Persuading Her: A Modern Persuasion Retelling

Pemberley Estates #2

by Keena Richins

At nineteen, Rick Wentworth found the love of his life. Or so he thought. Dumped because he wasn't good enough for her high-and-mighty family, Rick left, swearing he'd never return. Eight years later, he's an Acquisition Manager for the prestigious Pemberley Estates Corporation, traveling the world and loving his life. Then he accidentally runs into his old love and feelings he thought were long gone come rushing back. But he's determined to resist. She dumped him once; he won't let her the chance to do it again, no matter how badly his heart wants to be hers. "Persuading Her" is a stand-alone, clean/sweet, second-chance romance with a guaranteed happily ever after. In the world of Pemberley Estates, Jane Austen's characters mingle with each other in a modern setting. Check out the rest of the series and see where your favorite character pops Persuasion Persuading Him - Anne's Side Persuading Her - Rick's Side Sense And Sensibility Sense Without Sensibility - Elinor's Side Smitten With Sense - Edward's Side Sensibility Without Sense - Marianne's Side (Coming Soon) Surrendering to Sensibility - Brandon's Side (Coming Soon)

Genres: Romance, Clean Romance, Retellings, Contemporary

228 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 23, 2018

About the author

Keena Richins has a curse: she must write the stories bubbling in her head or go mad. Seriously. You should see the hordes of characters in her head constantly babbling about their lives. When she needs a break, Keena will delve into books and her favorite are the Jane Austen books, so it is only fitting for her first debut to be a modern twist on one of those classics. And many more are soon to come. Enjoy!

Reviews

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 rounded up to 5 stars

This is a very well done modernization of Jane Austen's Persuasion as told from the hero's point of view.

Frederick/Rick Wentworth grew up as a troubled foster child, shuttled from one temporary household to another but never finding a home. The painful experience has given him deep scars with abandonment issues. And then the girl he loved first agreed to marry him but, only hours later, tossed him aside like yesterday's garbage (from his perspective). This just reinforced his resistance to getting close to anyone for fear of more rejection.

Rick enlisted in the navy after earning his GED and had a successful stint there that positioned him for his current civilian job. He investigates the money-making potential of inventions for a company that develops and markets them, keeping him on the road and satisfying his restless personality.

After their alcoholic father died, his older sister Sophy was much luckier than Rick, with family friends adopting her into a stable, loving home. Now she's happily married. When he visits her and her husband, Alfred Croft, Rick finds their new home previously belonged to the Elliot family, bringing back painful memories of that girl he loved.

Having combined this family visit with business travel, Rick goes to meet with Charles Musgrove at his nearby farm to evaluate the man's invention. There he meets the extended Musgrove family and comes face-to-face with the woman he's tried unsuccessfully to forget, Charles's sister-in-law Anne Elliot.

We never get into Anne's head at all (that's covered in the previous book in this series), making Rick's stand-offishness when they encounter each other again after their eight-year separation even more understandable. Rick eventually recognizes his feelings about Anne are far from the hatred he's been fostering all these years due to his heartbreak. Then he can't find any indication that Anne still cares for him, and his heavily ingrained fear of rejection makes it impossible for him to reach out to her first.

It's a lovely, sensitive portrayal, and the plot develops believably with recognizable parallels to canon without being too predictable. I really love the storyline. The author's writing is equally engaging and flows nicely.

However, I find it hard to believe that, in a modern setting, Charles wouldn't have divorced Mary years ago. She's even more aggravating here than in the original. So is Louisa, who is a spoiled, pushy, annoying brat. Perhaps the author went a bit over the top with both these characterizations as well as the Cinderella-type treatment Anne gets from everyone in her family. I haven't read Persuading Him: A Modern Persuasion Retelling though, which I would expect to offer more insight about these characters and why they behave the way they do.

