seriously romantic: undue influence by jenny holiday

i mean, it's a truth universally acknowledged that if someone is writing a jane austen retelling, i'm going to read it, right? and undue influence retells one of my absolute favorite of jane's stories, persuasion. while this is not the first persuasion retelling i've ever read, it's the first that switches up the genders and has two heroes as romantic leads.

even though it's moved to a contemporary setting, a lot of the socioeconomic commentary in austen's original story come into play here. freddy wentworth is the boy from the wrong side of the tracks who everyone thought would burn out. but after a nearly decade away from bishop's glen, he's back in town after his sister buys the kellynch winery away from the elliot family.

even if adam elliot hadn't broken his heart all those years ago, freddy would be wary of being back in bishop's glen, but re-encountering adam has him all tied up in knots. this tied-up feeling goes both ways, because adam has a lot of baggage and regret holding him back.

if you know persuasion then you know how this story goes, and the author maps the characters and action to the original, while still making this story her own. not every austen adaptation knocks it out of the park, but this one does a very good job of being utterly enjoyable.

**undue influence will publish on september 4, 2018. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/jenny holiday in exchange for my honest review.