ARC Review: Out, Proud, and Prejudiced by Megan Reddaway

Out, Proud, and Prejudiced
by Megan Reddaway
Published by Less Than Three Press
eARC
LGBT, contemporary, romance, retelling

One's proud, one's prejudiced, and they can't stand each other.

Quick-tempered Bennet Rourke dislikes Darius Lanniker on sight. Darius may be a hotshot city lawyer, but that doesn't give him the right to sneer at Bennet, his friends, and their college. It doesn't help that Bennet's restaurant job has him waiting at Darius's table. So when his tutor recommends him for an internship at Darius's Pemberley estate, Bennet isn't sure he wants it. He's also not sure he can afford to turn it down.

Darius is a fish out of water in the small college town of Meriton, but something keeps pulling him back there. He's helping out a friend with business advice, nothing more. If he's interested in Bennet, it's not serious. Sure, Bennet challenges him in a way no other man has. But they have nothing in common. Right?

Wrong. Their best friends are falling in love, and Bennet and Darius can't seem to escape each other. Soon they're sharing climbing ropes and birthday cake, and there's a spark between them that won't be denied. But betrayal is around the corner. Darius must swallow his pride and Bennet must drop his prejudices to see the rainbow shining through the storm clouds.

A modern retelling of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.

Out, Proud, and Prejudiced is a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice, where the main characters are gay. There are some differences to the original tale, but there isn't any radical changes. I went in knowing this and not expecting to be surprised, and I enjoyed the story a lot. I only have to say that the blurb is misleading as there isn't a dual point of view, because the only perspective is Bennet's and Darius's inner thoughts are not on page.

Despite expecting that there wouldn't be big surprises plot or character wise, there were some elements of suspense and I enjoyed the story. It took me a little while to warm up for the characters and situation; mostly because of the modern setting, as I've always felt that a lot of the charm for Pride and Prejudice is the time period. However, Reddaway made the story work well in modern setting, where Bennet and his friends studied hospitality in a college and Darius was a hotshot city lawyer.

The relationship dynamics have changed from the original tale; Bennet and Jamie are best friends and flat mates instead of siblings and so on. I enjoyed the dynamics between characters. Jamie's one of my favourites because he's kind and adorable, and I loved his relationship with Tim. Of course, Bennet and Darius get the limelight with their initial mutual dislike and slow progress of learning to stand each other. Both are proud men with prejudices, and I found it especially delightful read to see how they found they both enjoyed climbing and such. It was really good that Bennet and Darius had a lot of interaction - there's a trip to Brighton, climbing, and surprise visits to Pembroke. It was a really slow burn, but it was to be expected and I truly enjoyed their interactions.

Out, Proud, and Prejudiced was engaging read and especially captivating at the end. It would have been even better reading experience, if I'd been able to stop comparing and looking for links to the source material. In any case, it's a good contemporary retelling with M/M romance. I do recommend this for both fans of Pride and Prejudice and fans of M/M contemporary romance.

Now, I just want to re-read the original and watch one or two movie adaptations.

4 of 5 stars

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Thank you, Less Than Three Press, for giving me a chance to read and review Out, Proud, and Prejudiced!

(A copy of this ebook was provided in return for an honest review.)