Sense & Sensibility With a Modern, LDS Twist? Okay, I'll Bite ... (With a Giveaway!)

 

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

It's been almost a year since Emily Carter's parents died in a small plane crash.  Still feeling adrift, the marketing guru is trying her best to care for her younger siblings, manage her sister's acting career, and keep their finances in the black.  It's not easy.  To make things worse, Emily's half-brother is reclaiming the home he inherited, kicking his "half-family" to the curb.  With few options left, Emily turns her eye toward her own inheritance—the dilapidated ranch in Park City, Utah, that her father always intended to turn into an eco-friendly resort.  She's reluctant to leave L.A., especially when she's finally met the (almost) perfect guy, but she's left with little choice in the matter.

Soon, Emily is struggling to save the ranch, sort out her feelings for Joel Rickman, and keep her manic-depressive sister from going completely off the rails.  Emily's always been a sensible person, but now she's being pulled in so many different directions she feels as if she's going insane.  Joel has been her saving grace, but he's Jewish and she's Mormon.  Can two such different people possibly have a future together?  Especially when Emily's present is already so chaotic?  

Like Brittany Larsen's first novel, Pride & Politics, her newest takes a classic Jane Austen tale and gives it a modern, LDS spin.  The result is Sense & Second Chances, a romantic story about two sisters finding love in unexpected places.  Like the original, Larsen's version is full of conspiring characters, thorny complications, and insurmountable-seeming obstacles that keep love from coming seamlessly together.  The plot gets silly at times, with contrived twists and melodramatic turns.  Emily drove me a little crazy, too, with her rigidity and fickleness (despite a bad case of insta-love).  Still, Sense & Second Chances is an easy, fun book that is clean, upbeat, and swoony.  I liked Pride & Politics much better, but overall, I enjoyed this one.

(Readalikes:  Pride & Politics by Brittany Larsen as well as contemporary LDS romances by Melanie Jacobson and Jenny Proctor)

Grade:

 

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

 

for mild sexual innuendo

To the FTC, with love:  I received a finished copy of Sense & Second Chances from the generous folks at Covenant.  Thank you!

--

Want more opinions on Sense & Second Chances?  Check out all the stops on the book's blog tour:

*May 8th: http://heidi-reads.blogspot.com/, http://www.blogginboutbooks.com/

*May 9th: http://minreadsandreviews.blogspot.com/

*May 10th: http://www.wishfulendings.com/, http://lisaisabookworm.blogspot.com/, http://ldswritermom.blogspot.com/, http://ilovetoreadandreviewbooks.blogspot.com/, http://www.rockinbookreviews.com/

*May 11th: http://mybookaday.blogspot.com, http://katiescleanbookcollection.blogspot.com/, http://www.singinglibrarianbooks.com/, http://gettingyourreadonaimeebrown.blogspot.com/, http://ldsandlovinit.blogspot.com/, http://literarytimeout.blogspot.com/ 

* May 12th: http://booksaresanity.blogspot.com/, http://www.kindleandme.com/

 

Want a chance to win your own copy of Sense & Second Chances as well as a $25 Amazon gift card?  Fill out the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win:

a Rafflecopter giveaway