Reputation

A Novel

By: Lex Croucher

Narrated by: Bessie Carter

This audiobook is narrated by Bessie Carter, known for her television roles as Prudence Featherington in Bridgerton and as Violet Woodhouse in Beecham House.

Bridgerton meets Gossip Girl with a dash of Jane Austen, in this Regency-era historical romantic comedy with a deliciously feminist twist, from a hilarious British voice, Lex Croucher.

Abandoned by her parents, middle-class Georgiana Ellers is spending the summer with her stodgy aunt and uncle at their home in the English countryside. At a particularly dull party, she meets the enigmatic Frances Campbell, a wealthy member of the in-crowd who delights Georgiana with her disregard for so-called “polite society”.

Lonely and vulnerable, Georgiana quickly falls in with Frances and her wealthy, wild, and deeply improper friends, who introduce her to the upper echelons of Regency aristocracy, and a world of drunken debauchery, frivolous spending, and mysterious young men. One, in particular, stands out from the rest: Thomas Hawksley, who has a tendency to cross paths with Georgiana in her most embarrassing moments. Sparks fly, but Thomas seems unimpressed with the company she is keeping. And soon, Georgiana begins to wonder whether she’ll ever feel like she fits in—or if the price of entry into Frances’ gilded world will ultimately be higher than she is willing to pay.

Set against a backdrop of lavish parties, handsome men on horseback—and in a time when one’s reputation was everything—this edgy, hilarious romantic comedy explores sex, consent, belonging, and status through the eyes of an unforgettable heroine that Austen herself would have cheered for.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Griffin

©2022 Lex Croucher (P)2022 Macmillan Audio

Fun. Modern take on Regency

Book was fun to read. I was distracted by the historical inaccuracies and modern values. If you think of it as the protagonist going back in time, it helps. :)

So fun!

This was one of the most enjoyable books I’ve heard in a while. The narrator was spot on and the content fun and witty. A true joy!

Pride & Prejudice revamped

Pride & Prejudice, but the friend group spends a lot of time drinking excessively and doing drugs. Similar in that it’s mostly about people visiting other people’s houses, and issues of class and reputation. It’s more entertaining than that makes it sound though, with clever dialogue, humor, the pressures of maintaining friendships, secondhand embarrassment, a bit of romance, and some scandalous parties thrown in. I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator did a wonderful job.

Such a fun book

This is Not your typical regency Romance. Strong women, playful. I want to read the sequel. Recommend their other books too.

Ahistorical Mean Girls fan fic

I really wanted to like this book. However, I feel like more was bitten off than the author could deal with regarding race, sexuality, etc in the regency period. Representation was shallow and felt like tokenism.
It felt like it either should have been much better researched or just been a story about modern teenagers.
At times, it felt like bad AO3 Bridgerton/ Mean Girls fan fic.