Title: Emma of 83rd Street
Author: Audrey Bellezza; Emily Harding
Genre: Romance
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Beautiful, clever, and rich, Emma Woodhouse has lived twenty-three years in her tight-knit Upper East Side neighborhood with very little to distress or vex her…that is, until her budding matchmaking hobby results in her sister’s marriage—and subsequent move downtown. Now, with her sister gone and all her friends traveling abroad, Emma must start her final year of grad school grappling with an entirely new emotion: boredom. So when she meets Nadine, a wide-eyed Ohio transplant with a heart of gold and drugstore blonde highlights to match, Emma not only sees a potential new friend but a new project. If only her overbearing neighbor George Knightley would get out of her way.
Handsome, smart, and successful, the only thing that frustrates Knightley more than a corked whiskey is his childhood friend, Emma. Whether it’s her shopping sprees between classes or her revolving door of ill-conceived hobbies, he is only too happy to lecture her on all the finer points of adulthood she’s so hell-bent on ignoring. But despite his gripes—and much to his own chagrin—Knightley can’t help but notice that the girl next door is a woman now…one who he suddenly can’t get out of his head.
As Emma’s best laid plans collide with everyone from hipster baristas to meddling family members to flaky playboy millionaires, these two friends slowly realize their need to always be right has been usurped by a new need entirely, and it’s not long before they discover that even the most familiar stories still have some surprises.
As I first started reading this, I was wavering if it were going to annoy me enough to stop reading. I mean, Mr. Woodhouse’s obsession with the refined sugar content in everything was annoying, and Emma’s background monologue on appearances and the labels on her clothes was low-key irritating, but…she grew on me. She seemed superficial and flighty at first—and she was—but she learned self-awareness and started to be less self-absorbed.
I loved her friendship and banter with Knightley! Their friendship was just so much fun, including their large family/friend group. I ended up thoroughly enjoying this read!
Audrey Bellezza is an Emmy-nominated producer. Emily Harding is a writer and television producer. Emma of 83rd Street is their debut novel.
(Galley courtesy of Gallery Books in exchange for an honest review.)
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