PUCK AND PREJUDICE - Lia Riley
Avon
ISBN: 978-0-06-341232-3
November 2024
Fiction

England - Present Day and 1812

Professional hockey player Tucker Taylor has had a rough year. Diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in the spring, he's been sidelined from playing while undergoing successful treatment. But he still needs time to recover, so Tucker has flown to England where his sister is studying British literature at the University of Bath. As he, his sister, and her friend hang out at a local pub, he must listen to the two women discuss someone named Jane Austen and how she compares to other female authors of her era. Finally tired of the talk, he tells his sister that he's going to drive back to the B & B. But on the way, on icy roads, he swerves to avoid a dog and child and ends up in a pond. 

In 1812 -

Lizzie Bennet has retreated to her cousin Georgie's country estate, trying to avoid her mother, brother, and stepfather   from forcing her into a marriage she is not at all interested in. All Lizzie would like to do is write. She wished that, like Georgie, she was a widow and had control of her own life. But unless she can find a husband on the verge of departing this life, Lizzie feels she is doomed to be forced into a loveless marriage where a man controls her life forever. 

While walking near her cousin's estate, Lizzie mulls over her dubious future, and, frustrated, tosses her apple core into the bushes near a pond. She hears a strange sound and goes to investigate, finding a rather large, soaking wet man wearing odd clothing. He is angry about being hit by the fruit, and when he catches sight of Lizzie, he asks her why she is wearing such a dress? 

Tucker soon comes to the realization after talking to the young lady, that he has somehow been transported to 1812 England! At Lizzie's insistence, they manage to get to her cousin's estate where the whole story gets even more crazy. One of the guests who happens to be there is none other than Jane Austen! The three women begin to plan how to a) get Tucker back to the future, and b) while doing so he should marry Lizzie so that when he does return, she will be a widow! Simple! What could possibly go wrong?

PUCK AND PREJUDICE is a truly delightful time travel story filled with fun as well as poignant events. Georgie and Jane convince the couple that their plan will work, and that both will benefit. Tucker isn't so sure, but what has he got to lose? He "temporarily" marries a beautiful young woman, and then, hopefully, will get back to the twenty-first century and play hockey. What neither will plan on is that they could come to care for one another.

Will Tucker return home, or...? Be prepared for anything in this sweet story. 

Jani Brooks