An enjoyable and original retelling of “Jane Eyre.” ( )

Excellent romance with lovely characters and interesting story line. Well written and a very easy read. ( )

I received a copy of this book for free for promotional purposes.

Jane Eyre is one of my all time favorite books so naturally I was eager to read this. It did not disappoint!

The author did a fantastic job adapting the classic story to fit modern times. It was evident that the author really understood and appreciated the source material. The author did the original story justice and really captured the spirit of Jane Eyre. For those familiar with Jane Eyre, there are some aspects of the story that are problematic. However, the the book handled those parts well. I liked that the author included a note in the beginning directly addressing this.

As for the characters, I loved the dynamic between Jane and Edward, which was key in making this retelling work. It was developed so well. I also enjoyed seeing how some of the characters from the original story were translated into modern times (e.g. Adele is Jane’s coworker instead of a child).

Lastly, I loved that the story took place in Toronto, Canada. I’m from the US and have never been to Canada, so I found the setting to be very refreshing.

Overall, I highly recommend this book for Jane Eyre fans! It’s also a great read for romance fans. ( )

First sentence: She hated burgers. Hated the smell of them, the sight of them, the over-puffed buns and leaky meat grease that dripped out of them, hated the sticky condiment bottles that shuffled from table to table to accompany them, and the ever-present customer complaints of overcooked/undercooked.

Premise/plot: Jane Raine, our protagonist, is a waitress who absolutely hates her job. She goes to school to become a legal assistant. After finishing school, she is hired to become the assistant to a difficult-to-work-for lawyer, Edward Rosen. Few assistants stick with the job long. He goes through a LOT of assistants. But Jane Raine is determined to make this job work. Over several months, these two adjust to each other and even come to enjoy one another's company. Yes, he isn't quite like the other lawyers at the law firm. But she comes to appreciate his eccentricities (or most of them). They even begin to fall in love and date...secretly. (Not coming out to HR). But his secret(s) may doom the relationship...

My thoughts: The setting for this contemporary Jane Eyre retelling is Canada. (Toronto, to be exact. Though the characters do move around a bit through the novel. So not exclusively Toronto).

Retellings can be tough. This one keeps some of the original story/details. But it also changes plenty. Don't expect a literal 'crazy' wife kept in an attic. Don't expect his brother-in-law to be stabbed. Definitely don't expect Edward to dress up as a fortune teller. And probably it's best if you don't expect literal fires--though there is a fire drill. The romance keeps obstacles, but just switches things up a bit.

As with the original novel, I found myself loving the first half more than the second half. It's just really hard to stay (as) engaged once Jane runs away.

All things considered, I enjoyed it for the most part. I am definitely glad I gave it a chance. It may not be better than the original, but it is enjoyable.

(For those that are curious, this one mainly fades to gray when it comes to intimate scenes. (Not completely clean by a long shot. But not horribly graphic either.) ( )