Customer Reviews

Mr. & Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two Shall Become One

5 star:		(70)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(23)
1 star:		(104)

 

 

Trash, trash, trash. Here's a synopsis of the book: "Oh, Mr. Darcy, you're so cute-- I adore you." "Oh, Mrs. Darcy, you are the most beautiful woman on earth, I love you so." Explicit but unimaginative sex for several pages. Cultural or linguistic anacronism. More cooing. More sex. Rinse and repeat.

I've read Berdoll and am happy to have Lizzy and Darcy enjoy the felicity of their marriage bed-- hoo-rah. But this novel is not even close to a sequel to Pride and Prejudice. The characters are sketched from a movie adaptation starring Keira Knightley and Matthew MacFayden. And nothing, but NOTHING, happens in this book.

Where's the character humor? Where's the story?

And--horrors-- this is the first of a trilogy?!? I'll skip the rest.

Normally I donate unwanted books to my local public library, but I didn't want to be held responsible for polluting its shelves with this poor excuse for a novel. There ought to be a law against these 'Mary Sue' authors who keep stealing the names of Jane Austen's beloved characters in an attempt to lend their no-plot, bodice-rippers a shred of credibility. And sorry, Ms. Lathan, but never having read Jane Austen prior to watching the latest film adaptation is no excuse for what you have done to these iconic literary characters, though it does explain a great deal about the end result. I can't even bring myself to use the characters' names in this review, since what was written about them in this book does such a disservice to them. It is a gross misrepresentation to tout this as a sequel or continuation of any version of Pride and Prejudice. The only thing this book shares in common with Pride and Prejudice (either the novel or any of the film adaptations) is the names of its characters. The only development said characters experience is in their sexual awakening - page after page and chapter after chapter of multiple sexual encounters described in excrutiating detail. I read other reviews for this book that refer to these numerous passages as 'romantic', but I found them to be repetitive and most likely, physically debilitating, to the couple in question.

If you truly love Darcy and Elizabeth, save your money and your sanity and read something else. Preferably something with a semblance of a plot and characters that remotely resemble the originals who have more substantial things to do than mate like Regency rabbits all day long.

BTW, before you think I am a prudish Austen purist, I'll add that I loved the 2005 film. I own two copies of it. But, my love for the film does not transfer to this ridiculous, soft-core sham.

I enjoyed this story more for the glimpse into what life might have been like at Pemberley and the portrayal of the supporting characters like the Gardner relatives and servents than the relationship between the Darcy's.

The stories main flaw is that when it comes to the most important relationship in the story it reads too much like overly mushy fan fiction. The narrative is overloaded with the too much they looked longingly into each other eyes and cooing you're everything to me kind of dialogue. And the pacing is very slow.

If you've read Pride and Prejudice of course you want to think that Elizabeth and Darcy had a wonderful married life and lived happily ever after but this portrayal of the early days of their married life is too far removed from Austens own style to be a really good sequel.

If you like amaturish bodice rippers you'll eat it up but if you're looking for a really well written Austen sequel or tie-in book there is a lot better stuff out there.

While this may have been an okay bodice-ripper in its own, by using the names of Miss Austen's famous and most-loved characters, it was ruined for me. This is not written in the style of Jane Austen, nor does it hold true to the characters she developed. I feel certain that Miss Austen would never approve of such lewd and disgusting displays of wanton affection, nor would the ever-proper gentleman Mr. Darcy. As to Elizabeth, there is no evidence in this work of her strength, character or passions. I was sorely disappointed.

First - I should have known better when picking up the book and the author flatly states right out that she has never read Jane Austin, nor seen a Jane Austin film prior to the new Pride and Predjudice movie. However, I felt she would do her homework, find out the true style of Jane Austin and write based on the book - NOT THE MOVIE. This book is based soley on the latest Pride and Predjudice movie. Not the closer A&E version, but the Kera Knightly version. It contains page after page of sex - what???? In an Austen novel? Not in this lifetime. There is no plot - just sex. No great adventure, no witty phrases from Elizabeth - just sex and sentence after sentence of stupid endearing phrases that all Jane Austin fans know would never pass the lips of Elizabeth and Darcy. She has turned Lizzy into a brain-less, weepy, crying women - which we all know would never happen. She has turned our beloved Mr. Darcy in to a mushy, love sick idiot spouting poetry and dumb love devotions non-stop. Save the money and just open up your old beaten copy of Pride and Predjudice and enjoy it again - your pocket book will thank you as well as the trees used to print this garbage.

I picked this book up on a whim and after the first chapter, I still wasn't 100% sure if I was going to dub it a "romance" novel and stop reading it or give it the benefit of the doubt. I gave it the benefit of the doubt, HOPING the book would pick up and that the story would contain something of a plot, other than Darcy and Elizabeth "ravishing" each other throughout the Halls of Pemberley.

