🩵🩷This lovely book by Emma R. Alban is Victorian-era romance, the follow-on to DON’T WANT YOU LIKE A BEST FRIEND.

YOU’RE THE PROBLEM, IT’S YOU is an enemies-to-lovers romp about sticky situations, family politics, politics politics, blackmail, trinkets, and, ultimately, loving who you want, using the system, finding family, and creating social reform! All in a delightful tale of two nervous people finding and seeing each other in a world where it’s difficult to be found and seen. It’s not so different from today, really…

It helps to have read the first book, but it’s not required (even though it’s really a special finale of that book, in a very real way). Think Bridgerton (I know it’s not Victorian but work with me here) meets Romeo & Juliet but not the tragedy part - and the families are really okay with everything in the end. (And really, we need a season or two of queer BRIDGERTON, am I right?)

ANYWAY. The MCs, Bobby and James, shoulder varying levels of intense family responsibility, they both get tricked by the same nefarious money-grubber, but they also find themselves in a lively friend group where they can imagine a magical life together. Which they do. Until they can’t. But then they do, really.

YTPIY is very well-written, fast-paced, funny, surprising, and joyful. I’m not gonna lie - I was crying - several times - with happiness at the way it all worked out. Goodness it was sweet and happy endings abounded - HEAs for just about all the characters, including needy children. Really. You’ll see. 🥹🫶🏼

You're the Problem, It's You is the follow up to Don't Want You Like a Best Friend, which I read back in May, so when I saw I could grab this one on Netgalley, I immediately clicked. The previous book in the series ended with Gwen and Beth, who had just gotten their parents together and fallen in love in the process, deciding to get their cousins together with the goal of entering into lavender marriages and everyone living happily ever after. This book picks up there from Bobby and James's perspectives. You're the Problem, It's You is billed as an enemies to lovers romance, but it didn't really feel like that. The beginning was more lots of awkward miscommunication and lack of communication, which is not my favorite trope so it was a slow start for me. However, once it got going, I really enjoyed James and Bobby and their romance and the family they all create.

So the first third of this book I had a little trouble getting into it and found it a little slow. However, once I got through that point I ended up really enjoying it! The relationship was so sweet and you could really feel all the heartache. I don't think I understood how everyone was related until the end, so I did find that aspect a bit confusing. The epilogue was a little cheesy but what epilogue isn't? Overall I really liked this and would definitely read another.

Somewhere between 1.5-2 stars.

I really was looking forward to reading this book (thank you Net Gallery for the eARC!) but what a disappointment.

Don’t Want You Like A Best Friend was a sweet and enjoyable romance between Beth and Gwen, while You’re the Problem It’s You was a messy, thrown together whirlwind of concepts.

For starters, Bobby and James were such boring characters. I got tired of James quickly, especially when his chapters went on and on about how much he dislikes himself. Then in Bobby’s chapters I could never figure out if he had any hobbies beyond socializing and being rich. Not great that these are the only personality traits I can confidently pick out from the characters after reading 300 pages.

What really irked me, truly, was the lack of plot. Raverson was an extremely weak villain to be at all relevant. He never had any actual evidence of Bobby and James’ affairs, throwing around Bobby’s signet ring as if that went anything. He was just mean and reoccurring. I believe it was at about the halfway point in which I felt any semblance of plot end and random text started. At this point Bobby and James had stood up to Raverson (basically told him to piss off because he really did not have any evidence) and then they began their sexual encounters. I was already not in love with this story, but this is where all my hopes for redemption were crushed.

I was also thrown off by the sexual content, mostly because in DWYLABF had only one intimate scene (if I recall correctly) and it felt rushed. However, I recognize these are adult romance books so it’s completely valid.

The final thing I feel the need to mention in my review is about diversity. Now, I won’t lie in her first novel I had brushed off the fact that there were no POC. I had dismissed it for a multitude of reasons, but mostly because I don’t expect a debut romance novel to dive deep into any world politics. I was focused on Beth and Gwen, and only Beth and Gwen. However, it became even more notable in this novel. The way in which both of these books have a side plot involved with politics (the marriage act in the first and the medical act in this one) made me question why there is such intense misogyny and homophobia in this world while there are no POC to be seen. Why are we writing diverse stories while lacking a part of diversity? I honestly don’t have much more to say about this, as I feel what I’ve already said is enough.

I wish I had positive things to say about this novel! I truly do, but there isn’t much to be said. I guess I enjoyed the ending. It was sweet to see that Beth and Gwen had a way to avoid official marriage while the four of them get to parent younglings. Most of the good opinions I have involve Beth and Gwen, so I feel that is all I need to say.

