Caught Swimming by Mr. Darcy

A Pride and Prejudice Variation

By: Jane Adell

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

To escape the sweltering heat, the ever-independent Elizabeth Bennet seeks solace in a refreshing swim, never imagining that the proud Mr. Darcy would discover her in such a vulnerable state. A scandalous and mortifying encounter ensues, but the sparks fly, igniting a passion that neither can deny. However, when Mr. Darcy, driven by duty and honor, insists they must marry, Elizabeth, true to her convictions, refuses him. Haunted by his past behavior and the lingering stain of Mr. Wickham's revelations regarding Mr. Darcy, she cannot bring herself to accept his proposal.

Fate, it seems, has other plans. As they find themselves thrown together time and time again – at the pond, in Meryton, and at the lively Lucas Lodge – the tension between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy reaches a boiling point. As they navigate the treacherous waters of society's expectations and their own burgeoning feelings, startling revelations come to light. Slowly, Elizabeth begins to see beneath Mr. Darcy's proud exterior, unraveling the man behind the enigma, and opening her heart to the possibility of love.

This clean and sweet Pride and Prejudice variation novella is over 27,000 words and has a happily ever after but not without Mr. Wickham and Mr. Collins trying to cause trouble. This P and P JAFF novella romance also features Lizzy, Darcy Fitzwilliam, angst, forced marriage and is a Jane Austen fanfiction.

Elizabeth and Darcy Court

However, Elizabeth has a tendency to get in, fall in, slip in, and wade in water along the way. Wickham get "outed".

Glad it was included in my membership

The story was fine; I've heard MUCH worse and MUCH better.
The narration was pretty incredible for being AI, but it wasn't great. I would have enjoyed this book so much more if they had used a competent voice actor. At least I didn't have to pay anything extra.

Have heard better, and worse

This story may have been saved by a human narrator that would be able to provide correct voice intonation when needed.

Not bad for a time filler to listen to as background while doing something you need to concentrate on, but I’d suggest music instead.

Virtual voice actually good

So I liked the story, but was most surprised by the virtual voice. It actually sounds great! And almost forgot it wasn’t a real person for most of it. Only when there were scenes with multiple ppl did it get a little weird as the voice doesn’t change for different speakers so they all sound similar, but surprisingly found it amazing that the voice could get intonations and exclamations pretty accurate. The story was good although I was frustrated with Lizzy sometimes, but mostly enjoyed the whole thing.

Enjoyable Read

However, aside from the few swimming hole scenes, it was pretty much just the same Pride and Prejudice story, though very condensed, leaving many characters out (but not really adding any new ones, or any plot twists, either). The language was slightly more modern (I can't imagine dear Jane ever using such a words and phrases as "smoldering," and "you have bewitched me, body and soul" (which I believe was lifted straight from the 2005 version of the movie). All in all, it was a pleasant way to spend 3 hours, but I've read far better variations. Many of them.