Amanda: A Contemporary Retelling of Emma (The Jane Austen Series) Paperback – April 17, 2018

I really wanted to like this book ... read until Chapter 21 & then finally gave up. I read this author's "Possibilities" (Persuasion retelling) and loved it, but the characters & the storyline in "Amanda" (Emma) just never clicked with me. To be honest, I found myself getting bored. There were pages & pages of dialogue, etc. but not much action moving the story forward. And the Amanda character was particularly unlikable... selfish, self-centered, shallow, arrogant, narcissistic, etc. etc. and we're supposed to believe she is a Christian who goes to church regularly? And there wasn't anything quirky, funny, or endearing about her nor does she grow as a character. We only see her bad side, flaws & faults. Neither was there a character that she interacted with alot that balanced her out in some way. It is very difficult to have a really unlikable main character in a book & keep the book balanced were there are more of the fun likable elements to it than the unlikable elements (which makes it hard to read & connect to). I'm sorry but this book doesn't work well & I don't recommend it.

Her writing isn't Jane Austen's, but I enjoyed the book. Appreciated that it was totally clean. A good read while feeling under the weather.

You know the ever meddling type who thinks she knows better than all the rest. Amanda is a character with this belief. You see her caring and compassion and also her judging and plotting. Hopefully she will learn what love is and the benefits of hands off other people's choices.