The Austen Playbook is a contemporary romance novel, and I thought this was one of Lucy Parker’s better books. The romance is front and center; but the subplot is a mystery that needs to be solved – just what happened between the protagonists’ grandparents, anyway? It added a level of conflict that propelled the story along – romance novels can sometimes be short on plot and require the main characters to have unrealistic conflicts. That didn’t happen here.
Plus, the main character is described at one point as a contagious joy fairy. She is a naturally upbeat person, but isn’t obnoxiously so. Just like being around happy people usually makes me happier, being around the main character in this book also makes me happier.
The Austen Playbook is definitely recommended.