The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics: A Regency Historical Romance Novel of Love, Astronomy, and Forbidden Desires

Sometimes I’m in the mood for something different. Something maybe a bit softer, less fantasy. I happened upon this book on the random, and at first I thought “Nah, that’s not really up my street” but I couldn’t stop thinking about it, and about how good it would feel to just read a book that had nothing to do with what I was writing, nor what I was editing. So I ended up buying it, and I read the entire thing in about two nights, which is extremely uncommon for me these days. The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics was nothing short of delightful, a slow-burn friends-to-lovers story, the book seemed to cover so many different aspects of life and reality in the Victorian era, all of which made the relationship between Lucy Muchelney and Catherine St. Day that much brighter. And yet, it’s steeped in realism as well, in science and learning, and the role of women in society. The book starts with Lucy having to watch her ex get married, and her heart is breaking. These first few pages really impressed me, and this is honestly why I bought the book. The pain Lucy feels in this moment is so sharp, so well-written, so real I couldn’t look away. I knew that any author who could nail my emotions down like that in the first few pages was an author I needed to pay attention to. I was soon delighted to learn that the rest of the book is similarly realistic. Emotional notes that were so real they felt like they were part of me seemed to be the hallmark of this tale. Not everything is…

Ah, this cover does so much for the book but mostly as a disservice. Yep, it gets the point across that this is a historical read with an f/f relationship... But, I think it also may scare people away that aren't looking for a completely fluffy, harlequin, or overly dramatic romance for their read. Basically, it sells the quality of the story short because this is, in fact, a very high quality story with superb writing. Don't pass it up! Where does the title come from? The romance is between an astronomer's apprentice, Lucy, and the widow of a scientist, Catherine. Astronomy plays a big part in the tale...and to tell you more is a spoiler. What I really liked about the read was that we get the budding romance and lead up to the relationship but most of the book takes place AFTER the couple gets together and we see how they navigate some of the pitfalls of the past. It also reads as a feminist text, where we see our young scientist try to make her way into the male dominated scientific community and how the female characters are automatically discounted despite their talents and intelligence in just about every realm of society. How they react is compelling. The unfolding romance is believable and the narrative includes a few steamy scenes with many fade to black scenes interspersed. In general, the writing of the characters was great, dialogue was excellent, and the overall story was interesting and fun to follow. So many passages were beautifully written, I highlighted…