This will grow to be a full series of Austen modernizations, and it's fun to see character names from her other famous works pop up here, mostly employers and other employees in the company Rick works for. Ms. Richins establishes a strong jump-off point here. I'll be watching for the next one, for sure!

Content is clean.

[Sydney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Persuading Her: A Modern Persuasion Retelling by author Keena Richins is a sweet contemporary romance retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion. This is the same story as Persuading Her: A Modern Persuasion Retelling, except this time it is from Rick’s point of view. Although a bit slow, the story takes a fun twist of perspective and is an enjoyable and fun read. Readers that enjoy contemporary Jane Austen retellings will enjoy this fun book.

Series: Pemberley Estages
Genre: contemporary, chick lit, clean romance
Publisher: Indie
Publication date: October 23, 2018
Number of pages: 224

Other books in the series:
1-Persuading Her: A Modern Persuasion Retelling

A review copy of this book was provided by the Clean Wholesome Romance Street Team. A review was not required and all views and opinions expressed are my own.

[Yana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free ebook review copy of this book but was under no obligation to post a positive review

Persuading Her is the companion to Persuading Him, telling the story of Anne Elliot and Rick Wentworth from his perspective.
You would think that reading both sides will feel a bit repetitive, story-wise but it isn’t so. Even though it is the same love story at its core, we still get plenty of new content during the times Rick and Anne aren’t at the same place.
What will feel repetitive is the extensive use of the same phrases over and over again. The one that bothered me the most was “chocolate eyes”. I don’t think I can hear/read these two words together again for at least a year 😑
I did love Persuading Him but Persuading Her fell a little short in my eyes. I don’t know if I just got a review copy or the finished product, but what I read could definitely use some editing.
On the plus side, we got to see so much more of Sophy and Al. These two are definitely favorites of mine, they are so loving, cheerful and goofy 🙃 Reading more about them definitely made me smile more.
Apparently there are going to be more books in the series, so I think that that if you are a big Austen fan, and enjoyed Persuading Him you should give Persuading Her a chance ;)

Lastly, I would like to thank Kathy from “I am a Reader” for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

[Suzie Waltner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps it is the freedom the author has to explore new aspects of a beloved story or maybe the new point of view, but whatever it is, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Keena Richins’ Persuading Her.

In this book, readers get to climb inside Rick Wentworth’s head and feel what he’s feeling, see his heart. A great addition to this tale is more insight into Sophy (Rick’s sister) and her husband’s relationship. These two live relationship goals, plus Sophy gives some good advice when it’s most needed.

As Rick comes to realize his pride and anger at his past rejection just might cost him the only woman he’s never loved, readers get a fresh perspective in this modern-day Persuasion retelling from the hero’s side of things.

And with a few more Austen names peppered into the pages, I’m guessing there will be more Jane Austen fun coming from Richins in the future.

I receive complimentary books from publishers, publicists, and/or authors, including NetGalley. I am not required to write positive reviews. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting modern take on the classic 'Persuasion'. Written entirely from Wentworth's POV really adds a little extra. Only ever hearing Anne's retelling is fairly common way of looking at this tale reunited love.

At times the story seemed slow, and a little repetitive, but overall a good read.

[Stacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this retelling of Jane Austen’s nove Persuasion. I originally read “Persuading Him” by the same author & enjoyed that so much that when I discovered there was a second part (taken from his point of view) I eagerly started reading this one. Whilst this version of a modern retelling does deviate from Ms. Austen’s version in some areas the essence of the story is retained. I actually really enjoyed this author’s style of writing from both books (although the recurrent description of “chocolate brown eyes” did annoy me a little - it was like the only feature he could recall of Anne was her eyes. I’m more of a personality type of person rather than a particular feature but it does get better towards the end & it is just a personal preference. I simply wouldn’t have mentioned it every single time he thought of Anne) and actually found her incorporation of other Austen’s characters to be intriguing & highly entertaining. Especially by this second novel. I am glad that I read it in the order I did - Persuading Him I gathered to be the first book & I suppose, because the movies etc. all seem to portray the story from her point of view, it seemed like the natural place to start anyway. It could be read in reverse but I personally (having read both) think that it flows better (with all the details combined) to read this book as a follow up to the other.
Additionally, I am eager to read the other “Austen retellings” from this author. Austen’s stories are timeless, but I am quite enjoying seeing the way this author adapts the stories to our era, yet still maintaining the dignity & innocence that Austen is known for - even when dealing with subjects that are not “innocent” I appreciate it when authors show restraint. Just because bad things happen & wrong is committed does not mean I want to read all the gory details. It can be acknowledged & the consequences alluded to or explained, but spare me the unnecessary details that seem to rejoice in the badness. I loved that about Austen & am happy to have discovered it with this author as well.

