By the Book by Julia Sonneborn brings us to the hallowed halls of a college. Ane Corey is an English professor who is on her last legs. She works hard, struggles to pay for her student loans and does not have tenure. All that adds up to an insecure future and job. She has the worries of publish or perish that many college professors have. Anne has written her book, but no one has accepted it for publication.

Meanwhile, the new college president is none other than her first love Adam Martinez. He seems to not remember what they meant to each other. He has new responsibilities and is surrounded by beautiful women who hang on his every word. Meanwhile, her father is having medical issues, her sister is not being helpful, and her best friend is having an affair with a friend’s husband. While she is hopeful and has some strong, caring friends life is sometimes quite hard. Adam seems to be around, but is not showing her any special attention. She doesn’t know where she stands.

Julia Sonneborn reminds of us of the greatness of the first love. The academic world with all the rules and expectations is almost another character in the story, which adds to the atmosphere of the story. By the Book by Julia Sonneborn was a good read.

Thanks so much to NetGalley, Gallery Books and Julia Sonneborn for the opportunity to read and review this debut novel - really enjoyed it! This is a retelling of Jane Austin's Persuasion, which I've never read, but a contemporary romance that's light and totally easy to get lost in.

Anne is an English professor at a college in California. She has a mountain of student loan debt, is struggling to finish her book, and has been told that unless she gets it published, she won't get tenure and will lose her job. On top of that, her dad is struggling with health issues. So when the college announces a new president and it turns out to be her ex-fiancée, she becomes a bit overwhelmed. A new visiting author helps to take her mind off her troubles.

This book is filled with real life - friendship, family, work and love - and spins it all into a really enjoyable read. Kudos on a great debut - loved the cover too!

The cover is adorable. It instantly captured my attention.
This is a modern retelling on Jane Austen's Persuasion set on the campus of Fairfax College. I liked the characters . I was relieved that Anne was strong yet vulnerable. I was able to relate to her frustrations and her tears. I adored Larry, Anne's bestie. Everyone should have a Larry in their lives. I also enjoyed the literary references. This is a romance for true bookworm. I would love to read more from this author.
Thanks to Gallery Books for sending me an ARC of this book via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Having never read Jane Austen's Persuasion (I know, shame on me), I can't speak of any comparisons or lack thereof. In all honesty, that had nothing to do with my interest in this one. The cover caught my attention and the synopsis piqued my interest. The author certainly has talent and the story is interesting enough, if a bit predictable. I did find myself somewhat confused by the need for so many emails, including addresses, subject lines, etc, interspersed throughout the story. Several were showing the many denials Anne received from publishers, but there were other completely mundane things included as well. They quickly became repetitive and tedious, and I'll readily admit that it didn't take me long to start skimming those parts to get the gist of it before moving on. That said, I never felt like I was reading a romance. I read about a fling and an affair in this tale, but neither of those felt at all romantic. There is plenty about Anne and her ex, their break-up several years earlier, and her discomfort about having to work with him, but the interactions between them are brief and scattered, and completely ordinary. The closest they come to being remotely romantic is one scene when they're having a drink in celebration, but any romance is in Anne's thoughts and doesn't progress any further. So, even though the conclusion for this one held no surprises, there was no real build-up of romantic tension. As far as the characters are concerned, we get a rather odd mix of the likable and not so likable. Our main character, Anne, is interesting if a bit self-centered, but the shining star in this one for me is Larry. He's witty and endearing even when he's making bad choices. To sum it up, the story was okay, but the romance fell a little flat for me.

I’m unapologetically a huge Jane Austen fan, and while P&P will always be my favorite, Persuasion is a close second, because I absolutely adore second-chance romances. While this isn’t my favorite Austen retelling, or even my favorite Persuasion one, this was a quite enjoyable and really well done modern version. This is going to be pretty spoilerific, because I’m assuming anyone reading this knows the basic plot of Persuasion. While it’s certainly not a requirement to have read Persuasion to enjoy this book, I think you’d miss a lot of the fun.

“How could I explain to her that this—this office filled with books, this job at Fairfax, this life of the mind—had cost me more than I’d ever expected? I hadn’t dated anyone in years, my student debt was the size of a mortgage, and my job could easily be eliminated at a moment’s notice.”


