Unequal Affection by Lara S. Ormiston

I will read any Pride and Prejudice-related book that I can find, and I heard that this one was very good, so naturally I snatched it up. This is a re-imagining of what would have happened if Elizabeth Bennet had accepted Mr. Darcy's first proposal, instead of yelling at him and accusing him of being a terrible person. What if, instead, she had weighed the pros and cons, and accepted that she could not totally throw away the opportunity to marry someone who loved her and who was intelligent, honorable, and, of course, rich? The book goes from the original proposal and for the next month or so, as Lizzy eventually accepts Darcy, telling him that she does not love him but will try to get to know him and marry him anyway, and as they do get to know each other.

I thought the characterizations in the book were so spot on, and the events and people seemed totally believable. I realized there were so many things that I hadn't anticipated or imagined could happen, and which were totally believable in how they played out in this book. I loved the idea that that original proposal, and Lizzy's rejection and Darcy's letter he wrote back, started this train of self-reflection and change for both Darcy and Lizzy, making them both less prideful and assured of themselves and their own judgment. And without that gradual change in character, what would they be like? How could they come together and love each other without realizing what they each were doing wrong on their own? I thought Ormiston did such a great job of helping both of them come to those same realizations without that initial change in the original book. I also liked the relationship between Darcy and Lizzy in this book, how he becomes so vulnerable since he knows he's the one who loves her while she doesn't love him (yet). Darcy was oh so romantic in this book, maybe a little over the top at times, but it didn't bother me at all. I loved it. I really, really enjoyed this book and I would definitely buy it to have it to read again (add it in with my Jane Austen collection, haha).