𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗲: 🌶️🌶️

𝗧𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝘀:
» Jane Austen Inspired
» Friends to Lovers
» Historical Regency Romance
» Slow Burn
» Sapphic

𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀:
This is my formal petition for more sapphic regency romances, please!! Pride and Prejudice is one of my comfort movies (the 2005 adaptation, specifically), and this book delivered on the overall feelings I associate with P&P, but with a sapphic flair!

We follow Charlotte Lucas after the death of her husband, Mr. Collins, after just a few years of marriage. Not knowing how to navigate her new life as a widow, Charlotte enlists the help of her best friend, Lizzie, who unfortunately cannot visit her during this time, so she sends her sister, Mary in her place. From here, we see Charlotte and Mary’s relationship form and develop.

I loved that Charlotte and Mary were the focus of this book. I’ve always felt like their characters could be so much more, and this book really let them shine. Mary has really broken out of her shell and has discovered so much more in the world than she could have ever imagined, and she’s bringing Charlotte right along. This is such a hard thing for Charlotte to accept and give in to because of societal norms and pressures of finding a good husband and having a family. I appreciated that this book really showed that there is more out there, which is hard to accomplish in the setting presented in this story. The internal battle Charlotte faces feels very realistic for the time, but Mary was the perfect person to counter that and help break down some of those walls.

𝗧𝗟;𝗗𝗥:
I’d you love Pride and Prejudice, but want more sapphic romance in yours books, then this one is for you.

I thought at first that I was going to love this, but I found my enjoyment dwindling as the story progressed and I almost dnfed it. It really dragged on, especially in the second half, and it ended up feeling twice as long as the page count suggests it is.

I think my main gripe, besides the glacial pacing and drawing out of every small detail, is the way it reads nothing at all like Pride and Prejudice. I think the author was trying to match the tone and pacing and style of P&P, but missed the mark. Everything is so formal and stilted that it's uncomfortable.

I really liked when Mary and Charlotte were together, and the reasoning for both of them being queer resonated with me. I think if the book had been written in a different style - not necessarily more modern, but less stilted and drawn out - I would have absolutely loved it.

The third act breakup also didn't do it for me. It felt forced, and I got tired quickly of all the hand-wringing and emotional indecisiveness in two characters whose personalities don't make sense for that sort of reaction.

The audiobook was good enough, but the narrator's delivery only served to highlight the stiltedness of the writing.

*Thanks to Carina Adores and Harlequin Audio for providing an early copy for review.

This book was such an amazing and fun concept I felt like i was visiting old friends. Though historically set it was written so beautifully with so much emotion that it was so easily to connect with these characters on such a strong a deep level! If you’re a fan of the originals story I highly recommend this book

I had to jump on it as soon as I saw it was Pride and Prejudice adjacent. I really enjoyed focusing on the two characters that we didn't really see much of in P&P. Lindz does a good job exploring that "queer discovery" of self through Charlotte. I also love how (in my opinion) the relationship between Mary and Charlotte didn't feel forced. The navigation of the LGBTQ+ community in 1800s England was also well explored. Also yay to not shoving Charlotte into a married box at the end. All for her figuring out her future without a man.

Pride and Prejudice is a popular book to reimagine, but The Unlikely Pursuit of Mary Bennet by Lindz McLeod is the first I’ve seen that draws a romance between Charlotte Lucas and Mary Bennet. To be honest, this actually seems like the perfect pairing! Here, Charlotte has become a widow after only four years of marriage to Mr. Collins. Now she’s back in the same position she was in before… but she’s not sure she can ever bringer herself to marry another man. Then she reconnects with Mary Bennet. They were never close before, but now Charlotte is noticing new feelings towards the younger woman. She’ll have to be brave to choose the right path forward.

What I Liked:
- Charlotte Lucas and Mary Bennet make so much sense together! I ship it. In looking at their original characters, it’s easy to read between the lines, and I enjoyed getting to follow them both in their unexpected romance. Mary is more aware of her own sexuality and has had experience with other women; for Charlotte this is all very new. The whole book is told from Charlotte’s point of view, so we feel her uncertainty as she slowly moves forward in her romantic feelings towards Mary.
- Gay awakening and queer found family. Charlotte has spent 31 years not truly knowing her own sexuality or of others like her. I love that she finally finds out about herself, a certain aunt, and of course Mary Bennet, and moreover, the community that Mary has fostered.
- Both are so true to character! Mary has changed more from her younger Pride and Prejudice self: she’s become more confident, worldly, and mature. And yet she still has that unique and loner quality we saw in her before; she’s only more self-assured now. By contrast, Charlotte is much the same as before, and ironically in the same boat as she was prior to marrying Mr. Collins. She’s still unsure of her self, a bit aimless, and ready to do anything to please her family. But does she have to be this way forever? Can she ever follow her heart instead?
- Flowers as a love language! Charlotte knows gardening and flowers intimately, and I enjoyed learning the meanings of different flowers… and how that becomes an important element later on in the story.

Audiobook:
Clare Corbett does a lovely job of narrating The Unlikely Pursuit of Mary Bennet. She captures the gentle charm of the novel as well as Charlotte’s full personality. It made for an absorbing and sweet listen.

Final Thoughts
The Unlikely Pursuit of Mary Bennet is a wonderful romance for anyone who enjoys new interpretations of Pride and Prejudice, more love to its secondary characters, and a queer love story. This is the first in Lindz McLeod’s Austentatious series, and I can’t wait to read the next one. Who will it be about? I’m not sure, but I’m eager to read it just the same!

I really enjoyed this book. I am not typically a fan of historical romances, but with a queer bridgerton-esque spin I felt like I should give it a shot! It took me a bit to get into the book, but once Mary Bennet's character actually came into the story I was hooked. I found myself forgetting these were fictional characters and kept wondering how a relationship like this would have actually looked in the 1800s (because of course we know queer people have been and always will be part of our history!)

I love all retellings and spin-offs of Pride & Prejudice, and that includes this one which picks up four years after Charlotte wed Mr. Collins, and he suddenly dies. Charlotte is left as she was before: unwed and a burden to her parents…. Until Mary Bennet, all grown up and much improved, walks back into her life. My friends, it’s sapphic and it slaps. This book is super cute and heartwarming. Would recommend!

This is a lovely historical romance retelling / follow-up to Pride and Prejudice in which Charlotte Lucas Collins and Mary Bennet get a chance at love. I loved the development of Charlotte and Mary as characters, especially since both are almost caricatures in the original, and the exploration of queer life during the Regency period. The way McLeod incorporated the symbolism / language of flowers as part of Charlotte and Mary's romance was also a really nice touch.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I am a huge P&P girlie, and instantly jumped at the opportunity to listen to audiobook.

Charlotte and Mary were by far two of the most underrated characters, and had Jane Austen been alive today, I would have begged for a book about either of them.

Luckily Lindz McLeod had the brilliant idea to make these two underdog characters the main plot and them being romantically together was even better!

Lindz did a wonderful job of truly making this sound like Austen but with their own flair.

The subtle and shy nature of both Charlotte and Mary as they began to interact fully and explore the onset of their connection was just so wonderful!

The narration was so easy to listen to and the VA did a great job of really getting into character.

Queer Austen book lovers RISE UP! This has got Jane Austen levels of pining and witty banter but make it sapphic.

The book starts four years after the end of Pride and Prejudice. When Mr. Collins dies after just four years of marriage, Charlotte is lost. While not exactly heartbroken, she will soon have to quit the parsonage that has become her home. In desperate need of support, she writes to her best friend, Lizzie. Unable to leave Pemberly, Lizzie sends her sister, Mary Bennet, in her stead.

To Charlotte's surprise, Mary Bennet is nothing like she remembers. Before long, Charlotte is enraptured-with Mary, and with the possibilities that lie beyond their societal confines. But when her time at the parsonage begins to dwindle and a potential suitor appears, Charlotte must make a choice-the safety and security of another husband, or a passionate life with Mary outside the confines of the ton's expectations.

I really liked the progression of Mary and Charlotte’s relationship. They were so sweet with one another! Charlotte making a bouquet of flowers that represent her feelings for Mary was adorable!! Charlotte’s slow realization that she is gay felt genuine especially for the time. The audiobook narrator was lovely. She really captured the characters and kept me hooked. I didn’t want to put my headphones down. This was a swoony and fun read and I’d definitely recommend it to any Jane Austen fans!

Pride and Prejudice retelling where Mary Bennet and Charlotte Lucas fall in love???? Yeah that's exactly what Jane Austen would have wanted, sign me UP!

I am a Pride and Prejudice LOVER and the concept of this sapphic retelling had me so excited. Both of these characters are sapphic coded as heck and I thought it was such a good idea for a romance novel! Unfortunately, I think that my excitement remained with the concept only, not its execution.

We have two women that start to have feelings for one another, but it felt like it was lot of telling rather than showing. There wasn't enough build-up to the discovery of these feelings, causing it to feel less natural in the narrative. I enjoyed the lovely symbolism of flowers in this though (so very sapphic of them) and they were sweet enough together, just nothing that blew me away. It did not feel as romantic as I wanted it to be.

