Persuasion is one of my favorite Jane Austen novels and I am always ready to jump on board a re-telling. Unfortunately, By the Book did not really live up to my expectations.

One thing that I thought was really odd for a re-telling is that the main character, Anne, is a college lit professor and teaches on authors such as Jane Austen. Also, Anne’s favorite book is Persuasion. I have never seen the actual source material referenced in a re-telling. At first I thought maybe it was just going to be really meta or something, but Anne never references how her life is paralleling her favorite novel. To be fair, though, there were very few instances that really resembled it.

The Anne of this book was not nearly as likable as Anne from Persuasion. She was short tempered and kind of whiney. I did not like her best friend, Larry, at all. He was very over-dramatic and he was also having an affair with a closeted married man. Anne was friends with that man’s wife and she didn’t seem to find anything wrong with what Larry was doing and the whole storyline very greatly frustrated me. Anne dates an author and fellow visiting professor, Rick, for most of the book and he was another awful person. The only character I really liked was Adam (our Captain Wentworth). He never really did anything wrong the whole book and in my opinion was way too good for Anne.

Overall, I found By the Book really disappointing. I didn’t think there were enough recognizable parts from Persuasion that I like to see in re-tellings and just couldn’t get over how odd it was that Jane Austen and the actual book were referenced so often. I’m adding an extra half-star to my rating, though, because the writing itself wasn’t that bad and it did include a version of my favorite part of Persuasion– the letter.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 2.5 Stars

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for this review copy in exchange for an honest review.

I usually love retellings but this just seemed to go all over the place with no clear direction. I liked certain aspects of it and as someone else pointed out I was a little blind sided by the fact that there’s very little to no interaction by the people you think are the main couple and the ending does feel slightly tacked on.

Anne is a liberal arts professor in a small college in California. She finds out at the beginning of the school year that the new University president is Adam, her first love and former fiancé. She's been so busy trying to get published so she can get tenure, trying to pay her exorbitant student loans off and, trying to take care of her father, that she has no private life. Yet, seeing Adam again starts bringing all those old feelings up again, until a new writer in residence lets her know that he finds her very attractive.
Anna spends the next school year dealing with day to day problems, her blossoming relationship with Rick and, her feelings for Adam, which are all over the place. She suddenly starts realizing that Rick is never there when something bad happens and she needs support but,  Adam always is. That should tell her something==shouldn't it??!!

It's probably embarrassing as a well-read person to admit I haven't read Jane Austen, but there it is -- I have confessed. So I cannot comment on whether this is a good adaptation of Persuasion or not. But in evaluating it on its own merits, I thought it was a good book. It is just a solid chick-lit/women's fiction feel-good kind of book, with a plucky protagonist, a little drama, a little romance, and a fairly predictable happy ending. It didn't insult my intelligence, I might not handle everything the same way as Anne, but she didn't offend or annoy me either. 

The only thing I might change a little is the level of passion between the main characters -- it's fairly tepid compared to what was going on with one of the other competitors for Anne's heart -- just a little more exploration of that along the way would make the book zing a little more. 

I was given an advance copy of this book by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I found By The Book: A Novel to be a funny, enjoyable and relaxing read. The story has all the emotional highs, lows and angst that I would expect (and enjoy) in a book based off of Jane Austin's Persuasion.  The author's characters were realistic and the story engaging. While at times I thought some of the side stories were a bit far fetched, they did add spice to all the drama and romance.  All in all, By The Book was the perfect way to spend a lazy afternoon! 

I received this book for free. A favorable review was not required and all views expressed are my own. Thank you to Ms. Sonneborn, Gallery Books and Netgalley for the opportunity to read/review this book.

By the Book by Julia Sonneborn brings us to the hallowed halls of a college.  Ane Corey is an English professor who is on her last legs.  She works hard, struggles to pay for her student loans and does not have tenure.  All that adds up to an insecure future and job.  She has the worries of publish or perish that many college professors have.  Anne has written her book, but no one has accepted it for publication.  

