What if you were responsible for writing the conclusion to a best-selling series which were authored by your mother? That seems to be Sara Grayson’s new dilemma!

After losing her mother to cancer, Sara finds out that her mother has written in her will for Sara to complete the most anticipated conclusion to her best-selling series. Sara is a writing professor but has only written one manuscript which was rejected many years ago and is baffled by why her mother would do such a thing. As Sara embarks on her new project, she is under the strict orders of her mother’s previous editor, Phil, who she greatly dislikes. To complicate matters, she has some pesky journalists investigating a lawsuit her mother quietly settled years ago which uncovers some family secrets. With the support of her sister, Phil, the hilarious office assistant Binti, and an unexpected friend she meets in Maine, Sara begins to not only believe in herself but also convince others to believe in her.

I enjoyed this novel as Sara learned to trust herself and developed a relationship with Phil who she thought she hated. The side story of the lawsuit added some mystery to this novel which kept me turning the pages to find out how it all panned out. Although the ending is predictable, there were enough twists in the story to keep me interested.

Thank you to @netgalley for providing me with this Advanced Readers Copy.

You can also find this review posted on Instagram @maria.needs.to.read and on Goodreads

What a heartwarming read! Sara Greyson is one of the most relatable characters I've ever read, her journey in this book was so genuine and touching. How would you feel if your mother was a best selling author and book 4 in her series sold millions of copies and she names you as the writer that must write the finale in the series? Sara's struggles, grief, disbelief, and anger are so understandable in the first half of this book. As she comes to accept and continue on her writing journey after a lot of doubt from the publisher, she finds herself and comes to terms with a lot in her life and it was very inspiring. I was so invested in the story from the beginning and didn't want to put it down.

I'm not a writer but reading this perspective really made me appreciate authors even more than I do now. Every once in a while you read a book that sticks with you and has a permanent positive influence in your life. As a reader this will make me take a step back when reading, even if its a book I may not be enjoying, and appreciate the work that goes into the books we read, love, hate, love to hate and everything in between. I definitely recommend picking this one up!

The Audacity of Sara Grayson by Joani Elliott. #thirtyfourthbookof2021 #arc

CW: parent death, discussion of child death, discussion of former alcoholism

This story introduces us to Sara, whose author mother dies at the beginning of the book, and who is bequeathed the responsibility of finishing the last book in her mother’s book series.

I think this book was charming, and I enjoyed it. But I can’t help but feel that it made writing a book seem easy. And I know it’s not. It glossed over the actual writing part, summarized it too much, and I wished I could have seen more into Sara’s thought process in getting her story on the page.

One small thing—the author switched between two names for a minor character, and it took me a bit to figure out it was the same person. This switching happens more in the beginning of the book but does taper off as it goes.

I did like this book overall. There is light romance, travel to England, a dog named Gatsby—how can you beat that name? This is a nice, light read, and I enjoyed it.

Thank you to #NetGalley and Post Hill Press for the advance copy. (Pub date 5/25/21)

The Audacity of Sara Grayson is a great debut novel. Cassandra Bond is a best selling author, after her passing she instructs her daughter, Sara to finish the last book in Bond's popular book series. Sara reluctantly accepts, unsure of her own ability and with no guidance on where to start. She soon learns not all is what it seems with her family and that she is more accomplished than she knows.
I really liked Sara as a character, although I was a bit irked with her at the beginning with her defeatist attitude, just when it was on verge of being annoying she began her growth and I was all there for it. The story was fun but emotional, a bit of a mystery added in and a little romance. Overall a great story. A perfect beach read.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for an advanced readers copy.

Great novel dealing with many themes! Grief, romance, and family. I enjoyed seeing Sara deal with all of those emotions through the book and seeing how it all wrapped up at the end. A really fun read.

Sarah Grayson is feeling stuck. Her marriage has ended, her career is flatlining...and her Mom is only becoming more and more famous by the minute. Sarah's mom shot into the spotlight after writing a book series (turned movie franchise) that captivated readers everywhere. There is one book left in the series to write when Sarah's mom passes away, leaving the book (and the entire series) unfinished. Suddenly, it's up to Sarah to pick up where her mom left off.
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This book has a little bit of everything. Grief and loss? Check. Romance? Check. Mystery? Check. A badass female protagonist ready to take on all of the bay sayers? Check, check and check! Joani Elliot takes a very "audacious" approach to her first novel and I think a lot of readers will really love this one.
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Unfortunately for me, there was just too much to keep track of. I loved the idea of the story line and definitely found myself rooting for Sarah but there was so much going on at one time it was hard to keep track of. And, I felt like there was so much that could have been left out in order to focus on the really good.
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There is a certain romanticisation about writing that dwells steadfastly in the hearts of anyone who hasn’t actually written.

