This slow burn, second chance, sapphic romance was an odd choice for me. Based on Pride and Prejudice, a book I am on record disparaging, I was prepared to dislike this book. Strongly. My initial hopes were that I may tolerate this novel and I feel honour-bound to stress this point. I did not expect to enjoy it. I definitely did not expect to adore it with the same fervour our heroines experience for the other!

The plot is simple, Mrs Charlotte Collins (formerly Miss Charlotte Lucas) is widowed and writes to her best friend, Elizabeth Darcy, asking for companionship. As Lizzie is detained with her child's illness, she sends her sister Mary instead.

Charlotte Lucas is thoroughly believable. Her motivations and thought processes will resonate with anyone who has ever questioned their sexuality, independent of time period. Mary Bennet is turned into a feminist icon. Her bloom from Austen's untalented wallflower to an enthusiastic, amateur botanist is a leap but a welcome one. Her journey resonates as keenly as Charlotte's for those who have struggled to find their place in society.

This story is heart-warming, competently written and so very real. I cried with empathy, raged at injustices and cheered with abandon - a high bar for any author, let alone for their debut. While I admit, it was difficult to believe Canterbury was queer with an established gay scene, what else is fiction for? I choose to believe that our gay elders were actively providing sanctuaries for our fledglings.

My only criticism is Charlotte's naivety which becomes tedious in places. It may be my own prejudice against the genre but the frustration of any character missing the obvious rapidly evolves into irritation. Character growth comes at a cost. In my case, eye strain from all the rolling. I shall concede the point as a necessary evil but I'm not happy about it.

For romance readers and fans of Bridgeton, this is a must read. For non-romance readers, this is not a bad start if you're interested in attempting the genre. I hope for a sequel, where Mary and Charlotte are aging 'spinsters' who take in their own fledgling lesbian couple.

This review will be published on Monday 24th February on Pending Plays.

(I'm going to be reviewing this book with the caveat that it's misshelved on here as a YA story when it's categorised as adult on other websites and the content is definitely aimed at an adult audience. So, my below review is based on my personal feelings of the story without taking into consideration the potential views of my teen students as I won't be purchasing the book this book for them.)

The Unlikely Pursuit of Mary Bennett begins with the untimely death of Mr Collins and subsequently follows Charlotte Collins (nee Lucas) as she both grieves and doesn't, accompanied by Mary Bennet as the companion sent in Lizzie's stead while she takes care of her unwell son. Lizzie later apologises, assuming that Charlotte is having a terrible time with her ever serious sister. She definitely wouldn't have expected what's actually happening, but, in Charlotte's defense, neither did she.

Charlotte and Mary's relationship slowly unfolds over the course of the book - as does Charlotte's discovery of her queerness. It's a really lovely, sweet and earnest portrayal of realising that you're not alone in your feelings and rewriting the rules to work for you.
I loved that Charlotte was queer in this story because I've always read her that way, even in the OG text (and I also really loved all the hilarious takedowns of Mr Collins).

I will say, Mary was so different in this story to the Mary in Pride and Prejudice (and her new personality is frequently remarked upon in the book too) that she was basically a completely new character. I do understand that from a marketing perspective having a Bennet sister in the title is a draw for a lot of readers, but when the named title character is nothing like the character she was based on, it feels a little flimsy. Mary could really have been anyone. I did thoroughly enjoy the contrasting characters but yes, Mary could have been exactly the same character and not a Bennet sister and it wouldn't have impacted the plot whatsoever.

I did really enjoy this book, however, and I would recommend to anyone who loves Regency stories but wishes they were gayer. Or to anyone who wants to read about Mr Collins' character being lightly and lovingly eviscerated.

⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rep : (Implied) Lesbian MCs, Sapphic Romance

🛏️Only One Bed
❤️Regency Historical Romance
🖤Recently Widowed
📖Pride and Prejudice Retelling
😔Discussions of Grief
👭Friends to Lovers
🏳️‍🌈Discovering Sexuality

'How long can one hold a friend's hand without being thought odd?'

'She pressed a hand to her chest, feeling the ache. A lifetime's worth of repression spilling out. "I thought I was quite alone."'

What I Loved
1) The regency vibes were perfect!

2) The discussion of what it's like to be a widow in the regency era and the expectations put on a widow

3) I love all the disses to Mr Collins in Charlotte's head. They had me laughing so much.

4) The banter and chemistry in the romance was exactly my taste. The slow burn had me so invested!

5) The discussion of Charlotte grieving Mr Collins not being in the way that is expected I could see make a lot of people being seen.

6) Often in books with one person discovering their sexuality, the other is really pushy but in this I truly felt Mary was being respectful and waiting until she was 100% comfortable with anything.

What I Disliked
1) After the couple got together, it basically went from a complete slowburn to being a lot of sex scenes at once and it's just not my personal preference.

Thank you to Netgalley, Little Brown Book Group and Lindz McLeod for this arc in exchange for an honest review

Based loosely on Jane Austen's character's, this book took a long time to get going but then I suppose it was trying to follow the style of the era, although the content was not! I loved learning more of the language of flowers. It was definitely interesting.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for this ARC.

This is some heartwarming Jane Austen fan fiction that takes place four years after the events of Pride & Prejudice. Charlotte Lucas who was married to parson Mr Collins finds herself a young widow in need of consolation by friends, but as Lizzie Bennet is busy, she sends her younger sister Mary.

What follows is a historically inaccurate but very sweet wishful thinking sapphic regency romance with a lot of yearning and longing and misunderstandings plus a third-act breakup, before a happy ending that is fit for the times can ensue.

You don't need to be queer or a Jane Austen fan to enjoy this slow-burn romance, though it might help. Recommended, especially if you like to learn about the meaning of flowers.

It is with some irony that I must announce that my final completed read of the year is undoubtedly my best read of 2024, and not only that, this book may be the best sapphic book I've ever read.

Everything about this book just worked so perfectly, it's well written, the characters are both enjoyable to read about and well developed and the chemistry between the main characters is perfect. Additionally, it works fabulously as an addition to pride and prejudice and fits into that pre-existing world relatively seamlessly. It feels like a typical historical romance (aka not one of those that mixes being historical with more modern language etc). There is a small number of liberties taken with the realities of queer people during the Regency era but nothing too extreme (it's not set in a gay Regency utopia or anything but the way is smoothed some).

I am quite notoriously extremely picky and harsh reviewer but I truly cannot find a fault in this book. The only thing that personally could have made it better for me is if it was butch x femme but also that would not make sense at all for this book so it cannot be part of my critique.

Undoubtedly a must-read for sapphic romance readers and historical romance readers alike. Will be pushing this book on everyone as part of my gay agenda.

Thank you to Netgalley and Little Brown Book Group UK and Atom for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

The Unlikely Pursuit of Mary Bennet is one of the best books I've read this year. Such a good story. I recommend everyone to read this book as fast as they can because it's really good.

The Unlikely Pursuit of Mary Bennet by Lindz McLeod is an NA sapphic regency romance book that takes place 4 years after the end of Pride and Prejudice.

I liked the author’s takes on the characters and their relationship, both with old P&P characters and original ones.

(potential spoiler)


Personally, I wouldn’t call it a slow burn, since they were pretty heads over heels for each other from the start, more or less.
Regardless, it didn’t ruin the read for me, and anyway, the sapphic yearning and the chemistry were top-tier.

I was hoping until the end for Darcy and Lizzie’s cameo, but I totally understand why the author chose not to do it and to focus on Mary and Charlotte's relationship only.

I highly recommend this book to Pride and Prejudice fans and Regency romance lovers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group for the ARC.