The Wrong Mr. Darcy

Lozada, star of the Basketball Wives reality TV show, and coauthor Lörincz (who previously collaborated with Lozada on The Perfect Date) loosely reimagine Pride and Prejudice as a sporty, multicultural romance with a surprising amount of edge. Hara Isari is determined to make it as a sportswriter. Derek Darcy, a professional basketball player in Boston, spent his rookie season sidelined after an injury. He’s now ready to get back in the game when he hears a troubling secret about his best friend and teammate Charles Butler. When Hara wins a national writing award, the prize is an exclusive interview with media-shy Charles, who brings Derek along. At the interview, Derek criticizes her for her softball questions, all of which had to be approved by the team’s hostile owner. Hara and Derek’s first impressions of each other are just as disastrous as Austen fans will expect, but they grow closer as Hara attempts to dig out Charles’s secret. The authors bring the lively plot to an unexpected, explosive finish, but the occasionally stilted prose keeps the tale from fully taking off. Still, the basketball angle is an inventive spin on a favorite story. This is sure to delight fans of sports romance. (Aug.)