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    Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife: A Deliciously Steamy Historical Romance that Starts After the Wedding Night
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    Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife: A Deliciously Steamy Historical Romance that Starts After the Wedding Night
    Unavailable
    Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife: A Deliciously Steamy Historical Romance that Starts After the Wedding Night
    Ebook998 pages16 hours

    Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife: A Deliciously Steamy Historical Romance that Starts After the Wedding Night

    By Linda Berdoll

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Every woman wants to be Elizabeth Bennet Darcy-beautiful, gracious, universally admired, strong, daring and outspoken-a thoroughly modern woman in crinolines.

    And every woman will fall madly in love with Mr. Darcy-tall, dark and handsome, a nobleman and a heartthrob whose virility is matched only by his utter devotion to his wife.

    Their passion is consuming and idyllic-essentially, they can't keep their hands off each other-through a sweeping tale of adventure and misadventure, human folly and numerous mysteries of parentage.

    Hold on to your bonnets! This sexy, epic, hilarious, poignant and romantic sequel to Pride and Prejudice goes far beyond Jane Austen.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSourcebooks
    Release dateMay 1, 2004
    ISBN9781402234859
    Unavailable
    Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife: A Deliciously Steamy Historical Romance that Starts After the Wedding Night
    Author

    Linda Berdoll

    Researching her bestselling novels Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife and Darcy & Elizabeth, author Linda Berdoll was surprised and delighted by the euphemisms she turned up--most of them of an insulting nature. Berdoll compiled them here to entertain and enlighten. She lives on a pecan farm in Del Valle, Texas, with her husband.

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    Reviews for Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife

    3.5/5

    495 ratings40 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I first read this book years ago because I always wanted to read about what happened with Darcy & Elizabeth after they were married. I've since become a huge fan of continuations and re-tellings of all Austen's works. I really enjoyed reading this one. Some of the actions seemed a little out of character when thinking back on the original story but it was still good.
    • 2/5
      So bad its good.
    • 2/5
      Pretty damn inane.
    • 3/5
      Fun diversion
    • 3/5
      I had lots of fun reading this one. The next thing I have to say is that if even the very idea of "Jane Austen" combined with "sex" makes you uncomfortable, stop reading right now, and go do something else to make you forget that you read the beginning of this sentence and the title of this book. This novel is one person's idea about what happened to Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet after the last pages of [Pride and Prejudice]. The subtitle of this book is "Pride and Prejudice continues," which leads some people to refer to it as a sequel, which in my view is just nonsense. Others have called [Mr Darcy Takes a Wife] fanfiction, and although I can see that comparison, I don't see any evidence that it actually was. For one thing, it's much longer and also more structurally organized than any fanfic I've ever read. I looked at it as a soap opera version of what could have happened after P&P. Okay, so this is no literary masterpiece. There isn't any nuance, symbolism, ah-ha moments . . . but there are some pretty entertaining bits and I had no guilt over skipping the boring parts. As I said, structurally it was okay, although on a sentence-by-sentence level it got kinda strange. At times it felt like the author wrote the story, and then went through with a 19th century thesaurus and replaced solid words with odd archaic ones. Many times I stopped and thought "that sentence actually doesn't make any sense." But I just moved on. Now, I think some of this language was tongue-in-cheek and was supposed to be fun, if not actually funny. Judging by the horrified reviews, the joke was lost on many readers. Well, many have attempted to imitate [[Jane Austen]] and as of yet no one has succeeded, so what can you expect? As for the sex, yes, there are some steamy bits in the first half of the novel. Mr Darcy was hot and bothered through the entirety of [Pride and Prejudice], so this author lets him finally get his release. A few times. As erotica goes, it's pretty tame stuff. Despite that, many reviewers seem to have a Victorian ideal of Jane Austen, and are concerned about all the spinning in her grave she's up to since the publication of [Mr Darcy Takes a Wife]. Personally, I don't think Austen needs any 21st century readers to defend her honour. Reading all these 1 star reviews, I've learned that there are "Jane Austen purists" in the world, and from what they write, they seem like a dour, stuffy bunch who would be no fun at a party. Really, I've read some reviews that sound like they were written by Caroline Bingley. . I also find it curious that some readers were "disappointed" by [Mr Darcy Takes a Wife]. Disappointment suggests that there were expectations of something--Jane Austen reincarnated, perhaps? Since I went into this book fully confident that it was terrible, I was quite delighted that it wasn't as bad as I'd expected. Recommended for:: it's not serious, it's supposed to be fun. Good for P&P fans who want a beach read.
    • 4/5
      Love it! Although it would be consider racy by Regency standards.
    • 2/5
      No, no, no. (Note to self, read the first and third Pamela Aidan book soon to detox from these successive poorly done “fan fics” I’ve read lately). Le Sigh.

      According to Ms. Berdoll, Darcy and Lizzy weren’t really good at communication before their marriage (fairly realistic) and that they don’t really need to ever talk to improve that–they just need to do it a lot (less realistic). Frequently. All the time. Anywhere. Everywhere. Hold up, middle of a serious conversation, well, it’s time to get it on, now what were you saying dear?

      It was tedious. Yes, they are newlyweds. I get that. They do it like bunnies. But their actual character development and relationship building was so sporadic and disjointed–it was really difficult to figure out where they had progressed on what subject. The first few chapters of this book establish this pattern of “hunh? *head scratching.* They’re in the carriage, and Lizzy seems pissed at Darcy even though it’s the wedding day… no resolution, just sex. A few chapters go by and we go back with Lizzy thinking about what insensitivity had her pissed at him that day back in the first chapter.

      It was also tediously long. If we hadn’t been there with them in the bedroom for so many pages, it all could have been so much shorter. There’s also some crazy kidnapping of Lizzy and near (well, actually partial) defilement by the nasty man and Darcy turning into some cool killer in his rage. I won’t speak to the fact that I don’t know why some women think it’s romantic to be saved from defilement.

      This is really the usual formula of post-marriage Darcy stories: sex, infertility issues, miscarriages, kidnappings, etc. One unexpected feature was the author’s lingo. Bring a dictionary. She goes old school and won’t settle for words of less than four syllables. At first it was jarring, but after a bit you get used to it and she does stick with it the whole way through–consistency is a good thing.

      The only redeeming quality to this book for me was that, I’ll read virtually anything Pride and Prejudice related, it was one book that was huge and thus ideal for taking on a long vacation knowing it would last me longer than the plane flight. Now it’s with a bouquinist on the banks of the Seine waiting for some American P&P devotee wanting a tome for the long plane ride home. Again, pass on this one–unless you are looking for just one travel book to last you a few days-because hey, you’ve got nothing better to do.
    • 1/5
      I am a huge Jane Austen fan, so much so that I read every bit of published fan fiction that I can get my hands on (often to disastrous results). Some are decent, but most are pretty awful. Of those, some truly fall beneath the heading 'atrocious.' Berdoll's The Bar Sinister is one such. She is one of the Austen-inspired writers who attempts to write in Jane Austen's style, by which I mean she pretty much refuses to use any words shorter than three syllables. She also likes to pretend that she knows foreign languages, especially Latin.

      I have found that the best of the Austen-inspired works do not try too hard to capture her style of language and merely to do right by the characters. The reason that this is better is that these authors are modern; they are not from Jane Austen's time and her language does not come naturally. An author using words she does not know in an effort to sound classy and scholarly has the reverse effect. Words are misused and sentences fail to flow, as words have so obviously been substituted in for the originals after perusal of thesauri and dictionaries. I include here a sample of Berdoll's diction from the first page of the book:

      "As each and every muddy mile they travelled diminished the distance betwixt Elisabeth and the awesome duty that awaited her as mistress of such a vast estate, she became ever more uneasy. It was not that she had only then fully comprehended what awaited her, for she had. At least as comprehensibly as was possible.
      Hitherto, there had been the excitement of the wedding, and moreover, the anticipation of connubial pleasures with Mr. Darcy that buffered her from the daunting devoir that lay ahead."

      These sentences are fairly mild as her language goes, but they get the idea across. Berdoll will never use the word between if she can say betwixt. She will also refer to the act of love making by every imaginable, old-timey term possible (and some that should not have been, such as many of her forays into Latin). I will finish complaining about the writing momentarily after an illustration that Berdoll does not know what words mean. On page 353 of my edition, Lizzy mouths I love you to Darcy and "he wordlessly said, 'I know.'" Wordlessly means that there should be know quotation marks, you dolt! Her writing makes the book, already one of the most absurd stories I have encountered, and makes the book possibly the worst I have ever read from cover to cover.

      The story itself is truly atrocious. Lizzy and Darcy, when not having sex (a shockingly rare occurrence), encounter numerous personal difficulties: an insane footman who kidnaps Elisabeth and tries to rape her, a poor shot by Mr. Collins that nearly deafens Darcy permanently, a miscarriage and a stillbirth that nearly kills Elisabeth. And this is what happens to the characters Berdoll likes.

