Book Review: Like in Love with You

after commissioning a bunch of sapphic art in may, i was feeling intense gender feelings while sitting in the san fransisco airport, waiting to board the plane home from my cousin's wedding. i'd read all of "bury your gays" by chuck tingle on the flight out, which felt pretty cool, so reading a whole second book seemed both possible and pleasurable.

i wandered into the "books, inc" and browsed the stacks, poking at some things and feeling like i kind of wanted something erotic. i went to the romance section but nothing caught my eye (having disliked the emily henry i'd read a couple years ago), so i started at the beginning and pulled down each book one after another, looking at the cover to see if it featured two women. didn't take long to find emma r. alban's "Like in love with you". the bridgerton-esque vibes, the enemies-to-lovers description on the back, and the first page gave me enough confidence that i purchased it without looking at any other books.

this book floored me.

while the prose aren't the greatest of all time, they're a big step up from chucks (sorry chuck) and from other romance i've read. enough detail to keep my imagination fully engaged without getting bogged down with every movement. emma weaved the characters, their feelings and their actions, seamlessly together to let me sit with each moment, neither distracted nor unable to imagine it. i felt for catherine, watching her figure out her place in london while throwing off her mothers history. i yearned with rosalie as she experienced newfound attractions and flurries of emotion.

the enemies-to-lovers was over too short, in my opinion. i could have used another chapter or two of them going back and forth. however, excepting that, i found the book to be the perfect pace, the perfect length. i got to know each woman and the cadre of friends, i got to know the little pocket of society they lived in, i fell in love with each of them individually and then was truly smitten to see them fall for each other, especially as they navigated their mothers' shared history.

i liked the sex scene. very passionate, very erotic, a little emotional, didn't overstay its welcome. it reminded me why i like sex in stories. it gives us insight into the characters when they are at their most instinctual, when they can shed every bit of their pretense. sex is fundamental to being human and sex in stories gives us a chance to experience that humanity.

this book gave me the feeling most romances aim for, which is the warmth and tenderness that comes from expressions of authentic love and care, and the heady rush of a new lover. i walked off the plane floating on the high, rushed home to confess my undying devotion and love for my wife, feeling like i've not done enough to share these feelings of love and care for her too.

all in all, a perfect book for the plane.

my much shorter review on Hardcover.app