I really appreciated the Jane Eyre reimagining and had fun drawing connections to the characters, but it just wasn’t quite a right fit for me.

While many do and will love this book, I needed less inner dialogue and turmoil and more plot (and yes I know that Jane Eyre internalizes a great deal).

You’ll enjoy this book if you like:
• slooooow burn
• closed door romance
• age gap
• he falls first
• strong FMC

CW/TW: death of a parent, foster care, financial insecurity, emotional abuse, child abuse, gaslighting, theft

I love a good re-telling and this one is one of my favorites.

First, let me admit that Jane Eyre has NEVER been one of my favorites. And that I haven't read it since we had to pick it apart in High School. But this modern retelling made me want to go back and read it again from a different perspective.

Our Updated Jane is a foster kid, turned barely scraping by waitress, turned legal assistant, t. She gets a job at the distinguished law firm of Rosen, Haythe, & Thornfield assisting the intimidating, unpredictable, and unable to keep an assistant Edward Rosen.
This version was funny and romantic, modern and just really good.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for the Arc. All opinions are my own.

I might be one of the only readers who has never read Jane Eyre, or a book that reimagines it so I can't say anything about updating the story for modern times, but I really enjoyed reading Jane & Edward, and now have added Jane Eyre to my TBR!

I loved both of the characters of Jane and Edward and wish I could just give them both a hug. They were both broken characters, but also hopeful characters, that were destined to be in each other's lives. Everyone questions how Jane can work as Edward's assistant when he is a terror to work with, but Jane has been through so much in her life and Edward's temper tantrums are easy for her to deal with. You can see how much Edward values Jane's resilience and she starts to bring him out of his shell. Their banter was perfect and this story is so witty.

This is one of the best retelling I have read. It is beautifully crafted to modernize the story of Jane Eyre without losing the heart of the original. I love that this romance is not formulaic. The characters have depth and the updated story pulled at my heart.

Jane has had a tough life. At 13 years old she is left an orphan when her father dies leaving no resources or family. Now, after taking classes to become a legal assistant, Jane finds herself employed by a prestigious law firm. Unfortunately, she is assigned to Edward Rosen, one of the major stakeholders in the firm, and notoriously hard to work for.

I loved the feminist undertone of the book. While this is a corporate romance with forced proximity, Jane is a strong female character. We really see her come into her own and actualize her place.a Jane and Edward are two very broken people. The author gives a detailed and well developed back story for both of them. I am impressed with the authors writing and look forward to what she writes next.

Thank you, Berkley Books for the advanced copy to enjoy!

I received a gifted copy of JANE & EDWARD: A MODERN REIMAGINING OF JANE EYRE by Melodie Edwardsfor an honest review. Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and PRH Audio!

Publication Date: 3/21/2023
Rating: 4 / 5

JANE & EDWARD is a JANE EYRE retelling set in a legal office. Much like the original Jane, our Jane here was orphaned when young, left to make her own way in the world. She’s been working in a restaurant, working herself ragged, but she’s made the decision to change her situation.

Jane lands a job working as a legal assistant for Edward, a man who has burned through all of the experienced assistants in town. HR is hoping hiring someone young and flexible and without experience will be an advantage. Jane is more competent than originally believed and impresses her new boss on many levels. When a personal relationship begins to develop, secrets from the past come out and decisions must be made.

I love a good retelling and JANE EYRE is among my favorite classics, so I was excited to read this modern retelling. The author does start the book with a discussion of her own concerns about putting an Edward type character in the position of a mean and demanding boss in the me too era, but I think she does a good job of making him demanding and a little over the top while walking a fine enough line where he isn’t overstepping too much.

Jane was a character I could really pull for and I loved seeing how strong she was and how smart she was in so many of her decisions. I find myself often wanting to shake the heroines of romance reads for not standing up for themselves enough and in this case I think Jane did well. The author did well at translating the twists from the original story to make them more modern while keeping the feel of the classic.

I think this is one that will be enjoyed by many JANE EYRE fans and I also think it would work just as well to those who aren’t readers of the classic!

An exceptional modernization of Jane Eyre.