Ultimately I wouldn’t recommend. Read her debut instead!

I loved the first book in this series, but this one kind of fell short for me. I'm not sure if my expectations were too high or I just wasn't in the mood for a regency romance. Overall I did enjoy it especially seeing Beth and Gwen again - they made the book for me!

Thank you to Avon Books and NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book unfortunately did not work for me. Like the first book in this duology, it is meant to be a historical romance, but its use of modern language distracts from the historical setting (see, e.g., “He has zero interest in finding a nice young lady to chat up.”). In addition, I found the writing style—which seemed to consist of exclusively telling rather than showing—made the book feel quite juvenile. As a result, the book reads as a young YA/middle grade, which feels disjointed because the characters are in their 20s and the spice scenes indicate the book is seeking a more mature audience.

Beyond these more stylistic complaints, I was frustrated by the characters’ (particularly James’s) inability to apologize for abhorrent behavior, the introduction of unnecessary conflicts, and the duo’s abrupt shift from (manufactured) enemies to lovers.

I wish I had liked this one more—I suspect many of my hang ups are pet peeves that will not bother other readers!

I’m crushed to write this review. It’s not a good one y’all, so if you’re only here for positivity, look away.

I need to preface by saying I loved Don’t Want You Like A Best Friend. It was such a comfort read for me and I was so excited to have an ARC of book 2.

This book is pitched as enemies-to-lovers and features two characters we’re introduced to in book 1, Bobby and James. Bobby is a sweet little cinnamon roll who has never done anything wrong in his life. James is… a mess. In the beginning, I felt super attached to James and my top priority was watching him get a HEA. But by the end I was so over him 😭

You know the miscommunication trope? Bobby and James had a little-to-no communication trope. Every time they would attempt to speak to one another, they started fighting. They couldn’t get more than 2 sentences into a convo without hurling cruel words at each other. Or the alternative, James would physically run away.

And then!!! Out of no where! When they had JUST decided that they might possibly be able to be friends, they’re suddenly in love. But they get caught smooching and BAM. James high-tails it outta there, as per usual. After the 3rd or 4th time James physically ran away from Bobby with no explanation or apology, I was done. My focus was on Bobby living his best life and I didn’t care if James was in the picture or not. I probably would have preferred he not been; you know it’s bad if you feel that way. I felt so exasperated by the end that even my angel babies Gwen and Beth were starting to irk me.

Ultimately this one was a miss for me, but at least I got to see some of my favs from book 1 ❤️

Thank you Avon and NetGalley for the ARC.

This was the BEST Pride Month read! After DWYLABF I felt a large hole in my heart, I was so fortunate to be able to read this book as an ARC! The tension was so beautiful.

I will say all of this about You're the Problem, It's You—I chose to pick it up and read it knowing that I made the active choice not to read its predecessor, Don't Want You Like A Best Friend. So any slight confusion that may have come from my own choices did not influence my review!

I made this decision because I had been extremely excited to pick up the first book in the series—however, one of the tropes within it (which I understand is necessary and essential for the realistic survival of the relationship of the two women leading the book) is just something I personally do not like in media (the first book has the protagonists "parent trap" their parents, allowing them to be together and live together romantically while considered "sisters" (to some degree) to the world. This was something I personally could not look past—but loved the idea of queer people in this era, and heard lovely things about the author's writing. So I decided to pick up You're The Problem, It's You.

Admittedly I did come into it thinking that the book would be a little bit more of a standalone with smaller references to the first book, not that the main characters of the first book would essentially also be main characters in this story—but the author did a wonderful job at giving enough context around the events of the first book that I never felt completely lost and was still able to enjoy the character Dynamics and still get to enjoy the fun sapphic ship that led the first novel, Beth and Gwen.

Getting to it now—as for this book, it follows James and Bobby, one a recent lord and one a second son of a titled family who clash every time they seem to come together. The two of them were so much fun to read, and watching them slowly pick up pieces of affection for each other beyond physical attraction was a delight. While some of their animosity came from misunderstandings (which are not always my speed), I felt they were realistic enough based on different characters' knowledge levels and never dragged on for longer than they needed to for the sake of plot.

The author did a superb job at creating two different men who have different experiences being queer in a time where it is punishable. James has only experienced hardship and does not necessarily have a support system and cannot imagine a future that is kind for a man like him; meanwhile Bobby is idealistic, aware of his cousin and her partner and their family's support. This dynamic created an extremely interesting back and forth between the two of them on what their relationship and growing feelings for each other could mean, and I loved seeing James slowly settle into that warmer side of the family.

For me one of the most moving scenes in the book was when one of the main characters, Bobby, who is considered to be a little more reckless and free with his decisions, is caught by his uncle who is not aware that he is gay but is aware of his cousin (the man's daughter) and her partner. The uncle is significantly more severe with Bobby and it is something that Bobby brings up—something that was briefly touched on in this and was unique to this series that has both sapphic and achilliean relationships was the level of punishment for men versus women at the time—how a man being caught queer had a much more severe fate. This was briefly touched on and I spent a good portion of the rest of the book hoping that Bobby and his uncle would have a deeper conversation, about the idea of toxic masculinity and the unfairness of punishments for things like sodomy at the time. I think this was a really interesting point to bring up and I wish the author had touched on it more! It feels like the queer male trial of this time next to the idea that women were made to believe they hardly existed beyond a need to marry a man and have his children (which again I am certain from the implications in the text that the first book dealt with).

Admittedly, I did call the resolution of the plot about 10% in and knew that if I was correct it would unfortunately skew my feelings about the plot of the book—once again something that I was aware would probably be the neatest solution to give queer people in this time their happy ending. However, the way that the lavender marriages essentially created a family circle out of a family tree gives me a little bit of the ick as the kids say. Again I understand it is necessary, but it is something that, combined with the continued reminder of the familial connections that not only tied together now the two main characters from the original book but also the protagonists of this book along with an epilogue that was not particularly to my taste, was the primary reason that I took a star off of this review. Other reasons include a slightly one-dimensional villain (though I'm certain if he appears in the first book perhaps that is some of the depth and context that I am missing), and a briefly clunky initial transition into their first kiss that I was not sure what had inspired it.

Overall though, I had a great time reading about this plucky bunch of queer characters and their dynamics; there was something extremely fun about the almost heist style plot towards the end, and the optimistic idea that perhaps people are more accepting than we might think.

I had really high hopes for this book, but upon reading it I found that I was a little disappointed. This book was so hard to get into because the beginning just felt like the world building went on and on and it felt like it was just monotonous day to day stuff and nothing truly eye catching (like I now know how to play whist because of the detail of it in this book, it’s very close to spades/hearts and backalley). I wanted to read this book because I thought it’d be basically gay bridgerton, and while some of the themes transfer over, I found it to be a little slow going. Once we got to the real conflict of the book, I finally felt the pace pick up, but unfortunately that wasn’t until half way through the book. I loved the cute love hate relationship of Bobby and James and I’m glad they got their happily ever after, but I saw the solution that they came up with so early on that it felt too obvious. Overall, the title and cover were super cute, and I did find the book to be an entertaining read, it was just unfortunately not as fast paced or spicy as I was hoping. But every reader likes different things, if you want something to close to gay bridgerton then go for it, this book is perfect.

This was a short and sweet read that definitely fit the description of a m/m historical romance. As much as I love historically accurate fiction, when it comes to romance I am a big fan of eschewing that completely when it comes to queer romance and that is what you get with James and Bobby's story. The slight enemies-to-lovers is a trope that will never get old for me, and seeing their dynamic grow and change was great.

My reasoning for the three stars is, ultimately, style and pacing - the pacing felt a bit slow for the first 2/3 of the book and then rushed for the final 1/3 to resolve things (which meant the angst resolution was a bit too fast paced to really be satisfying). I will definitely be keeping an eye out for more of Emma's writing, though, because at the end of the day it was a fun read.

*Digital ARC provided by Netgalley and publishers, thank you!*

I have to say that this was one of my most anticipated reads on the year, so I was SO excited to receive this ARC. I read the first book in this series, Don't Want You Like a Best Friend, earlier this year and was really intrigued to see where the next book would go, and let me say I was not disappointed!

I was hooked from the very beginning of this book all the way to the end. I might even say that I enjoyed it more than the first book. I love a good enemies to lovers plot line, which I feel like this book delivered on. There was a bit of the miscommunication trope which I don't love, BUT the miscommunication led to some incredible character development so I feel like it was necessary to the plot. I also feel like the blackmail plot line really moved the story along in places when it started to be slower. However, I was slightly confused because James said that Raverson knew all of his secrets from when they were involved in college, but it was never revealed what those secrets were? Unless the big secret was that he was gay? But it seemed like they were alluding to a larger secret. Other than that there weren't any plot holes and the plot was very intriguing.

