I enjoyed this novel but did not love it and liked the middle more than the beginning or the end. It has a bright cartoon cover and looks like it should be a romantic comedy, but it isn't. There's a little romance and some comedic scenes, but it swung wide of both for me. It’s definitely more women’s fiction than a romance - if I’d gone into it with that frame of mind I probably would have liked it more. Rachel Givney’s writing style if very visual and I could easily see this being a very satisfying movie or a mini-series.

Jane Austen and time travel… A combination that I never thought I would see together. A combination I never thought would work. BUT IT DOES!

Jane in Love is a fun, light hearted what if. I loved the premise from the very beginning. Anything about Jane Austen has me hooked.

It was fun to watch single 19th century Jane Austen arrive in the 21st century looking for her true love. Rachel Givney did an amazing job with making her Jane's as realistic as possible. She held Jane true to her time though-out the novel. She made sure you could see the differences between society then and now, with how we interact, how we converse. Everything is different and I was delighted to be a part of Jane's discoveries, as well as her romantic journey.

This novel was a wild ride and a joy to read. It had me laughing and at times tearing up.

I love the idea of this book. It’s like “Kate and Leopold” meets “Becoming Jane” and I liked it. However, there were many parts where I forced myself to continue and hope different aspects got better. The character of Sofie was all over the place. At one point she was a strong, talented woman the next she was a simpering, whining brat. And Jane was frustrating for a lot of the book. I mostly enjoyed Fred, but perhaps because we see the least of him. The dialogue between the characters was stilted and frustrating, but I’m glad I pushed through because the heart of the story was compelling.

The premise of this book intrigued me as I enjoyed all of Jane Austen's novels. Jane Austen time travels to the present day? Sounds like Kate & Leopold- Sign me up! The language was a bit formal, as if the entire book took place in 1803. I did enjoy the friendship between Jane and Sofia and I also enjoyed the ending, especially when Fred read Persuasion.

Wow, this book wrecked me.
First of all: this isn't a romance. This is women's fiction, and don't expect a happy ending. The ending is the only one that makes sense, and eventually it settles into a feeling of rightness, but it will involve Kleenex.
That out of the way, this is a solid 4.5-5 star read for me.
The initial POV dealing with Jane is written very much in the voice and style of Austen, so the first chapter or so in the 1803 timeline doesn't read with a modern voice. It took me a bit to sink into the story, because that style is heavy on telling instead of showing, etc. As a writing device designed to mimic Austen, it's quite effective.
Once I got to Sophie's POV, the book wrapped me in the unique concept and I didn't surface until the end.
The narrative is frequently gorgeous as Jane works through the expectations of her upbringing, her talent, and the legacy she left behind. There are scenes of brilliance, such as when she discusses an aging woman's role with Sophie.
This is a book I'll be gifting to people.
And now I need to go read Persuasion again.

Rachel Givney's Jane in Love is wildly uneven. It's a shame, because there's the core of a good idea. This is, oddly, the second book this year to heavily focus on Jane Austen and an aging actress. In both cases, I could have done without the actress part. Jane in Love is a story about Jane Austen being ripped out of 1803 after a failed courtship and ending up in the present. By chance, Jane ends up at rehearsals for a movie shoot where she encounters a savior in the form of an actress--who for some reason believes that Jane is acting for a hidden camera show. This part of the novel makes an attempt at slapstick, but falls on its own face, more or less. The novel gets markedly better as the marriage plot comes into play. Yet, the part of the plot relating to the actress drags on the book as a whole. Jane herself ends up torn between marriage and career--an issue that feels both authentic and timely. I wanted to like this book and I did like parts of it. Overall, however, a review has to account for the overall experience. Givney is a screenwriter and I think she should adapt this book and try it as a movie--I think it would be a guaranteed success in that format. As a novel, I can only give it three stars.

You know I love a good Jane Austen variation, so I couldn't resist Jane in Love by Rachel Givney. When a matchmaker promises Jane Austen a spell to bring her to her one true love, Jane finds herself in Bath in 2020, well, in an alternate 2020 with crowds, movie filming, and open businesses. At one point, Jane asks if the current 6-month drought is the apocalypse, and I longed for an alternate history where that was what we'd worry about in 2020. Her period clothes and speech just make her seem like another Janeite visiting Bath, an adorable twist.

The sharp wit is what keeps me coming back to Jane Austen novels, so I was slightly disappointed by this version of Jane as a bewildered time-traveler. For too much of the novel, she's more acted-upon than active, and she spends far too long playing with electric lights or self-inking pens.  Constantly noting that people spend a lot of time on their mysterious talking boxes made Jane seem like a boomer bemoaning technology. 

As Jane stays in 2020, though, her disappearance from 1803 affects the timeline, and her books start popping out of existence. This may be one of my favorite wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey plots! This is bad news for Jane's legacy, obviously, but also bad news for Sofia, Jane's friend in 2020, since she's hoping to make her acting comeback in a Northanger Abbey movie.  I thought Sofia's worries about being sidelined as an over-thirty actress nicely mirrored Jane's struggles as an almost-thirty spinster.

The very heavy choice of work vs love didn't really work for me. I did like Fred a lot, but Jane's decisions didn't pull me in with tragedy, because the choices were to hang around 2020, cooking dinners for her love, or to return to 1803 and become a successful author. It felt a bit too heavy to be sympathetic and intriguing.

Not a huge win for me, although I really enjoyed the scenes visiting modern Bath with time-traveling Jane.

I was drawn to this primarily because of its cover and the description. It delivered only on one count, the cover paints it as a romance but this is not a romance. However, it is a well written women's fiction and I enjoyed it once I shifted my expectations.

I always love a good sismance and therefore enjoyed Jane and Sophia's relationship. The book also had witty banter and I enjoyed its touching on women's issues.

In conclusion, a nice summer read. And if you are an Austen fan, you should really enjoy it.

Thanks Netgalley for the ARC

I didn't know what to expect going into this book. I love Jane Austen, but don't read a lot of Jane Austen fiction, especially time travel fiction! I was pleasantly surprised when I started reading. I couldn't put it down for the first 30% of it. I was able to suspend my disbelief, had some great laugh out loud moment, and I loved Sofia and the first interactions with Jane/Fred.

But as soon as Jane and Fred went to London this book went off the rails for me. I overlooked some of the long-winded descriptions of London because up to then, the book had been wonderful! But as soon as Jane and Fred's relationship started to develop, the characters fell flat for me. Sure, I can believe time traveling Jane Austen, but I couldn't see why Jane or Fred would like each other, let alone fall in love after a few days. There were also some strange events in the plot that felt really out of nowhere.

Essentially, amazing premise, great story up to 30%, and then the rest of the book felt like a summary of what this book was supposed to be and I lost the emotional connection to the characters.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing this ARC!

This was a very cute book and enjoyable read. I'm always amazed by how much I enjoy Jane Austen themed books despite never having finished one of her novels! Just like Fred I find them tough going at first. Perhaps I should keep plugging along like he did.

Reading this book was an absolute delight! The author did a fantastic job bringing Jane Austen to life and writing in her Regency era voice while switching seamlessly to Sofia's modern vernacular. I love how the author wove her story together with facts from Jane's real life and works. I feel like the author really honored Jane Austen in her story's ending. This book had the humor of an Austen novel, drama, love, heartbreak, and a bit of magic.

Thank you so much to HarperCollins Publishers and NetGalley for access to this ARC.

Oh my goodness, my heart. This was such an amazing read. It was bittersweet, funny, lovely, and just heartwarming. Growing up, I have always loved reading Jane Austen's work but always wondered why she never married, and this book takes such a fun twist on that. I adored the friendship between Jane and Sophie. This book is such a fun read for fans of Jane Austen and I would definitely recommend it! The idea that Jane's one true love was actually born in a different time was amazing. I adored the budding relationship between Jane and Fred. Even though it has a bit of a bittersweet ending, I thought it was the perfect way to end.

This book was a lovely escape. It was full of charm and a whole lot of modern day Jane Austen wit. I personally loved the romance in contrast with Jane’s bittersweet destiny. This is a brilliant book and is sure to captivate all who love Jane Austen.

This book read like a love letter to Austen. The author clearly has done research and worked to give Jane a chance to find love in a way that felt meaningful and authentic. Through Jane in Love, Givney was able to remind readers of the relevance of Austen's works, even in the 21st century. It was such an empowering read, and a perfectly wonderful representation of Jane. I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

This is so sweet, not saccharine, really just lovely. I have a problem with one character spending an enormous amount of time on a film set to play a character who was only in like 2 scenes, but I'm willing to ignore that little aberration because this author's Jane was wise AF (and slightly futsy, which reads as endearing).

I am struggling over how to rate this book. First, this was billed as a romance novel. It certainly is NOT a romance. The romance genre has conventions that readers expect from the book - namely, that the story is primarily focused on the romantic relationship between 2 main characters, and there is a happily ever after ending. Honestly, if you are not delivering those 2 baseline standards, you are not writing a romance novel. If I was to rate this from the standpoint of romance, this would be a 1 or 2-star read.

However, if I review this from the lens of women's fiction or fantasy fiction, it's much more a 3 star read. The writing is witty and the author really focuses on women's value and agency in society, and what has and hasn't changed since the 19th century. The main character relationship is the friendship between Jane and 21st century actress Sophia. In many ways, I wish the story developed this relationship more and left the anemic and unbelievable love plot out. One other pet peeves of mine is the convention (and primary theme here) that women must choose between creativity/career and love/happiness. As if art can only be made while dwelling in tragedy and sadness, and creatives don't also deserve financial security or love that other types of professionals expect.

So, in summary, this wasn't a bad read, but it certainly wasn't a romance, and I'm not sure anything revolutionary was said about women's lot in society either. It was witty and charming, and I may have rated it higher if not for touching on some personal pet peeves of mine.

ARC provided by the publisher for review.

I enjoyed the premise and I enjoyed parts of the story. However, I thought it was slow and I never bought into the love story aspect.

Jane in Love examines the possibility that the one person Jane was meant to love, actually lives in the 21st century. This was a well researched look into Jane’s brain and what would possibly tempt her to fall in love. Jane Austen was always a woman outside her time, so it makes sense that the right person would not be present in her lifetime. Full of humor and a backdrop of Bath, England this book is a satisfying read for all Jane Austen fans.