5★

I cannot believe how pleasantly surprised I am by this book. It is one of my favorite reads of the year. Every single character had so much substance to them and a unique charm that felt so real. It was so funny, it truly made me laugh out loud at some points. I loved being in Emily’s mind. I also really enjoyed seeing more representation with multiple characters who identify as lgbtq+ and/or are BIPOC.

Emily: fmc, so grumpy yet so hilarious. She is absolutely charming and would do anything for her sister. She has an “eat the rich” mentality that is so fun for the plot.

Tropes: slow burn (like reaaaaaaally slow), age gap - I think, I can’t remember how old she is supposed to be but he is definitely older than her, workplace romance.

Spice level: .75/5🌶️ - some build up but no detail.

I loved the narrator for this book! Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Trouble is a wonderful Regency-era romance! After reading Lex Croucher’s last book, I couldn’t wait to read this one, and it didn’t disappoint! I am quite fond of how Lex Croucher incorporates all relationships and love into these romances, while recognizing the complexities in limitations of the time period, but allowing the characters to find a happily ever after that doesn’t require letting go of who they are. I am also a big fan of the strong female characters.

If you are a romance reader, this story is for you, whether you typically gravitate toward Regency-era or not.

I listened to the audiobook version, which had a fantastic narrator. I listened at 1.75x speed which is my normal audiobook speed.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to listen and review this advanced audio copy.

Cute and fun. I did get held up by the dialogue and descriptions that felt and seemed much too modern and did not fit into the setting well. I understand that may have been the author's intentions (maybe to give it a more "Bridgerton"-feel...), but their use always caught me up as a reader and did not flow well with the rest of the content. The characters are fun and the writing is solid for the most part. Definitely an easy, breezy book. I did find myself dragging a bit towards the end, but overall, it was an enjoyable read. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

The premise and the writing were excellent and so much fun. I loved the antics that Emily and others got up to. The romance felt a bit like a backdrop, which worked, but I would've liked it to be explored a bit more.

I’ve enjoyed all of Lex Croucher’s other books, but this one just didn’t grab me in the same way. I think it was because there’s a lot of negativity for the first chunk of the book that makes it hard to return to.

This was charming.

Emily is perhaps the grumpiest character in the history of grumpy characters. She bears everyone ill will, holds grudges, assumes the worst, and goes into her position subbing in for her sister as a governess with a mentality of 'eat the rich' and a determination to steal as much as she can in her short time at the house. She also hates children.

Needless to say, she makes a marvelous governess and charms the entire unconventional and informal household (though it takes her much longer to admit that she is charmed by them in return). And the journey to get there is beautifully written and an absolute delight.

I loved each and every character. All were vibrant and three-dimensional and felt real. By the time I finished, I wished they were my friends.

I also love love LOVED the casual queerness. A character comes out as trans and everyone embraces him immediately and offers nothing but love and acceptance. Major characters casually mention being bisexual or gay. It was wonderful.

The children are each terrors in their own way, and utterly charming. I loved them both and it was wonderful seeing Emily coming around to loving them as well. When she points out what a terrible governess she is, no one believes her, because she may not be teaching etiquette lessons and foreign languages, but she isn't trying to change them either.

The audiobook performance was excellent. The narrator managed to give each character a unique voice and mannerisms, and also capture all the humor in the text. I kept snorting with laughter as I listened (an achievement, as I was in bed with a migraine at the time).

Every book I read by Lex Croucher further cements them on my must-read authors list. And with every book they get better and their characters get more personality and become more charming. And of course the casual queerness is a definite plus. 10/10 highly recommend.

*Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Griffin, and Macmillan Audio for providing an early copy and early audio copy for review.

Trouble Audiobook Review
When Emily’s sister Amy becomes too sick to take her new governess position. Emily decides to take her place. Only one problem, they don’t know she isn’t Amy and has never worked as a governess.
I loved the witty, sarcastic, loving, and emotional characters. The amount of queer representation in this regency romcom was amazing!!
The romance does not come right away in this book. But getting to know the characters and the hardships that shape them all to be who they are build the story. The narrator definitely brings these characters to life!
Great Listen!!

Thank you Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the audiobook for an honest review.