Anne, is, perhaps, not exactly happy with her life. While she’s a professor at a small liberal arts college in southern California, she’s got a ridiculous amount of student debt, an uncertain career future if she can’t get her manuscript published, screwed-up family relationships, and a nonexistent love life. Still, the start of a new school year is something to be happy about – until she finds out that the new college president is her ex-fiancé Adam. Adam seems to have it all together – a prestigious job that caps off a so-far excellent career, handsome looks, and a cute dog – while Anne, well, “she was only Anne,” to quote Austen. Hurt by his seeming inability to recognize her, Anne takes up with the charming Rick, a writer-in-residence. The reader, of course, knows the relationship is doomed, but I was amused by the ways Ms. Sonneborn found to display his unworthiness, including the fact that he specifically tells Anne that he doesn’t like Austen – he calls her books “oldfashioned chick lit,” while Anne’s favorite book is Persuasion. I found this a bit tongue-in-cheek but it gave the characters permission to use some of the more out of the modern vernacular lines.

Besides Anne’s romantic life, there’s a few other subplots: her BFF Larry’s on-the-down-low romance with an up and coming actor (in a Jane Eyre with zombies movie, no less), her and her sister’s attempts to cope with her father’s worsening health, her rocky relationship with her father and sister, and her need to get her manuscript published so she can get tenure. I thought all the subplots worked amazingly well to reinforce the points of the main plot, though I will admit that I adored Larry and any scene he was in. There’s some particularly hilarious emoji conversations that I absolutely died over. I mean, look at this scene from early in the book, when they’re discussing Adam:

“'Boo. That’s too bad. I don’t like it when people are too perfect. What is it with this guy? He’s got the fancy degrees, the high-powered CV, and he’s good-looking, too! I mean, why do some people get all the cookies? I want some cookies, too!’
‘Larry, you’ve got plenty of cookies on your own,’ I said, rolling my eyes. ‘I mean, give me a break, you’re a tenured professor with a PhD from Harvard. What more could you want?’
‘Oh, a personal life, maybe. Or some more hair would be nice,’ Larry said, pretending to pout. ‘I just want more cookies.’”

I adored the setting of this quasi-New England college town in southern California, the ridiculousness of departmental meetings and alumni fundraising (GO WOLVERINES!!!), and all the other details that go along with being a professor a small liberal arts college. What I really loved, though, was the ways Ms. Sonneborn found to modernize Persuasion.

In the original novel, Anne was persuaded against marrying Capt. Wentworth because he had no money and no family connections, and therefore wasn’t a suitable match for someone of her stature. In this novel, Anne’s persuaded against the marriage, partially, by her respected advisor, who in a sort of annoying backwards view of feminism makes her believe that if she marries, she’ll have to give up her dreams of graduate school and being a professor, and settle instead for – GASP – being a mother or kindergarten teacher. I thought this was a masterful way of updating the reasons against the relationship, because I’m sure any woman alive today can sympathize with the dueling desires of having a career and a family, and feeling like they’re making a mediocre showing at both. I also adored the updated version of the reconciliation, with Adam overhearing Anne talking about not giving up on love, even when a relationship is in the trash, and the letter Adam writes her where he finally declares his feelings for her. I’ll certainly admit to crying when he breaks out the famous “I have loved none but you” line.

I’m still crunching over the fact that they made Adam, basically, an illegal immigrant – his mother moved them to America from Guatemala when he was a child – so he is, in essence a DREAMer. It felt a bit too politically on-the-nose, but I do admit that it’s a genius way to try to portray the differences in standing between the two families that would have been more easily understood in regency England.

“'I keep wishing I could go back in time and change things . . . that maybe everything would have turned out differently if I’d just paid attention more, listened, understood the signs. Do you know what I mean?’
‘I do,’ Adam said. He looked troubled.
‘I don’t know why I do this,’ I said, laughing bitterly. ‘I can’t help myself. I must be a masochist.’”


My one big complaint was that in the original novel, when they meet again, Capt. Wentworth is still angry with Anne for the broken proposal years ago. In this version, it’s obvious – to the reader, at least – that Adam still has feelings for Anne, and things just conspire against them having it all out in a conversation. I think there was still a satisfactory amount of tension without that, and I can understand why Ms. Sonneborn would chose to change that – the way it works in the original book always made me feel that Anne needed to “earn” Capt. Wentworth’s love – and this way the blame of breaking of the engagement seems to fall equally on Anne and Adam.

