In this clever and romantic debut novel, the charm of Jane Austen’s Emma meets the modern dating trials of Manhattan, where two lifelong friends uncover that sometimes the quest for love can be found right in their own backyard.
Emma Woodhouse, beautiful, intelligent, and affluent, has spent twenty-three years in her close-knit Upper East Side community with few worries—until her matchmaking efforts lead to her sister’s marriage and subsequent move downtown. Now, left with a vacant home and friends scattered abroad, Emma faces a new and unwelcome emotion: boredom. Enter Nadine, a fresh-faced Ohioan with a heart of gold and highlights to match. Emma sees in her not only a potential friend but also a new project. If only her interfering neighbor, George Knightley, would stop getting in her way.
George Knightley, handsome, smart, and successful, finds Emma’s antics—from her shopping sprees to her endless list of ill-fated hobbies—more than a little exasperating. Yet, despite his frustrations and his constant attempts to guide her toward adulthood, Knightley can’t deny that the girl next door has grown up into a woman who now occupies his thoughts in unexpected ways.
As Emma’s schemes intersect with a range of characters—from quirky baristas to intrusive family members and elusive playboy millionaires—she and Knightley slowly come to realize that their obsession with being right has been replaced by something new. And in discovering this, they find that even the most familiar stories can hold delightful surprises.
I cherished how the Nadine/Harriet character was changed into a single, modern, Gen-Z woman, and how other secondary characters were reimagined & modernised. I enjoyed the dual POV’S and getting Knightley’s point of view as well and felt that it really added to the story.

Emma’s character was a bit frustrating at times and I wanted to yell at her to just speak to Knightley but then we wouldn’t have had the character growth and development because she’s only 23 and the character development is a big part of the story.

It was lovely that whilst it’s a romance book it also was a big self-discovery journey for Emma and included other relationships in her life such as with her sister, her dad, her new friend, her neighbour as well as the romance.

If you're not a fan of miscommunication, do NOT pick up this book. I'm rather shocked that I stuck with this as long as I did, but there was something about the contemporary slice of life feel that kept me reading. It wasn't all about the romance, it was about her character development in all aspects of her life that pulled me in. And although she was insufferable and selfish, I can relate a little bit. In the moment, I understand where she is coming from, although Knightley always pointing things out was incredibly refreshing. I can't see how her and Knightley work though, because he so clearly sees these terrible things in her and she never acknowledges them. I'm just glad that she develops throughout the story. Will be reading the sequel because the writing style was very nice to read.

This book is warm, kind and oh so funny. Emma and George the names sound good together but their personalities clash.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishes for the e-arc in exchange for my honest opinion. Overall, I enjoyed my time with this book, I thought the characters were fun and I enjoyed seeing their growth, particularly Emma's throughout the novel. It's been a while since I've read Emma so I can't remember it all too much but I didn't think anything was too similar and if I hadn't read Emma I probably wouldn't even notice it's a retelling!

A modern retelling of the Jane Austen classic Emma set in modern day New York. Emma is a wealthy child living in the heart of New York City on 83rd street. She’s 23, studying a Post Graduate in Art History where she meets her best friend Nadine. Her sister Margo is paired off with life long best friend and neighbour Ben who is a chef and the older brother of George, most commonly known as Knightly who live in the property behind them.

If you know the story of Emma you will delightedly know what to expect from this story. I LOVE modern retellings of Jane Austen’s Emma, despite not finding myself able to get into the original story. 🙊🙊 I am a devoted life long fan of Clueless, another modern Emma retelling and there is one scene when Emma realises the man she’s loved all along that has a reminiscent feeling of the Clueless scene which I forever adore! In the last scene there’s also a set up for a possible sequel which I’m dying with hope will occur! I always knew I’d love this one so am obviously kicking myself for not getting to it quicker! But overall - if you love matchmaking, miscommunication tropes and friends to lovers, or just absolutely love Clueless - this book is for you!

My eternal gratitude to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for this ARC!

