There were parts of this book that I enjoyed, but it was SO SLOOOOOOW. It's very much a book about marriage and about the role of women in society, and that stuff was interesting for a while, but I admit I got sick of it. Same with the bees. And the romance really was not the main thing here, which normally would be fine, but since this book is marketed as historical romance rather than historical fiction with romance in it, it felt odd. I cared more about the young straight-seeming side couple than I did about the main sapphic main couple, and that was very disappointing for me.

I'll still probably read The Hellion's Waltz because there just isn't that much sapphic historical romance out there, but this was definitely disappointing after The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics.