What They Say.....Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe from New York Times bestselling author, Melissa de la Cruz, is a sweet, sexy and hilarious gender-swapping, genre-satisfying re-telling, set in contemporary America and featuring one snooty Miss Darcy.
Darcy Fitzwilliam is 29, beautiful, successful, and brilliant. She dates hedge funders and basketball stars and is never without her three cellphones—one for work, one for play, and one to throw at her assistant (just kidding). Darcy’s never fallen in love, never has time for anyone else’s drama, and never goes home for Christmas if she can help it. But when her mother falls ill, she comes home to Pemberley, Ohio, to spend the season with her family.
Her parents throw their annual Christmas bash, where she meets one Luke Bennet, the smart, sardonic slacker son of their neighbor. Luke is 32-years-old and has never left home. He’s a carpenter and makes beautiful furniture, and is content with his simple life. He comes from a family of five brothers, each one less ambitious than the other. When Darcy and Luke fall into bed after too many eggnogs, Darcy thinks it’s just another one night stand. But why can’t she stop thinking of Luke? What is it about him? And can she fall in love, or will her pride and his prejudice against big-city girls stand in their way?
What I Say....I had a long discussion with a friend about this book. Because I didn't enjoy it. In fact, I'm struggling to finish it. So I said I probably just wouldn't review it. She pointed out to me that she reads another blogger, but doesn't really trust her reviews because she rates every book a 4 or 5 (out of 5). She felt like bloggers should be honest in their reviews, after all, you can't love every book, right?
This is true, but St. Martin's is my favorite publisher, and so many of the authors that I love publish through them. But I won't be a coward, I'll give an honest review.
Let me first say, if you follow my blog, you know I love Christmas books. And I love Pride and Prejudice, so I had great hopes, plus Melissa de la Cruz is an established author, so what could go wrong? The answer is I don't know, but something did.
I felt no sympathy towards Darcy. Her parents were cardboard characters, the romance with Luke felt fake. All of these grown adult boys live with their parents and are just sitting there waiting for people to come throw pebbles at their windows?
Based on the description of Darcy's goals and life, it was hard to believe that she would have any interest in Luke, which made it hard to invest in the story. It just lacked the humor you find in most Christmas books.
Read any of de la Cruz other books, she writes The Descendents series, the Blue Blood series, The Witches of East End series, they are all great and showcase her talent.