Brent R. (twomonkeys) reviewed Pemberley by the Sea: A modern love story, Pride and Prejudice style on + 19 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Such a great story. You will get butterflies as you read this book. You really feel for the characters, you feel their frustrations and their joys. A great journey!
Merri C. (Lati2de) reviewed Pemberley by the Sea: A modern love story, Pride and Prejudice style on + 68 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
The first 1/2 of this book was a modern re-telling of the classis Pride and Prejudice. It was mostly enjoyable. The second 1/2 felt like a completely different story. Odd and disjointed. A story of a wife and her newly married son who need to learn to stand-up to their unfeeling husband/father. And a new wife who's character goes back and forth between wishy-washy and strong. I wish I quit reading 1/2 way through!
Janice Y. (jai) reviewed Pemberley by the Sea: A modern love story, Pride and Prejudice style on + 310 more book reviews
This is a modern day Pride and Prejudice with Cassie Boulton, the Elizabeth Bennet character as a marine biologist, and Calder Westing, the Darcy character is a Senator's son. I would say that this really a exact retelling, it more takes the basic frame of Pride and Prejudice: Elizabeth and Darcy meet, Elizabeth dislikes Darcy from this first meeting while he starts to be intrigued by her in their subsequent meetings. The Jane and Mr. Bingley story in the meantime is even more loosely based on the original: they meet and date but encounter problems when summer is over. There isn't really a Wickham, lots of sisters, or a silly Mr. Collins.
The focus is instead on the two characters and their relationship. The book is modern in that there are a few intense sex scenes, but I didn't find them distasteful. From the beginning there is substantial chemistry between Cassie and Calder, which is obvious to the reader, but maybe not so obvious to the characters themselves. The tension is palpable, and when their relationship becomes physical (in a very memorable way) it's too early for them to turn it into a relationship. When they move their separate ways, but keep running into each other anyway, the tension continues. Calder assumes how he feels is obvious, but to Cassie, his face is unreadable, and she assumes that she doesn't belong in his world, especially with her low beginnings and a brother in jail. The revelation of how Calder really feels in the form of his "letter" to Cassie was one of my favorite parts of this book.
The only problem I had with this book, was that it seemed to continue far past where you'd think the Happily Ever After was. There was a lot of drama from both Cassie and Calder's pasts that kept coming between them, but then they'd find away around it, and something else would come up. I didn't feel like this part of this book was uninteresting, and it is original stuff (very different from the Pride and Prejudice story), but it seemed to go on much longer than it needed to.
My full review: http://janicu.livejournal.com/97247.html
The focus is instead on the two characters and their relationship. The book is modern in that there are a few intense sex scenes, but I didn't find them distasteful. From the beginning there is substantial chemistry between Cassie and Calder, which is obvious to the reader, but maybe not so obvious to the characters themselves. The tension is palpable, and when their relationship becomes physical (in a very memorable way) it's too early for them to turn it into a relationship. When they move their separate ways, but keep running into each other anyway, the tension continues. Calder assumes how he feels is obvious, but to Cassie, his face is unreadable, and she assumes that she doesn't belong in his world, especially with her low beginnings and a brother in jail. The revelation of how Calder really feels in the form of his "letter" to Cassie was one of my favorite parts of this book.
The only problem I had with this book, was that it seemed to continue far past where you'd think the Happily Ever After was. There was a lot of drama from both Cassie and Calder's pasts that kept coming between them, but then they'd find away around it, and something else would come up. I didn't feel like this part of this book was uninteresting, and it is original stuff (very different from the Pride and Prejudice story), but it seemed to go on much longer than it needed to.
My full review: http://janicu.livejournal.com/97247.html
Patricia S. (lucky7) reviewed Pemberley by the Sea: A modern love story, Pride and Prejudice style on
A modern day Pride & Prejudice that definitely delivers through the first 3/4s. Cassie, Elizabeth Bennett's contemporary counterpart) has some great one-liners in her early interactions with Calder/"Darcy". The story moves fast and was a real page turner...until .... I don't want be a "spoiler" so let's just say I could have totally omitted the last 100 pages without missing any enjoyment of this creative retelling of the original. Actually, I probably would have given it 4 stars had the author not continued past the ending that worked for Austen.
I enjoyed this modern updated take on Pride & Prejudice. This is not a completely faithful retelling of the classic story so there will be surprises. Don't expect this to be identical to Austen's story. Here the heroine is a scientist and professor from the slums. The hero is the son of a wealthy Senator. The two of course have a clash when they first meet, but soon find much in common. There's "Jane" and "Bingley" in the story as well, but updated to fit modern times. The problem I had with this book is there are so many times you think the story is over but it's not. The same problems come up over and over. There's a section in the book where you think the major issues have been resolved and end of story. Yet the story continues on for several chapters. Better editing would have helped this book. There's quite a bit of sexual content, but it's quite tame by modern standards.
Mylinh A. reviewed Pemberley by the Sea: A modern love story, Pride and Prejudice style on + 2 more book reviews
A very enjoyable modern P&P. Elizabeth is a sassy marine biologist with a Ph.D. and a shady past. Darcy is a rich and famous son of a political family, who is uncomfortable in the limelight. Sparks fly and misunderstandings abound when their worlds collide. Pemberly is now near the salt marshes of Cape Cod. The story within a story was an interesting twist, although it was a little cliched. That did not stop me from reading late into the night, though. There was a lot to like about this book. Im a huge Jane Austen fan, and I thought Reynolds did P&P very well. Move over Colin Firth, Calder Westing can smolder with the best of them.
