Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

A Good Word: A Pride and Prejudice Variation

Rate this book
When Mr. Bennet puts in a good word for his little Lizzy, Mr. Darcy is not the only one bewitched by a pair of fine eyes. To the wealthy gentleman's consternation, he realises his best friend, Mr. Bingley of Netherfield Park, has fallen in love with the same Miss Elizabeth Bennet he has. In an effort to pursue her, Mr. Darcy risks his duty to his family, his reputation, and most of all, his friendship with a good man.
Based on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (1813), A Good Word is a sweet regency love story between the beloved Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy.

200 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 30, 2021

56 people are currently reading
25 people want to read

About the author

Kimberlyn Wyn

4 books2 followers

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
91 (38%)
4 stars
79 (33%)
3 stars
50 (21%)
2 stars
16 (6%)
1 star
2 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
Profile Image for Shifra ♕.
244 reviews78 followers
November 4, 2021
Mr Bingley courts the wrong Bennet!
Synopsis:

We open on the local gentlemen of Hertfordshire discussing how remarkable and beautiful Lizzy is- a perfectly normal, organic conversation. But it is necessary for suggestible & fickle Bingley,
description
To be set on the collision course this yarn's premiss demands: Bingley courting Lizzy. And the mastermind in this twist of canon & fate?
Mr Bennet!
description
Now you may exclaim in incredulity: Mr Bennet excreting himself as a matchmaker? Considering his daughter's future? Scheming to achieve it- getting his hands in the dough, if you will- as his wife usually has to? Ludicrous!
description
Certainly the above, but it makes for fun change of pace. Mr Bennet reasons that Jane & Bingley are too similarly panglossian & trusting, and thus would make a poor match. Not to mention they surely will be cheated by their employees. Lizzy on the other hand.. what's the nice word for bossy? Ah yes, assertive, and nothing gets past her! He knows Jane will easily score some suitor sooner or later, so might all well have her sit this one out- she'll catch the next one.

Besides, opposites attract, Mr Bingley is a nice dude, and -here we get to the heart of the matter- Mr Bennet would get to keep his favorite in close vicinity.
Mr Bennet regarding Lizzy:
description
Bingley swiftly falls for Miss Elizabeth's local cachet, singing talent, & of course, that winsome pleasing figure.
"Miss Jane Bennet may have had the features commonly found in Mr. Bingley’s extensive history of admired ladies, but Miss Elizabeth Bennet revised his preferences."

So we have a switcheroo on our hands! A turntables! Darcy now admires Lizzy’s beauty from get go, and slights fair Jane! Bingley is a mooncalf over Miss Elizabeth, and everyone and their mother ships it, but Lizzy isn't feeling it.

Lizzy finds unlikely allies in Lydia, Kitty, & Mrs B, who are endearingly Team, 'Highest Bidder,' or 'Best Offer,' and unprecedented opposition in Mr Bennet and Jane, who are Team prudence Bingley. Yes, Jane likes Bingley too but still wants the best for her sister. She truly is too altruistic for her own good.

How will Darcy be able to press his suit, when his closest friend already called dibs?
Lizzy:
description

What Impressed:

♡Premiss. I liked it in Mistaken and was excited to see another take on Bingley courting Lizzy. I also admired how the author had Mr Bennet set it up, his thought process & motives were credible.

♡How Bingley paying court to Lizzy might have led to Darcy focusing more on Lizzy upfront. A clever theory, seeing as in P&P Darcy would divide his time starring at Lizzy & observing Jane to see if she truly cared for his friend. Then it would stand to reason that were Bingley's interest and his source of curiosity one and the same, Lizzy would get twice the focus and his heart would halve the time to form his attachment.

♡Caro & Mrs Hurst teaming up with Lizzy when both their respective reputations suffer due to the Darcy-Bingley feud. I love when protagonists & antagonist team up temporarily for a common goal. We need more of those gray alliances in JAFF.

What Depressed:
✗Telling not showing. Scenes would have been richer were they more dialogued and set, than summarized.

✗Holy Mary Sue! This was nauseatingly so.

✗No dialogue or prose stood out.

✗ODC romance didn't jump out. With Darcy playing 'Mr Steal your girl,' you would think we could squeeze some extra zest from it, some of that 'doing something frowned upon forbidden tension.' I mean while we are here, & he is already being duplicitous, let's play it up!

The Brass Tacks:
I kept expecting more interesting things to occur if I held out, but..
description
I really think this had a lot of potential, if it had focused on the interesting interpersonal strains, developed the scenes emotionally, and had more events to intrude on the slow crawl to the summit.

The beginning was the strongest in this story, but after that... let's just say I experienced a higher thrill the other day when I couldn't locate my keys.

However, it bears noting that this is the authors first offering, which impressed me! It has some very interesting character motivations & out of the box what if's, which JAFF is always in want of. In light of it being a 1st book, the chinks I enumerated will surely be lessened with some more feathers in her cap. I hope Ms Wyn keeps producing, the next one just might be a win.

꙳ Spice Scale rating: Belle Pepper Chaste 🌶 /5 ꙳
Profile Image for Sheila Majczan.
2,715 reviews207 followers
October 16, 2021
3.5 stars rounded up

I have read other stories in which Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy are in a triangle. However, none of those involved Bingley. The author's blurb gives you the basic idea.

I have to say, though, that I thought Darcy was rather underhanded with his friend, Bingley. He does send a letter but that is not read until after Bingley learns that Darcy has already married Elizabeth. Darcy misleads Bingley entirely by saying that Elizabeth is soon to be married, etc. but then not clarifying that it is himself she will marry...he hopes. (At that point Darcy had not even asked her.)

