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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
Very fabulous
Alexis Hall’s books are always a delight, and Something Fabulous is no exception. Stuffy Valentine is all set to do his duty and marry Arabella Tarleton, as their fathers wished. She, not agreeing to this plan, runs away and Valentine is forced to chase her around the country with her twin brother Bonny. A bit like Alice falling into a new world, Valentine realizes there’s much more to the world, and life, than he’d ever imagined.
This book was really wonderful, and I loved reading it. Looking forward to the next one!
Alexis Hall’s books are always a delight, and Something Fabulous is no exception. Stuffy Valentine is all set to do his duty and marry Arabella Tarleton, as their fathers wished. She, not agreeing to this plan, runs away and Valentine is forced to chase her around the country with her twin brother Bonny. A bit like Alice falling into a new world, Valentine realizes there’s much more to the world, and life, than he’d ever imagined.
This book was really wonderful, and I loved reading it. Looking forward to the next one!
Look, I don’t read a lot of historical/regency romance. I barely read MF these days, and even with MM I tend to stay away since it’s just not my jam. Very few writers will get me interested in historical - but Alexis Hall is definitely one of them.
This book is charming, cheeky, delightful, campy, over the top, and just a refreshing breath of fresh air for my romance-reading heart! I adore Bonny and Valentine and all of their quick banter and back and forth. Bonny is just the sweetest, and Valentine is just…oblivious and hilarious. And Is A Duke haha, which he thinks should mean something lol
When Alexis Hall says “this book has the unofficial subtitle of Dude, Where’s My Curricle?” - you know you’re in for a hilarious read, and this delivered on every level for me.
I absolutely loved this one. It's hard for me to say if regency/historical romance readers will love this since I don't have a lot to base it off of, but if you're looking for a campy, hilarious good time, give this one a try!
I received an arc from Amazon Publishing for a review.
This book is charming, cheeky, delightful, campy, over the top, and just a refreshing breath of fresh air for my romance-reading heart! I adore Bonny and Valentine and all of their quick banter and back and forth. Bonny is just the sweetest, and Valentine is just…oblivious and hilarious. And Is A Duke haha, which he thinks should mean something lol
When Alexis Hall says “this book has the unofficial subtitle of Dude, Where’s My Curricle?” - you know you’re in for a hilarious read, and this delivered on every level for me.
I absolutely loved this one. It's hard for me to say if regency/historical romance readers will love this since I don't have a lot to base it off of, but if you're looking for a campy, hilarious good time, give this one a try!
I received an arc from Amazon Publishing for a review.
Fun, fluffy, and yes - fabulous! Love (of all kinds - romantic, familial, platonic) is definitely in the air and it all wraps up with the happiest of endings. The regency romance angle is a rereshing twist, too.
“love, friendship, kindness, laughter: they were all stars to be strung in constellations of your own making.”
funny
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Something Fabulous is, as it says on the tin, something truly fabulous. I wasn’t sure this book would fit my reading tastes, as I’d never read a historical romance novel before, but Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall has become one of my absolute favorite books after I listened to it multiple times this year, so I figured I might as well give his new historical romance a try. It’s safe to say I didn’t regret that decision.
This book follows Valentine Layton, also known as the Duke of Malvern, whose father always wished he’d marry Arabella Tarleton. When he finally finds the courage to propose to her, it doesn’t quite go how he’d expected it to, and Arabella runs away. This, in turn, upsets Arabella’s twin brother Bonny, who essentially demands Valentine to come with him to chase Arabella down and keep her from running away to America with her friend Peggy.
Valentine is, I suppose, a product of his time. He’s somewhat stuck in his conservative ways, which means he sort of frowns upon Bonny’s homosexuality and is confused by Peggy’s genderfluidity and her friends-with-benefits relationship with Arabella. When he starts to feel some form of attraction towards Bonny, he’s even more confused, as he’s never really felt that towards anyone before. Valentine’s arc surrounding his (internalized) homophobia and coming to terms with his (what in modern times would be known as) demisexuality was one that I found surprisingly relatable. In general, Valentine’s grumpy loner tendencies were ones that I found a little bit too recognizable, but I loved the way he was slowly drawn out of his shell by the people around him.
The central romance between Bonny and Valentine was genuinely a delight to read and had a hilarious grumpy/sunshine-type dynamic. It takes some time for them to truly get to know each other, but once they do their interactions are so much fun. Seeing a queer relationship like this one in a historical context makes me feel emotional in a way that contemporary romance just can’t quite do, and this made me realize I should go looking for more queer historical romance. The sequel, Something Spectacular, will follow Peggy, which means we’re getting historical romance with a nonbinary protagonist? Sign me up.
Overall, I greatly enjoyed Something Fabulous and am very grateful for the opportunity to read and review it early. Alexis Hall definitely wrote another one of my favorite 2021 reads. I would absolutely recommend checking this out if you like campy queer Regency romance, asexual spectrum representation in a historical context, and/or grumpy/sunshine dynamics.
Content warnings:
Author-provided: Sexual content (on page; graphic), mentions of deceased parents (deaths happened in the past), character held captive, character threatened with being shot, pistol duel, character suffers a gunshot wound (survives), animal death (bird; accidental; resulting from the duel), mention of spiders
Additional warnings: internalized ace- and homophobia, homo- and transphobia stemming from period-typical ignorance
Thank you to Montlake and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC for reviewing purposes.
