When the truth is harder to believe than disguise.Drugged and betrayed in his own household, Fitzwilliam Darcy makes his escape from a forged compromise that would see him unhappily wed. Dressed as a footman, he is welcomed into one of London’s unknown neighbourhoods by a young lady who is running out of time and running for her life.Deciding to hide in plain sight, Miss Elizabeth Bennet dodges … Miss Elizabeth Bennet dodges the expectation to marry the man of her mother’s dreams. When the insolent footman she “found” refuses to leave her side until they can uncover a solution to their respective dilemmas, the two new acquaintances treat themselves to a holiday, experiencing the best of what Regency England has to offer.
Based on Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice, can two hard-headed characters with kind hearts discover the truth behind the disguise? Enjoy the banter, humour, and growing affection as Mr Darcy and Miss Elizabeth have the best day of their lives, and discover that they just might find love and romance while on a London Holiday. This book is appropriate for all ages.
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What a delicious Regency Rom-Com with a side order of betrayal and deception that has our favourite couple, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet, eluding their respective nemesis in plain sight! Be prepared for “Murphy’s Law” to kick in and find out how they each handle the situations. Shock and awe at this wickedly creative variation that slowly built up the tension until the magnificent end!
The descriptive verse was fabulous as you jaunt around London with one impertinent female and one opinionated male. Characters jump off the page, and at times, I was laughing so hard, I needed to wipe the tears from my eyes. Oh the lesson in etiquette was brilliant and so many scenes are just so ‘irresistible’.
“A dignified Venus, a virtuous seductress…a man was more likely to find a unicorn.” (quote from the book)
Our villains have the upper hand and all appears lost but appearances are deceiving…
This novel is worthy of it’s own movie! I highly recommend this wonderful flight of fancy to all lovers of Jane Austen.
Thank you to the author for an Advanced Readers Copy with no expectation of a review.
I love this book. I thought twice about buying it because of the cover. But you can’t judge a book by its cover. The story took me on an enjoyable journey through London with Elizabeth and Darcy. The dialogue was witty. I’m saving it to read it again and again.
Funny and sweet.
“A vacation [holiday] is having nothing to do and all day to do it in.” –Robert Orben
What can I say? This was brilliant! And it was completely clean. What an interesting premise and twist on our P&P characters. This story took our Darcy and Elizabeth and had them meet under entirely different circumstances, in a different environ and in total anonymity as to their true identities. For most of the book, Darcy had Elizabeth’s name but didn’t know she was a gentlemen’s daughter. He assumed she was from trade and probably lived above her father’s shop. She only knew him as ‘William’ and that he was pretending to be a footman but had figured out that he wasn’t. She had no idea he was the scion from Pemberley, nor did she know his worth.
Lady Catherine: OMG! I have read some pretty outrageous antics from Darcy’s b-witch of an aunt, but this, this was the icing on the cake. This was high octane and incendiary. Any minute I felt the place was going up in flames. OMG! She was horrid as she completely took over Darcy House and Anne was such a surprise. Watch the clues because they will lead you down the wrong path. I know because I followed that well-worn path fat-dumb-and-happy thinking I had figured it out. Nope, our author sent me out into the boonies on a wild-goose-chase. Dang! I hate when I fall for that and yet I love it when an author can trick me. Kudos to Nicole for such a brilliant twist.
“When you go on vacation [holiday] with people, you learn a lot about them.” –Sarah Mlynowski
I have always wanted page time with our dear couple. This was page time for sure as they traipsed all over London together. Yeah, this was a propriety issue and they received hell from their relations because of it. I loved the homage to ‘Roman Holiday’ and it was so appropriate to this story.
Angst, well yeah. It wouldn’t be a Clarkston JAFF variation if there wasn’t angst. Their misunderstandings were monumental and it all boiled down to… he didn’t express himself clearly and she misunderstood him entirely. These two were hot for each other but could never bring themselves to stop and say ‘what the heck are you trying to say?’ Oh well, it came to a wonderful conclusion. I gloried in the epilogue as I finished in the wee hours of the morning.
I received an ARC [advance reader copy] from the author with no expectations of a review. The views expressed are my own. There are some fantastic reviews already. I highly recommend this book to any JAFF [Jane Austen Fan Fiction] addict.
Author Nicole Clarkston utilizes several dramatic contrivances over these 300 pages that if you are willing to take a leap of faith, suspend your belief, this Austenesque pastiche will be a satisfyingly sweet confection. The novel begins with Darcy escaping his London townhome in the dead of night dressed as a footman after he discovers his aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, has drugged his drink, scheming to slip his cousin Anne into his bed to force his hand in marriage. His valet discovers this mischief after the fact but still within the hour so Darcy is still conscious. When the carriage carrying Elizabeth Bennet (who is visiting her aunt and uncle in London), nearly runs a drugged Darcy over, she takes this handsome “footman” back to Cheapside to offer aid and shelter for the evening. And THAT is how the story begins!
As with other Clarkston books, her Characters are thoroughly fleshed out and she takes her time developing her tale. This is a clean romance that will take you on a merry chase, encountering numerous fences before reaching the denouement.