Fitzwilliam Darcy: Earl of Matlock by Cressida Lane

Fitzwilliam Darcy: Earl of Matlock by Cressida Lane ISBN-13: 1230002023489 kindle: 223 pages Publisher: Amazon Digital Services Released: Nov. 26, 2017

Source: ebook review copy through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from NetGalley:
Mr. Darcy has only just arrived at Netherfield Park when Jane Bennet comes to dine with his hosts. When their guest and her pretty sister Elizabeth fall ill, his charitable nature is surely the only reason he feels compelled to entertain the invalids. But just as his new friends have recovered their health, Darcy unexpectedly inherits an Earldom. Elizabeth Bennet agrees to allow him to publicly court her so the hordes of match-making mamas will leave him alone. A clean, amusing, over-the-top Pride and Prejudice retelling that'll leave you smiling.


My Review:
Fitzwilliam Darcy: Earl of Matlock is a romance set (presumably) in 1813 England. The story started with Darcy arriving late to Netherfield Park, so he never insulted Lizzy's pride. Nor does he have any pride (nor any ego about how desirable he is, despite the fact that hordes of women are trying to marry him). Darcy and Lizzy get to know each other and get along wonderfully. Lizzy never cares for any other. In fact, if you removed the names and occasional quotes from "Pride and Prejudice," you'd never guess it was meant to be a "what if" retelling of that story. The characters were only very loosely based off of Jane Austen's characters. Even the quotes were often given to different characters or used in a different context.

So, as a clean Regency romance novel, how is it? Well, it's got no sex and only a few uses of bad language. There wasn't much historical detail nor did the author feel obligated to stay true to the manners of the times. When Lizzy traveled to London to casually visit a stranger, the author needed Lizzy to stop at that house before even changing her travel-stained clothing and without a servant, so that's what she did. If the author needed Darcy to jump to conclusions and Lizzy to inexplicably not correct him, then of course they did. But for all that, the characters were nice, so it was an enjoyable, fluffy romance were little stood in the way of everyone's happiness.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


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