Romance Books Inspired by Pride & Prejudice

Growing up as one sister in a family of five wasn't easy for Mary Bennet. Lizzie and Jane were considered the great beauties. Lydia and Kitty were the charmers. But Mary was the awkward bookworm with a reputation as a scold. With all of her sisters married and gone from the Bennet household, Mary wonders if she'll ever find her own husband. After another scandal involving Lydia and Wickham threatens the Bennet house, Mary and Kitty are packed off to visit Jane and her husband, Charles Bingley. There, Mary meets Henry Walsh, a dashing young gentleman who seems drawn to her. Could this be love, or is he just another man ready to take advantage of a foolish girl?

When Elizabeth Bennet first met Mr. Darcy, she famously found him to be cold, arrogant, and snobby. Things dramatically changed, of course, but what was Mr. Darcy thinking during their extended tiff turned courtship? Fitzwilliam Darcy has long transfixed readers and Janet Aylmer decided to tell his side of the story. This book flips the perspectives to show how one of literature's most famous romances was perceived from the genre's most iconic hero.

This self-proclaimed sequel to Pride & Prejudice moves its focus from the Bennet family to the Darcys. Georgiana Darcy, Mr. Darcy's younger sister, is now ready for marriage, although she is rather nonplussed about the prospect of it. Two suitors are fighting for her affection: a naval captain of impeccable prospects and a brash young architect with attitude and charm to spare. Georgiana knows that the course of true love never runs smoothly, as proven by her own brother. Can she learn the right lessons from her stubborn family?

In the fall of 1797, and the Austen family is making the final rounds on the season's social events when Jane meets a mysterious man who will forever change her life. Before the evening is over, she has become a vampire, one of The Damned. Mr. Austen drags her to Bath in the hopes that the all-healing waters will cure her of her ailment. But the invading French armies of Napoleon have other plans for the city. Jane is forced to join with her own kind, the vampire leaders who are plotting to overthrow the tyrannical French soldiers. And they need her help.

There may be no more famous reimagining of Pride & Prejudice than the diary of a 30-something career girl with dreams of love, booze, and a thoroughly modern life. Bridget’s story continues to delight readers thanks to her wit and highly relatable experiences of sex and singlehood in the ‘90s. As she tries to get in shape, quit smoking, and resist terrible men like her cad boss Daniel Cleaver, she deals with the infuriating Mark Darcy, a lawyer who seems to hate her. But the course of true love never ran smooth, and Bridget is nothing if not a magnet for chaos! 

Zuri Benitez is fiercely devoted to her family and her community, but her Brooklyn neighborhood is being gentrified at an alarming rate. When the wealthy Darcy family moves in across the street, Zuri wants nothing to do with them, even as her sister Janae falls for the charming older son Ainsley. And then there's Darius, his arrogant sibling who seems to exist to infuriate Zuri. Life is tough for an Afro-Latino teenager, between applying for college, looking out for her sister, and fighting for her community. Perhaps she and Darius can find some common ground after all.

Oliver Bennet cannot be his true self. To the rest of the world, he is a girl named Elizabeth and it is his lot in life to marry, be an obedient wife, and have lots of children. He finds solace in his nighttime escapades, exploring the city while dressed as a young gentleman. It's during one such excursion that Oliver befriends Darcy. As Oliver's mother grows increasingly eager to marry him off to a wealthy suitor, he grows closer to Darcy and wonders if his friend could ever love him for who he truly is. Oliver will have to choose between the safety of a lie or the danger of his truth.

"If Elizabeth Bennet had the washing of her own petticoats, Sarah often thought, she’d most likely be a sight more careful with them." 

As the Bennet family concern themselves with good marriage matches and winning over stubborn gentlemen, the servants at Longbourn work to keep the house running. Sarah, the orphaned housemaid, spends her days scrubbing chamber pots and dreaming of her own happy ever after. When a mysterious new footman arrives, her world changes dramatically, but her hopes of a great love clash with her orderly life in the shadow of the Bennets.

Dr. Trisha Raje is a successful neurosurgeon, but that's not enough when you're descended from Indian royalty and your family has great ambitions beyond your own success. The Raje clan are one of the most influential immigrant families in San Francisco. They don't make room for outsiders, and that includes DJ Caine, a chef who has scraped his way to the top of his field through hard work. He needs the lucrative job the Rajes offer, but it means putting up with the infuriating and arrogant Trisha. And then he discovers that she’s the only surgeon who can save his sister’s life. As the two clash, their assumptions about one another crumble, and their feelings begin to turn from animosity to love. But before they can be together, they have to confront an uncertain future.