Can their love conquer pride and prejudice?
Ever since I first read Pride and Prejudice at twelve years old, I’ve dreamed of being Elizabeth Bennet. That dream is now about to come true. I, Monroe Wilde, the woman some could argue isn’t exactly Elizabeth Bennet material, have been chosen to play the beloved heroine for one week at Pride and Prejudice Park, a destination experience for Jane Austen devotees. To make this dream even more amazing and surreal, my best friend, the Duke of Blackthorne, Alastair Fitzroy, has volunteered to play my Mr. Darcy.
If this wasn’t fantastic enough, it appears my broody and ridiculously attractive best friend, who I’ve done my best not to fall in love with, wants to be my real-life Mr. Darcy as well. But there are some gigantic obstacles standing in our way. For starters—I’m not exactly duchess material, and we run in very different circles. Dating me would most certainly make him a social pariah. But the biggest problem of all is that, well . . . I don’t know exactly how to explain it, but somehow after a horrible mishap at the park, I find myself more than just pretending to be Elizabeth Bennet—I land smack dab in the middle of the actual Pride and Prejudice story.
So since I’m here and unsure whether it’s a dream or if Pride and Prejudice really is heaven, I figure I’ll just help move things along and make sure everyone gets a happy ending, even Mr. Collins. But leave it to me to mess up the quintessential love story of all time. What happens if I can’t get Mr. Darcy to fall in love with Elizabeth? Will I ever get back to Alastair? Will I ever become the Elizabeth I so wish to be? And I have to wonder: can my world exist without Pride and Prejudice?
USA Today bestselling author Jennifer Peel presents an enchanting friends-to-lovers story with a Pride and Prejudice twist.
Available on Amazon (KU!)
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Also check out the companion novel, Desperately Seeking Mr. Darcy by Becky Monson!
**My thoughts**
I have been a fan of Becky Monson's since her debut novel. So when Desperately Seeking Mr. Darcy came out, I was first in line to gobble it up. And then I knew I absolutely had to read Without Pride and Prejudice, the companion novel by Jennifer Peel. I needed more from these characters, and Monroe just came across as a quirky and loveable character!
I love her because she is perfectly imperfect. She tries too hard to help people and then ends up in some of the funniest predicaments. She sees herself as making a mess instead of helping others. She is outspoken and loves hard. Her love for P&P is like none other.
Fitz is also dreamy. Falling for his aristocratic self beats all of those stories of falling in love with a prince because he seems more realistic and attainable. Can my younger self please go to school in England and find one?
Fate has lined up a parallel universe that is intriguing and just completely works in spite of the changes that Monroe's own pride and prejudice want to inflict as Fitz struggles with his own in the real world. It's a clever nod to the original work that made me fall in love again with not only the characters in this duo, but also the original and all of its cinematic versions. It's rare that I find clever retellings of the classics, but this one is fantastic. I'm so glad Jennifer Peel and Becky Monson teamed up to do this!