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Writer's pictureCaitlyn Lynch

Book Review: The Wrong Mr Darcy by Evelyn Lozada and Holly Lörincz


The first thing you should let go of with this book is the impression that it has anything whatsoever to do with Pride & Prejudice. Apart from a few character names and the hero and heroine not liking each other very much at the beginning, the two stories have nothing whatsoever in common.

The second expectation to lose is that you’ll find anything funny about this supposed rom-com. I never even cracked a smile, never mind laughed. In fact, there are an awful lot of terrible, triggery things that happen, from blackmail, cheating, miscarriage, attempted suicide, violent assault and more. From the opening scenes, when the heroine is visiting her father in prison, it’s gritty and dark, and there’s never more than a thin veneer of gloss put over it when Hara is brought into the glitzy world of a pro basketball team. There’s infighting (especially between the wives and girlfriends) at least one of whom is depicted as dangerous. And considering that Hara thinks Derek Darcy “must have had a hundred one-night stands” and his condemnation of women as “wannabe baby mamas” the complete absence of even a conversation about contraception before they have sex is glaring.

Apparently Evelyn Lozada has dated several pro sportsmen, but from this, you wouldn’t think she’d got any closer to that world than watching episodes of Ballers. Frankly, that’s exactly how this reads, only told from the perspective of a wannabe WAG rather than a sports agent.

And I didn’t even touch yet on the disturbingly racist and genetically inaccurate half African-American half Japanese heroine having “caramel skin and translucent blue, almond-shaped eyes”.

This is a hot mess and I cannot believe anyone has DARED to market it as a “charming, multicultural Pride and Prejudice-inspired romantic comedy”. It is absolutely NONE of those things and it’s getting a one star from me.


Disclaimer: I received a review copy of this title via NetGalley.

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