A riveting regency romance full of scandal, intrigue, and (obviously) romance. Read it in one day!‬ ( )

This was disappointing to say the least. Vicky, the Jane Austen enthusiast who one day hopes to find her very own Mr. Darcy was dull along with being too childish for my taste to believe she could follow in Lizzy footsteps from "Pride and Prejudice" to solve all her problems and the barely speaking hero who I've often times forgot was the actual hero, Tom, was forgettable and lacked any depth. Honestly it would've been better just to cut him out of the equation and leave out dear Mr. Carmichael to take the lead, who left me far more intrigued than anything else I have read from this historical romance novel inspired by the English novelist Jane Austen. Furthermore the 'romance' between Vicky and Tom was near non-existent and I could barely fathom how they ended up together since their encounters were bare minimum until the last quarter of the book. There was by far more chemistry between Vicky and Mr. Carmichael that it nearly floored me when he was push aside for the Mr. Darcy wannabe Tom stepped in and win her heart. Ha! Otherwise there's not much to rave about. It was mediocre at best and it failed to meet any expectations. What a shame.

( )

Argh, what a frustrating book!

I don't know if it's that I do read a lot of historical romance, or that I have read a lot of Austen but this thing was neither fish nor fowl. Either: write a regency based novel that is actually historically accurate (uh, no, gently bred young women are not wearing breeches and repairing sheepfold walls on behalf of their father in this time period) OR write a book that gives basic lip-service to the trappings of the times and tells a great story regardless (*cough* gail carriger, julie quinn). This one got bogged down trying to do both, and honestly I just didn't like the characters very much or believe their motivations.

There's some cool modern feminist stuff going on in here, so if that's your jam, you might dig this. It just didn't do it for me. ( )

Lady Victoria Aston has the life she wants to lead. Her sister is happily married and she helps to direct the famiy estate. Then everything changes when her sister flees to be with her family.from the man who turns out to be an abuser. Now to save the family Victoria has to marry and has to change the plans for her future.
Tom Sherborne left home to escape his abusive father and now he's back, trying to repair his relationship with his brother, create a relationship with the only illegitimate sister he knows about and find a way to make some money. His ambition is to create an exclusiveb hotel like the one he worked in on the continent with his uncle but he has to find some sort of setup money.
When Tom and Vicky were younger they were friends but they fell out later in their youth just before he left but now they're older and attracted and the people pursuing her are not savory, she's still angry with him but trying to follow advice from Jane Austen at the same time.
The Jane Austen parts almost got in the way of the story but it was funny to see several men reading and enjoying the stories. The accidents seemd to be a little over the top but by the end I was really hoping that the two characters would get together and get a good life. It was a good read and fun characters and I would read more by this author. ( )

SPOILER ALERT:

it is safe to say I am 100% obsessed with Vicky and Tom.

In this classic enemies to lover’s scenario, these former best friends find their way back to each other (from hate to eventual love) through this well paced, well written historical fiction story. Vicky lives a well-off life, but wishes it were more like a Jane Austen novel, which she loves to read. Her sister suddenly appears at home, seeking separation from her abusive husband, Lord Dain. While her family tries to solve the legal issues involved in Regency Era separations, they instruct Vicky to marry, to save the family estate from falling into the grasp of evil Lord Dain. Her choices lie between the handsome rogue Mr. Carmichael and former childhood best friend Tom Sherborne. I loved watching Vicky and Tom begin to fall in love with each other as the novel progressed. I knew they would end up together but waiting for them to realize it was all the more fun as I continued reading. I liked the mystery element as well. Very much got Pride and Prejudice and Emma vibes the most from this novel, which are my personal favorite Austen novels. The author used quotes from different Austen novels at the start of each chapter, which I really liked as well. I also got a lot of The Viscount Who Loved Me vibes from this book, minus the adult spice of course.

Obviously this is YA so it reads the way a typical YA would, but this doesn't bother me, because I enjoyed every second of this novel. There were multiple perspectives, with Vicky and Tom's as the main perspectives, with Susie thrown in the mix a few times. For fans of Jane Austen, this book will be a wonderful read. I couldn't put it down.

Genre: Historical Fiction ( )