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booksalacarte's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
3.5⭐️ 3🌶️(spice)
A defiant Victorian wife fights to escape a bad marriage but her love for a forbidden man jeopardizes her chance at freedom.
Francesca is determined to flout convention and divorce her philandering husband. When James, her husband’s oldest friend, sweet talks his way into her life tasked with convincing her to abandon her dream of freedom, she’s unprepared for the passion that flares between them.
Torn apart by conflicting desires, James and Francesca must choose whether to keep chasing the lives they’ve always wanted or take a chance on a new and forbidden love
——————
✨My Opinion✨
The worst woman in London was a friends to lovers, regency romance that features the love story of the main characters as well as showing a side of history that isn’t in historical romance novels often. Never did I think reading about a historical romance novel about divorce would actually be enjoyable, but the main characters were well written. Their flaws and character arcs were relatable and real, giving modern sensibilities to historical characters.
This almost felt like 2 books in one, with the secondary couple’s romance happening alongside the FMC and MMC. While the happy ever after wasn’t necessarily deserved all around, It was really well done and placed societal expectations as the true “big bad”. It showed some idiocy through the process of a marriage ending that felt modern and accurate without being over the top. It seemed as if it was well researched and that the plot was pointing out the issues of historical marriage law without changing the realism of the character’s situations. I liked seeing things play out for both couples and didn’t feel as if I missed any plot because of it.
Thank you NetGalley and Julia Bennett for the advanced reader copy of The Worst Woman in London in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Infidelity, and Misogyny
Minor: Infertility
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