Such a fun read for Austen fans! Lozada & Lorincz have made “The Wrong Mr. Darcy“ both satisfyingly familiar and wholly original. I enjoyed the characters and diverse representation woven into the environments of professional sports, journalism and women representation.

The Wrong Mr. Darcy is a fantastic read... despite the title it has an original and engaging plot that unfolds at a nice pace, letting the readers really get to know and like the characters and feel really connected to the story.

Ein schlechtes Buch (0 Sterne!)

Moderne Versionen der Bücher von Jane Austen ziehen mich magisch an, die wenigstens sind super, aber das hält mich nicht davon ab, solchen Bücher eine Chance zu geben. „The Wrong Mr. Darcy“ hörte sich nach „Pride & Prejudice“ trifft sports romance an und das klang für mich wie die perfekte Kombination. Leider muss ich nach dem Lesen sagen, dass das Buch einfach nur schlecht war. Ein paar wenige Elemente und Namen von „Pride & Prejudice“ finden sich im Buch wieder, vergeblich sucht man die Essenz der Geschichte, den Charme, den geniale Schreibstil Austens und die tollen Dialoge. Stattdessen bekommt man eine Geschichte vorgesetzt, die an dramatischen, absolut unglaubwürdigen Ereignissen nicht zu übertreffen ist. Ernste Themen werden leichtfertig behandelt, die Charaktere sind zum Teil zum Abgewöhnen unsympathisch und eindimensional. Die Beschreibung von allem, was mit Basketball zu tun hat, ist zum Schreien schlecht. Dazu kommen noch ein paar geschmacklose, wertende Kommentare in Bezug auf so ziemlich alles und jeden. So macht das Lesen keinen Spaß!

Nachdem mich das Buch Seite um Seite enttäuscht hat, habe ich mal online nachgeschaut, was die Autorin sonst so geschrieben hat. Dabei habe ich herausgefunden, dass die Autorin vor allem dafür bekannt ist Influencerin zu sein und mit verschiedenen Profisportlern eine Beziehung gehabt zu haben. Hätte sie nicht einige Millionen Follower auf Instagram, wäre das Buch wohl nie erschienen.

Für mich als Leserin ist es ärgerlich, dass solch ein Buch verlegt wird und andere Autor:innen Absage nach Absage bekommen. Bei der Bewertung ist nur ein Stern möglich, null wären mir lieber gewesen.

Ableist language is a no for me.

I was excited about this book for various reasons; for starters, the cover was cute and the blurb was catchy and this sounded good. And then there's the whole retelling thing, BUT in the end it didn't work for me. Leaving aside the ableist language that I really hate (hello!!! it's 2020!!), the main characters were so... bland, I really don't know where the plot was but this was boring, and when they weren't being dull, they were annoying. It is truly a miracle that I managed to finish this.

2.5 stars rounded up. I’m always down to read a modern take on Pride & Prejudice, but unfortunately this didn’t do it for me. I couldn’t ever get settled in enough to enjoy the book. A lot of details just didn’t make sense or seemed underdeveloped. The plot was also choppy and hard to follow at times.

I think there’s much better romance out there with more rounded characters and stronger writing. So unfortunately this just wasn’t the book for me.

The description of "The Wrong Mr. Darcy"
sounded interesting, usually books inspired by Jane Austen are a fun read, so I was looking forward to this one. I know the author had some perosnal interest in the PNW area and I was happy to see Oregon mentioned. This storyline really had potential, a female sports reporter who discovers a scandalous story, unfortunately the plot took a turn towards corny and unbelievable. This book had too many inconsistencies and repetitive details. I didn't like the condescending way the author described people, especially the elderly and the patrons in the arena below the owners box.
Hara's blue eyes were mentioned so many times, they could have had their own chapter. Overall, I wasn't impressed with this modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice.

I received this book complimentary from NetGalley but all opinions are my own.

Okay so I tried. And failed hard on this one. It was full of tropes and stereotypes but not interestingly at all. It was just like “insert stereotype. Do nothing.” The main character was interesting I guess but it went no where. So much time spent over such a short period. So many unanswered questions. I really couldn’t get over the tropes though. Highly recommend that you avoid this one.

This was an interesting read. I wasn't sure what to expect going in to this book. It is a sports twist on Pride and Prejudice. I love basketball which made this book that much more interesting to me. Hara, the female character, is a reporter for a little town in Oregon and she wins a writing competition. The prize is the chance to interview a big time NBA star. What she isn't ready for is the change to her world that will happen.

This is a great book and I definitely would suggest it to my friends to read.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins' Press for the opportunity to read this book.

