Blog Tour: My Own Mr Darcy by Karey White

My Own Mr Darcy (Goodreads)

Being a committed Jane Austen fan, I couldn't resist this when I saw it offered as part of a blog tour. The gorgeous cover alone was enough to draw me in and the premise was fun. . .

At sixteen, Elizabeth was dragged to see the Pride & Prejudice movie by her mother. The moment Matthew Macfadyen, who played Mr Darcy, appeared on the screen, she was smitten. By the time the movie ended she'd made a vow that no man would ever be good enough for her unless he was identical to Mr Darcy. Her dream guy even had to look like Matthew Macfadyen!

Years, and many unsuccessful dates later, her best friend forces her to agree to give the last guy she went out with ten dates. Enter Chad. He's the charming, sweet guy of the story. Sadly for Chad, shortly after starting her dating challenge with him, she meets her Matthew Macfadyen lookalike. Pity he's an absolute creep with whom she has nothing in common . . . It takes much of the book for Elizabeth to realize this, but in the end we get our happy ever after.

So much for the plot, did I enjoy it?

Yes, I did. It was fun, light-hearted and squeaky clean (a refreshing change from so many other contemporary romances I've read lately)

The characters - while not exactly deep - were nicely penned. 

I especially liked Chad - but then, I was clearly meant to. Karey White made very sure that her reader knew exactly who the 'good' and 'bad' guys were in her story. This is perhaps my deepest criticism. It all felt a little too black and white for me. Her treatment of Matt left us in doubt that he was the 'bad' guy. The trouble was that his flaws reflected badly on Elizabeth's character. Her obsession with her Mr Darcy-ideal-lived-through-Matt made her appear really stupid at times. I found myself shaking my head, wondering how she could bear to be with a guy who treated her so badly when she could have been with an infinitely nicer - and far more suitable - guy like Chad. But I guess that is what obsession is all about - it robs the victim of reason.

Because of Elizabeth's obsession, the plot allowed for some good character development. Happily Elizabeth finally comes to her senses and sees Matt and Chad for what they really are. Although I was delighted that she ended up with the right guy, I think Chad forgave her a little too easily. Also, I felt the ending was wrapped up too quickly. The book would have benefited from an epilogue.

For all my criticisms, would I recommend it? 

Definitely, especially if you love a contemporary romance and Jane Austen. One of the strengths of the book was that it wasn't just a retelling. It was a fresh story built on the bones of Pride and Prejudice. I really liked that.

Number of stars?

I give it three enjoyable stars.

cheers
Gwynn
PS. I received a free copy of this book as part of the blog tour.

Cover Reveal & Excerpts: My Own Mr Darcy by Karey White

Being a crazy fan of Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice, and because I'm part of the Blog Tour for this book, I couldn't resist posting this . . .  Enjoy!

After being dragged to the 2005 movie Pride and Prejudice by her mother, sixteen-year-old Elizabeth’s life changes when Matthew Macfadyen’s Mr. Darcy appears on the screen. Lizzie falls hard and makes a promise to herself that she will settle for nothing less than her own Mr. Darcy. This ill-advised pledge threatens to ruin any chance of finding true love. During the six intervening years, she has refused to give any interested suitors a chance. They weren’t Mr. Darcy enough.

Coerced by her roommate, Elizabeth agrees to give the next interested guy ten dates before she dumps him. That guy is Chad, a kind and thoughtful science teacher and swim coach. While she’s dating Chad, her dream comes true in the form of a wealthy bookstore owner named Matt Dawson, who looks and acts like her Mr. Darcy. Of course she has to follow her dream. But as Elizabeth simultaneously dates a regular guy and the dazzling Mr. Dawson, she’s forced to re-evaluate what it was she loved about Mr. Darcy in the first place.

Karey White grew up in Utah, Idaho, Oregon, and Missouri. She attended Ricks College and Brigham Young University. Her first novel, Gifted, was a Whitney Award Finalist.

She loves to travel, read, bake treats, and spend time with family and friends. She and her husband are the parents of four great children. She teaches summer creative writing courses to young people and is currently working on her next book.

Website * Twitter * Facebook * Goodreads

Excerpt 1

Janessa folded her arms and looked at me for so long I started to squirm. “What?”
“I wish you’d look at yourself. You’re ruining your life with this stupid obsession.”

“I’m not obsessed.” I stood up quickly, nearly tipping my chair over. I rinsed my plate and put it in the dishwasher. I could feel Janessa’s eyes on me the entire time, but I refused to look at her. “And just because I’m not interested in this guy doesn’t mean my life is ruined.”

“Let me guess. Was he blond?”

“Knock it off.”

“Too short?”

“He wasn’t short. I’ve got to go.” I left the kitchen with Janessa on my heels.

“Was he too cheerful?”

“Oh brother. I’m not having this conversation with you.”

Janessa grabbed my arm and turned me toward her. “Yes, you are.”

“I’m going to be late for work.”

“Then we’d better talk fast.”

“I don’t have anything to say,” I said.

“Then I’ll talk. You listen. You have to start giving these guys a chance.”

I folded my arms tightly. “I give them a chance.”

“You give them one date, two at the most. But you’re not really giving them a chance because your mind’s already made up before you even go out.”

I was getting annoyed. “I don’t have time for this conversation again.” Janessa was practically reciting word for word what she’d said after my last date. And the one before that.

“Lizzie. If you don’t want to have the same conversation, do something different. Shake things up a little.” She smiled and did a little shimmy. I refused to smile no matter how silly she looked.

“How do you suggest I do that?”

“If this guy… What’s his name?”

“Chad.”

“If Chad calls you back, go out with him again.”

“I don’t see the point.”

“Did you get a serial killer vibe from him?”

“No, I got a nice-guy-that-doesn’t-deserve-to-be-led-on vibe from him.”

“Nice guys are good. So you’ll say yes, right?”

“If I’m not interested, it wouldn’t be fair to say yes.”

“Oh knock off the baloney. You haven’t been fair to a guy since high school. You’re just afraid if you get to know a guy, you might like him. And wouldn’t that be awful? Was Chad funny?”

“Yes, he was funny.”

“Handsome?”

I sighed. “I don’t know if I’d call him handsome, but he was cute.”

“Cute is good. Especially if he was funny. So go out with him again.”

“You act like it’s all up to me.” I walked to the closet and collected my purse. Like a tiger leaping on her prey, Janessa pounced at the bowl on the entry table and grabbed my car keys. “This isn’t funny, Janessa. I’m going to be late for work.”

“Then let’s make a deal. You agree to go out with him ten times before you toss him aside and I’ll give you your keys.”

“Ten times? No way.”

“That’ll give you time to get to know him.”

“You’ve got to be kidding.”

“I’m serious, Lizzie. Ten is a good number. In that amount of time, you can make a real decision. Instead of one based on a stupid movie.”

Now Janessa was skipping through a minefield. “It’s not a stupid movie and I’ve got to go.”

“It’s the stupidest movie in the world if it ruins your life.”

“Nothing’s ruining my life and I’m going to be late. Give me my keys and we’ll talk about this later.” A little tussle ensued as I tried to rescue my keys from her clutches. I almost had them when she darted to the bathroom and shut the door hard and fast, locking it behind her. “This is real mature.”

“I don’t care about mature. You’re my best friend, Lizzie.  I love you and I’m trying to save you from yourself.”

I banged on the door. “Give me the keys. Now.” My voice had become shrieky.

“I’ll give you the keys as soon as you promise you’ll go out with him ten times.”

“I doubt he’ll ask me out again.”

“Why? Were you a jerk?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

I hesitated, knowing I hadn’t been very good company. “I’m pretty sure.”

“If he doesn’t ask you out, you have to ask him.”

“No way am I asking out a guy ten times. No way!”

“You just have to ask him out once. If he doesn’t return the favor you can move on. But you have to be nice to him and give him a reason to want to ask you out again.”

“This is the dumbest idea you’ve ever had.”

“Listen Liz, I’m doing this for you. Give a guy a chance before you give him the old heave-ho.”

I leaned my head on the door. “Just give me the keys. Please.” Now I was whining.

“You’re the one keeping yourself from your keys. And probably true love.”

I looked at my watch. Now I’d have to risk a speeding ticket or get to work five minutes late. I wasn’t sure which was worse—a ticket from a police officer or a tongue-lashing from Delia.

“Fine. I’ll go out with him again if he asks me.”

“And?”

“If he doesn’t ask me, I’ll ask him?”

“Right. And how many times will you go out with him?”

“Way too many,” I said under my breath.

“I can’t hear you.”

“Ten times. If he asks me.”

