This is one of my most anticipated reads of 2025 and it has absolutely lived up to my expectations! First of all that cover is absolutely amazing.

I loved the balance between gothic novels and a really light, funny narrative voice in the story. Cat and Georgiana had such amazing chemistry and I loved the light enemies to lovers. It was like if the Brontë sisters were dropped in an episode of Bridgerton. The story explored some heavier topics like class and sexuality but in a way that didn’t make the story too heavy. The sapphic pining was also top tier.

I really enjoy Alexandra Vasti as an author so I was excited to read this book! Again, she created a captivating and fun read. I love a good mystery and the gothic setting with the 'enemies t0 lovers' trope was so engaging. I thought all of the characters were well written and added to the story. I also enjoyed the callbacks to previous novels in the series. It was lovely to see a romance between two women written in a compelling and realistic way for the time period. This book was a lovely escape and I would recommend it to any of my friends who enjoy period romances with a dash of mystery.

Two rival gothic novelists unbeknownst to each other until publishing day keep winding up writing very similar stories and then fight about it multiple times and then accidentally end up together at a haunted castle? And then romance ensues? And a mysterious death? Say less.

This was laugh out loud funny with a swoon worthy romance. Sapphic romances are just precious. Especially in the regency era where so much is on the line being yourself and loving your person out loud. Women just feel all the feelings, and I love it.

Highly recommend! 10/10. Alexandra Vasti is an auto buy author for me.

3⭐️.

I don’t want to give away any spoilers, so I’ll try to temper what I say . I wish there was more development of that tension between the two main characters and go deeper into what drew Georgina to search for Lady Darling. I felt there wasn’t resolution for that so the transition to the sapphic regency romance felt rushed. Was your book entertaining, yes, but unlike another book I read of this author, I didn’t think this plot was as well developed.

Such a great, fun read.
Packed full of clever wit and my favorite kind of romance....and the ending, so so brilliant

This one is a must read for all the pining, rivals to lovers, historical romance readers

Already a fan of Vasti, but this is probably a new favorite. The FMC's are saucy and fragile and bold. And so damn romantic. But also, like all great historical romance, a mess of class, sexuality, gender, and race; and a mess in the best most complex most thoughtful of ways. This book made me truly think some of the most creative and contemporary work with narrative and history is happening in romance. Read this book.

This is a case of “It’s not you, it’s me.” I didn’t know this book was a part of a series when I first read it, and I saw some reviewers say that it could be read as a standalone. However, I had a hard time connecting with the characters, or their struggles, since I was told of the aftermaths but not saw it happen. If I had read the other books, I might have loved this book more.

This book was advertised as rivals to lover, but it’s more of an insta love/lust story for me. From the moment they first interacted, Georgiana and Cat were already falling for each other. The romance progressed too quick for my liking, one moment they’re accusing each other of plagiarism, and the next they fantasized about the other.

Georgiana’s self-pity and her constant thoughts of being a bad omen to the people around her irritated me the more I read. Cat went from frustrating with Georgiana’s accusations to lusting/loving her after like a week.
They’re also being horny quite often even from the first meeting, which again, I much prefer slow burn. Though I have to admit, the intimate scenes were well-written, very passionate and sensual.

I thought the haunted mansion and the alleged plagiarism were the main plot, but it took only a small portion. The climax and the explanation are also quite a letdown. None of the side characters stuck out to me, except for Bacon, I love that silly dog. The prose is excellent, but in my opinion, sometimes it can be a bit unnecessarily descriptive.

Overall, if you obsess with Bridgerton and are looking for a light read with spicy romance as a central plot point, this book is perfect for you.

I’m still reeling from how breathtakingly beautiful this book was. Ladies in Hating is everything I love about romance—achingly tender, sharply witty, and absolutely brimming with yearning that gripped my heart and refused to let go. Alexandra Vasti has once again crafted a masterful story filled with emotional depth, exquisite writing, and characters that will stay with me forever.

