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Summary
Summary
Ever since Emma Pierce 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 when it turns out that what her boyfriend Blake 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, only to find her job threatened when her boss brings in a consultant to help her expand the business to 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. But as perfect as Lucas seems, he clearly has his secrets. After all, there's an angry woman demanding money from him and a little girl who Lucas feels responsible for.
Realizing that her love life is as complicated as anything Jane Austen could have dreamed up, Emma must figure out the truth--and soon--if she wants any hope of writing her own "happily ever after" ending.
Author Notes
Julie Wright wrote her first book when she was fifteen, and has since written twenty-three novels. She has a husband, three kids, a dog, and a varying amount of fish, frogs, and salamanders (depending on attrition). She loves writing, reading, traveling, speaking at schools, hiking, playing with her kids, and watching her husband make dinner.
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Wright (Victoria's Promise) does contemporary romance right in this diverting novel that takes the famous words of the queen mother of romance novels and throws them back in her face. L.A. marketing executive Emma Pierce has read every Jane Austen book cover to cover, but has failed to find her perfect Mr. Darcy. When she catches soon-to-be-ex Blake grilling fish (not a euphemism) with another woman, she gives up on following Austen's advice or seeking romantic companionship, and decides to instead take this opportunity to reexamine and recalculate her priorities. That lasts only as long as it takes her to meet Blake's brother, Lucas. Even as she falls in love with him, she can't get past one incongruity in his otherwise spotless behavior. As for Lucas, he's holding back in deference to Blake's sincere regret for hurting Emma, whom he claims to still love. True love manages to surmount these hurdles in this enjoyable story with just enough heft. Agent: Sara Crowe, Pippin Properties. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Breaking up with someone is never easy, especially if you have been together a long time. But Emma Pierce realizes that she and Jane Austen must finally part company. Emma used to believe that Jane's books held the answers to every romantic question in her life until the night she showed up at Blake Hampton's family home expecting to receive a marriage proposal only to find her boyfriend busy serving his famous grilled fish to another lady. Throwing herself into her work seems like a logical way for Emma to get over her heartbreak, but she soon discovers that the new consultant her boss just hired to help her out is none other than Blake's brother, Lucas. Employing her own deliciously dry sense of wit, Whitney Award-winner Wright deftly pays homage to the inherent romantic wisdom found in Austen's classic novels in this delightfully fun and refreshingly sweet contemporary romance.--Charles, John Copyright 2017 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Emma Pierce is the chief marketing officer at Kinetics, an upscale, all-inclusive health spa and fitness experience in Los Angeles. She is also a devoted Jane Austen fan, but she has doubts about Austen's advice on love after belatedly taking her boyfriend Blake up on his invitation to visit him at his parents' San Diego home. She thought a proposal might be in the offing, yet once inside the gated manse, Emma seems to have surprised Blake, another woman is there for dinner, and the folks are out of town. Back at work, Emma is told to expect a new consultant with some East Coast perspective related to opening new Kinetics locations. And who is it but Lucas Hampton, Blake's brother, who has a compelling backstory of his own. Verdict Wright's (Victoria's Promise) latest is a cute play on the world of Jane Austen and those who love her. The romance is sweet as sugar and takes a while to resolve, allowing for a bit of will she or won't she (or he, for that matter). Despite a minor gaffe in the spelling of "Bennet" (which this reviewer has been assured will be corrected for the next printing), this title is recommended where gentle romances have pride of place.-Bette-Lee Fox, Library Journal © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Excerpts
Excerpts
Chapter One "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."--Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen is a horrific liar. I used to believe that Jane, my Jane, could never be wrong about anything. She was the quintessential authority on all things to do with love, romance, and matrimony. Her complete works were the guidelines and rules I lived my romantic life by: from my first introduction to the Regency period when I'd been fifteen years old, and my best friend's mother begged us to join her in watching the movie Emma -the version with Gwyneth Paltrow in it. How could I not love an author who wrote a book and named it after me? It didn't hurt that I had a lot of the same features as Gwyneth Paltrow: pale blonde hair, pale skin, pale blue eyes. But as I moved into my mid-twenties, and no men ever acted as gallantly as Mr. Knightly or Mr. Darcy, where no one ever called my blue eyes fine or tucked my hair behind my ear, I came to a startling and wretched revelation: Jane never found love. Experience from my collegiate years taught me that it was far better to take advice from people who had walked the walk instead of just talked the talk. Jane died an unmarried woman, which in her day was something disastrous. In my current residence of modern day America, married or not married didn't matter much. But to be unloved . . . that was disastrous. And I spent so much of my time being unloved that I knew something had to change if I wanted a different ending than my once-hero author. I had to stop believing her. The bad thing, the little secret I carried with me all through my liberal education and feminist discussions with my friends as I worked my way to executive levels in my company, was that I loved love. I wanted to be loved and to give love and to fight and make up and smile across the room at the one my heart raced for-smile because I would know he was mine. I wanted it too much and was disappointed too often. Jane and I had to split up. Breaking up with Jane was far worse than breaking up with any boyfriend. I felt as jilted by that lady author from two hundred years ago as I'd ever felt in love. The revelation of Austen-style deceit allowed me to turn my focus to work instead of romance. That shift in focus was how I found myself at the office at the end of a Friday before a holiday weekend instead of chasing ridiculous romantic dreams. Excerpted from Lies Jane Austen Told Me by Julie Wright All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
