Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE:  A Dashwood of Sense and Sensibility

SERIES:  Love, Austen #6

AUTHOR:  Anyta Sunday

PUBLISHER:  Self-Published

LENGTH:  310 pages

RELEASE DATE:  November 19, 2021

BLURB:

Two Dashwood brothers. Two dashing romances.

Sensible, reasonable, responsible.

Dad has died and left Noah Dashwood his debts. After selling the family home, he and his brother are couchsurfing. The number one new priority? Finding them a new place to live. He has a list of cheap rentals, and he has no problem if sexy and lovely Wade Ferrars wants to help him choose the best option. Wade. He is everything a guy could dream of. He even makes Noah . . . believe in romance.
Except . . .
Why does he go hot and cold at an instant?
What is he hiding?

Clueless, energetic, spontaneous.

Oh God. This is a disaster. No money, no home, no man . . . Zach Dashwood should really, like, get a steady paying job. Help his brother out. Ohhh, maybe he could find something at Ask Austen Studios?
This guy with terrible tie-taste is really something. Working on a Sunday, poor thing. Okay, they should hang out, maybe he’ll put in a good word with the boss—
Oh, he is the boss.
Well that’s . . .
To say thanks, Zach will totally find this “Brandon” the girlfriend of his dreams!

Two very different brothers. Both in for a surprise.

A modern gay retelling of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility

REVIEW:

Noah Dashwood believes a meet-cute with the perfect man isn’t in the cards for him, and that he won’t ever experience an all-encompassing, head over heels love. He’s willing to be practical and settle for good enough. And he’s right, he doesn’t get to have his meet-cute, but he sure does have a meet-something. Meet-mistaken identity? Meet-burglary? Meet-misunderstanding?? Noah meets his future beau when he thinks his home is being robbed and throws an expensive vase at the supposed burglar. Ah, true love.

Thus begins the final book in Anyta Sunday’s Love, Austen series – a contemporary retelling of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility. It’s a charmer about the Dashwood brothers unexpectedly finding love while trying to settle into their new lives. Sadly, they can’t afford their childhood home anymore after paying off their deceased father’s debts and have to sell it off. The buyer is Francesca Ferrars, Noah’s former best friend who holds nothing but contempt and hostility for Noah since he transitioned years prior. But Francesca’s handsome brother, Wade, aka the mistaken burglar, is a different story. Wade and Noah haven’t seen each other in twelve years and once they get past the broken vase and a cut foot, the sparks begin to fly. The path to happiness has many barriers, though. Wade is torn between Noah and his family. Franny despises Noah, and Wade has yet to come out of the closet, which could cause major turmoil. They dance around each other for a while and it hurts Noah that Wade seems less ready to move forward.

Zachary is the opposite of Noah in many ways. While his older brother has to be the responsible one, silly, fun-loving Zach is more impulsive in nature. He reminds me of Tigger: full of energy and grand ideas. But he’s ready to swear off one-night stands and search for romance and true love. The problem is, he doesn’t recognize it when he sees it. He finds his future love around the same time as Noah in a much cuter fashion, but also with mistaken identity. When Zach goes to Ask Austen Studios looking for a job to help out Noah with their grave financial situation, he fixates on a guy with an unfortunate Wizard of Oz tie. He doesn’t realize the man he’s hauled off for a day of fun at the beach is his future boss, Brandon, nor does he realize for quite some time that he like likes Brandon. In a word, Zach is clueless. He truly is the last one to know he’s in love.

This two-for-one love story is so sweet. It’s hard to say if it’s my favorite of the series because all the books of Love, Austen have been outstanding, but I dare say it’s near the top and that’s because of the leading men. All four are exceedingly likable. Their personalities differ but they all express their love through thoughtfulness and kindness. Anyta Sunday has developed great characters in Noah, Wade, Zachary, and Brandon. The narrative is delivered in a handful of chapters about first one couple then switches to the same for the other couple, and back and forth. It reads smoothly.

I’m happy to say all of the previous Love, Austen couples have cameos. The book begins at Finley and Ethan’s wedding (eep!) and Lake and Knight, Cameron and Henry, Darcy and Bennet, and Wentworth and Elliot all have mentions. In addition to nasty Francesca, Jack is a jackass who sets his sights on Zach and interrupts Brandon’s efforts at wooing him. Another important side character is Luc, Wade’s ex who disrupts Noah and Wade’s budding relationship and entangles Noah in an unwanted love triangle.

I’m sad to see this series come to an end. We have been able to enjoy six wonderful novels for the better part of a year, and it ends on a triumphant note. If you loved the other titles, you’ll adore Dashwood. If you’re a Jane Austen fan, you’ll want to gobble this up, but if you’re in the dark about all things Austen, like me, it won’t diminish your enjoyment at all. This is one series you don’t want to miss.

RATING: 

BUY LINK: 

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