      Berdoll hates Bingley. She must, because she has decided that he and Jane do not have a good marriage. Where Darcy and Lizzy are constantly soaked in various forms of connubial pleasure (which sometimes involve a mirror), Bingley does not manage to actually deflower Jane until after a few nights of marriage, during which he missed. There are no words. But, rake that he obviously is, Bingley manages not only to impregnate Jane (five or more times), but to also get a poor woman sick with tuberculosis pregnant with a bastard. Seriously. This happened.

      Collins dies after getting chased into a pond by some bees. He lands upside down, gets stuck and drowns. For real real. Colonel Fitzwilliam falls in love with Elisabeth, which he feels guilty about. His guilt propels him to volunteer to go fight Napoleon (honestly referred to as Nappy within the 450 pages of dreck I read through). Georgiana, who is in love with him, follows him, enlisting as a nurse. He gets a little bit blown up, but survives, thanks to Georgiana's loving ministrations. When they finally return, brought back by an irate Darcy, they get married, because bum leg or not, Georgiana is preggers. Yup, shy wallflower Georgiana Darcy took charge and got herself a baby out of wedlock. I think not.

      Wickham is found (supposedly posthumously) to be Darcy's brother (maybe), since Darcy's dad slept around (the sadness of which killed the former Mrs. Darcy). For this reason, Darcy donates money to Wickham and Lydia's litter of brats. Despite the fact that Wickham fathered a son on a serving girl at Pemberley when he and Darcy were young (they both slept with the girl, who later had a 'relationship' with the crazy footman mentioned earlier) and that Wickham (unknowingly but still) shot and killed this progeny while deserting the army in France. And even so, the book ends with the news that he is still alive. Great. I would not have finished this suck-fest, if not for the sheer joy of ripping it apart (figuratively, although literally is also tempting).

      P.S. This book was republished as Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife, so avoid that too (or just stay away from this author in general).

