Blog tour: My Own Mr. Darcy by Karey White
My Own Mr. Darcy 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.
Author Karey White Karey White grew up in Utah, Idaho, Oregon, and Missouri. She attended Ricks College and Brigham Young University. Her first novel, Gifted, was a Whitney Award Finalist. She loves to travel, read, bake treats, and spend time with family and friends. She and her husband are the parents of four great children. She teaches summer creative writing courses to young people and is currently working on her next book.
As a romance fan, I've been riding a love swept high this week with the amount of love stories I've been reading. Yesterday, I featured an engaging Regency romance and today I get to feature a contemporary romance with strong undercurrents of Jane Austen's Victorian/18th century literature. Who doesn't love Pride and Prejudice? I'll admit to loving all of Austen's works, but it is Lizzie and Mr. Darcy's story which truly holds my heart as favorite.
In My Own Mr. Darcy, Lizzie Barrett fell for the actor playing Mr. Darcy in the 2005 film (in my opinion, the best version) and decided she wouldn't settle for anything less than her own Mr. Darcy. At sixteen when she made this decision, I could understand her thinking, but when she's 22, not so much. Still, in the book both Lizzie and Mark suffered from their own vices of prejudice and pride, so Lizzie's determination to have her own Mr. Darcy could be construed as a combination of both of the fictional character's own faults. Lizzie hasn't found a guy worthy of fitting into her preconceived mold of Mark Darcy. But when she has to date Chad, a nice, quiet fellow, she sees a good guy but...he's no Darcy. Enter Matt with his good looks, brimming with confidence and he's rich. Sounds like...hmm, maybe. Lizzie dates him and thinks this may be what she's been looking for.
Or not. Lizzie may come across as immature at times but this behavior only exemplifies her ferocity as a character. She knows what she wants. The problem is, as the reader recognizes, what she wants is not what she needs. How many of us see a movie and think, "oh, this character is almost perfect, he's my ideal man." We create an image based on something fictional so the foundation isn't strong enough from the beginning. This is Lizzie's problem. Chad is really a great guy, very patient, and he loves Lizzie so he waits, even as she dates the brooding Matt, for her to open her eyes.
Will Lizzie open her eyes? When she does I felt the ending happened too quickly. I would have liked some more scenes between her and Chad together and maybe had her work a little harder to restore his faith in her instead of him forgiving her so fast. This would have created some tension and given the story a contemporary flair, convincing Lizzie she needed to stay in the here and now.
My Own Mr. Darcy is an adorable, engaging romantic read. Yes, there is a love triangle and it works so well here. Author Karey White has created a lovable leading lady complete with quirks and capable of making mistakes and a leading man readers can appreciate. A quick, absorbing read, I found Lizzie's story adorable and fun.
Rating: 3.5
1/2
Cover comment:
This is an example of a perfect cover. There's the main character lost in a book sitting in the proper setting while the man of her dreams stands off in the distance looking quite like Matthew Macfadyen did when he went to fetch his Lizzie at the end of the Joe Wright's movie version of Jane Austen's beloved book.
Book source:
I received a promotional copy in return for my honest review during a blog tour.
Tour Giveaway
$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash Ends 10/8/13
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Thanks for reading and reviewing My Own Mr. Darcy. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I especially loved your comments about the cover. It turned out exactly like I had it in my mind and I love it!
ReplyDeleteHave a great day.