I jumped into this book not knowing much about it besides that it is a funny romance between two Victorian debutantes. I was immediately swept by the vivid descriptions of satin dresses and luxury balls; however, the book touches upon some serious topics.

Beth and her mother are struggling financially due to her late father, who left them in debt and promised his estate to his brother. Beth's only chance to avoid living on the streets is to secure a marriage. She is willing to make that sacrifice to ensure a comfortable life for herself and her mother, who suffered enough at the hands of her abusive husband. However, duty and logic evaporate the moment Beth gets close to Gwen, a funny, bold young lady who seems to be enjoying her single life with her widowed father.

The book is written in the third person but with a dual point of view that allows readers to see the lives of both protagonists from their perspectives. I found both characters charming in their own ways. Gwen is mischievous and adventurous, and Beth is witty and scheming. They make a perfect match, first as friends and later as lovers.

The book's first half felt stagnant, even though it set up the story for the second half. I would have preferred the book to be a bit more fast-paced throughout, just like the last third of it. The author did a great job vividly describing attires, estates, rooms, and scenery. I could easily visualize everything that was happening.

I felt very moved in some parts of the story. It is easy to resonate with characters torn between their genuine feelings, societal expectations and obligations. Since the story is set in Victorian England, it is understandable that marriage or even a liaison between two unmarried women was impossible.

Very often in queer books, the main focus of the story is on the main protagonists, which results in side characters being undeveloped or just carbon copies of stereotypical parent figures or maids. Therefore, it is usually a deal breaker for me when an author fails to flesh out secondary characters. Thankfully, Emma Alban did a great job writing Gwen and Beth's parents and their maids. I developed a particular fondness towards Gwen's father, who seemed to be a progressive and liberal lord, unlike others in the story. The idea to matchmake their parents was ingenious, and I was rooting for them even more than for Beth and Gwen (but only because I knew that they would somehow get together at the end).

I really enjoyed this book. I love the idea of trying to be a matchmaker and instead being to one to fall in love. I really loved the characters, main and side. I don’t read many historical romance novels but I was pleasantly surprised by this one. I will definitely read the sequel.

I received an advanced copy of Don't Want You Like a Best Friend by Emma R. Alban from the publisher Avon and Harper Voyager via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What It’s About: It’s 1857, and Beth is anxious as she has one season to snag a wealthy husband, or she and her mother will be out on the street. But playing a blushing bride to be makes Beth’s skin irk and her only comfort is her new friend Gwen. Gwen knows that she’s not finding a husband, it is the fourth season she’s been out, and she likes having fun. So when these two see their parents have history, they try to get them together, but there’s a big problem: their parents hate each other. In the midst of their schemes, maybe Beth and Gwen are finding friends to one another.

What I Loved: This book was such a fun book! I loved the premise of a Parent Trap based romance and I really enjoyed it. I totally bought into the romance between Beth and Gwen and loved seeing the relationship grow between these two. Their friendship was fun and I loved seeing the schemes they come up with to unite their parents. I loved the side characters in this book too, Gwen’s family’s maids and her cousins!

What I Didn’t Like: I could not stand Beth’s mother. I get the motivation but I also just could not stand here.

Who Should Read It: People who love historical romance and the parent trap and are dreaming of their venn diagram.

Summary: Two friends try to match their parents, but end up falling for one another.

I normally do not like historical romance, but I really enjoyed this one. I liked the dual POV and the way the queer characters navigated the time they were in. I thought the parent relationship was an added bonus too!

I loved the idea and premise of this book, but I just could not get into it. The plot seemed to move extremely slowly and I wasn't buying the connection and chemistry from the main characters. I really wanted to like this book but the writing just didn't work for me.

This was such a cute book. I enjoyed the regency romance with queer characters and the added layer on navigating that in the world/time they lived in when women relied so heavily on men to be taken care of financially. The dual POV was great and I liked the little nod to the parent trap. Really enjoyed and I am excited about the next book in the series!

I'm always drawn to historical romances with diversity because due to the time periods, that can be lacking. Whether it be sexuality, gender identity, race, etc., we know these identities existed in the past but don't show up nearly often enough in novels. This was a fun read. I really enjoyed the parents' relationship and that was the one I was honestly more invested in. That could be due to my age or just the type of challenges in that relationship that I tend to like more. I would definitely recommend this romance to others and look forward to seeing Emma R. Alban's writing and stories grow with experience.

I really, really wanted to love this one, but it felt just too close to YA for me as an adult reader. The two MCs felt VERY young. I loved the concept here but the execution skewed a bit too YA for me. For these reasons, I did not finish it, unfortunately.