I received an ARC audiobook copy from Netgalley. The audio narrator did an excellent job of distinguishing voices and pacing. Was is pretty predictable? Yes. Did I have any trouble finishing it? No. The fun twist in this book, was that it was a Regency Era romance novel that was not white-washed conservatism. There were black, indian, queer, and trans characters, and they were not even what the story was about. These characters were seamlessly woven through the story, like real life. I appreciated that a lot.

This book is a cute regency era romance with a queer found family trope. I really enjoyed the narrator.
The character and plot development did not flow naturally and at times the chemistry between the two main characters felt forced. But the story was interesting enough to keep me engaged to the end.

In this latest historical novel from Lex Croucher, Fairmont House gets a prickly new governess, and while she isn’t who the household is expecting, she may just be exactly what they need.

Emily Laurence does not know what she’s doing. She’s not really a governess, you see, but when her sister, Amy, gets sick and is unable to fulfill her position as the new governess at the captain’s estate by the sea, Emily goes in her place because, well, needs must. The thing is, though, Emily doesn’t so much tell them that she isn’t Amy. And she doesn’t really know anything about children. Or what they need to study. Or how to be gentle and kind and a guiding hand for them.

Luckily for Emily, the children are both in their teens. Unluckily for Emily, the fourteen-year-old tends towards verbosity and the sixteen-year-old leans into irascibility. And although Emily wants to keep her distance, the relaxed atmosphere of the household makes that nigh impossible. The staff seems to like her in spite of her attempts to be unlikable and there is something about Captain Edwards that gets under her skin. She wants to hate him based on his position alone, but she just can’t. How utterly frustrating for her.

This one is smart, witty, and queer with care—and by that I mean with an awareness and understanding of the ramifications of being openly queer or suspected as queer during that time period—with a good balance of heartfelt (but not saccharine) moments, swoon, and utterly ridiculous stories and comments that will make you giggle, if not outright guffaw—I’m looking at you housemaid Akia. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Is there a bit of a sub/side plot used to enhance the drama that I felt perhaps wasn’t entirely necessary? Yes. Did it detract from my enjoyment of the story? No.

I highly recommend listening to the audiobook version to experience Ell Potter’s accents and delivery. I give this audiobook an enthusiastic five stars.

I received an advance copy of the audiobook from Macmillan Audio and NetGalley. All review opinions are my own.

I went back and forth between 3 and 5 stars many times while listening to this audiobook. I'd seen some other titles at the store from this author before and have not encountered many lgbtq stories in this genre, so I was excited to get this ARC. While I overall enjoyed it, I found the female and male leads to be extremely aggravating. And for a romance, the two had hardly even interacted much until halfway through the book. I don't consider myself a history buff by any means, but it didn't really speak like its intended time period to me. When I went to the author bio, they stated that they write "historical-ish rom-coms" and it made it not so jarring. Overall, I feel like I've mostly complained, but I actually did like the book, and look forward to reading more from this author.

Narrator Ell Potter's accent added a delightfully aristocratic touch to this story. Listened at 2x speed without any issues or loss of inflection.

This was such a light-hearted (and progressive!) spin on a Regency Era Romance that really fulfilled it's billing as having a "feminist and queer twist".

Emily is a likeable character, even when she's making poor decisions and holding others at arm's length. The sibling bond of Aster and Grace mirrors much of Emily and Amy, even down to the single parent upbringing. Hands down though, the staff at Fairmont House gave the story life. The own stories, their interactions, their quirks made me giggle and cheer.

The story is well paced and nuanced. Many great lessons about kindness, acceptance, and character.

Overall: 4 stars

I'll tell my students about: language, parental death, sex, LGBTQIA+

**Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the free ALC. All opinions expressed are my own.**

Much thanks to Lex Croucher, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for allowing me to listen to a free eaudio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I liked this book up to a point, and I will only say that I should not have ignored how this book was categorized.

I love the books by this author! This is a Regency Era Romance with lots of humor and characters that are lovable and hilarious. Emily Lawrence takes the place of her sister as the governess at a big house. Although she is not qualified, and not interested in the job, she needs the wages in order to support her family. Showing up to the house with a presumed knowledge of the stock up and classes ways of the master, Emily is determined to get everything she can out of her place of employment before she is caught. The complication comes when dealing with the children, the other staff members, and of course the captain, becomes more and more like living with a family instead of an easy mark.

Right out of the gate I connected to Emily’s dark personality. This girl is jaded, pessimistic and the rock that everyone depends on. She is selfless and committed to those she loves, and that love does not come easily. I found the contrast of her grump to the sunshine of her entire new household (with a few notable exceptions) to be an absolute delight. The staff accept her in a way she does not want, and yet they just keep on caring. But her darkness is no match when up against a pure ray of sunshine like Grace and her own emotional doppelgänger, Aster. There is one person that seems a mirror image in her pessimism. It is easy to see that bickering is completely Emily’s love language and her defence mechanism. She protects herself from disappointment by never wanting anything. So it is a wonder when people suddenly want her and she doesn’t know how to deal with that. This story is about so much more than a romance. It is about healing, communication, being seen and understanding your own worth. So many parts of this story hit me on a truly personal level, and I will still be processing it all for some time. I laughed, I cried, I guffawed as some parts could quite literally make you snort in their absurdity. In particular, Oliver. His outspoken sibling like banter was priceless. I listened to the audiobook and hearing some of those lines was simply brilliant in their portrayal. Thank you Lex Croucher for touching some rather taboo topics, and delivering them well in respect and vulnerability. This was a beautiful story of a family becoming whole once more and a woman receiving all the love she deserves and more.

This book, a Regency-era, queerer spin on the story, takes place in England, and also has a much more diverse cast of characters. I loved everything about this book, most of all the characters, who were all very well-rounded and very distinct in terms of personality, as well as very lovable and fun to read about, even if some of them considered themselves or each other unlikeable or terrible. The found family was certainly found-familying, even if our main character wanted them to or not.
The way that queerness is talked about in the book also deserves to be talked about, because it is taken seriously without really changing the tone of the book itself too much.
Overall, I would just say to read this book if you can, it drove me insane in a good way that I did not know historical romcoms were capable of.

Thank you, NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the audio arc of this book. I thought that I would enjoy this because I read and enjoyed an ARC of 'Gwen and Art are Not in Love'. However, this book disappointed me so much. I only finished it because I wanted to know what happened in the end, even though the ending is basically in the summary of the book.

The character development is so boring and needs a better conflict between the main characters. About 75% of the book, I felt like the author was copying Evangeline's story from the movie Nanny McPhee and putting her in a different period. You couldn't even tell the characters were lgbtq because the story just dragged onto how bad and foolish Emily was.

I think that this story is a combination of other modern stories set in the Victorian era. It needs a better plot and setting. There's no banter. It's all lies and then the end is the truth. The story is too obvious and seems like a copy of something I've already read.

I love Lex Croucher's historical, lgbtq+ inclusive romances.

Our heroine in Trouble is a Emily, a salty, prickly woman who assumes the role of her sweet, mild-tempered sister in order to secure her new governess job while she recuperates from an illness. Over time, Emily learns that you don't have to be a people-pleaser for people to appreciate you and that trying to emulate her sister isn't fooling anyone. Emily's desire to just keep the gig as long as she can then run with stolen items seems inconsistent with her goal to keep the position available for her sister to take on as soon as she is better.

I loved this book and the characters, and the audio narration was great!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC of this book.

This was really fun! It gave me Sound of Music and Jane Austen vibes. The LGBTQ+ representation was great to see (Bi, gay and trans characters). There were a lot of hilarious lines, the characters were very likable, and the Victorian era setting was extremely well done.

Trouble follows Emily, a young woman who pretends to be her sister, as she travels to a noblemen’s house to be a governess. At Captain Edward’s estate, she meets a diverse crew of staff as well as Edward’s two children.

While this was super entertaining, it isn’t really focused on the romance. I have noticed with all of Lex Croucher’s historical romances that the actual relationship is always on the backburner - with focus being on other subplots. For example, the main romance in this novel did not really start until over the 50% mark of the story. This isn’t bad by any means - just something to know if you are looking for a classic romance heavy historical.

That being said, I really enjoyed the way Captain Edward’s works to get closer to his children. His support of Aster was really wonderful and refreshing - especially in a historical setting. I had a great time with this audiobook and story, but this is probably not something I will reread or think about much after finishing.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.