By the time I reached the final chapters, I was completely undone. The longing, the confessions, the realization that Georgiana’s heart had always belonged to Cat—it was beautiful beyond words. If you love pining, rivals-to-lovers, and prose that cuts deep in the best way, Ladies in Hating will leave your heart full and your eyes misty. An instant favorite for me.

Ladies in Hating by Alexandra Vasti is a fun sapphic historical romance. It follows Lady Georgiana Cleeve, a successful Gothic novelist, and Catriona Lacey, a rival author who seems to be plagiarizing Georgiana. When the two end up researching together at a haunted mansion, their rivalry quickly turns into something more.

The romance between Georgiana and Cat is slow-burn, but full of tension. Their deep connection, built over years, is the heart of the story. The haunted mansion setting adds an eerie atmosphere, and their investigation into its mysteries brings them closer together.

Vasti’s writing is witty while still exploring themes of class, found family, and the challenges of being queer during this time period. The pacing slows a bit in the middle, but the romance and mystery keep the story going. The sex scenes are frequent and might feel rushed to some.

While the ending is satisfying, the mystery resolution leans a little too much on male characters. Overall, Ladies in Hating is an emotional, and enjoyable read, with good chemistry between the leads. It's a great pick for fans of historical romance and queer love stories, but just not for me.

I had so much fun reading this book from the beginning! The cover and description intrigued me to pick it up and I’m so glad I did. With just the first chapter I knew I was going to love it. Cat and Georgie are adorable and so similar. I loved how they found each other and how the story progressed with each getting their own answers. I recommend picking this book up. It is my first with this author, so I’m excited to check out the other books.

I loved this book. The characters are wonderful. The plot was compelling. I loved the setting. It was sweet and touching. Absolutely excellent.

Thank you to NetGalley and to St. Martin's Press for the ARC of Ladies in Hating by Alexandra Vasti.

In the third novel in the series, a sapphic enemies-to-lovers slow-burn, we watch Lady Georgiana find love with Cat Lacey, the butler's daughter she was infatuated with in her teenage years. Both women are now writers, but their plots and characters continuously seem to overlap in ways that seem like the other must be stealing from the other - or are they? A chance encounter at a local haunted mansion drives them together, but can they solve their differences?

Vasti does an excellent job with character development with Georgie, who has changed so much over the past seven years since the setting of the first book. She is no 25, she is self-sufficient and supports her mother - she's come so far, and yet is still so damaged from her father's treatment and the way she isolated herself from her brothers so that her writing career did not derail their success. Having her learn the hard way, with Cat's patience and understanding, that it's okay to need other people was multi-layered and showed true positive character growth. Cat has definitely had her own hard times, and her hard work to support her family out of poverty and to pursue her dreams and Georgie made her a very daring, dashing character. Vasti did a great slow burn of their romance, while also really letting us see both of these characters as people who deserve love and who deserve each other.

What I love about Alexandra Vasti's series is that none of these first three books has been the same -- the plots are all so wildly different and inventive which is so refreshing in a romance series. There is no cookie cutter plot template being used - Vasti clearly takes the time investigate the historical time period and to let that influence her characters and develop her story more fully - which is why we see in-depth characters recovering from illness, exploring supernatural phenomena, diving into politics, promoting forbidden literature, etc. She makes her characters feel real, and she makes her settings and her plot feel deeper because they are intrinsically linked to the what feels like what the lived life of that character could be given their circumstances (with the occasional extra push for a happily ever after).

Please let Iris be next!

Ladies in Hating is the 3rd book in the Belvoir's Library series, following Ne'er Duke Well and Earl Crush. I've been waiting for Lady Georgiana's story after her role in the first two books in the series, and this book did not disappoint. Lady Georgiana Cleeve is a successful Gothic novelist, and she is convinced that Lady Darling, another Gothic author, is stealing her ideas. When she confronts Lady Darling, she is shocked to find Cat Lacey, the object of Georgiana's teenage crush.

As each author researches her next book, they continue running into each other, until they end up alone in a haunted mansion. Will Georgiana trust Cat? Will Cat be able to pierce through Georgiana's armor? As they work together to solve the mystery of the history of the haunted mansion, they gain a new perspective on each other. Their mutual professional respect for each other and physical attraction grow into something deeper.

Cat and Georgiana have known and cared about each other for years. I love a slow-burn romance where the characters pine for each other for years, and this was their story. Their connection started years prior, and their time together in the story brought them even closer together. Both Georgiana and Cat have gone through and survived some very difficult challenges in their lives, and finding each other after many years felt like the ending that they both deserved. This story had so much angst and tension, which made the ending ultimately even more satisfying.

This book was another satisfying tale in the Belvoir's Library series. I can't wait to read Iris' story next! I highly recommend this entire series.

Thank you to Alexandra Vasti, St. Martin's Press/St. Martin's Griffin, and NetGalley for this advance reader copy in exchange for an unbiased review. All opinions are my own.

rating — 4.5 out of 5 stars.

alexandra vasti has been on my radar for a long time — i read her novellas back when they were offered for free with her newsletter! so, needless to say, reading one of her full-length novels was overdue for me. i’ve had the first two books in the trilogy on my tbr for a while, but as soon as i saw the sapphic one was available i had to jump on it — and it was so worth it!

there is a serious drought in the sapphic historical romance sphere, so i’m eternally grateful to alexandra vasti for finally giving us some good food. i loved the touch of rival authors to lovers that she had going on, the homage to gothic romances, and the silly moments sprinkled in for a laugh (sir francis bacon my beloved). this was a quick and super enjoyable read, which i’ve come to expect from her other works and found once again in this one! i’ll definitely be going back to read the other two books in the trilogy.

Thank you to Netgallery, Alexandra Vasti, and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.Ladies in Hating had an interesting premise, but unfortunately, it didn’t fully capture my interest. While the writing was solid and the setup had potential, I found myself struggling to stay engaged with the story. The pacing felt a bit slow for my taste, and I didn’t connect as much as I’d hoped with the characters or their dynamic.

That being said, I can see this book appealing to readers who enjoy [specific trope, like Regency rivals-to-lovers, witty banter, etc.]. Just because it wasn’t for me doesn’t mean others won’t love it! Fans of [comparable author or book] may find this an enjoyable read. While it wasn’t my favorite, I always appreciate discovering new stories and will be curious to see what this author does next.

This book cover reeled me in hook, line, and sinker, then I read the description and was INVESTED. To say it delivered would be an understatement. Ladies in Hating is my favorite read of 2025 so far. The enemies to lovers sapphic couple was everything. I adore them so much, I cannot stress this enough. The spice is great as well. The sapphic yearning is real in this one friends.

What really grabbed me though...was the setting. The crumbling gothic manor house made this book come alive (as did the lovely lady ghost helping the girls along the way).

I haven't read the first two books from the series but I'm putting them on my TBR immediately. I will read everything Alexandra writes from here on.

This book kept me up until 3AM on a Sunday night and I don't regret it one bit today. I will happily be purchasing this and adding it to my collection. Such a triumph!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this incredible book in exchange for an honest review.

What a delightful little book this was.

The premise: Lady Georgiana, an earl's daughter who is estranged from her brother/the current earl, is consumed with hatred for her rival in Gothic novel authorship, 'Lady Darling'. She stakes out Lady Darling's publisher only to discover that her rival is in fact a woman she knew in childhood. They have strikingly similar fiction and end up in a haunted Gothic manor together. What will happen???? Obviously they bone and fall in love amid attempted murder and secret encoded letters. What's better than this.

I am an enthusiastic reader of romance novels and this one was interesting to me because it has a lot of the hallmarks of modern left-liberal historicals - more racial & gender diversity, more working class characters, etc., but also nobility who behave like real human beings with meaningful human relationships. Obviously more diversity is great but books like this are sometimes so historically ignorant that they end up being the offensive kind of fantasy (oh I'm so glad Duke Whatsits pays his servants a living wage. Where did he get the money from? Slavery, but the author either doesn't know that or is refusing to engage with it. Bad!). I am delighted to report that's not really an issue here. This world IS kinder than our own but the changes are thoughtful, thorough, and not (for lack of a better term) stupid.

While I'm talking about general market trends, there is an inheritance plot whose beats will be very familiar to anyone who was reading historicals in 2006 or so. Yes, there is a gun. Yes, there are red herrings. etc. And as someone who has gone on the record saying Regencies should be required to have a sinister murder plot where someone threatens to fetch a magistrate, obviously I was delighted. Thank god. Finally some good food.

Georgiana and Cat are fun to spend time with. Georgiana has emotional derangements from her abusive father and Cat has emotional derangements from her economic instability and they are both so, so DTF each other. I am going to be blunt: the horniness is responsible for at least two of these stars. It's everywhere and it's unapologetic. They are soooo into each other and it's both fun and hot.

The pacing did lag for me a bit in the middle, as Georgiana's emotional issues drive the plot forward in some occasionally-trying ways. And Vasti is balancing a lot, emotionally, because this is both an historical romance in the fun, frothy, not-too-period register, and a story that incorporates familial estrangement and societal homophobia, and a few times I was basically holding my breath in hopes it wouldn't get weird. But for the most part it doesn't; it's a quick read that is also a touching read (and hot!! I holler. AND HOT!!!). I had a great time. Would absolutely recommend to gay people who want to read about old-timey fingerbanging.

eARC via the publisher + NetGalley with my thanks, all the opinions in this review are my own.

You hear "historical sapphic gothic romance" and you think "okay, well there's no way that's going to live up to the dreams I've been having since I first read Northanger Abbey" But: ha! Jokes on me! Because Alexandra Vasti has written a perfect book! A perfect book that would have the Bronte sisters fighting over the fainting couch! Heck, I almost needed a fainting couch, myself — but from the swooning.

Truly, Ladies in Hating has it all: two rival gothic novelists with a shared past, that kind of dramatic pining that feels like getting kicked in the guts (complimentary), a giant derelict house, spooky mysteries, a ghost even gayer than the ones Daphne du Maurier dreamed up, an adorable puppy named BACON, and two women confronting their fears and insecurities and past hurts to be better for each other, literary dreams coming true. And oh my heavens, the spice. I'm revealing too much about my own self here, but I had to shed my outer layer multiple times while reading this dang book because I got so flushed about it. And I've never even SEEN a stocking!

Five million stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this book and provide an honest review.

Ladies in Hating delivers everything that its beautiful cover promised: manor mischief, two strong-willed heroines and a whole lot of rose garden adventures.

I particularly liked:
- the supporting cast of characters, and the tender and hopeful love they helped portray
- the gothic setting, including ghostly antics and a crumbling house
- the rose garden that really deserves a second mention tbh

I thought this was also a lovely end to the Belvoir Library trilogy!

Thank you NetGalley for the arc!

Ladies in Hating is a delightful sapphic novel about two rivaling Gothic novelists, Cat and Georgiana, who are brought together via various mysterious circumstances and unknown connections.

This was a fun and romantic read. It had everything I wanted in a romance and everything I needed to make my own heart swell full of love and fondness. There’s so many types of love in this story between our wonderful Cat and Georgiana, friends, siblings, and even that of Bacon. I cheered and gasped and teared and squealed throughout reading this. Hopefully, at all the correct moments.

It was a truly lovely read and I beg curious readers to dive deep into this book and simply have a great joy of fun of romance and mystery.

I give Ladies in Hating a 5/5 rating because it is the only type of perfection I can mirror back to such a wonderful piece of writing.

I received an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.