Overall, this is an enjoyable and hilarious retelling of Persuasion. If you’re not all up on your Austen, then I think this would still be some pretty fun chick lit. There were some bits left unresolved, so I’m hoping for a sequel starring Larry!

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I definitely wanted to read this book when I saw that it was a modern retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion. I read Austen’s book years ago and do not remember it in great detail, so I will not be able to compare the two.

You do not need to have read Persuasion to enjoy this book. It is the perfect stand- alone light novel. This is the story of Anne a college literature professor working towards tenure, when her long lost love Adam enters as the new President of the University. With a few more relationships and drama thrown in Anne tries to decide if she is truly happy with the way her life turned out. It makes for an entertaining story.

If you love romance or you are looking for a lighter read this is a great choice! I enjoyed this one and would definitely recommend it.

If you enjoy Jane Austen and the Brontë sisters then I think you'll enjoy this writing. It is a modern approach, but a feel of a classic. It is well written and the characters are done perfectly for the story.

"By the Book" by Julia Sonneborn
I really liked this story. It certainly kept me entertained.. sometimes with happiness, sometimes with tears... yet always wanting to find out what the next page was going to say to me. I was gifted with a copy of this story and am ever so happy for my good fortune. A good story should never be missed.

This book was cute. Predictable and cute. Just what I needed in my reading life at the time.

English professor Anne has goals: get a book deal, make tenure, dealing with her aging father. Maybe a new romance? They all seem to be moving along nicely. Then her ex-fiance shows up as the new president of the college she teaches at. Will this derail everything?

I just liked Anne. I enjoyed most of the other characters, but Anne had me from "English professor." She was a little quirky, but I can appreciate that. I just wanted to see her succeed.

The plot was predictable, yes. I look for that in my lighter fiction sometimes. It's nice to just be along for the ride with no huge surprises and the ending you were wanting.

Enjoyable read.

I have a confession- if you've read my blog before you might see that I do that quite a bit(confess to things) LOL - I have never read Persuasion by Jane Austen so I can't compare this novel to it in any way. I will say though that after having read By the Book I want to!


There was/is so much to love about this novel- in fact I read it in one day. That's how charming, with a pinch of the romantic, this was.


Ms Sonneborn's writing style is familiar and warm - what I mean is, it's friendly. I hope that makes sense?


Although I was a bit let down with the treatment of the plot point involving Anne and her father this did not lessen my enjoyment of the novel.


The characters shine here in By the Book, each of them in their roles brilliantly developed, and I will admit to wanting more- but that was because I enjoyed the book.


By the Book has style substance and wit and I'm a huge fan. I hope I do not have wait long before Ms Sonneborn publishes another novel.

I LOVED this loosely based modern take on Jane Austen’s Persuasion. This was a sweet and fun second chance novel that made me smile. I really liked the characters especially gay best friend and side kick, Larry! This story even gave me a happy tear at the ending! I recommend this book for anyone who likes a great women’s lit novel and second chance romance!

Honestly- you don't need to have read Persuasion in order to really enjoy this compulsively readable and entertaining tale of Anne, an academic, dealing with her career, her love life, and her family. In fact, you might enjoy it more if you, like me, read the original so long ago that you don't remember all the details. Sonneborn has written some crackerjack characters and terrific dialogue. Anne is a professor hoping for tenure (and to pay off her student loans) and Adam is her long lost fiancé and now boss. Rick, well, he's the wild boy love interest but keep your eye on him. Larry, her colleague, is the truth teller we all need and he's got the coolest love interest. If you've dealt with older parents, you'll recognize Anne's dad and if you've got a sister, well you might hear her voice in Lauren's. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I very much enjoyed this and you will too if you're looking for a good realistic read with a happy ending.

Based loosely on Jane Austen's Persuasion, By the Book is about Anne Corey a literature professor at Fairfax college in California who is trying to secure a tenured position teaching, but in order to do that she must get a publishing contract for her work-in-progress and the deadline is quickly approaching. To top all that off, Anne's ex-fiance just became the President of the university. Seeing him again for the first time in thirteen years, Anne begins to evaluate her life and how certain events have led her to where she is today. And as she looks back, she begins to wonder if the decisions she's made have led her to the right place.