I can highly recommend this series. Clean & above board & thoroughly enjoyable to any Austen appreciators.

[Veronica · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Hey you. You're late."
"By eight years?"
She laughed. "Yeah, that, too."

Rating: 3.5 stars

(In case you were wondering, this book contain very brief mentions of suicide and depression)

Overall, I've been enjoying Richins' stories so far, but she needs to work on her language skills. A lot of my complaints from the first book hold true for this one as well. The writing is still a little awkward, and, alas, Richins seems to have a bad habit of refusing to let go once she's developed an attachment to certain words or phrases. Like, use a thesaurus or something. By the start of chapter two, I'd already had enough of the references to Anne as the "chocolate-eyed girl." We get a little more of the fairy tale metaphors though those are, thankfully, not as common as they were in Persuading Him-maybe Rick's less starry-eyed than Anne? Whatever the reason, I'm not complaining. He is a little sappy though...I mean, "he spotted his vision a beauty," really?

There are more editing misses here; it's not like I'm going through books with a fine-toothed comb, but typos and nonsensical sentences are kind of hard to miss. Also, WHAT IS WITH ALL THE CAPS? I mean, don't get me wrong, I get the need for some written emphasis, but has no one heard of italics?



I was a little skeptical when I saw the next book in the series was essentially Persuading Him from Rick's POV, but I gave it a shot since the first book was the first decent modern Persuasion I've found and, you know, beggars can't be chooser. I was pleasantly surprised, especially because stories retold from an alternate characters POV don't usually work for me, but this was pretty enjoyable. I liked seeing the story from Wentworth's perspective and loved all the cute side characters like Sophy/Al (the Crofts) and Harv/Star (the Harvilles). Also, we get a little more Emma cameos which made me hopeful until I got to the epilogue which was essentially a cliffhanger for Brandon's story and realized Sense and Sensibility is next on the queue. Richins did a great job with Persuasion, so S&S can't be too bad.

[Maria Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this modernized Persuasion from his point of view was an interesting change. (I haven't read the 1st book yet). It basically followed the original but changed things that made the situation work in a modern setting.

I liked seeing Rick's pov and that he began to see Anne's behavior in a new light. He could see that she could be strong and maybe her willingness to let other things go was just an effort to be the peacemaker. He spent a lot of time misinterpreting people through the whole book. It felt like everything evolved around him and his insecurities.

I thought there was a lot of repetition about Rick's past and his feelings of inadequacy. I think as a reader I could have felt the frustration without being told repeatedly. The "old anger resurfaced" had to be the most overused phrase in the book. And in my opinion, the most inaccurate one. It wasn't the "old" anger. It was the current anger. He definitely had anger issues that had never really improved as he grew up. Old anger might have been remembering how he felt in his younger years but he wasn't just remembering. He was just plain angry. And hearing about it so much became irritating to me.

My other thing with this book was wondering about the authors choice to combine characters from multiple Austen books. I guess it is a concept to make the series unique but I was distracted by reading about P&P or Emma characters in the middle of a Persuasion novel. Perhaps it becomes more obvious farther into the series why it was written this way but it just seemed like this novel could have had its own inclusive characters without borrowing from other novels.

No sex, language or violence

[Heather Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the modern retellings. As with others, this one had the potential to be outstanding. I just had a few hang ups with it. First of all...Where was the editor?! There were sooo many typos. For example: Whoa spelled Woah. Multiple times. There was also an issue with subject/verb agreement and switching between past and present tense. I also felt like the author tried to bring in some regency period language to tie it into Jane Austin's novel, but it just came out sounding strange because people don't talk that formally these days. Finally, Rick got really annoying. He didn't seem to mature in the eight years since he saw Anne. His temper was way out of control and we heard about it over and over again. Enough.
Now for what I did like. It stuck to the original novel well, but in a modernized way with some twists. It was ingenious the way the author included almost all of the main characters or antagonists from all of Jane Austin's novels. That made for the ability to create more modern retellings of her books in the future. I really liked that it was from Rick's POV.
I am interested in book 1 of this series and would be interested to see if future books by this author are cleaned up editing wise a little bit. It was clean. I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Christi · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading Persuading Him, I was a little apprehensive about reading Persuading Her, but I was pleasantly surprised. This book seemed to have a better flow, and since I had read Anna's side of the story, I already knew what was coming, and anticipated to hear Rick's side of the story. Hearing both sides gives you the whole picture, which made reading this book a breeze, and an enjoyable read.

Hearing Rick describe seeing Anna for the first time was beautifully written, and I knew from the first few pages that I was going to enjoy hearing Rick's side of certain events. What I adored about Rick's story was getting to know his sister and brother-in-law Sophy and Al better. They are definitely the brightest star in Rick's story and by far my favorite characters.

I really am pleased with Persuading Her and anticipate what modern classic Keena Richins decides to twist next.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. All opinions are my own

[vhyc · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review is written after reading Persuading Him and Persuading Her in order.

I like what the author is trying to achieve with her re-tellings--I thought it was a great idea. Modernized retelling of Jane Austen novels and all the characters intermingle. I like the idea of her point of view and his point of view. But since I read them back to back, I felt like I was reading the same story twice. I also felt the story was a bit slow.

The author stayed very close to the original story and characters, which is important to me. The idea is very interesting and unique (at least I haven't come across anything like this), so I am looking forward to seeing what happens with the other novels.

Note to author: There were a lot of errors in the writing and the character names were wrong. I had to read some sentences several times understand what you were trying to say. At one point Frederick Wentworth was referred to as an Army man, but he's a Navy man. Robert Martin was written as Robert Smith.

[Our Book Confessions · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a little worried that I would be bored and feel like I was just reading the same novel twice, but there were enough moments of them apart that they felt like two different novels.

The author used a life in foster care as Rick’s catalyst for a lot of his actions and it worked really well. I really loved her cookie metaphor scene, but she seemed to over use the phrase “that old anger resurfaced”, could’ve been more meaningful expressed in other ways.

There were more editing errors than I like to see in published novels but not enough to be too distracting from the story. The author kept me interested through out both books while pulling off a modern setting and weaving in other characters, gearing you up for more Austen from her in the future.

https://bookconfessionsblog.wordpress...

[Toni · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this classical Austen story told from Rick's perspective. I could understand his emotions and fears, his apprehension and insecurities. In a way I even liked his point of view of the story more than Anne's - maybe because it was somehow different than the original book.
Although this is said to be a stand alone, I think it would be better if the reader has previously read its companion book Persuading Her. And a overall familiarity with the other Austen books will help immensely with understanding the whole concept of the Pemberley Corporation, since there are many other Austen characters sprinkled in the book. :)
Can't wait for the next book in the series - the Epilogue hinted that a mystery will be solved...
Sensuality: squeaky clean
Religion: none
Narrative: 3rd person, following Rick

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd give this book 3 1/2 stars. This is a modern retelling of Persuasion set in the United States. While Persuading Him (the companion novel) told the story from the traditional viewpoint of Anne, this one tells the same story from Rick Wentworth's point of view. My biggest complaint with the book was that I didn't like Rick portrayed with such anger issues. I've always imagined Wentworth as sad, but accepting, so this was hard for me to follow. The plot was fine, and I liked seeing his view and actions when he's not near Anne. One thing I did like a lot is how she's weaving in all of Jane Austen's characters into one connected world. I'm looking forward to what she does with them in future books because I think some of those have real potential to be very good.

