Queen Bee is a YA Regency revenge romance about Lyra, a young girl who was betrayed by her best friend when she was fifteen and is now back for revenge. I enjoyed the story’s suspense–the author slowly lets the reader see how Lyra was ruined in the past, how she takes revenge and how her schemes turn out.

As the book opens, eighteen year old Lyra is preparing for her come out at a ball at Almack’s Assembly Rooms. Her true goal here is to be revenged upon the reigning queen and king of high society. Lyra was born a daughter of a peer but lost her position, influence and power at fifteen when was betrayed by her scheming best friend. Not only is she now far more lovely and mature than she was at 15, she’s also grown out her hair and dyed it black. She is being presented not under her real name, Lady Ela Dalvi, but rather as Lyra Whitley, a mysterious heiress. Her target is Poppy Landers, who was her best friend three years ago and set Ela up to be ruined. Lyra plans to become part of Poppy’s inner circle of friends, charm Poppy’s suitors away, and then ruin her reputation the way Poppy ruined Lyra’s. Lyra also has it in for the handsome and popular Lord Keston Osborn, the Marquess of Ridley, who was once her friend but abandoned her when she needed him and believed Poppy’s schemes.

The timeline moves back and forth between flashbacks from three years ago when she was fifteen to the present.

Three years ago, Poppy’s father worked for Ela’s father, the Earl of Harwick, as his solicitor. Ela’s her father struggled financially as Poppy’s family got wealthier. Poppy and Ela were close–Poppy even supported Ela through the death of her mother. Keston’s family moved into the estate next door and Keston, his sister Zia, and Ela became good friends. But when Poppy finds out that Ela and Keston have become friends without her, she is jealous and nasty. Events unfold that ruin Ela who then is banished to the Hinley Seminary for girls in Cumbria, northwest England. There she befriends Lady Felicity Whitley who goes by the name ‘Church’. Ela helps Church through a very difficult time and in return, Church, who is a wealthy heiress, gives Ela funds to go to London. She mentors Ela, sharing her wisdom about the London Season and helping her plan her revenge.

Lyra attends balls, musicals and very fancy dinners and I loved the descriptions of the decorations, dances, dresses and pastries. The characters stole my heart including Lyra, her new friend Rosalie, and even Keston and his pack of young gentleman friends. Poppy proves to still be nasty and it was wonderful to root for Lyra and her friends to foil Poppy’s cruelties. As Lyra spends more time with Keston, a romance develops between the two. And as she falls in love, Lyra begins to wonder if vengeance is what she really wants.

The author includes fun facts about the Regency period throughout the story . I enjoyed learning how the Regency period got its name, what the season is, and what aret he rules of Almack’s. There is some modern language used in the story like, ‘she’s going down’ or ‘what’s a girl got to do to get some lemonade’ but this story is for young adults so maybe this is to appeal to them? These modernisms didn’t overly distract me. In the author’s notes, Queen Bee is referred to as an anti-historical because the book is full of diverse characters. The book is from Joy Revolution, a new imprint of Penguin committed to publishing YA romance novels starring persons of color written by authors of color.

I found the story highly entertaining and enjoyed the themes of forgiveness and what it means to be a good friend. I recommend Queen Bee, especially to readers who like a good revenge story.