Better than the other book I read by this author.
Two slightly antagonistic sisters follow their dying mother's wishes and go on a Jane Austen walking tour in England. Their goals are: find a place to scatter their mother's ashes, learn to get along better, find love (in Sense and Sensibility scenarios), and figure out what to do with their mother's last unexpected legacy to them: a diary purported to be Cassandra Austen's.
The Formidables, a secret society dedicated to keeping Jane Austen's private stuff private, enter the picture just as they did in the author's previous books. ( )

I read a book last month, Jane Austen Ruined My Life by Beth Patillo. It was a fun, light, chicklit type of thing. I've just finished this book, The Dashwood Sisters Tell All by the same author. Both books are modern day with the JA themes. This one, clearly, uses Sense and Sensibility as influence and is about two very opposite sisters. It's easy to read, good fun, light and entertaining for summer.

There is a minor character from the first book in it and some similar themes, and some of the same locations get reused. The first one had to do with authenticated "lost" Jane letters to her sister and this one has a "lost" diary belonging to Jane's sister Cassandra, which also mentions the same (made up) never-heard-of-before lost love in Jane's life that was in the letters in the first book. If you read the other one first, it provides more continuity though this isn't really a sequel as such.

Ellen and Mimi are the sisters. Their recently deceased mother named them after the Dashwood sisters and was a major JA devotee. Neither of the sisters has been particularly but they are doing a walking tour around the Jane-related sites in Hampshire at her bequest. The expert on the tour is Mrs. Parrot, from the first book. The tour guide is clearly based on Col. Brandon and the scoundrel Ethan based on Willoughby. Daniel Edward, Ellen's past unrequited flame from university shows up as well, clearly based on Edward Ferrars. There is a long lost diary purported to belong to Cassandra Austen, Jane's older sister, and Ellen and Mimi must decide if it's authentic and what to do if it is. ( )

This was my first Austen inspired book so I had high expectations...but my thoughts are a bit mixed. Of course, it's fun to relive a beloved story; yet, the retelling is a bit too similar to the original for me.

Obviously, set in the modern era gives it a new edge but I knew exactly what was going to happen the entire time I was reading - no fun! Ellen = Elinor, Mimi = Marianne, Colonel Tom = Colonel Brandon, Ethan = Willoughby, Daniel = Edward...and this is not at all a spoiler because the author blatantly models the modern characters after the originals - is this what all Austen-inspired books are like? Also, Austen's masterful romantic tension is absent in this novel...the relationships just didn't have as much oomph.

If you don't mind basically rereading a contemporary Sense and Sensibility with a few tweaks, then I'm sure you'll really enjoy this novel. However, if you want the author to take a bit more creative license with the original story, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed with the book. ( )