The door cracked open. “And you’ll be nice to him?”

“Whatever you say. Now give me the keys.”

Janessa emerged from the bathroom and triumphantly dropped my keys into my outstretched hand.

“You’re an idiot,” I said.

“An idiot that loves you and wants you to be happy,” she said. She turned and headed down the hall. “Someday you’ll thank me,” she sang.

“If I don’t kill you first.” I slammed the door behind me.

Excerpt 2

It was a busy Monday morning. I was looking out at the line of waiting customers when he walked in. I gasped, shut my thumb in my cash drawer, and then tried not to cry while Mr. Sandoval from a hearing aid store asked me if I was okay.

When I finished Mr. Sandoval’s transaction, I looked at him again. He was taller than anyone in the room. Of course. His hair was dark and a little disheveled. It was hard to see from where I was, but his eyes looked like they were blue. And best of all, he didn’t smile. He looked gorgeously unpleasant and impatient. He looked around the room and his eyes met mine. Still he didn’t smile. My heart was racing. He looked perfect.

I did my best to time it so I’d be his teller. I went a little too fast with one customer and accidentally shorted her a twenty dollar bill. I tried to concentrate as I corrected the transaction. I slowed way down on the next customer, but just when I thought I was finished and would be able to help him next, my customer asked me to break a ten into change. He walked up to Courtney’s window while I counted out nickels and dimes. Furious, I stomped my foot. Not too loudly but enough to release a little of my frustration.

I listened closely as Courtney helped him to see if I could learn anything, but he hardly spoke. He gave a terse nod when Courtney thanked him for coming in and turned on his heel and left. He had excellent posture and a nice, confident stride.

I finished with my customer, and then before anyone else could step forward, I picked up the phone and dialed Courtney’s extension. She glanced at her phone’s display and looked over at me curiously.
            “Who was that?” I whispered when she picked up the receiver.

“Elizabeth, look how many customers there are.”

“I know. Just tell me who that was.” I watched as Courtney picked up her last transaction slip.

“His name is Matt Dawson.”

“Is he married?”

“I have no idea,” Courtney said.

“Was he wearing a ring?”

“I didn’t look. What’s going on, Lizzie?”

“I just need to know about him.”

“Well, I don’t know anything about him and Delia’s watching us. I’ve gotta go.”

Matt Dawson. Matt. Matthew. Like Matthew Macfadyen. Dawson. It was pretty close to Darcy. The only way it could be better is if his name was Fitzwilliam but I’d never met a Fitzwilliam in my life.

Matt Dawson.

This had to be a sign.  

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Review: Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

On behalf of all the Greek gods everywhere, I protests! 

Vehemently. 

And if I were Hades, I would whistle up my three-headed dog, leap into my chariot, scream across the River Styx and come and smite Aimee Carter for daring to malign my name by association with Henry (Henry!!!), so-called hero of this book.

The book in question?

 

The Goddess Test (Goodreads)

Regular readers to my blog will know that I don't slam books. In fact, I make a point of trying to find positive things about every book I review. This time however, words fail me. Still, I will try . . . 

Find the positives. 

Ho-hum . . . Rubs chin . . .  

Ah! Light bulb moment. 

Kate, the heroine, is a devoted nurse to her dying mother. Yes, we'll go with that. But she is also so guilt-ridden as to make her pathetic. Almost as pathetic as the love interest Henry, AKA Hades. But we will get on to him in a minute. 

So back to Kate. Let me explain: If a so-called friend (Ava) invites you to a party, drives you into the bush to said party, only for you to discover that it's all a lie - a ploy to get you on your own so the so-called friend can abandon you in the wilds - would you feel responsible/guilty when said friend cracks her head open on a rock and dies? No, of course not. No normal person would. 

But Kate now, she's different. I mean, if she hadn't moved to Eden, hadn't met Ava, hadn't spoken once in passing to Ava's boyfriend, hadn't agreed to accept the party invitation, then Ava would never have needed to dump her in the first place, and then Ava would never have cracked her head open on the rock and died. So it's all Kate's fault. Logical, right? 

Wrong. But that doesn't stop Kate from trading away half her life to Henry in-exchange for resuscitating Ava. 

Yes, Kate and Henry are relieving the Hades and Persephone story, but with a modern-day twist. 

