This book has shades of Little Women, indeed, but can also work as a highly readable and warmly written romance on its own.


While book two will focus on Amy and Beth, we have the central friendship and grown-up lives of Meg and Jo featured here. Kantra focuses on the limitations of recalibrating romance in the marriage of John and Meg who solidly love each other while learning to live within the reality of recalculated expectations and busy with their twins. I confess that this portion of the book read much to me like the scene in Good Wives where John brings a business colleague home without telling Meg who has just burned jam --but again and again. It is definitely a nice slice of realism, but not the most alluring for those who want to escape into romance.


Jo, however, having suffered a few disappointments ( unintentionally hurting her best childhood friend Trey Laurence (two guesses who his counterpart is) and losing her job, is starting a food blog and working as a line cook at a swanky NYC restaurant called Gusto under head chef Eric Bhaer.


The food world and blogging world and recipe world here was fascinating. It is in this city-set portion of the novel that Kantra's voice sparks to life. And as Eric Bhaer's food and passion is fused by recipes from his childhood in Germany, so Jo brings a bit of her Marmie's North Carolinian flavour to local recipes.

I really have to give it to Kantra. Bhaer is a hard character to transpose --to adaptation or to a contemporary retelling-- and yet she surprised me with him.

He is kind, of course, and creates a family of his staff. It is within the walls of Gusto that we see reflected the boarding house scenes Jo writes so familiarly about in Alcott's pages.


The big problem is by having Bhaer in this position of power and as an unofficial patriarch for the kitchen staff, Jo is courted and sleeps with ...her boss.


It has never been my favourite trope ---boss falling for employee---and perhaps I am extra sensitive in the era of MeToo. I also felt the relationship blossomed a little too quickly as did the "major conflict"

All that said, I read this book in one sitting and was very much allured by Kantra's voice. To add, for all of the Little Women adaptations I have read and watched... this one DID surprise me and it does show a close and heartfelt appreciation for the source material.



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With thanks to Netgalley for the review copy.

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Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the opportunity to read and review Meg and Jo.
Little Women has been around so long that at one point or another we have seen remakes of some sort or another. Meg and Jo is no exception. Virginia Kantra pens a novel of Meg and Jo living in contemporary times with a twist on old issues. It is a thoughtful, sugar coated novel about sisters who come together while living separate lives. If you read the novel without think about the original, I think readers will enjoy it some much more. Meg and Jo is about family, living your best life, and learning that change is inevitable. My only real issue with the book is that the characters seem self-absorbed, but living in the world today most of us are so...personally to me it fits. We are living in the times of Little Women, when women were not "allowed" to do certain things or act a certain way.

Meg and Jo is a modern retelling of Louisa May Alcott's classic novel, Little Women. After seeing the trailer for the new movie remake coming out Christmas 2019, I was really in the mood for some classic Little Woman nostalgia. This book lived up to expectations in certain ways, while falling short in others. Let me elaborate.

Meg and Jo is told in alternating POVs between (well, duh) Meg and Jo. I enjoyed that Kantra kept the same general structure for each sister while updating their specific personalities to modern times. Meg is a mother in a happy yet complicated marriage who is struggling with the expectations of motherhood and the SAHM role. Jo is a free-spirited cook/food blogger living in New York City, struggling with the expectations of a successful career. The realistic issues that both sisters grapple with is engaging and the most interesting part of the story.

The family dynamic between the sisters and the March parents is also especially well done. We get a look at what the other sisters are up to when the family meets at the farm in North Carolina for the holidays. I like what Kantra decided to do with Mr. March and his character.

The only aspects of this book that I didn't love: the handling of Laurie and Jo's ultimate storyline is a little wonky. Laurie is really not a likable character at all, and we only get a hint at what's to come between him and the March sister. Jo's storyline is compelling, but I'm still not sure I'm thrilled with her ultimate end. Overall, this retelling does a nice job of updating the roles of the characters while keeping much of the family dynamic in tact. Not all characters are done justice, but it's still an engaging read.

Meg and Jo is a wonderful retelling of their Little Women story. Updated to show both Meg and Jo as adults, living in modern day, with the same issues women deal with daily. Meg is a mom who is trying to be everything to everyone, she hates to disappoint and is her own worse critic. Jo is trying to make a go of it as a journalist in a time where newspapers are failing or letting writers go, so she turns to blogging. This book was great fun to read, as a fan of Louisa May Alcott's books, I highly recommend it, such a great story...can't wait for the next sisters stories.

3.5 stars. This is a modern retelling of part two of Little Women. Although, all of the March sisters make an appearance, the book alternates between Meg and Jo. Meg is a stay-at-home mom to her two-year old twins and struggles with feeling fulfilled in that role. Jo is in New York City working at a restaurant and secretly writing a food blog to make ends meet. Marmee's health problems and the approaching Christmas holiday brings everyone back to the fold. It has been a long time since I read Little Women, which was probably good because I wasn't doing a constant comparison game. I struggled with the first half of the book because Meg and Jo characters read as so stereotypical. As the book progresses, the characters develop and find identities beyond the domestic homebody (Meg) and tomboy writer (Jo) stereotypes. I will add that the pop culture references were fun, but means the book won't have the staying power as Little Women. Overall, it was an enjoyable and satisfying read. I'm invested enough that I will be on the lookout for Beth and Amy's stories!