Overall, this fell a little flat for me and I lost quite a bit of interest near the end. Sad this didn't live up to my expectations, but I'm still glad it exists for any sapphics out there that adore Pride and Prejudice and wanted to see a love story such as this represented!

So much fun! I love this sapphic imagining of Mary Bennet and Charlotte Lucas! While Mcleod takes some liberties with Austen's original work, she stays true to the spirit of the source and creates a story that feels both new and distinctly Austen-like.

This retelling is about Mary Bennet, if she had been secretly sapphic. I love reading retellings like these and this one sounded so good. This book is definitely slow burn. I don't know if I was expecting that or not, but I mean it is still set in regency era so I guess it makes sense to have everyone be chaste. That is to say I typically don't go for slow burn, but I really enjoyed this one! Two characters that are definitely background in the original text (Pride and Prejudice), the book gave them both more personality and depth as characters. Once the story really took off with the two main characters spending more time together, the smut started smutting. ❤️‍🔥The pining worked for me in this one. The narrator did a great job navigating both of the FMCs voices. She also did all the other side characters voices, and she gave certain nuances to each character. I'd like to read more retellings like this! ✨


Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for the ARC in return for an honest review!

Did I know that I needed a relationship between Charlotte and Mary before reading this? No. Do I want it to be cannon now? Yes. This was a really sweet romance. While miscommunication isn't my favorite romance trope, it does fit with the regency social expectations also at play. I didn't end up hating it like I normally do, and I think that that is because this is a queer romance in regency England. This does feel like a historical romance in the vein of Jane Austen. I do think most people who enjoy either Jane Austen's works or historical romances will have something to love about this book. The inclusion of Regency social customs may not be perfect, but if you can look past that it was very sweet and fun to read.

Thanks to Harlequin Audio and NetGalley for my audio arc!

This was actually a pretty good book and I wasn't sure if we needed another P&P spinoff. there was enough real conection to the original story and it moved forward from there, and I appreciate the touches about what it meant for folks who were gay to have lives then and what families understood.

This was such an interesting take on the continuation of the pride and prejudice story. I loved the focus on Mary and Charlotte. Both characters didn’t get a lot of airtime or the happily ever after they deserved if the original classic and I love how circumstances bring Charlotte back and these two find their way together.

The audiobook is narrated by Clare Corbett, and she does a great job distinguishing the two female lead characters voices. I appreciated her accent work and her cadence with the reading. The audiobook was easy to listen to and very enjoyable.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 🌶️🌶️

*sapphic historical romance featuring a recently widowed Charlotte Collins (née Lucas) and Mary Bennet from Pride & Prejudice
*the book is from Charlotte's POV and features her journey of self-discovery and self-acceptance
*audiobook was narrated by Clare Corbett who was excellent, as always

I really enjoyed this one, Mrs. Charlotte Collins, once Miss Lucas, is a new widow, and as fond as she was of Mr. Collins, she is not particularly sad that he passed away.
Her friend Lizzie cannot come to her because of her baby and all so she sends her sister Mary to keep her company for a while, and here is when she discovers why she really never felt much attraction for her husband.
It was a slow burn, but completely realistic for the time and someone who didn’t even think that was an option, and then to think of the consequences, which at that time were great if it was found out, so it was handled very well.

Elizabeth Jasicki’s narration is a highlight. She brings clarity and warmth to Mary’s evolution, capturing her initial stiffness and gradual transformation with skill. Supporting characters are well-voiced and distinct, making for a smooth, immersive listening experience.

This audiobook will appeal to fans of Austen adaptations, redemptive character arcs, and historical fiction with heart. Mary’s journey from the margins to a heroine in her own right is a satisfying one.

Well this was just adorable.

One of the very few stories I have read that gives Mary Bennet a time to shine. I really enjoyed this characterization of her. As gay and fabulous with her travels and her art. It felt very much like a logical projection of the person we meet in the original novel. Charlotte also gets a wonderful glow up and I think her story was treated with care. I did feel like she was portrayed as more meek in this book then in the original. I would have liked to see more of the cunning side, but after years of Mr. Collin I can see why that is lessened.

Overall I very much enjoyed this story. There was enough pinning to feel like a historical romance but enough spice to make the payoff worth it. Personally I am not a fan of 5 pepper books so I was happy this was a 3 pepper book.

The audiobook was wonderful and I quite enjoyed the narrator.