This is my second book from Nikki Payne, and I LOVE HER. She is the master at taking Jane Austen’s work and turning it into a modern gem. This is a retelling of Sense and Sensibility, with the sisters Nora and Yanne inheriting an inn in Maine, where they meet Ennis or Bear. Both Bear and Nora feel an immediate attraction, but will their various responsibilities and past traumas keep them apart? I loved Nora and Bear, as well as all the side characters. I love the story of Sense and Sensibility and I think this retelling was perfect, with Nora and Bear’s “sense” being family responsibility. I think Payne is a master at attraction and slow burn, and just so clever and funny, with a great writing style. I recommend this book for fans of Payne, Jane Austin, and interracial contemporary romance.

I just couldn't get into this one. I just couldn't follow it. Lots of bad movement and bouncing around.

✨ Review ✨ Sex, Lies and Sensibility by Nikki Payne

Thanks to Berkley, PRH Audio, and #netgalley for the gifted advanced copy/ies of this book!

I felt pulled in a lot of competing directions with this book.

I liked -
-the setting in rural Maine, near Abenaki rez land
-the open conversations the characters had about race, culture, and identity
-the collaboration between the characters as they both pursued goals of financial stability / business survival
-that the main characters were both track athletes and that Bear is a HS coach -- I don't think I've seen that in a book before!

I didn't like -
-the setting felt sort of ungrounded and I couldn't actually get the lay of the land
-the author seemed to do a pretty good job of familiarizing herself with Abenaki culture before writing the book and I do think she respectfully sets up her role as an outsider at the beginning. But I was unsettled by a non-Abenaki/non-Indigenous writer portraying Bear and co's role in the tourist industry and the way they were commodifying and selling parts of their culture.
-the romance wasn't really doing it for me and I wasn't sold by the side characters either
-the audio narration of Yanne (the FMC's sister) felt almost grating to me and it became hard to emphathize with the character.

I would read something else by her, but this one just really didn't work for me.

⭐️⭐️💫 (2.5 stars)
Genre: contemporary romance, Jane Austin retelling
Setting: rural Maine
Pub Date: 13 Feb 2024

I. LOVED. THIS. BOOK. I am a huge fan of Jane Austen but I might make a wild statement here by saying I think I actually enjoyed this retelling more than the original. Not only does this tackle the love stories of the two Dash sisters, but it also tackles some bigger topics that are so important. Just like with her first book, Nikki Payne writes such emotionally complex characters here and makes you truly immerse yourself in the story. I also really enjoyed the way she had each chapter with a unique and often funny title, and with a count down of sorts to a big event in the story that was looming so you always had it in mind, but also allowed you to immerse yourself in the current spaces we were in with the characters. Also my new favorite male main character is Bear, hands down. What an absolutely wonderful, complicated, sweet, genuine man that Nikki wrote. As a final note, as was true of the first book, the tension and chemistry was SOO well done.

I have a confession, I have never read a Jane Austen book before 😱 That didn't stop me from jumping at the chance to read a retelling.

Although it's a romance, it's so much more. It's a story of family, found friends and so many secrets, with strong characters who have so much grit.

This is my first book by Nikki Payne and I will definitely read more by her. I loved the representation of not only the black community but also the Abanaki tribe. I also appreciated the light that was shed on sickle cell anemia and speech impediments.

I did have a hard time connecting to the characters tho, but I am definitely willing to give her books another chance.

This is a slow burn with a lot of moving pieces because our main characters (Nora and Bear) need Barton Cove to happen. Nora has everything to prove learning that her family's financial circumstances are a bit unstable. We start the book with some family secrets that are surprising for all. Bear a local uses the home as part of his tour and dear I say has a meet cute with Nora that gets them started on a partnership that requires trust and keeping their hands off each other. Overall we get a good mix of finding oneself, family (found and blood), community impact, and love vs obligation. Yanne was a great comedic relief at times and I'm so glad that her characterization was leveraged as a sounding board for Nora rather than air headed sister. This story was layered with race relations, tradition vs capitalism, being authentic vs who people want you to be, and unraveling from past experiences (just to name a few). There were some pacing issues but I found the last 30% pulled everything together.

if you haven’t picked up one of Nikki Payne’s Austen adaptations, what are you doing? This spin on Sense and Sensibility features a gorgeous Maine setting, a dilapidated inn, and a sweet, sexy hero. You don’t need to read Austen’s work to appreciate Payne’s anthropological approach to storytelling, but I loved picking up on subtle name changes and clever plot devices derived from the original text. Additionally, Payne’s attention to detail around her setting and Bear’s Abenaki heritage shines on every page.

