A review by bisexualwentworth
The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes by Cat Sebastian

  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This is officially vying with The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics to be my favorite historical romance.

Here are some general things that I enjoyed:
  • Bisexual Robin Hood
  • Georgian setting (I’m getting really sick of most historical romances I read being Regency)
  • Cat
  • Kittens
  • Discussions of privilege and money and how to use wealth for good
  • Stealing from bad people
  • Horses
  • Classics
  • Rob and Marian are very enjoyable characters and I very much enjoyed them together
Sex- and relationship-specific things that I liked:
  • This is the first romance I’ve read between a cis man and a cis woman where PIV sex was not part of the equation
  • And they had a LOT of sex of all sorts of varieties
  • Rob’s general subbiness was fun
  • I loved the way they negotiated consent and talked things through
  • Great handling of both characters’ bisexuality but especially Rob’s

Things that I didn’t like as much:
  • Does Rob inherently have a stepmom thing because of this book? Also what is he to Eliza because oh god the family situation is convoluted as fuck
  • This book was really bad at locations. I felt like I never knew where the characters were until halfway through a scene and I’m not really sure what went wrong there 

I liked this more than book one and would read more books featuring this band of chaotic queer highwaymen. If Betty doesn’t get her own book with a sapphic love interest I will riot (please Cat Sebastian, prove that you are capable of writing a full novel that’s sapphic. I believe in you and will like you less if you don’t).
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