Queen B’s Decree: As with nearly every book that is either a Pride and Prejudice remake or at the very least references it, I excitedly picked up Hiring Mr. Darcy. Meg and her boyfriend Harrison, both history professors, have plans to compete at the Jane Austen Festival in Bath, UK until Harrison dumps her as a competitive partner to instead compete with beautiful actress Lacey. He’s been hired by her to prepare for her upcoming role as Lydia Bennett in the newest P&P adaptation and their college’s department head thinks it will be good publicity if Harrison and the famous actress win.
Meg is a very competitive person, and truthfully she seems more upset about not going to the festival versus her boyfriend’s disrespect. Somehow her brother’s best friend Jeremy volunteers to be her new Mr. Darcy and it’s a short two weeks as she’s training him in how to play whist, dance the waltz, and to look like a broody Colin Firth.
Meg was not a strong heroine. She was so judgemental and snobby; to be fair, a perfect Mr. Darcy. Meg blames Lacey for her own feelings of jealousy and insecurities, instead of facing the problems in her own relationship with Harrison. I did enjoy Meg’s inner monologue and I thought she was truly humorous. Some of her thoughts had me chuckling out loud. Jeremy, on the other hand, was a sweet character. He was helpful and gentle, and he was able to force Meg to see her snobby ways while staying diplomatic.
What brought my rating down was the ending. It felt like a Hallmark movie where everything gets resolved in the last 8 minutes of the movie. It felt rushed and extremely unrealistic and I had a hard time believing in their love. Truthfully I don’t know why Jeremy loved her at all; they hadn’t even interacted in nearly a decade, yet he continued to carry a torch for her.
I would have loved a few chapters from Jeremy’s point-of-view, as I wish I could have gotten to understand his feelings a bit more. Overall, I felt disappointed.
Book: Hiring Mr. Darcy by Valerie Bowman
Series: Austen Hunks #1
Genre: RomCom
Hotness: mild to no salsa
Plot Devices/Tropes: brother’s best friend