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3.09 AVERAGE
3.09 AVERAGE
Thank you to Forever - Grand Central Publishing and Netgalley for the advanced reading copy. Review contains my own thoughts and opinions.
Athena and Thorne gave me so many feels. Blame it On the Brontës had a great small town atmosphere with lots of charming side characters. It was a little slow in the middle but picked up and then I couldn’t put it down! For all you spice fans, this is mostly fade-to-black.
✅ Small town Illinois
✅ Thorne: lawyer turned bakery/cafe owner
✅ Athena: Assistant Professor on sabbatical to write about an erotic novelist who writes under a pseudonym
✅ Second chance
✅ So! many! secrets!
And now, for my favorite quote: “Ever since ‘War and a Piece of Ass,’ I’ve been hooked on Tolstoy.”
Athena and Thorne gave me so many feels. Blame it On the Brontës had a great small town atmosphere with lots of charming side characters. It was a little slow in the middle but picked up and then I couldn’t put it down! For all you spice fans, this is mostly fade-to-black.
✅ Small town Illinois
✅ Thorne: lawyer turned bakery/cafe owner
✅ Athena: Assistant Professor on sabbatical to write about an erotic novelist who writes under a pseudonym
✅ Second chance
✅ So! many! secrets!
And now, for my favorite quote: “Ever since ‘War and a Piece of Ass,’ I’ve been hooked on Tolstoy.”
Second Chance somewhat enemies to loves as they are no longer friends, lots of tension between Athena and Thorne.
Athena is sent back home - her small, non-interesting, couldn't escape fast midwestern town. Somehow her mother and father failed to mention her ex moved recently - and acquired the much loved café. Where Athena secured a job from her mother's long time bestie - except she's on hiatus. And also failed to mention Thorne purchased the café from her before ditching town. Seriously. Someone could have told her.
But no fear - Athena straps on her mom's sensible shoes, waitresses the crap out of the café and not so subtly pumps the patrons for local gossip. Specifically about the hottest new best seller - a hidden identity of a hugely successful erotica author. Living in the town. But no one knows nothing.
Working with Thorne brings back the utter humiliation of their horrible breakup - while stoking the fire they have for each other. The long literary conversations. Their acting, reading poetry college days.
And of course the dog.
Very enjoyable book. Loved it!
Athena is sent back home - her small, non-interesting, couldn't escape fast midwestern town. Somehow her mother and father failed to mention her ex moved recently - and acquired the much loved café. Where Athena secured a job from her mother's long time bestie - except she's on hiatus. And also failed to mention Thorne purchased the café from her before ditching town. Seriously. Someone could have told her.
But no fear - Athena straps on her mom's sensible shoes, waitresses the crap out of the café and not so subtly pumps the patrons for local gossip. Specifically about the hottest new best seller - a hidden identity of a hugely successful erotica author. Living in the town. But no one knows nothing.
Working with Thorne brings back the utter humiliation of their horrible breakup - while stoking the fire they have for each other. The long literary conversations. Their acting, reading poetry college days.
And of course the dog.
Very enjoyable book. Loved it!
Can't give it one star because I did finish it, but it was a slog imo. I'm starting to realize I don't like romances where both characters have POV chapters. It robs the mystery a little bit. Honestly the set up was more suited for a Pride and Prejudice type thing (she's too proud to imagine he could ever not want to be a lit prof and his family is too prejudice of her upbringing) than Wuthering Heights.
Thank you to NetGalley, Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and Annie Sereno for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book follows Athena who comes home to small town Laurel, Illinois, on a (forced) personal leave from a job as an English professor in San Francisco to write her book. She hopes to uncover the real identity of the author of erotic novellas that transform literary classics into spicy erotica. It just so happens that while she does "research" for her book as a waitress for a local cafe, she has to work for her ex-boyfriend (ex-love of her life) Thorne Kent.
As a sucker for second-chance romances, I really enjoyed this book. The writing was witty and fresh. We also get some of Thorne’s point of view which I really liked as it livens things up. I enjoyed reading it and I definitely think I will be re-reading the classics mentioned here soon.
