The Importance of Being Emma: a dazzling Jane Austen contemporary romance

by Juliet Archer

A witty, contemporary retelling of Jane Austen's Emma, set in the world of modern business and matchmaking.

She’s a matchmaker, but who will win her heart?

Emma Woodhouse has everything under control—except her own heart.

As a successful marketing director in modern-day Highbury, Emma thrives on orchestrating her friends' and family's lives, after all . . . she knows the best match for everyone.

But when she takes on the challenge of modernizing her family’s old-fashioned business, she finds herself working closely with the irresistibly handsome Mark Knightley, a business consultant who has his own ideas on how things should be done.

Mark, grounded and pragmatic, has always been a part of Emma’s life, but now he’s back in town, determined to make his mark on the business — and to challenge Emma’s carefully constructed plans.

As sparks fly between them, Emma’s matchmaking schemes begin to unravel, because sometimes the perfect match is the one you never planned.

A fresh and fun story about finding love in the most unexpected places, perfect for fans of Jane Austen, Helen Fielding, Katherine Reay and Joanna Trollope.

PRAISE FOR JULIET

'A spirited retelling of Emma by Jane Austen will prove and enjoyable read to those who know the original story and those who don't.' The Bookbag

' . . . Juliet Archer (well she has the right initials anyway) has reinvented my absolute favourite Austen novel for a 21st-century audience, and done it with breathtaking charm and verve.' Jane Austen Regency World Magazine

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Great characters! Close enough to the original story to bring warm feelings of nostalgia without slapping you in the face with them.' Cyndi

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Endearing and fun.' Preethi V.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'I always wondered what went on in Mr. Knightley's head. I highly recommend it to any Janette fan!' Elizabeth P.

Winner of The Big Red Reads Fiction Award 2011. Short-listed for the Melissa Nathan Award for Comedy Romance 2009.

376 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 14, 2025

About the author

Juliet Archer describes herself as “a 19th-century mind in a 21st-century body – actually, some days it’s the other way round.” The youngest of four girls, she was born and bred in North-East England, where she met her future husband. Unlike Anne Elliot in Persuasion, she resisted well-meant advice and married young, before graduating from the University of Nottingham with a First in French and Russian. Over thirty years later, she is still married, with two teenage children and a teenage cat, and lives in Hertfordshire – “Pride & Prejudice country”. Like many authors she juggles writing with work and other commitments, so has a very supportive and understanding family – or so they keep telling her!

She has been writing romantic fiction since 2005 and joined the Romantic Novelists’ Association in 2007 – she is currently Chair of their London and South-East branch. Her debut novel, The Importance of Being Emma, published in the UK by Choc Lit, is the first in her series “Darcy & Friends” and was shortlisted for the 2009 Melissa Nathan Award for Comedy Romance. The second novel in the series is Persuade Me (release date September 2011) and she is currently writing Northanger Nights.

Juliet gives talks all over the UK – and in the US – about why and how she’s updating Jane Austen. One of her sisters is married to an American and lives in Ohio, where her son will also be attending college from Fall 2011.

Reviews

[Debbie Caven · Rating 2 out of 5]

I will normally try and look on the bright side of any book, but this one had very few redeeming features. If you're doing a main character who is utterly unlikeable you need to have the ability to create a reason for the reader to like/empathise with/ see where their motivation comes from. But there was nothing for Emma, spoilt, stupid little girl who thinks she's better than everyone else... and who jumps to conclusions a blind, deaf, mute person could instantly see were wrong.

[Carmen Prieto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emma, is my favorite Jane Austen novel so I was very excited to read something like this. I loved it so much. I think the nature of the original characters was portrayed beautifully. Is Emma a bit annoying? Yes. But, that is also true in the Austen novel. I absolutely loved reading about Henry. He never fails to make me laugh.

[Becca · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF