I was given this book for an honest review thanks to Netgalley.

This is my first book from this author and it was a very fun story. I enjoyed the teaching parts and the enlightenment of how snobby Margaret was through Jeremy explaining and helping her grow. There is definitely growth for the heroine throughout the story which I loved. I am hoping for a book between Luke and Ellie, they have sparks galore!

This is such a cute story. Meg's boyfriend broke up with her, now she needs someone to go with her to the Jane Austen Festival and Games. Her brother finds her someone to go with. Will it be a match made in heaven, or will they go their separate ways?

A girl can't go wrong with a hunky Mr. Darcy so I was looking forward to reading this book. (I am not familiar with the author's historical romances.)

Meg Knightley is a history professor who is planning to take part in an Austen pageant with her boyfriend Harrison, to play the parts of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. This falls apart when Harrison announces he is going with an actress he is tutoring instead, because it would be better for their college. Meg still wants to go and decides to hire a substitute Darcy. Jeremy, one of her brother's friends, volunteers, and they practice Regency mores and Austen dialogue together while she vacillates about the fate of her relationship to Harrison. She is rather prejudiced against Jeremy at first, but he keeps proving her wrong. The experience also makes her rethink her life goals, her anxieties and her general reliance on what snobbish people think. She keeps fatshaming herself throughout a lot of the book but I am hopeful that true love may cure her of that.

The writing is effortless and I noticed no errors. If I had to nitpick something it's that Meg uses random abbreviations like "awk" for awkward and "obvi" for obviously, that seem a little out of character sometimes, considering she is a professor with OCD, an interest in writing and an obsession for all things Regency, including the language. Would she really leave words half-finished and think in textspeak?

Regarding the plot, I was happy that it was not a modern re-enactment of the Pride and Prejudice plot because that's already been done many times over. I had to suspend a little disbelief that the faculty leaders would care so much about who wins a historical larp pageant that is held across the pond.. Regarding a long standing case of pining, it would have been more credible if there were some attempts to have contact in the intervening years.

There was nothing that I could see in the book or on the author's page indicating that this is the start of a series but according to the Goodreads page says this is the first book of Austen Hunks. If I had to guess I'd say that the next one will be Meg's brother and her best friend as Knightley and Emma.

I read an ARC that I got via Netgalley, and these are just my random observations.