Letters to Half Moon Street: A Queer Historical Romance (Meddle & Mend: Regency Fantasy Book 1)

This was a sweet little historical epistolary novel (letters) with a queernormative worldbuilding. I loved the characters and atmosphere, but there were things that kept bothering me, and while it was cool reading a book out of letters for once, that made the characters feel a bit distant. Gavin Hartford travels to his family's townhouse in London. Veronika, his older brother John's wife, will give birth to their baby soon, so they are staying with his family, and there are too many people about. So, he is sent to London, also to take care of some business. He writes letters to his younger siblings, especially his sister Geraldine, who always encourages him to do more than just visiting the library. So, when he frequents a club, he meets the charming Charles Kentworthy, who wants to show him the city. Oh, and magic exists. It's not really important in the story. Just one more thing to talk about. Gavin is one of the most relatable characters (in terms of personality) I've ever read about, and I did enjoy getting to know his family through their letters (besides John, of course, that aggravating turd), and Charles obviously also becomes someone he has correspondence with. Their romance was slow and sweet; their letters amusing 🤭 You just don't have many direct interactions because of the epistolary style. And this is where my critique comes in, which is btw entirely personal. It's my first time reading a book made up entirely of letters, and while I generally liked it, I think it's not for me in terms of romance. Most letters are Gavin telling his sister what happened, and there are either not enough details, or whole pages of repeated dialog, which is weird in a letter. Like, who can remember, word for word, what they talked about with someone (and then write the whole thing down)? 😅 But maybe that's just me. I think I would have enjoyed it more with a mix of letters and normal text from Gavins' perspective. Another thing that just kept bothering me was the worldbuilding. Now, don't get me wrong, as a queer person, I totally get wanting a queernormative worldbuilding with a historical setting. Seing all the things you love in these kinds of romance novels just with queer characters, without the secrecy and fear of discovery. It's just that that society wouldn't be the same, with the same rules. Because it isn't just that it's fine to be gay. Men and women are treated the same, both needing chaperones, which is weird for many reasons, and also kept kinda vague. Multiple people berate Gavin for coming to town without one, but in some instances, it's kinda okay. He shouldn't be able to meet up with Charles alone, but somehow, his reputation is fine. Also, wouldn't that mean he shouldn't even be alone with a servant, like his valet? I just don't think society would have evolved in the same way because those rules are made on the foundation of heteronormativity and the inequality of genders, placing the power with men. Marriages were mainly for procreation, to have heirs, which is also why chaperones were important to make sure nothing (aka no unwanted pregnancy from the "wrong" guy) happens before marriage (plus the whole purety thing). In the book, the birth order now also becomes even more important and kinda replaces the gender differences. "Nextborns" are treated as more susceptible to danger somehow (also kinda vague). So what about gay couples that can't have biological children? Do they adopt (it is hinted at, but never stated)? Is their age then acting as birth order? I just don't really think it's possible to have the same way of society in such a setting. But, as I said, I totally get why people would want that, and not everything has to be realistic or whatever. I just couldn't get over the things that I found to be illogical 😅 I have read queer historical romance without direct queerphobia, and just prefer it that way 😌 (this was a long rant, but I just had to explain my feelings about it xD It's not like I didn't still enjoy that part of the book though). So, if the setting and style of the book are to your liking, I'd definitely recommend it for the characters and cozy atmosphere 😊