I did enjoy this but I didn’t find myself getting as swept up in the story as I did with Don’t Want You Like A Best Friend. I did find some sections were quite repetitive as James and Boby had very similar conversations, resolved to be different, then did the same thing again. I loved the moments when they were together and in their larger friends and family group. The HEA for the two of them plus Gwen and Beth was very sweet.
3.5*

DNF’d at 35%.

I enjoyed Emma Alban’s previous book, Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend, so was very excited for this one, but unfortunately I just didn’t connect with the characters in this one.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was captivated by the cover and the title of this book, but it ended up not living up to the hype in my mind. I think I expected something a little more like Red, White and Royal Blue, or The Unlikely Heir, where I was head over heels for the couple in the book, and whilst I found them cute, I just didn’t fully feel their love story.

James’ crush on Bobby from when they were in school together was all based on looks, as they didn’t know each other at all, and Bobby only really started noticing James after seeing him at the underground club for gay men. After sharing one kiss, Bobby started talking about falling in love through all their arguing, and I just wasn’t feeling it. I thought the solution the cousins came up with was good though, and I’ve no doubt that such marriages in name only were done by many people back in the 1850s.

I also didn’t really like all the American English spelling in a book set in the UK in a historical time period, there were a few instances of repeated phrases close together that just seemed odd to me, and the way the characters spoke to each other sometimes was just way too modern, so if you’re looking for historical accuracy, I wouldn’t say this is it.

All in all the story was okay, but I think I would’ve preferred it in a 2h long film rather than 7h of me reading it. Maybe historical romances just aren’t my thing though, and others who do like reading such stories might like this more than I did.

This was such a fun book, but with some brilliant themes and so much heart. I loved the main characters and the side characters and the world that was developed in the first in this series.

The two male leads were wonderful and their bond was so powerful. Their connection and chemistry came off the page and I was rooting for them so much!

It took me a moment to provide this review as I needed to read the first book, which I'm glad I did

Alban’s series finale was such a joy! Her cinematic writing style strikes a perfect balance, making the story feel both vivid and immersive. The main characters are messy, relatable, and their journey from rivalry to romance is incredibly rewarding. I also loved how this book, like the first, highlights the importance of family, whether chosen or biological—a refreshing theme in queer romance.

Though I slightly preferred the first book, this one was still a fantastic read. Highly recommend this series, and I’m looking forward to Alban’s next work!

Thank you Netgally for providing me with this book, and introducing me to Alban, and her characters

PS. Love the Taylor Swift Reference as a swiftie!

Enemies-to-lovers? Queer romance? Set in Victorian times? Sign me up!

I adored the first book and this one was just as good. Filled with charm, banter and a whole lot of angry kissing, Alban delivers another banger of a book which I'm going to be thinking about for a LONG time.

Small disclaimer: the miscommunication trope (which I normally HIGHLY dislike) is the main source of their hatred but I enjoyed the book nonetheless.

What an absolute treat, this book felt like a warm hug!!

I just love this series - it's full of angst and tenderness. They're such a fun time while tackling the realities of being queer in this time period, and deal with the heavy topics of being yourself in an unaccepting society whilst still managing to be a wholesome romance read.

I didn't love this one as much as More Than a Best Friend, although the characters are all still as charming and full of chemistry as always. I had a lot of trouble following all of the characters and their relationships with one another - but then again this is someone who needed to draw herself a flow chart the first time she read Emma. Maybe that's a me problem.

I also found the writing a touch repetitive, which actually didn't bother me because I was enjoying the story, but I know it'll bother others. I also know that people will HATE the miscommunication in the first 30ish% but I found this great for driving up the angst and not that irritating.

This series is just such a great shout if you're looking for queer Bridgerton (this isn't regency but it has the same energy) - it's got the same melodramatic angst-fuelled feel whilst still delivering a compelling romance.

My final bug bear is that if you're writing a romance set in the UK............ please use 'trousers' not 'pants'. thank u

I think I've ended up preferring this one to the first book?? There's some HEAVY miscommunication in the beginning, but that mostly adds to the drama of this one. It was also a lot slower-paced - while I flew through the first book in a couple of hours, this one took me a few days. This was really lovely though; Bobby and James both go through tremendous character growth, and I really enjoyed how their love story tied into that of Beth and Gwen's from the first book. The importance of a strong support system is really shown well in this installment, which I loved, There's a whole blackmail plot going on, which ended up feeling like it was kind of here nor there for the most part, but added to the tension. I'm excited to see what's to come from this author!

A cute and well plotted historical romance that made me smile and kept me reading
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I really loved this one!

I do have a soft spot for enemies to lovers and thought that this one was done perfectly. I also really enjoyed the found family aspect!

This book has been done a million times before but if you love the tropes, its such a cute read!

I loved this book so much! I had thoroughly enjoyed reading book 1 and was delighted to have been approved. This one follows side characters from the first book so it is definitely a perk to have read it beforehand. I loved James and Bobby as characters and thought their relationship was beautiful, and sensitively-written. The parts where the characters face potential scrutiny from others or fear being imprisoned because of their relationship, were very emotional and added a sense of tension to the story which worked out very well in the end. I loved revisiting familiar faces and places, and am looking forward to more books by this author, hopefully set in this same universe!

A wonderful romance that I really needed at the moment. More lavender marriages in historical romances please and thank you! This was just a really good time

oof. not for me. life is too short for the miscommunication trope and all the characters in regency england to be saying yeah? all the time.

The chemistry between James and Bobby was absolutely adorable. I loved the mutual pining and the slow-burn build-up of their relationship. Their characters felt much more complex and fleshed out compared to Beth and Gwen, and I found myself truly connected to both of them, like I knew them personally. While the beginning was a bit slow, the second half picked up quickly and was much easier to engage with. The plot was linear and well-executed, with no confusing moments. The third act breakup had me in tears, but the way they learned to accept each other in the end was incredibly heartwarming.

http://thesecretbookreview.co.uk

First of all thank you for approving my request!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The authors writing style had me hooked throughout this book.

I didn't want it to end, a book I really couldn't put down.

Grade: C / 3 stars

You're the Problem, It's You is the second book in Emma R. Alban’s Mischief & Matchmaking historical romance duology that began with Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend. You’re the Problem is a mostly lighthearted m/m romance that, despite being billed as enemies-to-lovers by the blurb is really about two men jumping to conclusions about each other and holding on to their misconceptions for way too long before finally deciding to give each other the benefit of the doubt.

Despite that, I quite liked the two protagonists. Bobby Mason is a second son who would like to actually do something with his life, but feels limited by the fact that he’s the spare, and James Demeroven was brought up largely away from London and has been constantly belittled and verbally abused by his stepfather to the point that he has learned not to stand up for himself and tends to run away from his problems. When the two of them first meet, Bobby’s cousin Beth (one of the leads in the first book) asks him to befriend James, to introduce him to the right people and help him to make some friends, but James is so tightly buttoned-up and standoffish that he almost immediately rubs the good-natured Bobby up the wrong way with what Bobby believes to be a condemnation of his lifestyle. Things don’t improve as time passes, and the two men do their best to avoid one another where possible - but being members of the same family makes that very difficult. Bobby and James find themselves often at the same events and having to at least attempt to be pleasant to each other – but whenever it seems as though they might be making progress towards friendship, one of them will say or do something that puts them right back at square one and thinking the worst. And herein lies the books’ biggest problem. The misunderstandings between the pair continue for almost half the book – it’s very repetitive and it got frustrating very quickly. And then, once they do start to thaw towards each other a bit, it’s zero to sixty in the blink of an eye, and their various declarations and all the deep feelings we’re told they’re experiencing are simply not supported by what the reader has seen on the page. There is very little chemistry between them and I needed more from their internal monologues to persuade me that they were falling/had fallen in love.

Add to this the somewhat complicated family situation of the Masons, the Bertrams, and the Demerovens. Not having read the previous book put me at a serious disadvantage here as I struggled to work out and then remember how all these characters, members of an extended family, are related to one another. Beth and Gwen from book one are, respectively, the daughters of the late Viscount Demeroven (Beth) and Lord Haverford (Gwen); James is Beth’s cousin, Bobby is Gwen’s cousin; Haverford is now married to Beth’s mother… I could really have done with a list or family tree at the front of the book!

