Rating: 
Summary: I absolutely loved this book, PEMBERLY notwithstanding.
Review: A caveat: if you are an Austen purist, DO NOT READ THIS BOOK (or my review). If you shudder at the thought of Austen's characters involved in intimate pursuits, forget it. If you can't deal with the misspellings of words like Pemberley (PemberLY) and Elizabeth (EliSabeth), and with the fact that Mr. Collins, for some bizarre reason, is renamed Thaddeus (what on earth?), do yourself a favor and don't read this book. Anyhoo, if you are NOT a purist. This is a good book. Despite the poor editing job--I understand the author published it independently--and the seemingly deliberate misspellings of characters' names, this is a lovely, compelling love story. So, what I liked. As I said, it is a love story. Darcy and Lizzy have a very passionate, beautiful relationship, complete with excellent sex (hey, why not? whoever said that they had to be repressed?)--but you begin to understand, very clearly, that it's not just THAT. They cling to each other throughout the book and through all their troubles, and come out on top. Very endearing to see. Characterizations were excellent. Whoever said that the characters were unbelievable is just wrong. If you took away the rather graphic (but tasteful, I think, more so than in most romance novels) sex, Darcy is still Darcy--proud and shy and level-headed, very moral and fastidious, and "a man of considerable courage." Lizzy is still clever and funny and very much alive. The other characters--the parents, the sisters, Fitzwilliam, Mrs. Reynolds, Lady Catherine--are also very much within character. The language. I agree, it was overdone at times with all the howbeits and betwixts, and boy, did I reach for my dictionary! But I think that all in all, it was better than most romance novels, which are rather pathetic in that characters in them say words like "okay". :) It was rich and fun, and, once again, tasteful. What I did not like so much: the plot. It just gets muddled by the end. But not hopelessly so--and, once again, it's believable that Georgie, the proverbial still waters, would run off after Fitzwilliam, and Darcy, as the very good brother he is, would follow her. Bingley's behavior in his marriage. Not that men did not go outside of marriage at that time... it's just that I don't think Bingley would, not because he's particularly moral, but because he seems rather timid and somewhat asexual. But of course, Jane would bear it stoically, as is her wont--so her reaction to her husband's infidelity is absolutely true to her character (grin and bear). But still, it is somewhat strange that he should be the one to stray... That Darcy managed to get away with murder (literally) without as much as lifting a finger. I agree, he was certainly an important gent, but he did kill three people. I think there would have been SOME repercussions for him--after all, he wasn't so high up, not even a knight or a baronet, simply a rich man. Altogether, if you are a fan of the miniseries and don't mind little liberties taken with your favorite characters, read this book and you will probably enjoy it.
Rating: 
Summary: Sequel Does not Provide Justice to Original
Review: As someone who loves Pride and Prejudice and has read it more times than should be allowed, I did not enjoy this sequel at all. The character descriptions and actions deviated immensely from the original author's. The storyline was borderline pornography, and the only thing the newly married couple seems to do is engage in sexual activities. In addition, the author creates history for Mr. Darcy and Bingely that discredits both their original characters. I do not believe that Jane Austen intended for this beloved classic to be continued. Let's hope not to many more are sequelized.
Rating: 
Summary: Faithful story, authentic characters, R-rated details
Review: Having been a devoted, repeat reader of all Jane Austen novels starting almost 30 years ago, I only recently discovered the wide array of Pride and Prejudice sequels. I cannot adequately compare this one with the long list of the ones I haven't read. I did read Emma Tennant's sequels, Pemberly and Pemberly Revisited, and found them enjoyable, though not memorable. Excessively Diverted, the Carrie Bebris mystery form of sequel, was acceptable fiction, but not very satisfying for an Austen devotee. Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife was, for me, a very enjoyable read. I read the synopsis and several reviews, and was prepared for the exploration of the sex lives of my favorite P&P characters. I expected that to be a detriment to the work. I was wrong.
Mrs. Berdoll offers an R-rated look at the inner working of the Darcy marriage, but she builds so faithfully on the characters as introduced by Austen that her explicit prose seems to flow straight from the inevitable maturation of the characters. Aspects are titillating, and some references are unnecessary and/or anachronistic, but I still think she stayed true to the heart of the main characters.