Author Melodie Edwards rocks this modern update to Jane Eyre in a way that follows the classic and yet still gives us a believable and absorbing contemporary story. Even if you haven't read Jane Eyre--and why not?--this is still an enjoyable contemporary romance.

In Jane & Edward, Jane Raine was orphaned at 13 when her father, a well-respected Professor, dies suddenly without making provisions for his daughter.    After she is finally released from the system after being tossed from foster home to foster home, Jane thinks her life will forever be stuck in the never ending drudgery of waitressing.  That is until she overhears her young co-workers discussing a legal assistant class at the local college.  With strict budgeting, Jane receives her certification and surprisingly, she is offered a position with one of the largest law firms in Toronto, Rosen, Haythe & Thornfield.  More surprising, Jane is shown her desk on the top floor with one with the senior partner, Edward Rosen.  Well, it's surprising until Jane runs into her new employer while he is beating up the coffee maker.

Most of Edward Rosen's assistants have each run quickly out of the building, some on their first day, but Jane is not put off by his brusque demeanor or the bellowing from his office.   She even finds his quirky behavior makes for an interesting day, even if a bulk of her day can be spent sending apology emails to other employees or opposing counsel regarding Mr. Rosen's frequent meltdowns.

Once Edward realizes that no matter what he does, he cannot fluster is new assistant, they begin a employer/employee partnership filled with mutual respect.    Jane and Edward grow closer as the months pass until love blooms, but when decisions of the past come back to haunt them, can they stand together or will these ghosts of the past destroy their hopes of a future together?

THOUGHTS:
At my house, we often watch older movies and discuss if they could stand up to modern changes, such as whether or not having a cell phone would make the whole problem moot or if you had Googled beforehand, would there have been no confusion.  When I caught this new release on a recent email from the publisher, I was very interested to see how the author would attempt to bring it up to date.   How much of the original story would still be left in tact and mostly, would Jane Eyre survive the modernization in a believable story as Jane & Edward?   I am delighted to tell you that this story captured the original spirit of Jane Eyre and still gave us a believable and enjoyable contemporary romance.

Jane Eyre is a favorite classic story of mine, even though I fluctuate between poor Edward and what a selfish jerk.  Jane is such a strong, unforgettable character. She is a poor relation, tossed out to institutional and almost abusive education.  The original Plain Jane, Jane still manages to catch the eye of her boss, the dark and brooding Edward Rochester.  Jane is so strong willed, even after falling in love with Edward, she won't bend on her principles even if that means tossing away their HEA, all while Edward it doing his best to convince her that leaving him will be selfish since poor Edward had such a hard life  (He really is a selfish jerk).

The background of a high profile law firm gave us the believable power difference between the senior partner of Edward and the new legal assistant, Jane.   Instead of an English household, we have a large law firm of junior partners, law clerks, IT, HR, paralegals and other legal assistance who are all watching and gossiping about the interactions between Edward and Jane.  We have a  French transplant and fellow legal assistant, Adele, who stands in for both young Adele and Mrs. Fairfax, as Jane's confident and friend who warns Jane that senior partners don't fraternize with and marry their legal assistants.  We have another partner hanging around who steps in for the Hon. Blanche Ingram as a contender for Edward's affection.  We have Steven Steppenwolf who stands in for the Edward's mysterious friend Mason, as well as a potential romantic counterpart for St John Rivers for Jane. <spoiler>While Edward doesn't have a mad wife living in the attic or even stowed in the basement, he does have a narcissistic wife living in California, a community property state, meaning any divorce would allow her to grab half of everything, including Edward's shares of the partnership. Divorcing her would allow her to dismantle the firm for its assets, as she wants to do, and all the people who rely on the firm for their livelihoods would be out of work. Again, it this all comes off as a believable obstruction to a HEA.  Even Jane's objections, over and above sleeping with a married man, are all reasonable.</spoiler>

This story stays true to the original story of Jane Eyre and nothing is lost in the modernization.  Even if you have never read or watched an adaptation of Jane Eyre (again, why not?), this was still a very engaging contemporary romance and a wonderful story.