Truth be told, it probably resides in the souls of those who do write; however, there it is quickly ripped asunder and stomped upon and filled full of self-recrimination as rose-coloured ideas of the creative process give way to the hard slog of simply getting it done.

This, of course, makes writing seem the most dire of pursuits, and yes, often times it is, but then like many creative pursuits, there are those transcendent moments when all the pieces come together, when what you long for and imagine and what you accomplish actually sync and all that angst and struggle seems euphorically, or even quietly happily, worthwhile.

Joani Elliott’s novel The Audacity of Sara Grayson perfectly and insightfully captures both the glorious highs and desperate lows of writing a novel in ways that will have any writer nodding their head in complete recognition.

Even better than this though, she sets this wonderful and emotionally muscular of books against the sometimes harsh realities of life which rarely plays along in creating the perfect conditions in which to write that great novel that has been coursing through the marrow for years, even before you were aware of its existence, and which is begging to be let out to see the light of critical day.

In an idealised world, writers have faithful spouses plying them with tea and biscuits (or wine and cake – your choice) while they sit happily ensconced in their book-lined eyrie up in the rafters of the house, one which looks out on a bucolic scene which aptly matches the serene life within.

But that is fantasy, and this is reality, and in The Audacity of Sara Grayson the titular protagonist comes hard up against the salient truth of being creative which is that it rarely takes place in a world ideally suited to the task.

In 32-year-old Sara’s world, the cold reality is that her beloved bestselling writer mother has just died from cancer, her husband has divorced her and the closest she is getting to writing anything are cheesy greeting cards and coupon blurbs.

Not exactly the stuff of Nobel Prize writing dreams now is it?

Even worse than this, in her final will and testament, Cassandra Bond, her bright, effusive, wise and caring mother, beloved by millions of devoted readers, has given Sara one last great task to complete on her behalf – writing the MUCH longed-for book number five in her mega-selling series, Ellery Dawson, a final entry that is supposed to wrap everything up and makes fans sigh with the sheer perfection of neatly finished-off storytelling.

Sara’s first response, and this rings so true, is to say “thank you but no thank you”, convinced as she is that she hasn’t got what it takes to fulfill her mother’s dying wish.

To be honest, neither do a lot of people with the exception of her older sister and her best friend at the college where she teaches creative writing Binti (and the initially grudging editorial assistance of an old flame of her mother’s), and yet in the face of own massive self doubt and active efforts by the president of the publishing company to sabotage her efforts, she decides to honour what her mother wanted, unleashing life change on a grand scale that is never easily wrought but ultimately deeply satisfying.

For all the wish fulfillment contained within its highly readable pages, The Audacity of Sara Grayson is a resolutely grounded and unstintingly honest book.

Whether it’s addressing the end of a relationship, sisterly bonds, the death of a parent or the uncovering of long suppressed family secrets, which form one of the core narrative threads and which come close to derailing the publication of the fifth book and entire Sara’s mum’s entire legacy, The Audacity of Sara Grayson is beautifully, affectingly honest.

This adds a real depth to the novel which has its fair share of happier than you might think possible moments but which also acknowledges that these moments are hard won from life’s more difficult and challenging times which are far more numerous than anyone likes to admit.

Certainly Sara, who is as self-assured, confident and talented as anyone could hope to be, has to struggle against a debilitating lack of confidence that comes from the end of her six-year marriage, her fading writing dreams and a saddening sense that all the whispered words of encouragement from her mother that she would do great things as a writer seem to have come to nothing.

Sara is a million miles from being any kind of trainwreck but she is a real, flawed and uncertain at times person, and it’s this innate relatability that makes her such an appealing protagonist because what she faces feels intimately real, and thus what she achieves feel less fairytale than actually, deliciously possible.

That’s important of course because what good are dreams, even those populating a charmingly wonderful novel, if they don’t feel like they have a chance of coming gloriously true?

Elliott’s great gift as a writer is that she balances beautifully what it means to dream and yet know that a long, hard and challenging road lies ahead of you.

Imbuing The Audacity of Sara Grayson with this sensibility means that all its wish fulfillment moments seem entirely possible, a remarkable achievement given how often books in the self-realisation genre often feel like they possess endings so wildly out of reach that they are good for escapist entertainment but not much more. (Having said that, escapism without real life outcomes is often what we need and is a vibrantly good thing in and of itself.)

The Audacity of Sara Grayson however sits happily in the realms of both “this is gloriously diversionary in the most fanciful of ways” and “you know, with some work, this might just happen” and that makes it one of the best books of its genre to come along in some time.

Possessed of the heart of a starry-eyed dreamer but also mindfully aware of the cold, cruel harshness of life which takes away far more than it ever seems to give at times, The Audacity of Sara Grayson is a delightful novel, one that allows us to make our peace with the brutal and sad realities of being alive while offering giddily, lushly-written hope that just around the corner lies something good and wonderful if we can just hang in there to find it.

Thanks net galley for an advanced copy of this book. An enjoyable read which highlights a journey of self discovery through the highs and lows and how circumstances, people and places can have a dramatic effect on ones life and the difference between failure and success in both ones personal and working life

I loved, loved, loved this book its fun, quirky and show how the world of writing is pure agony. The cover is what made me want to read this novel its so fun and funny and boy it didn't disappoint. The bases of the story is Sara the daughters of a best selling author, finds out she is willed to finish the fifth and final novel, of a very successful detective series, after her mother death. Not having ever sold a book before and believing she is a complete failure at writing, she goes through the process of writing the novel and from there the story is nothing short of a great ride through the perils of creating a novel. Through the process of writing the novel she finds herself, she finds love and she learns how to go for the gusto and create from the heart which is what all good writers do.
If you are looking for a great inspiring and wonderful story this is it and you will sigh at the end.
Did I say I loved this story. I also love the quotations from other authors about how they feel about the work of being a writer. There quite thoughtful.

I want to thank Meryl Moss Media, Post Hill Press and NetGalley for this fabulous book.

This is a story about writing, and I loved all the quotes about writing at the start of each chapter. It is also a book about family, and love, and personal growth. Sara is tasked with writing a book in her late mother's famous series. The process is challenging and does not go smoothly, as would be expected. There is an interesting backstory about her parents' early careers, romantic ties, and a series of characters that are interconnected in real-world ways making for a richer storyline. I enjoyed the character growth and cared about what happened to everyone. I liked Nik's poetry that he shares with Sara as part of the storyline. Overall, a light read with depth and warmth.


'There were times to avoid your triggers and times to chew them up slowly and deliberately..'

'It was a smashing tribute to someone who didn't actually exist.'

'Sara had never seen Phil in socks. Maybe he would have been less intimidating all these years if she'd seen him in socks. Even Mussolini was probably less menacing in socks.'

'Years of aggressive frowning had carved deep ridges between Phil's brows,...'

'It tasted like not being alone.'

Thank you to Post Hill Press and NetGalley for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What a charming love letter to writing and writers.

Sara Grayson's mother dies before writing the final book of her hit series. In her will, she specifies that Sara is to be the author of the highly anticipated book. The problem - Sara has never published, and she's only written one manuscript, which never made it to fruition. The book follows Sara's journey from reluctant appointee to rediscovering her love of writing and creating.

Sweet, emotional, earned, I enjoyed it. 3.5. Why didn't I round up to 4? A few reasons. The "mystery" of Sara's family was largely unnecessary and the pacing related to it and any romance-related subplot was uneven and odd at times. Actually, I could have done without the romantic subplot at all. The protagonist goes through the struggle of SO MANY rewrites (loved the peek into the writing and editing process), while ironically, with a little more revision, I could easily see this as a five-star read.

As an aside, I particularly loved the quotes from writers on writing at the beginning of the process. I'm not usually a fan of quotes at the beginning of chapters, but these ones were curated perfectly and I found myself highlighting basically every one.

The Audacity of Sara Grayson by Joani Elliott
Pub Date: May 25 2021
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Sara Grayson's mom, a very popular and well known author, dies unexpectedly and leaves sara to finish the conclusion of her best selling book series. Although it was always her dream, sara never published her own book. But as she is thrown into the world of writing, she not only "finds the words", she finds herself.

This book was filled with sadness, laughter, love, loss and a little bit of mystery. I found myself anticipating each word.

