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Cover of Don't Want You Like a Best Friend

Don't Want You Like a Best Friend

Emma R. Alban

393 pages

A delightful, swoon-worthy romp through Victorian ballrooms where a matchmaking scheme accidentally sparks a breathless queer romance.

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What it feels like

Reading this book feels like stepping into a brightly lit Victorian ballroom where the champagne is flowing and the rules of high society are meant to be playfully subverted. The pace is brisk and bubbly, driven by witty banter, clever matchmaking schemes, and the delightful tension of a friendship tipping into something much deeper. It balances the very real anxieties of nineteenth-century courtship and financial security with a tone that remains overwhelmingly joyful, swoony, and lighthearted. The prose sparkles with flair and fun, capturing the breathless anticipation of first love and queer awakening. It is an absolute delight for anyone who loves historical romances that prioritize emotional warmth, clever hijinks, and the thrill of realizing your perfect match was right beside you all along.

Mood
  • romantic
  • cheerful
  • anticipatory
Tone
  • playful
  • swoony
  • witty
  • lighthearted
Pace
brisk
Themes
queer awakening · defying societal expectations · first love · matchmaking hijinks
The writing
Bubbly, engaging, and full of period-appropriate flair mixed with modern romantic sensibilities.
The arc
Moves from playful, low-stakes scheming to the sudden, breathless realization of deeper romantic feelings and the fear of losing them.
Who it's for
Readers who love historical romances with a heavy dose of witty banter, queer joy, and lighthearted matchmaking hijinks.
Content notes
  • financial anxiety
  • parental widowhood

About the book

A swoon-worthy debut queer Victorian romance in which two debutantes distract themselves from having to seek husbands by setting up their widowed parents, and instead find their perfect match in each other—the lesbian Bridgerton/Parent Trap you never knew you needed!

Gwen has a brilliant beyond brilliant idea.

It’s 1857, and anxious debutante Beth has just one season to snag a wealthy husband, or she and her mother will be out on the street. But playing the blushing ingenue makes Beth’s skin crawl and she’d rather be anywhere but here.

Gwen, on the other hand, is on her fourth season and counting, with absolutely no intention of finding a husband, possibly ever. She figures she has plenty of security as the only daughter of a rakish earl, from whom she’s gotten all her flair, fun, and less-than-proper party games.

“Let’s get them together,” she says.

It doesn’t take long for Gwen to hatch her latest scheme: rather than surrender Beth to courtship, they should set up Gwen’s father and Beth’s newly widowed mother. Let them get married instead.

“It’ll be easy” she says.

There’s just...one, teeny, tiny problem. Their parents kind of seem to hate each other.

But no worries. Beth and Gwen are more than up to the challenge of a little twenty-year-old heartbreak. How hard can parent-trapping widowed ex-lovers be?

Of course, just as their plan begins to unfold, a handsome, wealthy viscount starts calling on Beth, offering up the perfect, secure marriage.

Beth’s not mature enough for this...

Now Gwen must face the prospect of sharing Beth with someone else, forever. And Beth must reckon with the fact that she’s caught feelings, hard, and they’re definitely not for her potential fiancé.

That’s the trouble with matchmaking: sometimes you accidentally fall in love with your best friend in the process.

Description from Open Library.

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