I'm a sucker for a modern Jane Eyre retelling, and this one was very enjoyable. It is set in a law firm in Toronto's financial district, and it has all the Jane Eyre vibes reimagined for modern times. This one is well written with an engaging enemies to lovers plot, and perfect tension and angst that goes with the employee/employer forbidden romance.

Jane & Edward is a modern day retelling of Jane Eyre set in Toronto.

Jane Raine was orphaned at 13 when her only living relative, her father, died. It was sudden and so nothing was set up for her and she went into foster care. After aging out of the system, Jane worked as a waitress at a burger chain just scraping by until she overheard one of her coworkers talk about going to school for a year to become a legal secretary.

Cut to a year later, and Jane is being placed in a job in a very posh law office downtown (thing Wall Street but in Canada). She’s wondering how she got such an amazing opportunity off the bat until it becomes clear that the lawyer she’s to work under is wild and unpredictable and thus unable to keep any secretaries. Our modern Edward Rochester, Edward Rosen.

I found the pacing of this book and their relationship to be very odd. The love declarations happened right around halfway through. It didn’t have very much buildup and honestly, a lot of the dialogue was either just banter or came across as quirky (and not from Jane, from Edward). I couldn’t really buy in to him as a romantic interest until there were a few moments of tension.

The author also decided that right in the middle of a love declaration, she’d use the phrase “verbal diarrhea” which was extremely jarring.

Rosen baits Jane into making her confession first and then says “Right. Well, I wanted you to want me, and I wanted you to say it first so I could be sure my feelings were welcomed. You started talking about Isabelle, and I suddenly realized jealous might do the trick. Clever, right?” In the middle of a sentence. His whole vibe is just very immature and odd, especially for a man 10 years Jane’s senior. He does call her sweetheart later, which I did find somewhat redeeming.

Then in chapter 22, Jane is having a conversation with a colleague and says, “What’s wrong with wanting to read Charlotte Brontë? I’ve been effing living it.” Which honestly was way too on the nose and off putting for a retelling. Jane also uses dumpster fire in a sentence shortly thereafter so maybe the dialogue in general just doesn’t work for me in the book.

The real thing that led this to being a 3 ⭐️ instead of 3.5 or 4 ⭐️ is the way that the situation with Rosen’s wife was “resolved”. It cheapened everything. I had to put the book down when I read it.

And the epilogue, 2 years later, still had the same cheesy surface level teasing and smart people speak between Jane and Edward and just…did not feel realistic for a real relationship.

But! I did finish this in two days. I enjoyed the setting and modern translation. The execution was just lacking for me. But if you’re in dire need of a Jane Eyre retelling, this might be just the thing for you.

Thank you to Berkley Romance and NetGalley for an eARC.

Give this book ALL THE STARS. I read it and then immediately reread it the next day. Absolutely ADORED it

I’m not going to lie - I was a little skeptical about this book. The cover underwhelmed me, and sometimes retellings are boring.

But Shelf Awareness sent it to me, and I decided to give it a go and LOVED it. It pays homage to the spirit of Jane Eyre without following every plot detail of the original. (And thankfully without the long and depressing ‘Lowood’ portion of the book hashed out in detail like in the original.)

Having Jane be the legal secretary to Mr. Rosen the lawyer was a stroke of genius! I enjoyed the Toronto law firm setting.

PERFECTION. I cannot think of another word to describe this book. Melodie Edwards perfectly embodied the vibes of Jane Eyre while bringing the story into the modern world. There were so many nods to the original story, yet it was still unique in its execution.

The romance between Jane and Edward had just the right amount of tension and angst, and when they finally got together I literally screamed. It was SO GOOD. They both had their flaws, but they completed each other perfectly. And besides the relationship, there was phenomenal character growth. We see it mostly within Jane, since the story is told from her POV, but I think her character development complimented the romantic aspects of the book nicely.

All in all, I adored Jane & Edward and will be recommending to everyone I know.

A modern retelling of Jane Eyre, Jane & Edward is a must-read romance filled with love, hope, and its fair share of drama.

