Aren's Library

This wasn't half bad, I enjoyed it a lot. I'm sure that if I had read Persuasion prior to the story, I would have understood it's significance more. I do enjoy that the author intertwined the Jane Austin's story into this, while making it her own at the same time. What made this story even better was it was light on the romance for me as I hate a romance story that is weighted heavily in romance. Also the fact that there was little to no sex scenes in it made it even better.

This story had it's highs and lows and I often found myself wanting to skip ahead for several reasons, but primarily because I wanted to see what was next. That being said, there were some really uneventful spots that made it cumbersome to read, but I am glad that would end almost as quickly as it came. The characters were relatable, and their story believable. I did feel for Lucy so much and glad she learned from her error's and it was nice to see the characters not only develop prior to the story, but during too.

One thing I always enjoy about reading stories involving food, is the recipes section that the author provides. This always makes the reading experience that more special. I like reading the recipes that were featured in the title or the book because I either want to try it, the Cracklin' Cornbread, or know what it is, like the Chow Chow. Even though I enjoy it, I'm glad it wasn't the major focus of the book, otherwise it feels more contrived and doesn't have much of a story.

I have won a copy of this book from Goodreads Giveaways and am in no way required to provide a review, though I have provided an honest one.