This frothy and fun romance has lots of drama, some very handsome men and basketball. Hara is determined to prove that she has what it takes to be a sports writer, a woman in a man’s world, but her father’s reputation often preceded her and makes it difficult. That all changes when she gets her big break but from there things get more and more complicated! A fun, quick read!

The set up for this had a lot of potential, adapting Pride and Prejudice to the modern professional sports world with a diverse cast. Sounds interesting to me! But the plot goes absolutely crazy pants. Gun showdowns! We fight with wit in the realm of Jane Austen. Anyways, I wouldn't go into this looking for a modern Austen adaptation. If you are, however, wanting a totally bonkers soap opera, you may enjoy it.

"Hara had perfected the art of living by first impressions."

The Wrong Mr. Darcy was not the romance novel that I was expecting at all and I mean that in the best way! From the beginning, the introduction of Hara Isari and her felon father was intriguing. Here she was this up-and-coming sports writer with this felon parent who is in prison for operating an illegal sports betting operation. Can you imagine trying to get your career off the ground when you are constantly reminded of the literal sins of your father?! Bless her! Oh and fun fact, she is Japanese and African-American, which was refreshing as the book touches on her struggle with her multicultural identity.

Hara gets chosen to exclusively interview basketball star, Charles Butler, and she jumps at the chance to make a name for herself as a reporter. Through interviewing Charles, Hara crosses paths with rookie on the rise, Derek Darcy, who is a childhood friend, teammate, and right hand man of Charles. Things really hit the fan as Hara gets a behind the scenes look at what lies behind the glitz and the glam of the game, the players, and their personal lives. The book explores the lengths people will go to keep their secrets, avoid scandal, and protect their own interests. In the midst of all the chaos and drama, it seems like something is brewing between Hara and Derek that takes both by surprise and creates a steamy "will they won't they" vibe.

Although the book was a slow start for me, and I found some of the dialogue between the characters to be a little "forced cool slang", I was glad that I stuck with it and pleasantly surprised by the twists and turns! Once I settled into the story, I could not put it down and found myself invested in the fate of all of the characters.

This book is considered a modern spin on Pride and Prejudice.

Derick Darcy comes from a very wealthy family and decided to become a basketball player. This makes Hara feel as if he didn’t earn his spot on his team but used his influence to get there. Hara is a struggling sportswriter from a small town that has a secret of her own.

This book is better than The Perfect Date and that is saying a lot. However, before you even think about picking up this book, it has to be known that there are so many triggers in this book and they go as follows

Suicide
Miscarriage
Discussion of abortion
Violence
Abuse

I was surprised to see so much of that in there so a trigger warning would have been nice. But moving on. I thought the subtle references to Pride and Prejudice was great. It was very clear that this book used the theme of poor girl hating the rich, rich guy being skeptical of the poor, but they fall in love anyway and I was cool with it. The authors didn’t lay it on thick nor was it so blunt that it would make you roll your eyes.

What I liked about the book was the gross reality of being a woman in the basketball/sports industry. It was an insight into, what I believe is Evelyn’s world, and it was hard to read. The story has a better beginning, middle, and end. It made sense and the romance seemed very believable. There was more care in crafting this story. And I thought the sex scene was pretty good.

What I didn’t like about the book was Hara. Her dislike for Derick was unreasonable and she was rude like all the time. Derick had every right to be skeptical. He was a rich basketball player that was dealing with women who were only after his pockets. Was he rude? Sure was. However, not as rude as Hara.

I liked the book. I was surprised I liked the book. Other than me not liking Hara, I did feel that they through a lot in this book and a lot of it was left to hang dry. What I mean by this is there was no solution or ending to certain issues that Hara and Derick experienced. I had a lot of questions even reaching the end of the book. Speaking of ending, it was okay. I would have liked to see something more but it wasn’t a bad way to end the book.

Overall, it looks like the authors took their time with this one and that is showing growth as writers.
3 Pickles

I was so excited to get to review this book. The title had me expecting a book with a twist on Pride and Prejudice. This one missed the mark badly for me. I didn't enjoy it at all.

I have nothing positive or nice to say about this book. I read the whole thing because I promised a review in exchange for the ARC otherwise I would not have wasted my time. Is there a less than one star rating? Do yourself a favor, don't bother with this one.

Thank you netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This was a dramatic, push and pull of a story that left me more confused than satisfied. Derek is a jerk from the moment we meet him until a little bit before the end. He doesn't trust Hara because she's a reporter and yet he confides his most innermost feelings with her. One minute spilling his guts out to her and the next insulting her. I got whiplash from all the back and forth. Not to mention the transitions between his parts and hers were atrocious. The story is well written but filled with too much drama, an unreliable and unlikeable hero and a sweet heroine fighting to be noticed in a shallow depiction of fame.

This book was by a new author and I must say I enjoyed the book.. This was about corruption and how people tend to control people by using what looks like blackmail to me as proven by Mr. O'Donnell. This is a book that should be read. A GOOD READ,

This one didn’t work for me. I love most pride and prejudice spin offs (this will never get old!) and was excited about POC and the woman of color MC who wants to be a basketball reporter/ journalist — has my name alllllll over it.

The writing was roughhh. The book also presented as happy go lucky but then has random dark things thrown in (suicide attempts etc as a heads up) that weren’t incorporated well. I left this book bummed.

2 stars for the loads of POC rep. And basketball.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a very spirited refreshing read and loved how the two authors were able to bring their flavor and background into the writing

I requested this book to read and review for free from St. Martin publishing group. This is first book I have read by authors Evelyn Lozada and Holly Lorincz. This book plot line is pride and prejudice meets the god father. You will be kept guessing until the end. And just when you think you know what's going on a curve ball is thrown in. And some things are not what they seem and some ideas Aare. You will cheer on characters Derek and Hara and Naomi. This book is for the young adult or adult reader.

This wasn't a P&P retelling. The last half was absurd. The evil villain was completely over the top. I didn't hate it, but I also can't recommend it.

This story is definitely not what I expected based on the blurb. I expected it to have a little more of a connection to the source material and I thought it would be a little lighter than it was. That being said, I found the storyline interesting and I will definitely be trying more stories from this author.

Wow. This book has some painful moments in terms of its writing quality and style. However, there is a decent story that didn’t have the impact it could have had because it was buried under messy writing. Incorrect name references, poor transitions between points of view, and dialogue that was all over the place served as distractions, making this book difficult to finish.

I couldn't finish the book because I couldn't get interested in it. it doesn't mean other people shouldn't read it. I think it was one of the books I picked for valentines day. I do like the names of the characters and the story line but It was missing the romance part.

The cute cover and the synopsis got me intrigued! Honestly, seeing Mr Darcy in the title I knew it was something I thought I’d really enjoy. Unfortunately this one didn’t work for me. I couldn’t finished it.

I did read an advance copy in exchange for my honest review so this was not a finished copy. Hopefully, some changes will be made before the final book is released. Best of Luck!

Thank you Netgalley and to the publishers for an advance copy.

I confess: I saw the book name including “Mr. Darcy” and I screamed: “Yessss!”

Only this magical name and beautiful illustration made me click the request button and of course after seeing it at my library, I applied my regular routine when I get a book that I really want to devour!

First base: Screaming

Second base: dancing on the chair

Third base: dancing in the street

Fourth base: catching the happy hour for grabbing house margaritas to celebrate!

So after my routine, I was suffering from a little tipsiness but I was still okay to start my reading. But as I start to flip the pages and pass the chapters after chapters, I started murmuring: “What? Really! Ha? WTH? Nooo! Nooo! Nooooooooooooooo!”

Hara is half Japanese and half African American, (she also has Greek goddess name) a small company sports author but as I read the terms she uses for her articles or talk with the colleagues, she seems like she has no idea about sports. Even though she has friends circle with basketball players’ wives and dated with too many players. (Nobody taught her enough and I’m so sorry for her boss, arranges her limo, fancy hotels and flights for her gig.)

I have to admit I hate the guts of the heroine and romance parts definitely failed for me! This book is not retelling of “Pride and Prejudice”! Hara loves this book and mentions about quotes and passages and names are familiar but that’s it!

The story progression made me dizzy because too many dramatic, traumatic, angsty things happening at the same time. Miscarriages, perfect storm, flight cancellations, sexual harassment, parent at the jail! Oh boy! At some I waited for alien or zombie invasion. I could happily pay them to kill heroine to save us from the misery!
So characters, romantic development and story-telling, semantic mistakes didn’t work for me!

This is a big disappointment because I was so ready to enjoy a soft, sweet, entertaining romance. You cannot always get what you want as the song says. I want to change the name of the book as :”Wrong Mr. Darcy Book”
So unfortunately after a long time, I’m giving two solid stars and chasing better books by climbing up to my MOUNT TBR.

Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/St. Martin Griffin’s to share this ARC with me. I wish I could enjoy it but unfortunately this book didn’t fit with my expectations.

*I voluntarily received a free advanced copy in exchange for my honest review and thoughts*

2 STARS

Ms Jane Austen would roll over in her grave...

Things that I didn’t jive with in this one:

-No real chemistry between the MC’s. They basically fight and disagree 95% of the book, and make out and hook up the other 5%.

-The pacing was off and the dialogue felt stilted.

-The situations became more and more unbelievable as the book went on (like telenovela/soap opera unbelievable)

-It felt like the author put little to no effort into research and just threw things on a page. For example, our female MC is named Hara, and she tells our male MC that her name is Japanese and she was named after the Greek goddess Hera... First off, Hera and Hara don’t even sound the same. Second Hara in Japanese means ‘belly’ or ‘stomach’ Why would anyone name their daughter belly?

-Very little of the story reflected Pride & Prejudice at all. Only a few vaguely similar character names and two MC’s who disagree with each other a lot.

-And finally, the extremely crude language- multiple uses of a man calling a woman a c***, and other sexually crude references towards females.

Overall I don’t recommend this one.

CW: miscarriage, gun violence, suicide, blood and gore, language

I have mixed feelings about this book. I was expecting more of a retelling of Pride and Prejudice, but all there was were some of the same names. Also, some of the behavior of some of the characters was unacceptable. I did enjoy reading about the "backstage" part of pro basketball, but it's hard to know just how much of that is fact vs. fiction.

It was a quick read. 2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I received a free E-Arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This book is a modern retelling of the Jane Austen classic "Pride and Prejudice." The story about Hara, a woman aspiring to be a sports reporter, and a famous basketball player. Both characters were not very complex or given much depth. There was some family background given about Hara, but I felt too much emphasis was placed upon her multi cultural heritage. Darcy was too willing to jump to conclusions and people's supposed intentions without really having the much needed conversations with the individuals. I did not really like how fast the relationship developed between the two main characters. It felt really rushed and more lust and not a deeper meaningful connection. The writing was good and appropriate for the age of the various characters as well as the setting. The events of the story moved along well, but were not really believable and seemed too convenient. Overall, this was a nice twist on a classic, but fell short in drawing me into the characters and the story line. I would like to read more by this author and I would recommend this book to those who like modern twists to the classics.