The Girl from Summer Hill

March 28, 2016
In this enjoyable start to a new trilogy set in the small town of Summer Hill, Va., Deveraux (True Love) playfully riffs off Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Casey Reddick leaves her demanding job as chef of a high-end Washington, D.C., restaurant and retreats to the Tattwell Plantation guesthouse, unaware that its owner is movie star Tate Landers, who’s famous for playing romantic leads. She’s hired to cook for the cast and crew of a theatrical production of Austen’s novel and unexpectedly finds herself cast as Lizzie to Tate’s Darcy under the direction of the mysterious Kit Montgomery. Deveraux’s characters are modern counterparts to Austen’s, and their casting in the film is telling: for example, 15-year-old Lori plays Lydia, the youngest Bennet sister, and is also wooed and used by Tate’s devious ex-brother-in-law, Devlin, who plays Wickham. Chapter titles (“Act One, Scene Two: Elizabeth Doesn’t Tempt Darcy”) ensure that readers familiar with Austen’s work will catch and enjoy the reinterpretation. From the steamy opening scene to Tate’s audacious theatrical proposal, with numerous other love affairs thrown in for good measure, this book will delight fans of Austen and Deveraux alike.

March 15, 2016
Kicking off a new series set in Summer Hill, Virginia, the New York Times bestselling author brings Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice to the theater--and into the 21st century. Acacia "Casey" Reddick doesn't know she's renting her guesthouse from movie star Tate Landers until he shows up naked in her outdoor shower. Casey, who hasn't seen any of his movies, thinks Tate is trespassing; Tate, who's usually "cast as a shirtless guy who throws women across his shoulder," mistakes Casey for a peeping, star-struck fan. When they're both cast in a stage production of Pride and Prejudice, they continue their feud as Lizzy Bennett and Mr. Darcy. The chapters are divided into acts and scenes that follow the arc of the original story without necessarily sticking to the script--a device that offers a bounty of ways for Casey and Tate to spar onstage while wearing period costumes and offstage while wearing nothing at all. With all the modern updates--Casey and her half siblings were fathered by the same sperm donor--there are also tongue-in-cheek laments about dating "metrosexuals" while fantasizing about a hero who "throws women over the saddle of a horse and tells them to shut up." The highlight is Tate's conniving ex-brother-in-law, Devlin Haines, who fully embodies his role as Mr. Wickham when he lies to Casey about Tate and seduces a young cast member. Thankfully, advancements in women's rights have made 21st-century America a better setting than Regency England for comeuppance--and redemption--when all is revealed. A steamy and delightfully outlandish retelling of a literary classic.

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April 1, 2016
Casey Reddick is pretty content with her life. As a successful chef in a quaint Virginia town, she doesn't let much entice her out of the kitchen. That is, until she meets Tate Landers, a young, budding actor playing Darcy in the local theater's rendition of Pride and Prejudice.When Casey decides to take part in the playthanks to her ex-brother-in-law's persuasionshe sees what everyone is talking about when it comes to Tate's boyish good looks and booming persona. But she's still not completely sold. The two embark in playful bickering and intimate encounters that make for an excellent cat-and-mouse game they are both willing to play. With each rehearsal, the duo grows closer, making Casey lose control and fall hard. But although the pleasure is strong, she is still skittish about getting too close. Should she go all in or take a huge step back? Best-selling Deveraux (Ever After, 2015) kicks off her new small-town Summer Hill romance trilogy and treats readers to an irresistibly delicious tale of love, passion, and the unknown.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

December 1, 2015

In the first of a new trilogy, set in a fictional Virginia mountain town, Casey Reddick is playing Elizabeth Bennet opposite gorgeous but seemingly arrogant Hollywood actor Tate Landers's Darcy in a local production of Pride and Prejudice. We know how this will play out. Limning a new generation of the Montgomery and Taggert families.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.