourself first in your own life. I understood why Beth and Gwen jumped through such hoops to try and get them together - I would too!

Absolutely read this book. I am so impressed that this was a debut novel and I cannot wait to see what Alban gives us next. I'm already off to request the second book!

It is really hard, in my opinion, to write a queer historical romance that is believable or at least walks the line of asking us to suspend belief and accept it. I don't know if this worked for me as much as I would have hoped. The writing was good, but the plot for me wasn't quite what I would have liked. It definitely reads like a bit of James Austen fanfic, and while well-done, it just doesn't land for me.

I would love to have Emma on my podcast, Raise Your Words. Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend is perfect for Bridgerton and Taylor Swift fans!! I loved the banter in this and the romance.

This book was such a wonderful read! I feel so fortunate that I get to experience books like this being published, featuring queerness and characters that are accepting of that. The relationships between Gwen and her father and Beth and her mother really drove this book home for me. There were so many beautiful moments that made me so emotional. The plot was fun and engaging and, of course, I adored Gwen and Beth's romance. Truly so sweet, I got to the end and wanted it to keep going!!

This is so cute and fun with a dash of spice. I really loved this book. I think both Beth and Gwen are exceptional characters. I love the time era the book is set in, I love bridgerton so this gave me some of those vibes. I also love the subtle fuck the patriarchy within the politics. The parent trap plotline was so good, though Beth and Gwen need to work on their matchmaking skills. I can't wait to see them matchmake Bobby and James.

I am not a huge fan of regency romances but I am always a fan of sapphic romance so of course I had to read this one. It was a really fun and just easy read. The two girls falling for each other as they try and parent trap their parents was very amusing. I liked the slow burn element as well. This was definitely a solid sapphic read!

Thank you Emma and Netgalley for letting me read this early. I loved The Parent Trap plot in this book on top of the Victorian era sapphic romance. I thought it did a good job of giving attention to both the relationship between Beth and Gwen as well as their parent’s relationship. I’m personally not a huge fan of 3rd person POV but overall I liked this one.

This book was everything! I absolutely love the hijinks Gwen and Beth come up with to get their parents together so they don't have to get married themselves. Not realizing they're both queer until it's too late, it left me feeling anxious and heartbroken for them, but I knew things would turn out alright in the end.

Mixing my love of historical romance, queer discovery stories, and badass ladies, this was an absolute joy of a book.

The cast of characters was great. Aside from the main duo, Albie was a stand-out to me. Same with Meredith. They were both so accepting of Gwen and Beth and probably realized they had a thing for each other before they did.

I absolutely adored this book and cannot wait to read the sequel! Highly recommend for fans of Evie Dunmore and Manda Collins.

4.5⭐️

The friends to lovers, Parent Trap, sapphic historical romance I didn’t know I needed. My gosh, the pining and feelings that Alban delivered hurt so good and I felt like my heart was in my throat and tears in my eyes for much of the second half. I absolutely adored this story!

Gwen and Beth’s love story was beautiful, tender, swoony, and simply perfect. I was rooting for these two from the beginning and desperately wanted them to get a happily ever after on their own terms, without having to bend to society’s rules. This story was so soft and while there was some drama, it was low stakes and there was no miscommunication or third act break up to muddy the story. Surrounding Gwen and Beth was a cast of the most delightfully charming side characters who you can’t help but fall in love with. AND!! The epilogue!! I am so excited for what comes next.

I love a dual POV, but if I had one critique, it would be how this is written in third person. I wouldn’t say it detracts in a major way from the story, however I think if it had been written in first person, it would have been perfection and cemented it as a full five stars.

Ultimately, I adored this sweet romance and fell in love with these characters!

I loved this book. This is not my usual genre, so it was different. Beth has to find a rich husband, or her family will be destitute. Gwen is on her fourth season and does not want to marry at all. They see the sparks between their parents and decide that the perfect solution is to get the parents together. In the meantime, they both realize they are having feelings as well. Slow burn and funny as the story progresses. I thought the girls took a long time to realize that they "liked" each other but the times did not always allow the option. Good book and i would read a sequel if there is one coming. Light and fun book for lazy day. This one made me smile.


I received a free copy for an unbiased review.

Just finished this super cute sapphic romance meets the Parent Trap. I enjoyed it for the most part, but it definitely reads more YA than adult (there is a bit of spice, so it's not actually YA) at least to me. Both Gwen and Beth are likable characters but come off younger than early twenties.

I did enjoy their attempts to bring their parents together. Both girls had such wonderful relationships with their parents. I was especially moved by Gwen and her father. There are also Gwen's cousins, which add a little humor to the mix.

The way the author shows how the girls start to feel like more than friends without even realizing it was so well done.

This was a fun read and gave me the warm fuzzies! I will definitely check out the sequel for more of the girls' matchmaking endeavors!

This book comes out on January 9th. I received an ARC from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

I was really excited to get approved for this book, as Dress is my favorite Taylor Swift song of all time but this book fell.very flat for me. I wish I could get into it but couldnt' even finish it, it dragged on way too much.

The only real critique I have is that it got a bit repetitive and lulled a little in the middle. Nonetheless, this was an incredibly enjoyable read and I cannot wait to see these characters again in the sequel!

In a beautifully romantic book that I called to a friend “bridgerton for gay people” Don’t Want You Like A Best Friend was a gorgeous swoon- worthy with Dress like vibes!

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
As a massive Swiftie and lover of queer (especially sapphic) romance, Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend seemed to call my name from the moment I saw it. It also has a fun premise that mixed some fun tropes, and while it could easily have gone wrong in some places, it thankfully went mostly right.
I love both Beth and Gwen, especially how well-drawn their respective relationships with their parents are. Gwen and her dad are delightfully unconventional, while Beth and her mother are on the edge of poverty, with the Season being the one chance she has to secure a good match to prevent this. As a result, Beth navigates the struggle of picking a suitor, even though she’s not fully invested in it, while her bond with Gwen grows into something more than friendship. Emma R. Alban does a fairly good job of grappling with the period-accurate homophobia in the background, while providing the leads with a believable way to their HEA…with more to come foreshadowed at the end, bleeding over into how they’ll meddle again in the next book, this time as supporting players.
While subplots can be hard to pull off, sometimes being undercooked, and sometimes overwhelming the main romance arc, I did like the way the romantic subplot between the parents was handled. The meddling between Beth and Gwen was still a major driving force, so it fed into their own romance, and given how much the parental relationships are emphasized in tandem with the romantic ones, I truly cared whether the two parents got together, not just for the girls’ sake, but so these two lonely people could find their second chance at love.
The story is a little slow-paced, and some of the story felt a little repetitive, what with there not being a ton going on. But the book overall is mostly fun, sweet vibes with characters I enjoyed following, and that’s what kept my interest, even in the somewhat laggy moments.
This book is absolutely adorable, and I can’t wait for the next book, with an equally Swift-inspired punny title. If you love sapphic historical romance, Taylor Swift, and/or The Parent Trap, I’d recommend checking this out!