Tuesday 18 July 2017

Review: Persuading Austen by Brigid Coady

It is a truth universally acknowledged that working with an ex is a terrible idea…

Annie Elliot never expected her life to turn out this way: living with her dad, working as an accountant – surely the least glamorous job in Hollywood?! – and dodging her family’s constant bickering.
Landing a job as a producer on a new adaptation of Pride and Prejudice seems like the piece of luck she’s been waiting for. Until the cast is announced, and Annie discovers that the actor playing Mr Darcy is Austen Wentworth: the man she’s spent nearly a decade trying to forget.
Not only is Austen her ex – but while Annie’s life has stalled, Austen is Hollywood’s hottest property…and has just been voted World’s Sexiest Man.
With nowhere to hide, there’s just one question. Now the one who got away has come back, should Annie stand by her pride? Or give into Austen’s powers of persuasion?


Review: This book was such a fun read. It was full of family drama, work drama, relationship drama and then some. I love a read that is action-packed and fast paced like this but I need to have a character I can get along with at the heart of it all, someone to keep things a little grounded, and someone to champion and this book had that too. 

I loved getting to know Annie and it really did feel like she was Cinderella at the start of this book so I had to champion her, I didn't have the choice. Her mum is out of the picture, her sisters and her father are making her life a living nightmare and she is trying so hard to be the strong woman that she knows she really can be and say no to them but there are all sorts of family ties holding her back, including that prince charming she lost, the one who got away. I really did feel like Annie was easy to identify with, She was put upon but she had big dreams and I loved that about her, I got to know her right away and we stayed friends throughout the book!

The other characters in the book provide the drama and the comedy value. I loved Annie's boss Cassie and thought she was very grounding for Annie. But her Dad, her two sisters, her sisters in law and her cousin. Wow! So much drama here. If you could imagine it, it would happen to them and Annie was the one who had to sort it out. This is a character packed book and I have to admit that I did struggle to keep track of who was who in the beginning a little, but basically, if it was Annie's family, they were going to cause some sort of issue and that's all I needed to know!

There's a love interest of course, 'The One Who Got Away' and he comes flying back into Annie's life and I loved the romantic tension that this created. There are some classic, 'does he like me does he not?' moments and these were almost too much to handle. There isn't a steamy element to the romance in this book but fear not, there are some sweet sweet moments. 

I loved the fact that this book surrounded a film production and all the difficulties that come with that and it was a great setting for the book too, one that I haven't read enough of recently, so it felt new and fresh and posed problems of its own for poor Annie. Overall this was a really fun read. There are some great nods to Austen here, some funny moments and just the right amount of romance. It is fast-paced and definitely something to add to your beach reading this summer!

To order your copy now, just click here!

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