Fast-paced prose? Check.
Armchair-travel-worthy settings? Check.
Racy moments of romance? Check.
Savvy, sassy young heroine plus her wise-cracking sidekicks and patient mentor? Check.
Dashing Darcy impersonator doing a Regency-era striptease? Twice? Check.
Austen-echoes on nearly every page? Check.
So what's not to like, whether you're a fan of Great Jane or a relative neophyte?
In fact, this novel (Karen Doornebos's second contribution to the modern Austen-referenced fan fiction genre) will make a lively diversion for anyone who enjoys a bit of lighthearted, fast-paced, Anglophilic, adult romance on occasion.
At home in Chicago and then "across the pond" in Bath and London, our protagonist Vanessa is a social media publicist who begins her journey by helping her aunt host a house-poor, English estate-owner-cum-Mr.-Darcy-impersonator for an American conference of Jane Austen fans. When the devastatingly handsome "Darcy" arrives, the romance-wary and smartphone-obsessed thirty-something Vanessa softens by degrees, all the while oblivious to the attentions of the equally handsome but all too responsible - and available - Chase, who has admired her since high school.
Anyone hearing echoes of Austen already?
Whom will she choose and which man in this contemporary romantic comedy will choose her? Thanks to Doornebos's skills, we're never entirely sure and we're happy to enjoy the journey, whatever the outcome.
Is Undressing Mr. Darcy perfect? No. Is it diverting? Certainly. And what's more welcome than a little lighthearted fun in this hectic season?
MFB,
L
True confessions: I stumbled upon my perusal copy of Undressing Mr. Darcy via FB, where my friend Darcy is Ms. Doornebos's friend too. I kid you not.
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