Pride and Prejudice meets the Kardashian siblings in Katie Cotugno’s latest novel, Meet the Benedettos, and the end result is fun, fast-paced and snappy. Her humanistic, big-hearted portraits of sibling love compelled me to keep reading until I’d gobbled up the whole novel in one sitting.

The five Benedetto sisters – wannabe novelist Lilly, the eldest, June, who has an eating disorder and is obsessed with her image, middle sister Olivia, and influencer younger sisters Marianne – Mari – and Kit grew up in the glare of the spotlight. Their father, Dominic, became known as the Meatball King thanks to his chain of same-named Italian restaurants (Slogan: “You won’t believe the balls on us!”). The girls gained fame of their own through a reality show, Meet the Benedettos, and Lilly’s so-called friendship with heiress and socialite Isobel DesRoche. The girls trailed in this fame-laden wake as famous celebutantes for years. Mom Cinta is a momager who is concerned about appearances and would do anything to keep living in her children’s reflected glory.

Unfortunately, the gravy train is starting to roll to an stop for the family at large; Cinta’s father’s poor business acumen has squandered their cash in bad investments, the reality show cameras are long gone, and the world has begun to forget about them. Their eleven-year-old estate in Pemberly Hills is starting to fall apart, and the girls are forced to confront a future without means. And some of them – like Lilly, frustrated in her collegiate ambitions – wouldn’t mind living an entirely different life.

As the Benedettos struggle to figure out how to keep living large on the cash they have, a miracle tumbles into their lap. Enter two actors: Charlie Bingley, action movie star best known as Captain Fantastic, and his best friend, the celebrity unimpressed Will Darcy, a theatrical actor. Charlie and Will were best friends at Juilliard, and a more mutt-and-jeff, Robin Williams/Christopher Reeve combo they could not be. Charlie falls head over heels for Olivia, which puts the men firmly in the Benedetto’s orbits. While Cinta tries to manipulate the situation to land them big bucks and another turn in the spotlight, Lilly and Will immediately clash. Might love – and freedom from the celebrity machine – be around the corner for Lilly?

Everyone knows I’m picky about Pride and Prejudice retellings, and it takes a lot to impress me. Meet the Benedettos works because it manages to echo Austen without perfectly replicating her. And yes, this book will require you having some sympathy for the average celebutante. But Lilly is compelling, even when her siblings are not.

The book does have two major problems. One is that too many characters – Cinta, some of the sisters – are given PoV chapters when they’re really not necessary. The other is that Lily’s siblings are not distinct characters except for June. Mari and Kit are so indistinct from one another that I had a hard time telling them apart, and Olivia only distinguishes herself because she ends up with a version of Lydia’s story arc.

But the romance between Will and Lilly works. It has fire and spirit and personality. Will’s career needs are understandable, and Charlie is agreeably aimable. The relationships between June and Lilly, Lilly and her parents, and Lilly and her goals in life all ring true. There’s dignity and warmth here. Meet the Benedettos is about growing up, finding true love, and figuring out who you were born to be, not what the world tells you you ought to be.