The hilarious debut novel from Lex Croucher. A classic romcom with a Regency-era twist, for fans of Mean Girls and/or Jane Austen.
Abandoned by her parents, middle-class Georgiana Ellers has moved to a new town to live with her dreary aunt and uncle. At a particularly dull party, she meets the enigmatic Frances Campbell, a wealthy member of the in-crowd who lives a life Georgiana couldn’t have imagined in her wildest dreams.
Lonely and vulnerable, Georgiana falls in with Frances and her unfathomably rich, deeply improper friends. Georgiana is introduced to a new world: drunken debauchery, mysterious young men with strangely arresting hands, and the upper echelons of Regency society.
But the price of entry to high society might just be higher than Georgiana is willing to pay …
Title : Reputation
Author : Lex Croucher
Format : Paperback ARC
Page Count :448
Genre : Contemporary Romance
Publisher : Zaffre Books
Release Date : July 8, 2021
Reviewer : Micky
Rating : ★ ★ ★
Micky’s 3.5 star review
3.5 stars
Headlines:
Toxic friendships
Hedonistic
Finding balance
Reputation was a lot of unexpected things for a historical read. It featured themes and behaviours I don’t often come across in a regency era and that was pretty fresh. I didn’t find it light or funny, more like watching a collision about to happen and the realisation that comes afterward. There were a number of triggers in this book so do look for TW if you need them.
Georgiana was an interesing MC and had some relatable traits for any young women, she wanted friendship, to be liked and to have adventure. It was eye-opening that even in this era, someone could get in with the wrong crowd and be led astray. Frances was the kind of friend that took some time to work out, that whole crowd weren’t particularly likeable.
For me, this was a book of two halves, the first half I struggled to gel with this hedonistic life depicted contrary to everything I’d read in the era prior to this. I think I had to suspend some belief to stay with the story. The second half came with more measurement, reflection and a romance to get your teeth into. This was the stronger part of the book and more enjoyable.
This was definitely a different regency read and the parallels to Mean Girls is pretty accurate. This was a fresh, no holds barred kind of read and I’d definitely read this author again.
Thank you to Zaffre Books for the early review copy.
A Take from Two Cities 