*I received a free copy of Lies Jane Austen Told Me from via Netgalley. This has in no way influenced my voluntary review, which is honest and unbiased *
Lies Jane Austen Told Me on 7 November 2017 Pages: 320
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. It isn't until Lucas reveals to Emma that he was adopted into the Hampton family that she begins to understand his loyalty to Blake as well as his devotion to the child April-she is Lucas's biological niece.
Emma opens up to Lucas about the feelings of abandonment she has harbored ever since she was a child and her mother left the family. As she helps Lucas deal with his past demons, she is able to exorcise some of her own.
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.
Lie Jane Austen Told Me kind of blew me away. I didn’t know what to expect when I started reading, but whatever it was, I got much more!
Story:
Lies Jane Austen Told Me is Emma’s story. How she kept her rose colored glasses firmly in place looking for her happily ever after. Possibly she looked for this in the wrong places, though, and suddenly, she wanted to distance herself from everything and anything that had to do with her former heroine. Especially after she showed up at her boyfriend’s place to surprise him. And found him having dinner with another woman.
One of the themes in Lies Jane Austen Told Me is to find oneself. But it’s also about finding love, daring to believe in it, and grabbing hold of it with both hands and everything else we got. After Emma left Blake, she met Lucas, Blake’s brother, and that made things very complicated for all of them.
Lies Jane Austen Told Me was a complex contemporary romance that also dealt with other subjects, as Emma was working hard to help the company she worked for succeed. When Lucas showed up as a consultant she didn’t know whether she should laugh or cry. On the one hand, she wanted to get to know him better. On the other hand, she was sure she could manage on her own.
Characters:
Emma appeared a bit flighty at first, she really believed in love with a capital L, but once she thought she was proven wrong, she did a complete 180 turn. At least for a while.
Blake wasn’t a player, but he also wasn’t the right person for Emma. They were together more because of habit than because they loved each other dearly.
Lucas was great. Not only was he a knight in shining armor, he was smart, funny, and fiercely loyal, too.
Writing Style:
First person point of view from Emma’s perspective, past tense.
Feels:
I felt lightness and love while reading Lies Jane Austen Told Me! There was humor, friendship, loyalty and courage.
Jane never had the happily ever after she made us believe we can have. Experience from my collegiate years taught me that it wa far better to take advice from people who had walked the walk instead of just talked the talk.
We awkwardly stood at our doors, our demeanors suddenly stiff and uncomfortable as we nodded and parted ways to our individual rooms. It was probable that the discomfort existed only on my side, so much of what we did felt like dating.
Then came the self-admonition. You can’t be mad at someone for being mad at you. It doesn’t make sense. But I was mad at him. Sense be hanged.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms
Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.
Okay, this looks great! Gotta read it for sure.
I think you’d enjoy it, Christy!
Oh wow, you make me want to read this book now!!! From the cover itself I thought it was a historical romance. Hehe
Anyway, I need to check out this book. Thanks for putting this beauty on my radar. Awesome review. ?❤️
I thought that, too, Geybie, but I was very wrong. And it was very well done!
Twitter: limabean74
I actually have this one from the publisher. I did a spotlight on my blog. I wasn’t sure if I was going to read it or not since I am not really a fan of Jane Austin but I might give it a change now.
Great review!
Oh it doesn’t really have all that much to do with Jane Austen, apart from the fact that Emma is a big fan 😉
Lovely review. Pride and Prejudice is my favorite book! This sounds like a fun one to cuddle up with.
Okay, well you know that I’m going to have to pick up this one. 😉 It sounds like a great romance plus much more and that it relates to Jane Austen seals the deal for me. I’m happy you enjoyed it – and pre-approved it for me, wifey. LOL
I hope you’re having a great week so far! I’m missing you!! {{{love & big hugs}}}
The title totally got me intrigued in reading this review. And I think it touches on a very important thing. It can be hard to find yourself, be true to oneself and independent and still become one with someone else in a relationship. It’s a hard balance to find and that’s what draws me to this one.