This is the perfect romcom???? I am so serious when I say that. This book was hilarious and chaotic and romantic and layered and I could not get enough of it. Nora and Bear are soulmates and I love them so much.

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

A retelling of SENSE AND SENSIBILITY about Nora Dash and her sister Yanne, who learn they were their father’s second family and move to Maine to renovate the inn that is their inheritance.

This was so much fun and I was captivated from beginning to end. Nikki Payne writes with so much humor and I found myself laughing out loud so many times, while simultaneously so impressed by the way she handled difficult topics like race, colonization/the treatment of Native Americans, and sexual exploitation. I loved Nora and Bear and loved watching their journey unfold. All the small moments between them (“Nora Dash, I would love for you to braid my hair one day.”) grabbed my heart and refused to let it go.

As with Payne’s debut PRIDE AND PROTEST, this book is also an excellent retelling, hitting all the best notes of the source material and adding smart and entertaining twists for the modern era and the style of the new story.

Basically, I’m a huge Nikki Payne fangirl now, and I can’t wait to see what she does next. I can’t recommend her books highly enough!

CW: Classism; colonization; sexism/misogyny; sexual harassment; mentions of infidelity

I’m enjoyed this telling of one of my favorite Austin classics. I loved the chemistry between the two main characters and a couple of the side characters. The side characters all added a great element to this fun book. The he setting, the characters, chemistry, and witty banter made this a great romance to enjoy.

Thank you to Berkley for the complimentary book and to PRH Audio for the complimentary audiobook. These opinions are my own.

Sex, Lies, and Sensibility takes place in the same broad story world as last year's amazing Pride and Protest. But it focuses on new characters. As you would guess from the name, the heart of the story is two sisters, Nora and Yanne. When their father dies, he leaves them a property that is about to be foreclosed unless they can come up with money quickly. So they head off to rural Maine, where Nora meets Bear.

Nora and Bear both have fully detailed backstories and lots of nuance. I think I found it easier to follow the plot because I was already familiar with Sense and Sensibility. But I expect I would have enjoyed the book regardless of knowing the classic.

The tone of the writing was such fun with great chapter titles and short little TLDR synopses. And I was so impressed by the author's note at the start of the story, describing Nikki Payne's process of learning about the Abenaki culture to be able to represent it well within the text.

While I wouldn't go so far as to say there was lots of miscommunication, I did find myself wishing for more and better communication between Bear and Nora. I spent some of my reading just shaking my head at both of them. But I ultimately appreciated how this resolved.

The audiobook was especially well read with wonderful narration by Kacie Rogers and Phil Ava.

I love absolutely everything Nikki writes. This was inventive, funny, heartfelt, and so sexy. As a Jane Austen lover, she does these retellings so, so well, while making them relatable, contemporary, and so romantic.

Please keep publishing everything from her because I would read her grocery list.

After Pride and Protest, I became the biggest Nikki fan. I think she balances romance and real world issues with care. Her writing grabs your attention and keeps it. I enjoyed watching Nora and Ennis come together and thought that their story was worth everything it took to get together.

This took me a little while to get into, but once I did I really enjoyed it. I listened to the audiobook and enjoyed the narration. I’ve never read Sense and Sensibility so I’m not sure how this compared to the original

I loved the easy friendship that Bear and Nora developed and how it turned into more. I loved how they just seemed to click and how they cared for each other. I would’ve enjoyed more details about the home reservation. I loved Yanne. She was such a free spirit and full of life. She may not have helped as much with renovations but I greatly enjoyed her. I also really appreciated Bear and Nora discussing their heritages/cultures and how they preferred to be identified.

