I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I loved Athena and Thorne's love story. The repeated nods to all things Bronte had me from the jump. Would highly recommend to any classic literature fan who appreciates a good reboot.

There were many parts of this book that made me laugh. As a Midwesterner, the mc insight into going home made me laugh. She mentioned areas I'm familiar with which made it all the more relatable. Some of the conversations were hard to get through and made it less enjoyable, but it was a nice read overall.

As a fan of both Emily and Charlotte Bronte, this book intrigued me just by the title. The book had all the makings of a book I would love: second chance romance, small town charm and a focus on classic literature icons. However, the story fell a little short for me. Athena was a very likeable character in this story but I found the other characters and the overall storyline, lackluster. I had wished and expected this to be more of a romcom but there wasn't much banter and it turned more into a basic romance novel.

This was a second chance romance. Athena and Thorne are college sweethearts. The story has no steam and was low on the romance with more focus on Athena's writing project. The first half of the book flew by but it dragged a bit in the middle. They really needed to talk sooner rather than months later to clear up misunderstandings. I liked the one liners plus all the Bronte literary references.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for my e-copy of this book.

This book failed to launch for me. There was SO MUCH PROSE, and by 40 pages in, I felt like there was too much going on. I never fully enjoyed the story. I WANTED TO, but it just missed the mark for me. I can tell the author really knows her stuff, and I wanted to appreciate the almost meta feeling of being in a story that was about another story that was reflecting a classic novel (or multiple classics, in this case), but I just didn't connect with the characters because of all the other noise. I enjoyed Thorne's character the most I think. I loved that it was set partially in a cafe in a small town. But there just wasn't enough for me to like it, and I ended up skimming through some of the longer sections and chapters because a lot of what was written didn't move the story along.

This was a sweet story. The two main characters were great. I loved the family dynamics. And all the side characters were perfect and added so much to their journey to find each other again. This was my first book by this author and it won't be my last.

Blame it on the Brontes was an enjoyable read. It was a cute story overall but the plot was very predictable (which is not necessarily a bad thing). Loved the small town/second chance romance!

This book just did not do it for me. The characters seemed a little dull to me. The story line/plot was wonderful but the characters did not pull it off.

I was really rooting for this book. The synopsis was a 9 for me and I mean come on who doesn’t love second chance romances!!!

I do appreciate NetGalley for allowing me to opportunity to read this book.

I love classic lit, second-chance romance, and small town communities. Plus, the Brontë novels feature some really human, flawed characters and long-burning love, so I went in expecting a certain deep-rooted misunderstanding among the love interests. And this novel delivered on that for sure.

Athena is a literature professor whose sharp tongue and lack of publications have put her on the chopping black at the University. To save her job, she’s pitched a biography that exposes the identity of the author C.L. Garland rumored to hail from her home town. Her plan is simple: Work at the local cafe, discuss Garland’s popular series of spicy classic retellings with everyone she meets, and discover Garland’s identity in time to expose them in her biography by the end of the year. Easy, peasy—That is, until she finds that the cafe owner who promised her a job sold her cafe to Athena’s ex-fiancé, the man she abandoned for pursuing a career in law who later thoroughly broke her heart after a brief tryst a few years before.

I really enjoyed the banter and sharp-witted sass between Athena and Thorne and just LOVE when the sexy love interest can make magic in the kitchen—so I was rooting for them to get together from go. The cast of characters from Laurel was great, especially all the older patrons of the cafe. The only portion that I could’ve lived without was Sergei and Thena’s story arc. I just found Sergei to be too much of a stereotype and cringed whenever his name popped up, but his role is thankfully minor. It’s a fun, light-hearted escape with a hint of spice and a yummy, well-read male love interest worthy of book boyfriend status, great for a vacation read.

Big thanks to #NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Blame it on the Bronte's is a second chance romance with college lovers who broke up in dramatic fashion when neither would change their academic goals for each other. They meet up again in their hometown when the FMC is on sabbatical to write a book, and she needs to research a reclusive and unknown bestselling author who is rumored to be from the same town - in order to save her career. She doesn't expect to run into her ex, who she hasn't seen in many years.

I don't have much good to say regarding this book, except that it was well written. There is a minor level of spice but this is less a romance novel and more women's fiction with a side helping of romance.

I think I need to stop trying to make myself like Bronte retellings because I almost never enjoy them. The MC in this book is like my least favorite kind of smart, educated female in academia. Everything about this character annoyed me throughout the book, and the hero wasn't much better to be honest. They both moved through the world as if they were martyrs and the weight of the world was on their shoulders - for no good reason really. They weren't nice to each other, their friends, or even people they didn't know. They were both users and were nice to others for their own gain.

Maybe they deserved each other, I don't know, but this book was not at all for me and I got very little enjoyment out of it.

**Thank you to Forever and Netgalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review**

2 stars

I went into this book looking forward to it because i like classic literature and I love small town romance, add to it that this is a second chance romance and that is a recipe for a book that i should love. However this book just kind of bored me. there wasn't anything stand out about it for me. I honestly kind of had to slog my way through it.

