“It was a truth universally acknowledged that an actor in a rut must be in want of a spot of murder, mayhem, and true love.”
Freddy doesn’t deny that her acting career has ridden on the coattails of her grandmother, hailed as Britain’s greatest playwright. With a revival of her most famous play in the works, everyone, including Freddy’s agent father, expects her to land the leading role… except Freddy. Torn by her decision, she accepts an offer for an… interesting… TV production. Picture this: a bunch of actors and actresses are stuck together in a crumbling English mansion to film a live TV production. It’s based on a choose-your-own-adventure game that features all of Austen’s characters mashed together, which means that they’ll have to memorize large chunks of script that may never be used, depending on how the audience votes. Plus, it just so happens that the estate is the familial home of a certain grumpy art critic…
“Do your thoughts always bounce around your brain like a pinball game?”
“I think of it more like ten-pin bowling. Pick up an idea, chuck it at the rest, and hope for the best.”
While the initial meeting between the romantic leads is usually called a “meet-cute”, in this case it was, as a friend termed it, a “meet-disaster.” After a disastrous performance of, quite frankly, an awful play, Freddy overhears Griff talking about it at a local bar, and his criticism of her – that she’d rather be splashing around in puddles in Singin’ in the Rain than vamping through a depressing “adult” play, strikes close to home. It’s delightfully reminiscent of my favorite Austen, Pride & Prejudice, though the end result is different. While P&P rides the enemies-to-lovers train, Freddy instead shakes off the criticism, going so far as to tweak his nose metaphorically with some of it. Freddy is such a positive and joyful person that she can’t be angry at Griff – she’s more thrown off by how insightful his criticism was – and instead Griff ends up completely flummoxed by her. I have a definite thing for grumpy heroes, and Griff ticks all those boxes. He can’t quite believe that Freddy is interested in him, and more than once thinks she’d be better suited for his flighty brother. He also mentally compares her to an annoying head cold, which had me absolutely dying.
“It’s so weird. I wouldn’t have picked it in a million years. She’s such a sunny wee rocket, and you’re such a bad-tempered bastard most of the time. I’d have thought you’d want to strangle her.”
He did. He also wanted his hands sliding along her skin, and her irrepressible smile against his cheek, and her insane hair on his pillow.”
Besides the romance, there’s a pretty fun family-secrets-mystery that Freddy and Griff dig into. It, naturally, leads to revelations about their own families. Freddy’s father who seems deadset on vicariously experiencing his theater dreams through her (and who she can’t say no to), and her sister, who keeps getting involved with a philandering actor. Griff, for his part, is trying to save his family estate, convinced that his flighty brother and head-in-the-clouds parents are acting against their best interests. So, in essences, Freddy needs to seize more control of her life – needs everyone to stop treating her like a child – while Griff needs to shed some of his control freak ways. The secondary characters are also amazing, and we get to see some familiar faces from earlier books in the series.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Charlie said, a note of amusement creeping in. “I thought you’d be buried in work, not snogging the houseguests.”
“Things often take surprising turns.” Freddy smiled at him. “I love life.”
What makes reading this book (and her others) a complete joy is that Ms. Parker is incredibly witty. You can’t go more than two paragraphs without finding a fascinating turn of phrase or a humorous aside. There’s plenty of emotional depth, though, and the characters, even the secondary ones, are more than just cardboard cutouts. It’s been fun watching some of the background characters get more page time, and I finished the book with a good idea who the next couple is – and also desperately wanting that book now! While I’ve enjoyed this series immensely, I have to say that this book has definitely become my favorite!
Overall, this is ridiculously fun, witty romp, and I highly recommend it!
I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.