I’d only read the first couple of (impactful) sentences but I already knew I was going to enjoy Trouble - and I did, greatly, but perhaps not for the reasons I first thought.

Both George and Frances are victims sexual assault and / or rape in the book and this moment is George’s realisation that what happened was not her fault, but that she can do something to try and stop it happening to another woman. As a rape survivor who actually recently confronted their rapist, this moment was really powerful, and is probably the main source of all the stars I gave the book. However, because it kind of came out of nowhere and is so near the end, is it as powerful as it could have been? I don’t know. HIDE SPOILERS Before it was the best thing Netflix ever did, the Bridgerton world was first brought to life in Julia Quinn’s eight-book historical romance series, with each novel dedicated to a different Bridgerton child’s love story. With a canon as rich as that, we wager we’ll be in for at least eight drops of steamy Netflix seasons, if not more. Like, it’s such a perfectly observed middle-aged thing to say to an impatient teenager at a party that is boring her. I loved it so much that it has entered our lexicon at chez Hall to describe any task one wishes to get out of: “I’m sorry I can’t do the washing up right now. Your uncle ate a funny grape and isn’t feeling at all himself.” Both romance and mystery fans will find their bookish match with Manda Collins’ quippy Victorian tale with a whodunit twist.The book follows our main character Georgiana as she lives with her aunt and uncle and makes some new friends. However, her new friends are very different to the very good ladies and gents that are expected of that time. The story sees our main character enter an exciting but dangerous new world and all of the good and bad consequences of doing so. I'd been seeing Lex Croucher's books around for quite a while and had previously read and enjoyed Gwen & Art Are Not In Love, so when I had the opportunity to read Trouble (the blurb sounded right up my street!) I jumped at the chance. It’s a little under a year since I read @Lex’s first book and, honestly? They just keep getting better. Compulsively readable, hysterically funny, and touchingly relatable casting genuinely human characters who are clearly more than a little Neurodiverse chafing against the stifling manners of regency England. Abandoned by her parents in favour of a sea view, middle-class Georgiana Ellers has moved to a new town to live with her dreary aunt and uncle. At a particularly dull dinner party she meets the enigmatic Frances Campbell, a wealthy socialite and enchanting member of the in-crowd.

Reputation is also fairly diverse. I don’t know much about the period, but the author has stated that this era is currently being whitewashed, and she wanted to have racial diversity that represented this time. There’s also queer representation. A fierce, fresh, feminist Regency romcom that is brilliant on friendship and fitting in. It is funny, surprising and deliciously romantic, and the dialogue truly shimmers." Despite copious misgivings, Valentine finds himself on a pell-mell chase to Dover with Bonny by his side. Bonny is unreasonable, overdramatic, annoying, and…beautiful? And being with him makes Valentine question everything he thought he knew. About himself. About love. Even about which Tarleton he should be pursuing.

Some storylines also peter out into nothing, or felt overly gratuitous. We get a brief monologue from Frances about slaves and racism (she is described as mixed race), and one passing mention of Frances's mother being talked about in town while she gives money to the poor. But beyond this? Nothing. We also get hints of trouble at home for Frances, but again it's over in one scene. If as much care and thought had been put into these passages as they had for the many party scenes it might have had more of an emotional impact and feel less like an oversight. There was so much missed potential in Frances's mother. As for Frances herself, she by the far the hottest mess in the book. Which is complicated because she’s both mixed race and bisexual. Her charisma is undeniable, but she’s also undeniably damaged, and her relationship with Georgiana ultimately becomes toxic, with Frances behaving extremely vindictively over a perceived betrayal. So yes: conflict thoughts. I mean, practically everyone in this book (with the exception of the romantic lead) is to some degree a villain, including Georgiana, but while the Biggest Bad hat has to go to one of the gentlemen, Frances makes a pretty hard play for the title of “the worst.” Except for the fact she’s … you know. Really human, capable of great charm and great destructiveness, a destructiveness she’s just as liable to turn on herself. There’s nothing prim or proper about Lex Croucher’s dazzling debut novel, Reputation which is so boldly, audaciously modern in its portrayal of 19th-century mean-girl culture that I kept waiting for someone to inform the heroine that on Wednesdays, they wear pink...Filled with humor and charm, Reputation is not always an easy read, but it’s a vivid and fascinating one. And it’s definitely not quaint." Frances is so sparkling, so vibrant and lively and witty and daring, that readers will be forgiven for thinking that she’s Georgiana’s love interest. Certainly, Georgiana is instantly smitten. Croucher understands the fierce, passionate crushes girls have on their friends—the yearning to be in another person’s orbit, to have them think of you as clever and charming. Romantic attachment makes the heart beat faster, but friendships burrow deeper under the skin; you feel them all the way to your bones. And that’s ordinary friendship. Frances is anything but ordinary. In addition to the giddy pleasure of her company, she exposes Georgiana to a world of fantastic wealth, endless indulgence and absolute debauchery. It’s fun, it’s dizzying, it’s literally intoxicating—and it’s very, very dangerous.

Handsome, wealthy, kind young men aren’t that easy to come by. Especially not ones who are . . . good with their hands. In absolutely none of them did the heroine spend two weeks staring at a patch of damp on a parlor ceiling, wondering if it looked more like a man falling over a stool or an owl playing billiards.

5. To Have and to Hoax – Martha Waters

Outraged, Violet decides to feign an illness of her own to teach her estranged husband a lesson. And so begins an ever-escalating game of manipulation – and a great deal of flirtation between a husband and wife who might not hate each other as much as they thought.

Through Frances and her friends Georgiana is introduced to a new world of wild parties, drunken debauchery, mysterious young men with strangely alluring hands, and the sparkling upper echelons of Regency society. Georgiana Ellers – George is the protagonist and third-person POV from which we take in the story. She is the daughter of an ex-teacher and of the middle class, and when the story begins, she has just taken up residence with her aunt and uncle—Mr and Mrs Burton—after her parents moved to the seaside. George is the Jenny Humphreys ( Gossip Girl) or Kady Heron ( Mean Girls) of the story.Frances Campbell– The Regina George ( Mean Girls) of it all, Frances is the daughter of Lord and Lady Campbell and seemingly the highest class of all the characters. George befriends Frances when they are both bored at a party and they hit it off immediately. Oh and I need to make it clear that handsome Captain Edwards is a captain of the navy, incase you are like me and have been seriously binging any kind of naval or set on a ship book recently! That just really added nicely to the overly hotness effect for me