Review: Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe by Melissa De La Cruz

Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe

by Melissa De La Cruz

October 17, 2017
224 pages

Goodreads    Indigo

Goodreads Summary:
From bestselling author MELISSA DE LA CRUZ, comes a dazzling retelling of Pride and Prejudice with a Christmas twist.

Darcy Fitzwilliam is 29, beautiful, successful, and brilliant. She dates hedge funders and basketball stars and is never without her three cellphones—one for work, one for play, and one to throw at her assistant (just kidding). Darcy’s never fallen in love, never has time for anyone else’s drama, and never goes home for Christmas if she can help it. But when her mother falls ill, she comes home to Pemberley, Ohio, to spend the season with her dad and little brother.

Her parents throw their annual Christmas bash, where she meets one Luke Bennet, the smart, sardonic slacker son of their neighbor. Luke is 32 and has never left home. He’s a carpenter and makes beautiful furniture, and is content with his simple life. He comes from a family of five brothers, each one less ambitious than the other. When Darcy and Luke fall into bed after too many eggnogs, Darcy thinks it’s just another one night stand. But why can’t she stop thinking of Luke? What is it about him? And can she fall in love, or will her pride and his prejudice against big-city girls stand in their way?

Review

Despite having never read any of Jane Austen's original works (I've seen some the movies) I'm a sucker for any retellings of hers especially those of Pride and Prejudice. I have a particular weakness for Mr. Darcy which I trust needs no explanation ;)  This Christmas rendition was festive and fast-paced.

Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe was a whirlwind of a romance story. Ms. Melissa De La Cruz does a great job of bringing out the holiday mood under which the family drama and romantic entanglements unfolded. I really enjoyed the gender-swapped twists to the story. It was powerful, refreshing and most of all fun.

The story was a little different than what I would've imagined but I didn't like it any less for it. The characters were frustrating at times with their snap judgments but thankfully they didn't allow their poor decisions to drag on. Any issues were quickly resolved and the dramatics kept to a minimal. I never thought I'd ever say this but the amount of angst was kind of perfect. It was there but not stifling in its presence. Just enough to sweeten the ending.

I'm thinking Melissa De La Cruz needs to write more gender-swapping retellings of all the classics. It would be even more perfect if they all had a festive edge. I'm sure they will be so delightful I'll gobble them all up in no time like I did with Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe!

 

*I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinion are my own and not affected in any way.