Beach Read meets The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

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Pick up "What Would Jane Austen Do?" for:

• Surprise inheritance
• Slow burn & fade-to-black romance
• Prejudice and Pride
• Cozy mystery
• Small town character shenanigans
• Dog plays matchmaker

Safe to say many a reader will be drawn to the Jane Austen inspiration, and WWJAD? will not disappoint. Lovely to read that the inspiration is truely all of Austen's works, and not just Pride & Prejudice. A note, sometimes a scene or character may have been more successful as a nostalgia note rather than serving the plot. I was still impressed with the how well multiple Austen elements blended into the story of Maddy & Cameron.

Thank you Netgalley & HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for this advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK/One More Chapter for the ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book.
I read very fast but it took me many days to get as far as 25%. I found the book incredibly boring so obviously this one was not for me. I thought Buster the dog had more personality than the MCs.

I enjoyed Love You From A-Z. I might have jumped up and down when a new novel by Corbett.

What Would Jane Austen Do? by Linda Corbett is a sharp-witted, bubbly and beautifully told. I loved it. Utterly heartwarming.

I enjoyed this book from start to finish. The characters are well developed and personable, the chemistry between them was on point. The story line flowed smoothly from the beginning to the end and made the reader want the best for each of them.
Maddy and Cameron, even the side characters were seriously great company.
Adorable and clever, bursting with love and laughter. Linda Corbett wrote a new

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and One More Chapter for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

1st Chapter had me intrigued. Sat down to read a couple more chapters yesterday and couldn't put it down. Ended up finishing the book. It's every thing I want in a book with a title called What Would Jane Austen Do? Jane Austen quotes at beginning of each chapter, country village setting, and enjoyed the mystery aspect of the story. I particularly like while there were nods to Pride and Prejudice, it wasn't a retelling.

Pride and Prejudice, I think is the hardest Jane Austen to modernize. Nobody's going to starve in the hedgerows these days because they didn't get married.

This is definitely one I will purchase a print copy for my All Things Austen collection.

*Note for Publisher.*The so called endorsement from Katie Fforde on the cover is so incredibly bland that it does nothing. Get a better one or just let book stand on the strength of it's title.

What Would Jane Austen Do? is a warm and lovely enemies to lovers romance that proves first impressions are not always correct. The story follows agony aunt, and Jane Austen enthusiast, Maddy Shaw as she moves into Meadowside, a house bequeathed to her by her distant relative. But living in the house comes with rules and Maddy finds that she is now the chair of committee for the local village’s literary festival. When she meets local, best-selling crime author, Luke Hamilton, they disagree and argue about novels and their favourite genres. As they spend more time together, could attraction be brewing between them and is their initial impression of each other incorrect?

As a big fan of Jane Austen’s novels, I was instantly drawn to the title and it didn’t disappoint. There’s a nod to all six of Austen’s novels throughout the story as well as lots of twists and turns that made this novel an interesting read. Sometimes the dialogue was a bit wordy in parts, but on the whole I enjoyed this story.

I'm left with one question: why didn't I read anything by Linda Corbett before? She's an author I will check out in the future.

A fun chick lit romance for taking with you to the beach this summer, for everyone who wished they were an Austin heroine and are still in search of their Mr Darcy

Linda Corbett’s WHAT WOULD JANE AUSTEN DO perfectly blends themes of love, family and self-discovery in a story about finding yourself with the help of others. (Like Austen herself — kind of.)

Full disclosure — I’m not a big Austen fan, and yet that still didn’t stop me from adoring this book. That’s largely due to the characters themselves. First up we have Maddy — a down-on-her luck journalist who is a huge fan of romance reads. (Relatable.) She’s an extremely likable protagonist who ends up inheriting a huge, downtrodden house from a relative she’s never even met.

Enter Luke, aka Cameron Massey — a grumpy, somewhat famous crime author, who definitely does not believe in love, both in the form of literature and in real-life. As luck would have it, Cameron ends up needing to rent a room in Maddy’s new place. (Plus, he brings along housemate number three Buster, who I’m convinced is just the world’s best fictional dog.)

On the surface, Maddy and Cameron don’t have enough in common to root for, but life — and perhaps a bit of fate — has other plans. Throw in a looming literary festival, ghost-hunting TV star, unsolved mysteries of an old rock band, ex-fiancé’s and a wildly important manuscript deadline, and Austen’s many immortalized words of wisdom get plenty of screen-time in Corbett’s latest novel.

WHAT WOULD JANE AUSTEN DO is a simple but satisfying summer read. I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys sitting down with a good story about family — both old and found.

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.*

BLURB:
When Maddy Shaw is told her Dear Jane column has been cancelled she has no choice but to look outside of London’s rental market. That is until she’s left an idyllic country home by the black sheep of the family, long-not-so-lost Cousin Nigel.

But of course there’s a stipulation… and not only is Maddy made chair of the committee for the annual village literary festival, she also has to put up with bestselling crime author –and romance sceptic – Cameron Massey as her new neighbour.

When Maddy challenges Cameron to write romantic fiction, which he claims is so easy to do, sparks fly both on and off the page…

MY REVIEW:
Based on the blurb I was expected a homage to Jane Austen, but that is not the case, in fact, the link to Jane Austen is so vague I wonder why she was referenced at all.