This book follows Valentine Layton, also known as the Duke of Malvern, whose father always wished he’d marry Arabella Tarleton. When he finally finds the courage to propose to her, it doesn’t quite go how he’d expected it to, and Arabella runs away. This, in turn, upsets Arabella’s twin brother Bonny, who essentially demands Valentine to come with him to chase Arabella down and keep her from running away to America with her friend Peggy.
Valentine is, I suppose, a product of his time. He’s somewhat stuck in his conservative ways, which means he sort of frowns upon Bonny’s homosexuality and is confused by Peggy’s genderfluidity and her friends-with-benefits relationship with Arabella. When he starts to feel some form of attraction towards Bonny, he’s even more confused, as he’s never really felt that towards anyone before. Valentine’s arc surrounding his (internalized) homophobia and coming to terms with his (what in modern times would be known as) demisexuality was one that I found surprisingly relatable. In general, Valentine’s grumpy loner tendencies were ones that I found a little bit too recognizable, but I loved the way he was slowly drawn out of his shell by the people around him.
The central romance between Bonny and Valentine was genuinely a delight to read and had a hilarious grumpy/sunshine-type dynamic. It takes some time for them to truly get to know each other, but once they do their interactions are so much fun. Seeing a queer relationship like this one in a historical context makes me feel emotional in a way that contemporary romance just can’t quite do, and this made me realize I should go looking for more queer historical romance. The sequel, Something Spectacular, will follow Peggy, which means we’re getting historical romance with a nonbinary protagonist? Sign me up.
Overall, I greatly enjoyed Something Fabulous and am very grateful for the opportunity to read and review it early. Alexis Hall definitely wrote another one of my favorite 2021 reads. I would absolutely recommend checking this out if you like campy queer Regency romance, asexual spectrum representation in a historical context, and/or grumpy/sunshine dynamics.
Content warnings:
Author-provided: Sexual content (on page; graphic), mentions of deceased parents (deaths happened in the past), character held captive, character threatened with being shot, pistol duel, character suffers a gunshot wound (survives), animal death (bird; accidental; resulting from the duel), mention of spiders
Additional warnings: internalized ace- and homophobia, homo- and transphobia stemming from period-typical ignorance
Thank you to Montlake and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC for reviewing purposes.
Is this book perfect? No. Is it absolutely DELIGHTFUL and a complete and utter JOY? Yes, yes it is.
4.5
"I only tried to live in them," said Bonny softly, "when it seemed like I had nowhere else to go. But even if I don't need that from them anymore, they're still important to me. Those stories still feel like places I've been and the characters in them - no matter how virtuous or villainous-like old friends"
Something Fabulous is a regency romp following Valentine, the reserved Duke of Malvern who, per his father's wishes, proposes to Arabella Tarleton. Arabella is a romantic at heart, so romantic that a marriage of convenience will not do, so she flees into the night, determined never to set eyes on him again. Arabella’s twin brother, Bonny, has also grown up romantic. And fully expects Valentine to ride out after Arabella and prove to her that he’s not cold-hearted as he seems to be. In a bid to find her, he gathers Valentine on a cross-country chase, but as they bond, Valentine starts to question what he thought he knew about himself and about love.
I had such a fun time with this one!!
I've read two Alexis Hall books before this one (Boyfriend Material and For Real), and I really enjoyed both of them. There's something about Hall's writing that is always so delightful to read. It's witty, hilarious, and compelling.
This book is very over-the-top, from the characters to the actual plot, to the point that it kind of feels like a bizarre dream. But despite that, the characters are all so well written, human, and easy to fall in love with.
Valentine is very naive, lonely, and unlikeable at times. But you can't help but root for him and love him, as he challenges everything he internalized about the world and about himself. And then we have Bonny!! My fave!! He's so wholesome, dramatic, and loving. He believes in love so strongly. Would die for him!!
"I only tried to live in them," said Bonny softly, "when it seemed like I had nowhere else to go. But even if I don't need that from them anymore, they're still important to me. Those stories still feel like places I've been and the characters in them - no matter how virtuous or villainous-like old friends"
Something Fabulous is a regency romp following Valentine, the reserved Duke of Malvern who, per his father's wishes, proposes to Arabella Tarleton. Arabella is a romantic at heart, so romantic that a marriage of convenience will not do, so she flees into the night, determined never to set eyes on him again. Arabella’s twin brother, Bonny, has also grown up romantic. And fully expects Valentine to ride out after Arabella and prove to her that he’s not cold-hearted as he seems to be. In a bid to find her, he gathers Valentine on a cross-country chase, but as they bond, Valentine starts to question what he thought he knew about himself and about love.
I had such a fun time with this one!!
I've read two Alexis Hall books before this one (Boyfriend Material and For Real), and I really enjoyed both of them. There's something about Hall's writing that is always so delightful to read. It's witty, hilarious, and compelling.
This book is very over-the-top, from the characters to the actual plot, to the point that it kind of feels like a bizarre dream. But despite that, the characters are all so well written, human, and easy to fall in love with.
Valentine is very naive, lonely, and unlikeable at times. But you can't help but root for him and love him, as he challenges everything he internalized about the world and about himself. And then we have Bonny!! My fave!! He's so wholesome, dramatic, and loving. He believes in love so strongly. Would die for him!!