Meanwhile, the new college president is none other than her first love Adam Martinez.  He seems to not remember what they meant to each other.  He has new responsibilities and is surrounded by beautiful women who hang on his every word.  Meanwhile, her father is having medical issues, her sister is not being helpful, and her best friend is having an affair with a friend’s husband.   While she is hopeful and has some strong, caring friends life is sometimes quite hard.  Adam seems to be around, but is not showing her any special attention. She doesn’t know where she stands.  

Julia Sonneborn reminds of us of the greatness of the first love.  The academic world with all the rules and expectations is almost another character in the story, which adds to the atmosphere of the story.  By the Book by Julia Sonneborn was a good read.

Thanks so much to NetGalley, Gallery Books and Julia Sonneborn for the opportunity to read and review this debut novel - really enjoyed it!  This is a retelling of Jane Austin's Persuasion, which I've never read, but a contemporary romance that's light and totally easy to get lost in.

Anne is an English professor at a college in California.  She has a mountain of student loan debt, is struggling to finish her book, and has been told that unless she gets it published, she won't get tenure and will lose her job.  On top of that, her dad is struggling with health issues.  So when the college announces a new president and it turns out to be her ex-fiancée, she becomes a bit overwhelmed.  A new visiting author helps to take her mind off her troubles.

This book is filled with real life - friendship, family, work and love - and spins it all into a really enjoyable read.  Kudos on a great debut - loved the cover too!

The cover is adorable. It instantly captured my attention. 
This is a modern retelling on Jane Austen's Persuasion set on the campus of Fairfax College. I liked the characters .  I was relieved that Anne was strong yet vulnerable. I was able to relate to her frustrations and her tears. I adored Larry, Anne's bestie. Everyone should have a Larry in their lives. I also enjoyed the literary references. This is a romance for true bookworm. I would love to read more from this author. 
Thanks to Gallery Books  for sending me an ARC of this book via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Having never read Jane Austen's Persuasion (I know, shame on me), I can't speak of any comparisons or lack thereof. In all honesty, that had nothing to do with my interest in this one. The cover caught my attention and the synopsis piqued my interest. The author certainly has talent and the story is interesting enough, if a bit predictable. I did find myself somewhat confused by the need for so many emails, including addresses, subject lines, etc, interspersed throughout the story. Several were showing the many denials Anne received from publishers, but there were other completely mundane things included as well. They quickly became repetitive and tedious, and I'll readily admit that it didn't take me long to start skimming those parts to get the gist of it before moving on. That said, I never felt like I was reading a romance. I read about a fling and an affair in this tale, but neither of those felt at all romantic. There is plenty about Anne and her ex, their break-up several years earlier, and her discomfort about having to work with him, but the interactions between them are brief and scattered, and completely ordinary. The closest they come to being remotely romantic is one scene when they're having a drink in celebration, but any romance is in Anne's thoughts and doesn't progress any further. So, even though the conclusion for this one held no surprises, there was no real build-up of romantic tension. As far as the characters are concerned, we get a rather odd mix of the likable and not so likable. Our main character, Anne, is interesting if a bit self-centered, but the shining star in this one for me is Larry. He's witty and endearing even when he's making bad choices. To sum it up, the story was okay, but the romance fell a little flat for me.

I’m unapologetically a huge Jane Austen fan, and while P&P will always be my favorite, Persuasion is a close second, because I absolutely adore second-chance romances. While this isn’t my favorite Austen retelling, or even my favorite Persuasion one, this was a quite enjoyable and really well done modern version. This is going to be pretty spoilerific, because I’m assuming anyone reading this knows the basic plot of Persuasion. While it’s certainly not a requirement to have read Persuasion to enjoy this book, I think you’d miss a lot of the fun.