This book uses the ‘friends to more’ trope and a common plot and is set in a small town.

The beginning and end of this book are paced well, but the middle section is very, very slow and is very hard to push through.

There is some steam in this story, but overall the book was unable to fully capture my attention.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in return for my honest review.

I loved this book! A great rom com sprinkled with well picked quotes from Miss Jane herself! Quirky characters and an idyllic setting drive a tale of an out of work advice columnist and a crotchety, yet hot, crime novel author who find themselves holed up in her recently inherited English home. She discovers that she has also inherited the planning and execution the local literary festival. Let the chaos begin!
Such a great story! You’ll want to hurry up and finish it and then read it again! Miss Jen would most definitely approve!

As much as I tried - and really, really wanted to - I just couldn't get into this book. It should have been right up my alley. It's Jane Austen, for crying out loud. And yet, it just didn't connect with me. Perhaps it was the characters (in particular Maddy), who felt a little flat. Perhaps it was the story og the pace? Or perhaps it was just me. A case of bad timing. I can't put my finger on it, but I wasn't in love like I expected to be.

A sweet romance with a dash of mystery. Maddy Shaw is an “Agony Aunt” who asks herself and her readers what would Jane Austen Do when dishing advice. At the beginning of the book she is unceremoniously sacked from her job, which was less to do with her work ethic than her advice inadvertently wounded the pride of her boss.

Unemployed and single on the most romantic of holidays, Maddy still shows up to a joint interview with bestselling mystery author, the very handsome Cameron Massey. He has little use for romance books, so the two verbally spar on air. Not long after this, London-dwelling Maddy inherits a country estate from a black sheep relative whom she’s never met. This bit of fortune would seem to help solve Maddy’s financial issues, but there is a catch - she must live there for a year or the house goes to someone else.

Stuck out in the country away from family and friends, Maddy keeps busy by organizing a literary fair and trying to uncover the mystery of just who her cousin Nigel was and how he came into money for the estate. Still short on cash, she agrees to take in a lodger and his lovable hound. Who should it be but Cameron Massey, or Luke when he’s not going by his pen name. The two team up to solve the mystery and come away with a different perception of who each other is after spending a little more time with each other. A pleasant read; if you like Jane Austen or idyllic country-set modern-day set romances, you might want to check this one out.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Linda Corbett set herself up for a fall by putting words into the mouth of her heroine. Maddy waxes lyrical, and at length, on the difficult challenge that is writing a romance novel, maintaining that it is no easy option. She even draws Jane Austen in to help her make the point that, just because there's a guaranteed ending, romances are all different and can all speak to their readers.

Fortunately for Linda, What Would Jane Austen Do? amply demonstrates the truth of the points that Maddy makes. I loved the story with its plot devices of moving somewhere new, making new friends, uncovering the real man behind the grumpy facade of the hero, a gentle mystery, and a book festival. Okay, maybe the latter isn't all that usual but this one was described in such a way that I wanted to set up my own!

The writing is engaging, the plot is well-paced, and the romantic leads behave fairly rationally all things considered. I admit that there is a dog, a trope that drives me mad, but still this is a great book and I'd thoroughly recommend it.

In a time where I keep coming across Austen reinventions or inspirations, this tale was good but not a stand out.

Maddy Shaw finds herself jobless but not homeless after inheriting a country estate owned by a mysterious relative. Upon moving in, she encounters Luke Hamilton, aka Cameron Massey, an author with whom she recently sparred with during a radio interview.

As the two find themselves living together and challenging each other’s beliefs on genre and writing, the words of Jane Austen guide their story.

The book gained steam for me in the last quarter as characters like Myra and Leonard became stronger, but it will take a dedicated reader to push through the middle chunk.

This is a cute 'friends-to-lovers' romance and although there is some friction between the characters initially, I wouldn't go so far as to deem it an 'enemies-to-lovers' story. What I did like about the book are the numerous Jane Austen references, which are well chosen, topical and clever. The rural village setting also adds a quaint touch to the story. That being said, I can't say that the story fully captured my interest. There is a definite lull towards the middle of the book, where not much of anything seems to be happening, and I certainly found it hard going at times. Overall an OK read, which is out on 16th June 2023. Many thanks to NetGallery and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for allowing me to get a copy of the book

I really enjoyed this book! It felt a little slow to begin with, but then it was a really good read. I loved the different Austen quotes on each chapter, and I loved Buster.

This was a charming, quick read. Great for Jane Austen fans and anyone who likes a cute dog thrown into their contemporary romance.

This was so much fun! I'm not the biggest romance reader but this was a fun story that had me engaged throughout. Was it life changing? No. But it gave me exactly what I needed.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Maddy is surprised to learn about her inheritance. It comes at a time when she needs it. I enjoyed the chemistry between Maddy and Cameron.

I inhaled this book from start to finish. It’s a beautifully written romance with twists and turns. I couldn’t put it down and the idea of romance can’t be trivialised in this lovely story

This was a light, quick and fun read for me. Unsurprisingly it had references of Austen’s work peppered throughout the book. This book would be a good summer read.