Jane and Edward were two lost and broken souls just trying to navigate their way through all that life threw their way. Edward was the definition of a grump and Jane may have seemed like a quiet girl, but working with Edward brought out a different side to her. Jane was ready for the challenge Edward presented her and wasn't about to let him push her away. The push and pull between Jane and Edward was intense and I loved their slow-burning romance.

Like any good love story, Jane & Edward is filled with its fair share of drama, and the ups and downs the characters must face and I think the author did an amazing job with the tough moments.

Jane & Edward is a fresh take on the story of Jane Eyre. Even though it's a modern retelling, the message and the roots of the original story are still there. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story and look forward to checking out more from this author in the future.

I am a big fan of modern retellings of classics, so I was very interested to see how Jane Eyre would play out in the twenty-first century.

Melodie Edwards' Jane & Edward kept my solid interest for the first half of the story before things went a bit off the rails during the second half. It started with their confessed feelings which read as too intense and too soon in my opinion. I know it's an odd thing to say since their confession came nearly 50% into the book, but I just felt like their chemistry was lacking and therefore I did not believe the love they professed for one another, even at the halfway point of the story. The incredibly quick resolution within the last few pages was also a bit unsatisfying.

I did enjoy the epilogue, but wish there was a bit more depth to Jane and Edward's story.

I absolutely loved this book! I could not put it down. I have never read Jane Eyre (don't hate on me) and I think with retellings I prefer to have not read the original. I love Little Women and I have tried modern retellings of it and I just cannot get through them. However, if I have not read the original I seem to like the retelling for the book that it is. Having said that, I listen to a podcast called Novel Pairings and they discuss classics and modern books that you could read instead of or as a companion to the original classic. So I listened to their podcast about Jane Eyre so I knew the story going into this book. I know it took the surprises away but I liked that I knew what would happen. I was okay with that. So Edward is a lawyer and Jane is his assistant. His assistants never last so she takes it as a challenge and then of course they start having feelings for one another. I like romances where both main characters are a little broken and need to work through some things. I will not give the twists away but I thought this was well done. Had I not known Jane Eyre I probably would have thought things were a little too convenient for Jane and Edward but the author had to stay with the original text so I thought it was great.

-"I knew you liked me."
"I tolerate you, Mr. Rosen."

-"I've never kissed a wailing woman before and it's killing my confidence."

-Protection was in having the information, not being guarded from it, however bad it might be.

-My own two feet are steadier than I realized.

I was laughing from the very first line. Good, tight writing. I had a hard time believing this was a DEBUT! I am really excited for Melodie Edwards' future novels.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC.

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5 stars

My new obsession. Jane & Edward is a modern retelling of the classic, Jane Eyre. This time Jane is a waitress barely scraping by until she becomes a legal assistant. She gets a job at the distinguished law firm of Rosen, Haythe, & Thornfield assisting the intimidating, neurotic, and unpredictable Edward Rosen. Edward scares off all of his assistants, but he has met his match with Jane.

THIS WAS SO GOOD. It was smart and funny and romantic and angsty and perfect. Melodie Edwards did an amazing job of updating the story and adding fun little nods to the source material throughout. Jane and Edward were just so adorable and amazing. I loved Edward’s quirks and Jane’s reactions to them. They confused and fascinated each other and I was swooning. All the stars. A 2023 favorite for sure.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I read Jane Eyre when I was very young and impressionable, and thought it was a great love story. As I’ve gotten older, my feelings about it have definitely changed, but I’ve continued to believe that it has the bones of a really great romance.
I think that was achieved in this book. This was a great reimagining of the original Victorian gothic romance brought into the modern world. For the most part, I thought it was handled really well.
The only thing I wasn’t thrilled about was the choice to have Edward’s first wife die. I was hoping she would just choose to divorce him, and not come out looking like a narcissistic villain.
Overall though, I was impressed. I’m looking forward to seeing what else this author has in store.

Short Review: This modern reimagining of Jane Eyre is exactly what you need in your life. I finished this book with a huge smile on my face and in my heart.

"All I've got in the world is me, and my own two feet, and the ground I stand on."

