Customer Reviews

Reason and Romance (The Austen Series, Book 2)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This book is a modern version of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility with some Christian undertones. The characters have different names, such as Marianne Dashwood is now Anna Woods and Edward Ferrars is Ted Farris. Some characters are completely missing like the Palmers and Margaret Dashwood. But the theme of Sense and Sensibility and a lot of the plot are still there although slightl adapted to fit modern times.

Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility is such a masterpiece and a wonderful story. It is great to see an author likeDebra White Smith, who admires Ms. Austen take her masterpiece and try something very original and unique with it. Where some sequel writers are including sex scenes and portraying the characters very differently then Jane Austen intended, it is nice to see an author write a modern adaption of S&S without profanity and wild behavior. Instead, she focused on the very central themes of love that Jane Austen did she just portrayed them in a contemporary style. For example some events in the plot of S&S would not have the same result or affect if they happened today. Like breaking engagements in Jane Austen's time would be a huge social blunder, but in our time period it would not. Furthermore, if you were disinherited in Jane Austen's time there is little you could except marry someone for their money, in our time period you would have to get a job.

The scenario: Elaina (Elinor) and Anna's (Marianne) father passed away, and their mother needs to move out of their family home because of their prenuptual agreement. Elaina's half brother Jake (John Dashwood) and his wife Faye (Fanny) obtain the estate and the bulk of his father's worth. Elaina is an English professor at a Christian University where one of her students is her sister-in-laws brother! They flirt with each other and definitely have some chemistry, but then Ted breaks things off with no explanation. Anna on the other hand falls in love hard with a model named Willis Kenney (Willoughby) who is romantic and a dream come true to her. But then he breaks things off with her with no explanation. These poor sister battle their grief over disappointed love, placing others before God, and learn life lessons about trust and integrity.

I enjoyed reading a modern adaption of Sense and Sensibility. I loved the portrayal of the characters in contemporary times (e.g. Elinor as a professor, Colonel Brandon as a doctor, Edward Ferrars as a pianist). In addition, I loved how Debra White Smith tied God into S&S without it becoming to heavy and preachy. Could the story have been stronger? Yes it could have, there are some typos and perhaps a little weakness in the development of events. However, there is no one else attempting to adapt Jane Austen's books in to Modern Christian stories so this to me is worth 5 stars!

The good news is this is a series of books called the Jane Austen Series. Here's all 6:
1. First Impressions (The Austen Series, Book 1)
2. Reason and Romance (The Austen Series, Book 2)
3. Central Park (The Austen Series, Book 3)
4. Northpointe Chalet (The Austen Series, Book 4)
5. Amanda (The Austen Series, Book 5)
6. Possibilities (The Austen Series, Book 6)

If you liked any of Debra White Smith's books and are interested in keeping a good and loving relationship yourself you may like: What Jane Austen Taught Me About Love and Romance

Debra White Smith has done a wonderful job of brining Jane Austen's Sense & Sensibilty to modern times. She has done a wonderful job in her characters and keeping true to the story line. This was a wonderful read! I'm continuing on to read her other Jane Austen series! I would recommend this book to anyone!

Thank goodness I took the book out of the library. Had I ordered the book this would have been the first and only book I sent back in disgust at the writing style. To even refer to Jane Austen and this book in the same breath is an insult to Austen. The writing is stilted, dull and frankly, written to a level of a third grader. There are much better "Austenesque" books out there - and I would much rather read "Sense and Sensibility" for the tenth time than this drivel. I wanted to give it "zero" but can't!

I struggled through "First Impressions" but thought I'd give this one a chance. If I read one more reference to Jeanna's moo-moo, Elaina's knit pants or Ted's ponytail, I am going to scream. The storyline might have been salvaged with good editing but I think the editors did a sloppy job for White Smith. (Who uses the word "mellifluous" twice within 30 pages? Ack!) One sentence used the words "popped", "hopped" and "be-bopped" -- yes, all in one sentence. I felt like I was reading Dr. Seuss for a moment.

I initially liked the author's idea for these books but there is no way I'm going to dish out cash for the other four books. It's too painful. I could have handled it if was just plain fluffy entertainment but I can't get past the bad writing/editing.

I enjoyed White Smith's Seven Sisters series much more.

This is one of my favorites. I love all of Debra White Smith, but these even top the 7 sisters series, in my opinion. I wondered if they would...but I wasn't disappointed! Her characters are believable, and so much fun. I love the classics, and she has remade them well. 1st Impressions and this one are my favs, but all 4 are excellent books - I can't wait to read Amanda, one of my fav movies is 'Emma'. I would love to see movies made of these modern stories also!

I got this book for my daughter. It's now one of her favorite books. She loves Jane Austen and was wanting more books written in that style. She asked for this one because it's patterned after Sense and Sensibility, one of her favorite Austen books. She's very happy with it.

Infatuation is proven to be a feeling that leads to trouble, hurt & disappointment. This book was realistic in many ways and it was enjoyable to read, even though I was shaking my head at the characters choices!

I have found all of Debra White Smith's books modernizing the Jane Austen classics to be charming, witty and entertaining. The author does a marvelous job of closely following the plot in a modern setting. Her characters are believable. "Reason and Romance" retells "Sense and Sensibility." I thoroughly enjoyed this delightful book and I recommend it to all Jane Austen fans and even those unfamiliar with the classic novels.

I have enjoyed the Austen Series by Debra White Smith from the start. Reason and Romance is one of my favorites out of this series because it follows the original novel, Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, so closely. If one has read Sense and Sensibility one can tell exactly where the updating has taken place in this book. That is one of the things I enjoy most when reading this series. In Reason and Romance Debra White Smith does a good job of letting the reader experience Elaina's feelings of hurt, joy, and sadness, but also leads the reader to a conclusion that is well satisfying. If you read this book and enjoy it I definitely recommend Central Park by this author. That book is actually my favorite, so far, in the whole series. Have fun reading!

Thoroughly enjoyed REASON AND ROMANCE by Debra White Smith. What a splendid idea to enhance the classics -- and that's precisely what this author has done -- ENHANCE! Her unique characterization and pacing prevails as usual. I highly recommend this series to individuals and libraries.