Don't Want You Like a Best Friend

London, 1857. Beth is a anxious debutante with a single season to land a wealthy husband. If she fails, she and her mother will be left with nothing and put out on the street. Playing the blushing ingenue makes her skin crawl, and she would rather be anywhere else.

Gwen is on her fourth season and has no plan to marry, possibly ever. She is the only daughter of a rakish earl, and she has his flair for fun and for party games that are far from proper. Her idea is simple: skip Beth's courtship by pairing Gwen's father with Beth's newly widowed mother.

The snag is that the two parents seem to dislike each other, with a heartbreak that goes back twenty years. The girls treat this as a minor obstacle. Then a handsome, wealthy viscount begins calling on Beth and offers exactly the secure match she needs.

This is a queer Victorian romance with a comic, scheming tone, in the spirit of a parent-trap farce set among ballrooms and chaperones. The central pair are friends who slide into love while arranging someone else's. Gwen must face sharing Beth with a husband for good, and Beth must admit her feelings point somewhere other than her suitor.