Sass & Serendipity by Jennifer Ziegler

This book came out the year Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility turned 200. This novel plays homage to the classic with a modern twist.

Gabby and Daphne are sisters with nothing in common. Gabby, the older sister, has stepped up to help her mother after her father left them. She's the sensible sister who works hard, studies to get good grades, and does her best to make sure her sister behaves. Considering how her father broke her mother's heart, Gabby doesn't believe in love and wants nothing to do with boys. Daphne, on the other hand, lives in a romantic fantasy world of happily ever afters. She meets the new boy in town and instantly believes he's her soul mate. She is spoiled and irresponsible because she's so wrapped up in her dream world to pay attention to the harsh realities of her family's situation. Then a financial crisis leaves the family dependent on the one boy in town Gabby can't stand - the person responsible for the death of the only boy Gabby ever had feelings for. When her mother has to go out of town, Gabby is forced to be even more responsible for her oblivious sister. Pretty soon everyone has boy issues, whether they want them or not.

This book does a decent job of maintaining the gist of Austen's novel. There are modern issues that fit nicely into the story that all seem realistic. However, for two-thirds of the novel I couldn't stand either main character. Daphne is a spoiled brat who desperately needed a reality check and Gabby was so narrow-minded and critical of everything she was just downright unlikeable. I could understand where each girl is coming from, but they were both so extreme that they were annoying. In the last hundred pages both girls received a bit of a slap in the face which thankfully brought them around to some resemblance of sanity.

Aside from some unbearable main characters, the book wasn't horrible. You could relate to the character even if you couldn't stand them and the book makes you believe change and happily ever afters are possible.
MMK

Prom & Prejudice by Elizabeth Eulberg

This is a quick and enjoyable read that anyone who enjoys Jane Austen will appreciate.

Lizzie Bennet is an outcast at Longbourn Academy because she is one of the dreaded "scholarship" kids. Teased and harassed on a regularly basis, Lizzie can't help but have her defenses up when around fellow students with money. Forced to join her best friend Jane at a reception between their school and Pemberly Academy (a reception in preparation for the ever popular prom), Lizzie meets Jane's beau Charles Bingley and his friend Will Darcy. At first Lizzie thinks Darcy might be nice, but then he proves to be just like all of the other people with money and her defenses shoot up. No matter what Darcy does now, Lizzie won't bend and when things fall apart for Jane and Bingley and the sneaky George Wickham enters the picture, Lizzie doesn't know who to trust or who to believe in. Can she let go of her pride and prejudices to see Darcy's true character?

This novel did a great job capturing the story of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice in a modern time where it's not about finding a husband, but a prom date. It was a pleasant surprise to see familiar characters pop up in new ways. That's definitely not to say that someone unfamiliar with the original tale can't enjoy this novel. It just goes to prove how Austen's tale is truly timeless. Everything flowed nicely and fit logically. At times it felt like the language was off, but I don't know if that was just how I read it - sometimes I find an English accent going off in my head, especially if I'm reading something Jane Austen. Therefore, I don't know if this was just the way I read it or if the language was stilted - like she was trying to throw in some of that formalized talk like from the original novel. It wasn't anything, though, that distracted from the whole of the novel (nor the excessive use of exclamation marks at certain unnecessarily points).

I've always been a fan of Pride and Prejudice so reading this book was a treat. It was a quick read and I really didn't want to put the book down (if only I didn't have a bedtime). Any fan of Jane Austen or chick lit will enjoy this book.
MMK