Exclusive interview with Teri Wilson and a review of her new novel, it’s Must Love Dogs meets Pride and Prejudice.
Rating: Three Stars
by Gabrielle Pantera
“For over a year, I wrote the book in my head,” says Unleashing Mr Darcy author Teri Wilson. “I would imagine snippets of conversations between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy and dream up all sorts of trouble for them to get into. I went on a trip to London and the idea for the book simply sprang to life. I found I couldn’t let the concept go. I had to get it down on paper.”
Unleashing Mr. Darcy is Pride and Prejudice with dogs. If you appreciate reboots of Austen classics, such as The Jane Austen Book Club, you’ll love Unleashing Mr. Darcy. Some of the dialog from both the book and the Jane Austen movies is in Wilson’s novel, which follows the original’s plot points pretty closely. This novel is a light and easy reading, but the conflict is not as strong as die-hard Austen readers may expect. Fun, but no surprises. The show dog world gives a unique setting to the story.
In Unleashing Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth Scott is a teacher. She sees no need of a husband. She only needs her work as teacher at a private school in New York and her dog Bliss. A crisis at school makes her want to do something new and since she’s always wanted to work with dogs she gets a job in England caring for show dogs. Elizabeth even hopes to enter her own dog Bliss into the shows. Donovan Darcy is a wealthy breeder and a dog show judge. Elizabeth and Donovan clash, but a difference of opinion leads to attraction on both sides.
“I am a big Jane Austen fan,” says Wilson. “I love her books, as well as all the modern adaptations of her novels. I also love dogs. When my dogs were a bit younger, I showed them in dog shows, and that’s when I first had the idea for Unleashing Mr. Darcy. I used to be so nervous when I stepped into the dog show ring. I could just imagine myself as Elizabeth showing under an intimidating judge like Mr. Darcy.”
“I read Pride & Prejudice dozens of times…One of the fun things about writing retellings of classics is sneaking in bits and pieces of the original language. Reading the book will be like an Easter egg hunt for those familiar with Austen’s original.”
Wilson wrote a series of Alaskan romances for Harlequin’s Love Inspired line: Alaskan Hearts (June 2012), Alaskan Hero (May 2013) and Sleigh Bell Sweethearts (November 2013). She’s won the San Antonio Romance Authors Merritt Contest Grand Prize, the EPIC E book award for Excellence in Inspirational Romance and the Pet Sitters International Humor Writing Award. “The first writing award I ever won was the Westminster Kennel Club Angel on a Leash Writing Award in 2006,” says Wilson, “which was great fun because I traveled to New York to accept the award and attend the famed Westminster Kennel Club dog show.”
Unleashing Mr. Darcy is the first in a three-book series of trade paperbacks for HQN that are fun, modern retellings of classic romances. The second, Unmasking Juliet, will be released in May 2014. Wilson is currently working on the third book, Unschooling Professor Higgins, a retelling of Pygmalion with an artsy twist.
Wilson has lived in Texas since childhood. She was born in Phoenix, Arizona.
Unleashing Mr. Darcy by Teri Wilson. Paperback: 368 pages, Publisher: Harlequin HQN; Original edition (December 31, 2013), Language: English, ISBN: 9780373778355 $14.95. Also available for Kindle.
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