“How could I explain to her that this—this office filled with books, this job at Fairfax, this life of the mind—had cost me more than I’d ever expected? I hadn’t dated anyone in years, my student debt was the size of a mortgage, and my job could easily be eliminated at a moment’s notice.”


Anne, is, perhaps, not exactly happy with her life. While she’s a professor at a small liberal arts college in southern California, she’s got a ridiculous amount of student debt, an uncertain career future if she can’t get her manuscript published, screwed-up family relationships, and a nonexistent love life. Still, the start of a new school year is something to be happy about – until she finds out that the new college president is her ex-fiancé Adam. Adam seems to have it all together – a prestigious job that caps off a so-far excellent career, handsome looks, and a cute dog – while Anne, well, “she was only Anne,” to quote Austen. Hurt by his seeming inability to recognize her, Anne takes up with the charming Rick, a writer-in-residence. The reader, of course, knows the relationship is doomed, but I was amused by the ways Ms. Sonneborn found to display his unworthiness, including the fact that he specifically tells Anne that he doesn’t like Austen – he calls her books “oldfashioned chick lit,” while Anne’s favorite book is Persuasion. I found this a bit tongue-in-cheek but it gave the characters permission to use some of the more out of the modern vernacular lines.

Besides Anne’s romantic life, there’s a few other subplots: her BFF Larry’s on-the-down-low romance with an up and coming actor (in a Jane Eyre with zombies movie, no less), her and her sister’s attempts to cope with her father’s worsening health, her rocky relationship with her father and sister, and her need to get her manuscript published so she can get tenure. I thought all the subplots worked amazingly well to reinforce the points of the main plot, though I will admit that I adored Larry and any scene he was in. There’s some particularly hilarious emoji conversations that I absolutely died over. I mean, look at this scene from early in the book, when they’re discussing Adam:

“'Boo. That’s too bad. I don’t like it when people are too perfect. What is it with this guy? He’s got the fancy degrees, the high-powered CV, and he’s good-looking, too! I mean, why do some people get all the cookies? I want some cookies, too!’
‘Larry, you’ve got plenty of cookies on your own,’ I said, rolling my eyes. ‘I mean, give me a break, you’re a tenured professor with a PhD from Harvard. What more could you want?’
‘Oh, a personal life, maybe. Or some more hair would be nice,’ Larry said, pretending to pout. ‘I just want more cookies.’”

I adored the setting of this quasi-New England college town in southern California, the ridiculousness of departmental meetings and alumni fundraising (GO WOLVERINES!!!), and all the other details that go along with being a professor a small liberal arts college. What I really loved, though, was the ways Ms. Sonneborn found to modernize Persuasion.

In the original novel, Anne was persuaded against marrying Capt. Wentworth because he had no money and no family connections, and therefore wasn’t a suitable match for someone of her stature. In this novel, Anne’s persuaded against the marriage, partially, by her respected advisor, who in a sort of annoying backwards view of feminism makes her believe that if she marries, she’ll have to give up her dreams of graduate school and being a professor, and settle instead for – GASP – being a mother or kindergarten teacher. I thought this was a masterful way of updating the reasons against the relationship, because I’m sure any woman alive today can sympathize with the dueling desires of having a career and a family, and feeling like they’re making a mediocre showing at both. I also adored the updated version of the reconciliation, with Adam overhearing Anne talking about not giving up on love, even when a relationship is in the trash, and the letter Adam writes her where he finally declares his feelings for her. I’ll certainly admit to crying when he breaks out the famous “I have loved none but you” line.

I’m still crunching over the fact that they made Adam, basically, an illegal immigrant – his mother moved them to America from Guatemala when he was a child – so he is, in essence a DREAMer. It felt a bit too politically on-the-nose, but I do admit that it’s a genius way to try to portray the differences in standing between the two families that would have been more easily understood in regency England.