That said, the plot, which came together in fits and spurts, is actually quite interesting. My sense is that the author wanted to tell a story that could stand alone, if the reader wasn't familiar with P&P, but being overly familiar with the original work, it was hard for me to judge how well she succeeded in that. In all, I found most components of the book (plot, setting, language, conflict, resolution) to be satisfying and enjoyable. Mrs. Berdoll's attempt to reproduce Austen's style of writing was usually acceptable, although sometimes her run-on sentences and reverse structure drew attention to her copying efforts (Austen: often imitated, never duplicated). Some secondary characters don't necessarily seem true to their original form, but Lizzy and Darcy do, to me. Since I haven't written my own sequel (and probably won't), I would recommend this book to anyone who loves the original and is not offended by the close inspection of Mr. and Mrs. Darcy's evolving sex life.
Rating: 
Summary: Howbeit, this shall not be!
Review: I can only imagine that those who find this book entertaining enough to give it 5 stars are prone to reading more romance novels and Barbara Cartlands than they are genuine literature. And they sure never read Jane Austen!
Austen is probably rolling in her grave over this pornographic take on her beloved characters. It is indeed a sad day in the publishing world when "fan-fiction" actually makes it off of the internet and onto a printed page - because that's all this book is - fan-fiction.
I mean, give me a break. Do we really care that much about the sex-lives of Austen's characters? I would rather have known more about how Elizabeth got on in dealing with her new position in life, than in how many positions she could manage to get "rumped" in on any give day. The way she and Darcy go at it in this novel you wonder Elizabeth can walk at all - particularly after her wedding night.
According to the author's bio in the back she did 4 years of research. It was not enough. That she obviously did little outside of researching euphemisms for genitalia is apparent within the first few pages. That she researched the writing style of Austen is impossible. Where Austen's writing flows with lyricism, the writing in this book is choppy, a grammatical nightmare, and obviously written with a thesaurus at hand. One should never make an assumption that just because a work has a lot of syllables and sounds antiquated it is appropriate to use in a novel.
As other reviewers I too found myself ready to scream if I read certain words used one more time - my personal pet peeve being "Howbeit". I'm not even certain if Austen ever used that word. Someone also needs to inform her that while the word "pudenda" may in its strictest definition be applicable to all genitalia - it is in common usage applied to those of a woman only.
Pornography aspects aside, the writing is just plain bad. Characters are introduced, given whole chapters and then dropped like bricks only to reappear again several chapters later and finally have their connection to things made clear. Time is traversed indiscriminately, with some scenes being rehashed from various viewpoints no consecutively, but almost randomly so that you may be on one day with Lizzy and Darcy and then go back three days with Georgiana.
When asked by a friend why I was finishing the book despite disliking it I tried to frame my reason into words and we finally settled on the entire situation being like a train wreck: you can't stop looking until you see if it could possibly be worse further down the line.
The fact that the author's bio mentions she is planning on writing a "sequel to the sequel" makes me go cold with fear. Please Ms. Berdoll, do the written word a favor and go back to being a Texas farm wife. Or better yet, see if maybe you can get a job writing for harlequin or some other stock romance company, but leave Jane Austen to rest in peace.
Rating:
Summary: Very fun, though her thesaurus must be aching
Review: I have no problem with the sex, as most of the reviewers have. Look at this book for what it is -- a quasi-trashy romance novel based on Jane Austen's characters -- it's a rollicking roll in the hay. If you enjoy Jane Austen and don't mind her characteres being connected with the utterly profane, this book is for you. However, if you are uncomfortable reading about Eliza's booty being tired after her wedding night, this book is not for you.
Stylistically it's a little amateurish and laughable at times -- Linda Berdoll obviously used a thesaurus extensively in an attempt to inject some less-modern language, and failed to bring it close to Austen's writing. To me, however, Berdoll's fearless plotline, sense of humor, and hot sex scenes (my boyfriend agrees) make it easily worth four stars. She obviously doesn't take herself too seriously at all, which is sympathetic to Austen's core esthetic values.
