Contemporary Romance Review: Sex, Lies and Sensibility | Nikki Payne

Funny moments, a renovation storyline, and an opposites attract romance make Sex, Lies, and Sensibility a blast to read. A fun re-imagining for Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility!

About the Book | Sex, Lies and Sensibility

Two sisters roll up their sleeves to run a dilapidated, beach town inn but must learn to work with the locals in this deliciously spicy Sense and Sensibility inspired rom-com by Nikki Payne.

There’s never a good time to learn you’re your father’s secret second family—especially not at the reading of the will. To add insult to injury, Nora’s racy leaked videos just went viral. Nora Dash has got no reputation, no dad, and only a forgotten beach house in rural Maine to her name. There are no other Black people for miles, the place is abandoned, but at least no one will recognize her O face in the backwoods. She and her free-spirited sister Yanne haven’t even knocked the traveling dust off last season’s designer boots when the first problem pops up: a fake park ranger giving tours of their property like it’s his own—and he’s hotter than the local lobster boil.

Ennis “Bear” Freeman is used to people showing up unannounced on his land. So when a beautiful city girl shows up with the deed to his unofficial headquarters in one manicured hand, he gives it a week before their whole crew packs up and leaves. But it isn’t long before they find out they work better together than apart. To his surprise, Nora’s damned good for Bear’s business, and his own secrets might turn out to be the thing that sends them packing.

Review | Sex, Lies and Sensibility

Reimagining the works of Jane Austen isn’t new, but books vary in how well they execute it. Some stick too close to the original book that their story lacks some cohesion in the re-telling. Others stray too far and it’s hard to tell what inspired it. I though Nikki Payne did a good job being in the middle of those two ends of the spectrum.

Nora Dash’s father dies and in the wake of her complicated grief (her father had cut her off after a sex tape of her leaked online) she is forced to confront two shocking reveals at his funeral. The first is that he had another family—Nora and her sister Yanne are not his only children. He had a wife of 35 years and a daughter from another marriage. As if that revelation weren’t bad enough, the sisters also learn they can’t stay in their home any longer but their dad willed them a dilapidated property off the coast of Maine that they will be forced to fix up and pay off the mortgage, or forfeit their entire inheritance.

The beginning honestly hooked me straight in! I would have been fine if this had just followed the fallout from the funeral, but also enjoyed that it took a turn towards romance. The book moves from the funeral to Barton Cove, the property they inherited in Maine. After scoping out the property (and stumbling across a group that they originally thought was a sex cult, but is actually a tour group), the sisters decide to turn the property into an inn.

The tour group is led by an Abenaki man named Ennis Freeman who goes by the nickname Bear. He recognizes Nora, but not for the reason people usually recognize her (which is from her sex tape and the memes made of her face at the end). Bear was an aspiring college track coach and he remembered seeing Nora run for University of Maryland before her scholarship was taken away in the wake of her scandal.

Bear and Nora’s chemistry was sizzling and it was fun to follow along with their partnership in business and their blossoming relationship. Bear helps Nora renovate the dilapidated inn to be fit for guests while Nora allows Bear to continue to host tours on the property. But things are not smooth sailing for them romantically. Bear is deeply in debt and has a messy relationship with another woman that he is working through. Meanwhile Nora has shied away from relationships after her sex tape has come back to haunt her and ruin every spark she has with another man.

The story is great and I really liked the opposites-attract vibe and chemistry between Nora and Bear. The renovation plot was fun—I’m an HGTV fan so it’s right up my ally! However, despite these selling points, the story can be somewhat confusing. It jumps around in time in an awkward way and there were a lot of plot lines to follow. I really enjoyed the book, but would have liked it more if it focused more on the central story between Nora and Bear and the inn.

Setting that criticism aside, this is a fun book! I enjoyed the relationship between Nora and Bear—both romantically and as business people. I actually liked that it has plenty of plot outside of just the building sexual chemistry. It made it much more engaging to read and I wanted to know how many different plot points would be resolved.

A funny, sexy interracial romance with lots of moments that made me laugh and others that warmed my heart!

Thank you to Berkley Publishing for my copy. Opinions are my own.