Perfect for fans of:
- The grumpy meets sunshine trope
- Cheerful queer representation
- Laugh-out-loud banter
- Ridiculous shenanigans
If only classics were written as engaging and unputdownable as Alexis Hall’s Something Fabulous, then I wouldn’t have had to bullshit my way through so many essays in my Classic Lit uni seminars. Alas, while you won’t need to consult Sparknotes when picking up this book, you’ll need some dedicated reading time because Something Fabulous is a read-in-one-sitting-story if there ever was one.
Something Fabulous follows Valentine Layton, the reserved Duke of Malvern who’s betrothed to one twin and finds himself falling in love with the other. It was always his father’s hope that Valentine would marry Miss Arabella Tarleton. But unfortunately, that hope is squashed when Valentine realises that Arabella has no interest in a marriage of convenience and instead wants something Valentine shudders at: real romance. Desperate to get out of the impending nuptials, Arabella flees into the night. Arabella’s twin brother, Bonny Tarleton, unfortunately, has also grown up as quite the romantic. And fully expects Valentine to get up on that high horse of his to ride after Arabella and prove to her that he’s not as cold-hearted as he pretended to be during his horrid attempt at a proposal.
So suddenly, Valentine finds himself on a chase to Dover with Bonny as his companion. Bonny is unreasonable, aggravating, overdramatic and…well, quite beautiful. What starts as a chase after his betrothed turns into Valentine questioning everything he thought he knew about love and obligation—and might just end with him pursuing another Tarleton altogether.
The drama Hall delivers in this novel, oh my. You need to suspend your disbelief before starting this book but once you do, you’re good to go. All the crazy twists, the ‘shaking-your-head-because-oh-my-god-how-is-this-happening’ are literally the best part of Something Fabulous, next to the romance, of course. The amount of times I had to put this book down because I was tearing up from laughing when Bonny would say something that got Valentine’s knickers in a twist or someone ‘detained’ Valentine so he wouldn’t marry Belle which he didn’t even want to do is unreasonably high. Something Fabulous is so ridiculous but in the best possible way. Valentine really seems to stumble from one disaster into the next and a lot of that can be attributed to the way his foot just always lands in his mouth in the most inopportune of times. Yet you can’t really feel angry with him for long because just like Bonny, you kind of do see why Valentine has such a hard time expressing himself and it’s as endearing as it is infuriatingly frustrating. Reading this book, you kind of want to roll up a newspaper and thwack Valentine over the head with it but you also see why he is the way he is and suddenly you want to wrap him in a blanket and that might not sound like the perfect comfort character to you, but to me he certainly was.
Also, the romance. THE ROMANCE (Yes, this needed all caps, I’m sorry). I loved all the discussions around sexuality and society’s expectations. While Bonny is very open and honest about being attracted to men, he also shows his vulnerable side to Valentine and doesn’t shy away from pointing out how hard it can be to find like-minded people. While I like to think that we’ve made some strides concerning this topic in today’s society, I’m also well aware as a part of the LGBTQIAP+ community that there is still a lot of prejudice and danger around when it comes to trusting someone with this part of your identity. While Valentine doesn’t just put one foot in his mouth (honestly, there aren’t enough feet in the world when it comes to that) when he discusses Bonny’s and even his own sexuality, there’s also this underlying sense of yearning to be and do better, to be supportive in the right way and my heart went out to him for that. It’s not about getting it right the first time so much as listening and learning, and most of all becoming better. And Hall definitely showed this progression in Something Fabulous, which I adored.
Speaking of things I adored, Bonny and Valentine’s banter will forever live in my head rent free. Bonny is adorable, incredibly witty and honestly a cinnamon roll. There are no other words for it. Imagine the most wholesome person you can and double that, and you still wouldn’t even be close to Bonny. And then you get to see Bonny literally charm the pants off of grumpy Valentine who’s so set in his ways and thinks he has this duty to his father’s legacy and it’s just the most fun you can have watching him realise that none of that matters when it comes to having Bonny in his life—and at his side for the rest of it.
Also, can I get a hallelujah for some lovely demisexual rep? I loved how Valentine grappled with his sexuality, even before realising that he had feelings for Bonny. Societal pressures really do a number on Valentine and I loved how supportive Bonny was when it came to Valentine opening up about his fears of not being “enough” for anyone. My heart melted watching these two find their way to each other, especially considering all the misunderstandings, the bee incident (you’re not ready for it, believe me), and the hurdles they have to jump. Honestly, this is the top tier of grumpy meets sunshine trope.
We also get incredible side-characters like Belle, who, yes, I wanted to strangle sometimes but like, with love, and her snarky genderfluid friend, not to mention sapphic ladies (to whom Valentine is so incredibly oblivious that I was the embodiment of the cry-laughing emoji) and a man with a…very interesting hunting lodge. Honestly, there didn’t seem to be a character that wasn’t slightly queer and yet there was never any negativity about it, despite the time this story was set in. Of course, Valentine grapples with some internalised queerphobia, but other than that, everyone seemed to be “in on the joke” that really, no one is as straight as they have to pretend to be and I was living for it.
Also, if all of that didn’t convince you, let me just say that it’s impossible to read this book without having a huge grin plastered to your face the entire time, so keep that in mind when adding this to your TBR.
Whether you’re a long-time fan of historical romance or a total newbie, Something Fabulous is guaranteed to leave you in stitches and clutching your chest dramatically as you follow reserved duke Valentine trying to honour his obligation to marry a suitable woman—while falling in love with her twin brother. Hilarious, gloriously overdramatic and unputdownable, Something Fabulous needs to be on anyone’s shelf who’s looking for a comfort read that’s one hell of a good time.
Something Fabulous is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of January 25th 2022.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
From the acclaimed author of Boyfriend Material comes a delightfully witty romance featuring a reserved duke who’s betrothed to one twin and hopelessly enamoured of the other.
Valentine Layton, the Duke of Malvern, has twin problems: literally.
It was always his father’s hope that Valentine would marry Miss Arabella Tarleton. But, unfortunately, too many novels at an impressionable age have caused her to grow up…romantic. So romantic that a marriage of convenience will not do and after Valentine’s proposal she flees into the night determined never to set eyes on him again.
Arabella’s twin brother, Mr. Bonaventure “Bonny” Tarleton, has also grown up…romantic. And fully expects Valentine to ride out after Arabella and prove to her that he’s not the cold-hearted cad he seems to be.
Despite copious misgivings, Valentine finds himself on a pell-mell chase to Dover with Bonny by his side. Bonny is unreasonable, overdramatic, annoying, and…beautiful? And being with him makes Valentine question everything he thought he knew. About himself. About love. Even about which Tarleton he should be pursuing.
