I wanted so much to like this book more than I do. I love Pride and Prejudice, and I love retellings of it. And, as previously stated, I also love Hallmark Christmas movies.

Although this book recognizably followed Pride and Prejudice, it let me down.

Darcy was just not very likable. She spends half the time drunk, or looking back on how she was better than everyone else in high school. It’s no wonder that she doesn’t have any friends.

The premise behind why Darcy left home and never looked back is particularly awful: her dad disowned her because she didn’t want to marry his chosen candidate and be a society wife. Ugh. In the 20th century no less.

Darcy flirts with Luke (while frequently drunk), but goes back to her fallback boyfriend in New York, and then bounces back from being in bed with him to wanting Luke. Not a cool look, Darce.

The best thing I can say about this book is that there is some reconciliation between Darcy and her father. Whoo.

This is a mostly clean read; Darcy sleeps with her boyfriend, but there’s no details. And she drinks. A lot.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Pride and prejudice and Mistletoe
By: Mellisa De La Cruz
Special thanks to St. Martins press and NetGalley For the ARC of this book.
A gender swapping of the classic Pride and Prejudice Is set in the United States. Darcy Fitzwilliam is a 29-year-old woman who is never without three cell phones. She’s never had a meaningful relationship and is so busy she never goes home for Christmas. However this year is different her mother is sick and she returns to Ohio to spend time with her family. While helping with her family‘s annual Christmas party she meets Luke Bennett a 32-year-old guy who has never left his hometown. He comes from a family of all boys who are all fairly lazy and not a workaholic like Darcy. One night after too many drinks they fall in bed together. Thinking it’s just a one night stand Darcy carries on as normal but she can’t get Luke out of her head. Will they be able to work with each other’s kinks?

I wanted to like this book. Everything about the premise seemed fun: modern-day retelling of Pride and Prejudice, reversed gender roles (Darcy is a girl in love with Luke Bennett, Bingley is still a man, though), Christmas setting. It just didn't work for me. Darcy was unlikable, so it was hard to root for her. Then, after the confrontation with Luke, we're supposed to believe she does a complete 180 and is suddenly super nice. It might have been believable if it took longer than 24 hours. Throw in a few inconsistencies in the storyline, and I just couldn't love this book. I received a free e-book from NetGalley in exchange for my opinion.

I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Darcy returns home to Pemberly, OH when her mother has a heart attack. It has been 8 years since she left Ohio to prove she could make her way in NYC, which she has done, becoming a multimillionaire, but having no personal relationships to show for it.

Once home, she runs into Luke Bennett, the one man who ever got under her skin.

I’ve never read Pride and Prejudice, but I had a general idea of how the story would go. I just wonder if Miss Darcy is as annoying in the original as in this one. I didn’t really like any of the characters overly much, but it was a cute enough story that I see was turned into a Hallmark Christmas movie, which I will watch at the next opportunity.

I am an Austen girl through and through. I love the originals, and I love reading new adaptations as every author puts a different and unique spin on the classic tales. This one is no different. When I first came across Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe, I was so excited. A Christmas-themed, gender-swapped Pride and Prejudice? Yes please! Melissa de la Cruz delivers a smart, fun, holiday romance in her twist of the classic.

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that any beautiful, brillant, single woman who is rich as hell will be in want of a husband.”

Darcy Fitwilliam is a highly successful, 29 year old who left home as soon as she could to escape the pressure her family put on her. Darcy has never quite measured up to what her father’s ideals. As a result, she’s made her own way. She’s held onto her on-again, off-again boyfriend for far too long with no intent of ever marrying him. When her mother has a heart attack, Darcy drops everything to return home and care for her. This brings her home just in time for the holidays, and her mother may have ulterior motives for keeping her there.

Enter Luke Bennet. Luke is slightly older than Darcy, never left home, and is a successful carpenter in their small town. Having made her life hell during high school, Darcy wants nothing to do with him. But after one too many eggnogs, sparks ignite. Now the two can’t seem to stop running into one another in town. While their families may have other plans for them, Luke and Darcy slowly seem to be falling for one another.