“'I keep wishing I could go back in time and change things . . . that maybe everything would have turned out differently if I’d just paid attention more, listened, understood the signs. Do you know what I mean?’
‘I do,’ Adam said. He looked troubled.
‘I don’t know why I do this,’ I said, laughing bitterly. ‘I can’t help myself. I must be a masochist.’”


My one big complaint was that in the original novel, when they meet again, Capt. Wentworth is still angry with Anne for the broken proposal years ago. In this version, it’s obvious – to the reader, at least – that Adam still has feelings for Anne, and things just conspire against them having it all out in a conversation. I think there was still a satisfactory amount of tension without that, and I can understand why Ms. Sonneborn would chose to change that – the way it works in the original book always made me feel that Anne needed to “earn” Capt. Wentworth’s love – and this way the blame of breaking of the engagement seems to fall equally on Anne and Adam.

Overall, this is an enjoyable and hilarious retelling of Persuasion. If you’re not all up on your Austen, then I think this would still be some pretty fun chick lit. There were some bits left unresolved, so I’m hoping for a sequel starring Larry!

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I definitely wanted to read this book when I saw that it was a modern retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion. I read Austen’s book years ago and do not remember it in great detail, so I will not be able to compare the two.

You do not need to have read Persuasion to enjoy this book. It is the perfect stand- alone light novel. This is the story of Anne a college literature professor working towards tenure, when her long lost love Adam enters as the new President of the University. With a few more relationships and drama thrown in Anne tries to decide if she is truly happy with the way her life turned out. It makes for an entertaining story.

If you love romance or you are looking for a lighter read this is a great choice! I enjoyed this one and would definitely recommend it.

If you enjoy Jane Austen and the Brontë sisters then I think you'll enjoy this writing. It is a modern approach, but a feel of a classic. It is well written and the characters are done perfectly for the story.

"By the Book" by Julia Sonneborn
I really liked this story.  It certainly kept me entertained.. sometimes with happiness, sometimes with tears... yet always wanting to find out what the next page was going to say to me.  I was gifted with a copy of this story and am ever so happy for my good fortune.  A good story should never be missed.

This book was cute.  Predictable and cute.  Just what I needed in my reading life at the time.

English professor Anne has goals:  get a book deal, make tenure, dealing with her aging father.  Maybe a new romance?  They all seem to be moving along nicely.  Then her ex-fiance shows up as the new president of the college she teaches at.  Will this derail everything?

I just liked Anne.  I enjoyed most of the other characters, but Anne had me from "English professor."  She was a little quirky, but I can appreciate that.  I just wanted to see her succeed.

The plot was predictable, yes.  I look for that in my lighter fiction sometimes.  It's nice to just be along for the ride with no huge surprises and the ending you were wanting.

Enjoyable read.

I  have a confession- if you've read my blog before you might see that I do that quite a bit(confess to things) LOL - I have never read Persuasion by Jane Austen so I can't compare this novel to it in any way. I will say though that after having read By the Book I want to!


There was/is so much to love about this novel- in fact I read it in one day. That's how charming, with a pinch of the romantic, this was.  


Ms Sonneborn's writing style is familiar and warm - what I mean is, it's friendly. I hope that makes sense? 


Although I was a bit let down with the treatment of the plot point involving Anne and her father this did not lessen my enjoyment of the novel. 


The characters shine here in By the Book, each of them in their roles brilliantly developed, and I will admit to wanting more- but that was because I enjoyed the book. 


By the Book has style substance and wit and I'm a huge fan. I hope I do not have wait long before Ms Sonneborn publishes another novel.

I LOVED this loosely based modern take on Jane Austen’s Persuasion. This was a sweet and fun second chance novel that made me smile. I really liked the characters especially gay best friend and side kick, Larry! This story even gave me a happy tear at the ending! I recommend this book for anyone who likes a great women’s lit novel and second chance romance!

