single nyc woman seeks major literary heartthrob:
a literary review of me and mr. darcy
by alexandra potter
review by kelley a. swan
Forget the handsome prince. Forget the heroic knight on a steed. And definitely forget every jerk she’s dated in the last twelve months. What New York bookstore manager Emily Albright really wants is Mr. Darcy.
The only problem? Well, he’s not in New York City. And okay, sure, he’s actually a fictitious literary character in Jane Austen’s PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. But those are merely details, and they don’t mean Emily can’t want him for her own. For Mr. Darcy is handsome and charming, with a devilish touch of arrogance to make any woman’s heart melt–which is exactly what she, and a lot of other women, really desire.
He’s not in NYC, though. In fact, there appears to be no worthy man on the entire North American continent. So, in a fit of frustration, Emily beats it out of the city. She heads for the home of Mr. Darcy and off to England and a Jane Austen-themed tour. It doesn’t take long for doubts to surface, though. Trapped on a bus tour with a bunch of old ladies and a grumpy journalist (who’s actually a bit cute, when he’s not being so irritable), Emily is feeling like she’s made a mistake. A big mistake.
But crossing the ocean to find him actually does pay off. For no one is more surprised than Emily when she trips over her very own Mr. Darcy, who’s flesh and blood and certainly no literary character. Or is he?
As Emily quickly discovers, sometimes life’s biggest lesson is as simple as being careful about what you wish for (that, and flesh and blood beats a character in a book any day when it comes to love). Most of all, she quite pleasantly discovers that what we think we want and what really makes us happy can be two very different things.
About the Reviewer: Kelley Swan
Besides writing her own fiction and poetry, there's little else Kelley Swan loves more than curling up with a great chick lit book. Read her at http://kelleyaswan.blogspot.com.