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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.
Publication Year: 2017
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4.5 stars
I adored this story! I had mixed expectations for this one. On one hand I love Jane Austen. On the other hand I was not a fan of the cover. (To clarify, I like the concept of the cover but not the execution.) This is a new-to-me author so there’s always an element of the unknown in that, too.
Emma is so real. All the ladies out there have had those moments of “am I overreacting?” when we’ve been wronged. And we all have that friend like Sylvia that will knock some sense into us. I loved the vulnerability Emma showed in certain situations, but then she would be tough (not witchy) when it came to her professional life. So often, the strong and successful woman comes across as a not so nice person whose employees dislike them. Not so with Emma and I appreciated that.
Lucas is wonderful…except when he’s singing the praises of Blake. My goodness dude, let it go! Shows how well this is written when the author can get me so annoyed with a character that I otherwise love. Lucas is really a kind and compassionate guy and so non-judgemental. On the other hand, I really disliked Blake until the end. I’m sure I was supposed to, but at least toward the end I started getting the idea of why Emma fell for him in the first place. No matter, he couldn’t trump Lucas.
This is what I’ve seen referred to as a “sweet romance” or a “clean romance”. In fact, when it comes to the intimate scenes I could have given this a G rating. But there are other aspects (drug use by peripheral characters, losing a parent, etc.) of this story that may not be appropriate for a younger audience. Don’t be fooled though, there is definitely some wonderful chemistry between the characters that gave me plenty of warm-fuzzies.
Of course, after enjoying this story so much I had to check out what other books this author has out. Imagine my delight when I realized I have the first book of her Tangerine Street series. I hope to find time really soon to give it a read.
One last note: You don’t have to know the works of Jane Austen to enjoy this book. It adds a bit of extra depth but it’s not necessary. But I’ll warn you, you’ll probably want to give her a read once you’re done with this book.
https://allingoodtimeblog.wordpress.com/2017/11/03/lies-jane-austen-told-me-book-review/
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