I received this delightful read from Netgalley-how could I resist that title & cover? The story was a quick sweet story that any aspiring English professor can relate to. I loved Anne’s passion in this story-her fight to live the life she wanted. The love story was sweet, if predictable, & definitely recommend it for someone looking for sweet light read. If, like me, you tend toward darker heavier fare much of the time this is a nice break.

Honestly- you don't need to have read Persuasion in order to really enjoy this compulsively readable and entertaining tale of Anne, an academic, dealing with her career, her love life, and her family.  In fact, you might enjoy it more if you, like me, read the original so long ago that you don't remember all the details. Sonneborn has written some crackerjack characters and terrific dialogue.  Anne is a professor hoping for tenure (and to pay off her student loans) and Adam is her long lost fiancé and now boss.  Rick, well, he's the wild boy love interest but keep your eye on him.  Larry, her colleague, is the truth teller we all need and he's got the coolest love interest.  If you've dealt with older parents, you'll recognize Anne's dad and if you've got a sister, well you might hear her voice in Lauren's. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.  I very much enjoyed this and you will too if you're looking for a good realistic read with a happy ending.

Based loosely on Jane Austen's Persuasion, By the Book is about Anne Corey a literature professor at Fairfax college in California who is trying to secure a tenured position teaching, but in order to do that she must get a publishing contract for her work-in-progress and the deadline is quickly approaching. To top all that off, Anne's ex-fiance just became the President of the university. Seeing him again for the first time in thirteen years, Anne begins to evaluate her life and how certain events have led her to where she is today. And as she looks back, she begins to wonder if the decisions she's made have led her to the right place. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this read. It's a light, sweet story. The romance is there but I mostly loved that the story as a whole is Anne's reflection on her life rather than Anne trying to get back together with her former love because she suddenly feels lonely. The ruminations that go through Anne's head throughout the course of the story don't really take her down a new path, therefore, telling her and readers that despite the broken heart, and despite some tough times along the way, she ended up exactly where she was supposed to be. With or without a relationship. Her accomplishments are her own and she doesn't owe them to anyone else. I loved that this distinction is written out very clearly. 

But with that said, there is a strong romance plot throughout; that of Anne and her ex-fiance Adam. While we do get the basics on how they got together in the first place, and why they broke up, I wanted a few more of the in-between moments. The moments that solidified their relationship with one another once upon a time. I think this would have made the devastation of the break-up more apparent, which I think it's supposed to be but didn't really come across strongly enough for my tastes.

One of the relationships where Julia Sonneborn really excelled was the friendship between Anne and her fellow professor Larry. They are truly best friends and I loved that they are both totally devoted to one another. One of the things that was on the negative side for me while reading was the predictability of some of the story threads. Most notably, the "new" romance that Anne gets into. If you've read any book by Jane Austen you can pretty much guess how this new relationship will go. It's entirely possible being a retelling of a Jane Austen novel that is the exact reason why the author decides to follow certain edicts, but I think it would have been ok to break out of the box a little more with it. In the background a secondary romance for Larry totally engrossed me and at times had me thinking the book from Larry's perspective would have been delightful to read. 

I think that Julia Sonneborn really pays the source material quite the homage with this story, but I did like how it's not too overt, it's subtle. Actually, I would go so far to say that the love of reading / books in general is more blatantly obvious as more than just Austen are referenced throughout the story. You could feel the love for the written word coming through the pages. 

Overall, I enjoyed this debut it hits a lot of what I love reading in contemporary romances. I really look forward to seeing where Julia Sonneborn goes next.

So, although I realize that By The Book by Julia Sonneborn, is a modern retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion I cannot base my review on that. I have never read any Jane Austen. I am not sure how that happened, but maybe I will now. I enjoyed this book. Anne is very relatable as she struggles with tenure at a small liberal arts college. Flash backs to her past are well integrated into the story and give insight as to why she reacts the way she does. Best gay friend might have degraded into a parody, but instead added amusement and depth. I would read more by this author.