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Reluctantly Mrs. Darcy: A Pride and Prejudice Regency Variation

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Elizabeth believes Darcy to be a proud, dour gentleman who cannot allow himself to be happy. She attends the Netherfield Ball in hopes of a promised dance with the handsome Mr. Wickham. When Wickham asks her to meet him in the Netherfield Library, she is cautious but willing to hear the gentleman out.

Instead, Mr. Darcy meets her, intent on saving her from a mistake she hasn’t yet made. And when his passion surfaces, he kisses her only to have Miss Caroline Bingley throw open the library doors in hopes of finding a scandal.

Now Elizabeth and Darcy must marry, else she is ruined and the scandal will prevent the happiness of her sisters.

Over the course of their marriage, Elizabeth learns more about the man she once thought cold-hearted and ill-humored. Indeed, she finds herself falling in love with her husband and can only hope that he returns her sentiments. But their newly-formed affections are tested as Wickham steals Lydia away, Mr. Collins is revealed to have a dangerous temper, and Miss Bingley does not allow a marriage to stand in the way of her own inappropriate designs.

Reluctantly Mrs. Darcy is a sweet, clean, and wholesome romance featuring Our Dear Couple in this Pride & Prejudice Variation. It is complete and features a compromising situation, forced marriage, gentlemanly behavior, the love of sisters, and a true romance of the heart with a guaranteed happily-ever-after.

298 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 4, 2018

57 people are currently reading
42 people want to read

About the author

Claire Cartier

2 books2 followers

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5 stars
34 (23%)
4 stars
36 (25%)
3 stars
43 (29%)
2 stars
27 (18%)
1 star
4 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
Profile Image for Anna Fitzwilliam.
229 reviews26 followers
August 2, 2018
The mistakes in this book make me ask if the author have read P&P. Lady Catherine was referred as Miss De Bourgh so many times that I was confused by it. Once, they mentioned Mr. Collins as being Mrs' Bennet nephew, Jane sent letters to Mr. Bingley and everybody saw this as something super ok and natural. And in their way to Pemberley, from Hertfordshire, Mr. and Mrs. Darcy left Georgiana in London at the morning and they got to Pemberley in the evening. Maybe they took the train!

Sometimes I can forgive these minor errors [no, lets be real, they are abysmal] if the story is superb. But it was not.
Profile Image for wosedwew.
1,331 reviews124 followers
May 2, 2020
Not much new ground covered. This is an author in need of an editor. I wondered if the author was familiar with P&P at all. Lady Catherine is referred to as "Miss de Bourgh" but she is still Darcy's aunt and she has a daughter that sometimes he is supposed to marry. A servant calls Darcy My Lord. Travel times are off.

Probably should be 2 Stars. I'm being generous with 2.5 rounded up to 3.
Profile Image for Sam H..
1,206 reviews58 followers
January 21, 2021
Elizabeth is compromised by Darcy and they must marry. That is the only thing that made any sense in this book.
It was one long superficial layer, with many holes, lack of details and after halfway through -no story line. It leapt from drama point to drama point pretty much as easily as everyone travelled from place to place.
Georgiana all but disappears after the wedding. Mary in the end was the most sympathetic character in the whole book.
10 reviews
April 26, 2019
Only my second DNF on here. After the first 4 chapters I found myself struggling to maintain my interest - I was having a hard time with Lizzy’s characterization (not to mention the rest of the Bennetts).

Among a number of other things I couldn’t get past her falling for Wickham’s scheme, it her family ‘s actions afterwards. Giving her the childhood backstory of ‘once she set a wing of the library on fire’ is absurd on any number of levels (Longbourne’s library would be unlikely to have wings and a fire would probably have burned the house down), and I can’t see her making off with a horse to go riding.

The characters are often titled incorrectly - Darcy may be extremely wealthy but he isn’t a lord. Lady Catherine isn’t a Miss. There are strange word choices (fervidly? a ‘teetering’ voice?).

I feel like with more proofreading and edits it could have worked well but it just didn’t gel for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
15 reviews
June 21, 2018
Uneven Work

I was attracted to this story by the premise of a forced marriage scenario. The author stayed true to canon in the development of most characters. However, the pace of events seemed haphazard and transitions were often awkward or insufficiently described. An example of this was the rescue of Lydia. It could have been better explained by further detailing. Most confusing was the repeated description of Lady Catherine as Miss DeBourgh. Her relationship to Darcy was not clear. The book is in need of editing and proofing, especially verb forms. So many language mistakes reduced my enjoyment of the story.


Profile Image for Cleo.
114 reviews
August 2, 2018
The premise was fascinating but I've read better fanfic based on similar tropes.
91 reviews1 follower
April 27, 2020
A Forced Marriage


In this variation, Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy are forced to marry after a scandal. This was a pretty weak regency romance. The writer didn’t know the societal norms of the regency period. Jane expected to receive letters from Mr Bingley, even though they were not engaged. Elizabeth agreed to meet Mr Wickham in a library, all alone, and Mr Darcy kissed Elizabeth. These events show a lack of research into the acceptable behavior of the time. They are also not consistent with the original characters of the Jane Austen book. Elizabeth’s character seemed almost silly in the beginning of the book.

This story also felt choppy. Mr Darcy told Elizabeth they should marry to ensure Jane Bennet and Bingley would continue their relationship and marry. He then turned around and told Bingley that Jane Bennet did not care for him. A glaring error in the story is that Lady Catherine is sometimes referred to as Miss De Bough and sometimes as Lady Catherine. The handling of the relationship of Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam was also does not flow. He kisses her, causes a scandal and never explains his behavior. There is little development of a relationship for the Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam. The book was not a very satisfying read.
457 reviews
July 18, 2018
I liked this version

I liked this version of what if Lizzy was forced to marry Darcy as they were caught kissing. Lizzy is more headstrong in this version but loves her family. Darcy is more closed off however when he does interact with Lizzy I could feel his love. Misunderstandings and a horrible Mr. Collins plague the family. Mary takes more of a role in this story as the sisters seem closer in this version, it not all about Jane.
There were a few typos it nothing that bothered me, although I was confused with Lady Catherine being referred to as Miss de Bourgh a few times.
227 reviews4 followers
June 17, 2021
As other reviewers have pointed out, this book needs a heavy re-write. Going into it, I gave it the benefit of the doubt. I can typically look past typos and name mix-ups for a good storyline, but the prevalence of mistakes in this book were too incessant to overlook. They kept yanking me out of the story. I can only stomach Lady Catherine referred to as Miss de Bourgh so many times. I put the book down once Jane mentioned she had been writing directly to Bingley. Nope. Nope. Nope. That would NEVER happen in Regency England. Especially not with Jane. Lydia? Maybe. But Jane? Nope. DNF at 42%.
36 reviews4 followers
June 14, 2018
Well worth reading

This is a riveting and well executed plot. I enjoyed the book immensely and highly recommend it. Don't start reading if you have other obligations as you may find it hard to put down.
Profile Image for Michelle David.
2,507 reviews15 followers
May 7, 2019
Different

An interesting variation inspired by author Jane Austen’s classic Pride and Prejudice. Not bad but not a lot of interaction between odc and felt short
Profile Image for this witch.
54 reviews
May 9, 2025
[placeholder - read a ff with the same title that was incomplete, by feliceb. not bad bad, but also not that good.]
39 reviews
December 13, 2021
Weirdly inaccurate and/or poorly edited. Basic plot that was boring to trudge through. Miss de Bourgh instead of Lady Catherine…??!!?? That’s more than just bad editing.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews

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