Hillary Manton Lodge

Jane has always been close with her older sister, Celia, since their mother passed away and their father left them to be a pseudo-parent to their younger sister, Margot. When the rent on the property where they run their small tea shop in San Francisco suddenly goes up, the sisters must face a difficult decision. An offer from extended family sees the sisters moving to Austin, Texas where they hope to set up a new shop. But the relocation puts a strain on their relationships with each other and romantic entanglements complicate things further.

A gentle romance and a charming contemporary interpretation of Sense and Sensibility. As with any re-telling it's highly enjoyable to see an author take the familiar plot points and make them work in a modern setting while still being original as well. I found it interesting the author chose to do alternating first-person perspectives between Jane (Marianne) and Callum Beckett (Colonel Brandon), since so much of the original follows Elinor. There's also a bunch of recipes included in the novel, which I admit to skimming but do look tasty. If you enjoy a good Austen re-telling you can't go wrong picking up this one.… (meer)