This post contains affiliate links. In addition, I was provided with a free copy of this book courtesy of the publisher, who also happens to be my publisher. All opinions are my own.
Title: A Certain Appeal
Author: Vanessa King
Sub-genre: Contemporary
Release Date: November 2, 2021
Content Warning: sexual assault (mildish, but on the page); sexual harassment (in the past, off page)
Alright, I feel like I have probably mentioned this before, but just in case, you might want to brace yourself. I don’t like Jane Austen. I know, I know. For a romance author, this is basically blasphemy. In all fairness, I would probably like her writing better now than when I dabbled before, but honestly, I’d rather just watch the movies (I know.). My indifference to Jane doesn’t keep me from reading all of the many retellings of her work (I mean, Clueless is one of my all-time favorite movies) and there have been a lot of them lately. But when I first heard about A Certain Appeal, a Pride and Prejudice retelling set in a burlesque club, I was intrigued. And the cover is to. die. for. So I dove in.
Liz Bennet is what’s known as a kitten, meaning she is kind of the helper for the burlesque performers at the club where she works, picking up stray items and setting up for the next performer. Occasionally she does a little teaser performance (called a peel), but mostly she is more behind the scenes. In her day job, Bennet is an admin assistant for a busy and somewhat immature (not in a toxic way) CEO, but her true love is interior design, which she gave up after a bad experience at an internship. Bennet lives with Jane, who is a male singer in the show, and spends most of her free time at the club or with her friends who are involved in the show. When the building the club lives in is about to be sold, Bennet and the crew think this might be their chance to have a bigger stake in the future of their home away from home, but Wickham, a total douche who flirts with Bennet to try to get insider info, puts a wrench in the plans. Darcy, who throughout the book tends to be both a thorn in Bennet’s side and sexy eye candy she can’t get off her mind, proves to be an invaluable asset, in more ways than one. Luckily, we know it all works out in the end and everyone lives happily ever after and all that jazz.
So I wasn’t sure what to expect with this one, because again, I am not a P and P fan, but I freaking loved this book so hard. It is this perfect combination of gritty and raw and sexy and sex positive and lush and funny and charming. I absolutely fell in love with the burlesque club and its crew. I didn’t know much about burlesque before reading, other than a general idea of what it consists of, but getting to take a deeper look inside the everyday machinations was fascinating. Jane and the other performers who flesh out the side cast of characters were beyond endearing. I wanted to be friends with all of them. Darcy was equal parts mysterious and broody, thoughtful and caring, which is basically my catnip. And Bennet was totally kickass, so smart and witty, but also still finding her footing and her confidence. The banter between Bennet and Darcy is top notch, and let’s just say things get *steamy*. Once I started reading this one, I couldn’t put it down!
Overall rating: 5 stars