Only With You by Cecilia Gray Pages: 220
Published by Createspace Independent Pub on May 4, 2014
Genres: contemporary, Love & Romance, retelling, Young Adult
Source: eARC from Author
Dive into the fabulous, fun lives of six Academy girls as their friendships are tested, torn and ultimately triumph…
Emma has it all - looks, money, and luck. It's not like she keeps it all to herself - she's totally committed to helping those less fortunate. AKA, everyone. She invites her heartbroken friend to help with a weekend charity event with an eye to matchmake, but when that friend turns her eye toward the guy Emma wants for herself, how will she choose between friendship and her own feelings?
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The last thing that the girls at the elite Jane Austen Academy need is hot guys to flirt with. But over the summer the school has been sold, and like it or not, the guys are coming. And it’s about to turn the Academy—and the lives of its students—totally upside down…
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The Jane Austen Academy series are modern retellings of Jane Austen classics set at a beachside California boarding school. Don't miss the rest of the Jane Austen Academy series, where sassy girls, hot guys and Jane Austen collide!
Book 1: Fall For You (Lizzie – Pride and Prejudice)
Book 2: So Into You (Ellie – Sense and Sensibility)
Book 3: When I'm With You (Kat – Northanger Abbey)
Book 4: Suddenly You (Fanny – Mansfield Park)
Book 5: Only With You (Emma – Emma)
Book 6: Always You (Anne – Persuasion)Now with a reader's discussion guide for your book club, student group, or Jane Austen fan club.
I’m going to be honest with you. I wasn’t sure how much I was going to like this book before I started it. I read it because I have loved all of the other books in the Jane Austen Academy series, but this one was about Emma. And because we started the series with Lizzie, Emma was the “mean girl”. I just wasn’t too sure how I was going to connect with her. But I am super pleased to say that I ended up really, really enjoying her story.
Each book in the Jane Austen Academy series focuses on a different friend from the school, and each of the books can be read as a standalone. When I first started reading Only With You, Emma seemed like a completely different person than I remembered her. She was such a do-gooder; nice to everyone and she seemed really selfless. But then as the story continued, I started to see more and more of the Emma I remembered, and oddly enough it were these little moments of selfishness, immaturity, and her attention commanding look at me now personality that put me at ease and drew me into the story. I know that sounds weird but it was closer to the Emma that I had drawn in my head. But in Only With You we get to see why she is this way. We really get to dive into her head. Emma is a complete meddler in her friends lives. She thinks that she was the one that set all of her friends up with their boyfriends and she is at it again- this time with Anne.
Since I already knew the characters and their personalities, I loved reading Only With You and trying to guess what was going to happened. I figured out the end game of this book pretty quickly, but I was still surprised a bunch of times along the way. I loved how Emma’s character grew. It took a while for her to get there and to admit her shortcomings, but her insecurities and her overall character growth surprisingly turned out to be the most rewarding one yet in the series for me. And that is something I did not expect to happen. Once Emma lets her guard down, she is very relate-able and likable. I wanted her to get her happy ending.
All of the books in the Jane Austen Academy series are light and fun happy ending books. They each standalone and you can read them out of order, but they do have an overarching story theme of what is going to happen to the academy itself. I think that is going to play a larger role in the 6th book, so if you can, I would read them in order. Plus you will fall in love with this group of friends. This is my 5th book with them and they kind of feel like family now to me.
The Jane Austen Academy series are modern retellings of Jane Austen classics set at a beachside California boarding school. Don’t miss the rest of the Jane Austen Academy series, where sassy girls, hot guys and Jane Austen collide!
(Click on the titles to go to my review)
Book 1: Fall For You (Lizzie – Pride and Prejudice)
Book 2: So Into You (Ellie – Sense and Sensibility)
Book 3: When I’m With You (Kat – Northanger Abbey)
Book 4: Suddenly You (Fanny – Mansfield Park)
Book 5: Only With You (Emma – Emma)
Book 6: Always You (Anne – Persuasion)
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
oriana
thanks for making this international!
kindlemom1
I have purchased most of these already just because I love retellings and I am so happy to hear you say you liked this one even though you weren’t sure you would. I really should start these (and about 100 other books in my TBR pile) soon. 🙂
Giselle
This does sound like a super fun series and it sounds like you really fall in love with the characters. I’m glad that you liked this one even if it was a different character. I sounds like a series I could use as a refreshing change of pace from my usually dark reads >.<
Michelle
I’m usually wary of long series but you made this sound like a very fun read. I’ll take on your advise and start the series in order. Thanks for sharing your review!
Nina
I never heard of this series before. Why? I don’t know. Living under a rock for a couple of months now. Probably because that! Anyways, it sounds like a fun read. I love Jane Austen and this series sounds perfect for the summer! 🙂
Nina from J’adore Happy Endings
Missie
I am always looking for light, fun books that are perfect for summer!
Missie @ A Flurry of Ponderings
Christy
I was pretty much sold at “beachside California boarding school”!
These sound like such fun, quick reads. Totally adding the first one!
Librarian Lavender
This sounds like a really great book that I would love to read!
Mary Preston
I did wonder about Emma.
Victoria
I love a fun read and based off of your review it sounds like something I would enjoy. Thank you for sharing, I’ll be checking this one out 🙂