Persuade Me

Written by Juliet Archer

Narrated by Jilly Bond

A modern retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion from the author of The Importance of Being Emma

Anna Elliot is stuck in the past. No one can compare to Rick Wentworth, the man she was persuaded to give up. Meanwhile, Rick's moved on - and up. He's got a successful career and a carefully controlled love life where his heart doesn't get a look in. When they meet again, can she persuade him that their lost love is worth a second chance?

• Language: English
• Publisher: W. F. Howes Ltd
• Release date: May 1, 2012
• ISBN: 9781471201387

Reviews for Persuade Me

[blodeuedd_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

You all know I love Pride and Prejudice variations and for a long time I loved that book the most. But then I watched Persuasion and after some time I found that this was the story I now loved the most because it spoke to me. And therefore I was thrilled to read a variation.

Yes, a series, but here you truly do not need to worry since this is a variation and we just hear that Rick knows Darcy and that is it.

Since this is a contemporary version it is slightly different but the story is still the same, as are the feelings. Rick and Anna met and fell in love but her family kept them apart and now he is back and he is famous for his book Sex and the sea. The book is not as sexy as it sounds since but the publisher made it so. He still gets entangled with Lou who then gets hurt in Lyme, Anna's cousin still shows up and with hidden agendas, her dad is still a pompous ass (here he is actually worse than ever since this is the modern age and he lives in the past), her sisters are still idiots. Yes poor Anna, she does not have it easy and she is as sweet and loving as ever.

This was a lovely re-telling, it has that feeling that Persuasion has. Which is not Austen's happiest book. There are bitter feelings brewing underneath and Anna feels that she has lost him forever. And that is why I like this story because they are just so very human, and I love a good story where the couple find their way back to each other and forgive and forget.

Archer manages well in creating a modern setting for this story and bringing these people in to our era and putting a spin on certain events and things going on. An enjoyable book with a couple you will always root for.

Conclusion:
I liked it and it did make me so very curious about the first book since that is Emma I am also happy to announce that she is writing more. Yay, more modern re-tellings.

[vesper1931 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

After reading a few modern retellings of Pride and Prejudice and not really liking them I was skeptical about reading this book. Which is why it has been sitting in my e-reader for some months. But I was very pleasantly surprised with this modern version of Jane Austen's Persuasion and loved it.

[tjsjohanna_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a modern re-telling of Jane Austen's "Persuasion" and Ms. Archer does a pretty good job of translating the key plot points of the original to her story. Anna is a bit more of a wimp than I like (Anne from the original has developed a maturity and spine in the intervening years that Anna doesn't seem to have) and Rick is a bit more mean spirited than Mr. Frederick of Austen's novel. But still, the story works and I was rooting for their happy ending.

[luli81_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

When I bought Persuade me, I thought the story would be similar to Jane Austen's "Persuasion", but I didn't think it would be THAT similar.Actually, the book is a complete copy of the real thing by Austen, only that instead of horses, you have sport cars and mobile phones. The same characters, the same problems, the same settings...And for me, it didn't work because I couldn't help comparing it to Jane Austen's novel, which is of course, far much better.So, entertaining, light read, but doesn't add anything new. A bit disappointed.

[adonisguilfoyle · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I love Juliet Archer's clever Austen adaptations - well, The Importance of Being Emma anyway - but neither Persuade Me or the original novel Persuasion really do it for me. Sorry, Janeites - I know the strained romance between Saint Anne Elliot and Captain 'Half agony, half hope' Wentworth is considered the pinnacle of Austen's writing, but I have yet to catch on. So I was obviously at a disadvantage before picking up Juliet Archer's modern retelling, but hoped that a twist in the tale would make the story more appealing. The character changes work well - 'Rick' Wentworth (Archer always seems to have issues with the first names of Austen's heroes) is now a marine biologist living in Australia, who returns to England on a book promotion tour. He's blonde, tanned, ruggedly good-looking and also ripped - not my style, but this is basically a romance novel masquerading as a tribute to Austen. Anna Elliot is little changed from the original, bar a career as a university lecturer and being the daughter of a Russian princess. She doesn't get on well with either of her sisters, Elisabeth and Mona (the new, rather appropriate name for Mary), and is starting to resent the nagging interference of her godmother 'Minty' Russell. Sir Walter has a masseuse named Cleopatra in place of Mrs Clay, and Mrs Smith is now Anna's landlady and confidante, Jenny. Other than that, Persuade Me adheres rigidly to the original, including Louisa Musgrove's ridiculous accident (couldn't she have a motorcycle accident, or something - who knocks themselves unconscious after jumping six feet from a wall?) And sorry to say, I didn't feel the love between Rick and Anna, for all his harping on her special qualities, and she comes across as the type of woman who needs to feel needed - either by her family or a man. Theirs is the type of possessive, insular romance that alienates the reader rather than generating sympathy for the characters - by the end, I was thinking, 'That's great, he's written you the famous love letter, now get a room and then leave the country, I've had more than enough'.Some Austen updates work well, but the success rate obviously depends on 'getting the joke' - I can read almost anything based on Emma, my favourite novel, but Persuade Me, though funny and cleverly written, left me cold.