Rating: 
Summary: Good story, but needs an editor
Review: I really enjoyed the story Ms. Berdoll tells. I love all of the scenes between Elizabeth and Darcy, and how she fleshed out some of the minor characters in P&P (makes me wonder if a TV script was in the back of her mind...). But you have to be VERY forgiving as you read. I have never read a book with so many typos! I am not a literary critic, but I did feel some of the story itself could have used an editor's guiding hand and the five-dollar words used throughout were a bit much. If you are a Jane Austen purist, you may have a stroke reading this book, but if the A&E mini-series left you "Darcy-manic" this is a fun, racy sequel.
Rating:
Summary: Soap Opera and Sex
Review: I was disappointed in the style of this book. The author used soap-opera type plot devices and excessive sexual antics rather than character development to continue the story.
Rating:
Summary: Where Jane Austen never dared to go
Review: In Mr. Dacry Takes a Wife, I expected a faithful following to P&P, with the usual vagueness about intimate details of married life. I was presently surprised to find that Linda Berdoll finally broke through all the euphanisms that are so present in all of Austen's novels. It moved the story along in a way that satisfies the Austen purists, yet gives me all the juiciness that I craved with Pride and Prejudice. I'll admit that some things (the besoiled wedding sheet hanging openly at the local pub) were a little racy,and probably had Austen lurching in her grave, but in the end I found that the only thing I found wrong with the story of Mr. and Mrs. Darcy's first few years of married life was that it ended. Bring on the Sequel!
Rating:
Summary: That Part About the Sheet Was Really, Really Over the Top.
Review: Naive as a newborn sacrificial goat, I saw this ... this ... THING at Borders and thought, "Oh my, how interesting, a new Pride and Prejudice sequel." Of course, as one instantly gleans from the many well-written comments below, what it actually is is a tawdry, blasphemous corset-ripper of a book, an R-rated anachronism entirely unfit for children, angina patients, and serious Austen scholars.
And I (*ahem*) of course went and immediately threw it into the trash.
But let's try taking the book on its own terms and proceeding to render a serious critique (even though this feels sort of like ignoring the gorilla in the corner). Some of the grittier details don't add anything to what Ms. Berdoll seems to have intended to do, and needlessly strain the illusion of a Regency-era romance. Hence, despite the voyeuristic fun, deduct one point for excessive coarseness.
Rating:
Summary: This sure ain't Jane Austen !!!
Review: On the back cover of the book you'll find the most telling statement of all: "Hang on to your bonnets, this isn't Jane Austen...". No, this story is definetly more sensational than anything Jane Austen would ever think of writing. First the bad stuff:
The author has a habit of using nonsensical language. Beyond the fact that the characters often quote Latin, which the author does not bother to translate for us non-Latin speakers, she also uses words which I'm sure are just products of her imagination instead of the common vernacular at that time. I leave it up to you to figure out what body parts she is speaking of when she uses the words: collywobble, whinneymegs, (and my personal favorite) larrydoodle. As you can probably tell from above I doubt the author spent very much time researching her material before writing this book. From the way it is written it appears that the author didn't even bother to read Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and probably got the basic storyline from watching the BBC movie. The most obvious example of this is in her description of Mr. Collins. First off she makes his first name Thaddeus, which if you are an adept P&P fan you will realize is a big mistake, because Jane Austen says his first name is William. Her descriptions of Mr. Collins and his behavior you can tell she got straight out of the movie and at times they are contradictory to Austen's descriptions of him. The most notable one being that Berdoll describes Mr. Collins as being rather short while Austen writes that he is tall. Now for the good stuff:
Berdoll was able to do something that Jane Austen would have never been able to do during her lifetime--be able to explore the intimate side of Darcy and Elizabeth's relationship (i.e. SEX). Jane Austen probably didn't write a P&P 2 because she knew that without the sex the book would be quite boring. Berdoll makes the relationship mature in ways that would be quite scandalous in Austen's time. She also talks about issues, which we know occured during that time, but which women of that day weren't allowed to discuss (at least openly) such as infidelity, infertility, illegitimate children, etc. I think adding these elements helps one to understand each character's persona a bit more.
While the book is a bit lengthy, I will admit that it is an ok read. When you get bored you can easily skip to the juicy parts--and boy are they juicy !!! However, if you are a die-hard Austen fan or think you will be offended by the intense sexual relationships between characters then I will say this book is not for you !!!
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