The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes, by Cat Sebastian, follows Marian Hayes and Rob Brooks as they deal with the fallout from Marian shooting her husband. Marian is the Duchess of Clare, and Rob had been blackmailing her with the information that the Duke had been married previously and thus Marian is not legally the duchess. Their correspondence lasts a few months as they banter back and forth with each other, ending with Marian kidnapping Rob to keep him from being present at the staged robbery of her husband. When the robbery goes wrong and she accidentally kills her husband, she and Rob flee to the countryside, sparks flying between them as they attempt to figure out how to move forward from there.

I loved reading this book.

The two main characters are absolutely wonderful. It’s a grumpy/sunshine romance in all the right ways. They’re both disaster bisexuals, but they’re different types of disasters. Marian is pragmatic and collected, self-assured but still able to find the fun in their situation. She’s carrying a lot of trauma from her marriage and pregnancy as well, and I just really appreciated the depth of her character; it touches on a lot of topics that aren’t often discussed in these sorts of books. She’s hesitant to actually admit to caring about Rob because of those issues. Rob is a really well-written foil to her in many ways; he’s been a conman and highwayman for ages, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, but is currently looking for a different occupation since his partner has decided that he’s done with crime. Rob is definitely more laid-back that Marian, which makes the moments where she is suddenly more chaotic all the more interesting. Neither of these characters fits strictly into a single personality mold; they’re both dynamic and human.

Rob is absolutely head-over-heels for her; he would probably do literally anything for her, while Marian is much more cautious to let him into her life. Their dynamic is so fun, and you really just can’t help but ship them. They’re adorable. I wish the book had been longer just to add room for more fluff between them, because I could honestly read another hundred pages just of them being cute together.

This book is set in 1751, and it’s such a fun historical escapade. There is truly never a dull moment. The story shifts fluidly from action to strategy to simple character interaction and it’s all done extremely skillfully.

I also just really appreciated the casual queer representation in this book. The two main characters are bisexual, and their best friends are gay men. This book felt in many ways like the adult version of the Montague Siblings trilogy in that regard, and I loved it, particularly since I don’t think I knew about the queer representation going in.

I really can’t recommend this book enough. It is so fun and just made me extremely happy to read. It’s lighthearted while still confronting serious issues, and Sebastian balances those two sides of the book extremely well. I truly can’t recommend this enough. It does have a few sex scenes if that’s an issue for you, but you can likely skim them if you’re not interested and not lose anything from the experience of the book. If you’re remotely interested, pick up this book. You won’t regret it. I’m giving The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes 5/5 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.