I truly love when regency era queer novels have a happy ending and this was probably the best HEA I've seen for a regency era queer book. The adoption of the children from the orphanage put a huge smile on my face.

Overall, I feel like the characters had a great depth to them and really seemed to come off the page. I would love to read more from this author and see if there could be even more expansion on this universe!

5 stars all around ⭐️✨

Thank you eternally to NetGalley for swooping in with this ARC almost as soon as I finished reading “Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend”. <3
Emma R. Alban has quickly become one of my favorite authors this year! The found family feeling in this book is to die for. I loved the characters from beginning to end, even when the flight responses kicked in for one of the main characters. This whole universe created will live rent free in my head now. I can’t wait to read more from the author in the future 🫶🏼

YOU'RE THE PROBLEM, IT'S YOU is a queer historical romance about a young lord and a second son who can't stand each other, and their meddling cousins who won't stop trying to force them together anyway. it's the follow up to DON'T WANT YOU LIKE A BEST FRIEND, which was one of my favorite reads of 2024 and i was so excited to get to read it!!

we all know i'm a huge historical romance girlie and even more so if it's queer, and alban's second novel did not disappoint. the tension and build up to the enemies becoming lovers had a great payoff and i loved seeing more of beth and gwen being adorably in love (and meddling like always). this is not for the fans of historical accuracy, but it does still touch on the history of queer communities.

read if you like:
- enemies to lovers
- angry kisses
- queer joy

thanks to netgalley and avon for the advanced copy! YOU'RE THE PROBLEM, IT'S YOU comes out august 27th.

DNF

I couldn't get into this one. Unfortunately, the writing didn't work for me and the beginning of the book didn't intrigue me enough to continue.

It took me a bit to get into this book (maybe reading the first one would have helped), but I did really enjoy the story and the characters. Bobby and James are fun and have lots of good banter. The side characters are all delightful and I probably will go back and read Beth and Gwen's book after enjoying them so much here. The spice was good, but it was not as detailed as some (not a slight, just something to be aware of).

My only knock against this book was that James and Bobby went from Enemies to Lovers to IN Love SO FAST. Like they kissed once, surprising both of them, and then it felt like they went from 0 - 60 in just a few pages. It was a bit jarring to me, but that may be my issue. I won't spoil it more than that.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, the characters, and the writing style. Well done Emma R. Alban!

You're the Problem, It's You is a Victorian-era m/m romance, and a follow-up to Don't Want You Like a Best Friend. It follows James and Bobby, cousins to Beth and Gwen, as they navigate high society and their complicated feelings for one another.

Historical accuracy begone! This book is for enjoyers of silly gay romance in a modern facimile of 1850s England. If that's your thing, this could be the book for you! If you're easily annoyed by historical fiction with characters that talk like it's the 2020s, you might look for something else.

I enjoyed it—I thought Bobby and James were fine characters, and it digs further into queer society that the previous book, which I thought was great. Alas, the shenannigans in this book aren't as far-reaching as they were in the last, but they're far from gone. And there's some great stuff with Gwen and Beth, the protagonists of the last book. It's comforting and silly and mostly happy, and very enjoyable.

My main issue with the book is with the plot. It's more serious and less lighthearted than the first book, and I don't think that's always handled well. It feels underdeveloped, a too-serious villain too-easily defeated. My other issue is that sometimes it feels like Gwen and Beth overshadow the boys—I often found myself wishing we could have had their perspectives, more of their shenannigans, more
insight into their characters. overall while I enjoyed it and I'd definitely recommend, it lacked the joyous highs of the first book. 3/5 ⭐

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the free ARC!

I appreciate how I was able to love both James and Bobby from the beginning, while acknowledging they were both assholes to each other. Their chemistry was great, and their pain was palpable. Excellent character development as well. 4.5 rounded down

A sequel that lives up to its first. Without compromising on the romantic, found-family vibes, Alban reintroduces us to this world with new depth and emotional resonance. Readers in search of a cozy queer Bridgerton--look no further!

You’re the Problem, It’s You by Emma R. Alban is a charming follow-up to her debut novel, integrating beloved characters from her previous work into this new, engaging narrative. Bobby’s charismatic and carefree nature, supporting by a loving family, contrasts with James, who struggles with emotional baggage and a tendency to run from problems. While the plot could have developed their relationship more deeply, the richly portrayed secondary characters, especially Meredith and her mother, significantly enhance the story. The final chapters deliver a heartwarming and fairytale-like ending, providing a cozy, satisfying conclusion. Fans of historical romance and enemies-to-lovers will find this book a delightful and uplifting read.