I really enjoyed this book! It was such a fun read! I decided to take a break from mystery and thrilled to read this feel-good book. Joani Elliott did a great job at making the characters realistic and likeable. This book had a great mix of humor, emotions, and drama. I was rooting for Sara the whole time and wanted her to find out her family secrets. I was hooked up until the very end of the book!

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

"The Audacity of Sara Grayson" is Joani Elliott's debut novel. However, much to this reader's delight, it reads like the workcraft of an experienced and seasoned author! To say that I enjoyed this sweet little literary read would most certainly be an understatement! I was "in for a penny, in for a pound" from beginning to end! This novel had excellent character development wrapped up within a compelling storyline. All things considered, it is one of my favorite reads thus far in 2021 and I eagerly look forward to Joani Elliott's next work of fiction! She possesses a bright new voice that I for one, could read all day long!

📚📑📚📑📚📑📚📑📚📑📚📑📚📑📚

Many thanks to NetGalley for gifting me with an advanced digital copy of this book and to Joanie Elliott for writing a story that "spoke" to me from page one! I LOVED THIS BOOK!👩🏼‍🏫

#TheAudacityOfSaraGrayson
#JoaniElliott
#PostHillPress
#NetGalley

Thank you to the publisher, author and netgalley for my digital arc of The Audacity of Sara Grayson.
The blurb of this book drew me in, however it wasn’t as exciting as I hoped it would be.
Sisters Sara and Anna Cath are trying to process the shocking death of their famous mother, Cassandra Bond. She had written best selling novels which had been turned into films.
Her will is read and during this Sara is told that her mother had stated that she wanted her to write her final novel in her best selling series. Sara is a struggling writer and is currently working for a coupon company. Her life changes drastically once she accepts the huge task in-front of her.
There are many lies and secrets surrounding her family which she will uncover during her writing journey.
I wanted so much more from this book. There were plenty of likeable characters but their story lines weren’t prominent. Most of the secrets that were revealed weren’t as shocking as I was hoping they’d be. All in all I did enjoy reading the book and felt Sara’s frustrations with her writing clearly.

The audacity of Sara Grayson: I absolutely loved reading this book. A wonderful story, well written and so full of every emotion. The subtle links that accumulated into a crescendo at the end was just brilliant.

The Audacity of Sara Grayson was such an unexpected surprise. I loved this book. Saras’s mother Cassandra Bond is the super famous author of the Ellery Dawson series. Everyone is eagerly awaiting the fifth and final novel, but before Cassandra can write it, she loses her life to pancreatic cancer. In her will, she names Sara as the author she wants to write the final book, but Sara hasn’t written more than greeting cards in years.
This story follows Sara’s path to finding the courage to write, uncovering family secrets, and discovering her soulmate in the process. I absolutely adored this book, the characters, the scenery and Sara’s metamorphosis. It was perfection.
•
•
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Joani Elliott knows how to write! Well crafted novel with a realistic depiction of the art of writing — the insecurity and hopelessness and futility and accomplishment, cycling in an endless, introspective loop. If you think the story synopsis above sounds interesting, the book storyline should be right up your alley. Elliott’s writing is empathetic, and feels uplifting, in a real, truthful way. As someone who dabbles in writing, I found much of this book inspiring. I definitely recommend if you are a writer. You will love Phil, because he’s the best.

The book also has a couple of adorable and believable romances.

My only issue with this book (which, unfortunately, is a big one), is that we spend the majority of our time with Sara Grayson, and Sara Grayson is… kind of awful. Whiny, full of excuses. Literally everyone she knows is like, “Your writing is so good! You need to do this! Also, you’ve been unhappy. Trying this new thing may help you realize what you want and feel fulfilled.” And she doesn’t trust herself, she doesn’t trust those she loves, and she’s fucking annoying about it. It’s probably realistic, but it’s very difficult to spend so much time with her when she’s insufferable, and, like, not in a fun way.