Hara Isari's goal is to be a big-time sports reporter for a newspaper. She gets a once in a lifetime shot at a story when she is chosen in a contest to write about an elusive basketball star. While interviewing the star, she meets Derek Darcy, an up and coming basketball player. Will Hara truly be able to get to know the "wrong" Mr. Darcy? And will she be able to come out of the trip alive when she finds out more than she should?

This book started out really great - romance, basketball, mystery, drama - everything a good book should have. About 80-90% of the book was well written. What is causing me to give this only three stars is the ending. It felt very rushed and not cohesive. I love the Pride and Prejudice theme throughout the book but it could have been better executed.

This book was given to me an an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in an exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated in any way.

I was so excited to read this because I loved the description but unfortunately, I just did not like the book. It read more like a first draft than a finished piece with tons of plot points that weren't fully fleshed out. I am not sure whether the authors wrote it together or just mashed their individual parts together but it seems more like the latter. Lastly, the descriptions throughout the book referred to the main characters as 'the basketball player' and 'the young reporter' and it was strange. It was as though the authors felt the need to constantly remind readers of the characters' careers as though it wasn't a central part of the story.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this title.

Unfortunately this title didn’t grab my attention enough to finish

Oh dear. When I first started this one, I thought, well, this is a bit info dump-y, but this is an interesting enough set up for a P&P retelling. Sadly, those opening chapters and their promise were the high points of this one. I'm afraid I can't really find much to recommend this book. The plot was not really what was advertised- this is only a P&P retelling in the most broad sense, and what plot there is comes across as wildly improbably and inconsistent (why is this struggling small town newspaper spending all this money for this sports story?). The writing is... let's go with uneven. And the characters are thinly drawn at best (how does this sports reporter know almost nothing about the subject she's covering?) and play off of dubious racial tropes at worst (the biracial Asian character with blue eyes? honestly, it's 2020) .

Sadly, all in all, this does not have much to recommend it other than a nice cover & a well written back copy that promises more than it can deliver.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I am rating The Wrong Mr Darcy 3 stars. While I enjoyed the basic premise, it felt like the plot line lacked enough depth. I liked the main character, Hara, and felt she could really be a strong protagonist, but it just fell a tad flat.

I have voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this title given to me via NetGalley. Wow what can I say about this title it was just an awesome read. This book was just something so wonderfully different I’ve never quite read anything like this. You should read to find out you won’t be disappointed. I’m definitely going to read more by this author.

There can never be enough Austen inspired romance. This book took Mr Darcy and completely upended and rewrote this beloved story into something fresh and new and exciting. I cannot wait for this to be in readers hands.

The Wrong Mr. Darcy follows Hara Isari, a struggling sports reporter trying to find her footing in a male-dominated career. She gets the opportunity of a lifetime to get an exclusive interview with one of the player’s on a basketball team that has been silent for a long time and then she also meets his teammate and friend, Derek Darcy, and romance may or may not ensue.

First off, I want to make something very clear:
I don’t know a lot about the basketball world.

I think that’s an important distinction to make, as there is not only a bit of basketball talk which I cannot confirm is accurate or not, and therefore didn’t bother me. But, also, there was a lot of drama from the wives/girlfriends of the basketball players and I don’t know if that was realistic or not, and it did effect my enjoyment of the book.

Let’s start with the good:
I really enjoyed some of the points the author was trying to make. Hara is a female reporter covering basketball in a male-dominated field, and throughout the whole book she has to deal with some very sexist comments. Because of this she also has some doubts about herself and her talents.

Was she here because of what she looked like, rather than her talent as a writer?

Another point the author was trying to make was how some schools (like an Ivy League school) are starting to pay athletic stars in order to get them to come to their school. However, this means that public schools and also HBC’s also a lot of the times can’t afford to recruit the star, and therefore lose funding when they don’t do as well in the athletic field. This is a serious topic and deserves a lot more discussion then it gets. But I applaud the author for trying to go after it. I just wish it hadn’t been surrounded by so much drama.

When his mother took that money, she became part of a growing national controversy, a trend that could ruin colleges and kids’ lives. If an athletic kid could be bought, then the rich schools were going to get the best players. The colleges that couldn’t afford blackmail bids would lose the ability to draw athletes, and then their funding was going to go down the toilet. Which would affect all the students at that school.

The things I didn’t like:
Drama. Drama. Drama. There was a lot of drama in this book. Way too much. I can’t say if it was realistic or not, but I highly doubt there’s this much drama that would happen in less than a month. The main character’s dad is in jail, and she and her dad both get blackmailed while he’s in prison. There’s almost an abortion, and then there’s a miscarriage. A crazy storm that starts flooding the city. Someone almost dies, and then almost dies again when they try to commit suicide. One of the girlfriend’s of the basketball players, literally takes her earrings off and shoes at a bar in order to start a fight. And more.

Also, the main character is described in such a way that she’s a special snowflake.

”Nah, my dad is Japanese American and my mom is African American. Guyanese, actually, but like four generations back. If I did one of those DNA tests, I think they’d find a little of literally everything.”

I understand that she’s mixed. But I couldn’t understand how someone could say this out loud to a person, and then later mention how they hated people asking her about who she is?

People were constantly asking her where she was from, or, more rudely, “What are you?”

This is something awful that people in this world have started asking, and I hated that this social commentary was lessened by her constant verbal diarrhea.

Hara liked to find reasons to be happy, not emo.

”But just because I like sports doesn’t make me gay.”

I don’t understand how the above lines were even considered for publication.

And the final issue I had was with the romance. :(
I really liked Derek and Hara as a couple and I thought that most of their romance and their connection with each other was done right and believable. But, they get together intimately a couple of times, and all but one time was glossed over. And the one time was not so great.

Overall, I really liked what the author was trying to say. But I didn’t enjoy the execution. The Wrong Mr. Darcy is not a direct retelling of Pride and Prejudice but does take some inspiration from the classic. I think there is an audience for this book, and definitely for the content.

If you’re interested in a Pride and Prejudice retelling, pass on this one. I have read the classic many times and I love reading retellings - I am very confused as to how this story qualifies as one. The male protagonist is named Derek Darcy. There’s a character named Kitty. That’s about it. It’s barely even hate-to-love.

There is SO much going on in this book. Trigger warning for suicide, miscarriage, and general violence. In my opinion, it was doing a bit too much. The female protagonist, Hara, is half Japanese and half African-American and her father is in prison for running an illegal sports gambling ring. She wants to be a sportswriter. The general plot of the book is her attempt at making it big by interviewing a player who never agrees to interview (not Darcy). The romance felt forced and insta-love to me.

I liked the premise of this book: sportswriter and player. I liked the drama with the other player’s wifes and girlfriends. I liked the friend, Naomi, but I wish she had more depth beyond wanting to hook up with players. I liked the anticipation for the story to blow up.

I wish the male protagonist wasn’t named Darcy to give the expectation that its a retelling. He could’ve been named Mr. Right or something (The Wrong Mr Right cmon now that’s pretty good).

I usually love any P&P retelling, I've literally read dozens. But I couldn't get into this one. I don't know if it was the sports business (I'm not a huge sports fan, but going in I expected the Austen influence and the woman working in a man's field to carry it for me.) or the awkward telling instead of showing. I didn't feel like I connected with any of the characters, probably because readers are told about their personalities and priorities, instead of letting them come out naturally. The P&P connection was too slim to carry this for me.

I requested this ARC through NetGalley because the twist of the main character being a sports writer and Darcy being an NBA player seemed like a version of Pride and Prejudice that I might actually enjoy.

(full disclosure: I only like the BBC version because Colin Firth. Otherwise I am not an Austen fan. If admitting that gets me thrown off GoodReads, oh well.)

Unfortunately the hope of this sports loving reader only lasted through the first 15% of the book.
I honestly don't think the author is familiar with how the NBA or sports reporting works. There are so many errors in so few pages.
* Players coming out of college aren't "hired" by owners based on recommendations of other players, they are drafted. Maybe if Darcy was a free agent that line would work but he's a 2nd year player.
* Players don't win "numerous" titles in college these days. It's one and done for the stars of Charles' caliber.
* Players also aren't "fired" from the NBA if they broke college recruiting violations (see Marcus Camby and Zion Williamson)

Also, a nationwide ESSAY CONTEST for professional sportswriters to win the opportunity to interview this fictional LeBron-like character? The winner stays at an NBA owner's HOUSE? It's so cringy.

I' was going to give it another few chapters but after reading the author's bio, I know I can't finish this book. Clearly she never paid attention to basketball during her time as a Basketball Wife?

This is a good idea but falls flat in execution. Which is my nice Chopped judge way of saying What a mess! Don't bother.

*I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher and I am required to disclose that in my review in compliance with federal law. *

read this book in a day...so I did find it entertaining. But there were so many things going on this book, and all at once! The main character Hara has parent issues, her dads in jail, she’s falling for an NBA player, there’s a torrential storm, she meets a random girl that happens to be involved w another NBA player, there’s NBA wives, a crazy owner, his mean assistant, prison violence, suicide, deaths. It’s too much. It ended up being a hot unbelievable mess.

The romance of this book is supposed to between Hara and Derek, but these two are the most cringe worthy couple ever. They make no sense together. Their “relationship” doesn’t make sense at all.

Then the story gets just bonkers, with owners killing players?! It went completely off the rails.

I wouldn’t recommend this book for anyone looking for a good romance. That aspect just isn’t there.

I also had no idea who the author was until I finished reading this book. I feel a little duped by requesting it.

Thanks to @Netgalley and St.Martins Press for the ARC.