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Love's a Funny Thing: A Pride and Prejudice Variation Romance
Lizzie's a ballet dancer that may never dance again; Darcy's a doctor that helped save her leg.
A modern Pride and Prejudice variation romance exploring love and how it drives people to do some of the things they do.
A modern Pride and Prejudice variation romance exploring love and how it drives people to do some of the things they do.
521 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 15, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 23, 2017
Although this modern story echoes much of canon and has all our favorite and hated characters in it there is much to say about the modern world and a career woman's place in that. Can a woman who is focused on a career goal find and keep in her life a man who can, who will, love and support her and give her space for her career without demanding she give up part of that dedication for him or even eventually give it all up to become the little woman waiting for him with supper on the table?
Mrs. Bennet was, in this tale, a famous actress who with the rich Mr. Bennet has Jane and Lizzy. But they divorce and in her second marriage the lady has twins, Cat and Lydia. Jane has grown up to be a world famous model while Elizabeth from a very young age has been a ballerina. It is her love, her life, and what she lives for. She has already ended a love affair with one man who wanted her to marry him and give their relationship top-billing.
Elizabeth and Jane meet Will Darcy and Charles Bingley at a Christmas party; Charles, an actor, is enchanted and, of course, he urges his friend to join in the dancing but Dr. Darcy utters that infamous insult couched in modern terms so he is off to his same old good start.
Five days later Lizzie twists Jane's arm to go out to eat when a blizzard is beginning to stir. Jane becomes momentarily distracted just after a phone call from their mother and takes her hands off the steering wheel. After the crash they decide that since the cell phone is broken and it's freezing they can't sit and wait for help. Elizabeth's right calf is pinned by the mangled metal that has pushed in. She is determined to go with Jane, who has a head injury. She yanks her leg out and feels the cut deepening. Fate has Bingley's house being the first one they come upon and Darcy is there, also, trapped by the storm. Elizabeth resists his desire to sew up her leg. She hates needles and she doesn't particularly like him either. By the time they can get to a hospital several days later, the prognosis is dire. She’ll walk but never dance ballet again.
Elizabeth is the prima ballerina with the New York City Ballet Company and starred this year in The Nutcracker. But this injury has that company terminating her contract and all saying she will never dance again. Trade tabloids make much of the story: about not only Elizabeth's talent but also her hard work to get where she was when this all happened. This book highlights her efforts to come back as strong as ever and prove all the naysayers wrong and the parallel story about the emotions at work for her and for Jane.
Darcy has blundered in separating Jane and Bingley. He has admitted his love for Elizabeth and she has thrown it all back in his face. Months pass and Elizabeth reaches a point when she is accepted for auditions with ballet companies at home and abroad. It is in London where she really gets to know Darcy and his sister, Ana. Then come a moment when she is dancing in her audition there and she begins to realize that somehow Darcy has become part of her world. Her heart doesn’t just belong to ballet alone.
But soon she is called back to NYC due to Lydia’s fall from grace.
I found that this variation speaks more to the independent, driven, goal oriented woman in many of us of this modern age. Can we have the successful career and still have that love, that relationship? Are there men out there who really can respect that desire and allow the time and space needed in that?
Elizabeth does find, in the end, that there is space in her life for love. The author’s words in the last paragraphs so stirred my heart: “Love’s a funny thing.” … “Love is a battle. Love is a pushing and pulling of heartstrings and nerve endings. Love is a growing up.”
Mrs. Bennet was, in this tale, a famous actress who with the rich Mr. Bennet has Jane and Lizzy. But they divorce and in her second marriage the lady has twins, Cat and Lydia. Jane has grown up to be a world famous model while Elizabeth from a very young age has been a ballerina. It is her love, her life, and what she lives for. She has already ended a love affair with one man who wanted her to marry him and give their relationship top-billing.
Elizabeth and Jane meet Will Darcy and Charles Bingley at a Christmas party; Charles, an actor, is enchanted and, of course, he urges his friend to join in the dancing but Dr. Darcy utters that infamous insult couched in modern terms so he is off to his same old good start.
Five days later Lizzie twists Jane's arm to go out to eat when a blizzard is beginning to stir. Jane becomes momentarily distracted just after a phone call from their mother and takes her hands off the steering wheel. After the crash they decide that since the cell phone is broken and it's freezing they can't sit and wait for help. Elizabeth's right calf is pinned by the mangled metal that has pushed in. She is determined to go with Jane, who has a head injury. She yanks her leg out and feels the cut deepening. Fate has Bingley's house being the first one they come upon and Darcy is there, also, trapped by the storm. Elizabeth resists his desire to sew up her leg. She hates needles and she doesn't particularly like him either. By the time they can get to a hospital several days later, the prognosis is dire. She’ll walk but never dance ballet again.
Elizabeth is the prima ballerina with the New York City Ballet Company and starred this year in The Nutcracker. But this injury has that company terminating her contract and all saying she will never dance again. Trade tabloids make much of the story: about not only Elizabeth's talent but also her hard work to get where she was when this all happened. This book highlights her efforts to come back as strong as ever and prove all the naysayers wrong and the parallel story about the emotions at work for her and for Jane.
Darcy has blundered in separating Jane and Bingley. He has admitted his love for Elizabeth and she has thrown it all back in his face. Months pass and Elizabeth reaches a point when she is accepted for auditions with ballet companies at home and abroad. It is in London where she really gets to know Darcy and his sister, Ana. Then come a moment when she is dancing in her audition there and she begins to realize that somehow Darcy has become part of her world. Her heart doesn’t just belong to ballet alone.
But soon she is called back to NYC due to Lydia’s fall from grace.
I found that this variation speaks more to the independent, driven, goal oriented woman in many of us of this modern age. Can we have the successful career and still have that love, that relationship? Are there men out there who really can respect that desire and allow the time and space needed in that?
Elizabeth does find, in the end, that there is space in her life for love. The author’s words in the last paragraphs so stirred my heart: “Love’s a funny thing.” … “Love is a battle. Love is a pushing and pulling of heartstrings and nerve endings. Love is a growing up.”
July 6, 2017
While this is an interesting idea as a modern Pride and Prejudice and the writing itself is truly excellent, the story suffers from a heroine who is just plain ornery through much of the book. I have no idea how William Darcy would fall in love with this particular Elizabeth Bennet unless he's a masochist. The original Elizabeth was witty and lively and bantered with Mr. Darcy in a lighthearted manner that's missing here. She just comes across as cranky and mean.
Otherwise, I did enjoy the plot and the theme running through it. A ballet dancer whose whole sense of self-worth is bound up in her excellence as a dancer and suffers a debilitating injury makes for a great storyline, and it's developed nicely. Darcy is a wealthy man who has no need to work, but he became a doctor because he has a compelling need to find purpose in his life by helping people in a more hands-on way than just donating money to worthy causes. His attraction to Elizabeth would be so much more believable had her characterization been softened.
Otherwise, I did enjoy the plot and the theme running through it. A ballet dancer whose whole sense of self-worth is bound up in her excellence as a dancer and suffers a debilitating injury makes for a great storyline, and it's developed nicely. Darcy is a wealthy man who has no need to work, but he became a doctor because he has a compelling need to find purpose in his life by helping people in a more hands-on way than just donating money to worthy causes. His attraction to Elizabeth would be so much more believable had her characterization been softened.
July 21, 2017
In this modern Pride and Prejudice variation, Elizabeth is a world famous ballerina and Jane is an even more famous model. The story follows cannon almost exactly but for the modern situations. Darcy is a medical student who has an overdeveloped sense of duty, as always, but it doesn't follow his family's expectations. Elizabeth, who is very self centered, must learn that she is more than just a dancer. Together they find their way with help from their family and friends.
June 28, 2017
Mmm so good
Disclosure:: I took ballet very seriously as a child and even passed a Royal Ballet Exam. So this is pretty much two of my favorite things in one: Ballet & Pride and Prejudice
Modern variations can be SO good, and this is an excellent example. The original storyline is carefully followed, but with modern twists that fit perfectly.
I particularly appreciated the updated parallels with Wickham (yes, he's here!) making not only his cash out of what was left to him by the elder Mr Darcy equally as impressive now as it would have been then, but also the depth of his sins. Well done!! The reader is as impressed and horrified as I believe the reader would have been during the time period of the first publishing by what Wickham is capable of.
Quickly, I want to add how beautifully Darcy is written. All of the characters are updated well, and Jane is a favorite, for sure, but Darcy is given the opportunity to really show and prove his depth of love and understanding of Elizabeth here. When he does things, I myself understood his motivation more than I usually do. This is just due to good writing, honestly, however I really appreciated it.
Excellent! Worth your time and money, no question!
Disclosure:: I took ballet very seriously as a child and even passed a Royal Ballet Exam. So this is pretty much two of my favorite things in one: Ballet & Pride and Prejudice
Modern variations can be SO good, and this is an excellent example. The original storyline is carefully followed, but with modern twists that fit perfectly.
I particularly appreciated the updated parallels with Wickham (yes, he's here!) making not only his cash out of what was left to him by the elder Mr Darcy equally as impressive now as it would have been then, but also the depth of his sins. Well done!! The reader is as impressed and horrified as I believe the reader would have been during the time period of the first publishing by what Wickham is capable of.
Quickly, I want to add how beautifully Darcy is written. All of the characters are updated well, and Jane is a favorite, for sure, but Darcy is given the opportunity to really show and prove his depth of love and understanding of Elizabeth here. When he does things, I myself understood his motivation more than I usually do. This is just due to good writing, honestly, however I really appreciated it.
Excellent! Worth your time and money, no question!
October 7, 2017
This is another by Stephanie Bell -- probably also plagiarized but I have no idea who the author is.
I'm starting to recognize these by the cover art -- muted colors, out of focus, grainy
I'm starting to recognize these by the cover art -- muted colors, out of focus, grainy
March 9, 2018
This is a modern adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice in which Elizabeth Bennet is a ballerina, Fitzwilliam Darcy is an doctor, Charles Bingley is an actor, Caroline Bingley and Jane Bennet are models, and Louise and Mr. Hurst are internet dating, Wickham a hospital orderly, Collin is Anne de Bourgh's personal physical therapist, etc.
Elizabeth hears Darcy's "tolerable" comment at a party she is attending.
Late, Elizabeth and Jane have a car wreck in a snowstorm. They must walk to find help. It is Darcy's house they find. (Naturally...) He tends her wound as best he can, but she refuses stitches at first. By the time paramedics arrive, the hospital must remove part of her calf muscle. The ballet company ends her contract. Elizabeth encounters Wickham at the hospital. He admits to knowing the Darcys. Says he was an exchange student and Darcy refused to pay Wickham's college fees after the elder Darcy dies. So on and so on.
The story is okay, not spectacular, but I realize how hard it is to translate situations in Pride and Prejudice to modern times. I give Ms. Bell an "A" for effort.
Execution is the problem.
There is the occasional omitted word. Such as...
"she'd be able to it" = "to do it"
"she unsure of how she" = "she was unsure"
"Is that house" = "a house"
etc.
In chapters one and two, the word "alright" appears twenty times. How do I know? It is misspelled each of those times, drawing my attention to it. "All right" is the correct form.
Then there are phrases such as these...
"I'm apart of the NY City Ballet Company." = a part, not apart
"I was apart of a small..." = same as above example
"never a principle dancer" = try "principal"
"it had been her mother than had called them" = try "that"
"chased the unshed ears away" = "tears away"
"alter" = "altar" to be married at
The author splits nearly every infinitive in the story. Does no one teach this rule anymore?
Is the character's name "Catie" or "Cathy"?
All these mistakes take away from the story. Soon I was looking for errors instead of enjoying the tale.
Elizabeth hears Darcy's "tolerable" comment at a party she is attending.
Late, Elizabeth and Jane have a car wreck in a snowstorm. They must walk to find help. It is Darcy's house they find. (Naturally...) He tends her wound as best he can, but she refuses stitches at first. By the time paramedics arrive, the hospital must remove part of her calf muscle. The ballet company ends her contract. Elizabeth encounters Wickham at the hospital. He admits to knowing the Darcys. Says he was an exchange student and Darcy refused to pay Wickham's college fees after the elder Darcy dies. So on and so on.
The story is okay, not spectacular, but I realize how hard it is to translate situations in Pride and Prejudice to modern times. I give Ms. Bell an "A" for effort.
Execution is the problem.
There is the occasional omitted word. Such as...
"she'd be able to it" = "to do it"
"she unsure of how she" = "she was unsure"
"Is that house" = "a house"
etc.
In chapters one and two, the word "alright" appears twenty times. How do I know? It is misspelled each of those times, drawing my attention to it. "All right" is the correct form.
Then there are phrases such as these...
"I'm apart of the NY City Ballet Company." = a part, not apart
"I was apart of a small..." = same as above example
"never a principle dancer" = try "principal"
"it had been her mother than had called them" = try "that"
"chased the unshed ears away" = "tears away"
"alter" = "altar" to be married at
The author splits nearly every infinitive in the story. Does no one teach this rule anymore?
Is the character's name "Catie" or "Cathy"?
All these mistakes take away from the story. Soon I was looking for errors instead of enjoying the tale.
July 4, 2017
I must have been reading a different book than everyone else. The book was filled with errors in wording and punctuation. I found Lizzie to be annoyingly immature and bratty. There was nothing likeable about her.
July 3, 2017
Well written modern P & P novel
I enjoyed this read very much. It is a modern take that makes sense while still sticking to characters. Nicely done.
I enjoyed this read very much. It is a modern take that makes sense while still sticking to characters. Nicely done.
July 9, 2017
Very good!!
I really liked this story, new and interesting storyline. The characters were well developed and mostly likable.
I do recommend this book.
I really liked this story, new and interesting storyline. The characters were well developed and mostly likable.
I do recommend this book.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews