Blog Tour Book Review: Boots and Backpacks by K. C. Kahler

Boots and Backpacks
by K.C. Kahler

Genre: Romance / Contemporary / Pride & Prejudice Re-telling

Ages: 16 and up

I received an e-copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. Thanks to Leatherbound Reviews! :)

Description:

William Darcy counts down the last few months to his 30th birthday with dread. Orphaned as a child, his parents’ will includes a bizarre clause: Darcy must get married by his 30th birthday in order to inherit the family fortune. To make matters worse, the press knows about this deadline, as do the hordes of women chasing him in the hopes of becoming Mrs. Darcy. His family legacy hangs in the balance, but Darcy has little faith in the fairer sex. Will he find a woman he wants to marry, and quickly?

Elizabeth Bennet is determined to pursue her education and career without letting a man get in the way. When her traveling companion drops out, her planned hike on the Appalachian Trial is jeopardized. She meets the spoiled, snobby William Darcy just when he is desperate to escape the spotlight. No one will suspect that the Prince of Manhattan has gone backpacking! Darcy and Elizabeth form a tenuous partnership and begin a 300-mile journey that will transform them both.

In classic romantic comedy tradition, Boots & Backpacks follows our reluctant partners as they build trust, friendship, and even more. Six weeks together on America’s most famous hiking trail may turn out to be just what these two need!

My Thoughts:

Oh my goodness, Darcy is a total jerk in this book. At least, he is at first. For the first few chapter I kept trying to wrap my head around it; a version of Darcy who had slept with hundreds of women over the course of eight years of one-night stands. After a little while, though, I started looking at it less as a modern adaptation of Pride and Prejudice and more of a contemporary romance that was just written by someone who loves Jane Austen. At that point, the book stopped bugging me and I just started enjoying it.

The character arc was simply delightful. As I mentioned above, Darcy starts out as a jerk. Ever so slowly, though, over the course of the novel, he learns and improves. He stops hitting on Lizzy all the time and starts actually thinking about her. The development was very well written. Lizzy has her own issues, and the way the two of them worked through things was lovely to watch.

I am a huge fan of the way Ms. Kohler worked in so many Jane Austen characters, not just the ones from P&P. Marianne and Ellie Dashwood, along with Christopher Brandon and Eduardo Ferraro, made an appearance, thought Ellie's was off-screen. Several others were slipped in, sometimes in a way that was obvious, and some that were rather sneaky.

While it took me a little while to get into it, I liked this book a lot. It had a great deal of humor and wit, making it a very entertaining read.

Rating System: Profanity, Sexuality and Violence
1 (mild) through 10 (extreme). Ratings may contain spoilers.

 

Profanity:

I rate it an 8.10 for a few uses of the f-word and some mid-level swearing.

 

Sexuality:

I give it 7.10 for a few middlingly descriptive scenes and quite a few references.

 

Violence:

There was no violence in this book, though it came close once or twice.

 

About the Author: 

KC Kahler has worked as a writer and editor in both non-profit and academic settings. Until discovering Jane Austen Fan Fiction several years ago, KC’s writing had been limited to the dry and technical, which is a shame, since she considers herself witty and sparkling. Her first novel, Boots & Backpacks, will be published in 2014 by Meryton Press. 

KC lives on a four-acre slice of Penn’s Woods with her husband and two dogs. They enjoy hiking, gardening, and being beer snobs. 

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