Some of the conflict with Bear, Lu, and the river came to be confusing from time to time/took away a little from the romance. I will definitely check out more books from Nikki Payne.

Sex, Lies, and Sensibility

Oh, my!

So, I am going to be honest, I have never read a retelling and I am a part of the 1% that has never read Jane Austin. I know, I know, this probably sounds criminal to you, but don't you worry, this made reading Sex, Lies and Sensibility like a first orgasm, yes, it was THAT good.. Am I allowed to say orgasm in a post? .yikes, I hope I don't get put in time out for that one.

Any who, back to the book...

This book right here hits every key element to deliver a bestseller. Family, friendship, sex... sex... sex oh and finding out you are your fathers secret love child.

Perfectly narrated, Nikki Payne skillfully thrusts you right into the Inn and into the lives of these sisters. Gosh, I need more . I loved Nora, and I know you will too.

Check out this teaser :

Two sisters roll up their sleeves to run a dilapidated inn but must learn to work with the locals in this deliciously spicy novel inspired by Sense and Sensibility.

There’s never a good time to learn you are your father’s secret child—especially not at the reading of his will. With their father’s affairs laid bare and Nora’s sensible reputation in tatters due to a viral video scandal, she and her free-spirited sister have nothing left but a rustic inn in the middle of nowhere and each other. What’s more, they need to revamp the inn before Labor Day or they lose it all. Nora hasn’t even knocked the traveling dust off last season’s designer boots when she’s confronted with three problems:

1. She really should have watched more HGTV.
2. She hasn’t seen another Black person for miles.
3. A tall, dark stranger has already staked a claim on their property.

Native Abenaki eco-tour guide Ennis “Bear” Freeman has seen hapless tourists come and go. When he spots two pampered city girls at his unofficial headquarters, he expects them to catch a flight out of the inhospitable coastal Maine backwoods within a week’s time. But Nora, turns out, is made of sterner stuff. And as she rolls up her sleeves to breathe new life into the inn, she unwittingly reignites a flood of emotions inside of Bear that he had very intentionally suppressed.

Their connection is electric, their desire palpable. But Bear’s silence about his mysterious past might turn out to be the one thing that sends Nora packing.

I love Austen retellings so of course I had to check out Sex, Lies and Sensibility by Nikki Payne. It's related to her prior book (Pride and Protest) but this works very well as a standalone (I haven't read that other one yet). Sex, Lies and Sensibility is out tomorrow! Thanks to @berkleyromance and @netgalley for the ebook.

✔️ Retelling
✔️ Forced Proximity
✔️ Alikes Attract
✔️ Secret Past

-summary-
It's a retelling of Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen set to modern times. Two sisters (Nora and Yanne) inherit a run-down beachside inn and have to figure out how to renovate and pay off its debt asap or lose it all. Ennis (aka Bear) had been using that abandoned land for years for his business and is caught off guard to see the two women there. To meet their financial goals, all decide to work together though the chemistry between Bear and Nora could get in the way of their more practical financial goals.

-my thoughts-
I adored Nora from the start - her strength was shown early on and you can't help but admire her guts. I stayed a fan of hers throughout, but I always root for the put-upon problem solving character.

Bear took a little longer for me to warm up too but it did get there. For those of you who are familiar with the source material, you know why I was wary and what shoe I was waiting to drop. Still, he won me over with how much he worked to take care of Nora. There was a particularly swoony scene where Nora opens up about her past and she had been bracing for a negative reaction. He responded to her vulnerability so well. I think that's where I became a Bear fan.

I also love the overall theme of "how long do you let past mistakes and past decisions shadow your life and dictate your future" and "do you let those things stop you from being happy?". It's a rough topic but I loved seeing both characters struggle with this and ultimately move forward.

Overall, a great retelling, keeping the spirit of the original book while at the same time taking the story to new places. It's also a perfect pick if you're trying to support Black authors this month and all year long.

