At the library where I work, I was once investigating our reviews on Google, just to see. We had a four star rating, and I didn’t know why that would be. It’s a small town, and we’re pretty well liked by the public. Just seemed weird.

Lo and behold, some random stranger on the internet, clearly using a fake name, had given us one star and written just two words:

“Actually bad.”

And given our reputation, and feeling assured this was just some troll, my coworkers and I laughed and laughed about this choice of words. But now, friends, I’ve found a book worthy of this simple, yet effective review!

The Wrong Mr. Darcy: actually bad.

Nothing about this book makes much sense at all?? The romance is terrible and blahhhhh, and the story itself is just bizarre and wild. I’m all for suspended disbelief but y’all were asking a lot of me here.

Hara is a sports reporter, trying to catch her big break and make a name for herself. Her father is in prison for running huge bets on the sports world for years and years (and, unrelated: her mother is annoying as heck?). Hara is invited to Boston to do an interview with their star player, Charles Butler, who never talks to anyone. Things get shady. The owner is a bad guy. Darcy is a basketball player, and he’s mean at first, but then he’s okay? But seriously lacking the complexity of his namesake. Things just keep getting more and more dramatic while everyone keeps secrets, etc. etc. No real resemblance to Pride & Prejudice whatsoever, like pretty sure the authors never read it.

I’m trying not to make the plot sound so darn boring or confusing but it is exceedingly difficult. It was just not good dude. It took me days and days to read this even though it should’ve taken me one evening. I just couldn’t trudge through it. The lack of character complexity and likability, the absurdness of the entire plot, and just how boringly this team writes absolutely ruined it. This is actually similar to the way I feel about Christina Lauren (The Unhoneymooners aside – for some reason that’s a goody); the writing lacks a certain pizazz, like they didn’t really care enough about the story to put some heart into it.

Either way, this is two big thumbs down from me. Just skip this. However, if you still feel the need, it’s scheduled to be published August 25, 2020. A copy of The Wrong Mr. Darcy was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.