Long Review: That quote above really says it all. Jane is a strong, focused, modern woman who's been through hell, picks herself back up, and keeps going. I felt such a strong connection to her as I've been through some of the same life experiences her character has been through, and I had to pick myself back up. I completely and utterly loved her. I loved Edward too - but for me Jane was the total star of the story. My affinity for Edward is all due to Lamp. Lamp made me love him.

I know this book will be a continual re-read for me. I loved it that much.

I was a bit nervous, going into this story as Jane’s story in Jane Eyre isn’t exactly a happy one. Even so, the book does start off on a bit of a somber note as we learn about Jane’s misfortunate along with the loss of her father, resulting in Jane being placed in foster care.

While we get a lot about Jane’s past, the story is firmly focused on Jane getting a new job as an assistant. Her new boss, Mr. Rosen is known for being a hellion and is someone most assistants can’t stand to be around for even a week. Regardless, Jane is determined to show she’s capable and that’s exactly what she does.

As you might imagine, Jane & Edward is the romance between Jane and Mr. Edward Rosen. I really enjoyed how Melodie Edwards wrote the class difference between the two and showed how their strengths and weaknesses complimented each other. If you’re familiar with the original story, you’ll know the conflict these two face.

As much as I loved and adored the unlikely romance between these two, Jane & Edward felt more like Jane’s story to me. I don’t mean that as a critique, though. Jane was such a great character who had dealt with so much and she just wanted to be happy. While her journey might not have been the easiest, watching how she dealt with it and watching her become stronger as the book went on was incredible.

Jane & Edward paid homage to the classic while still putting a modern twist on it which I loved along with seeing all of the references to the original story. However, if you haven’t read the source material, I don’t think you’ll be lost. The story will immediately suck you in and you won’t be able to stop reading.

As far as critiques of the story, the only issue I had was that it felt like the romance came a little out of nowhere. While it’s true to the source material, I do think that romance could have had a larger role in the story. Regardless, I still enjoyed Jane & Edward.

ALL OF THE STARS!!!

First of all, Jane Eyre is probably my favorite book of all time, so I'm naturally drawn to anything that might touch that epic story. When I saw this available on NetGalley I slammed the request button and am SO GRATEFUL to have been given the chance to read this early.

This is how you do a retelling. I have read several, and I have enjoyed them (with one very big exception that i'm still salty over), but I LOVED this one. Edwards truly understands the Jane Eyre story, the love story between Jane and Edward, to its very core. This book transplanted the characters and the major events of the original story to the modern era with such ease that I'm still in awe of it.

Edwards doesn't follow the source material to an absolute T, but the general themes and broad strokes are still here. The original conflicts exist, but they're updated to fit into the modern world and they fit so well. The Jane of this book still begins as a sort of wall flower, but for reasons that could only hold water in the 21st century. The relationship between Jane and Edward (one that could easily be savaged in a post #metoo world) is handled with SUCH care. It never feels wrong. It never feels as though there is this power imbalance that someone is exploiting. Because there IS a power imbalance, but to have ignored that facet of this story in order to avoid some overly-woke person screaming about how he's a predator and she's his employee, would have made this story work less, in my opinion.

That's the point of Jane Eyre. Love borne out of circumstances beyond your control. Exerting your agency when things that have been kept from you come to your attention. Learning and growing outside of those circumstances and coming to understand why someone who professed to love you would lie. The point of Jane Eyre, and so vividly shown in this reimagining, is that the things that happen to us, shape us. They can either weigh us down and drown us, or we can use those experiences to better ourselves and fight. and live.

Each major beat of Jane Eyre was expertly echoed here. Jane herself is a revelation of a character and Edwards shows her growth in such subtle but powerful ways (accepting fashion help, but only because SHE wants it. painting her bedroom... ugh painting her bedroom). Even Edward himself, while an echo of the original character, is somehow MORE. His blustering was comical, but his sense of self and right and wrong were equally wonderful traits. When he reprimands a client in a conference room? Magic. (is that weird? idk)

Ultimately, I don't think i've LOVED a reimagining of this story as much as I love this one. You can feel the care Edwards took. You can feel the respect for the original. Its just so so very lovely.