Dreaming of Mr. Darcy by Victoria Connelly

Dreaming of Mr. Darcy is the perfect novel to escape into.  I’ve been very stressed lately with teaching a class, taking a class, work, kids, etc., but this novel helped me to forget my worries each night before bed and take delight in the story. 

Kay Ashton is addicted to Jane Austen.  After she inherits a bit of money, she moves to Lyme (one of the locations in Jane Austen’s novel Persuasion) and buys a bed and breakfast.  Before she even has time to open, the stars of a new production of Persuasion knock on her door looking for rooms after their hotel is flooded.  Kay is more than a little excited to have the sexy actor Oli Wade Owen, aka Captain Wentworth, staying at her B&B.  The screenwriter and producer of Persuasion, Adam Craig, is a quiet guy who has harbored a crush on Kay since she moved to town.  Adam is the perfect man for Kay, but with Oli blinding her, she thinks that Adam is in love with Gemma (Anne Elliot in the Persuasion movie).  Will true love conquer all?

Once again Victoria Connelly has written a novel that is a love letter for all Jane Austen lovers.  Besides being a wonderful romantic story, it has many nuisances and references that Janeites will pick up as they read the book.  Persuasion is tied with Pride and Prejudice as my favorite Austen novel so I loved a novel that keyed into my favorite book so much. 

One of my favorite lines in the novel was, “It’s hard to think of the Regency period as being anything but perfect, isn’t it?  I don’t think it was perfect, but it was pretty damn close.  Apart from the mortality rate and lack of medicine and the hygiene issues.” This pretty much sums up my thoughts on the Regency period as well.

Dreaming of Mr. Darcy is a modern day Austen inspired novel that will be sure to encourage you to fall in love with the characters, Lyme, and Austen.  It is a wonderful novel.

Book Source:  Review Copy from Sourcebooks.  Thank-you!