      P.P.S. Linda Berdoll, if Jane Austen were a vampire (as is the case in many books now), she would suck you dry with dispatch to prevent any further such disgrace being done to her characters.
    • 3/5
      Pure romantic drivel based on the classic Austen book (but really derived from the A&E mini-series). Don't think about it too much and it's fun. If you aren't a regular reader of bodice ripping romances, prepare yourself for a lot of eyerolling (reading at the beach or with a nice adult beverage to hand can help this.)
    • 4/5
      Where Jane Austen has left off, Linda Berdoll has continued. What Jane Austen lacks, Linda Berdoll goes over and beyond in excess. Mr. Darcy and his love interest, Elizabeth are now married and with legality comes a whole lot of romping around the bedchambers and mysteries pertaining to parentage. Their marriage is as passionate as their courtship was proper. The only adequate way to summarize the books is Victorian classic meets Desperate Housewives. If you are a diehard Austen fan, this probably is not your cup of tea since Pride and Prejudice is literally transformed into a lusty and lascivious experience. For those of us who aren't loyal Austen fans, it's just a fun time imagining the life, post the happily ever after ending, of one of English literature's most romantic couple.
    • 3/5
      When I first started reading this book, I wasn't expecting Austen. Let's face it, nobody can do subtext, complexity, and wit as well as Austen can. So I wasn't completely disappointed by what I found in Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife, but I was disappointed.What I noticed straight off was that the characters were different. I can't put my finger on it, but they were a bit flatter, and didn't have as much complexity as I generally like my characters to have. There was no subtext going on in the background, everything was all very straightforward. Jane seemed way too good, in my opinion. And Bingley is ruined in this novel. Elizabeth is also not herself; she seems to care way too much about what Darcy thinks of her. In short, definitely not my favorite where characters are concerned.The second thing I noticed is that this entire book is just one big melodramatic event after another. I swear, it's a Pride and Prejudice soap opera. Nothing goes right for Elizabeth and Darcy, and they get into all sorts of trouble throughout the novel. What Berdoll lacked in characterization, she tried to make up for in plot. I was entertained by the ridiculousness of it all, but I'm not sure that's what I was supposed to like about it.There was one good thing about this novel, and that is its humor. I'm not sure if Berdoll intended for it to be funny, but I laughed for at least the first quarter of the book; especially during the honeymooning period. The euphemisms used for male and female body parts, and the way the sex is described made me feel like a thirteen-year-old again. I couldn't stop giggling!There's really nothing much in this book; the characters don't experience much change, there's not much of a plot, just various overly dramatic situations, lots of revelations of clandestine lovers, and the inadvertent comedy. The one saving grace, for me, was the fact that I listened to the audiobook. Rosalyn Landor's narration was perfect. Her careful pronunciation of the words and the prim and proper way she read it definitely made me think 19th century gentry. Her seriousness combined with the ridiculous plot lines and euphemisms really made me laugh. And, let's face it, the only thing this novel has going for it is the ridiculous drama and inadvertent comedy. Conclusion: Read it if you're interested, but don't expect anything great. The characters are off and all the subtlety and wit of Austen's Pride and Prejudice is blown to smithereens. If you're looking for Austen, this isn't it. If you're looking for ridiculous drama, you've come to the right book.
    • 4/5
      Contains all the filthy details you wish the original book had! Berdoll maintains the language of the period, so never fear, your virgin ears will not be assaulted by trashy modern lingo. It's explicit, sorta, in a very erudite kind of way. Let's just say if your fifth grader picks it up they probably won't know what's going on. Frankly, I find the whole thing adorable. And quite naughty. Fanfiction at its best!Rereading this was a pleasure. The author's salacious investigation of the sexual history of Ms. Austen's beloved characters is the backstory I want. It's also fun to imagine the life that continues on at Pemberly and the events of wartime and the marriages of other side characters.
    • 4/5
      This book was enjoyable and amusing from start to finish. It takes up with Elizabeth and her Mr. Darcy the day after their wedding and continues on through a number of years - and weddings, births and deaths.
    • 4/5
      This book was enjoyable and amusing from start to finish. It takes up with Elizabeth and her Mr. Darcy the day after their wedding and continues on through a number of years - and weddings, births and deaths.
    • 3/5
      Good fun, but def. soft porn! I was embarrassed reading it! hee hee hee
    • 4/5
      As an imitation of Jane Austen's writing, this is a poor substitute - but Ms. Berdoll does a pretty good imitation of Henry Fielding. Her continuation of "Pride and Prejudice" reminds me quite a bit of "Tom Jones". There are prostitutes and sex and humor and secrets and love and people of unequal stations that fall in love. The storyline is interesting and those who are craving the high romance of Darcy and Elizabeth will surely be satisfied with all the love scenes between them. Just don't expect to hear Ms. Austen's voice in all the drama.
    • 5/5
      I LOVE, LOVE, LOVED this book!!! Okay, so it is far removed from Jane Austen and there is the occasional anachronism it but I think it was an absolutely marvelous read! Best P&P sequel I've seen so far.
    • 4/5
      I am glad that I did not read all the members reviews before I picked up this book. I found the jumping around at the beginning a little disconcerting, but once I got into the book I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I started reading the next installment 'Darcy and Elizabeth' but I am not enjoying it as much.
    • 1/5