The story is mostly character-driven, and the little bit of plot there is - a cartoonish villain attempts to blackmail our heroes with threats of exposing their ‘proclivities’ to society – is flimsy and only present in order to enable Bobby and James to, at last, join forces to work out a way to neutralise him. James’ character arc is the strongest, as he has to work to overcome his anxiety and insecurities and move towards self-acceptance and the realisation that he is deserving of the love and loyalty he is being offered by Bobby and their family. Having the entire Bertram/Mason clan be so accepting of its queer couples and prepared to offer them as much protection as possible did stretch my credulity given the time period, but I liked seeing James slowly working out that perhaps he could finally have the life he craves with someone he truly cares for.

You’re the Problem, It’s You is inoffensive enough, and may, indeed be The Gay Bridgerton you didn’t know you needed (eyeroll) for some, but in a sub-genre where the bar for excellence has been set very high by authors like KJ Charles, Joanna Chambers, Sally Malcolm and others, You’re the Problem just about qualifies as ‘middling’. It lacks depth and emotion, the characterisation is patchy and it’s wallpapery to the extreme. The date 1858 is mentioned in the text, but other than the fact that Demeroven, his uncle, and Bobby’s brother are working to get the Medical Act passed into law, (and same sex relationships between men are illegal), there’s no real sense of time or place, and the characters have an unfortunate habit of lapsing into modern language. Someone tells Bobby to “Get some sleep, yeah?”; Aunt Cordelia is “a right laugh”; one of Bobby’s friends asks “Do we need to get you laid?”; Bobby has “zero interest in finding a nice young lady to chat up.” And so on. In fact, the writing in general feels more suited to a YA book even though the characters are in their early twenties and the sex scenes warrant a ‘warm’ rating; it skews towards telling rather than showing, and the book feels somewhat… juvenile as a result. Plus, the use of third person present tense doesn’t do it any favours.

You’re the Problem, It’s You was entertaining enough in places, but I can’t recommend it.

You're the Problem, It's You is a very Bridgerton-esq historical romance. There's plenty of banter style dialogue and a promise of enemies to lovers queer romance.

Unfortunately, the enemies to lovers is mostly painful miscommunication after miscommunication, because Bobby and James will not converse with each other. The miscommunication and misunderstandings goes on for over half of the book, which makes the beginning very slow and frustrating. There's a lot of repetition, perhaps too much. In the beginning, it's easy to feel sympathy for James, however, it dies quickly as James behaves rather badly. At one point I hoped that Bobby would fall in love with someone else.

The last half of the book did somewhat make up for the abysmal beginning, and I did cheer for James and Bobby's happy ending - as well as Beth and Gwen's. I wish the book would have been shorter and the miscommunication sorted out earlier, then the overall story would have been much more enjoyable.

This one’s a solid enemies to lovers read, with the added complications of a time when relations with other men is a criminal offence. There’s whole heaps of drama throughout and naturally, James and Bobby are forced to work together to fight a threat. I found the story a little slow, and James’ snootiness towards Bobby frustrating. It seems like he’s constantly being mean and never apologises so it’s a wonder Bobby (who also has his moments, in all fairness) manages to overlook it. I haven’t read the first book in the series, so this one works as a standalone, but we do see plenty of the characters from the first book and they add a good dose of fun to the book, with a side serving of meddling.

I received a free copy of this book. All views are my own.

ARC review (no spoilers)

This was such a lovely read. I really enjoyed both Bobby and James’ characters. They were both so different, yet so likeable.

I haven’t read the first book in the Mischief & Matchmaking series, but now I want to! I’d love to find out more about Beth and Gwen who the first book is based on 🥰💜

I’m so glad I was accepted for this arc. I was looking for a book that would give me the same feeling as Red, White, and Royal Blue, and this book delivered 🫶

Thank you to the author, and NG for this arc.

This is a beautiful, hilarious, affirming Queer romance with found family, matchmaking hijinks, and great historical detail!