Thank you so much for an ARC of this book. I will share a review of the book on instagram in a reel format on May 13th. Additionally, I will review the book in my April wrap-up on YouTube. This will go out at the beginning of May.

Book Review: A Showgirl’s Rules for Falling in Love by Alice Murphy

A Showgirl’s Rules for Falling in Love is a sparkling and empowering read that celebrates individuality, self-expression, and the courage to follow your heart. It’s one of those books that leaves you smiling—and, more importantly, feeling a little more confident in being yourself.

The novel unfolds through a dual timeline, following a modern-day historian, Phoebe, as she researches the life of 1920s showgirl Evelyn Cross. While the structure brought a unique twist and cleverly explored how the past continues to influence the present, I found myself much more emotionally connected to Evelyn’s story. Her voice felt vibrant and full of life, and I was completely drawn in by her journey.

Evelyn Cross is a standout character—bold, charming, and unapologetically herself. Her romance was fun and heartfelt, and I especially loved the element of mystery surrounding Tom Gallier. His backstory added depth and made him all the more likeable. While Phoebe’s perspective offered an interesting lens into the past, I didn’t feel I had quite enough time to fully connect with her character in the same way.

This book strikes a wonderful balance between fun, glitz, and a deeper message. The theme of self-acceptance is powerfully done, and the importance of friendship—particularly during life’s more difficult moments—is beautifully portrayed.

And of course, I have to mention the cover—it’s absolutely stunning and captures the glamour and charm of the story perfectly.

3.75 stars.

This book was such a vibe. I picked it up for the fat showgirl in the spotlight and stayed for the emotional tenderness, archival mystery, and layered storytelling that made my heart ache in the best way.

In the 1897 timeline, we follow Evelyn Cross, a fat, fabulous vaudeville performer who knows her worth and refuses to play small. There is so much joy in seeing fat characters take up space, especially in historical romance. Evelyn’s confidence, her wit, she is everything. And Thomas? Quietly intense, respectful, full of admiration. Their chemistry is a slow burn, but once it hits, it hits. I loved how he saw her, truly saw her, and how Evelyn never once gave up being herself.

The present-day POV belongs to Phoebe, a young historian working in New York who stumbles upon Evelyn’s story and slowly begins piecing it together through letters and records. As Phoebe uncovers Evelyn’s truth, she starts to face her own. I really connected with her-there’s something tender and raw about trying to understand your place in the world through someone else’s legacy. That sense of searching for belonging and finding it in unexpected places really hit.

This book is about love, yes, but it’s also about visibility. About whose stories get told and who gets remembered. It celebrates fat joy, longing, ambition, grief, and the power of claiming your story onstage and off.

If you love historical romances with depth, dual timelines that connect across generations, and heroines who take up space without apology, this one belongs on your shelf.

Someone please adapt this for TV so I can watch Evelyn slay the stage in a feathered corset. I will bring snacks and tissues.

A dual timeline story about vaudeville dancer, Evelyn Cross, and her love affair with Thomas Gallier. The story unfolds through the eyes of present day historical researcher, Phoebe, who is involved in a relationship with Gallier's grandson, Armitage. I loved the character of Evelyn. She was strong and brave, noble and so loyal to her friends. Phoebe is funny but lacking in the strength and fortitude of Evelyn, although their stories seem to parallel. Both male characters, Thomas and his grandson, Armitage, were meh characters for me. I wish there could have been a HEA, in which Phoebe developed self esteem and the male characters developed a backbone! Mostly, I wish the story could have finished with a wonderful ending for Evelyn!

I received this book through NetGalley, and I truly appreciate the opportunity to discover new authors and share my thoughts.

A Showgirl's Rules for Falling in Love is a delightful and heartwarming read. Alice Murphy has crafted a charming story with lovable characters and an engaging plot that kept me hooked from the first page. The mix of romance, humor, and self-discovery made for an enjoyable experience, and I loved following the journey of the main character as she navigated love, relationships, and her own personal growth.

Thank you again to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. I look forward to reading more from this author!

