Holy crap I loved this!!

Just taking the premise of the whole thing and I am in love. Emily’s sister, Amy, is sick and can’t go to her new governess job. Oh but they need the money, mostly to help Amy get better and yeah Emily definitely hates children and knows nothing about being a governess but she can pretend and lie and cheat her way through it, right?!

Aah! But, enter one super enthusiastic 14-year-old Grace and one grumpy and unresponsive Aster and top it all off with hot (even hotter without his shirt, right Akia?!) single dad Captain Edwards, argh. Everything about this made me so happy.

The storyline throughout is so cute and I sobbed a lot. But in classic Lex style, I was laughing throughout! All of the other characters, particularly everyone that worked in the house just hold such a special place in my heart and I could give each an essay on why I love them so.

I obviously need to shout out the representation in this book. Honestly any book with a bi character makes me happy and we have so much more lgbtq+ rep in this. Plus there is normalising of chronic illnesses, which especially in a regency book seems kind of unheard of?! And I loved how much class and wealth was touched on in this book! I think a lot of historical romances just have oh no, we’re of different classes we can’t ever be together and then they get married 8 pages later. But I LOVED how it was discussed in this and became so much more of an open topic!

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

So obviously I’m just a little bit obsessed, but it’s fine and I’m probably going to be fine 😄

I love historical romances but they are often hit and miss with the author just relying on the odd corset to keep their reader interested but this book is an exception with decent storylines and enjoyable characters

This book was completely and utterly delightful. I read the entire thing in essentially one sitting, smiling the entire time - and I say essentially, because I’m not sure if getting up to happy-pace around the room because the characters you are obsessed with are KISSING and FALLING IN LOVE, etc., counts in making it more than one sitting - and if it does, then I suppose I read it in about five sittings (this book resulted in a lot of happy-pacing).

A spiky, determined faux-governess of a heroine, a pair of unruly yet lovable teen wards, a cast of utterly delightful servants acting as a wholly charming found family, wonderful representation, a gorgeous windswept coastline for a setting - and a swoon-worthy, well-written romance. As always with a new Lex Croucher novel, my hopes were high - and Trouble more than delivered, it’s been my favourite yet!

When her sister Amy falls ill, Emily Laurence steps in to take her place in her newly appointed position as governess to the two daughters of Captain Edwards. The problem is that Amy was the polite, kind sister with all of the teaching experience, and while Emily is fiercely loyal to her sister, she is barely civil to anyone else and only has experience of working in a mill. Her plan is to pass herself off as Amy for as long as she can, and hopefully nick some valuable family heirlooms while she's there to keep her own family from bankruptcy. But she hasn't factored in the brooding and handsome Captain Edwards or his daughters - Grace who is determined to love Emily and Aster who keeps threatening to murder her.

'Trouble' is yet another irreverent, period romp from Lex Croucher. Imagine Jane Eyre, but if Jane was a lot less self-righteous and lot more light-fingered...an absolute delight to read!

From the very first page it was very clear what kind of book this was going to be: one that makes you snort and smile, one that's hard to put down. In fact, I only put it down to get a few hours of sleep before picking it right back up after turning off my second alarm.

That being said, this book was not all laughs and smiles; I was even taken aback a bit at the start. I had expected a lighthearted romcom with airy, untroubled (although sassy) characters. This was not that kind of story. These characters could never be described as airy or untroubled (though plenty sassy), I wouldn't even exactly call them likeable (and I don't mean that in a bad way). They were complex and prickly and difficult. They had difficult relationships, with themselves and with each other. In fact, this book really focused on relationships all throughout: relationship between siblings, between parents and their children, between staff, between classes and also between people and themselves and their bodies and identities. This book had a full cast of diverse characters and their stories and identities were woven into the story so naturally yet earnestly, it was clear that this was something very important to the author's heart.

I really enjoyed my time with this story, the only reason I couldn't quite give it 5 stars was that I would have liked the relationship between Emily and Captain Edwards to have been fleshed out just a tiny bit more. They barely had any interactions up to the 50% mark — and I do understand that that time was spent establishing Emily's relationship with Grace and Aster (their dynamic btw, 10/10) — I just felt that that caused the romantic aspect of the story to fall a tiny bit flat.

Overall, a great book and I'll definitely go check out Lex Croucher's blacklist now. Their writing is fantastic and I can't wait to read their other stories.
🌟🌟🌟🌟

Thanks to Bonnier Books and Netgalley for the ARC.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC of 'Trouble' by Lex Croucher.

'Trouble' is the latest Lex Croucher historical romance and honestly? As much as I did enjoy it, it didn't spark as much love in me as Lex's previous two did. But it still keeps in the same format of great writing and intriguing characters - I'm excited to see who's next for Croucher.

Absolutely loved this! Like a sexy, queer, inclusive Sound of Music. Lex Croucher has such a fun style of writing, and she does so well at creating well rounded, realistic characters who you genuinely become invested in. I would read anything she writes!

Two books by Lex Croucher in the space of mere months - we don't deserve it! I'm genuinely struggling to put into words how much I enjoyed this book, unputdownable doesn't do it justice. I loved Emily and the ensemble cast so much, they really felt like friends I'm now bereft to have left. So funny, witty and warm - reading this is akin to getting a really great hug. Charming, escapist and a total joy.

I read this book in a less than a day and it's easily one of my favourites. The characters all feel real and well-rounded and they're all incredibly interesting in their own way. I particularly enjoyed the development of Emily and Aster, but I did love them all!

