For the Love of Austen, Book 2
From the publisher:
This fresh and whip-smart modern retelling of Jane Austen’s classic Pride and Prejudice—from the authors of the “great beach read” (Bookreporter) Emma of 83rd Street—transports you to summer in the Hamptons, where classes clash, rumors run wild, and love has a frustrating habit of popping up where you least expect it.
It’s a truth universally acknowledged—well, by Elizabeth Bennet anyway—that there’s nothing worse than summer in the Hamptons. She should know: she’s lived out there her whole life. Every June, her hometown on the edge of Long Island is inundated with rich Manhattanites who party until dawn and then disappear by September. And after twenty-five years, Lizzy wants to leave, too.
But after putting her own dreams on hold to help save her family’s failing bakery, she’s still surfing the same beach every morning and waiting for something, anything, to change. She’s not holding her breath though, not even when her sister starts flirting with the hot new bachelor in town, Charlie Pierce, and he introduces Lizzy to his even hotter friend.
Will Darcy is everything Lizzy Bennet is not. Aloof, arrogant…and rich. Of course, he’s never cared about money. In fact, it’s number one on his long list of things that irk him. Number two? His friend Charlie’s insistence on setting him up with his new girlfriend’s sharp-tongued sister. Lizzy Bennet is all wrong for him, from her money-hungry family to her uncanny ability to speak to him as bluntly as he does everyone else. But then maybe that’s why he can’t stop thinking about her.
Lizzy is sure Will hates everybody. He thinks she willfully misunderstands them. Yet, just as they strike an uneasy truce, mistakes threaten Charlie and Jane’s romance, with Will and Lizzy caught in the undertow. Between a hurricane and a hypocritical aunt, a drunken voicemail and a deceptive party promoter, the two must sift through the gossip and lies to protect the happiness of everyone they love—even if it means sacrificing their own. But when the truth also forces them to see each other in an entirely new light, they must swallow their pride to learn that love is a lot like surfing: sometimes the only way to survive is to let yourself fall.
“Bellezza and Harding put a beachy spin on Pride and Prejudice… Austenites will be over the moon.”
—Publishers Weekly
There are a ton of updated Pride & Prejudice retellings, but this is a really good one. Elizabeth “Lizzy” Bennett is the glue of the family, holding their bakery business together while her father recovers from a serious health scare. The bakery was an inherited family business and is barely hanging on. Her mother goes from one get-rich-quick scheme to the next; her latest is a bedazzled leggings pyramid scheme.
Charlie and his two sisters have rented a local McMansion on the beach for the summer. His best friend, Will Darcy, is spending weekends with them while his summer home in Montauk is under renovation. Charlie meets Lizzy’s older sister, Jane, and is smitten. Much to Lizzy’s surprise, Jane falls head over heels for Charlie. They keep pushing Lizzy and Will together, but it’s hate at first sight for those two.
Lizzy’s best friend, Piper, works at her family business, a local dive bar. Piper’s father has a dream of putting together a Hamptons music festival, but hasn’t managed it for many years. A visiting Manhattanite and supposed friend of Charlie and Will convinces him that he has the connections to make it happen, as long as he is paid very well.
Nothing goes according to plan, but Lizzy and Will go from enemies to lovers, and a happy ending is guaranteed for all. I loved it!
12/2024 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch
ELIZABETH OF EAST HAMPTON by Audrey Bellezza & Emily Harding. St. Martin’s Griffin (November 12, 2024). ISBN: 978-1250329387. 352p.
Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™ 