**I received an ARC from Netgalley. These are my honest opinions, and in no way was I compensated for this review.**
The Austen Playbook by Lucy Parker
Release Date: April 22, 2019
My Rating: 4.5 stars
Summary: Freddy Carlton knows she should be focusing on her lines for The Austen Playbook, a live-action TV event where viewers choose the outcome of each scene, but her concentration’s been blown. The palatial estate housing the endeavor is now run by the rude (brilliant) critic who’s consistently slammed her performances of late. James “Griff” Ford-Griffin has a penchant for sarcasm, a majestic nose and all the sensitivity of a sledgehammer.
She can’t take her eyes off him.
Griff can hardly focus with a contagious joy fairy flitting about near him, especially when Freddy looks at him like that. His only concern right now should be on shutting down his younger brother’s well-intentioned (disastrous) schemes—or at the very least on the production (not this one) that might save his family home from the banks.
Instead all he can think of is soft skin and vibrant curls.
As he’s reluctantly dragged into her quest to rediscover her passion for the stage and Freddy is drawn into his research on a legendary theater star, the adage about appearances being deceiving proves abundantly true. It’s the unlikely start of something enormous…but a single revelation about the past could derail it all.
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It is a truth universally acknowledged that an actor in a rut must be in want of a spot of murder, mayhem, and true love.If you truly know me, you know I adore Lucy Parker's London Celebrities series, and The Austen Playbook was no exception. Act Like It is my favorite, but this book is definitely starting to edge it out . . . As soon as I finished it, I immediately wanted to reread.
This book is the very picture of "character A being a ray of sunshine and character B being a cloud of grumpiness"!! Honestly, all the books in this series has some variation of this, but The Austen Playbook possibly is the best in this retrospect. There wasn't as much hate-to-love as I thought, but that actually ended up working really well.
It's the same with everyone, isn't it? We're all a hundred different things at once. A different person to everyone who knows us. And there are very few people we'll ever love and trust enough to let them have — well, as much of the whole of ourselves as another person can know.Freddy is so fun and optimistic and honest and kind. Conversely, Griff is so sarcastic and pessimistic and blunt and critical, literally in Freddy's case. But they totally work together! What I loved is that they never, at any point, find their personality differences an obstacle to their relationship. Instead they're just like, "How unlikely, but wow, is our chemistry off the charts!" And their chemistry is truly something else. The sex scenes . . . are good, I'll just say.
"Good morning." He took in the shoe problem, knelt at her side, and reached into his pocket."Dear me," she said with suspicious blandness. "It's not a Mr. Collins situation, is it? I really prefer to have my breakfast before I receive unsolicited proposals.". . ."I only propose to women I barely know on Saturdays."Also, it's established that Freddy has slept with a lot of guys, but she's never slut-shamed or judged for her decisions! She knows what and who she wants, and what she likes, and she's sure to let Griff know. We love a sex-positive heroine!
The family dynamics on both sides are amazing. Griff taking charge of his family's estates and caring for everybody, but his brother just wants to help him out despite Griff thinking he's helpless. Freddy and her complex relationship with her (now deceased) grandmother and with her father, who's her manager and typecasts her into dramatic roles. There's a lot of feelings everywhere, and Griff and Freddy help each other navigate through some complex ones.
I liked following Freddy as she struggles with her career path; it was interesting to read a narrative about an actor trying to do more fun projects, and not just intense, dramatic ones. Griff, as well, is stepping out of his comfort zone trying to get his movie greenlit.
[I'm] much happier doing the musicals, the stage spectaculars, the comedies. I like to make people happy, I like to hear laughter and see them leave smiling and humming the songs. I like popular fiction of all kinds, and I think it's just as important as the lit that gets taught in class.I am upset that we didn't get certain cameos, but it makes sense because these characters' social worlds don't interact. We do get to see some of the previous main characters, and there are allusions to other theaters and news, so that was nice.
If you haven't read the London Celebrities series, I totally and wholeheartedly recommend it. Although you don't need to read them in order, I recommend it so you don't accidentally spoil anything by reading one of the books that are set later. The Austen Playbook releases today, so you won't have to wait for the next book (although there are two more books, if I'm correct). Get to reading, so you can read this sexy, wholesome, and snarky delight of a novel!
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About the Author: Lucy Parker lives in New Zealand, where she feels lucky every day to look out at mountains, lakes, and vineyards. She has a degree in Art History, loves museums and art galleries, and doodles unrecognizable flowers when she has writer’s block.
When she’s not writing, working or sleeping, she happily tackles the towering pile of to-be-read books that never gets any smaller. Thankfully, there’s always another story waiting.
Her interest in romantic fiction began with a pre-teen viewing of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (Firth-style), which prompted her to read the book as well. A family friend introduced her to Georgette Heyer, and the rest was history.
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