First sentence: A Taylor Swift cover of "Last Christmas," originally recorded by Wham! in 1986, strummed from the stereo of the sleek, black town car, where Darcy was sitting in the backseat.
Premise/plot: Darcy Fitzwilliam is a successful business woman who hasn't returned to her hometown of Pemberley, Ohio, in eight years--not even for Christmas. But when her mother has a heart attack, Darcy returns, and seemingly just in time for their annual Christmas party. At the party she bumps into a lot of her former classmates, ex-boyfriends, and friends--among them two of the Bennet brothers, Jim and Luke. Bingley Charles, her (gay) best friend falls in love at first sight with Jim. But Luke and Darcy, well, it takes standing under the mistletoe for the magic to happen. And magic it is. But will Darcy and Luke be able to put aside their pride and prejudice and move forward?
My thoughts: I enjoyed this one. I do love Pride and Prejudice. I am always curious to read adaptations. Equal parts curiosity and anxiety if I'm being honest. Overall, I'd recommend this one to those who enjoy reading contemporary romances who also enjoy all things Pride and Prejudice. This holiday-themed romance is definitely Austen-inspired, but it has its original moments as well. Not every character from the book has its parallel. And definitely not every scene--which is for the best. It keeps the book from being tedious. If it was a movie, I'd definitely watch it every holiday season.
See, it is an assumption universally made that any beautiful, brilliant, single woman who is rich as hell will be in want of a husband.
"Maybe just for the sake of tradition?" he blurted, gesturing at the mistletoe. "I mean..." She blushed a little. "It is tradition." Did I really just say that? She couldn't believe it. Am I honestly going to let Luke Bennet kiss me? Wait. Do I actually want him to kiss me? In that moment, she couldn't deny it. In the middle of this mess of a party, all she wanted was for the adrenaline to keep rushing.
Darcy cursed. "What is with my family and mistletoe? Hang it up in one place, sure, but all over the house? I mean this is just excessive. Good thing this time I'm under it alone." "Not anymore," Luke said, sliding up next to her so that they were both, once again, standing together under the mistletoe. Wait a second, she thought, is he still thinking about me too? What does he want from me? Do we--she grimaced inwardly--have feelings for each other?Is it a "clean" romance? There is some cursing--taking the Lord's name in vain. The sex is kept PG-13, and mainly happens off the page or off screen.
© 2017 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
1 comment:
Wow...it sounds so tempting.
Post a Comment