This book felt like it had a bit more romance than their other 2 regency books which I loved because the relationship was great at the love interest was SO good.

Lex Croucher has easily become one of my favourite, auto-buy authors over the past couple years!

Another novel by this author that I dearly enjoyed - I particularly liked Emily the protagonist in this one, who is spiky and guarded and earns some great character development without losing any of her unique personality. The ensemble cast is great as ever, and I especially enjoyed the relationship between Emily and the kids, and the warmth between all the characters. I also enjoyed Emily's internal criticism around class and her dislike of displays of wealth, and the continued inclusion of diversity within the characters - whether that be race, queer identities, class or disability. If you've liked Lex's other books you'll enjoy this one I'm sure.

Lex Croucher is becoming a firm favourite author. Having read previous novels, as soon as this was released,it was added to the list of titles I wanted to read.
Reminiscent of Jane Austen, the novel opens with protagonist Emily who is pretending to be her sister (Amy). She is on her way to become a governess, this would be fine if she actually liked children or if she knew how to teach - instead, she is there to clean out the family - all for a good reason of course. Amy is unwell and needs medical help.
Emily's charges - sisters - rebellious Aster and kind-hearted, pleaser Grace keep Emily on her toes - particularly Aster and never mind their father - Captain Edwards - who Emily initially mistakes for a stable hand.
Fairmont House also has a staff who prefer to go by their forenames, they like to gossip and drink in the local ale house.
With some laugh-out-loud moments, the novel leaves the reader wanting more. Will Emily be found out, who is the stranger in the pub wanting to know all of the gossip regarding Captain Edward's dismissal from the navy and what secret is Aster hiding?
A recommendable read.

Lex Croucher has earned their spot as an automatic-buy author. Trouble is both hilarious and heartwarming! I fell in love with Emily and Captain Edwards even when they were arguing with each other (or…especially so??). I want to be part of this book’s adorable and funny found family. Can I have another one, Lex? Please and thank you.

Yet another amazing Lex Croucher book. I love this author. This is the second time they have gotten me out of a slump, making me laugh and long to read more

I just love the way Lex Croucher writes - historical fiction with a modern twist, with brilliant characters throughout.
Emily has been dealt a difficult hand in life and has had to work hard to survive. She is prickly, stubborn, argumentative and grumpy, but will do whatever it takes to take care of her ailing sister Amy, even pretending to be a governess, despite the fact that she doesn't like children one bit. But Emily finds something unexpected when she goes to work at Fairmont house. She finds friendship, herself, and also love.

This was a little slow to start but once the story got going I couldn't put it down. Gripping with lots of emotion and laughter thrown in.

As is becoming a habit with Croucher's work, I absolutely adored Trouble. The tale is chock-full of a well-formed cast of characters - each individual and with their own well-rounded personalities. I had too many favourites to name them all. There's wonderful character development here as well, both for prominent and side characters. Of course, as it's a Lex Croucher novel, it also had me chuckling out loud at a fair few points. I was left with a wonderful cosy feeling upon finishing this, and had a brilliant time getting there.

I really struggled to get through this. There was nothing wrong with the writing and I found the characters thoroughly enjoyable, I just don’t think historical fiction is for me

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.
After reading the blurb, I believed I had a good idea of what was to come (I was thinking Bridgerton-esque) and I sat very comfortably in that knowledge for a good few chapters.
Then, without giving anything away and spoiling it for you, there were some unexpected surprises.
While Lex Croucher’s latest book is set in Regency England, with some of the airs and graces of that society, it also felt thoroughly modern (in a good way).
This book is lively, exciting, funny, emotional and unexpected.
Prickly Emily is a wonderful character; desperate to play the villain but her big heart gets in the way.
The members of the Edwards Family soon endear themselves to the reader, even troubled Aster, and the rest of the supporting cast have so much personality they probably all deserve their own stories - I know I’d read them.
A big part of me wished I was in a book club so I could discuss the 'reading group suggestions' at the end.
I haven’t read any of Lex Croucher’s other books but I will be doing so now.

Another great addition to Lex Crotchet’s canon. If you liked the previous books you will definitely like this one. Regency adventures with a sprinkling of romance perfect light hearted read.

Although of a similar tone and nature, this was slightly different in concept to Croucher's other regency romances, though I adored it all the same.
Croucher is certainly one of my all-time favourite romance authors, and 'Trouble' does not disappoint. There are so many elements woven into this novel, but not once does it feel as if any of them have been forgotten or underutilised. I absolutely loved Aster's development and storyline, as well as the swathes of personality afforded to the side characters--Oliver made me actually laugh out loud multiple times.
The romance itself was beautifully developed, and I loved the relationship and the gentle coaxing of it.
I completely fell in love with this--as I have all of Croucher's novels--and I cannot wait for the world to get to fall in love with it too.

I started reading Trouble the same evening as I requested it, which I almost never do and which proves just how in the mood I was for a regency romance. In some ways this was my favourite of Lex Croucher's novels and in some ways it wasn't – it tells the story of Emily, sent to work as a governess at a mansion, who catches the eye of the owner of the house, the taciturn Captain Edwards. The only catch is that Emily isn't supposed to be there at all: she's turned up instead of her unwell sister Amy, and no one knows her real identity (and complete lack of qualifications). It's quite difference from Lex's previous books, in that the characters are older, poorer and aren't in 'society' anywhere near as much, but this is such a fun, bingeable book, with some truly brilliant supporting characters that I absolutely need spin-offs for (Akia the maid and Oliver the valet, pls!!) There's loads of great dialogue and witty quips and I just really liked it.