Monday, October 22, 2007

Me & Mr. Darcy - Alexandra Potter

I picked this up because the book description sounded interesting - it’s my first book by this author. (The cover on the left is the British/Commonwealth one, while the one below is the American one. Any preference?)

Basically, Me & Mr. Darcy is about an American bookstore manager, Emily, who has been on one
disasterous date after another (as an aside, I really loved the opening pages – where her date calculates exactly how much she owes for her half of the pizza, since she did have extra toppings). Not one of these men have been anything close to her ideal man…Mr. Darcy. Brooding, chivalrous, romantic, Mr. Darcy is perfect as far as Emily’s concerned, so when a chance comes up to go on a tour of Jane Austen’s England, she packs up and heads off across the Atlantic.

That’s when something weird happens. She actually meets Mr. Darcy…but is he a fantasy or reality? And what about Spike, the obnoxious reporter on the trip? Can Spike be any more not like Mr. Darcy?

That’s a really rough summary – you can see the backcover copy on Amazon.

My verdict: Fun, entertaining and definitely makes me want to pick up the author’s other books. I really enjoyed Emily’s internal monologues, and she was just a cool character to ride along with – she made me grin more than once. Also if you’re a fan of Pride & Prejudice, you’ll probably enjoy the subtle retelling of the story.

Okay, since this book begins with a bad date, anyone want to share a bad date story? Come on, we won’t tell anyone. *g*

4 comments :

Lady Jane said...

Hi! I read this book about a month and a half ago and thought it was really cute too. I enjoyed the parallels to P&P, which is one of my two favorite Austen novels (Perusasion being the other). I could really relate to Emily at times. Did you expect the little twist at the end with the certain woman? I didn't! :)

Anonymous said...

No, I did't expect that twist. But right at the start, in the bookstore - I wondered about that woman.

I also thought the author did a good job of mixing the slightly magical element with reality. :)

Anonymous said...

Ugh...I have too many bad dates to talk about, so I'll only tell you the ABSOLUTE worst one I've ever had. Way back when (around 20-22) I went on a ton of blind dates. Thankfully I've grown wise & no longer do blind dates. :)

Anyway, this date started out just bad. Before we went out, we'd spoken on the phone and he gave me his description. When we met, I found out he'd lied...big time! That wasn't so bad, but he ended up getting physical with me. I didn't know the man and he wouldn't keep his hands off me (this was when Titanic was in theaters...a 3 hour long movie with an octopus!).

Anyway, to make a long story short, after this long, miserable movie (and I HAD moved), he follwed me out into the main area of the theater and as I was playing a video game (because I was too pissed to go home. My dad would have killed him), he came up behind me and tried to put his hands down the back of my pants. I ended up hitting him so hard in the nuts that he fell to the ground and couldn't get back up.


So, there you have it...my worst date EVER! Eesh!

Anonymous said...

Kaitlin, eek! But I like the ending!!