Every family is complicated, and the Benedettos are no exception. A few years after a reality TV show skyrocketed them to pop-culture fame, the five twentysomething sisters are living together in their parents’ crumbling McMansion, nearly broke and teetering towards rock-bottom. Lilly, the sensible second-eldest sister, is all too aware that her family is viewed as a spectacle, but she’s focused on holding herself and her family together, and unlike her siblings she tends not to care what the world thinks.
The Benedettos’ fortunes finally appear to be brightening when Charlie Bingley, the dashing star of Captain Fantastic, moves into their Los Angeles neighborhood with his friend Will Darcy in tow. It isn’t long before Charlie falls for the warm and lovely eldest sister, June. Lilly has no such luck: the arrogant and judgmental Will Darcy, a man plagued by his own private demons, seems ready to clash with her at every turn–yet the two can’t seem to stay away from each other. And while the Benedettos’ matriarch sets to work encouraging a potential match between Charlie and June, there are plenty of others in the community who are determined to steer these eligible young men away from a ridiculous family of reality show has-beens…
Katie Cotugno brings a big, boisterous cast of characters to life in this deliciously sprawling LA story—a thoroughly fresh and modern tale about a family that’s “famous for being famous,” the ways that preconceived notions make fools of us all, and how unexpected romance can bloom despite the odds.
Release Date: Dec 5, 2023
Heat Level: Warm
Publisher: HarperCollins
Imprint: Harper Perennial
Price: $11.99
“In the living room she finds the girls heaped in a Turnpike Pileup, all five of them fast asleep like something out of a fairy tale, Cinta watches them for a moment: the long lines of their calf muscles, their faces smooth and relaxed. Olivia’s hair across June’s shoulder, Kit’s head in Lily’s lap. Mari is curled on her side, turned away from the others; still, Cinta can’t help but notice, one seeking hand reaches back. They’ll land on their feet, she thinks in the moment before she forces herself to stop imagining it, heads back up to bed with a mind gone perfectly, peacefully blank: her girls, her dark-eyed wonders, her miracles each and every one. After all, they’re Benedettos. After all, they always do.”
The Benedettos, a family famous for their father’s pizza chain and a reality TV series exploiting their lives, find themselves almost broke and teetering on the edge of financial ruin. When a wealthy movie star, Charlie Bingley, moves in down the block with his close friend, Will Darcy, their mother believes a match can potentially save them. Will Darcy is brash, rude, and unlikeable, but Lily is drawn to his dark and broody personality. Will is drawn to Lily’s fire but is scared to be burned again so he pushes her away. He doesn’t realize that once a Benedetto gets under your skin, they are hard to get rid of.
A modern retelling of the Jane Austen classic, Pride and Prejudice, which is an absolute favorite of mine. Is there any hero more swoon-worthy than Fitzwilliam Darcy in all of romance? Not in my eyes. I was notably excited to read this, but I found there to be a lot of issues. First, the fact that the hero sleeps with someone else after having an encounter with the heroine disturbs me. I get that they aren’t in a relationship, but it completely draws me out of the romance. The fact that it happened more than once was a definite turnoff.
I also found this to be so on the nose with Pride and Prejudice, the character and location names, and the plot, that it felt unoriginal and uninspired. I think you can do a modern retelling but make it fresh and I think Katie Cotugno failed at doing that. By the end, I hated Will Darcy, and he never made up for being an immature bonehead. Was there anything I enjoyed about this? I was fond of Lily. She seemed mature and level-headed, and I enjoyed the family relationships between the Benedettos. They were the only part that made this book tolerable.
Fans of Lynn Painter and Emily Henry may enjoy this one more than I did.
~ Michelle
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