Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE:  Emerett Has Never Been in Love

SERIES:  Love, Austen #1

AUTHOR:  Anyta Sunday

PUBLISHER:  Self-Published

LENGTH:  262 pages

RELEASE DATE:  March 15, 2021

BLURB:

Emerett “Lake” Lakewood has a healthy ego and a flair for the dramatic. After losing his best friend to marriage—completely crushing his heart—he deems it prudent to distract himself, and what better way than playing cupid?

He’s already got his eye on two young men desperately seeking romance, and he has a plan to hook them up.
Barbecues.
Photoshoots.
Reciting Shakespearean love declarations.

Lake is killing it. Love is positively pulsing in the air. Anyone could see it.
Well, anyone other than Knight, his best friend’s dad, who cautions Lake to stop meddling. To leave love to its natural course.

Lake has always valued Knight’s frankness, but this time he’s wrong. Without him, two hearts might be doomed never to find love. Besides, what does Knight know about romance? He’s barely dated in all the seven years Lake’s known him. He’s clueless.

Though, there’s a thought. Knight has everything going for him. Sensibility. Kindness. Generosity. And for a forty-four-year-old, he’s—objectively—freaking hot.
Why is he single?

REVIEW:

I whimpered, possibly. Probably. Without question, I heaved a Great Big Sigh. I love this absolutely darling book – best described as a matchmaking comedy of errors

Emerett Has Never Been in Love is a terrific love story. It has an indefinable quality I occasionally encounter in a book that just hits me hard in the feels. Here, Emerett (aka Lake) and Knight are perfect – Lake is flawed for sure – but perfect for the story, and for each other.

Based on Jane Austen’s Emma, the story follows Lake, a man whose life is adrift. His best friend, Taylor, just got married, his parents are gone, he hates his job, and his love life is non-existent. To assuage his loneliness and feel more anchored, Lake invites himself to move into the spare bedroom of Taylor’s childhood home, so he’s now living with Taylor’s extremely handsome dad, Knightly.

Lake loves love, and he fancies himself a magnificent matchmaker. Unfortunately, he merrily makes a mess of everyone’s love life while remaining painfully oblivious to his inability to read people. He misses the blatant signs of who likes whom time and time again. He could be hit over the head with a wooden sign stating everyone’s intentions and he would still be clueless. Knight, who does see the clues Lake misses, urges him to stop meddling in other people’s love lives. Lake misinterprets half the things Knight says and ignores the advice. Poor Knight is patience personified.

Lake’s discombobulation is so, so funny. He encourages, discourages, hinders, promotes, plots, and speculates about the love lives of at least seven gay men, many of whom are paired off in his mind with different men at various times. It’s like a game of singles musical chairs gone wrong (nod to Schitt’s Creek.) His first attempt is to entice Harry, who’s in love with his own cousin and has a penchant for pineapple-themed attire, to fall for Philip and his turquoise alligator shoes.

Worst of all, Lake is as blind as a newborn bunny to Knight’s desire for him, his own attraction to Knight, and the chemistry zinging between them. When Lake begins to acknowledge his feelings for Knight, he grapples with the concept of forbidden love since Knight is his best friend’s much older father. He has a difficult time accepting Harry’s love for his cousin, too. But when Lake finally gets a clue (why, for example, he’s been sleeping in Knight’s bed while Knight’s away), all the unresolved sexual tension is worth the wait. These two are very sexy together.

Lake and Knight are written to perfection and couldn’t be more endearing. Their cute banter and happiness abound. There’s no angst here. Lake’s shenanigans had me chuckling for the duration of the book. Knight could barely suppress his own amusement. I could imagine the sparkle in Knight’s eyes as he teased Lake. The many side characters bring their own whimsicality to the story.

One final note – I love illustrated covers such as this. They give off a vibe of something special to come. Additionally, artist Lauren Dombrowski created a handful of wonderful, full-page drawings of Lake and Knight that are sprinkled throughout the book.

Emerett Has Never Been in Love is the first in Anyta Sunday’s new series retelling Jane Austen’s six major books. I will anxiously await the next installment. This one is a 5 heart/star read.

(The setting for the book is a town called Port Rātapu – a cute play on words from Ms. Sunday! Go look it up.)

RATING: 

BUY LINK: 

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