Freddy Carlton is in a bit of a funk. The latest in a long line of a famous theater family, her career is going well, but she’s not really enjoying it. Like any British heroine, she heads off to the country to clear her head.
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.*
And like any romance novel heroine, where there’s a country house, there’s a grumpy sod who owns it. Enter J. Ford-Griffin. Griff is barely holding his head above water trying to keep his family solvent as the ancestral estate falls apart and his spendthrift parents breeze from project to project.
I’m a huge fan of Lucy Parker, and I’m delighted she wrote a book for Freddy, one of the charming side characters in Pretty Face. But this one was a real slow burn for me. For the leads as well, but really for me. Similar to Making Up, The Austen Playbook lacks some of the happy fizz of Parker’s first two books. Freddy is weighed down by professional, then personal, concerns as the book goes on. If you thought Leo’s sister was awful, wait until you see Sadie in action. All of Freddy’s concerns occasionally overwhelm the budding romance, and Griff doesn’t quite do enough of the work on his end.
Even so, Parker remains at the top of my list of authors to buy. Her characters have depth and the stories unfold almost effortlessly. I cannot say enough good things about her work, and The Austen Playbook is a worthy entry in the London Celebrities series.
I received a complimentary copy of this book via NetGalley in order to facilitate this review. But my Amazon pre-order still stands!
*This book contains no murder.