Overall, I really enjoyed this read. It's a light, sweet story. The romance is there but I mostly loved that the story as a whole is Anne's reflection on her life rather than Anne trying to get back together with her former love because she suddenly feels lonely. The ruminations that go through Anne's head throughout the course of the story don't really take her down a new path, therefore, telling her and readers that despite the broken heart, and despite some tough times along the way, she ended up exactly where she was supposed to be. With or without a relationship. Her accomplishments are her own and she doesn't owe them to anyone else. I loved that this distinction is written out very clearly.

But with that said, there is a strong romance plot throughout; that of Anne and her ex-fiance Adam. While we do get the basics on how they got together in the first place, and why they broke up, I wanted a few more of the in-between moments. The moments that solidified their relationship with one another once upon a time. I think this would have made the devastation of the break-up more apparent, which I think it's supposed to be but didn't really come across strongly enough for my tastes.

One of the relationships where Julia Sonneborn really excelled was the friendship between Anne and her fellow professor Larry. They are truly best friends and I loved that they are both totally devoted to one another. One of the things that was on the negative side for me while reading was the predictability of some of the story threads. Most notably, the "new" romance that Anne gets into. If you've read any book by Jane Austen you can pretty much guess how this new relationship will go. It's entirely possible being a retelling of a Jane Austen novel that is the exact reason why the author decides to follow certain edicts, but I think it would have been ok to break out of the box a little more with it. In the background a secondary romance for Larry totally engrossed me and at times had me thinking the book from Larry's perspective would have been delightful to read.

I think that Julia Sonneborn really pays the source material quite the homage with this story, but I did like how it's not too overt, it's subtle. Actually, I would go so far to say that the love of reading / books in general is more blatantly obvious as more than just Austen are referenced throughout the story. You could feel the love for the written word coming through the pages.

Overall, I enjoyed this debut it hits a lot of what I love reading in contemporary romances. I really look forward to seeing where Julia Sonneborn goes next.

So, although I realize that By The Book by Julia Sonneborn, is a modern retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion I cannot base my review on that. I have never read any Jane Austen. I am not sure how that happened, but maybe I will now. I enjoyed this book. Anne is very relatable as she struggles with tenure at a small liberal arts college. Flash backs to her past are well integrated into the story and give insight as to why she reacts the way she does. Best gay friend might have degraded into a parody, but instead added amusement and depth. I would read more by this author.

This was an entertaining, sometimes a little dramatic read. I enjoyed it and the characters.

Disclosure: This is a retelling of Persuasion, which I have never read. Therefore, I have no opinions about how well Sonneborn pulled off re-doing Jane Austen. I can tell you, that I found this book very delightful, and I shed my signature "happy tears" over the ending.

When I first read the synopsis for this book, I thought I was signing on for a second chance romance, but really, this was more women's lit to me, because the focus was so solidly on Anne coming to terms with her past decisions and trying to gain control of her life.

"I suddenly felt faint. My former fiancé was my new boss."

Anne, a 30-something college professor, was at a critical time in her fledgling career. Her contract was coming to an end, and she needed to get a book deal or lose her position. At the same time, she was dealing with an aging parent, never ending bills, and the return of her one-time epic love, Adam. Coming face to face with her past, has her reflecting on her current life circumstances and questioning her previous decisions.

I really liked Anne. She was very down to earth and relatable. She also had a fantastic sense of humor. I really enjoyed her narration, commentary, and self-reflection. I absolutely adored Larry and thought him and Anne formed a perfect friendship. He definitely filled the role of quirky sidekick, and he did it well. Anne was funny, but Larry was hilarious. He side plot, was amusing, and a besotted Larry was a ton of fun too. There were also all those tangled webs of relationships that are ever-present in novels, such as Austen's. It was quite a web Sonneborn wove, and it did its job, leading me down certain paths of thought and making me laugh.

I liked the way Sonneborn wove the flashbacks into the story. The placement was thoughtful, and fit nicely with the present-time events giving us a little insight into why Anne was making the decisions she was making. Some of these flashbacks really broke my heart. When I read about past Anne&Adam, I was totally shipping them, and I was eager to find out what led to the demise of their relationship. With each part of the past that is revealed, I understood Anne more and more.

I loved the ending. I was wearing a big, stupid grin and had tears in my eyes, but I do wish it wasn't as rushed. It wasn't that it was not satisfying, I just wanted more, which is never a bad thing.

Overall: A fun retelling, which I am filing under "makes-me-happy", because it did.

