For the Love of the Bard
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3.3 • 3 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
“Perfect to read on the beach.” –The Boston Globe
To go for it or not to go for it? That is the question when two former high school flames return to their Shakespeare-obsessed hometown for a summer of theater and unexpected romance, in a laugh-out-loud rom-com from debut author Jessica Martin.
Literary agent and writer Miranda Barnes rolls into her hometown of Bard’s Rest with one goal in mind: to spend the summer finally finishing her YA novel, the next installment in her bestselling fantasy series. Yet Miranda’s mother, deep in the planning stages for the centennial of the town’s beloved annual Shakespeare festival, has other ideas.
Before you can say “all’s fair in love and war,” Miranda is cornered into directing Twelfth Night—while simultaneously scrambling to finish her book, navigating a family health scare, and doing her best to avoid the guy who broke her heart on prom night.
When it comes to Adam, the veterinarian with a talent for set design and an infuriating knack for winning over Miranda’s dog, the lady doth protest too much. As any Shakespeare lovers knows, the course of true love never did run smooth, and soon Miranda realizes she’ll have to decide whether to trust Adam with her heart again.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Numerous dramas—Shakespearean, familial, publishing related, and more—intersect in Martin's predictable but thoroughly enjoyable rom-com debut. It focuses on Miranda Barnes, a bestselling YA writer and co-owner of a literary agency, and her summer trip home to fictional Bard's Rest, N.H., a town with a near-overwhelming Shakespeare obsession (which manifests partly in some punny local shop names, including the Merry Wines of Windsor and Measure for Measure Hardware). Besides hoping to beat her writers' block, Miranda's summer plans include volunteering as a director for the town's centennial Shakespearean Summer Festival—but her plans are thrown into disarray: first, when she gets alarming news about her mother's health, and second, when she runs into Adam Winters, the man who broke her heart in high school. The novel hits all the expected homecoming beats—complete with a second chance for Miranda and Adam—but the characters are charming enough that there's fun to be had in watching them navigate the familiar story, and the Shakespearean spin adds some interest for theater lovers. The number of plot threads means several are resolved a bit too easily, but that ease helps keep focus on the larger dramas. The result is sure to win Martin some fans.
Customer Reviews
Fun read
This was a fun, light read. The dialogue is well paced and the story moves along at an entertaining pace. Tho I feel honor-bound as a theatre nerd to point out that Mean, Green Mother from Outer Space is only in the movie version of Little Shop. Thank you. 😂