      Summary: On the day after their wedding, Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy travel to Pemberley to begin their life together. Elizabeth learns to manage the household, ride for the hunt, and throw a ball. Although the Darcys are the focal point of the novel, we also learn about the marriages of Jane and Lydia and a bit about Wickham and Darcy as boys. Other familiar characters make an appearance as well.Why I Abandoned the Book: I listened to just over a third of this 22-hour audiobook before I called it quits. It isn't that the novel is so bad, it's just that it seemed to be going nowhere. The story alternated between blissful love scenes with the Darcys to several other plot lines involving Wickham, the Bingleys, a man servant, Darcy's ex-mistress, and others. Perhaps there were too many subplots, but I found it difficult to connect with the novel, and I had no clear idea of where the book was going. I think I ended up being a bit bored.A Quick Look at Reviews: I checked several commercial book sites and book cataloging sites and discovered that Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife averages a 3.5-star rating. I found a few 5-star reviews in Library Thing: A couple of them mentioned that the plot does come together by the end, so it is possible that I gave up too soon. This book was also reviewed by Katherine at A Girl Walks into a Bookstore (2-star rating).Note that I am not an Austen purist, and I normally enjoy the Austen spin-offs. For example, I liked the movie Lost in Austen (review here), I loved Clueless, and I loved the book Confessions of a Jone Austen Addict. I just didn't like Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife. In case you're wondering, the audio was read by Rosalyn Landor, who did a nice job.
    • 2/5
      "Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife" isn't so much "Pride and Prejudice" continued as it is a new take on a beloved classic. Writing a sequel to such a beloved classic, with such endearing characters as Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet, would have been a harsh task for even Jane Austen herself, much less Linda Berdoll. Is Ms. Berdoll attempting to write a campy parody? Or guilty pleasure trash? I'm not sure and I don't know if Ms. Berdoll was either. While she expresses clearly that Darcy and Elizabeth have an obviously very happy and mutually pleasing marriage, the constant sex, sex, sex gets old. I like a nice juicy novel as much as the next person, but the constant references to their overabundant sex life, and Darcy's exceptional endowment got so repetitive that it got boring. Obviously Ms. Berdoll was attempting to write in Austen's style, a venture that did not go smoothly. The words sometimes feel forced and there is none of the lightness and humor that was so present in Ms. Austen's literature. I also did not like the liberties that Ms. Berdoll took with some characters, most particularly Bingley. It's bad enough to be subjected to verses about how Jane is apparently not as sexual as her husband (or obviously Elizabeth), but then to read further that Bingley is apparently a philanderer, with a love child . . .ugh! On a positive note, Ms. Berdoll does give storylines to smaller characters of "Pride and Prejudice", notably Colonel Fitzilliam. But overall, I was heartily disappointed with "Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife". None of the wit and fun was present in Elizabeth that engrossed "Pride and Prejudice" - - she seemed merely to be present in "Mr. Darcy" to rhapsodize over their lovemaking and Darcy's endowment. Darcy's character was explored more in this book, but I didn't find him more likable for it. If you are a Jane Austen purist, and a fan of the original "Pride and Prejudice", this book will do nothing but anger you so do yourself a favor and skip this one (Juliette Shapiro's "Excessively Diverted" is a better attempt at a sequel). Disappointing.
    • 2/5
      I am a Jane Austen addict. Pride and Prejudice is my favorite book ever. And I cheerfully buy any and all sequels to it, knowing without a doubt that there's no way on the planet that they will live up to the original. But I can't help myself. I may not read them in a timely manner, as proved by this particular book which I bought years ago, never read, and only rediscovered languishing on my shelves when it was re-released a couple of years ago under a different title (which I also promptly bought and had to return) but I buy them nevertheless. After reading this, I am a little sorry about my blanket Austen sequel reading policy.An unattributed blurb on the back tells readers to "Hang on to your bonnets, this isn't Jane Austen. Reader discretion advised." Truer words were never spoken (and I'm a veteran romance reader so graphic desciptions don't bother me but this book is completely over the top. Opening with Darcy and Elisabeth [sic] jolting down the road towards Pemberley following their wedding night, we find the new Mrs. Darcy ignoring the pillow Mr. Darcy has so kindly offered her to give her lower bits respite from their aching. And this is just the beginning. We are treated to scene after scene of our newlyweds thinking lewd thoughts about each other or engaged in vigorous romping throughout the entire estate. Somehow the plot seems tangential to all the steamy (adn quite frankly fairly laughable) sex. We are told of Darcy's discreet exploits when he was younger and see further into his character as he snubs a neighbor who legitimized his bastard son as his heir. We meet Elisabeth's sisters again and get to encounter the still slimy Wickham as he makes a pass at Elisabeth. In addition we are treated to bad guys (why didn't Austen write about a kidnapping?) and another illegitimate child about whom speculation is rife. Elisabeth has trouble getting pregnant despite the constant sex. And Darcy continues to learn that his pride is misplaced as he discovers things about his own family that disappoint him.With as much going on in this novel as there is, the chaos and the sex aren't the things that bothered me the most. Instead it was the stilted and unintentionally hilarious writing. I know that Berdoll was trying to mimic Austen's writing but it would probably have been better to just claim her own voice instead of producing this awkwardness. In addition to this, the book was incredibly poorly edited, with sentences trailing off into nothingness or making absolutely zero sense, even after several re-readings. The characters were as static as possible, perhaps in a nod to trying to stay true to Austen's original depiction, but since so much else of the story was as Austen would never have imagined it, why bother to try and keep them slotted into their familiar molds when circumstances should have dictated growth? And even at that, some of the characters are more true to the BBC production than to the original book. I really can be forgiving of a well-done sequel, after all; who hasn't wanted to know what happened after the happily ever after wedding in P&P but this is not that sequel. Really, it's fairly egregious.
