Austen Persuaded by Alana Highbury: Book Review

 **ARC received for consideration. All opinions are my own.

The Book

From bestselling author Alana Highbury comes a contemporary second-chance romance inspired by Jane Austen's Persuasion …

She gave up on love. He gave up on her. Now they have to work together.

On the surface, Annie has it all—beauty, brains, youth, a flexible job, and a party girl image—even as a troubled childhood and a missed chance at love continue to haunt her. Then it all comes crashing down: betrayed by both her boyfriend and a close friend, she’s forced to quit her job and spirals into a deep depression fueled by alcohol and her toxic, narcissistic mother. Beneath it all is a growing fear she’ll run into her ex, Kylan, who's suddenly back in town. How can she face the man whose heart she broke four years ago—the one who left her life but never her heart?

Just as Annie is finally getting back on her feet and pursuing a new passion as a literary agent assistant, another bomb drops: Kylan’s New York agency is acquiring the one that just hired her. Now, she's stuck working in the same office while watching her new friend and coworker flirt with him.

Can she survive working for him while he’s in town, or will it cost her the dream job?

This sweet but angsty romance, loosely based on Jane Austen's works, has no explicit scenes but does have some innuendo, mild/moderate language, excessive alcohol use, and mental health issues.

The Author

Alana Highbury is the Amazon bestselling author of the Austen Inspired series and the Love & Holidays series. Her novels blend rom-com, contemporary romance, and women’s fiction, and she brings two decades of professional experience and a master’s in English. When not writing, she’s usually found reading, cross stitching, board gaming, or hanging out with her family, which includes a writerly husband, two children, two beautiful, lazy cats, and an elderly, feisty cockatiel.

Book Review

Austen Persuaded is the second book in the Austen Inspired series. While this may be able to be enjoyed as a standalone, if you plan to read the series, I recommend reading in order. There is some timeline overlap between the two, and there could be some minor spoilers for this first book if read out of order. 

Once again, I must confess: I've never read Jane Austen's Persuasion. As such, I can't say much about any nods to the original story or how closely inspired this one was... but I can say that once again, that lack of knowledge didn't hinder my enjoyment at all. (Though I am sure those who do know and love it will appreciate this one all that much more!) While this is a contemporary second chance romance, it definitely reads more like women's fiction through much of the book... in fact, we don't really see much of the MMC until the second half of the book so that's something to keep in mind if that's not your cup of tea! While I'll admit, I usually love more romance as early in the story as possible, it worked for this story. Annie is a bit of a party girl as the story begins and had a lot of growing to do before she was ready for that second chance with her college ex, Kaylan... who just so happened to be her new boss! I loved seeing that growth throughout that story just as much as I enjoyed seeing that super slow burn finally pay off between these two! If you enjoy a story that is a good blend of women's fiction with contemporary romance, this one will certainly be right up your alley.

Austen Persuaded is a closed-door romance but does have some innuendo and implied intimacy off pages (unmarried couple). There is also some language throughout. 


You can purchase your copy here: