Thank you to Carina Adores (Harper Collins) and NetGalley for the ARC of this title.

A lovely sapphic historical romance that leans into the lives of everyday people at the time (1880s) Victorian England. Mrs. Jo Smith and Dr. Emily Clarke get off on the wrong foot, but through giving each other another chance and through the power of writing letters they forge a relationship. While this isn't particularly steamy and honestly it could have been a little bit longer to give space to all the different plots going on I definitely will go back and read more from Jess Everlee and appreciate the focus on non titled people in historical romance. We need fewer Dukes and more of this where we have a doctor who is a bluestocking and a printer and these folks are generally middle-class but maybe have known poverty in the past. There's a lot going on here with family, loss, a heroine in a lavender marriage, being taken seriously in the workplace, sapphic societies and the increasing scrutiny and raids that are occurring in printing houses and towards folks who are non-conformist. While there's a lot of banter and wit here, Everlee doesn't avoid the reality of the time. She of course has her heroines get their happy ending, but she's realistic about the political moment in history and the fact that cops suck.

CW: not the heroine - woman who is pregnant and having a difficult pregnancy, loss of a parent (historic, off-page), parental abuse/disowning (historic, off-page)

Thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin for this copy in exchange for my review.

From their first meeting the sparks between Jo and Emily are immediate, though maybe not necessarily positive. Both women are headstrong in their own right, with familial responsibilities and past baggage that make their first meeting less then spectacular. But through tea, a few letters, and a 'lesson in decadence' the two start to see one another in a much different light and see their lives open up to new possibilities.

Both women are amazing and flawed and dealing with the issues of their era: Emily is struggling to find her footing in the male dominated field of medicine, despite her own brilliance in the matter) and Jo is in a marriage of convenience that is threatened when her husband's mistress becomes pregnant and Jo worries she'll lose everything. They are surrounded by a very colorful cast of characters and the found family trope is extremely strong in this, which I love.

If you're looking for something sweet, with a tinge of spice, and just enough angst and worry to keep you turning the pages (without over doing it) then I cannot recommend this enough. Once I got started I could not put it down, until I found out what was going to happen to everyone.

One of my favorite books of the year so far! This series just keeps getting better and better. Jo and Emily are both absolutely amazing together.They're both strong characters that you can't help but fall in love with.

This book is filled with witty banter, humor, plenty of steam, and simply superb storytelling. With Emily learning to loosen up on her responsibilities and Jo learning to let others in, they ended up with a truly beautiful HEA!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

A solid sapphic historical romance, and we still need so many more of those. I found the chemistry between the characters a little lacking, but overall an enjoyable read. It could have easily been another 50 pages to develop that relationship more.

Low spice, mostly fade to black. 3.5 stars, rounded up.

historical queer romance that doesn’t shy away from the actual time period issues they used to face? sign me right up!!

thank you netgalley for the e-arc!

4.0 stars

This review is based on an e-ARC from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

I am extremely picky about my romances, especially when they’re historical. A Bluestocking’s Guide to Decadence met my standards with flying colors and a wonderful main couple.

One of the things that often turns me off from queer historical romances is when they flatten out the very real complexities (both painful and beautiful) of the period they’re set in. In my opinion, A Bluestocking’s Guide to Decadence did a good job of balancing the tone between lighthearted while acknowledging the dangers and anxieties that surrounded being ‘unconventional.’

Additionally, both Jo and Emily felt like real people with real lives, concerns, and relationships that exist outside the context of their romantic entanglement rather than fading into the background and being forgotten. Jo has her marriage and her bookshop, while Emily has her career and her family.

I do wish we had gotten a little more from Jo’s side before and during her decision to move out from her apartment. Her relationship with her husband felt a little underdeveloped when compared to Emily’s relationship with her father. I also wish that we had seen them both spend more time with Vanessa, rather than just being told that they had become friends or grew fond of her.

I don’t know if I’ll read the other books in this immediately (as this is the third installment), but I am interested in returning eventually. I really enjoyed Everlee’s handling of the setting and her character writing.

This was good! I love a complicated circumstance and when opposites attract, and this was both of those rolled into one. Fucking delightful.

rep: Sapphic love story, lesbian MC & LI, gay men side characters, unwed mother

spice: none

4.5

This is my favorite of this saga. I love so much Jo and Emily (Jo is my favorite, but I have a huge crush on Emily, she’s so strong and clever! She really is my book girlfriend!).
The plot is simple but poignant. I’m really satisfied. Jess Everlee is an autobuy author for me and I hope she will write more wlw historical novel in the future!

The banter, sass, and innuendos alone had me sinking deeper into my chair, ready to enjoy a good romp of a queer historical read. And while certainly not disappointed by any of the decadent indulgences Jo and Emily partake of, I was left wanting in seeing their relationship develop on the page and not off page in a montage/summary. Still, it's a deliciously queer read and a fun read.

