Out of the Blue

E-galley received from the publisher for review

Definitely, Maybe In Love is a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice. Spring Honeycutt is a junior at Stanford, studying Environmental Studies. She's very passionate about it. For her independent study thesis, her advisor suggests that she might want to find the help of an Economics student to strenghten her thesis.

Enter Henry Knightly, a new student at Standford who is attending law school and is Spring's new next-door neighbour, together with his best friend. Henry comes from a wealthy family of landowners, is studying to be a lawyer, and stands for all the things that Spring detests. They first meet at a party, in which Spring overhears Henry saying he's not attracted in the slightest to a tree-hugger like her. He also acts very aloof and snobbish. Spring tries to avoid him, but when her roommate falls in love with henry's best friend, they are often thrown together. Until the boys disappear one day without notice...

I loved the progression of Spring and Henry's relationship. In spite of him being snobbish towards her, he agrees to help her with her thesis and flirts with her on a number of occasions. I almost combusted while reading about the Thanksgiving food fight scene. Spring is a stubborn, determined heroine who is bent on saving the world. She doesn't know what to do about her attraction to Henry, as she's bveen too busy with her coursework and her job to be interested in guys. However, when she goes out with her classmate Alex, Henry acts all jealous and warns her to stay away from him.

I found Definitely, Maybe In Love to be a very fun and fresh retelling of the original. I enjoyed the banter between Spring and Henry, as well as the sexual tension between them. If this author were to write another Jane Austen retelling, I think I'd give it a try.