Courageous: A Clean Young Adult Persuasion Retelling

by Luci Taylor

Ellie

I've been dreaming of this day since my fifth birthday. I'm finally going to walk through the doors of Elliot and Shepherd Inc. as a newly graduated junior architect. I'm no longer the intern running around the office delivering mail. I even have my own name plate. Everything is going according to my plan. That is, until I walk into my first planning meeting for the construction of the new library and discover I have to work with my ex-boyfriend. No one else in town seems to remember we dated in high school or the fallout after the breakup. I have to find a way to make this work and not let old feels re-emerge. But that's hard to do when I've spent the past four and a half years comparing every guy I meet to Frederick Wentworth, no matter how hard I tried to move on.


Frederick

I've been dreaming of this day since my tenth birthday. Croft is finally giving me a chance to prove I have what it takes to be the boss. I'm no longer the little kid running around the job site asking for odd jobs. I even have my own desk in the office. Everything is going according to my plan. That is, until I walk into my first meeting for the construction of the new library and run into my ex-girlfriend. She doesn't seem to want anyone to remember we dated in high school, and I'm trying not to let this bother me. But that's hard to do when I've spent every spare moment the past four and a half years thinking about her, no matter how hard I tried to move on.

Courageous is the sequel to Discouraged and is a clean young adult Persuasion retelling. Heartbreak, misunderstandings, and learning how to stand up for yourself are included. Courageous is perfect for anyone with a passion for second chances, reformed bad boys, and coffee-obsessed girls.

117 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 15, 2025

Reviews

[A Good Girl's booknook · Rating 4 out of 5]

˚₊ · »-♡→ 𝓦𝓱𝔂 𝔀𝓪𝓼𝓷'𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓪 𝔀𝓪𝔂 𝓘 𝓬𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓫𝓮 𝓫𝓸𝓽𝓱 𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓹𝔂 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓻𝓾𝓷 𝓪 𝓼𝓾𝓬𝓮𝓼𝓼𝓯𝓾𝓵 𝓪𝓻𝓬𝓱𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓬𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓮 𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓶? ˚♡

If anyone's looking for a a sweet and short read that keeps true to the Persuasion characters and overall plot whilst adapting into a modern setting, THIS IS YOUR BOOK!!

First of all, architecture girlboss?? sign me up!! This was a dual perspective picking up four years after Discouraged where they're now both pretty settled into their respective careers; Ellie at her dad's architecture firm and Frederick at a construction company. The plot was mainly focused on their individual character growth which I was all here for 🙌🏻

A lot of their relationship was built off their connection from the last book. Like they already had that spark, they just each had to sort out their own issues and work on themselves. I would have liked to maybe see more romantic interactions between them, although I was just really invested in the drama which honestly gave very strong vibes of the og Persuasion dramatics with Ellie managing her architecture stuff, family wedding drama and working through her anxiety (wow girl went through a lot-) It was so sweet to see Frederick trying to open up to more people. And the confession??? swoonworthy level 😩. Their ending was a little abrupt tho and the writing style came off as a little more telling than showing.

Also the Avonlea character cameos were absolute gold 🤭

Thanks so much to the author for the arc!!

𝓝𝓸𝔀 𝓹𝓵𝓪𝔂𝓲𝓷𝓰:
see you later (ten years) - Jenna Raine
0:58 ──♡───── 3:47

[🍂 emma 🍂 · Rating 3 out of 5]

age rating: 13+
spice: none
language: 0.5/5

a fun conclusion to luci taylor’s modern retelling of persuasion!! 🥹

ellie came so far in this book-
maintaining and overcoming her anxiety, which was lovely to see. finally standing up to the people who were determined to shut her down, steaming coffee cup in her hand. ☕️✨

i thought this read pretty juvenile, and despite the characters being ‘aged up,’ they still very much spoke and acted like teenagers. the romance subplot wrapped up nicely, but i found myself wishing for more interaction between ellie and frederick in general. absolutely ✨loved✨ the cutesy epilogue, though. 🤭

minor spoiler -
fred wright and diana barry were fantastic editions, and the humor they brought with them was great.

thank you so much to the author for the arc!! courageous is out now!!

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to start by saying I received an ARC of this book. This is the 4th book in the Midwestern Bookish Belles series and the conclusion to the book Discouraged. The main characters are Frederick and Ellie. In the last book they broke up. They reconnect when they run into each other for a meeting for the new library. Have they moved on from each other? Will they be able to be professional and get the job done? Will Ellie finally stand up to the people she has been afraid to stand up to? I enjoyed watching Ellie grow in this book. I loved to see how great Frederick was doing. They both got what they wanted just Ellie’s looked different than what she originally planned. I do wish this book had more of Frederick and Ellie spending time together and a little bit more romance. Overall, it was a great conclusion to Discouraged.

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars!

Loved this one!
This is the conclusion to “Discouraged”. I really enjoyed this next part of Ellie and Frederick’s story. This was sweet and clean. I loved that some of the characters from Luci’s other stories were able to make an appearance. I really liked the idea and thought it added humor to the story. I highly recommend this book, but be sure to read the first book before you start this one.Luci Taylor’s stories do not disappoint. I am looking forward to more retellings of my favorite classics.


I received a copy of this book. I was not required to write a review. These are my honest thoughts.

[noenjoyment.likereading · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this conclusion to Ellie and Frederick’s story! After many years they see each other again and have to work together. I loved the connections to Persuasion by Jane Austen. And the email Frederick writes! 🥰

Love this quote from the book “I’m glad you found your happiness again. And I’m not going to sit around anymore to wait for mine to fall into my lap or my garage. I’m going to be courageous and find it myself.”