I constantly could think of errors of this book which was in no way shape or form original or true in part of Lizzy's character or several other characters being left out. For example, there is absolutely no correspondence between Lizzy and Jane and as Jane Austen has laid out in the book of "Pride and Prejudice" the two sisters are extremely close. Their marriages to two men of stature would of allowed them to keep in contact via letters and in the same society. But this was not the case in Lathan's book. Lydia and Wickham are totally wrote out of the book and if you recall from the BCC series, Lizzy and Darcy help Lydia and Wickham out. Would not Lizzy use her new found status in a society more elevated than her previous one to help her sisters Mary and Kitty to introduce them into a more "prospects"?? (perhaps not) I think we would of heard more from Mr. Collins, trying to placate himself (or ingratiate) between Lady Catherine de Bourgh and Mr. Darcy - but no. Lizzy literally leaves behind her family and never once writes a letter to her mother or her father and doesn't visit them till the END of the book. Mr. Darcy is wrote as having "blue eyes" and by all accounts, I believe Jane Austen never once mentions Darcy's eye coloring, other than alluding to he's tall, dark, handsome and taciturn.

This book picks off where the movie directed by Joe Wright's version of "Pride and Prejudice" left off. And if you recall how that movie ended, the 'ravishing, love-making, soul-aching, passion' between Lizzy and Darcy as described by Lathan, will delight you, should that be your cup of tea.

I myself look for sequel to the original book by Ms. Jane Austen with more substance in getting to know the characters that we have come to know and love and a plot, other than one that doesn't happen till close to the end of the novel. Yes, Lizzy and Darcy love each other with an unbridled passion, but EVERY chapter doesn't need to be reduced to that. I would of liked to think that Lizzy and Darcy granted on their honeymoon and soon their life together, would of done more as a couple than 'deck' the halls of Pemberly (much to Lady Catherine de Bourgh's disgust and dismay)

And so far, I've yet to find a sequel to Jane Austen's beloved "Pride and Prejudice" that meets up to my expectations. Perhaps that will only happen if I sit down and write my bit of fan fiction based on THE book and THE BBC series.

This is not meant to be written as a continuation of what Jane Austen would have written. This author creates a continuation as she has envisioned it. This book should be appreciated for what it is; a continuation of a beloved book as one person's imagination sees it. I thought the book was a fun continuation and though more racy than Jane Austen would have written it was still a fun read. If you want to imagine your own continuation please do so. However if you want to have a picture painted for you then this book is a enjoyable.

I should have known what to expect considering that the back cover had no literary or author reviews. I made it through 50 pages before I gave up.

This book is so poorly written I don't know how it found a publisher. Every other sentence ends in an exclamation point, the language is ridiculous (can you imagine Elizabeth Darcy saying "It's nirvana!"), and it is clearly written by someone who has no understanding of the nuances of either Elizabeth's or William's personae. Another review mentioned that this book is based on the recently released movie of Pride and Prejudice, and I believe it. I doubt this "author" even read the book.
Don't spoil your lovely memories of Ms. Austen's masterpiece with this garbage.

Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy is the first in a Darcy Saga series by Lathan. Currently there are four books out in the series. This is a great romance novel based on Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice and the Kiera Knightly movie adaptation. Nonetheless, the books in the series are hefty and long, with enough pages to really get carried away in the time period, romance, and story. The book begins with the Darcy wedding and flashbacks even further to the proposal. It chronicles Elizabeth coming home to Pemberly for the first time, and how she adapts to the new estate. Her adjustment to the servants and finer things is exciting and the romance builds between Elizabeth and Darcy into a lustful, smutty read. The two can't keep their hands off each other. In their down time, Elizabeth builds a stronger relationship with Georgiana and the married women of Derbyshire. An ugly meeting between Elizabeth and an ungentlemanly Marquis ends with Elizabeth injured and Darcy preparing for a duel. Darcy is severely distraught with the thought of loosing his precious new wife, and possibly an unborn heir to Pemberly. Those who can't get enough of these characters will be enthralled with the first book of the series.

Sharon Lathan's Darcy Saga:
Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy
Loving Mr. Darcy
My Dearest Mr. Dary
In the Arms of Mr. Darcy

Oh dear...quite disappointed in this book. Hoping to read a continuation of "Pride and Prejudice" but instead got a sex novel and a Lizzy with nary a brain in her head. The clever dialogue and subtlety of Jane Austen is nowhere to be seen in this book...not that I truly expected such from this author, but something akin to it would have been delightful. Romance is wonderful but this was just...well, awful. Sex in every room of Pemberley going on for ages and ages...I began to skip pages looking for that strong, capable Elizabeth I've gotten to know from Ms. Austen. I'm sorry to say that she's not evident in this book. Instead we have a Lizzy who is the epitomy of the flighty female constantly worrying that she's lost Darcy's love...sigh...I must confess I immediately donated this book to Goodwill...it's not worthy of my collection.