I loved this book. I must admit I do like romance novels that has friends to lovers troupe and happy endings. So if you love either or both of these then this book is for you. I didn’t know if was a modern retelling of Emma. That means I have actually never read Emma. Surprise though I still loved it and really couldn’t put it down! Thank you for the opportunity to read this

Emma Woodward is 23, living her life on the Upper-East side of New York with very few challenges in her world. Until her matching making abilities actually work, her sister gets married and Emma is left in their family home alone with her father. Starting to feel a little bored Emma takes on a new project. When Nadine arrives, new to town and appearing to be out of her depth, Emma is determined to take her under her wing and show her how to fit in. The only person who seems to have an issue with Emma’s new hobby is her handsome neighbour George Knightly. Knightly has known Emma her whole life and isn’t afraid to tell her when she is out of line. Emma and Knightly might start off arguing but soon realise their friendship might have changed and start to see each other in a whole new light.

This is a modern day retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma and it was absolutely charming like the original. Emma is such a relatable character and the New York setting is icing on the cake.

This book felt chunky when I picked it up but I found myself flying through. It was such a fun and easy read!

A modern day retelling of the classic Emma, Emma of 83rd Street threw off all the 90’s movie Clueless vibes and I absolutely loved it.

I’m not usually one for a slow burn, friends to lovers romance but for some reason this one just worked.

Overall a cute stand alone rom com.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this.

This is a very light-hearted and enjoyable book. This is a modern retake of Jane Austen's Emma. You don't have to have read the Austen original to be able to understand and enjoy this one.

Emma Woodhouse is a privileged young woman who likes to meddle in other people's lives, much to the chagrin of George Knightley, who on many occasions butts head with her, much to her own chagrin. I really enjoyed reading this and reading about their interactions with each other, and their own personal growths.

For me, a definite must read!

I unfortunately wasn't able to finish this arc due to life commitments however, I enjoyed what I did read enough to go purchase the book upon its release.
Emma of 83rd Street was a really easy and enjoyable read. The story does start abit slow which is to be expected given the that Jane Austens Emma is also on the slow side.
The authors have done a fantastic job of weaving this classic tale into a modern setting with modern dating rules. I'm looking forward to being able to finish this novel and would recommend it to any one looking for a witty romance read.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book for an honest review.

Emma lives in New York. She wants for nothing. She likes to get too involved in other peoples lives. Her best friend is George Nightly they have known each other since they were children . This book is a modern day version of Jane Austin’s Emma. While Emma is taking care of other peoples romances she is neglecting her own true romance . This book is funny and surprisingly sexy. 4 stars

A fun meet-cute romantic comedy, I really enjoyed reading. It is a fun retelling of Jane Austens Emma, the character were fun and interesting, the world building solid. I had a great time reading it

While we all love an entertaining meet-cute of two people who we know are destined together forever after having never known each other existed – the sense of romantic fate and destiny is palpably sublime and awww-worthy – there’s also something deliciously enticing about a couple who have been friends all their lives and who then discover they have somehow moved onto love, true love without even realising it.

Very much pivoting on the idea that the best things, and particularly, people can be just under our noses, and with a delightful vibe of Jane Austen’s Emma added into the mix, Emma of 83rd Street, the debut novel from Audrey Bellazza and Emily Harding, is an undoubtable delight, a frothy light and bright romantic comedy that comes with some emotional muscularity and sparkling dialogue that elevates it above many other titles in the genre.

Helping matters along considerably is that Emma Woodhouse, one of two daughters of the very wealthy and highly regarded New York City family which, among other things, is a significant donor to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, is a joy to hang out with.

Grounded in her own own Upper East Side way, Emma, and her sister Margo, have benefited from being raised by a loving father who knows his place in society and has more than his fair share of anxious concerns (not least what food and drink isn’t good for you) but who has provided a home of love and support which has allowed his daughters to flourish.

By way of contrast, the Knightley boys, across the backyard from the Woodhouse’s townhouse – there’s no longer a gate and the two families have mixed freely for years – lived under a draconian and loveless father, only saved from blighted lives by being unconditionally and comprehensively adopted into the Woodhouse’s forthright but loving family.

With the two families mixing freely, it’s no surprise that, with some matchmaking intervention by Emma, who sees herself as someone well placed to enhance the lives of others, the younger of the two Knightley boys, Ben, and Emma’s Margo might indeed be well suited.

But surely the same cannot be said for Emma and Ben’s older brother George who snark and spar with merrily affectionate abandon, calling each other by their surnames and doing their best to drive the other, with dialogue witty, clever and lightning – their conversations are sublimely good and a real pleasure to read – absolutely crazy.

But, and this is where Emma of 83rd Street come gorgeously and affectingly alive, we all know that where there is sparring and playful annoyance, there may well be nascent love and so, it will surprise you not a jot, that that is precisely what turns out to be the case.

No surprises there; this is a classic rom-com and the book’s authors know exactly how to bring all the various genre tropes and cliches to vibrantly fresh and original life while paying homage to Austen and her gift for investing the well-trod with refreshingly fun and loveliness.

What is truly impressive, beyond the vivacious, well-rounded characters and the shimmering vivacity of the dialogue, is how well Emma of 83rd Street navigates its way to its happily inevitable conclusion.

There’s nothing predictable about the way Emma and George finally realise what we all know and their family suspect, which makes the race to the romantic finish line all the more delightfully enjoyable to read.

Emma, caught up in transforming the life of new best friend, Nadine, and ensuring her postgrad art studies garner her the internship at the Met she has coveted for years, is adamant that George is nothing more than a very close family friend while George, head of newly-emergent and highly successful, Knightley Capital, can’t see himself with someone like Emma, preferring a string of inconsequential girlfriends, none of whom really seem to have any long-term potential.

Much of the narrative vivacity of Emma of 83rd Street comes from watching them strip away delusion and assumption after delusion and assumption until the truth is staring them in the face; even then, it takes some hugely funny and marvellously entertaining moments for the two close and longstanding friends to realise that maybe what they need is right there in the form of their bestie.

Again, even though you know that’s where this is all headed, the way that Emma of 83rd Street gets there feels so imaginatively alive and smartly, hilariously and affectingly written that you don’t for a second feel like you’re reading any kind of tired rom-com retread.

In fact, Emma of 83rd Street is as far from that as you can possibly get.

It feels like a rich and fulsomely realised romance sprung energetically to life, and it doesn’t lose any of the vigour of that deliciously warm and fuzzy Cupid-ian feel throughout, sustaining the sense that you are in the midst of one the grandest and funniest of all romances ever put to paper.

That is the joy of it, really.

You want to lose yourself in a book like Emma of 83rd Street, to push reality to the margins and to be totally subsumed in the idea that love, true love can find its way out from under two peoples’ noses, and make its presence felt, first uncomfortably and then welcomingly, and that’s precisely what happens and you are absolutely there for every scintillatingly alive second of it.

Surging with a romantic vivacity that feels like all your dreamy ideas of love sprung to life, full to the laugh-out-loud brim with snappy, fast-moving, crackling dialogue and characters who are a consummate joy to spend time with, Emma of 83rd Street is in a class above the usual rom-com, a rich, funny and heartfelt ode to Austen, love and marriage (and the festive trimming and trappings of the Christmas season) that cautions against assuming love lies in the usual places and dares to look beyond them to somewhere altogether different (and yet happily close to home) and life-changingly wonderful.

I am the biggest sucker for anything Austen related, and I was so excited to read a new take on Emma (Emma and Knightly are my ride of dies)! I absolutely devoured this and loved everything about it, it was fun, fresh and an easy read - and the romance was downright delightful.

💛 Retelling
💛 Grumpy x Sunshine
💛 Slow Burn
💛 HEA

Whilst you may already know the premise of the story from Emma and key dynamics, the characters, the chemistry and the modern take made this read so refreshing.

Thank you NetGalley + Simon & Schuster for the Arc!

Thanks to Simon & Schuster Australia, Netgalley and the author for an ARC of this book. I am leaving this unbiased review voluntarily.

I have to start this review by saying that Emma is my least favourite Austen book. I love all Austen really, but I always found Emma a bit of a selfish character. In this interpretation, however, I think the author highlights a trait that I did not notice in the original. Emma is as lost as some of the people she tries to help, and she is finding herself all the way through the story. The evolution of Emma is something I did not understand until I read this book.

