I was looking forward to this after reading Don't Want You Like A Best Friend, but found it to be a little too predictable and slow.

Some Romance series can be read separately, each book connected but ultimately distinct. Not so with this duology. While at the core this is James and Bobby's story, it is also an epilogue for Beth and Gwen. The ending offers closure for the family as a whole. Read the books in order.

That said, "You're the Problem, It's You" is a strong story that offers a look at some of the challenges faced by those who experienced same sex attraction in the 1800s. Because this is a Romance Novel, a solution is found that offers a HEA for all involved, but that wasn't always the case and that is addressed a little in the story.

While serious at time, this is still a charming and sweet story, about two men trying to find their place in the world.

Thank you to Avon Romance for this eARC! It's so easy to fall into this world, reading Don't Want You Like A Best Friend then immediately picking this book up is the IDEAL reading experience. James and Bobby are both so perfectly imperfect. They are so afraid and so alone and their families - chosen and given - are so willing to pick them up and hold them close and give them the love they deserve to have in all forms it can come. And the relationship itself, James and Bobby's contentious beginnings melts so beautifully into love. And the chemistry explodes in their spicier scenes - just an unbelievable read. A remarkably solid duo of books that I can't wait to revisit again!

You're the Problem, It's You has a lot of story elements that I usually love, but I found the execution extremely lackluster. For a story that is a series of tropes strung together, it fails to deliver on the main trope of "enemies to lovers." The first half of the book is just a long, painful series of miscommunications.

I liked the characters and the found family elements were adorable. The villains of the story were cartoonishly evil which makes it very difficult to take their plot lines seriously. The historical setting, though not necessarily central to the story, felt underdeveloped.

My biggest problem with this book was the painfully repetitive writing. In the first chapter of the book, we are hit over the head with the fact that A) Bobby is the "useless" second son and B) Bobby's father was an alcoholic gambler. So many facts would be repeated over and over again using almost exactly the same phrasing. It was awkward and stilted and made the first half of the story drag even more.

More lavender marriages in books!! more groups of silly little queer people finding their family! I loved the first book in this series and think Emma Alban is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. These characters are my FRIENDS. I want them to be so happy!

Alban delivers with this sequel to her first queer historical romance. Like the first book, Alban writes charming and likable characters. Loved the happy ending for this one.

I have been so excited to read You're the Problem, It's You ever since I finished Don't Want You Like a Best Friend and It didn't disappoint!

Emma Alban does something really interesting in her historical romances which is that they have a new adult feel to them. Her heroes and heroines are still figuring their lives out and they still have parents or older adults involved in their lives and decisions. In this story, James struggles with taking his seat in parliament and taking on his title. I like the acknowledgment that these people are young and still figuring out their lives.

I also really enjoyed seeing the differences between the first romance which was sapphic, and this one which was between two men. The realities of the time were that there could be social consequences for sapphic romances but romances between men were illegal. It changes the stakes of the two stories. At the same time, men had so much more freedom and information, which really changed the awareness these characters had of their own sexuality.

Bobby and James had an interesting dynamic. I really appreciated that the book was dual POV because we got to see how both characters perceived each other and how that changed over time. James in particular is so anxious, but it comes off as rudeness to the other characters. I liked them coming to understand each other as well as the reader already knew them.

I can't recommend this one enough! I think it has appeal for contemporary and historical romance readers. I do think that the story is best understood by reading Don't Want You Like a Best Friend first. Despite having read that one only a few months ago, I had to look up some characters to remember who everyone was.

🌶️🌶️ - This story had one detailed open-door scene and several other partially less detailed or fade to black scenes. There is some sexual tension and passionate kisses as well.

I loved the first book, I Don't Want You Like a Best Friend, and I enjoyed this book as well. the history was pretty accurate which was great as its pretty hard to find good historical fiction that stays true to history. I also loved the two main characters- nothing quite beats the Enemies to More Than Friends Trope and this book set it up really well. The cover art is amazing and the cast of characters from the first book is seen in this sequel.

I've been behind on writing this review, so it's going to be brief. Overall, I don't have many big feelings about it. While reading it was a bit stressful due to how hard the boys butted heads. Both Bobby and James felt naive in different ways. They had very little awareness of just how much power they held socially. They didn't have a realistic understanding of the consequences of their actions on others. James was constantly anxious about messing up/being outed (which is reasonable) that he completely ignored the harm his family was actively doing. It gets excused as him not knowing, but it felt too easy. In many ways, the characters felt like they were in a YA novel instead of an adult one. The coming-of-age aspect of their characterizations felt less comfortable in an adult romance. Mistakes that are understandable in teens have different implications when made by adults. I will likely read more books by the author in the future.

Fun followup to Don't Want You Like a Best Friend! Highly recommend for those interested in some queer historical romance.

This book is a follow up to 'Don't Want you as a Best Friend' but follows Beth and Gwen's cousins, James and Bobby. I have not read 'Don't Want you as a Best Friend' yet but I can confirm you can read 'You're the Problem, It's You' and enjoy it. Because I indeed enjoyed it!

James unwillingly inherited the viscount title and is new to Parliament. He doesn't know many people and feels unhappy at home. So overall the poor guy doesn't feel like he belongs anywhere. Bobby is the second son and feels like he should be doing something more but as "The Spare" nothing much is expected of him. At first Bobby and James just seem to have misunderstanding after misunderstanding and can't help getting into it any time they interact. But of course they eventually admit to themselves and each other, they rather like the other.

A big part of the men's relationship is around keeping it secret from almost everyone because this is a regency era romance and being queer then was literally illegal. I appreciate the realness of keeping it historically accurate but it also made some parts very very hard for me to read. It's still scary for us now in the modern age but something about queer love being persecuted in a historical setting is more ominous.

I found Bobby and James' feelings of inadequacy to be highly relatable. Fear of letting down your family, fear of making mistakes your parents made, fear of being yourself, fear of being found out as "other", etc. They were very well written.

I'm going to be recommending this to many of my romance and historical romance patrons!!

I love this so so so much 😭 I don’t even know if I have the words but I just loved it so much! I’ve been yearning to get my hands on this one as soon as I finished DWYLABF in January and I couldn’t pick it up fast enough when I was approved for the ARC! I loved being in Bobby & James’ heads and getting to see them slowly fall in love 🥺 both Bobby & James were dealing with so much and felt so useless for so long and then they found each other and they trusted their found family and were able to make a life that they loved despite the odds being completely against them and seriously my heart is so full! Getting to see Bobby & James & Beth & Gwen & Albie & Meredith & Dashiell & Cordelia create the life that they wanted for themselves was a rollercoaster of emotions and humor and tears and swooning and everything in between! I love this motley crew of a family and I would happily read a hundred more stories in this world 🥰 I’ll probably have more to say over the next few months but for now, I just highly recommend & if you’re able to preorder for when it is released in August, you won’t regret it!

I really liked this book. While I didn't read the first book in the series, I still enjoyed this even though it read like you were picking up where the author left off after the first book. The relationship between Bobby and James developed very organically and James had fantastic character growth. While enemies-to-lovers isn't usually my preferred trope as I typically find the reason for being enemies to be petty and irrational, I think it made sense in this scenario. Bobby was very dedicated to his family and based on James' behavior, he seems very judgmental and standoffish for a good chunk of the book. I think the author was very wise to include James' POV since without it he would've been an entirely unlikable character. However, getting to see things from his eyes allowed us to understand him and see that he deals with extreme anxiety and has a terrible home life which has impacted how he interacts with others. I was very happy with the resolution between Beth, Gwen, Bobby, and James. It was so logical and had me cheering that people weren't just pretending that romancelandia can fix the realities of the era this book was set in. I also appreciated the consequences that Raverson faced for his actions. It was well-deserved and was not so harsh that it would've cast a heavy veil over the remainder of the book. The ending was great and had me sighing with happiness that our characters all got the HEA they all deserved. Great book, 5 stars.

I didn't read the first book, <i>Don't Want You Like a Best Friend</i> in the Mischief & Matchmaking series, which was Emma R Alban's debut, as I got this one for free. I did not feel I was missing out on the plot for missing the first in the series even though I normally read series in order even when they feature a separate couple.

Some tropes I enjoy in romance are enemies to lovers/friends to lovers along with when <spoiler>one or both main characters end up hooking up with or falling for other people before getting together officially</spoiler> and this book has those tropes.

The characters are fairly loveable but the characters you're supposed to hate are hard to hate because they seem more cartoonish villainy types--which is fine, but not my favorite for a story. I want all characters to feel more realistic and gray--parts of the lovable main and side characters seemed not quite well-rounded either but overall I enjoyed the story, tropes, and world the author built.

Charming romance, enemies to lovers trope, with engaging characters and a fun story.
Continues where the author’s previous lesbian romance ended, with the girls, in this book conspiring to get the guys together.

I enjoyed this enemies to true love story of Bobby (a second son) and James (a new Viscount) in this historical romance where complications and threats abound, but family and friends help them navigate a secure and happy future. I did not read the first book in the series featuring supporting characters Beth and Gwen, although I plan to now, but I had no trouble reading this one as a stand-alone. Recommended.

After reading the first book in this duology, I couldn't wait to get my hands on this one. James and Bobby's story is sweet, touching, and slightly suspenseful -- just enough to give the story some weight, but not enough to turn this into a thriller. This book is a warm hug of love and acceptance with a perfect happily ever after ending that wraps up both couples' stories ... happily.

Emma R. Alban had one incredible debut. You're the Problem, It's You is a fun queer historical romance. I struggled at the beginning with liking the characters but the second half was great.

Although I remember liking the first book in this series, this one was a complete miss for me. The writing wasn’t engaging, I didn’t care about either of the main characters, the plot was kind of all over the place, and the romance wasn’t at all convincing.
About halfway through the story Bobby begins to realize he’s in love with James, yet he’s still calling James by his surname, and they’ve really only slept together, not forged any sort of meaningful connection beyond physical that I could detect. That level of detachment persists throughout most of the book, which meant that I didn’t get any chemistry between them, and that I didn’t care if they ended up together.
Despite being really disappointed with the main couple and the storyline, I did enjoy seeing Gwen and Beth, and I loved Meredith. She was an absolutely wonderful side character. I also loved the lavender marriage plot point, because that’s something that doesn’t show up enough in queer historical fiction. All in all, this wasn’t my favorite, but it could be a good fit for anyone who likes reading about viscounts and doesn’t mind an instalove connection.

This book felt like I was watching a period piece movie! Not the biggest fan of the miss communication trope which is why at some parts I struggled. I did love both Bobby and James and their chemistry. This was an overall cute and lighthearted queer romance that is perfect for a quick read!