REVIEW: By the Book by Julia Sonneborn

In By the Book by Julia Sonneborn, English professor Anne Correy spends her days lecturing about nineteenth century female authors and her nights writing a book about the exact same subject. She’s always dreamed of being an author. Not only does Anne want to know what it feels like to hold a book of her own in her hands, it would also help her secure tenure at Fairfax College. Plus it would be nice to prove to her doubting father and sister that all of her sacrifices and hard work over the years–not to mention a mountain of student loans–has been worth it.

‘There was nothing I held more sacred than words. It was what I studied, what I labored over, what I revered.’

Boosted by her best friend Larry’s constant encouragement, Anne begins to submit her manuscript to publishers. But that’s not the only reason she’s a bit freaked out when the school season starts. She finds out that her very successful ex-fiance Adam Martinez is the new college president. And after a decade apart, Anne isn’t sure how either of them will handle being in such constant contact again. It gets even more confusing when she finds herself attracted to Rich Chasen, a world-renowned writer who is spending a year teaching at Fairfax and who has taken a liking to her. Coupled with her financial struggles and family issues, Anne’s personal life is in shambles. But, hey…things can only get better, right?

‘I felt like he’d stolen part of my dreams, like he was living the life I’d wanted… Was he taunting me? Showing me the life I could have had if we hadn’t broken up?’

By the Book was an absolutely delightful debut by Julia Sonneborn. With its charming characters and a nice thread of lighthearted humor throughout, this modern retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion hit all the right bells and whistles for this reader.

I’ll admit that it’s been awhile since I’ve read Persuasion but I do love a well written retelling of the classics. And Sonneborn did a fantastic job with By the Book. It of course had what we now refer to as a second chance romance, but this modernized version also had a bit of a love triangle. (No cheating or over-the-top angst, though. Well, at least in regard to our protagonist, Anne.) I truly adored the cast of characters we met. They were all described so vividly that they jumped off the pages–and the majority of them were people I would want to hang around with in real life.

Anne had a lot going for her as the main female character. I thought it was nice that she was in her early thirties, so it gave her more life experience than some heroines. Plus Sonneborn didn’t gloss over Anne’s flaws or past failures. Her journey to figure out where she was meant to be in her career as well as who she should be with romantically was riddled with loss and mistakes, but she ultimately triumphed in the most sigh-worthy of ways. I loved seeing some of the passages written from Anne’s college-age POV, back when she was dating Adam. It showed why they broke up and led us to how they interacted in the present, all awkward and with some lingering issues between them.

Rick and Adam were the heroes of the book. And I honestly wasn’t sure about either of them at times, with the way Sonneborn didn’t let on until towards the end who was the liar between the two. I knew which one I wanted Anne to end up with. But it was quite a difficult process for her to sort out who had her best interests at heart considering both Adam and Rick seemed to have some great qualities about them. But I must say that my favorite male character was Larry. Oh. My. Goodness. What a hoot he was! He made a sketchy choice at one point but the man was such a great friend to Anne that I could’ve overlooked just about any mistake he might have made.

By the Book was simply a pleasure to read. (And what a cute cover, yeah?) It had just the right emotional depth and a storyline that kept me engaged from start to finish. I have a feeling that this is just the start of the wonderful stories Julia Sonneborn will undoubtedly create for her readers.
 

Book Info:

Publication: February 6th 2018 | Gallery Books |

An English professor struggling for tenure discovers that her ex-fiancé has just become the president of her college—and her new boss—in this whip-smart modern retelling of Jane Austen’s classic Persuasion.

Anne Corey is about to get schooled.

An English professor in California, she’s determined to score a position on the coveted tenure track at her college. All she’s got to do is get a book deal, snag a promotion, and boom! She’s in. But then Adam Martinez—her first love and ex-fiancé—shows up as the college’s new president.

Anne should be able to keep herself distracted. After all, she’s got a book to write, an aging father to take care of, and a new romance developing with the college’s insanely hot writer-in-residence. But no matter where she turns, there’s Adam, as smart and sexy as ever. As the school year advances and her long-buried feelings begin to resurface, Anne begins to wonder whether she just might get a second chance at love.

Funny, smart, and full of heart, this modern ode to Jane Austen’s classic explores what happens when we run into the demons of our past…and when they turn out not to be so bad, after all.