Huge thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book! This story is a lot more complex than the cover might lead you to believe, and it took me a while to get into it… but once the foundation for the mystery is laid, it’s hard to put down! The main character and her relationships (to her parents, to her sister, to her writing) are really the star of this novel. As a writing teacher, I especially liked seeing her writing and editing process!

4.5 Stars
Meet Sara, a 32 yo greeting card writer with a teaching position at college. She’s the daughter of the great author Cassandra Bond, whose Ellery series 50 million copies and is being made into a movie. The fifth book of this suspense thriller is supposed to be released. But Cass passes away, and there is no book.
She leaves a letter asking Sara to finish the book. Sara, and not her perfection-craving elder sister Anna-Kath! With barely any writing experience and even lower self-esteem, can Sara even take up the audacious responsibility? Her mother definitely wants her to. Her sister is supporting and encouraging her.
But can Sara do it? Can she finish the book without help from the dreaded Phil? Can she overcome the hurdles set by Jane from Iris Publishing? What about the whispers of plagiarism, and who is this Meredith Lamb?
The book is about Sara learning to get back her confidence in life (after her husband walked out on her a few months ago) and understanding that writing is not scary; it’s terrifying and soul-satisfying.
The book is 400 pages long, and I was a bit skeptical in requesting it. I like my books small and compact.
However, the writing was engaging, and the narration flowed well from start to finish. The book is a potpourri of emotions, and that made the characters more real. No one is perfect, and no one is really a villain or a baddie.
While I didn’t identify with Sara, I could understand her insecurities and vulnerabilities. It’s no small feat to finish a book from a bestseller series written by another person. As a writer, I know just how stressful it is. It’s hardly surprising that Sara wants nothing to do with the book or the series.
But it’s time she accepts a challenge and proves her worth. How long is she going to mop around? What follows is Sara’s journey of self-realization while digging up a dark past that further complicates things.
The book has its share of romance, but it is sweet and comforting, a perfect balance to Sara’s growing anxiety.
We see Sara understanding what it is to be a writer. The words on paper are just letters stringed together if the writer doesn’t feel them tear their insides, isn’t it? What I love most about the book is how writing is presented to the readers. There is no glossing over writer’s block. There’s no exaggerating the frustration or the satisfaction when words flow. Each chapter in the book starts with a quote from a writer, and I love them all.
The book has several elements, and at times, I wanted Sara to go ahead and take the plunge. There were instances I fast read a few paragraphs to get on with the story. That’s just me, though. I’m not the kind that relates to anxious heroines who take helluva time to decide their next move.
However, the relationship between the characters more than makes up for Sara’s indecisiveness. Overall, The Audacity of Sara Grayson is a warm and inspiring book for book lovers and writers. You won’t regret reading this Thank you, NetGalley, Meryl Moss Media, and Post Hill Press, for the ARC.

Sarah Grayson is an interesting character. The first half not so much, as she is depressed, unhappy and lacking life skills to cope with her mothers death and the consequential position it puts her in to finish her esteemed mothers novel, per her mothers wishes. We can relate to the insecurities she feels being left such a challenging chore.

The second half has us liking her a bit better, and there are some humorous moments that I enjoyed but I expected more from the cute cover of her book. I found myself impatient with the writing at times. I think the author was reaching for too many things, although it was a sweet story. The ending left something to be desired as well. I think the author has potential and I wish her every success.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this prior to publication and express my honest opinion of this work.

Thanks to NetGalley and Meryl Moss Media for my ARC in exchange for my honest review. This book was published May 25, 2021.

This was a fun book to read. The protagonist Sara learns her mother, a famous author, has tasked her with writing the final book in a famous series after her death.

I’ve always been interested in the writing process and this was a fun story to learn more about it, albeit fictionally. I really liked how each chapter started with a quote from a famous author about the writing process.

I like that Sara gained confidence as a writer and when given the option to take the easy way out, chose not to.

