Heartfelt and headstrong.
A queer follow-up to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, this Regency-era novel follows Georgiana Darcy as her romantic entanglements defy both expectations and decorum.
Georgiana’s absence from the last two Pemberley balls hasn’t gone unnoticed, sparking whispers: Is she with child, disfigured, or dead? The reality is that Georgiana prefers books and playing piano to crowded ballrooms and has no desire to marry. Even more dangerously, her attraction to women places her entirely outside the bounds of polite society. Darcy, her brother and guardian, is now happily married to Elizabeth. Though the couple encourage Georgiana to socialize, she remains reticent, unable to be her true self. Deeply constrained by coming of age during a time when marriage is the only sanctioned ambition, she’s forced to repel suitors who are motivated by her fortune and family ties. When blond, bright-eyed Kitty Bennet, Elizabeth’s sister, arrives at Pemberley, Georgiana is undone at first sight. Over breakfast conversations and ballroom dances, their love blooms. This breezy novel reunites readers with familiar characters and settings, from Meryton to Rosings Park, while also exploring underrecognized queer history through a transformative escape to Llangollen in Wales. In her elegant debut novel, Edwards deftly captures Austen’s grace and cadence with an affable touch as Kitty and Georgiana defy societal norms to protect their relationship in this historically resonant, Sapphic continuation of a beloved classic.
Heartfelt and headstrong. (Historical romance. 13-18)Pub Date: April 7, 2026
ISBN: 9780316591003
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2026
PERSPECTIVES
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
A light and entertaining plot-driven romance.
A Connecticut girl and her best friend devise a series of plans in order to achieve their goals: following a dream and winning back an ex.
Eighteen-year-old Audrey Barbour has a Master Plan: attend Blue Ridge Glass School in North Carolina and someday turn her Etsy shop, Golightly Glass, into a thriving business. But her uber-wealthy parents insist that she instead follow in their footsteps and go to business school. So Audrey decides to go find the tuition money she needs with help from her best friend, Henry Chen. Henry needs a favor, too: He hopes that fake dating Audrey will help him win back his ex-girlfriend, and he points out to a reluctant Audrey that this could make her crush, Griffin, notice her. While Audrey’s parents vacation in France for three weeks, the pair rent out the Barbour mansion on the Long Island Sound. Soon romantic chemistry grows alongside their business partnership. Despite the pair’s great preparation and an abundance of secondary characters with connections and talents to help pull off their increasingly ambitious ideas, plans go awry, leaving Audrey and Henry scrambling and second-guessing their choices. The pacing is even, but the characters often take a back seat to the whirlwind of activity that drives the plot, with the emphasis falling on each person’s practical skills and their role in keeping the action moving over their emotional bonds. Audrey is white, and Henry’s surname cues him as Chinese American.
A light and entertaining plot-driven romance. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: March 31, 2026
ISBN: 9780593904794
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Delacorte Romance
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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