Just as You Are
A Novel
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4.0 • 1 Rating
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Equal parts witty and steamy, this debut rom-com is “filled with fun” (People) and brings a healthy dose of queerness to a Pride and Prejudice-inspired enemies-to-lovers romance.
“Brims with heart, spice, and humor.”—Ashley Herring Blake, author of Delilah Green Doesn’t Care
“The L Word, but better.”—TJ Alexander, author of Chef’s Kiss
“A juicy sapphic romp; sweet, sexy, and tender in all the right ways.”—Gabrielle Korn, author of Everybody (Else) Is Perfect
A LIBRARY JOURNAL BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
The only thing worse than hating your boss? Being attracted to her.
Liz Baker and her three roommates work at the Nether Fields, a queer magazine in New York that’s on the verge of shutting down—until it’s bought at the last minute by two wealthy lesbians. Liz knows she’s lucky to still have a paycheck but it’s hard to feel grateful with minority investor Daria Fitzgerald slashing budgets, cancelling bagel Fridays, and password protecting the color printer to prevent “frivolous use.” When Liz overhears Daria scoffing at her listicles, she knows that it’s only a matter of time before her impulsive mouth gets herself fired.
But as Liz and Daria wind up having to spend more and more time together, Liz starts to see a softer side to Daria—she’s funny, thoughtful, and likes the way Liz’s gender presentation varies between butch and femme. Despite the evidence that Liz can’t trust her, it’s hard to keep hating Daria—and even harder to resist the chemistry between them.
This page-turning, sexy, and delightfully funny rom-com celebrates queer culture, chosen family, and falling in love against your better judgment.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Kellogg debuts with a cute but somewhat gimmicky lesbian retelling of Pride and Prejudice set in modern-day New York City. Liz Baker and her three roommates all work for The Nether Fields, a queer magazine on the verge of shutting down—until it's bought by two wealthy Smith College graduates, Bailey Cox and Daria Fitzgerald. From there, Kellogg sticks to Austen's script to the letter: Liz and Daria loathe each other until they gradually prove each other's initial assumptions wrong and fall in love almost without noticing. It can be frustrating to watch the characters follow their predetermined paths, especially when the plot demands that the updated characters make choices that feel unmotivated in order to fit the beats of the original. But Kellogg anticipates her own detractors: Liz, who dreams of writing a novel, makes an argument for the existence of this book in a conversation with her best friend, Jane, in which they decide that writing "fluff" can be a worthy pursuit. That's all this sweet romance wants to be, and as pure fluff it works just fine.
