Reaching Eddie: A Sapphic Ice Queen Age Gap Romance

by Heidi Vine

From her one-bed city centre cesspit to one of North Yorkshire’s most impressive manor houses, Jenny Eady can scarcely believe her luck after landing the job of live-in tutor at Thornfield House.

After she mows down a prickly woman on a wander through the moors, she barely bats an eyelid, but when that same woman turns out to be the mysterious and often absent mistress of the house—as well as her employer—Jenny arrives back to Earth with a very undignified bump.

Thankfully, the brooding older woman prefers to keep to herself, leaving Jenny to tutor her flamboyant pupil in peace. But the more she gleans of the mistress of the house through its other residents, the more Jenny wants to unravel the mystery of the woman for herself.

But Eddie Rochester possesses secrets, secrets so dark they might just have the power to throw Jenny all the way back to the anguish of her youth.

Reaching Eddie is a sapphic, modern day reimagining of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre.

412 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 27, 2024

Reviews

[cloverxheart · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book broke my heart and put it back together.
Definitely one of my favorite reads ever.
I loved every single page (except for chapter 21)

I was a little worried going into this, since I've read a lot of reviews saying you won't enjoy or understand it if you don't know Jane Eyre.
I had absolutely no idea what Jane Eyre was about and I still absolutely loved this book.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reaching Eddie by Heidi Vine is a sapphic age-gap romance between a young adult teacher who becomes a live-in tutor, and a damaged ice queen fashion mogul, whose son is her student. The mistress of Thornfield House, an expansive manor home in North Yorkshire, is elegant and broody and keeps secrets. Jenny, the tutor, is trying to maintain a successful teaching career despite the past trauma that still haunts her. The two are enamored with one another and engage in a passionate but somewhat toxic affair. Some scenes are a little uncomfortable because of the power differential. 
The pace is steady. The novel is a bit long, and I became aware of the length, around 81%, though I was already quite invested. 
The writing was mostly clean and easy to follow. There were a few repetitive phrases, and some of Jenny's slang didn't sit well with me.
I enjoyed the diverse personalities of the solid found family who support our main characters. Both mains make mistakes, learn, and show significant growth. Sometimes, I want to shake them both. There is a justified 3rd act break-up. Time passes, and some unexpected events take place, ultimately bringing them back together. 
The mix of sweet and spicy intimate moments is nice. The story was unique and interesting. I give this a 3.5 rounded up. I would be interested in reading more from this author.
TW: description of death of a child off-page, excessive consumption of alcohol
#icequeen #agegap #wealthy/poor #teacher/tutor #businessperson #fashionindustry #employer/employee #NorthYorkshire #England #manorhouse #childhoodtrauma #mentalhealthrep #depression/anxiety #foundfamily #3rdactbreakup #HEA
I received a free ARC from the author. This is my honest opinion.

[Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reaching Eddie is a steamy modern-day sapphic retelling of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. If you don't know that story and how many weird, unbelievable, crazy twists and turns it has this story may not make much sense, but it's actually a bit less kooky than the classic. Reaching Eddie has great characters, stays (for the most part) true to the original, where it diverges makes sense in a modern setting, and is really well written. Oh, and the steamy bits are...quite steamy. I think that if I didn't know the story of Jane Eyre and all of this crazy was thrown together in one book I might have given it a lower rating, but I do, so I'm going to round up to 5.

I received a free ARC from the author, but my review is unbiased and left voluntarily.

[Jules · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely LOVED this book! I stayed up way, way (way) too late so I could finish it - I regret absolutely nothing :).

This is a sapphic retelling of the English classic, Jane Eyre. Not only does Vine do a fantastic job of reimagining the characters and the story for FF loving readers, she also brings it into the 21st century. She doesn't skimp on the details. All of the characters are fully developed into their modern personas while she paints vibrant visuals of the world they live in. If I could give it more than five stars, I WOULD!

I would love to see a movie adaptation of this version...

[Fran Sappharc · Rating 3 out of 5]

A reworking, but immediately set the scene in modern times. I should possibly know the story of Jane Eyre better than I do, but I don’t, so to me this is an original tale, odd but original. I enjoyed it and certainly felt compelled to read on to have everything clear. However, just before the half way point, I felt pacing slipped a little. I felt the conversation on the train a bit stilted. Which is a first in this book, although conversations between the mains had previously, naturally, been awkward, it was appropriately so. Not on the train however.
When the mains get together for the first time, I wasn’t really swept along, possibly because of the stilted conversation earlier. Also because of the power imbalance, the boss demanding, “tell me to stop.” I am also aware there is still a lot of book left to fill, and a lot already filled! Pacing continued to stutter slightly. The mains were together, employer/employee balance ignored. Nothing happening with the mysterious tower. I think that is why, for me pacing slipped. Nothing moving forward in either plot strand. However I did love a bit in the middle of the stutter, where the future is discussed, I felt the romance and was swept along. Just after that the mystery came to the fore again.
Then it kind of stutters. One main acts in a way I don’t understand and it disturbed my enjoyment.
The break up follows quickly as one’s mains actions were as displeasing to the other main as me.
I was a bit undecided about this books. Overall a 3, some bits higher, some lower. If you want a book of good length, that ain’t light and frothy, this is it.

