I read the first book Austentatious, when it first came out and I fell in love with the magical love story and that mysterious journal from none other than Miss Jane Austen herself. I thought it was such a cool idea to have Jane Austen giving advice through a journal, so I jumped all over this book when I got the opportunity to read it. And guess what? I think I liked it even more than the first one, if that is even possible! This book seemed a bit spunkier and I really liked the dynamic between the two main characters.
Cate, and her alter ego Kat, are so spunky and fun. I loved her banter and witticisms. Plus Ethan knows how to push all of her buttons and that is just so much fun to sit back and watch. I really got a kick out of seeing the two of them interact with each other. Cate and Ethan are both teachers and they are also good friends and scrabble buddies. I thought it was hilarious how Cate’s mom kept popping up. She was quite the character. (You will see what I mean when you read the book)
As soon as Cate found the journal and got her first response, my excitement about the book doubled because I remembered how much I loved Journal Jane’s responses. And Cate totally took them to heart and she started to step outside of her shell. It was more like a giant leap out of her shell, actually. She became a total bombshell over night. And oh man, the first time Ethan saw her as Kat, was priceless. I loved his reaction.
Austensibly Ordinary has plenty of little surprises up its sleeve for the readers. We find out some secrets about a few characters that certainly caught me off guard. There may even be some ghosts creeping around in the book. I love Alyssa Goodnight’s writing style. She creates books that never fail to grab my interest. I love the way magic is woven in through the journal, but the rest of the book is contemporary. Its real life with a dash of magic. Which I think makes everything more interesting. Let’s put it this way, If I could I would be hopping a plane to Austin, TX right now to track down this journal. I could use a little Jane Austen wisdom in my love life!

4.5/5