A Delicate Deception (2019) by Cat Sebastian is the third book in the Regency Impostors series, set in 1824, and it is so much more than the cover shows. The cover seems to show an opposite-sex couple, both with an “ideal” body-size. (I use “ideal” in quotes because I don’t believe in an ideal body size, but want to indicate that neither person is fat without indicating a preference for any body size.) But Sebastian has written a subversive historical romance in many ways:
- The female main character, Amelia, is fat, bi/pansexual, and either neurodivergent or with social anxiety. She lives where she lives in order to escape from society and avoids her neighbors.
- The male main character, Sydney, is also bi/pansexual, is a “giant”, an engineer raised as a Quaker, and is also possibly neurodivergent, as he is single-minded when it comes to his work.
- Supporting characters are also queer, including Amelia’s companion and former governess, Georgiana, who is either asexual or aromantic, and Sydney’s best friend is both blind and gay.
The romance was cute, the deception in the title was mild in that neither party was completely honest with the other when it came to their identity when they met in the woods during Amelia’s walks that were intended to be solitary. The spicy scenes were plenty spicy, and it was just an enjoyable read! It would be a nice palate-cleanser of a book after reading something heavier and more serious.
Reading While Fat 
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