Engaging Mr. Darcy

An Austen Inspired Romantic Comedy

By: Rachel John

Narrated by: Andrea Emmes

"Angry people are not always wise." -Jane Austen

After a standoff in the pizza parlor, Elsie Bennet has decided Fitzwilliam "I-Throw-Fitz" Darcy is the worst customer she's ever encountered. Also the best looking, but that's beside the point. She's horrified to discover Will is not just passing through her small town, he's her new neighbor.

Will Darcy has all the money and time he could ask for, and yet life never seems to meet his expectations. When his best friend, Charlie, starts dating Jane Bennet, Will becomes their unhappy third-wheel. The solution? Bring along Jane's sister, Elsie, a girl who challenges him, makes him laugh, plagues his thoughts, and, unfortunately, hates his guts.

Will might control a lot of things, but he won't control her. Elsie's already been warned away by her new friend, Jeff Wickham, who found out the hard way that Will is not someone to be crossed. Things would be so much simpler if she was attracted to Jeff. But she's not. She's attracted to Will, and the tug-o-war between her mind and her heart is going to drive her mad.

©2018 Rachel John (P)2018 Tantor

A fantastic adaptation!

This is the second in the series I’ve read and they are both so well done! Can’t wait to read the rest!

Shocked to say, it is my favorite

I don’t know what it is about this book but it is my favorite...a little embarrassed about how many times I have listened to it ... it is magical ... I keep coming back over and over again

Creative, clean P&P retelling

Story: 5 stars

I loved this story and felt that Rachel John faithfully kept the bones of the story and made it believable to a modern audience.

Almost all of the characters were spot-on-true to their Austen-selves, except Elsie. Her teasing humor simply was not there. I’ve read tons of P&P variations and re-tellings and I can count on one hand the authors who have succeeded in writing Elizabeth’s humor, so I didn’t take away any stars.

This was such a clever retelling. Ms. Johns came up with great scenarios that explained Darcy’s hatred of Wickham as well as careers for Mr. & Mrs. Bennet, Lydia, even Mr. Collins and Mrs.DeBourgh! Some serious thought went into crafting modern versions of characters and modern situations that reflect the original.

Narrator: 4 stars

Ms. Emmes did a good job. Her voices for Lydia, Caroline and Mrs. Bennet were particularly apropos. She read at a good pace and her expression was very good. Her male voices weren’t my favorite but I tend to favor deeper voices in narrators and I feel badly for critiquing something she has no control over. Her acting was totally respectable.

*poor, **ok, ***good, ****very good, *****something special

A cute modern Pride and Prejudice

I'm not sure why Elizabeth's name was changed, but I enjoyed this light-hearted retelling of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.

I was surprised the Gardeners weren't included in the story at all and how much I disliked Charlie. But it's a sweet and fun story.

fun read!

Well done and well written. My only complaint is about the narrator in this one area: you are not supposed to pronounce a hard g at the end of the words like hang. It was very distracting. Other than that she did a good job.

Nothing Special but entertaining

I don’t like the changes to the story, and it wasn’t great or super special, but it was entertaining enough to finish!

super fun

this was a super fun, updated pride and prejudice retelling. I somehow didn't know what was going to happen and I enjoyed it the whole way through.

Fun, relaxing story

I am so happy to have found a new author to follow! Well written, enjoyable read!

Cute retelling

The story was a cute retelling of Ms. Austen pride and prejudice. I will check out what else the author has written

amazing retelling of a classic!

I had seen this book for a while and was excited to see that it was in audible on my escape plan. I adore the original story and this one really stayed true to the characters but in such a fun modwrn way! great read!