I had two complaints near the end: I felt like the London part got a bit confusing and somewhat off track. I also would have liked to know how Book Five did once it got published. My guess was it beat all expectations!

Original review posted on GoodReads.

#TheAudacityofSaraGrayson

The world building is fantastic! I love Sara, she is so relatable! She goes through a full range of emotions while trying to fulfill her mother's dying wish! A heartwarming read.

This book had humor and heart. Sara Grayson is a likable and relatable character. When her mom dies she is tasked with the huge job of writing the finale to her mom's best selling series. Sara teaches writing, but doesn't call herself a writer so the task of writing her moms novel seems insurmountable. As the doubts pile up and the deadline looms, Sarah must learn to believe in herself. 4.5 stars for this lovely tale. Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This latest book by Joani Elliott looked great from the cute cover but I didn’t care for it. Sarah’s mother is a famous author who passes away and asks her daughter to finish her last book after she dies. I found myself skimming pages and stopped at 27%. I found it all rather boring. Not for me. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early release in exchange for my honest review.

The Audacity of Sara Grayson was generously provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Sara Grayson is a semi-depressed middle aged woman whose mother has just died. During the reading of the will, Sara learns that her author-mother has stipulated that Sara is to finish writing her bestselling series. Yikes!

The Audacity of Sara Grayson was a very sweet book, and was especially emotional for me since I am very close with my own mother. The whole story is told from Sara’s POV. It is linear but there are a few time jumps. The characters are well developed and relatable. Overall, it was a nice book and one that I would recommend to a friend.

Sara Grayson has pretty much given up on life after a divorce and working in a job she's apathetic about when her very famous writer mother passes away. She's forced to face some truths when her mother's dying wish is for her to write the last book in the world's most highly anticipated series. Problem is, she hasn't written anything since her mother's old editor decimated her first novel. Not to mention that things about the past are being brought to light, making her question everything about her parents. And there's also a guy that she has no time to get involved with, but that just might be the inspiration she needs.
It's a series of scenes that show Sara at her worst and slowly working her way back towards something that she was once passionate about. Along the way, she learns new things about herself and her family and finds that she actually does have the audacity that her mom believed her to posses.
The story inspires you to start facing your fears and giving it your all. Well written, expertly characterized, and with great twists that kept me guessing. It's definitely worth the read.

Many happy thanks to NetGalley and Post Hill Press for the early read!

A story of self discovery. This book captures the essence of how difficult yet exhilarating the entire writing process can be. As someone who also deems herself a writer, I have dealt with the same problems Sara has encountered in this novel, whether it be the pain of writer’s block, a burst of fireworks containing splendid ideas, tiny doubts of confidence, and adrenaline rushes of excitement when thinking of your characters and the forthcoming chapters. I appreciate the lessons this book has taught me and I will most likely try out some of the techniques mentioned.

The introduction of the book was really confusing. It was hard to determine what the setting actually was and what other characters were present. I didn’t figure out what was going on until I was ¾ of the way done with the chapter, which is A LOT considering this is our first glimpse into this world, making me not have a good initial impression of the novel.

An aspect that I've really come to love is the use of quotes underneath each chapter. I’m an enormous fan of quotes, and this really helped foreshadow events that would occur within the chapter, which was a very clever use of them if I say so myself. Add to the fact that each of the quotes utilized were from published authors, brought the overall focus of the book together.

Now dialogue is one of my favorite things about reading because it gives further insight into who these characters are and how they think. Throughout reading this novel, there were times where I couldn’t keep track of who was speaking, which is really annoying if you’re trying to figure out what this character is like persona wise.

Let’s discuss Sara since she is the protagonist of this novel. After all, her name is included in the title too. I enjoyed her character. She was truly authentic in that you are acquainted with her when she is down in the dumps, feeling all depressed and just constantly bringing herself down for not being good enough. Everyone has experienced this sort of emotion at some point in their life and to see that being portrayed almost normalized the same exact feelings I have sometimes too. I commend the author for that choice. Sara gets a ton of crazy and delusional ideas too, and that’s seen through her mental process and honestly I related to that on a spiritual level. I absolutely love when authors emphasize a character’s thinking since that also gives readers another outlet to familiarize and connect with the characters. For example, Sara's mind is depicted as very scattered and it really fits her since there’s so much going on in her life. Also, love it when she freaks out too. That always manages to make me laugh.

