Monday 26 September 2011

Review - Persuade Me - Juliet Archer


  • Publisher: Choc Lit (15 Sep 2011)
  • ISBN-10: 1906931216
  • ISBN-13: 978-1906931216

The Blurb

When do you let your heart rule your head?

When it comes to love, Anna Elliot is stuck in the past.  No one can compare to Rick Wentworth, the man she gave up ten years ago at the insistence of her disapproving family.  What is she's missed her only chance for real happiness?

This contemporary re-telling of Jane Austen's last completed novel is the second book in Juliet Archer's  Darcy & Friends series, offering fresh insights into the hearts and minds of Austen's irresistible heroes.




Now, I have a confession, between you and me, I have not read Jane Austen's novels, but from what I understand Juliet Archer stays true to the characters and plot of Persuasion.  I also understand that you do not need to know the Jane Austen novel to enjoy this re-telling of the classic.


I fell in love with this story from page one.  The idea of Anna still in love with a summer affair she had ten years ago with the gorgeous Rick.  


Anna, lecturer, gave up love at the request of her family.  Now lives alone in a top floor flat wondering what could have been with Rick.  


Rick has moved on in location and relationship stakes.  He is now Dr Rick Wentworth, Celebrity scientist, living in Australia,  with a model girlfriend to keep him company.  He is not short of admiring fans.


Fate brings Rick and Anna back together when Rick tours England to promote his book and visit his sister, who happens to live nearby.  Their paths were meant to cross.


There is a fabulous cast of characters including Anna's eccentric father,  Sir Walter, with his obsession with mirrors and  his 'youthfulness', and his other daughters, Lisa and Mona, Mona's husband Charles and the in-laws the Musgrove's and Rick's family.


There were times I wanted to shake Rick and Anna for not ceasing the moment or for not speaking up when they had the chance.  There is a lot of surmising going on between these two characters and if only they would communictate. 


Sometimes it felt like the story was slipping into the past with Sir Walter's antiquated views and mannerisms.  He is quite a character.   


I really enjoyed getting to know all these characters and discovering the connections between the families.  A romantic modern day tale.




I am putting Juliet's other novel on my TBR list along with Jane Austen's Persuasion. 


4.5 out of 5 for me!



Find out more about Juliet Archer  here

Thank you ChocLit for sending me a review copy

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