I received an ARC of this book, but my opinions are entirely my own.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5*. I like having his and her POV in books. When I was reading Persuading Him, I kept wishing for Rick's POV. I'm glad we got a book for him, but I really wish it had just been one book. First, it's been a little while since I read Persuading Him, so I struggled to jog my memory at times, but there was also a lot of repetition because of the two books. These should definitely be read close together so you get the whole story. Again, I am glad to have Rick's story and know what he was thinking, but I would have preferred it all in one book.

[Lydia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the story through Rick's point of view. On top of that it was nice to see Keena take liberties on his character and develop him more. As excited as I was to read his side of the story, the similarities made it repetitious. As I imagine more novels will come in this series I will most likely be inclined toward reading the male perspective versus the typical Jane Austin female driven storyline.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed getting Rick's point of view. It added a lot to the story I already knew from reading Persuading Him. There were some proofreading errors, but I read a review copy, so hopefully those were caught before the book was published. I so look forward to reading more stories in this series and getting to know better the other Jane Austen based characters as well as meet others.

Content: clean
Source: review copy

[Christina Li · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! It's one of my favorites of Jane Austen's and the author does an amazing job recreating Anne and Frederick's story. I loved the way she kept to Jane Austen's original, yet made it all brand new. I finished this in less than 24 hours! It was especially interesting getting into Rick's head. Hearing his point of view shows so much of why they didn't get back together. His backstory was tragic yet explained so much. Highly recommend.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read Persuading Him before I read this book. I really disliked it a lot! However, I am really glad I gave this author a second chance. Rick's telling of the same story Anne told in Persuading Him was so much better. The characters are likable. The book ends on a bit of a cliff-hanger leading into the next book in the series. If mixed metaphors and misused verbs bother you, don't read this book.

[Desiree · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked there was a his/her's book each with their point of view of things. That was a nice twist. I liked how the book stayed true to the orginal feel of the orginal Jane Austen book. What was hard for me was the overuse of "those chocolate eyes" and "that old anger". I think if different ways to describe his feeling for her or his resentment were used I'd rate it higher. This has a YA novel feel to it. That isn't bad or good. That's a matter of opinion.

[Nicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh I like this one even more than the first book. This is the same story but from a different perspective. I admit I started the book, had a flashback and thought it was a total rerun. But it really isn't. This is the male point of view. It is actually clever to tell the same story but from he said, she said. I enjoyed the story.

[Alisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Jane Austen and Persuasion is one of my favorites. This was a cute modern-day retelling; I also enjoyed reading Persuading Him, where we got Anne's point of view. I think I would have liked it better if we got both points of view throughout the story instead of as two separate books.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

While it was interesting to think of telling the story of Persuasion from Wentworth's point of view, perhaps it wasn't a good idea to read the two books back to back, as there was too much that felt redundant. I'm also not a fan of connecting all of the Jane Austen characters into one "world."

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book detailing his side of the story. I loved that it was a lot of repeat from her side. I enjoyed how some of the blanks were filled in.

[Shinae Wyckoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story. Fun perspective change. Writing could be better. Enjoyable - will be interesting to see how she ties the other Austen retellings into the series.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable

I really enjoyed our and would definitely read it again. I liked that the story as told from his side.

[Nari · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love getting both sides of the story. I read Persuading Him and was always wondering what Rick was thinking. The story is enough different from his point of view that it is not like reading the same story twice. I really enjoyed it and would highly recommend both books!