THE WORST DARCY by Robyn Gynne is a standalone contemporary romance. Single mom Vivian Trent opted to settle in the small town that her BFF (and father of her child) Sam lives in. She works at the local librarian, and everything is fine, but she still feels a bit like an outsider. Vivian sees playing the role of Elizabeth Bennet for the town’s interactive Jane Austen Festival as the perfect opportunity to stand out and be accepted by the townsfolk. What she didn’t count on was Brodie Bishop, and the rest is history.

When his brother, formerly the festival’s favorite choice for the role of Darcy, leaves town, Brodie reluctantly agrees to take on the responsibility. With his tattoos, shaggy hair, and rock star vibe, Brodie would not normally be obvious casting, but with Vivian’s help, he grows into it and makes the role his. This book is stuffed with parallels. Just as Vivian is struggling to find acceptance, that has been an issue for Brodie as well. Because of a somewhat wild youth, Brodie is still judge by some and he’s not seen as the successful and responsible adult that he has become. Vivian also feels judged by some for being a single mother. While their initial few encounters are rocky, these two eventually see each other for the complex and wonderful people they are. Much like Vivian, I was all set to dislike Brodie, but having part of the book told from his perspective, and seeing how he treats Vivian and everybody else, I fell for him in a big way. Robyn Gynne serves up a plethora of steamy scenes for romance fans to devour, but I think a big part of what makes the chemistry so explosive is the work this author put into building the characters and having the main characters grow to understand and like each other before things got hot and heavy.

THE WORST DARCY is a super sexy character-driven story with phenomenal storytelling. The supporting characters added depth and helped flesh out the main characters more. The relationship that evolves between Brodie and Vivian’s son Eaton is adorable. Brodie’s mother is a nightmare, and the author does a great job of having the other characters stand up to her. I like how Robyn Gynne tries to resolve some relationships, while also realizing that not every relationship can have a quick and saccharine fix. I can’t wait to read Robyn Gynne’s next book!

Thank you to Robyn Gynne and NetGalley for the ARC of this novel. I really enjoyed this book. It was a super quick read and very sweet. The characters were well crafted and the story flowed really well. Who doesn't want to know more about a Austen festival and hear about acting out Pride and Prejudice? I really enjoyed this book and I think many others would too. 5 stars.

Brodie is not the worst. Brodie is my new book boyfriend, I love him, his angst, his tattoos, his piercings and his love for his heavy metal bandmates. I adore him. Seriously. Fell in love from the first word about him.

He is my type.

So is Vivian.

A librarian obsessed with Austin who wants to consider herself Lizzy? Yes please. Though the people pleasing? I’ve kind of gotten over that part.

This book was so good, I don’t even fully have the words to explain how much I loved it, and how glad I was to get an ARC of iit. I’ve been ruminating about it for weeks, re-reading some of my favourite parts and saving up to buy my very own copy. I’ve recommended it at the two libraries I belong to, and to a complete stranger in Chapters who was dawdling in front of a different book I was there to pick up in the romance section (sadly a present for someone else.)

I love Pride and Prejudice, it is one of the stories I consider to be almost perfect. (Nothing is ever completely perfect).

This book? Also almost perfect, absolutely just what I needed to read in the moment I read it, and I found myself hugging it to my chest.

This book has angst, romance, family, found family, just everything. This author is one who I will keep my eye on for future releases, and not just because she’s Canadian.

Enjoyed this modern story that blended the characters of P and P in this story. A single mother and the town's librarian, Vivian fell in love with the town's bad boy. For once, Mr D is the town's bad boy. Enjoyed the slow transformation of this enemies to lovers story. especially what Lizzy did/said to Lady Catherine at the end.
(NOTE: LGBTQIA and has mature contents)

I LOVED THIS!!! There was nothing I didn't like in this book. The Spice was on point and Vivian and Brodie are perfect. I was hooked from the first chapter. I couldn't put it down.
I just reviewed The Worst Darcy by Robyn Gynne. #TheWorstDarcy #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

please note that the trigger warnings and topes/themes may contain spoilers
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
HEA: yes
spice: a couple open-door spicy scenes
TWs: toxic family dynamics, that’s kind of it- pretty tame!
standalone: yes
final thoughts: such a fun read with great MCs. Plenty of angst and “is this fake or real” scenarios that will have you squealing into your book and wanting to push them into a book together to kiss! The story doesn’t follow the Pride and Prejudice storyline retelling but there were plenty of crossover vibes that had me so excited. The angst and tension were so good

read this book if you love

😬 angst
🏝️ forced proximity (working together)
🍪cinnamon roll MMC
😡 grumpy/sunshine
🌈 LGBT+ representation
💓 slowburn
📖 retelling - kinda (Pride and Prejudice vibes)
💼 workplace romance

This is a great romance! Here are some of the tropes/facts:
❤️straight romance
🌶spicy (and kinky)
📚pride and prejudice retelling
🔥slowburn
🏡small town
🤭forbidden love
👩‍👦single mom
🫠dark and broody mmc

This was such a good book! I really enjoyed the tension between the characters as they "pretended" the enemies to lovers that is seen in pride and prejudice, while they are obviously following in lizzie and darcy's footsteps. Really fun!

I totally disliked the part with the mean mother, but i understand that it was important for the story, and so i wont let that stop me from absolutely recommending this book!

Thank you to netgalley and the author for sending me the book in exchange for an honest review

If you’re an Austen fan, this is set around a Jane Austen festival, specifically Pride & Prejudice, and I’ve never met a P&P remake I didn’t like

✅ set in small-town Canada
✅ a very lovely representation of what modern families can look like ❤️
✅ really enjoyed the positive representation of co-parenting
✅ dual POV
✅ slow burn
🌶️: yes but remember the slow burn. Also it is quite surprising. You’re going to have to read it to see what I mean.

I really liked the premise of this book, as well as the character chemistry, but unfortunately, the rest of the book fell a little flat. I spent more of the time reading this mad at family members than enjoying the story.
——-
Thanks to NetGalley and the author for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Really enjoyed this one! A super great romance with a great plot, good characters and well written.,

The premise of this story and the writing style was really good.

It did have pride & prejudice feels however I feel like it missed its mark

I felt like the characters weren't really dimensional and the story lacked passion in my opinion.

Not exactly my cup of tea. It's cute, but overly so that it makes me feel like it's going to give me a toothache.

thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

something in this book was missing to me. that little oomph that really good romantic fiction books can have. this just didn't have it, for some reason. maybe it was because their problems didn't seem like problems at all? at no point did I believe where the story was going, especially since this was based on the pride and prejudice novel in more than one way. I missed the pride part of 'pride and prejudice'. at no point did the worst Darcy give us any indication that Brodie was anything closely resembling to a Darcy. maybe that was the point - it wasn't clear to me - but that made the book seem a bit lazy. if this book bases itself on pride and prejudice, give us pride and fucking prejudice. give us a Darcy that fucks up with his words and has to grovel. don't make him seem like just a normal dude that just happened to wander into a romance novel, it feels flat, like a cop-out. I wanted more from this book, but that is what it is.

if you want a simple, no fuss, easy to read romance novel, please do think of this book. there's nothing truly wrong with it (that I noticed at least)(except that this town had an incredibly handsome, tall black man and made him Wickham???? hello?? why worry for who your Darcy will be when he's in the vicinity?) so maybe this'll hit better with other people.

I am a HUGE "Pride and Prejudice" fan, book and film adaptations, so I went into this excited for an updated version. This felt a little lackluster for me due to the forcing of characters into their Austen archetypes. I think this could have worked as a closer Austen retelling or a separate contemporary romance but this blending just didn't flow for me. Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC.

On the paper it sounds perfect - a strung librarian and a laid-back metalhead, a match made in heaven, and she is a single mom, while he has some mommy issues. And it's Austen, a small town in Canada that holds annual Austen festival, where this year they enact scenes from Pride and Prejudice, and our heroine plays Lizzy and the hero plays Mr. Darcy. And sex scenes are really hot. And even monster romances are mentioned!

And yet somehow for me those pieces didn't work together. Execution could be better. And I couldn't understand the initial dislike that the heroine took to the hero, the reasoning for it seemed weak and forced. And why Mrs. Evil Bitch was so cruel to her own son? And the 3rd act breakup, ugh, I'm so not a fan of it. Thank goodness, it was solved really quickly.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange of honest review.

I like that this was a small town with a bad boy. It had a good romance with characters that I loved.

The small town of Austen, celebrates its name every year with the Jane Austen Festival.
This year Vivian Trent is playing the coveted role of Elizabeth Bennet, and nothing will ruin this for her. But her plans take an unexpected turn when the towns golden boy drops out of the play and his "bad boy" brother steps in to play the part of Mr. Darcy.

This book sounded cute, and in some ways it was, but for me the execution left something to be desired.
First, I did not like the characters at all, and this pretty much ruined it for me. Brodie was obnoxious- OK, we get it, you're the black sheep of the family, a real bad boy who doesn't play by the rules.
Everything about him, his attitude, his roommates, his dialogue, felt forced.
I am all for some cheesy lines but when I read the names of his room mates I think I groaned audibly.
Vivian was an awful character. Literally a jerk all the time for zero reason. Brodie was doing something he obviously had no desire to do, simply to help out and she was personally offended by this.
Because I did not care for either character, I did not have much interest in their story.

Heartwarming and laugh out loud funny, The Worst Darcy, tells the story of Vivian and Brodie who both want to change how they are known in their small town. Being cast as the leads in the upcoming Jane Austen festival is a dream come true for Vivian. As for Brodie...well he's willing to do anything to prove he's more than his rebellious past.

Small Town, Forced Proximity, Bookish FMC, Reformed Bad Boy, Co-Parenting, Found Family

I enjoyed this quite a lot, the small town characters were excellent and the two leads were well drawn and portrayed.

I read this as an ARC from NetGalley and I have to say I really liked it. I’m a complete sucker for incorporating Pride and Prejudice into anything and this really hit the mark for me. The two MCs face off as Lizzy and Darcy and the progression of the book plays off in their own relationship over the course of a month, while their town puts on Pride and Prejudice as a month long festival.