I honestly think there is definitely an audience for this book but it wasnt me. I didnt like how things played out and certainly didnt feel connected to the characters in any way.

Thanks to Forever for the gifted copy of this ARC.

I love academic settings and books about books, especially when it includes the Brontes! With small towns and second chance romance, this is a solid read. I only read the Bronte books in high school / college, so it was fun to revisit some of those story elements. Great for book lovers of classic literature.

🌟🌟

Almost DNF’d this for how extremely slow the plot was. For a romance I need steam and this fell very far below the level I wanted. Don’t get me wrong - there are scenes involving the deed, but it’s just a bunch of honorable mentions. With no passionate embraces or forbidden encounters you would expect from Brontë inspired stories, this lacked the appeal. The chemistry between these two was subpar especially for a second chance flame that supposedly depicted them as inseparable before. Wasn’t my cup of tea.

Athena and Thorne - their banter and sparks were just the thing. The hunt for Garland by working at the sandwich shop, interviewing customers, and trying to get her dad to admit to writing erotica was hilarious. Publish or perish, indeed.

5 Stars

I LOVED this one!

The main characters were quirky but not in an insufferable way and their second chance romance really made me smile.

Athena and Thorne broke up because their futures took a divergence, but both end up back in a small mid-western town as Athena tries to discover who in her hometown is writing erotic novellas based on classic lit, and Thorne is running a cafe while trying desperately to keep dark family secrets hidden and safe.

When Athena gets a job at the cafe, sparks and banter fly and hijinks ensue. There are lots of classic lit references and Easter eggs sprinkled throughout and it really was fun to what both characters grow and try to come closer as they resolved their own issues.

The HEA was perfect to me and I loved the small town vibes and side characters. It’s the perfect late summer, early fall book and will make you feel warm and cozy!

Thanks Netgalley for this ARC!

I'm a bit late for the ones I have taken and well this one I forgot to review it

If you are weak for:

Small town
Second chance romance
Classic Literature references

This is the book, it is short so you can read it during an afternoon or while goin on vacations, I really liked it however I can't classify it as a romance? there wasn't much of it there and the connection of the main character where hot and old the majority of the time. the writing is easy and entertaining so I didn't have to worry about stopping half way and taking a break.

I give this book 3.5 stars!

First, I need to say- my favorite part were the classic book mentions! I know I didn’t catch all references because I’m not as up to date on my Brontë reading as I want to be, but it was still great. I’m also really a fan of second chance romance so this was lovely. Overall, I think the book was sweet, charming, and a great read. I felt like it was a little slow at times and a little repetitive, but still worth the read.

Such a charming and wonderful story. I loved all of the Brontë sister quotes at the beginning of each chapter. I loved the town of Laurel. I loved Athena and Thorne. The townspeople and Athena’s family were so wonderful and realistically portrayed. There’s a bit of mystery (it’s easy to guess it, but that doesn’t take away from it at all), romance, lots of laughs, some heartache. This truly has it all! And it is wrapped up nicely at the end- I found the ending very satisfying.. Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

Overall a cute story, highly predictable. As my typical small town second chance, I really enjoyed this story for the most part. I wanted more from the execution though. The characters fell kind of flat, and the plot had some repetition that felt strange. It just didn't play out the way my mind expected it to at all, but a very interesting concept.

Blame it on the Brontes by Annie Sereno

My rating: 3 1/2 stars out of 5.

Thank you Netgalley and Grand Central Publishing for the chance to review this book.

Athena is a Literature college professor who is trying to secure tenure by writing a book where the uncovers the identity of popular erotica author, C.L. Garland, who so happens to live in her home town of Laurel, Illinois. Her plan is to do some sleuthing while waitressing at her mother's friend's cafe. However, once she gets there, she finds that the cafe is under new management, specifically her ex, Thorne Kent...

What I enjoyed most about this book was the underlying mystery of trying to discover Garland's true identity. I felt that this was very well done and it had me guessing till the very end. I also greatly enjoyed all the mentions of classical literature, from the Bronte quotes at the beginning of the chapters to the literary menu references at the As You Like it Cafe. I also enjoyed the colorful cast of small-town characters, along with the small-town setting of the book. I also enjoyed that it was a closed door romance.

Now I feel that I must preface with the fact that I have only read Wuthering Heights once, which seems to be the primary source of inspiration for this story, so it could just be that the references were lost on me. I did enjoy Thorne and Athena as characters, but I felt like their will-they-won't-they second chance romance was filled with some unnecessary drama, in particular at the end of the novel. I also felt that there were too many layers with Athena's family members, that it felt a bit forced at times, in particular with regards to her mother's story. There were also moments in time where I felt the transition from one event to another was just too fast and distracting.

However overall it was a sweet story and I was very grateful for being given the opportunity to review it. I would read more from this author in the future.