Lies Jane Austen Told Me by Julie Wright

Lies Jane Austen Told Me by Julie Wright

Let’s begin with the summary:

Ever since Emma read Pride and Prejudice, she's been in love with Mr. Darcy and has regarded Jane Austen as the expert on all things romantic. So naturally when Emma falls for Blake Hampton and he invites her home to meet his parents, she is positive an engagement is in her future. After all, Blake is a single man in possession of a good fortune, and thus must be in want of a wife.

But when it turns out that what Blake actually wants is more of a hook-up than a honeymoon, Emma is hurt, betrayed, and furious. She throws herself deeper into her work as CMO of Kinetics, the fastest growing gym franchise in the nation. She loves her work, and she's good at it, which is why she bristles when her boss brings in a consultant to help her spearhead the new facilities on the East Coast. Her frustration turns to shock when that consultant turns out to be Blake's younger brother, Lucas.

Emma is determined not to fall for Lucas, but as she gets to know him, she realizes that Lucas is nothing like his brother. He is kind and attentive and spends his time and money caring for the less fortunate.

What she can't understand is why Lucas continues to try to push her back into Blake's arms when he so clearly has fallen as hard for her as she has fallen for him.

Realizing that her love life is as complicated as anything Jane Austen could have dreamed up, Emma must find a way to let Blake know that it's time for him to let her go and to let Lucas know it's time for him to love her back.

And now, my review:

Our poor heroine has decided romance should look like Jane Austen’s depictions. Who wouldn’t want that? Well, some of it, anyway. Sadly for her, she doesn’t find it to be true as modern-day men often do not act like Jane’s fictional heroes. I loved this premise.

The author has a strong writing voice and includes great prose. I liked that the story was written in first person, one of my favorite narrative styles. The heroine’s voice is a mixture of formal and modern, which was well done.

Readers who are familiar with Jane’s characters will get the most out of this book. There was a lot of potential here, but unfortunately, the book didn’t hold my interest past 15 percent. (I read the e-book format.) I wish the author and publisher all the best.