I also love Knighly in all his brooding handsomeness and it was wonderful to get his perspective in this book. The way these two interact is electric and I found myself glued to every word.

I absolutely loved this romantic comedy and I am sure you will too.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster (Australia) and NetGalley for a free copy of this novel to read and review.

This is a modern-day retelling of Jane Austen's "Emma", a novel of a privileged young woman who likes to meddle in other people's love lives, but can't sort out her own. You don't have to have read the Austen original to be able to understand and enjoy this one.

This novel may appeal to younger women more than it did to 50-year-old me who's been married to the same lovely man for 20 years. It's very romantic - both in terms of the relationships between the characters, but also in its supposition that this kind of situation ever has any possibility of happening in real life. It was nearly a 4-star novel until the highly unrealistic and unnecessarily detailed sex scenes in the last quarter of the book. They felt out of keeping with the previous feel of the novel and detracted from it, in my view.

The author name-drops expensive labels and all her characters are beautiful, live in gorgeous homes and always have the best intentions. This is a slightly-above-average romance which doesn't require any great extension of intellect to enjoy. And with the introduction of Knightly's friend William Darcy at the end of the novel, I'll bet you $20 there's a Pride and Prejudice reboot in the works.

3.5 stars from me.

I adore Jane Austen's novels and will seek out any adaptations of her works. Emma of 83rd Street is a retelling of Emma, however this version is set in New York City and features quite a bit of spice. I really enjoyed being in the familiar story but with a different take. In this version, Emma is still ego-centric and opinionated, but is also super sweet and just a bit lost. I couldn't help but really like her as a character.

Another aspect I particularly enjoyed in this novel was getting Knightley's point of view every now and again. This version of Knightley felt close to the original in the way that he's portrayed, however I loved the way the authors modernised his job and lifestyle.

All in all, a great adaptation of one of the classics and I highly recommend if you love a friends-to-lovers romance with a bit of Jane Austen magic.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Australia for a copy of this novel. ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book! It was the most enjoyable story I have read in a long time. It had just the right combination of lightheartedness and emotional depth, the modern touches on the classic JA story were fun and fabulous. I'm very much looking forward to future stories from these authors!

“He was never trying to be mean, he just wanted her to be ready for the world beyond 83rd Street. And just as she was beginning to finally understand what that even meant, he was gone.”

I am a sucker for all things Jane Austen and this modern retelling of Emma looked very appealing. Emma of 83rd Street turned out to be one book that I am awfully glad I picked up and if your tastes are similar to mine, be sure to check this one out! It is sexy, it is sweet and all up a super fun read.

“Why are you so mad about this?” “Because . . .” He stopped himself, closing his eyes and raking both hands through his hair as if it would somehow restore his patience. “You treat the world like it’s your personal playground, Woodhouse. Like everything is here to amuse you until you find something better to do.”

The story remains faithful to the classic with a few minor adjustments and loads of contemporary innovations. I mean, if you know Emma then you know how this story will end but as always, it's the journey the author takes you on that makes the reading trip so worth your while. A slow burning friends to lovers trope with the added bonus of sections from Knightly and his viewpoint.

“It’s like a new beginning for her. I’ve given her the fresh start she needed.” “You didn’t negotiate world peace here. You dyed her hair.” “It’s a balayage.” “It’s brown.”

The fun adjustment of having Emma as a socialite living in New York and studying art history is so very clever. The weaving of themes from light and fluffy moments to the deeper lessons taken from the classic is perfect. Both Emma and Knightley's journey will bring a smile to your face with the banter between the two second to none. The writing is witty and en pointe, the characters are layered and engaging, the chemistry is off the charts. If this author duo is rumoured to be working on another Austen adaptation, count me in! The cameo of Will Darcy has me excited ;)

“… if I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more.”






This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

I enjoyed reading this quirky take on the historical original Emma, a fun book filled with romance!
The characters bring so much to the storyline, individually and collectively, a smile will stay on your face!
There’s a lot going on in this book, it’s well written with thought given particularly to the characters and their friendships. Sometimes there’s too much description, but mostly easy to read!
A page turner that I’d highly recommend!

Thanks to the publisher, NetGalley and the authors for the opportunity to read this book.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.