Pride
by Samantha Ryan
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Pub Date Feb 04 2025 | Archive Date Mar 10 2025
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Description
Ben Bennett treasures the cozy rhythm of his life: running his beloved bookstore, curling up with his sassy cat Ziggy, and putting up with his spirited sister Mal. He’s not exactly searching for love—despite the occasional swipe on Grindr—and he’s definitely not interested in anyone messing with his hard-won peace, even if he could use an extra set of hands around the shop. But everything changes the moment he crosses paths with Avery Fitzgerald, Mal’s new boyfriend's infuriatingly handsome, ridiculously wealthy friend. Avery’s a business developer with a knack for getting under Ben’s skin—and when he buys the building next door, Ben’s world starts to unravel in ways he never expected.
As much as Ben tries to resist, Avery keeps finding new ways to weave himself into Ben’s life, challenging everything he thought he knew about love, business, and himself. In this modern, queer twist on “Pride and Prejudice,” sparks fly and hearts collide in a story that’s as cozy as it is unpredictable—a perfect exploration of love in a world that doesn’t always make room for it.
Advance Praise
“In Ryan’s sweet… debut, a modern queer take on Pride and Prejudice, bookstore owner Ben Bennett meets Centennial Oil heir Avery Fitzgerald." — Publishers Weekly
“Holy smokes! I started reading it and could not put it down. To get to the emotions of it all. Good thing I read it in private - I am an ugly crier. Everyone who reads this is going to feel the vulnerability and relate to how difficult it can be to get the words out, especially to someone you feel so strongly about. That sense of whatever this is is better than no communication at all. Each person in the relationship getting through their own stuff and then getting to the point of opening of their souls to let someone else in.” — Diane Engel
“I really enjoyed the book. I read it in one day.” — Ali Wiley
“Pride does a wonderful job at portraying imperfect but relatable characters, especially with the use of a first person perspective. I loved the way Ben navigates uncertainty and growth. His observations and relationships with those around him adds even more layers of frustrating, wholesome and engaging complexity.” — Jessica Cox
Featured Reviews
I loved this book. There were times that I wanted to sit the MMC’s down and give them a stern talking to about how silly they were being but that is to be expected when the characters are so relatable. I didn’t like that they were referred to as boys when they are grown men (both over 40) but it was lovely reading a romance book with more mature characters. I’d love to know more about them but I think that would drag the story down too much. Perhaps we could get more information as novellas or bonus chapters.
This was a very low-angst, slow burn romance. I enjoyed the cozy, lazy river feel of it. I didn't have to worry too much about where the story was going to take me. There were certainly P&P parellels however it was lacking in the pride and prejudice. Obviously retellings don't have to be 1:1 but I would have enjoyed this story more if the comparison to P&P wasn't lurking in the shadows. It would have better as it's own seperate entity. Overall enjoyable and I recomend this read to anyone looking for something warm and easy.
This is a must read., as a gay man. it is a must read. The way this book had me in a choke hold with the characters and story line. It did a solid good job on portraying feelings and reactions. As a reader I want to be taken into a word, escape and this book did exactly just that.
I do love a P&P retelling! This has some great aspects - loved the characters of Ben & Avery; The "Mr Collins" bowling date was hilarious - particularly like the intro of the only 2 reasons an adult would ask another adult to go bowling. The first half follows P&P's plot closely enough to be enjoyable / anticipating how various plot landmarks will be interpreted, but not SO closely that it is annoying - it's just right. I love Avery standing up for Ben to his horrid mother - that is definitely one of the highlights.
The second half falls a little bit apart, I think it loses some of the P&P framework; I never felt like I really KNEW Ben, and more-so Avery's character very well (though some of this was intentional) but still felt a bit lightly sketched sometimes; the ski-vacation is very vague, as are some other things like Avery getting Ben a book he really wanted as a gift, but WHAT book is never said.
The big reveal at the end is pretty good.... but also an almost unbelievable twist for what we know of Avery -- still, I do like his coming to realize who he really is.
Overall a fun read -- think the 1/2 half could have been a bit stronger/more P&P-linked, and some of the settings and characters could be more detailed -- but definitely enjoyable for P&P fans!! Ben & Avery were lovely!
This was cute!
The formatting threw me off quite a bit, which I think is just an ARC thing, but with so much texting I wish there’d been a clear difference between that and the rest of the writing. Sometimes this made it hard to follow who was speaking or writing, which was a shame.
All in all, this was a fun, quick read. It wasn’t particularly heavy on the Pride & Prejudice elements, though I didn’t go in wishing for that particularly. The writing was a little clunky at times - not bad, necessarily, it just seemed a little inexperienced (not sure if that’s actually the case, though).
This story relies quite a lot on miscommunication and just-not-communicating, which I both most ardently dislike. Particularly with regard to the (internalized) homophobia, I think it’s a shame we never got any kind of confrontation (or discussion at least) due to Ben’s conflict avoidance/lack of assertiveness. I think this also halted the relationship development, since Ben spent a lot of time assuming Avery’s thoughts and feelings, rather than asking him and starting a conversation. Oh well…
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