    • 3/5
      I confess I couldn't finish it. The plot was lacking but it was a good introduction to sexy P&P. It did wet my appetite and I found more P&P what if, sequel or inspired writers who write more sensual sex scenes and with better plots.
    • 2/5
      Some parts of this story were enjoyable but it seemed to be written to shock with its explicit sexual descriptions. This just didn't seem believable and certainly didn't add to the appeal of the book.
    • 5/5
      The two books by Linda Berdoll that continue Darcy and Elizabeth's story was a great read. I could not put the first one down and rushed out to buy the second book so that I could remain in the world that Ms. Berdoll created. I felt the story she tells stays true to JA's and yet it also stood alone...if I'd never read P&P I still would have been caught up in the world she created.
    • 5/5
      First, this is not Jane Austen. This will never be Jane Austen, as Jane Austen is dead. Purists shouldn’t be reading Austen FanFiction to begin with. And I think to enjoy it for what it was, you have to be able to look at it as a book written by someone who is not trying to be Jane Austen. Because, in all honesty, Jane Austen would not have written so much about sex.If you can skip over or don’t mind the plethora of sex scenes, I found the background and future of Mr. & Mrs. Darcy intriguing, entertaining, and satisfying. While the first few chapters felt somewhat stilted as Berdoll attempted to copy Austen’s writing style, but gradually she warmed up it her own style. Once you get past the first couple of chapters where Darcy and Elizabeth are just mostly having sex, the plot really picks up. I think she did a great job of illustrating Elizabeth & Darcy’s life in the first six or seven years of their marriage, and the continued development of the characters, and introduction of new faces, was well done.
    • 4/5
      Linda Berdoll's two book continuation of the infamous Pride & Prejudice novel would be an excellent choice for any P&P fan who desires for the story to continue. Berdoll stays true to the characters while allowing them to grow and change with each new experience, as all good characters should. Her continuations also grant Austin's fans with the deeper intamacy between Darcy and Elizabeth that we have all imagined. I especially loved how she told the story not only from Elizabeth's perspective, but from Darcy's as well. They were both very well done and I found a great deal of pleasure in reading them.
    • 4/5
      My obsession with Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice led me to this book. I really enjoyed it. Berdoll did a great job of emulating the correct style and portraying the characters in a believable fashion. I got more of the story that I wanted and there's another book to boot!
    • 5/5
      Linda Berdoll does a wonderful job in continuing Darcy and Elizabeth's story. I greatly enjoyed reading this 2 book series, which I would recommend to any P&P fan. She does a great job in continuing the story in a way I believe Austin would have respected, if not have done so herself (due to the greater sense of passion in these stories). These books are an excellent choice if you are looking to continue the beloved story of Elizabeth and Darcy.
    • 4/5
      I think, in order to get through this novel, it is important to mentally replace the names Darcy and Elizabeth with other ones – say, Percy and Alice for instance. And, while you are at it, replace all of the names of all of the other characters as well. Also, try to do your best to forget all the references to plot points and occurrences in Pride and Prejudice. This will be difficult as the author keeps bringing them up. You might, if you are the forgetful type and not a raging P & P fan, also do well to let a year or so go by after reading the sacred P & P before tackling this book – thereby ensuring that the details might grow a little fuzzy in your mind. After doing all of that, it is just possible to get all the way through this book and discover that it is a passable Regency novel. If you love P & P, you will probably hate this book. Hate, hate, hate. Most likely, you will not even finish it and may be moved to destroy it in some violent way. This is a very long book – much of the length made necessary, I think, by Darcy and Elizab – no, wait, Percy and Alice – spending so much of their time all tangled up in sweaty, pre- and post-coital heaps. The author likes to use lots of euphemisms and Latin to name body parts and various acts of passion, which gets a little tiresome after a while. Also, I did find it hard to credit the bit about the mirror and a couple of scenes where Percy and Alice (dressed only in Percy’s shirt) go dashing off on horses so that they can disport themselves in the fields - for a slight change of scenery, I suppose. Still, I am going to give it three and half stars, for I found it pretty entertaining after I got the hang of changing all those names in my head. 465 pages
    • 4/5
      It was a good book. It was a little slow at the beginning, but it had ups and downs. Just when you think it's slowing down it gets exciting once again. It truly is a very good book. Still have not read the sequel to this one yet. Had it, but reading three books right now.One thing about this book, I did not agree with, was Elizabeth's meakness. Her keeping things to herself so much. I do not think after realizing in Pride and Prejudice that she should not keep her mouth shut, that she would in this book. Seems that she was making the same mistakes again.