Steam 🔥🔥
Banter 🗣️🗣️🗣️
Swoon 💕💕💕💕

As a long time Jane Austin Stan and a fan of Nikki' Payne's First book Pride and Protest I could not wait to get my hands on this.
I usually love Jane Austin retellings but I always forget about the one fact that Sense and Sensibility was not my favorite of hers because The Dashwood sisters had such bad luck AND our main male character is supposed to marry someone else even though he was obviously in love.

The retelling of the story in modern times...fell flat to me. It wasn't love triangle per say if the guy is already promised to a marriage of convenience. but Bear went and fell in love with Nora anyway and it was just a lot lol.

The story really is a beautiful retelling with wonderful characters ( i really loved Nora) and the ways that make it modern that I really loved.

But it wasn't for me.

3/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC, all opinions are my own

2.5 stars rounded up. Two books in a row with a Harry Potter reference? In the year of our lord 2024? What the hell.

I also didn’t really like the book either. That’s partially wrapped up in the fact that I don’t like Sense and Sensibility so I don’t want to drag the book because I read a retelling of a book that I don’t even like.

I really loved Pride and Protest (despite aforementioned HP reference) so I was very excited about this but alas, not the book for me.

✨ARC REVIEW✨

𝕊𝕖𝕩, 𝕃𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕊𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕚𝕓𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕓𝕪 ℕ𝕚𝕜𝕜𝕚 ℙ𝕒𝕪𝕟𝕖

HAPPY PUB DAY! 🎉

ʀᴇᴠɪᴇᴡ: OKAYYY! Nikki Payne continues her OG Jane Austen retellings in her second novel. I’m a Jane Austen STAN…so there’s big shoes to fill. (Obviously) This was nicely written! Whenever a story includes a Black FMC, I’m down bad for it. Our MMC was an Abenaki Native, & he was HOT! The book itself was just plain ole HOT! I’d say it’s pretty true to the OG source material— with some creative liberties. Only qualm was that it was a bit confusing, lots of characters, lots of dialogue, & found myself having to go back & reread certain portions of the text but overall I think this was SOLID! Very happy I took the time to read it.

Also, can I just say I loved the authors note at the beginning of the book! Often times when writing about other POC in media causes issues & are inaccurately represented. Although I am not apart of this particular creed of people, I can tell this author wrote this story with care without oversimplifying & causing a harmful depiction of the Abenaki Native people. Thank you for that!

Thank you to @netgalley @berkleyromance @berkleypub & @nikkipaynebooks for an eARC in exchange for an honest review

Pub Date: 13 Feb 2024 (OUT TODAY)

#SexLiesandSensibility #NetGalley #NikkiPayne #JaneAustenRetelling #ARC #BookReview

🏚️ 𝙎𝙚𝙭, 𝙇𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙎𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 🏚️
𝖭𝗂𝗄𝗄𝗂 𝖯𝖺𝗒𝗇𝖾
#BerkleyPartner #Berkleyromance

I am a Jane Austen fan through and through and I was thrilled to receive this free advanced copy from @berkleyromance of this modern retelling of Sense and Sensibility which releases on February 13th! I've already ordered her other retelling Pride and Protest based on my all time favorite Austen tale.

Nora Dash grapples with the shocking revelation of being her father's secret second family, a truth unveiled during the reading of his will. To compound matters, Nora's life was already on the rocks from an intimate video that went viral. Stripped of her reputation and left with nothing but a forgotten beach house, she and her spirited sister, Yanne, set out to revive the dilapidated inn, only to be immediately confronted by a bogus park ranger leading tours of their property. Ennis "Bear" Freeman, accustomed to unannounced visitors on his land, is surprised when this pretty city girl, produces the deed to his unofficial headquarters. When they decide that working together is better for both of them, things heat up quickly, but Bear's own secrets might just be their undoing.

This was a slow burn with things ramping up and then having to go back to the friend zone, before things getting extra spicy in an overnight camping trip in a wigwam. Nikki Payne starts the book with a note about the care she wanted to take in telling the MMC from a Native perspective and I enjoyed how she wove everything together.