I’ll be honest. Starting out, I really didn’t like Darcy. Just like Mr. Darcy, she comes off as arrogant and prideful, prejudice against those that she doesn’t really know. However I love how the author shows us her character’s progression. As the walls that Darcy has built around herself crumble, I fell in love with her. She has stayed away so long, but finds that the longer she’s home the less likely she is to leave. And Luke….it took awhile for him to grow on me. He was just as judgy of Darcy as everyone else, and I felt like he used her more than once. I had a hard time getting behind their relationship.

Overall, I enjoyed Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe. While not a straight-up retelling of the classic, the story is clearly inspired by the original. I love the small details and the hometown setting. I even enjoyed the opposite-attracts trope. If you are looking for a sweet, slightly steamy, holiday romance, I highly recommend it.

When the movie is better than the book, problems occur. I enjoyed the Hallmark Christmas movie inspired by this book, but even it wasn't my favorite. I know I don't like how the gender swap worked out, but I also really didn't like the characters. They seemed very flat and boring. The writing was pretty... lackluster? I hate being critical, but this was just bad. The story was weak. I just have nothing good to say about it.

THIS BOOK!!! Omg .. I really really loved it! I get goosebumps in some parts coz it's too cute to read!

Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe is a cute holiday read and take on Pride and Prejudice.

My feelings on Darcy were mixed. While I understand the desire to create a character that resembles the original, I found few redeeming qualities about her as a character. Additionally, it was difficult to believe that in modern times, that a family would be disappointed in their daughter's decision to stand alone as an independent woman.

Though I was challenged by the overall story line, I did enjoy this light read during the holiday season.

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?
I should start by say that Pride and Prejudice is one of my all-time favorite books so I’m very critical of any remakes. This one sounded interesting with the gender-swap but I think the author missed the mark a bit.The overall remake of the story wasn’t bad, I just didn’t really care for the characters.
**I voluntarily read and reviewed this book

I was pretty excited to read this one because 1) I tend to enjoy the books from the author and she hasn’t really disappointed me yet and 2) I enjoy Pride and Prejudice and thought that this retelling would be no exception. However, I was sorely disappointed. Clearly I’m not the only one because after reading this book, I looked it up on Goodreads and the rating was in the 2s. I have never seen a book in the 2s before on Goodreads. Most books are in the 3s and 4s range so having this book in the mid 2 range is pretty terrible.

Other than the fact that this is a retelling of Pride and Prejudice, there was also a gender reversal which I enjoyed. I thought that it was interesting that this time it was a female who plays the role of Darcy and is a self-made millionaire. Unfortunately that was as awesome as it gets. Darcy, her actual name in this book is Darcy, was a terrible character. She was whiny, selfish, self-absorbed, shallow and very emotional. I’m really not at all sure what Luke Bennet, the male version of Elizabeth Bennet, saw in her. Literally every time she spoke, I cringed so hard. She was honestly one of the worst characters I have ever encountered. Plus she is supposed to be a self-made hedge fund manager or someone who is very high up in that industry but how did someone with that level of professionalism manage to act like such a ditzy Valley Girl? It just didn’t sit right with me.

Another thing I really didn’t understand was why did everyone in Darcy’s hometown expected her to be married and have children by her age, which by the way, is only 29. I thought that this book was supposed to be set in modern day and right now, no one expects that anymore. Maybe when you hit mid-30s or something because of the biological clock in women but definitely not when you’re not even 30. It just seemed incredibly bizarre and strange to me for that to be any sort of expectation. Plus that expectation seemed to play a relatively major role in Darcy’s tension with her parents specifically her father.

Honestly there were just so many things in this book that seemed wrong to me and I’m really disappointed that Melissa de la Cruz managed to publish this book. I usually enjoy her other novels but somehow this book seemed as if it was written by a prepubescent which is saying a lot. This book had so much potential but it all came crashing down. Hard.