A nice albeit predictable book that borrows from Jane Austen and other type novels. The characters are likeable enough, the story is nicely wrapped up and the drama is just enough. I think I would have preferred an entire book devoted to Larry, the gay best friend sidekick who I felt was way more entertaining and endearing.

It is a nice read and would be a great summer beach read.

“…I have loved none but you.” –Jane Austen, Persuasion

Modern retelling of Austen’s classic Persuasion. Rating PG->18: mild language, sex scenes between consenting adults, discussion of adult themes and sexual orientation.

This story is completely a stand-a-lone. It could easily be read without knowing anything about Austen’s Persuasion. In fact, there were times when I found it hard to follow because I was trying to make it fit my concept of the Persuasion time-line. I knew what needed to happen next and kept wondering how the author was going to bridge the two stories. It might have been better if I had just accepted the story for what it was… a love story.

Because very few of the names were similar to canon, I found it hard to keep track of the Persuasion characters and the story. We have Anne Corey and we have Dr. Russell as her college advisor. When she fell in love with Adam Martinez, Dr. Russell advised her against having a relationship prior to entering grad school. Getting her doctorate was going to be hard enough… and for Anne to try and maintain a relationship would be doubly hard on her academic goals. Anne subsequently broke it off with Adam.

“Persuasion is often more effectual than force.” Aesop

Those familiar with the Persuasion story know that Anne gave up Wentworth [in our case Adam] and lived to regret it years later. In our modern story the time difference is fifteen years rather than the eight canon years. Anne had not seen Adam in all that time and now he was president of her college, thus making him her boss. There were many new characters added to the story and several characters combined in order to lessen the traffic. In this version, Anne only had the one sister, a scary combination of the canon sisters, Elizabeth and Mary.

Many JAFF [Jane Austen Fan Fiction] stories/books are located in or on a college campus. The characters are typically college-aged students and in keeping with the age Austen set forth in her stories. This is the first book I’ve read where Austen’s characters are much older and are actually the professors on campus. This was so cool. I really enjoyed the academic atmosphere and the day-to-day activities between the staff within the different branches of the college. From the chatty/nosy support staff, to the various professors [with tenure, on a tenure-track and the non-tenured hopeful], to the incoming president of the college… the interplay between our characters was entertaining.

There was something for everyone. The descriptions of Anne as she researched for her book, the visits to the library archives [I could almost smell the ink, dust and paper], the various books and their authors discussed, poetry, opinions and the arguments supporting the stance on women writers in literature… was simply amazing. I hope I am not being crude when I say I drooled… yeah, I did.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t an epilogue and several threads were left dangling. Not sure if there is another book… it left me wondering what happened to several of the characters and their story.

I would like to thank the publisher, Galley, Threshold, Pocket Book, Gallery Books for this ARC [Advanced-Reader-Copy] via NetGalley. Expected publication date February 6, 2018. The views expressed are my own.

By the Book a novel loosely based on Jane Austin’s Persuasion (which I have not read) was
overall a cute, light, fun read.

What I enjoyed the most…
The beginning of the story and learning about Anne’s personality and her friendship with Larry.
The flashbacks that gave insight into her relationship with her ex fiancé Adam who in her present life became President of the college where she teaches.

What I would have liked to see more of…
Development and depth of relationships. There really wasn’t much interaction between Anne and Adam once they were at the same college. While I understand there was strain due to how their relationship ended previously there was no real development of their relationship in the present. There weren’t enough interactions between them, there was no trying to talk about the past or even a little flirting- just a rushed ending. Sure, it was predictable what was ultimately going to happen but there really wasn’t enough evidence to support that ending.

What I would have liked to see less of…
Some of the side stories didn’t seem necessary- such as Larry’s relationship or the amount of time spent on Rick.

That you to Netgalley for the ARC copy.

Persuasion is my favorite Jane Austen novel so I was excited to read Julia Sonneborn's modern retelling of the classic. In this version, Anne is middling college professor who can't quite seem to get to the next level in anything in life whether it be tenure, publishing her book, her family relationships or love. Meanwhile her ex-fiance, Adam has reentered her life as the new president of her college, and thus, her boss. They dance around each other, entertain other romances, deny their feelings and, most importantly to any fan of Persuasion, exchange letters.

I'm glad that I read By the Book as it reminded me of how much I love the original. Sadly, nothing can quite live up to the yearning of Persuasion, so ultimately it pales in comparison.