Interesting and different setting. I liked the modern frame around the historical part more than I thought I would. It did feel a bit as though modern identities were shoehorned into the 1890s rather than reflecting how diverse people would have thought of themselves at the time. Some word use errors and possible historical inaccuracies in the window-dressing that hopefully will be addressed in edits--candelabras aren't bolted to the wall, those are sconces. And are they gas, candles, oil, or kerosene? Too many cases of things like this, it kept me from really engaging with the story in a believable way.

If you love romance with a sprinkle of theatrical drama, this is the book for you! I wasn’t familiar with the vaudeville era before reading this book but I thoroughly enjoyed these elements of the storyline. It’s a slow burn romance for sure but the tension that is built in the dual timelines keeps you reading.

Evelyn Cross is a great character and a pioneer when it comes to her craft. She’s unapologetically her until we get to know her a bit more and see a more vulnerable side to her nature. I love that she’s headstrong, knows her worth and isn’t afraid to be different. She’s also devoted and loyal to her friends and there’s a real sense of found family for all the mis-fits in a world of social status and riches.

The element of mystery throughout Evelyn and Thomas’s storyline really comes together and I was hooked when the characters started becoming more vulnerable with each other. This allowed them to reveal more of their past to one another and share a deeper connection to the reader. After a slower start, I think this is where the book really picked up pace and I became hooked. It took a turn I wasn’t expecting but it added more layers to the story, which I think was missing in the first half of the book. I’d definitely recommend this novel, I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Very sweet story about parallel romance happening in the vaudeville era and current day. I liked the ending, but wished there could have been a happy ending in both stories.

Thank you to Netgalley for this delightfully baudy book. I loved it. It's part history, part love story, has a very interesting cast of characters that are well developed, some you love, some not so much. This peak into the life of a famous vaudeville star is heartbreaking at times but also uplifting because of her big heart and undying devotion to her friends. On top of all of that, it is very well written. Vaudeville is coming to an end, women are still meant to play a very specific role, love is not highly regarded by the very rich and societal rules are not to be broken. Enjoy the ride.

I’m sorry to be the one writing a negative review, but this book left me disappointed and I wouldn’t recommend it.

First of all, I personally found the book way longer than necessary: it’s divided into multiple parts, but that division makes no sense, since the parts are (funny enough) way too short and they don’t need to be divided, as nothing important happens that needs to be highlighted or put into a different part of the book. Usually, different parts hold different steps of the story (beginning, development, conclusion), but this one was just putting chapters and parts for the sake of it, there was no sensible order or division. It didn’t help the reader, it was just…there.
The chapters are a few pages long and, once again, way too many. We have a ‘present day’ situation, a past one with the story of Evelyn and Thomas (with chapters alternating between the two characters’ pov), and a few pages long (or sometimes just a few sentences) ‘a note from the historian’.

The thing that annoyed me the most was the writing style, no doubt.
As I said, the book was way too long: that’s because the chapters are full of redundant and repetitive situations, with unnatural -and unnecessary- dialogues that do nothing for the plot.
The characters are dull, forced and I couldn’t empathize with them. Thinking about it, there’s not many of them: it’s just the two main characters from each timeline, the past and the present day, and I couldn’t connect with any of them.
Also, they are basically the same person, just in a different time. The story itself is the same for both couples, and basically the same things happen.
Reading this book, alternating between the two couples, was like reading the same thing but with different names, and it also followed the same development and order, too, so it was reeeeally boring.

The chemistry -again, for both couples- just wasn’t there.
Which is not a nice thing, since the entire book revolves around these two ‘falling in love’. I was expecting, as promised, something more about the showbiz, but it’s definitely just a background.

The ‘notes from the historian’ were supposed to be a fun break but I found them weird and out-of-a-wattpad-fanfiction kinda style. Here’s an example:

"A note from the historian:
Now, this is probably the part of the story where you're bracing yourself and wondering "Oh, God, wasn't the 'fingering her at Coney Island' thing bad enough? Is she really about to give us a fully realized sex scene between these two?"
And to your question, yes, fuck you, I'm writing a sex scene, and with God as my witness, if I hear one more peep of complaint, I'm going to make the rest of this story nothing but sex scenes.”

