The Perfect Bride for Mr. Darcy

Synopsis from Barnes & Noble.

If the two of them weren’t so stubborn…

It’s obvious to Georgiana Darcy that the lovely Elizabeth Bennet is her brother’s perfect match, but Darcy’s pigheadedness and Elizabeth’s wounded pride are going to keep them both from the loves of their lives.

Georgiana can’t let that happen, so she readily agrees to help her accommodating cousin, Anne de Bourgh, do everything within their power to assure her beloved brother’s happiness.

But the path of matchmaking never runs smoothly…

I am breaking my personal rule of not using the publishers synopsis for this book, well, because there isn’t much I can say. The Perfect Bride for Mr. Darcy was good, but not the best I have read as far as Pride and Prejudice variations go. The majority this book was exactly what happened in the original, with a few differences.

Anne de Bourgh and Georgiana play a much bigger part in this book, which was actually really neat. In fact, Anne and Elizabeth develop a close friendship and constantly write, and Anne and Colonel Fitzwilliam read right through Darcy, picking up on his love for Elizabeth. When Georgiana sees how her brother is feeling, she too is determined to get him and Elizabeth together again. What really threw me for a loop was the nine Bingley siblings, and the fact that of the six extras, only one actually had any part in the book. I’m not hating on creative liberty here, but why throw in all those new people when only one has any real part in the story? Simonsen also threw in Anne’s inheritance at age 25 and a couple of Darcy’s past lovers as I’ve seen in other variations.

Lady Catherine was still mean, Caroline still made my teeth itch, Wickham was still a scheming ass, Darcy proposed to Elizabeth at Rosings, was rejected, and gave her the letter afterward, and they did meet again at Pemberley being separated by news of Lydia’s suspected elopment. Quite honestly, so much was the same, just in different words, that I found myself skimming – a lot. Much as I’m sure it had something to do with reading this book in the middle of the night during the read-a-thon, I just was not captivated by the story as I have been with some other variations.

Bottom line, The Perfect Bride for Mr. Darcy has both good and bad points and certain parts were enjoyable, but I can’t urge you to put it at the top of your to read list.