Release Day Review by Gillian: Out, Proud, and Prejudiced, by Megan Reddaway

Out, Proud, and Prejudiced, by Megan Reddaway
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: June 4, 2018

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

One’s proud, one’s prejudiced, and they can’t stand each other.

Quick-tempered Bennet Rourke dislikes Darius Lanniker on sight. Darius may be a hotshot city lawyer, but that doesn’t give him the right to sneer at Bennet, his friends, and their college. It doesn’t help that Bennet’s restaurant job has him waiting at Darius’s table. So when his tutor recommends him for an internship at Darius’s Pemberley estate, Bennet isn’t sure he wants it. He’s also not sure he can afford to turn it down.

Darius is a fish out of water in the small college town of Meriton, but something keeps pulling him back there. He’s helping out a friend with business advice, nothing more. If he’s interested in Bennet, it’s not serious. Sure, Bennet challenges him in a way no other man has. But they have nothing in common. Right?

Wrong. Their best friends are falling in love, and Bennet and Darius can’t seem to escape each other. Soon they’re sharing climbing ropes and birthday cake, and there’s a spark between them that won’t be denied. But betrayal is around the corner. Darius must swallow his pride and Bennet must drop his prejudices to see the rainbow shining through the storm clouds.

M/M Pairing
Gay Characters
Contemporary
Enemies To Lovers
College/University

When I saw that was a queer re-telling of Pride & Prejudice, I couldn’t request this book fast enough. I love P&P and as far as I’m concerned, it’s the original and best enemies-to-lovers story. Yes yes, I know others came first but *for me* this is it.

I’m happy to say that Out, Proud, and Prejudiced was not only more or less faithful to the original, with all the necessary modern updates, but it was more fun than I thought it would be. Which is not to say that you have to be an Austen fan to enjoy this story. On the contrary. Sometimes it helps going into a book like this without any preconceived notions. Dare I say, without any….prejudice?

Hey, I’m not too proud to pun 😉

Much like the original, there is a good deal of drama and the kind of misunderstandings and dirty dealings that only get resolved at the very end. But getting there is half the fun, even when you’re already familiar with the basic premise of the story, because the characters are great no matter what era they’re from.

In this version of P&P, Elizabeth Bennett has become Bennett Rourke and Mr. Darcy is now Darius Lanniker. They still can’t stand each other, of course, but are reluctantly supportive when both of their bf’s, Jamie and Tim (Jane and Mr. Bingley in the original) are introduced and instantly attracted to one another.

I loved how the source material blended seamlessly with all the updated elements of the story, without losing the charm of the original book. This is especially true of the characters, who are allowed to retain their original personalities (actually, some of them are way more personable here) but are thoroughly modern in every way.

The other supporting players in this drama are Leon and Kofi (Lydia and Kitty), Callum (Mr. Collins) and Wyndham (Wickam), among others. One of the very few things I found disappointing was Bennett’s mother, who is pretty much drab and lifeless. In the original she’s basically nasty and horrible but at least she’s interesting in a cringe-inducing sort of way. Here, she has lost all of her personality and could have easily been edited out without affecting the story at all.

Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed this fast-paced, entertaining book. This was my first time reading this author, but it has intrigued me enough to check out her back catalogue.

In the meantime, I feel a P&P movie marathon coming on 😀

Megan Reddaway has been entertained by fictional characters acting out their stories in her head for as long as she can remember. She began writing them down as soon as she could.

Since she grew up (more or less), she’s worked as a secretary, driver, waitress, and flower-seller, among other things, but she always has a story bubbling away at the same time.

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