Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend by Emma R. Alban
LGBTQ Historical Romance
Published on January 9, 2024 -Avon
Reviewed by Kate

Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend is a delightful sapphic romance novel. It is also a rare romance novel these days that was advertised as something and then delivered on it! Though it touched on some heavy topics at times, it also had lighthearted parts, and it was a quick and fun read. 

One of the things that I love about historical romance novels with queer characters is that even though we are getting the standard romance novel – that is, a story about a relationship and a happily ever after ending – the “how” feels slightly less predictable to me. This was definitely the case with Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend. I was on the edge of my seat throughout nearly the entire story, because I couldn’t imagine how Gwen and Beth were going to get together. 

This book is high on pining, angst and self-discovery. The way that Gwen and Beth’s feelings were described is spectacular and felt so real. I really felt like I was in their heads and experiencing the romantic feelings for the first time and the ups and downs that come with it. It is a wonderfully emotional book. 

I also love the nuance in other characters and the number of romantic plotlines were spectacular. There were people falling in love all over in this book! Plus, there was my favorite: great banter. Not just between Gwen and Beth, but between Gwen and Albie and others. It was awesome – so few books these days satisfy my need for a little quippy back and forth but this one delivered. 

The one aspect of the book that I struggled with was the age range. Because the characters were in their early 20s, they were older than “young adult” genre characters. However, the parents were so present in the story, both as their own romance plot line but also just so frequently mentioned, that it almost felt like a young adult book. Certainly it had scenes there would not have been in a YA book, but there were times when it felt like it couldn’t decide what it wanted to be. Normally in an adult romance novel, even in historical stories, we don’t see as much of the parents as this book had. But also, because of the age of the characters, certain things worked that may not have worked if they were older. For example, the moment where Gwen realizes two women can be together, felt so real to me, because people in their early 20s are very self-absorbed! Their brains have not fully developed! So of course she didn’t see something that may have seemed to readers like it was right in front of her face. 

Overall, I really liked Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend, and would definitely recommend it to readers looking for a fun, fresh, sapphic historical romance. 

Grade: B+ 

Content notes: references to Beth’s deceased father’s abuse of her and her mother, including physical abuse.