Cover Crush: Like in Love with You by Emma R. Alban

Cover Crush: Like in Love with You by Emma R. Alban

I mean who doesn’t have a #CoverCrush on this perfectly illustrated cover for Like in Love with You by Emma R. Alban! It is of course, illustrated by the infamous Leni Kaufman who just absolutely knocks this art to the next level (every single time!). It conveys not only that this is a historical sapphic romance, but it also gives me a sense of a flirty sweetness we can expect from the words within. Pitched as Mean Girls meets Northanger Abbey, we get a sapphic rivals-to-lovers Regency romance that is sweet, flirtatious, and brings the steam to full boil as well. Why fight for the same man, when you find yourself way more into the competition. Add this one to your upcoming TBR for the January 13th release!

Thank you to Avon books for sending me an advance copy!

Like in Love with You

by Emma R. Alban
Published by: Avon
on January 13, 2026
Genres: Adult, Historical Fiction, LGBTQIA+, Romance
Bookshop
Goodreads

Mean Girls meets Northanger Abbey in this brand new, sapphic, rivals-to-lovers Regency Romance by USA Today bestselling author Emma R. Alban!

When country-bred Catherine Pine relocates to Bath in 1817, she and her mother come face-to-face with her mother’s arch nemesis, Lady Tisend, and her daughter, the wildly popular and gorgeous Lady Rosalie. Though once her very best friend, Mrs. Pine alleges Lady Tisend ultimately did her a great injustice. Twenty-five years later, she sees the perfect opportunity for retribution.

Catherine will win the favor of Lady Rosalie’s suitor, Mr. Dean. Together, Catherine and her mother will ruin the Tisends’ lives, secure Catherine a fruitful match, and launch a fully triumphant return to Bath. It’s the perfect plan for revenge. Only Catherine soon discovers that there’s more to Lady Rosalie’s mean streak than meets the eye. Lady Rosalie is by far the wittiest, cleverest, most intriguing young woman Catherine’s ever met, and she’s utterly smitten.

Meanwhile, Rosalie feels trapped in her perfect life as Bath’s favorite daughter and resident mean girl. There’s no challenge anymore, no excitement, no surprise. But when she notices newcomer Catherine gunning for her spot as queen bee, Rosalie finally feels a spark again. She determines to meet Catherine’s challenge with gusto, because Catherine ignites something in her. Something Rosalie absolutely doesn’t want to extinguish.

As their mothers force them into increasingly absurd contests of wit and feminine charms to win Mr. Dean’s affections, Rosalie and Catherine instead find themselves falling for each other, scheme, by barb, by catty jab…

Can their sizzling rivalry really become a match to last?