Saturday, August 25, 2012

Definitely Not Mr. Darcy

Definitely Not Mr. Darcy

By Karen Doornebos
Berkley Books, 2011. 374 pgs. Romance

Chloe, the divorced mother of an inquisitive eight-year-old, is almost at the end of her financial rope. Her custom stationary business is about to go under and her ex-husband is gearing up for an expensive custody battle. Fortunately, she has been cast in a documentary/reality show recreating, in extreme detail, Jane Austen’s England. Having been an avid Austen fan her entire life, Chloe feels her chances of winning the $100,000 in prize money are very good and she is thrilled about the opportunity to live in a world without the distractions of modern life. But neither the earlier century nor the filmed production turn out to be quite what she expected. Too quickly Chloe’s financial and romantic futures are in peril.

Learning about how Austen’s heroines actually lived their daily lives is undeniably interesting. Learning about Chloe’s romantic adventures…maybe not so much. Not that it’s bad, ‘Definitely Not Mr. Darcy’ simply doesn’t present anything new or exciting. It’s a decent addition to the already overflowing collection of Austen inspired fiction, but nothing to write home about.

CZ

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