Darcy in Hollywood by Victoria Kincaid

Darcy in Hollywood by Victoria Kincaid
Also by this author: Chaos Comes to Longbourn
Genres: Austenesque, Contemporary Romance
Buy the Book • Goodreads

A modern Pride and Prejudice variation.
Rich and arrogant movie star, William Darcy, was a Hollywood heartthrob until a scandalous incident derailed his career. Now he can only hope that Tom Bennet’s prestigious but low budget indie film will restore his reputation. However, on the first day of filming, he nearly hits Bennet’s daughter, Elizabeth, with his Ferrari, and life will never be the same. Okay, she’s a little sarcastic, but he’s certain she’s concealing a massive crush on him—and it’s growing harder to fight his own attraction….
Elizabeth Bennet has a lot on her plate. She’s applying to medical school and running the studio’s charity project—while hoping her family won’t embarrass her too much. Being Darcy’s on-set personal assistant is infuriating; he’s rude, proud, and difficult. If there’s one thing she dislikes, it’s people who only think about themselves. But then Elizabeth discovers Darcy has been doing a lot of thinking about her.
She might be willing to concede a mutual attraction, but events are conspiring against them and Darcy subject to constant public scrutiny. Do Darcy and Elizabeth have any hope of achieving Hollywood’s elusive happy ending?

Hi Margie, Thank you so much for having me as a guest! Here is an excerpt from Darcy in Hollywood. At their first meeting, Darcy almost hit Elizabeth with his Ferrari; she fell and hit her head. Now she’s working as his personal assistant, and everything is not proceeding smoothly—to say the least. ?

Darcy preferred having his own personal assistant on set, but Maria had quit abruptly to start a goat lawn-mowing company, and Roy was still seeking a permanent replacement for her. Elizabeth was just filling in temporarily and only on the set.
Elizabeth circled to the front of his makeup chair so he could see her without turning his head. “Good morning, Will. Do you need anything? Coffee? A copy of the shooting schedule?” Her face was carefully polite and her tone was neutral, but she had subtly put him on notice that she was different. Maria had been with Darcy for almost two years and, like Raoul, had always addressed him as Mr. Darcy or sir.
“No. Nothing,” he said gruffly. Could she tell how he was reacting to her?
“Okay. I’ll just sit back there.” She jerked a thumb at the back of the room. “Let me know if you need anything.”
Great. She could watch Darcy’s every move, but he couldn’t see her. He should have invented an errand. When Marge twirled Darcy’s chair so she could work on the back of his head, he observed Elizabeth typing on her tablet, frowning with great concentration. Was she pretending to ignore him? He didn’t like that.
“Which scene are we shooting first?” he asked, although he knew the answer very well.
“Seventeen,” she responded without glancing up from the tablet. “The first living-room scene.”
“Are there any changes I should be aware of?”
Her eyebrows drew together as she finally focused on him. “No, although Security sent around a notice warning everyone to be careful when entering or exiting the studio to avoid allowing any rabid Darcy fans through the gate accidentally.”
“They did not use the word rabid.” She couldn’t possibly be as unaffected by him as she appeared. No woman ever was.
She shrugged. “Okay, I embellished.”
“I don’t know how the fans always find out where I’m going to be. It’s a little creepy. They know more about me than my mother does.” It was a joke he made frequently; most people didn’t know what a low bar that was.
She didn’t laugh. “But they don’t, do they?” Elizabeth said with an abstracted expression.
“They don’t what?”
She rested her chin on her fist, staring at nothing in particular. “They don’t really know you. It must be so strange being famous like that. They might know your birthday and how tall you are and the name of your childhood dog or your prom date. And maybe they’ve seen every film you’ve ever made and watched every talk show appearance and read every interview. But they still can’t really know you, not the way a friend or colleague would know you. All those things just provide the illusion of knowing you.”
Darcy gaped at her. He couldn’t have articulated the truth that way, yet somehow this non-celebrity grasped celebrities’ symbiotic relationship with their fans. The Hollywood machine fostered the illusion that they could really get to know movie stars when in fact it wasn’t possible—or even desirable.
“What?” she asked, and he realized that his mouth was hanging open.
He hastily shut it. “Nothing. I mean, yeah, you’re right. That’s exactly the issue. And their devotion is…transitory. Today they scream my name, but tomorrow they might forget it. They can love you or hate you on a whim. Everyone’s career goes through ups and downs, sometimes with little rhyme or reason.”
She regarded him with a curiously intent expression. “Everyone thinks the stars are in control of everything, but you don’t really feel that way, do you?”
“No. It feels like the fans are in control.” Darcy swallowed past a sudden lump in his throat. She really understood. He quashed an impulse to ask her to be his therapist.
He wanted to say more, to confess how confusing his life could be. How would she respond? But he’d already revealed more than he should have, particularly in the presence of the makeup drill sergeant.
Silence fell. Elizabeth lowered her head to the tablet, but for some reason Darcy wanted her attention on him. “How are you feeling?” She shot him a wary look. “I mean, with the concussion and everything.” He pointed to his head as if she had forgotten where a concussion occurs.
“I still get headaches occasionally, but the doctor thinks they’ll stop soon.”
Her eyes made him think of windswept beaches and long sea voyages. “Good.”
When her eyebrows lifted, he rewound the last seconds of their conversation in his head. “I mean, not good that you get headaches,” he clarified. “But good that they’ll get better soon.”
“Yeah.” After a moment she returned her attention to the tablet. He was losing the battle for her attention to a hunk of plastic and wiring. The mere thought made him hot and itchy.
It was a shame she wasn’t more attractive, although she was prettier than he had noticed at first. Those thick dark curls that tumbled down her shoulders framed her pale face so nicely. But she’d never be a leading lady. Did she recognize that reality? His heart ached for her. If I have a chance, I’ll assure her that she could have a decent career as a character actress.
“I’m glad you’re back on your feet,” he said, mainly so that her eyes would flick up in his direction again.
He hated being ignored, particularly by…by… Well, he didn’t want Elizabeth to ignore him. For reasons he chose not to examine too closely, he needed her to focus on him. So when her eyes met his, he unleashed his killer smile, the one that had sold millions of movie tickets and graced the cover of People.
“Thank you,” she said in a dazed and distant voice. Her hands had gone slack, and the tablet was in danger of sliding off her lap. Her eyes were fixated on his lips. Bingo.
But she was still staring a few seconds later. Uh-oh. Maybe he’d hit her too hard with his smile whammy.

I love Austen Adaptions and I loved this one by Victoria Kincaid, I LOVE HER!! Darcy was an absolute arrogant arse and Lizzie was our lovable, laughable Lizzie. Darcy in Hollywood is a fun, engaging and unpredictable at times read! With familiar plot lines and a few twist and turns, this modernization was completely fulfilling to this Austenite! I enjoyed it so much! I can’t wait to see what else Victoria has up her sleeve!!

My Hollywood Darcy you ask? Let me give you one guess…