I didn’t connect with this book, I think it was just trying too hard to be fun -both through the writin style and the characters- and, personally, it achieved the opposite result.
But if that’s the kind of thing that you like, then go for it, this book is definitely for you.

I loved this book and found Evelyn Cross's story so relatable. A new trend of being skinny is threatening her career and she has to learn how to keep her spot against the new trend. How Evelyn navigates societal pressures of being thin, owning her own sexuality and body is inspiring to read and you can't help but root for her as she tries to figure out her next moves.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable, fast-paced pager turner of a reading experience! It has historical elements, plus it is incredibly sexy and romantic. I loved the dual timeline and the author's choice to rewrite the actual ending. Brava to this author for creating a work of art that is important as well as immensely enjoyable.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author, and publisher, for an advanced reading copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

They had me at Moulin Rouge & Greatest Showman and Alice Murphy delivered!

What a fun and surprisingly emotional romp of a novel.

Phoebe Blair is a New York historian who is surprised and delighted to get a phone call from Armitage Gallier, billionaire heir to the Gallier Entertainment and Telecommunications Company. He has found some interesting personal papers from the desk of the founder of his family's company, 'The Emperor' Thomas Gallier, and wants Phoebe to help him go through them and write a report on their significance.

All signs point to a gorgeous love affair between Thomas and Evelyn Cross, the woman he hired to be the star of his show at his new hotel and entertainment Empire. But despite the love letters and other clues Phoebe uncovers, it is clear from the family history that Evelyn and Thomas' relationship ended and he went on to marry his wife Constance, furthering his business in the process.

As Phoebe keeps digging she develops her own romantic entanglement with Armitage, and can't help but notice the parallels between their relationship and Thomas and Evelyn's. Evelyn gives her the courage to ask for more from Armitage, even though it seems like his familial obligations will stand in the way of them being together for real, in public.

The way this was told as a book being written with the interspersed commentary and modern day musings from Phoebe was so unique and brilliant. Truly if you are a fan of the theatre, you'll love this one.

Oh boy, do I have THOUGHTS.

Let's get the obvious out of the way first, shall we? The cover art is absolutely *stunning* and 100% the reason this book caught my attention, so kudos to Decue Wu.

Evelyn is a firecracker of a character and, like Thomas, I loved her immediately. She felt complex and real (and a lot of that has to do with Murphy's wonderful writing. I can't tell you how many times I said to myself, "Oh man, what a LINE.) Evelyn's beauty, brains, and talent are - yes - undeniable, and it is so refreshing to see fatness be *celebrated*. As for the romance? Evelyn and Thomas...my silly, scared beloveds. Their falling in love and the slow burn of figuring out just what their mysterious pasts entailed was engaging throughout. I loved their quips back and forth as much as I loved their chemistry.

But Thomas and Evelyn's love story is also set against the backdrop of the nearly forgotten, and now more than ever I appreciate that. I want historical romance books that color outside of the lines and expand on the truth: that queer folks, people of color, immigrants, people with disabilities, etc. built so much of what's good in our country. Just because they're not in the history books doesn't mean they weren't there. By giving us Evelyn's theatre friends as side characters, Murphy paints such a loving homage to the people and places conveniently forgotten across time.

The ending wasn't conventional and I had FEELINGS. [Spoiler alert!] As soon as Phoebe tells us she's going to give Evelyn the fairy tale ending she didn't get irl, I was hoping I could fully enjoy it. But I wanted so badly, even though I suspected they wouldn't, for them to somehow still end up together. Despite that, I did love the editor's addendum and the hope that Phoebe and Armitage's story may not have ended the same way. I think I'm just so used to the conventional 'happy ever after', but this was different and I admire the author for taking that chance.

I wasn't initially sure if the dual timeline/historian retelling angle was going to work for me, but it was fascinating with the parallels -- and as a history nerd myself, I was absolutely living through Phoebe getting to explore all of the amazing treasures! It's clearly evident how much love, dedication and research went into this. (I also checked out Murphy's Instagram and one of the inspos being 'Ball of Fire'? LOVE THAT.)

I am absolutely looking forward to more from Alice Murphy. Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.