Product Description

romance, Guatemala, modern, Pride and Prejudice, variation

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #409687 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 258 pages

Customer Reviews

A Fantastic retelling or Pride and Prejudice in Modern Times
First I must say that I loved this book. Of course it is not written in the style of Jane Austen but it was written with the same outline as Pride and Prejudice. I fell in love with all the characters and enjoyed seeing the parallels with Pride and Prejudice and it made you really think that there is such a thing as a modern day Pride and Prejudice.

The Scenario:
Elyssa Barlett has every reason in the world to think ill of Will Denton: at her sister's rehearsal dinner he announces that as President of Pemberleo Coffee he is sending his employee Charles Blakely to Guatemala, he insulted her beheind her back, and he is just about the coldest and most heartless person alive. When Will comes to Guatemala she still dislikes him and thinks him a workaholic and manipulative. She has disliked him for two years now. However, when they spend time together she finds it harder to remember the reasons she disliked him so much. Until that is, she learns of how he told Charles not to propose to her sister from her friend George Westham. She leaves Guatemala right away before hearing his side of the story. Will her heart ever change towards Will? What is the truth about George Westham? Will Elyssa stop being so prejudice towards Will? I am not going to give away any of these answers, I suggest you read it for yourself.

I realize that the story is not an exact parallel, Janet and Charles are married 10 pages into the book, Elyssa's father is dead, and it takes place in America. But it has its own story that captures you and draws you in. I read it in one day, I loved it so much!

Not terrible, but a lot of room for improvement
I think there might be a very good story buried in this book. However, a great deal more editing is needed to find it. It suffers greatly from wordiness. Let me back up my critique with examples: At one point Elyssa reached into her pocket and "pulled out a handkerchief she had earlier placed there." How else did the handkerchief get there? She also walked over to her porch swing "that was hung out there." How could she walk to a swing that wasn't there? We are told in one short paragraph that the heroine's father died suddenly, unexpectedly and prematurely from a heart attack. Shouldn't the reader be allowed to infer all these things just by mentioning his death with barely grown children, or his age at the time? The author seems afraid to let the reader make their own conclusions, even obvious ones.

I also had trouble digesting the names of the characters. The author used a close approximation to pretty much every single character from Pride and Prejudice. Janet for Jane, Chad for Charles and so on, even naming the company Pemberleo. This was way too cutesy. I think it might have been better to let the readers discover the parallels on their own. Another way that the story was spoon fed to us.

The dialog seemed unnatural in many places. Ellysa says of Denton (Darcy), "That would certainly present me with a great misfortune, as I am determined to despise the man" and he describes her appearance as "tolerable." The author is trying to slip in some Austenesque language in her modern retelling, but you can't have it both ways.

I keep rereading this book!
I bought this book and always pick it up every summer to read. It's a fun book. The character's are realistic. It's a sweet love story but NO trashy romance which I really appreciated. If you love the general storyline of Pride and Prejudice, I bet you will love this book.