[Robin Clairvaux · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Jenny becomes a tutor for enigmatic businesswoman Eddie's adoptive son in the vast Thornfield House estate, she encounters a complex mix of surprises, including found family, romance, danger, and lust.

Reaching Eddie is an intriguing contemporary reimagining of a beloved classic with multilayered characters, an immersive setting, and an intense plot. Jenny's down-to-earth warmth and vulnerability are a captivating contrast to Eddie's mercurial temperament and underlying passionate nature. The external and internal forces that work to tear them apart keep the story engaging as do the endearing side characters that make up Eddie's unique family: Ellen, Grace, and young Aiden. Aiden, in particular, is a memorable and delightful personality. The story's resolution is satisfying and profound, although it would have been nice to see a little more time and on-the-page space devoted to Jenny and Eddie's character transformations in the latter chapters.

Overall, Reaching Eddie lovingly acknowledges the major points of the original Jane Eyre while still weaving a fresh and poignant sapphic romance that readers will be sure to remember for days to come.

[Hope Freed · Rating 4 out of 5]

This modern day re-imagining of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre largely works. There are points however where it didn’t quite hang together for me. I’m pretty familiar with the original classic so Jenny’s background with neglectful parents,the loss of her sister and foster care upbringing tallied well with modern day realities. But the following didn’t work quite as well: I understand Eddie’s feeling she needs to take care of Beth but why wouldn’t she have divorced her? No reason at all in modern terms. Further, mental health care facilities nowadays aren’t the horror houses of insane asylum’s of the past, so why wouldn’t Eddie have paid for Beth to have the best MH care, rather than locking her up in a tower at home, just because it’s familiar? And, given the intimacy of their relationship, Eddie’s behaviour towards Jenny when she comes back home with her friends seemed (to me) even crueller than Rochester’s behaviour in the original novel. But, apart from these issues that grated a bit for me, this was overall very well done and an enjoyable, lengthy read. I would certainly try more by the author…

[Meredith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow what a book.
The first half of it was well-written and i was falling in love with the book, characters and ambience.
The second half, not so much. I was very frustrated about Eddie keeping so many secrets from Jenny, yes i know it was clearly explained that she runs away and avoids addressing issues but the lies went on for so long and hurt Jenny a lot.
There was a moment in the book where Beth literally set Jenny's dress on fire while she was sleeping and Eddie still doesn't tell Jenny shit, she goes away for 1 month, simply comes back, "cheats" on Jenny and wants Jenny to come back to her. By this point i was quite mad and frustrated by her actions. Her trauma didn't justify the hurt that she caused Jenny and i really didn't like the direction the plot was taking at all.
There was a 2 year time skip and they so easily went back together because Jenny has learnt to forgive but there was literally no explanation and no showing of the supposedly"changed" Eddie that Grace has told Jenny about. So i was confused as to what was forgiven and why.
Anyways, would have a different blow-up and conclusion but oh well.

[Shannon Luchies · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jenny Eady has been hired as a teacher/governess at a very wealthy estate. Everything is going well, until she's nearly ran down by a woman on a bicycle.

Who, it turns out, is the Lady of the House.

Edwina 'Eddie' has been busy fixing the business she inherited from her deceased parents, and wants the best for her child. That, at this point, is Jenny, presuming they can get along.

Very, very slow burn. Good, capable writing, but there's a plot twist straight out of a Gothic novel. I literally went dude, wtf when it happened. It wasn't a HUGELY bad plot twist, but it really needed much more explaining than we got.

3.5 stars out of 5

[MissAlice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I couldn’t get a read on the age of these characters. The younger was to be in her mid/late 20s, but was written as if she were in her early teens. The older was just turning 40, but read like she was in her late teens. A lot of plots, subplots, side quests… very little story or character arcs. Third act breakups. The muchiness was just too much for me. I ended up skipping paragraphs and at 70% I almost DNFed… I skipped around just to see what happened to the dog and to Beth. Guess just too much melodrama for my taste.

[Samantha Holder-Venter · Rating 5 out of 5]

To say that I enjoyed this book would be an understatement. I completely lost myself in this story and these characters and I couldn’t put it down. Nothing about this story felt rushed, wonderfully fully-fleshed characters who experienced some immense trauma but then grow and overcome their pasts is such a weakness for me and I couldn’t get enough of Jenny and Eddie. I adore it when a book is so well thought out and planned that the story just comes together and WORKS. 10/10 would recommend.

[Karen Fisk · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book, gets you fully immersed into the story. So much so you end up shouting in your head at the characters actions! Kept me up a few nights reading as couldn’t put it down! Not your typical sapphic read, the characters have grit and make mistakes which normally don’t occur (without giving away too much).
Free hours of time when you start this book, you’ll need them!

[Stephanie Mohr · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new take on the classic, Jane Eyre. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and could not put it down. It contains my favorite tropes - age gap, ice queen, hot for boss, rich/poor, and add in a cute kid. It also contains angst with a break up and the struggle to get back to each other. I was rooting for the MCs and would recommend it.

[Suzi Vilkman (Hautaniemi) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Devastatingly beautiful

Eddie and Jenny are made for each other but fighting the connection tooth and nail.
Just as everything seems clear the whole world crumbles around them.

[Joleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal!!!
Please do yourself a favor and read this.
even if you dont know anything about Jane Eyre, its worth a read!