sevenspiders -
Helpful Score: 7
Dreck. Dreckdreckdreckdreck-dreckity-dreck dreck.
I like a good paranormal romance or Austen spin off to give my brain a break between classics or non-fiction. But Darcy's Hunger... or "Vampire Darcy's Desire" (same book, apparently with an alternate title) is just dreadful. The romantic comedy conflict is gone because Darcy & Elizabeth all but jump each other's bones from the first time they meet. By chapter four they're waltzing in the moonlight and having long morning rides and fencing lessons a deux. So, no pride. No prejudice.
But wait! Conflict arises because Darcy is a dhampir (which I can only assume is Darcy+Human+Vampire x weird spelling= a word that sounds foreign and mysterious). But Elizabeth is cool with that for no readily explainable reason. So no conflict there, except that as hot as they are for each other, they can't consummate because Darcy is eeeevil.
But wait! Wickham is a real vampire and the bane of the Darcy family for generations, relating somehow to an old Scottish ballad and Darcy & Elizabeth's ancestors being star-crossed lovers in a way that makes no discernible sense and spells everyone's name slightly oddly.
It takes another 400 pages to get through what we all knew was coming from the Meryton ball, where Darcy & Elizabeth immediately decide they're soulmates. Nobly self-sacrificing gestures are made but the two realize they're stronger together, Wickham is defeated, the curse is broken, Darcy gets over his fear of infecting Lizzy and the two make lots of babies and live happily ever after.
I like a good paranormal romance or Austen spin off to give my brain a break between classics or non-fiction. But Darcy's Hunger... or "Vampire Darcy's Desire" (same book, apparently with an alternate title) is just dreadful. The romantic comedy conflict is gone because Darcy & Elizabeth all but jump each other's bones from the first time they meet. By chapter four they're waltzing in the moonlight and having long morning rides and fencing lessons a deux. So, no pride. No prejudice.
But wait! Conflict arises because Darcy is a dhampir (which I can only assume is Darcy+Human+Vampire x weird spelling= a word that sounds foreign and mysterious). But Elizabeth is cool with that for no readily explainable reason. So no conflict there, except that as hot as they are for each other, they can't consummate because Darcy is eeeevil.
But wait! Wickham is a real vampire and the bane of the Darcy family for generations, relating somehow to an old Scottish ballad and Darcy & Elizabeth's ancestors being star-crossed lovers in a way that makes no discernible sense and spells everyone's name slightly oddly.
It takes another 400 pages to get through what we all knew was coming from the Meryton ball, where Darcy & Elizabeth immediately decide they're soulmates. Nobly self-sacrificing gestures are made but the two realize they're stronger together, Wickham is defeated, the curse is broken, Darcy gets over his fear of infecting Lizzy and the two make lots of babies and live happily ever after.
Sophia C. reviewed Vampire Darcy's Desire: A Pride and Prejudice Adaptation on + 289 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Vampire Darcy's Desire is an escapist mash-up of Jane Austen and paranormal fanfiction. The Jane Austen purist will frown on the rapidity at which Elizabeth and Darcy get together and the plot veers off from Pride and Prejudice. Retired English teacher (and initially self-published author) Regina Jeffers portrays Fitzwilliam Darcy as a sympathetic dhampir (half-human and half-vampire). The bearer of a two-century old curse on firstborn male Darcys, he has forsaken hopes for a normal life to let the curse die with him, at least until he meets Elizabeth Bennett. With her help, he dares to hope to defeat George Wickham, the demonic Scottish vampire who originated the curse.
Rather than a tale of how love overcomes the prejudice of class considerations, this Elizabeth and Darcy are two lovers who on a paranormal adventure to defeat Evil. Along the way, they steal kisses along the chin line but must ignore stirring groins. As such, it's a delightfully fluffy read. There's some nuance that allows dhampir Darcy to be believable, and unresolved sexual tension is always fun to watch unfold. However, there's nothing that resembles the Jane Austen classic beyond the characters' names and the Regency-era setting for what is essentially a paranormal romance fanfic.
Rather than a tale of how love overcomes the prejudice of class considerations, this Elizabeth and Darcy are two lovers who on a paranormal adventure to defeat Evil. Along the way, they steal kisses along the chin line but must ignore stirring groins. As such, it's a delightfully fluffy read. There's some nuance that allows dhampir Darcy to be believable, and unresolved sexual tension is always fun to watch unfold. However, there's nothing that resembles the Jane Austen classic beyond the characters' names and the Regency-era setting for what is essentially a paranormal romance fanfic.
