Synopsis:

She’s going to write her own happy ending.

English professor Athena Murphy is an authority on the novels of the Brontë sisters. But as they say in academia, publish or perish. To save her job, Athena decides to write a biography of C.L. Garland, the author heating up bestseller lists with spicy retellings of classic literature. Tracking down the reclusive writer and uncovering her secret identity, though, means Athena must return to her small midwestern hometown where Garland—and her ex-boyfriend, Thorne Kent—live.

Seeing Thorne again reminds Athena that real life never lives up to fiction. He was the Heathcliff to her Catherine, the Mr. Rochester to her Jane. Not only did their college breakup shatter that illusion, but they also broke each other’s hearts again a second time. Now she has to see him nearly every…single…day.

The only solution is to find C.L. Garland as quickly as possible, write the book, and get the heck out of town. As her deadline looms and the list of potential C.L. Garlands dwindles, Athena and Thorne bicker and banter their way back to friendship. Could it really be true that the third time’s a charm?

Athena and Thorne have a love story only a Brontë could write, and the chance for their own happily-ever-after, but first, they’ll need to forgive the mistakes of the past.

I adored this romance that ticked off so many of my boxes. Witty banter? Check! Bookish characters? Check! Small town setting? Check! Second chances? Check! This was a last minute read when I couldn’t resist the invitation. I found lots to love in this charming rom-com set in a mid-west café in the fall.

We meet Athena at a low point in her life. She’s an English professor in San Francisco on the verge of tenure, except she’s been told to publish something soon or find a new job. So she’s arrived back in her hometown with a promise to write a book that will reveal the identity of a local author writing under a pseudonym who writes successful erotica romance novellas based on classic literary tales.

“The day Athena Murphy traipsed through Farmer Swenson’s pasture pretending she was Emily Brontë, wild child of the moors, and stepped into a steaming pile of cow flop, she should have known. She should have realized at the tender age of fifteen, before it was too late, that literature would betray her.”

Annie Sereno, Blame It on the Brontës

She’s not thrilled about returning home to stay with her father, who’s been stuck-in-his-ways since divorcing from her mother, OR reunite with her opinionated mother. Which is why she allows them to believe she’s on a paid sabbatical. She’s also arranged to waitress again at a local café where she worked while in college. She’s hoping to pick up some gossip about her illustrious subject while serving sandwiches and coffee.