Now I'm all for kindness and doing a good turn, but really, this is just ridiculous. And it didn't stop there. Kate carries such a burden of guilt, I swear she begrudges herself the oxygen she breaths. I honestly can't remember when last I found a heroine to be so pathetic.

Pathetic, that word again.

And then there's Henry. *Eye Roll* I won't debase Hades again by referring to him in the same breath as his namesake Henry. Just know that Hades was not - and never will be - a hot teenage immortal. But here in The Goddess Test, our Henry is gorgeous (of course), tortured (obviously) and only about eighteen years old. (Does the name Edward Cullen ring any bells?) He is also pathetic. 

I think Carter was trying to put the pants on the wimpy Kate by making her the (supposedly) tough one, the seducer of the god, which is why she made Henry so diffident and, dare I say it, so useless. As a ploy, it was an epic fail. 

Which brings me to the love.

There are some authors who know how to write love (Katie McGarry and Stephenie Meyer spring to mind) They can take the simplest moments and create sizzling romance out of them. Carter, I'm afraid, isn't one of those authors. Not once did my heartstrings tug, not once did I feel the slightest tingle, or the vaguest flutter of butterfly wings. The love in this book is about as dead as the folk living in Hades' Underworld.

And speaking of the Underworld, what about the other Greek gods? 

Yes, they're all represented here. Ah, another positive! I have to give Aimee Carter credit for an interesting twist at the end of the book. But, yet again, if you showed Zeus, or Poseidon, or Athene their supposed look-a-likes in The Goddess Test, they would, in Kate's words, 'turn you into a pile of ash'. Carter's gods are about as unbelievable and as unimpressive as a photocopied banknote.

So, I think you can gather that I didn't go for The Goddess Test in a big way, and I definitely won't be reading the sequel, even though I have it sitting on my bookshelf. I had my daughters in mind when I bought these books, but knowing their tastes, I think I'll just frogmarch these two down to the book exchange.

Stars? 

Don't ask. We in the southern hemisphere have a cosmic phenomenon called The Coal Sack, (a dark patch of sky near the Southern Cross), so named for the total lack of observable stars. Maybe that would be my rating . . . one miserable coal sack.

I know many of you will disagree with my review. Please don't be shy to comment and tell me why you think I've got it all wrong.

Cheers

Gwynn

Across The wall - Review

To be honest, I bought this book because I wanted to read Across The Wall, the final novella in the Abhorsen series. Imagine my delight then, when I discovered twelve other wonderful short stories, almost all with Nix’s characteristic fantastical twist! Enchanted, that’s what I was.

Let me deal with the shorties first before I review Across The Wall.

I really am hard-pressed to choose a favourite, but I think the joint award goes to Hope Chest, Under the Lake, Heart’s Desire and Hansel’s Eyes.

What’s so intriguing about this book, is that Nix explains how each story came to be written, giving such insight into him as an author. Anyway, Hope Chest grew out of his love for spaghetti Westerns. This magical story shows us what happens when a Hitler-like figure arrives in a small town, where the enigmatic ‘Annie Get Your Gun’ Alice May lives. The result is both bloody and compelling. It has an almost dystopian feel. Wonderful.

Although Nix claims to hate the Arthurian legend, there are two stories based on that mythology. Under the Lake  - a twist on the Lady of the Lake - and Heart’s Desire – the story of Merlin and Nimue. Both feature Merlin, but in very different guises. And trust me, there is definitely be something lurking at the bottom of that lake, but she’s no lady!

Hansel’s Eyes is a modern-day retelling of the Grimm’s classic, complete with a ‘Hagmum’. A fantastic page-turner filled with equal parts of humour and terror.

Finally, Across The Wall . . . In this action-packed novella, Nicholas Sayre – one of my favourite fictional characters – makes his way from Ancelstierre to the Old Kingdom – and Lirael. The story ends with all the implied love left hanging at the end of the Abhorsen series. And hopefully with room for more books seen from Nicholas and Lirael’s POV. Please, Garth Nix, please! Because this story is set in Ancelstierre, Nix had to create a new world, and he drew heavily on the writing of another favourite author of mine, PG Wodehouse, for his country house setting. It worked very well. Still, I was sad when the book ended. I for one am just not ready to leave the Old Kingdom yet.

As an author, I find great inspiration in Garth Nix's books, so if you choose to follow my blog, beware, you will be hearing more about his brilliant work.

I give this book four stars. Across The Wall gets a full five.

cheers
Gwynneth