This book follows Athena who comes home to small town Laurel, Illinois, on a (forced) personal leave from a job as an English professor in San Francisco to write her book. She hopes to uncover the real identity of the author of erotic novellas that transform literary classics into spicy erotica. It just so happens that while she does "research" for her book as a waitress for a local cafe, she has to work for her ex-boyfriend (ex-love of her life) Thorne Kent.
As a sucker for second-chance romances, I really enjoyed this book. The writing was witty and fresh. We also get some of Thorne’s point of view which I really liked as it livens things up. I enjoyed reading it and I definitely think I will be re-reading the classics mentioned here soon.
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
(3.5 rounded up to a 4)
Blame It on the Brontës is a second-chance romance by Annie Sereno. The ebook version is 371 pages. I listened to the audiobook, which clocks in at eleven hours and is narrated by Katie Schorr. We follow our two main characters characters with dual points-of-view.
Athena Murphy is an English professor who needs to write a book within eight months in order to save her job and receive tenure. She opts to write the biography for an anonymous writer named C.L. Garland, who writes erotic renditions of classic literature. Said mysterious author happens to live in her small midwestern hometown, so Athena decides to go home during her sabbatical to sniff out the elusive scribe. As a bonus, her mother's friend promises her a part-time job at a local café, where Athena can get all of the hot gossip around town. However, Athena was not aware that the café was recently sold to Thorne Kent, her college ex-boyfriend and the Mr. Rochester to her Jane. They'd already tried to be together twice in the past, but is the third time the charm?
This was mostly a fun read! I really enjoyed getting to know all of the locals in town. For a story about trying to find out the author of a steamy literary fanfiction series, this book was very low on the steam. Their relationship felt a little hot and cold to me at times, and also felt like a cozy home to return to at others. I found the cover of this book to be really cute, though our heroine is described as having olive skin and dark curls (as she has Greek ancestry), but the image on the cover does not really match.
Tropes in this book include: second-chance, return to hometown, queer side characters (gay, lesbian)
Special thanks to Hachette Audio, Grand Central Publishing, and NetGalley for providing an audio galley of this book for me to review. All opinions contained herein are my own.
Blame It on the Brontës is a second-chance romance by Annie Sereno. The ebook version is 371 pages. I listened to the audiobook, which clocks in at eleven hours and is narrated by Katie Schorr. We follow our two main characters characters with dual points-of-view.
Athena Murphy is an English professor who needs to write a book within eight months in order to save her job and receive tenure. She opts to write the biography for an anonymous writer named C.L. Garland, who writes erotic renditions of classic literature. Said mysterious author happens to live in her small midwestern hometown, so Athena decides to go home during her sabbatical to sniff out the elusive scribe. As a bonus, her mother's friend promises her a part-time job at a local café, where Athena can get all of the hot gossip around town. However, Athena was not aware that the café was recently sold to Thorne Kent, her college ex-boyfriend and the Mr. Rochester to her Jane. They'd already tried to be together twice in the past, but is the third time the charm?
This was mostly a fun read! I really enjoyed getting to know all of the locals in town. For a story about trying to find out the author of a steamy literary fanfiction series, this book was very low on the steam. Their relationship felt a little hot and cold to me at times, and also felt like a cozy home to return to at others. I found the cover of this book to be really cute, though our heroine is described as having olive skin and dark curls (as she has Greek ancestry), but the image on the cover does not really match.
Tropes in this book include: second-chance, return to hometown, queer side characters (gay, lesbian)
Special thanks to Hachette Audio, Grand Central Publishing, and NetGalley for providing an audio galley of this book for me to review. All opinions contained herein are my own.
Really enjoyed this. Read quickly because I couldn't put it down. Loved Athena, the main character. And Thorne was a believable partner for her - they made sense. I loved this book! Please write more, Annie!
Too many silly reasons to stay apart/not be honest for my taste, but still a fun read.
3ish
Paper
3ish
Paper
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes