pine and yearn your way into found family

*MILD SPOILERS AHEAD*

How delightfully twisty and turny this was! I've said it once, and I'll say it again---can we get the Bridgerton people on the phone? Cause really, c'mon! There is so much content in this novel, not only for spine-tingling romance, but also extended commentary on what it may have realistically been like for members of the British ton who weren't able to be themselves freely via choosing who they truly love.
One of my favorite aspects of this book (despite James and Bobby's equal parts sweet and spicy romance) is that you know what Beth and Gwen are up to if you've read the first book in this duology. The two girls are in a great amount of this narrative without it being an extension of their story at all. Rather, they do a pretty great job of orchestrating the double marriage Gwen comes up with pretty much on the fly at the end of Don't Want You Like a Best Friend.
What starts as a tension-filled rivalry between James and Bobby concerning who they think the other person is (or will turn out to be), becomes much more than their once faroff admirations of the other while attending Oxford. The forcing together of their families and social groups quickly forces them to have to turn the other cheek and reform their opinions about one another, or live in agonizing denial that, inevitably, they each have raging crushes on the other.
I appreciate the depth this novel reaches and achieves when it comes to creating a tangible weight attached to London's high society. This tiny little microcosm of social rule and order is the perfect setting to use as a medium for commentary on the fact that the queer community has always existed, but has time and again existed in forced secrecy, supported only by other community members or family. Despite these book characters' limitations, their commitments to true selfhood and true love prevail through clever schemes and brave willingness to trust family and friends.
I think James' character works so well to portray that innate fear of being "found out" for who you really are and having to deal with the reality that what other people think of you does matter (to a certain extent). But then there's Bobby, more willing to embrace his identity and "proclivities," as they frame it, due to being the second son of a wealthy family and not the first. I think it's very beautiful how these two men learn so much about themselves through bickering and coming to terms with their attraction to each other. I also adore a good "we're all going to the country for a few days away from the prying eyes of the ton where we can do pretty much whatever we want" scenario (hehe).
I also absolutely loved the Epilogue. It made me emotional to see how this set of resilient and loving characters found a way to make their own family and happiness despite several persistent forces that would love to see them ruined and apart. And that, in making their own found family, they also provide a family for orphaned children in need of love (and double the amount of mothers and fathers). 

Alban is apparently releasing another queer British ton romance novel soon after the new year, and to say I'm excited would be an understatement!!



​
One of my favorite quotes from You're the Problem, It's You:

"What if the world could be a better place? What if we could make it a better place, for all of us?"

---