The Wrong Mr. Darcy

March 2, 2020
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.

August 1, 2020
As the only biracial child in her small town, Hara Isari is familiar with the feeling of being different. When she was in middle school, her father was convicted of running an illegal sports betting organization. Untested professionally at 22, Hara is working for the local paper with the goal of landing her dream job as a sports reporter, when she wins a writing competition. The prize is an exclusive interview with the unpredictable basketball superstar Charles Butler. Will this be her big break, or a big mess? Hara's reflections on her racial identity, how she feels as though she always needs to explain herself, and her pursuit of a career path made difficult for women make for added elements of interest. Family relationships and friendships are also rendered with depth, and the unfolding drama keeps the pages turning. The inside glimpse of the athletes' personal lives feels authentic, possibly reflecting reality-TV star Lozada's own experiences as portrayed on Basketball Lives. Lozada and coauthor L�rincz further add appeal with nodding references to Pride and Prejudice in this smart and sexy contemporary romance.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)