I loved this book and feel so lucky I was able to read it.
Thank you netgalley for gifting me an eARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The Audacity of Sara Grayson is a fun easy read. It has humor, romance, mystery and family issues all rolled into one book.
The book is about 32-year-old Sara Grayson. Sara’s mom, Cassandra Bond, is a famous author. When Cassandra passes away, she tasks Sara with finishing the 5th book in her series.
In writing the 5th book, Sara meets new people and starts to realize a few things good and bad about herself and her family. She realized that she was just going day to day in her life and not really living her life. It opened her eyes to all kinds of things around her.
I loved all of characters as they were all well developed.
Really liked and enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to everyone to read.
Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book.

So much to love about this book! There is a sweet romance, an intriguing mystery, a touch of humor, and (mainly) the story of a very relatable young woman who has not been living life to the fullest, but finds herself in a situation where she must expand her horizons. Her mother, a famous novelist, dies of cancer. It is her dying wish that Sara Grayson write her last unfinished novel. Sara reluctantly accepts this challenge, and her path is not an easy one. There are obstacles everywhere, but she perseveres. Very appealing characters and a story that is full of surprises.

The Audacity of Sara Grayson is a five-star winner of a book! I was lucky enough to be on a plane and had hours and hours to keep reading and did not get bored for one minute!

Sara is a young woman who has had some difficulty in life, i.e., divorce and mom dies suddenly. (Mom had been a hugely popular author.) Sara's already depressed when she learns that her mother's dying wish is for her to complete Mom's series of books. Although she's not keen to take on the project, she agrees to take a crack at it. All the events that come next change Sara in ways she could not have imagined.

This is an uplifting book, and I really enjoyed it. I will be looking for more from this author in the future. I especially liked the quotes about writing at the beginning of each chapter. For anyone who is an aspiring writer, they need to grab this book just for those quotes!

Thank you so much to the publisher and Net Galley for a free e-book in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is a mystery, romance, and family legacy all tied up together. I loved the story and the characters. this is a great beach read or a rain day.

I expected this book to be mostly fluff and relationship drama. I was pleasantly surprised.

Instead, the majority of the book tells of Sara grappling with actually authoring the book her mother charged her with (an interesting novel about novel writing). And through that process, Sara finds herself, her place in life and the world, and the stories of her family and her parents and their lives. Along the way, she finds a significant other who delightfully fits the niches of Sara's life and fulfills her in ways she didn't expect.

The book is well-written, appropriately humorous, and the main characters are substantial and well-developed. Again, I expected more superficial characters (was it the bunny slippers on the cover that caused me to underestimate this wonderful surprise of a book?). Author Elliott successfully proved me wrong. There was significant depth of emotion and relationships in this read.

I found the first quarter of the book slow to start (perhaps my mistaken expectations). But I quickly engaged with Sara and her family and her challenges, enjoying the humor along the way and the evocative settings and developments further in the book.

Meryl Moss Media / Post Hill Press have this slated for release on May 25, 2021. This will be a reliable pleasure to read.

I enjoyed reading this book. It's funny, heartwarming, uplifting, and a feel-good book. I love the premise and the characters were very relatable. I love that each chapter starts with inspiring quotes from famous authors. It's one of my best reads this 2021. It's well-written, romantic, and very engaging until the end.

It's about Sara, a thirty-two-year-old greeting card writer, and a university lecturer, who was assigned to write the last book of her mom's best-selling series. With no experience as a fiction writer, Sara took the biggest challenge of her life to fulfill her mom's dying wish.

If you love a story about family, hope, friendship, romance, and self-empowerment, I would definitely recommend this book to you. This is one of those books that will surely inspire you to be brave and make bold decisions in life.

I'm so grateful to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this amazing book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The first thing that drew me to this book was the title and the cover. Once I read the synopsis, I was ready to read! The Audacity of Sara Grayson features coupon writer, Sara Grayson, and the aftermath of her mother's death. You see, Sara's mom was no other than Cassandra Bond, the famous author of the Ellery Dawson series. Upon reading a final piece of Cassandra's will, Sara learns that her mother has requested that she write the final novel in the series. What?!?!?

I loved the journey that the main character, Sara, took during this story. I really enjoyed the "behind the scenes" information on novel writing. I've always dreamed of being an author, so that part was fun for me! The writing flowed very well throughout the whole book. I also liked that the romance was a realistic, slow burn and not super cheesy. Characters felt realistically flawed. The pacing of this book was perfect. It was an enjoyable read overall.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC and give my honest review.

Wow, what an amazing read!! I’m always a sucker for books about books or writers & this one definitely did not disappoint!! A little cutsier than I normally read but I found that I didn’t mind the rom-com element either since it was also filled with mystery & even a few surprises I didn’t see coming!! I’ll definitely be recommending this one far & wide!!