Sapphic bridgerton! I love period pieces and this was no aception.

The story of Beth and Gwen was sweet and bitersweet to follow. I loved following both characters through their journeys of finding out who they were and watching them fight for there right to be happy and not just a wife.

I really hope there is a sequel to this story as I’d love to read it!

I ADORED THIS.

an adorable ya historical book regarding two lesbian women navigating their sexuality and growing feelings for each other while dodging men and marriage proposals and aspects left and right! Such a sweet romance, a really good entry for someone looking for an easy historical fiction with a fluffy friends to lovers romance (but make it lesbian!) An absolutely fabulous rec!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

First off, 5/5 stars. Truly wonderful and lovely and emotional and just spicy enough.

This novel follows the lives of Beth and Gwen as they navigate the courting season in 1857 London. Gwen has made it through three unsuccessful seasons, and couldn't care less about finding a match this year either. However, for Beth, this is her first and last season, or else her mother and her will be thrown out of their estate by her late-father's brother. Gwen and Beth instantly connect and shenanigans and heartbreak ensue.

There was some struggle with the very first point of view from Beth, it felt very tell-not-shown. However, by the time we finally got around to Gwen's point of view, the writing really hit its mark. The romance was so well done and I felt their desperation to be with each other like a punch in the gut. I frequently turned to my wife and told her how much I loved her and how grateful I am that we can be married and own property in this day and age. I loved this story with my whole heart and I will absolutely be reading the next one as soon as I can get my hands on it.

i’ve been looking forward to this for literal months now, so getting to read it early was so very exciting. marketed as a victorian ‘the parent trap’ the book encapsulates all the fun and chaos that the classic 1998 movie does.

the book is instilled with love stories — gwen and beth’s at the forefront, but their parent’s story is there and prominent and has moments of it’s own to shine. there’s also gwen’s cousin, albie, and meredith and though we don’t see their story as much in detail, we do see their friendship with gwen and beth in their most turbulent moments and that’s beautiful on it’s own.

i loved (LOVED) the style of writing and how everything felt important. i loved (LOVED) gwen and beth and reading about their love as it grew. mischief and matchmaking being a series makes me very happy. i’ll be ready and waiting for book 2 when it makes it’s appearance and for gwen and beth to maintain their chaotic ways.

one of my favourite reads of the year <3 when it’s released in january, i’ll buy a copy and have it pride of place on my bookshelf.

I absolutely adored this book, it was such a cute historical romance. I love, love, love Beth and Gwen together. The slow realisation of their feelings, the acceptance of them and the need to work a way out to be together was just so well done.

I also loved the matchmaking shenanigans of getting Dashiell and Cordelia together. Very excited for the sequel to see James and Bobby become the next pair to be subject to matchmaking schemes.

Gwen has been out for four seasons, but remains very uninterested in securing a match, despite needing to rescue her and her father’s slightly dubious reputations.

Beth is out for her first season and needs to secure a match. Her father died, leaving her and her mother nearly destitute. If she doesn’t marry – and marry well – this season, then they’ll be out on the streets.

When Gwen and Beth meet, sparks fly and an alliance is formed with a goal in mind – make their parents fall in love to solve both their problems, get society off their back about finding matches of their own, and have an excuse to spend more time with each other.

This queer historical romance had a lot of things I LOVE. Witty dialogue, a mix of historically accurate language and behaviour and modern phrases and jokes, Taylor Swift references, quirky side characters, and a good measure of chemistry and spice that’ll have you fanning yourself (and not just because of all the crinoline in the London heat).

All of the characters in More Than A Best Friend were really strong and distinct – I particularly loved Gwen and her disaster father Lord Havenfort.

The writing did feel a little clumsy at points as there was quite a bit of repetition, but, mostly, it was an absolutely stellar debut from Emma, and I can’t wait to read whatever they write next.

A SAPPHIC REGENCY ROMANCE, YESSSSSS!!! I loved this book! Extra points for use of Taylor Swift lyrics! Also, the author's tiktoks are cute.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-ARC copy of this book, in exchange for this honest review.

[4.25⭐️]
The moment I saw that this book was described as a lesbian Bridgerton I new I had to read it! This book was worth every single minute I spent reading it! It was sweet, funny, hot, it really had everything.
The plot was very engaging, not only we had the love story between Gwen and Beth but we also had the parent trap side of the story that I really enjoyed.
The setting was what made me love the book even more, I just love a good historical romance 🥰

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review

Pub Date: 11 January 2024

This is a really solid 4 star book for me which I would definitely recommend. A really well written, wlw friends to lovers and trying to parent trap their parents? There's nothing there I dislike. Add in Taylor Swift references and I am a happy reader.

There were a few times in the book where I think the plot verged on dragging a bit, especially at the start when I did struggle to get into it to begin with (which in fairness, it might have been more to do with how busy I was rather than anything else) but overall I really liked it. The plot and the characters are good so if sapphic romances are your thing then you'll probably enjoy it.

More Than A Best Friend has a sweet premise - I was immediately drawn in by the idea of a Regency, queer, The Parent Trap style caper. I greatly enjoyed the interactions between characters (although the characters themselves were perhaps not as well-rounded as they could have been, the group as a whole held my attention well). I also found the plot rather unsurprising - there were certain plot points and twists that I knew were approaching. That said, this is a very fun read - I hadn’t realised it was the first in the series, and I’m keen to see more queer joy in this time period, and to see where the characters go next.

3.5 rounded up to 4

Thank you Netgalley, Penguin General UK, and author Emma R. Alban for providing an ARC in exchange for a review! I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

3 stars - The Parent Trap meets Bridgerton but make it sapphic!

I have mixed feelings about this book… Historical romance, especially if it’s queer, is one of my favourite genres, and I was extremely excited to read this, but I have to admit it let me down quite a bit. For starters, it wasn’t very “historical”, and I know it wasn’t supposed to be 100% accurate with Victorian society, but More than a Best Friend feels too modern and there are too many anachronisms to disregard this issue. Moreover, I found the characters a bit bland, both the main and the supporting ones. One of my favourite components of historical romance is the longing, the yearning, the longing (!!!) and we didn’t get much of any of them because, in my opinion, Beth and Gwen got together too quickly (maybe I was expecting some inner monologues debating whether or not being together would ruin their friendship or what that would imply for their families, how they feel when they’re not together…). And finally, I would’ve loved to read more about gender inequality in Victorian England and the Matrimonial Causes Act, I think it’s a remarkable subject, and it was merely brushed upon.

But not everything is negative, I did enjoy it, and it was a cute and fun read! This was Emma R. Alban’s debut novel and I will definitely be checking her future work.

Note: As per Penguin General UK's approval preferences on NetGalley, I am planning on posting this review to Goodreads on November 27th 2023, the same day I'm also posting this NetGalley feedback.

this book has:
- sapphic friends to lovers
- dual pov
- second chance romance & lovers to enemies to lovers (background couple)
- parent trap/matchmaking
- victorian setting

after the death of her father, beth and her mother are desperate for a marriage proposal for her in order to gain financial stability and security. gwen has no such worries as the daughter of a wealthy earl, who continues to be a bachelor after the death of gwen's mother. upon meeting, gwen and beth become fast friends and soon form a deeper connection. they find out about their parents' fling prior to their marriages and start scheming to get them back together.

i adored the premise of this book as soon as i heard it and it definitely lived up to my expectations! beth and gwen were both such great mcs and the side characters were just as lovable. they had great chemistry from the very start and i also loved their parents' background romance as well as the housekeepers in beth's household. overall, it's a very fun read & i'd love to read more sapphic romances set in the victorian era.

tw: misogyny, physical & domestic abuse

thank you to netgalley and the author for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

5 stars, but i genuinely wish i could have given this book more.

i have seen this book on so many of my friends tbr's, and was absolutely over the moon when i was accepted to write an honest review in exchange for an arc. thank you to the author and publishers for this opportunity.

this book warmed my heart, ripped it out, stomped on it, picked it back up and threw it into the meat grinder, and then healed it back together again with magical powers. that is truly the only way i can explain my experience reading this delightful story.

going into more than a best friend, i knew it was a sapphic story, but what i especially loved about this book was the subplots and journeys that beth and gwen take you on. not only is this a friends to lovers story set during the 1800s regency period, but also a tale of the lost love between the girls parents as well, which i found myself thoroughly enjoying as well. this book tackles the heartbreaking societal expectations for the girls to find husbands despite not wanting them, and instead find love, warm and home in each other. it also has a subplot surrounding their single parents and their own heartbreaking tale of longing and angst that they were not allowed to have in their own early adulthoods.

i smiled, i laughed, i giggled and kicked my feet, i cried, i snuck onto my phone at work so that i could continue reading this story, because it gripped me from the moment i started it.

i cannot wait to have my own copy of this book on my bookshelves. it will be one of the few sapphic books i have enjoyed enough to purchase a physical copy of.

thank you again to the author and publishers :)

More Than a Best Friend (also known as Don’t Want You Like A Best Friend) is a fluffy profiterole of a book. It is sweet, it is cute, and it is certainly fun. A cute Bridgerton-esque romp of a story, really. Overall, it’s enjoyable.

However I almost want more. I am a huge historical fiction fan so the anachronisms pulled me out a little. I got used to it, and the story was enough to keep me reading, but if you’re after historical accuracy this isn’t the book for you. It is very, very modern.

The MCs are enjoyable, and I probably will pick up the sequel to see how their matchmaking plans follow through, but I would also like to see if some of the niggles from this book get ironed out.

Ok i saw this on Netgally and straight away knew i needed to try and get an ARC of it. I mean come on a sapphic victorian novel of Bridgeton/Parent Trap AND the blatant Taylor swift song reference in the title? A must have.

Don't Want You Like a Best Friend is a sapphic regency romance. The two main characters, Beth and Gwen, come up a plan to set their parents up so they can have a second chance at happiness and then they both end up falling in love with each other along the way. This story melted my heart, I love my victorian gays. The relationship between Beth and Gwen felt so real and lightheartedly delt with the very real issues that would have come with being a queer couple in regency England.
The relationship between the parents was also well fleshed out.
Although we do mostly just follow Beth and Gwen we also see some great developments from side characters. The parental relationships both girls have are so lovely to read about and adds to the story. The two maids are a lovely surprise.

The only criticism i had is that some of it felt slightly slow at times. Maybe that’s just because i read it while being very ill though.

3.5 stars

*eARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

had fun reading this book! it was really engaging and i was rooting for the relationships. i don't think the world building was that strong though; i found it hard to believe this was the Regency era, plus there were some Americanisms that slipped through. also the supporting characters felt a bit flat in places.

I first saw this book on BookTok (like many others I'm sure), and was immediately taken by the idea of a queer Bridgerton style romance with serious Parent Trap vibes, and a title based on a Taylor Swift song.

The premise definitely lives up to my initial hopes, with plenty of scheming, angst and comedy, but sadly it just fell a bit short for me. I think I was put off from the beginning by the use of the third person present tense, which I never would have thought to consider as an issue before, but found it made everything seem quite detached. There were sections in the latter half of the novel that seemed to switch into third person past tense as well which complicated it further in my mind and kept me feeling slightly detached from the narrative.

On the positive side, I loved both Beth and Gwen and found there were chunks where I really related to them both. Gwen's flair for the dramatic had me laughing aloud and Beth's anxiety definitely hit close to home. The descriptive language used to describe scenery and events was really good and the side characters were really well fleshed out.

The ending did feel a little rushed, and a little too convenient, but I didn't really mind that too much.

3.5 stars, many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

A lovely bit of sapphic romance escapism set to a Bridgerton-esqe background. These are all big wins in my eyes but beyond that there isn’t much more to say about this book. I did still very much enjoy it and would recommend this to people but there is a lack of depth for me.

I loved this book so much, I devoured it finishing in less than 24 hours. The characters and plot were addicting and I could really picture the scenes and settings. The writing was beautiful and I teared up throughout the book, I cannot wait to read the next ones in the series as they're released. I loved every single part of this book and can't wait to recommend it to literally everyone I meet.

Wow! First of all thank you so much for the opportunity to read this. I read this book in one sitting and could not put it down. I have been wanting to read this from the second I saw the cover and it didn’t disappoint. This was such a fun romance and I loved the friends to lovers aspect especially in the historical setting. This is the lesbian Bridgeton we all need.
The angst was amazing, I love drama in my books and this definitely did not disappoint
Also the parents added a lot to this book as well and were a great addition to the cast of characters!
All in all if you are looking for a book that will keep you in your chair from start to finish and hurting so good this is the one and I cannot wait to share it! Now please excuse me while I go squeal in the corner and think about this book for the rest of the year.