A Bluestocking's Guide to Decadence

by Jess Everlee

Overview

Love can make even the most buttoned-up bluestocking come undone…

London, 1885

A lesbian in a lavender marriage, Jo Smith cuts a dashing figure in pin-striped trousers, working in her bookshop and keeping impolite company. But her hard-earned stability is about to be upended thanks to her husband’s pregnant paramour, who needs medical attention that no reputable doctor will provide.

Enter Dr. Emily Clarke, a tantalizing bluestocking working at a quaint village hospital outside the city. Emily has reservations about getting mixed up in Jo’s scandalous arrangement, but her flustered, heart-racing response to Jo has her agreeing to help despite herself.

There’s a world of difference between Jo’s community of underground clubs and sapphic societies and Emily’s respectable suburbs. Perhaps it’s a gap that even fervent desire can’t bridge.

But for those bold enough to take the risk, who knows what delicious adventures might be in store…

Lucky Lovers of London

Book 1: The Gentleman's Book of Vices
Book 2: A Rulebook for Restless Rogues
Book 3: A Bluestocking's Guide to Decadence

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780369722553
Publisher:	Carina Press
Publication date:	06/04/2024
Series:	Lucky Lovers of London , #3
Sold by:	HARLEQUIN
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	327,226
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Jess Everlee writes decadent romance from the Northeast Ohio split-level she shares with her small family of furballs and fellow humans. She holds a B.A. from The Ohio State University, where she studied English and Gender Studies, focusing on Victorian Literature and public health topics. She has a deep love of interesting art, offbeat communities, and admittedly pretentious coffee brewing systems. Find her at www.jesseverlee.com.

Editorial Reviews

04/08/2024

Everlee’s solid third Lucky Lovers of London queer Victorian romance (after A Rulebook for Restless Rogues) balances an upbeat and erotic love story with the realities of life in 1880s England. Primly ambitious social reformer Dr. Emily Clarke has dedicated her life to the healing arts, only to be forced to do twice as much work as her male colleagues for inadequate pay. Meanwhile, louche lesbian Jo Smith leads a comfortable if decadent working-class life—until she learns her platonic husband’s paramour, Vanessa, is pregnant. A search for a doctor who will oversee Vanessa’s high-risk pregnancy without judgment leads them to Emily, who is loath to pursue obstetrics after her own mother died in childbirth. Still, her values won’t allow her to turn Vanessa away—nor can she resist her intense attraction to Jo. Obstacles abound for these two women, but most are either easily surmounted or rationally discussed, leaving a satisfying amount of conflict, and the focus on community and mutual aid is especially timely. Emily, Jo, and their motley companions will win over Everlee’s established fans and new readers alike. Agent: Laura Zats, Headwater Literary. (June.)

Publishers Weekly

A compelling romance between two very different women nonconformists in Victorian England that’s a good fit for any reader who enjoys queer historical romance.”—Library Journal

“Obstacles abound for these two women, but most are either easily surmounted or rationally discussed, leaving a satisfying amount of conflict, and the focus on community and mutual aid is especially timely. Emily, Jo, and their motley companions will win over Everlee’s established fans and new readers alike.”—Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

03/01/2024

A buttoned-up woman doctor and a brash, dashing printer of erotic literature learn about love, family, and pleasure in the third in Everlee's queer historical series (following A Rulebook for Restless Rogues). Jo Smith lives her life as she pleases: wearing men's suits, selling books (both erotic and otherwise), and running an extralegal business with a man who is her husband only on paper. However, when her husband's lover falls pregnant, Jo worries that her place in her business, her home, and her world may be jeopardized. Desperate to make herself useful, she takes it upon herself to find a doctor who will treat her husband's lover, difficult because the pregnant woman is unmarried. Emily Clarke is devoted to duty: her patients, her education, her moral principles, and furthering the cause of women physicians. When Jo comes to her to take on the case, the two clash immediately but grow to realize that they have more in common than their outward circumstances would suggest. VERDICT A compelling romance between two very different women nonconformists in Victorian England that's a good fit for any reader who enjoys queer historical romance.—Sierra Wilson

Library Journal