Telling the truth about their breakup is out of the question, because the cottage is up for sale, and this is the group’s last hurrah. But (surprise!) Wyn is there too, and he and Harriet have to share a (very romantic) room and a bed. She’s ready for a vacation at her happy place-the Maine cottage she and her friends visit every summer. So they keep it a secret from their friends and families-in fact, Harriet barely even admits it to herself, focusing instead on her grueling hours as a surgical resident. They’ve been part of the same boisterous friend group since college, and they know that their breakup will devastate the others and make things more than a little awkward. Wyn Connor and Harriet Kilpatrick were the perfect couple-until Wyn dumped Harriet for reasons she still doesn’t fully understand. While King’s attempts at Austen-ian repartee feel largely superfluous to her otherwise deft and fun storytelling, this is nonetheless an original take on the source material, filled with three-dimensional characters.Įxes pretend they’re still together for the sake of their friends on their annual summer vacation. And renovating.A thrill dances up my spine at the prospect.Meryton has facilitated so much good in my life the least I can do is contribute to this new chapter of its story.” As Bennet works to overcome her insecurities, she must also contend with the arrival of the witty, if poorly dressed, George Wickham, whose questionable motives and troubled past with Darcy are slowly revealed. That is, until she overhears him damningly describe her as “thoroughly tolerable.” As it turns out, Darcy’s friend Charles Bingley-Jane’s new love interest-and Meryton manager Andrea are trying to buy the property, and Bennet must move past the trauma that ended her previous career as an interior designer and follow her dreams: “Now Andrea is buying the building. When handsome and aloof patron Will Darcy catches Bennet’s eye, she foresees a more interesting end to her night than expected.

Bennet’s duties involve picking up discarded undies and other scanty regalia after the performances of her co-workers, including her BFF Jane Okogu, the aerialists Ginn and Tonic, and Renaissance woman Ming DyNasty. Bennet spends her weekdays as an executive assistant at a startup and her weekends “kittening” for a burlesque show at Meryton, a Tribeca club. Pride and Prejudice.if the heroine wore pasties.Įlizabeth Bennet is a self-proclaimed woman of many names-Bennet to friends, Lizard to family, Liz at her day job, and Kitten when she moonlights.

A Certain Appeal by Vanessa King