I enjoyed the role reversing in this modern retelling and that Darcy was a strong female character. The connection between Darcy and Luke could be felt through the pages, which has you hoping Darcy overcomes her pride and Luke his prejudice. A great read to get in the holiday spirit!

I loved this book! The full review will be posted soon at kaitgoodwin.com/books! Thank you very much for this wonderful opportunity to connect books to their readers!

I found this title to be a modern day version of the original but with a character twist! I would definitely recommend to my students who are interested in classic reads who would be pleasantly surprised !

I don’t know why I keep reading retelling of Pride & Prejudice. None of them live up to the original story and this book was no different.

First, I need to preface this by saying I’ve tried to read exactly one other book by Melissa de la Cruz and I hated it and quit after about two chapters. I am clearly not her ideal reader. That said, this sounded like a cute Christmas story and perfect for my 12 Books of Christmas reading challenge. If you’ve enjoyed the author’s other work, you may fall in love with this story.

So, we’ll start off with the good things. I love that the author chose to do a gender swap, it’s always nice to shake things up a little bit that way. I also really liked the sub-characters, specifically Bingley and Luke’s brother… who’s name I can’t even remember anymore. I like that the author chose to include a same-sex couple, that really helped to modernize the classic tale. Darcy was a self-made woman who left home all on her own to live the life she wanted, not the one her parents wanted for her, and I love and respect that.

Unfortunately my list of dislikes far surpassed my likes. Most importantly, I hated Darcy. While I loved that she was self-made and successful, she was just so immature. I hated almost everything about her and the way she behaved. I didn’t like how Luke acted either half the time. Neither of them held the charm that Lizzy and Mr. Darcy from the original tale possessed, and unfortunately they came across as unlikable and their actions were unredeemable in this reader’s eyes.

Honestly, this book just left a bad taste in my mouth. Darcy and Luke’s lack of communication with one another and their personal hang ups and immaturity made them perfect for one another, because I’d hate for anyone else to be saddled with them.

At least I can say that my time reading this is over, and I know to never pick up another Melissa de la Cruz book in the future.

So, should you read this? I wouldn’t recommend it to my friends, but if you’re a fan of the authors previous work you may fall in love with this one.

I did not finish reading this book. I wasn't pulled in by the story - and while I love an Austen retelling, it needs to have some of that same spark to it that Austen had. And this one just fell flat for me.

This was a great story! I liked the holiday atmosphere and the general feeling of goodwill. I loved the characters and how they interacted! I enjoyed visiting with them in the book and was sad to leave them.

So, this is my first review of 2018 and unfortunately it's going to be a 1 star. I was ready for a Christmasy, chick-lit sort of book. However, this book was so very silly and annoying that I gave up on it even though I was reading it on a plane.

The main character, Darcy Fitzwilliam (yes, it's gender-flipped) is a very young partner in a very high-powered NYC law firm. I know, it's wish-fulfillment- she's young, brilliant, cute as a button- but nothing about Darcy's character convinced me that she could be a receptionist at a high-powered NYC law firm, not to mention a partner. While we're in her head she mostly thinks about partying and the very privileged people that she knew in high school. Supposedly she's been so busy lawyering that she hasn't had time for a life, but there's no evidence of that sort of focus, let alone the emotional intelligence needed to impress high-powered clients.

She's got a sassy gay friend. She's from a town in Ohio called Pemberly which apparently has a very large clique of very wealthy people who sent all their kids to the same school. There's no awareness of privilege or the squirmy cliche that is the author's nod to the existence of gay people, much less anyone who isn't white. I had a hard time believing that a small town in Ohio could attract so many extremely wealthy people, but there you go- you just can't think too much about anything happening in this book or you will ( I did) become annoyed at it and want to toss it away.

I didn't toss it away because I was reading an ebook, but I did quit in disgust right around the time that Darcy ran into her old flame, Luke Bennett. This is not a variant of P&P, it's a horrible funhouse mirror of vapidity, and I do not recommend it.

Got bored with the story and stopped reading about 1/3 of the way through. Sorry.

Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe is a retelling of the classic Pride and Prejudice with a role reversal. Darcy Fitzwilliam is the heroine of the story, and Luke Bennet is the main male character. Darcy is super ambitious and has always found Luke to be a shirker. Darcy has been away from home, but comes back after eight years when notified that her mother has had a heart attack. What follows is a sometimes funny story that often parallels the original Pride and Prejudice.

I thought the book was fun, and I enjoyed the characters. This was no Pride and Prejudice, but it was cute and enjoyable. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a copy of the book in return for an honest review.

Originally posted on Forever Young Adult on 2017 December 24.

OOK REPORT for Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe by Melissa de la Cruz

Cover Story: Festive Chalk Art
BFF Charm: Nay
Swoonworthy Scale: 4
Talky Talk: Mediocre Fan Fiction
Bonus Factors: Pride and Prejudice, Gender Swap
Relationship Status: Alone at Christmas

Cover Story: Festive Chalk Art

I’ve done my fair share of chalk decorating, and did something very similar to this cover a few years back. Only my display said Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays or something holiday-appropriate. It would have been weird had I predicted this book’s title.

The Deal:

Darcy Fitzwilliam is the only daughter of the wealthy Fitzwilliam family of Pemberley, Ohio. But it’s been 8 years since she’s been home for Christmas, 8 years since she had a falling out with her father that led her to move to New York City and find her own way in the world. She quickly became a successful hedge fund manager and one of the most powerful women in NYC, but her holidays were always lonely affairs.

When her mother had a heart attack, Darcy heads home for the holidays. There, she’s forced to confront long-hidden feelings—for family, for her life, and for a particularly charismatic former high school classmate, Luke Bennet.

BFF Charm: Nay



Y’all know how standoffish and snobby Mr. Darcy comes across at first in the original Pride and Prejudice? His namesake is equally terrible, and even when de la Cruz tries to assure us (in the guise of a character reassuring Darcy) that she’s actually just self-possessed and knows what she wants, she’s still pretty awful.

Swoonworthy Scale: 4

Darcy and Luke’s “relationship” begins with a drunken mistletoe makeout session at the annual Fitzwilliam Christmas Party. And then another drunken makeout session post-caroling. And then they both get engaged to other people. I mean, we all know where this mess was headed, but I could have used some actual fire to warm me up.

Talky Talk: Mediocre Fan Fiction

A good retelling takes an original property and makes it new again, infusing the story with characters, settings and situations that are similar, but different enough, to stand on its own. Unfortunately, Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe is only vaguely reminiscent of Pride and Prejudice, and does nothing to make the classic story feel fresh. The characters are flat; Darcy’s least-likeable qualities are her most prevalent ones (Did you know that she’s a multi-millionaire? You will, at least 10 times over by the time the book ends.), and Luke felt like a cardboard cutout of a person. My fave, Mr. Bennet, is nonexistent, and the rest of the characters who are supposed to represent the other Bennets and Darcys are barely recognizable.

The selfless deed Darcy performs for the Bennet’s is totally unbelievable in present day, even though it does mirror what Mr. Darcy does for Elizabeth’s family pretty well. Although I think it’s important for retellings to include major plot points/ideas, if an author updates the time period to the present, it should be obvious that said plot points need to be updated as well. And then there’s the back and forth of Darcy and Luke at the end of the novel, which had me feeling much like this:



I turned to Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe looking for a fun holiday romance and came away with a stocking full of coal. And I was pretty good this year!

Bonus Factor: Pride and Prejudice



I do love a Pride and Prejudice adaptation. I wish I would have enjoyed this one more, but points for the idea.

Bonus Factor: Gender Swap



A unique part of this retelling is the gender swap of the Darcy and Elizabeth characters. I also think it was a great idea for de la Cruz to keep Darcy Mr. Darcy-like, i.e., the more proud, more career- and status-concerned of the two main characters.

Relationship Status: Alone at Christmas

Sorry, Book. I know we were both hoping for a holiday fling, but our time together has me feeling less holiday cheer and more “overwhelming regret the day after drinking too much at the holiday office party.”