Book Review: My Own Mr. Darcy

My Own Mr. Darcy by Karey White
July 15, 2013
220 pages
Genre: Clean Romance
Source: Amazon Prime loan

Book Blurb:

After being dragged to the 2005 movie Pride and Prejudice by her mother, sixteen-year-old Elizabeth’s life changes when Matthew Macfadyen’s Mr. Darcy appears on the screen. Lizzie falls hard and makes a promise to herself that she will settle for nothing less than her own Mr. Darcy. This ill-advised pledge threatens to ruin any chance of finding true love. During the six intervening years, she has refused to give any interested suitors a chance. They weren’t Mr. Darcy enough. Coerced by her roommate, Elizabeth agrees to give the next interested guy ten dates before she dumps him. That guy is Chad, a kind and thoughtful science teacher and swim coach. While she’s dating Chad, her dream comes true in the form of a wealthy bookstore owner named Matt Dawson, who looks and acts like her Mr. Darcy. Of course she has to follow her dream. But as Elizabeth simultaneously dates a regular guy and the dazzling Mr. Dawson, she’s forced to re-evaluate what it was she loved about Mr. Darcy in the first place.

My Review:

I’m a huge Pride and Prejudice fan. I’ve read the book. I’ve seen the movies. I’ve read multiple books creating storylines based on the concept of P&P and Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. And I’ve generally loved or enjoyed all of them. What is special and unique about My Own Mr. Darcy is that it goes at the Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy story at a different angle from what I've seen before.

Here we have Lizzie who has been obsessed with Mr. Darcy, specifically Matthew McFadden playing Mr. Darcy, since seeing the film version of P&P when she was 16. (I confess: Matthew McFadden’s Mr. Darcy makes me swoon, too. I have seen that movie more times than I can remember.) For the last 6 years she has had it in her mind that her ideal man is Mr. Darcy and cannot get past that. Her relationships, or lack thereof, have suffered for it, and her best friend decides she must intervene. But just when she’s starting to get out of her tunnel vision, the epitome of Matthew McFadden’s Mr. Darcy walks into her life. What’s a girl to do when all of her dreams suddenly seem to be coming true? And then what’s a girl to do when all those dreams suddenly don’t seem so dreamy anymore?

I just loved this book. I loved the direction the author took and the wonderful thought-provoking scenes where Lizzie had to truly face the reality of her life, her dreams, and her future. Lizzie is stubborn, and despite what the rest of us would see as red flags, she tried desperately to hold onto her ideal dream. But some things cannot be ignored forever, especially a certain opposite of Mr. Darcy.  Yes, a certain swoon-worthy hottie named Chad should definitely not be ignored.  He’s a bit of a scene stealer, not because he’s trying to, but just because he’s such a sweetie that he grabs your focus. And I loved that the author made our Lizzie think and made the reader think about what dreams we should hold onto and what dreams we should change for the better. I loved how everything turned out (though, as always, I would have loved an epilogue. But I’m greedy that way.)

Bottomline: I loved this new twist on the classic Pride and Prejudice. This is a twist I haven’t read before, and I thought it was quite genius. The characters were well-written and (mostly) endearing; the story was thought-provoking yet fun and sweet. This is a clean romantic read, and I highly recommend it.

5 STARS

 

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