10/10 I love a sapphic romance. and one set in regency era? YES PLEASEEEE. This author put crack in this book. That’s the only thing I can say

This was such a cute sapphic historical romance with a Parent Trap scheme!⁣
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Beth is a debutante who has just a few months to find herself a husband, or else she and her mother would be out on the streets. And she meets Gwen, who is on her fourth season and they quickly become friends. When they discover that Beth's mom and Gwen's dad have some history, they devise a scheme to bring them together😆 but their parents don't seem to get along with each other at first. And while Beth and Gwen grow closer, a viscount also starts courting Beth and he seems like the perfect match on paper. Will Beth and Gwen be able to bring their parents together while figuring out their relationship too?⁣
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I loved Beth and Gwen in this one! They had an instant connection and they were so comfortable with each other while bringing out the other's mischievous side too! There's a bit of a push-pull thing going on because of their circumstances but I loved watching them figure things out. Gwen also has an amazing relationship with her dad! And the parents' love story was an added bonus and I'd have loved seeing more of it😆 I did want a grovel from Beth's mom at the end though 😂⁣
What kept me from fully enjoying this one was the third person present tense writing 🙆‍♀️ I'm fine with both first person and third person povs but when it comes to past/present tense, I'm definitely gonna pick the first. It took me a long time to immerse myself because of this and I also found certain parts of the story a bit more on the contemporary side at times. But, I still enjoyed reading this one and the next book sounds very promising too especially with another round of matchmaking hijinks 😆

I forgot to leave a review for this, but I really enjoyed it! It's been out for ages, so I won't say much more than I need to for my star rating. <3

Lesbian Bridgerton Parent Trap with a Taylor Swift lyric as the title? I think this book may have been made in a lab for me to enjoy.

Alban's book was a thorough delight. The characters were charming and dynamic, the tension was delicious, and the story was exceptionally well paced. There's fun hijinks, swoony moments, lovable side characters, and two beautiful love stories. My only wish is that Alban needs to immediately pen a novella that gives the readers the story of Dashiell and Cordelia twenty-two years ago and now their reunions because god I wanted to be in their heads too.

I'm deeply excited for the sequel and to follow Alban's blossoming career!

Beth has just one season to find a suitable husband or her family will be left with nothing. On the contrary, this is Gwen's fourth season and she is so tired of trying to find a man to marry. The two become fast friends and realize that there are old feelings between their parents. Together, they brainstorm a scheme to set them up, but quickly discover that their parents aren't the only ones with chemistry.

This is my first time reading in the historical romance genre and I'm just not sure that I'm a regency/Victorian romance girlie. Despite that, I found this book to be lighthearted and fun and I especially liked the Parent Trap-esque hijinks. Overall, I enjoyed this novel, but just did not love it as much as I'd hoped. However, I think fans of historical romance would really love it!

3.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

This is a really cute sapphic romance that scratches the period romance itch without completely rewriting historical norms. There are some weird little anachronisms here and there that are jarring on occasion but in the end they didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book too much. The characters have some dimension even if parts of the plot are very standard romance fare. If you're in the mood for sweet, mindless fluff with barely a touch of mild spice, this will probably make you smile.

I was honestly very interested in the set up of the next book in the ending as well, so I can't wait to read that one!

This was cute! If a bit uneven. I did enjoy the political thread woven into it, more expertly in the last act than it seemed at first. I was thrown by the sporadic use of slang terms that wouldn’t exist for 70-120 years, but on the other hand I appreciated the lack of Bad Corset Tropes and the reminder than massive skirts are really much more troublesome to wear than stays.

This one was SO super cute, although it ended up being a little angstier than I expected (mostly due to the consequence of miscommunication and characters just NOT being upfront about things) and for longer than I hoped it would be. But the gradual development of Gwen and Beth's realization of romantic feelings for each other was fantastic, and I really loved their plan to trap their parents into a second-chance relationship, especially with that secondary love story basically playing out underneath the main one. (There SHOULD be more historical romances where characters set up their widowed parents, just saying.)

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this edition from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I love the idea of the girls playing matchmaker for their parents and falling in love with each other, but this fell short for me. I wanted to love this book with everything in it. I love a historical romance, especially if it is sapphic, but I didn't feel the chemistry in this one.

I didn’t finish this book but I got far enough. The romance just…wasn’t there? And the ending felt very icky. I had higher expectations for this one and it just didn’t meet the mark.

This book was perfect. Honestly everyone I wanted in a regency romcom. So much pining. So much drama. I cannot wait for the next book!

Don't Want You Like a Best Friend was such a pleasant surprise! I confess I was a little skeptical of the title and cover as I prefer more adult-centered stories but this delivered it!

Emma Alban's writing was somehow perfectly fitting for the novel's setting and it made me love the book even more for it. As a historical romance enthusiast, I found the writing to be as immersive as the plot itself. From the descriptions to the dialogue, I truly wanted to read it all in one sitting.

I was enamoured with Gwen and Beth, as well as their parents and lovely meddling cousins. I truly did not think a single character felt too one dimensional or unnecessary to the plot.

I went through so many emotions while reading this and cried unabashedly more than once. This book did exactly what I hoped it would when it came to delivering a lovely and tender sapphic romance. I absolutely adored it and will purchase a physical version of this book as soon as I have the chance.

Thank you Penguin, Emma Alban, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC in exchange for an honest review.