My problems with this novel probably have less to do with the novel and more to do with me. Had I realized that Kantra was a Romancer author, I probably wouldn’t have picked this up, because I am not particularly fond of romances, and that’s definitely what this is. Fans of the Hallmark channel will love this book, with its nostalgic retelling of one of the most beloved American children’s books, Little Women. Kantra takes the March family out of 19th Century New England and plops them down in the 21st century North Carolina. Beth is taking a break from school to perform in Branson, Missouri. Amy is in Paris on an internship with Luis Vuitton. Meg is married and the mother of twins, living in her small hometown. And Jo, having lost her job as a journalist, is trying to make it in New York as a food blogger, paying the bills by working in the kitchen of the up and coming Chef, Eric Bhaer. Kantra’s retelling is not particularly imaginative, but follows the original plot and character outline of the original fairly closely. Mr. March has a more significant role than in the original (does anyone even remember the girls father?), though even here he is depicted as both physically and emotionally distant. Both Meg and Jo must come to grips with their troubling relationship with their father. Readers looking for a literary exploration of the themes of independence, family, and love that Alcott probed in her book may be disappointed, but readers wanting a heart-warming love story that reminds them of a favorite book from their youth will eat up this modern retelling of a classic.

This book is inspired by Little Women -- reimagined in the present day, with Jo as an aspiring writer and chef, Meg as a married mother of twins and a part time accountant, Beth a musician with a gig in Branson (yay, Beth is alive and well in this book -- I'm still getting over that trauma twenty years after reading the original!), and Amy an artist, interning with Louis Vuitton in Paris.. All the other characters are here in one form or another -- Mr. and Mrs. March (he is a dedicated founder of a non-profit that aids veterans, she runs the family goat farm), Laurie and Mr. Laurence, Aunt March, and Professor Bhaer, all in somewhat reimagined roles. This is a really fun book -- probably not for the serious student of American Literature, but a wonderful, quick and entertaining read for anyone who enjoyed Little Women and would enjoy a fun, light romance. Recognizing the similarities between this and the original adds to the enjoyment of reading this book, but even if you haven't read Little Women or seen any of the films, it stands on its own.

I was really excited about the concept but didn't love the execution. I found it difficult to get into and the characters very unlikable.

I like Little Women a lot, and I love that it seems to be perennially popular, with each new generation rediscovering it. With several new film adaptations, I was in a Little Women mood, and was pretty excited for this new retelling; I've really enjoyed a number of recent retellings of Jane Austen's novels and was curious about how the author recreated the March girls' stories for the 21st century. Unfortunately, I couldn't get past the first chapter, which is rare for me! It seemed written too simplistically, and followed the original story too closely. I just couldn't get into it.

This book disappointed me. I was so excited when I saw that Jo had already met Professor Bhaer before the book began. Perfect, the guy doesn't get enough love (I'm one of the people who think it's weird how he's shoved into the end of the original book). Eric's still a philosopher—but of the culinary arts! Jo's doing the thing struggling dreamers in New York City do— in 2019! Meg's a mother—and what that means today is completely different! But I didn't get anything from the plot. The characters were shallow, current-day reflections of the well-rounded women of the original novel and I didn't feel any of the heart I saw from Louisa May Alcott. I think this is a common issue in Little Women updates: people focus on the bonds between sisters and Jo's independence, but they forget a lot of the book is about growing up and learning how to change. I was also pretty annoyed about the March parents' marriage subplot. Yes, Mr. March was absent during most of the original plot, but why do I only see variations of one story line I see when it comes to children raised by a devoutly church-going family? The ministry is always a destroyer of families. It's always about a "fallen idol." I've never been into it and I'm so over it. The absence of Mr. March was about how to go on when you're missing someone you love, not about male power complexes and children's yearning to please an unpleasable, self-centered man. Anyway. Not a fan of that update.

I'm not the world's biggest Little Women fan, but I found myself missing it. Meg and Jo was a nice breezy read, but I won't remember much except its being hollower and more annoying than the original. I'm sorry I couldn't give a better review because I found a lot of promise in its first few chapters.

A modern spin on Little Women set in rural North Carolina. Fans of the original will enjoy revisiting their favorite characters as they struggle to find fulfillment in today’s world and maintain close family ties.

This is a great re-telling of Little Women in the modern age, and, here, featuring Jo in New York and Meg, a wife and mother in their hometown. I was skeptical, but it worked. I'm looking forward to the author's take on Beth and Amy in her next book.

Little Women updated for the 21st century. This is one of my favorite books and I have read it many times. The author did a nice job capturing the beats and pitch of the original while changing things up as necessary to modernize the story. Jo and Meg are the main characters in this; the other sisters take a backseat. Meg is a stay at home mom. Jo is a food blogger in NYC. Beth is a music major and Amy is interning for a fashion designer in Paris. All in all it’s a fine holiday read for fans of the. original.

I liked the set up for this book and was excited to read a modern retelling of Little Women. I always appreciate a dual perspective as well. I felt that it was too long of a book and some of the back and forths could have been cut down to get the point across. Overall a charming book though, super cute cover and loved the family drama and relationships.

This book was received as an ARC from Berkley Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I have always loved Little Women and wanted to know what went on after all that has happened with the March women and how there lives were shaped to be. I did enjoy Virginia Kantra's adaptation on the sequel but there were a few factors according to Little Women that did not add up. Throughout the story there was no indication that the story was flashing back to when the girls were young because as we remember from Little Women, Beth had passed away from Scarlett Fever and was not around for the future. Meg did get married and had two boys but now they are toddlers and from when the setting of the story, they should be much older. However, I was intrigued by the story of how the March sisters learned the important life lesson of family when they are forced to move back home to take care of their mother and the strong bond they have of sisterhood and nobody learned that better than Meg and Jo. Not only did they take care of their mom, they took care of each other. A heartwarming sequel of a classic book reimagined. This will definitely have a place in our library collection.

We will consider adding this title to our Adult Fiction collection in our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.