Mr. Darcy's Bite (Darcy Bites #1) in Explore the Many Genres of Jane Austen Spinoffs 2012 Reading Challenge

Sep 23, 2011 Maria Grazia rated it liked it

Shelves: read-in-2011, austen-inspired

To combine the Regency with parallel paranormal worlds has become a steady and successful reality it seems. Mashup they are called in the fan fiction market and they appeal to both readers who even happen to ignore who Jane Austen was and what her world was like as well as Janeites fond of gothic tales. Will the mashup trend also win new fans over and bring them to read Austen novels? I really hope so.
Mary Lydon Simonsen, after publishing more traditional sequels to Pride and Prejudice like Sear To combine the Regency with parallel paranormal worlds has become a steady and successful reality it seems. Mashup they are called in the fan fiction market and they appeal to both readers who even happen to ignore who Jane Austen was and what her world was like as well as Janeites fond of gothic tales. Will the mashup trend also win new fans over and bring them to read Austen novels? I really hope so.
Mary Lydon Simonsen, after publishing more traditional sequels to Pride and Prejudice like Searching for Pemberley and The Perfect Bride for Mr Darcy, decided to have a try at writing an original paranormal novel following the trend of "Mr. Darcy, Vampyre" by Amanda Grange (35,000 copies sold!). The result is this fresh diverting story in which the characters of Pride and Prejudice quite naturally interact with the mysterious and fascinating world of werewolves.
"As soon as he saw the fire and candles, he froze, and Lizzy froze as well. His eyes darted back and forth, scanning the room, and her heart went into her throat. She barely managed to croak out, "Mr Darcy, it is Elizabeth". But rather than her voice reassuring him, and he told her to come into the light. "What are you doing here?" he asked in an emotionless voice that contrasted sharply with the fire in his eyes. "I'm very sorry, sir. I have made a mistake." She started t walk backwards, but before she could reach the door, he grabbed her roughly by her arm. Now she was truly frightened. "(p. 58)
Mr Darcy with a lean and hungry look ? You can bet on that.
However, before I go further on, you must know that I'm not a fan of paranormal, gothic, horror, mystery, ghost stories. I avoid reading them as much as I can. Moreover, I have never read a mash-up of this kind, combining Austen characters with paranormal events and characters. Hence, you're not going to read the opinions of an expert or of a fan.

That said, if someone picks up this novel expecting Darcy to be a steamy, beasty werewolf, they will be disappointed with the very sober scenes in which they will learn that Darcy is definitely able to resist his strong instincts. He is an "almost" perfect gentleman, as he "almost" always was. Darcy is here strong tempered, sexy and romantic at the same time. He must disappear every month for a couple of days for there is no denying that the full moon seems to be affecting his behaviour and Elizabeth's love is going to be tested in ways she never dreamed ...
This time Darcy has more than family pride to protect: he is also the leader of a pack and is responsible for others of his kind.
Elizabeth has got a charming gorgeous rival in Lady Helen and this makes everything spicier: Lady Helen seems determined to get Darcy all for herself. After the initial shocking discovery about Darcy's past and present hidden nature, Lizzy is puzzled and frightened but she will react and fight back because she doesn't want to lose the man she loves either. She will fight back with her smart wit and her ingenuity.

I especially liked Mary Lydon Simonsen's humorous style. She is good with words and there are very amusing pages in this novel, for instance those describing Elizabeth and Darcy engaged in their inevitable skirmishes. It is a delightful paranormal romance that will appeal to mashup fans and to those loving Austen sequels with a new take on familiar events. ...more

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Oct 20, 2011 Candy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: austenesque

This isn’t your typical werewolf story, it is a romance. Oh, Mr. Darcy is most definitely a werewolf but this is not a gruesome story. In fact, Mary Simonsen made the whole werewolf thing very interesting and surprisingly organized!

After months of Mr. Darcy calling on Elizabeth, he still hasn’t proposed and Elizabeth is getting annoyed by the whole business. Mr. Darcy is trying to figure out how tell Elizabeth that he is a werewolf. He takes her to Pemberley to tell her. While there she learn ...more

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Oct 13, 2011 Jakki rated it it was amazing

Werewolves and Pride & Prejudice? Really? Those were my initial thoughts. However, skeptical as I was, I wanted to read what Simonsen wrote. Page by page my curiosity was piqued and I was drawn into the story. I love stories where there is competition for a character's love. Elizabeth has just that. The other lady is not only drop-dead gorgeous but she also shares something with Darcy Elizabeth does not. Simonsen truly captured the loyal and protective Darcy, as well as the compassionate and imp ...more

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Jul 29, 2011 Charlene rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This is just an update in that I have reread this book and throughly enjoyed it the second time.

I actually started this book Sat nite Oct 22. As you can see this a really fun and fast read. I picked it up for my Holloween book and could not put it down,it did not disappoint. I first have to say that after reading many of Mary's book I am truely a fan. I love her writing style. She puts fun and wimsical in her books but does so without making it wrong. This book starts out in the 1st chapter expl ...more

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