I received a free copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin - Romance; all opinions expressed are exclusively my own.

Absolutely fantastic! Loved this romance as well as the nuanced look at queer lives in Victorian England, and how the various philosophical and political views both helped and hindered them. I really enjoyed all of the characters, and only just realized that this is the third part of a series! I'm thrilled to be able to read more!

For sensitive readers, there are references to death of loved ones, neglect, pregnancy, homophobia, and police violence.

Let me start by saying that I have a sincere appreciation for Everlee's commitment to creating queer historical novels, and that I have every intention of reading more of her books from this series. However, I struggled a bit with A Bluestocking's Guide to Decadence. Parts of this book I really enjoyed! The banter between the characters, when you have more than two of them in the room anyway, was excellent. But it was the connection between our two leads that I couldn't feel. Chemistry between leads should leap off the page, and I just didn't get that impression with Emily and Jo. I love them on their own merits, particularly Jo, but I'm not sure I bought them as a couple. That being said! I love the unapologetic queerness of Everlee's Victorian London, and just because this wasn't 100% the book for me does not mean that it's not a fantastic book that many readers will love! More queer historical romances is always a good thing.

OMG. This is Jane Austen for the gays. I absolutely loved this novel from the very beginning. The main characters had tension, but the author didn't dwell on the miscommunication trope, so the plot moved steadily along. The shift from enemies to lovers was done very well, with their connection being incredibly convincing. I loved the family aspect thrown in towards the end, and how everyone naturally mends their own proverbial bridges. The historical aspects were accurate and the language immediately threw me into the time period. I loved that there's all this history about LGBT persons, even at that time, and how they functioned without trying to interrupt typical society. It is a beautiful story with such meaningful truths hidden beneath. Well done, Jess Everlee.

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋
Intimate Scene Length: 🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Scenes): 🔥 (there’s a scene or two but they aren’t overly long or detailed)
Humor: Yes, a bit
Perspective: Third person with both heroines (split by chapter)
More character focused or plot focused? character
How did the speed of the story feel? slow to medium
When mains are first on page together: It takes a bit of time setting up each heroine first, pg 39 of 237 (about 16%)
Cliffhanger: no, this ends with a happily ever after for the couple
Epilogue: not really, but the last chapter is a bit of a wrap up about a week later

Should I read in order?
I picked this one up alone and thought it was fine out of order – but the characters are overlapping so you might get more depth if you read the whole series.

Basic plot:
Jo is working to find a doctor that will help her husbands paramour and is recommended the starchy Emily...

Give this a try if you want:
- Victorian (1885)
- mix between London and country settings (more London?)
- sapphic romance
- Emily whittles chess pieces in her free time
- Doctor heroine / Bookseller heroine
- animosity to lovers
- opposites attract
- epistolary
- lower steam – there is open door action but it’s very light, vague, and short

Ages:
- Emily is 30, I didn’t catch Jo

My thoughts:
This novel was really sweet! I really enjoyed Everlee’s writing style and want to try more from her.

I did find this one a bit of a slow start. I was intrigued by Jo’s lavender marriage and was into how different Jo and Emily’s personalities were – Jo is the one to bring Emily out of her shell a bit and Emily calms Jo – they are both really lovely characters that I appreciated. The latter half picked up a bit more for me.

I did find myself wanting them together more than they were, especially in the first half. This had a lot of great banter I appreciated and some really sweet scenes as they start to melt for each other.

The steam is a bit lower, with a few open door scenes but nothing too explicit.

Jo Smith is in a lavender marriage with her friend, and it’s worked so well for many years, but now her husband’s mistress is pregnant, and Jo is worried that they’ll be no place for her in their home when the baby comes. When she agrees to help her, though, she encounters Dr. Emily Clarke, who only wants to work at the hospital and is worried about the potential scandal of attending to a pregnant mistress, but she can’t resist helping people, or Jo. They are from two completely different worlds, but can’t seem to stay away from one another.

It was a cute, historical romcom about a doctor and the irresistible and unusual woman who dresses like a man and is helping her husband’s mistress through her pregnancy. It was a nice distraction and escape from the real world for a moment.

The third book in the Lucky Lovers of London series was just the escapism I needed!

Jo and Emily are two very different people who live in two very different worlds. They are thrown together by chance, however, and are forced to find a way to work together. The story follows their journey from aloofness to reluctant friends to partners. I will say the story did follow some predictable troupes, but that made it a light read that ended up making this a good summer read.

[I received a digital arc for an honest review]

A Bluestocking’s Guide to Decadence by Jess Everlee is the newest book in the Lucky Lovers of London series. Dr Emily Clarke has a well established life in the countryside. She enjoys her work even if it’s not appreciated like the men in her field. She is approached by her brother’s friend who has someone in an unusual predicament. Miss Jo Smith gets to live under the guise of a married woman while still enjoying her preferred romantic pursuits and her husband does the same. It isn’t until her husband’s lover comes to her looking for help that she’s thrown into the path of Emily Clarke. The two start out struggling to relate but find there is something between them that is hard to ignore. But for one very sturdy and dedicated doctor, a decadent bookseller is hardly her expected match.

Overall this was an enjoyable slow burning historical romance. My issue is that it took a long time to get to the point that you felt any connection between the MCs. If you’ve read the prior books Miss Jo has been meddling and involved in all the prior relationships but hers felt silted at times with Emily. Emily was not the most relatable either leaving me feeling like half of the perspectives were a little dry.

3 stars - Miss Jo and Dr. Emily discover that opposites really can attract.

I found this book to be as enjoyable as the other Jess Everlee books. I liked how the characters were sassy and intelligent. Lots of twists and turns in this one and it was a really enjoyable read.

Rating overall - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice level - 🌶️🌶️

A bluestockings guide to decadence by Jess everlee is a charming, sweet sapphic historical romance that everyone who enjoys the genre will love!

I read this as a stand-alone with no issues but it is a third book in this series!

I really enjoy how realistic this romance is, it doesn’t fictionalize the struggles people would’ve had in a same-sex marriage or relationship in this time period.

Jo and Emily have amazing chemistry that practically jumps off the page and you really begin to fall in love with the characters as they do!


The storyline is a bit complicated , but all is worth it trust me!

Genre: historical romance
London, 1885

Jo Smith has been married for nearly twenty years, but she and her husband, while one-time lovers, are now business partners and roommates. Divorce isn’t really a possibility for either of them. Her husband’s lover is pregnant, which, while cause for some joy is also cause for worry as Vanessa is advanced in age and suffering from complications. A friend of Jo’s has a sister in the country who is a doctor, and Emily Clarke may be the solution to all of their worries. Except Dr Clarke wants respect from her colleagues at the hospital, and not refuses to be pigeonholed into private practice obstetrics. And yet, there’s more than just a spark between Jo and Emily, and as Emily grows more attached to Jo, it’s apparent that treating Vanessa is important as well.

I was initially pretty skeptical going into this - the setup made me nervous - but I shouldn't have been. Emily and Jo’s story ended up being tender with what is likely a very realistic HEA. There's a lot of navigation of societal responsibilities in an insightful and careful way that really works. While I can’t say I spent the book swooning, I truly loved the chemistry between Jo and Emily. They go from short-tongues adversaries to sensing a spark to pen pals to lovers in a way that feels so entirely natural and comfortable for characters all around forty-ish. Gentle and relatable; even if a reader hasn’t found themselves in a lavender marriage with a sapphic lover specifically, the emotional complexity is familiar.

I did read the first book, A Gentleman’s Book of Vices, but haven’t read book two, A Rulebook for Restless Rogues, so I can confirm this can be read out of order, even though the book two characters are prominent (and in fact, provide the introduction between Jo and Emily).

Oh! This was a very very very lovely romance that left me feeling warm and cuddly inside. I have not read the previous books in the series, but I guess that Jo is friends with the men in books 1 and 2, and Emily is the sister of one of the men in book 2.

Jo is a butch lesbian bookseller who realizes she needs to find a doctor when her husband's girlfriend Vanessa gets pregnant. Unfortunately, their 1880s irregular family is going to make it hard to find a doctor. Enter Emily, the very prim and proper country doctor whose wild brother runs a gay gentlemen's club in London. Emily is underpaid and working at the hospital with her father, and she is terrified that if she delivers one baby, the medical establishment will force her to only ever deliver babies. But Vanessa needs Emily, so Dr. Emily agrees to care for her patient while developing a flirtatious epistolary relationship with Jo. Slowly, Jo and Emily each learn to let down their guard, and these opposites fall in love.

I am always iffy about historical fiction and historical romance because much of history was actually pretty terrible for anyone who wasn't a cisgender, heterosexual, white Christian man. This is a book that acknowledges the social inequalities and homophobia in Victorian England, yet finds a way to give us an HEA and found family. I was very pleasantly surprised that this included found family.

The only thing that annoyed me was that we were told that Jo was too busty for her clothes when clothes at that time would have been made for a person. Her buttons on her waistcoat should not have been straining, though it does make for some very flirty scenes.

Tropes: hurt/comfort, found family, grumpy/sunshine, opposites attract

CW: death of a mother during childbirth before the beginning of the story

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for this ARC.