The development of Sarah was amazing to see. I was so happy to watch her grow as a person and slowly gain her confidence back, especially after all the toxic and awful things she has gone through. I know I'm saying the word “love” too much, but I really need you guys to know that I adore Sara when she acts like a rebel. This girl knows how to make things go her way and went to show who's boss. And you will see that when she decides to initially decline the decision to write her mothers book.

The email and text conversations were just poetry to my soul. It was refreshing to see, since I haven’t noticed many authors use that writing style and it demonstrates the diversity of how we communicate in today’s world.
The mystery and suspense element of this book was executed perfectly and did not follow the typical cliche route of how a perfect little family was actually deeply broken, with one of the spouses having extramarital affairs because if that ended up being the case, this book would have been a complete drag to read. The entire enigma surrounding Cassandra Bond was paced very well, and kept me constantly guessing on what the huge secret could have possibly been.

The ending of the book was not satisfactory unfortunately. It was unexpected how abruptly it concluded and I was really hoping to see some reactions to Sara’s book once it became published. Honestly, I didn’t even feel any sort of emotions after reading the last chapter either, despite how things turned out. You know the saying, actions speak louder than words. Well if there was more description used than dialogue, the impact would’ve been greater. There were also plenty of questions that I had unanswered too, so it would’ve been nice to have some more closure. This also isn’t related to the content of the novel, but there are few spelling and grammatical errors here and there, which I do hope gets corrected eventually.

Overall this book gets 3.5 stars out of 5.

📖 MAY REVIEW 📖
[The Audacity of Sara Grayson || Joani Elliott]
•
Thank you to @netgalley for the eARC. Pub day: May 25.
•
A contemporary women's fiction in which Sara, is expected to write the 5th and final book in her mother's series, due to her mothers sudden passing.
•
I found there to be a very feel-good plot with a few main characters who I connected with. My favorite piece was the small sense of mystery having to do with Sara's family and how that ends up playing a larger role in the story.
•
The writing process itself and some personal searching may have been a little dragged on. I felt the author took awhile to say things. But overall, the novel held my attention, wanting to come back and find out what was going to come next.
•
I recommend this for anyone who likes womens fiction but prefers there to be a twist or sense of mystery looming in the background.
•
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Sara isn't someone who has everything together and is swept up in a whirlwind opportunity to live her dream of being a writer. She's afraid to put her writing out there, recently divorced, dealing with the loss of her mother, trying to unravel family secrets, and under great pressure to fulfil her mother's legacy and appease thousands of fans. The Audacity of Sara Grayson is a tribute to the writing process, family and self-discovery.

I absolutely loved it! It’s so good. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it thoroughly exceeded my expectations.

This is a feel good story of self-discovery for Sara as she grieves the loss of her mother, learns more about her family’s history, and most importantly finds herself along the way. There are sweet & endearing moments mixed with intrigue as Sara untangles her family’s secret. Throw in a sweet romance and you’ve got a wonderful book.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Post Hill Press for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

"The Audacity of Sara Grayson" is a tribute to the writing process. This is wonderfully highlighted in form of quotes from famous authors in the beginning of each chapter and presented in the ups and downs Sara herself confronts while trying to find the words her mother was convinced she had, but which she had buried deep within after receiving some harsh criticism.

I enjoyed this story immensely. Joani Elliott writes scenes that shine; the one with Sara seeing the sunrise, the one with the cupcake place, the one with Pixy Sticks and Cree to name a few. However I felt that while some parts of the story were neglected, other gained unnecessary attention. The blurb doesn't quite match the story I read.