All of Hertfordshire is expecting an alliance between Bingley and Elizabeth. He is so much more open and attentive than Darcy. Both Mr. and Mrs. Bennet...and Jane, are also expecting that.

Lydia is redirected when caught kissing Wickham but no harm comes from that. However then there is Kitty, who...well I will let you read that.

This was a sweet story. But I missed the angst I love. The author does need a good editor, not just for spelling, but also for her "voice" as at times the sentences could have been set up, could have been written differently.
Profile Image for Sam H..
1,235 reviews63 followers
October 31, 2024
Men should stay out of matchmaking

Elizabeth seems to be the towns darling and everyone is full of praise for her when Bingley comes calling.
He hasn't met her and he thinks he's in love.

Poor Jane, she quietly develops feelings for him, but everyone assumes Bingley will off for Elizabeth. Never mind that she doesn't want him.

I liked the relationship development between our dear couple.

I enjoyed this, although I did find the premise hard to swallow. Bingley would have taken one look at Jane and drooled.
Profile Image for Madenna U.
2,174 reviews1 follower
September 20, 2021
As Mr. Bennet put in a good word for his little Lizzy, both gentleman at Netherfield are attracted to her. The drama in this book all centers around who she actually sees as a future husband, who will get to her first, and then how to deal with the telling/discovery of the situation.
Profile Image for Ree.
1,351 reviews82 followers
September 4, 2021
A Bingley/Darcy/Elizabeth Triangle
3.5* rounded up
A low-angst love triangle involving Bingley,, who falls in love with Elizabeth first. The book held my interest throughout, with good character portrayals.

I found it to be a good story, but more attention to proofreading by the author or editor is necessary.
545 reviews21 followers
July 21, 2022
I liked this book. When Mr. Bennet meets Bingley, he feels that he needed managing and thus will suit Elizabeth, and starts matchmaking. All his and the neighbours' praise makes Bingley develop a crush even before meeting her. When he shows extraordinary interest and dances twice with Elizabeth at the assembly, Darcy tries to evaluate her for her friend and falls for her himself. A nice and interesting love triangle you would think till it starts to get uneasy because when Darcy realises Bingley's interest in Elizabeth and the neighborhood's expectations, he decides to distract Bingley so that he could pursue Elizabeth for himself. It was very uncomfortable reading about Darcy's underhanded tactics, to be honest, because the Darcy we know and love always behaves honorably. The only thing which makes it better is that Elizabeth loved Darcy and not Bingley and the way her father and Jane reacts to her engagement to Darcy actually made me happy that she's marrying Darcy. Darcy does makes up for his bad behaviour later. Overall a good read.
Profile Image for Melissa  .
414 reviews
Read
September 2, 2021
I wanted to like this book - I do love stories where Bingley has a major crush on Elizabeth (Mistaken by Jessie Lewis is my fav) but this.... well, I spent the first half of the book majorly annoyed by everyone save the ODC - even the Gardiners. Everyone is pushing Bingley on Elizabeth and she's not having it. The second half I got annoyed with Elizabeth for forgiving EVERYONE who's ticked her off. I got to 60% and started skimming and at 75% I gave up.
223 reviews1 follower
September 2, 2021
A very cute variation!

I loved how our dear couple fell in love with each other! I also love how the author made it seem like they were made for each other. Not enough angst in this story, though it was a cute one.
Profile Image for Craftyhj.
1,254 reviews
July 26, 2022
A book of two halves

3.5*

An interesting and rarely explored idea caught my attention but as the book progressed the execution and quality deteriorated. The first half of the book showed promise but after a key event at the halfway mark it became increasingly scattered.

A good edit could turn this into a very enjoyable story.
Profile Image for Anne.
799 reviews11 followers
October 15, 2022
Many typos, missing words, wrong tenses etc. Also modern language such as proactive and overthink

I did not enjoy this. Darcy was OOC being deceitful to Bingley. Also after the marriage there was too much non Regency behavior. The story with Bingley dragged on too long.
Profile Image for M.
1,157 reviews
March 25, 2022
2.5

I’ll be honest I downloaded this book entirely due to this hilarious review on Amazon:

****Urban Coyote***
5.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
Mr. Darcy GNFs
Reviewed in the United States on 13 October 2021
Y'all this variation has flaws, many flaws. The editing was straight ham and there were a lot of unnecessary filler storylines that the author could have gut and cut. But, I five starred this situation because Mr. Darcy understood his assignment. He pulled the choppers out on Bingley and then ghosted him in his pursuit of Elizabeth, who had zero interest in Bingley other than friendship. The whole Bennetu family was on Bingley's tip, pressing her to marry him. She was like nah, I'm good, let Jane close that deal. But no one cared to hear what her opinion was on the topic not even too smily Jane. Darcy on the other hand was posted up and ready. I was for his shenanigans, I was for a resolute Mr. Darcy, a by any means necessary Mr. Darcy when it comes to Elizabeth. He secured the bag and apologized later to Bingley, he even shed a tear or two, not for winning Elizabeth but for deceiving Bingley. I read this variation twice. I purchased it. The romance was delicious, five star worthy, for those need to be knowing. Okay!
****Urban Coyote***

I feel like this review set me up to read this book with the right attitude. Can’t agree on the star rating, but Coyote is right that there’s something to this story. Darcy should come off really badly but somehow he does pretty well. Resolute & devoted. Bingley just does so badly throughout though, this is not for the Bingley fans.

On the plus side there are some great lines, and a fair amount of laughs. I particularly liked scheming Mr Bennet. There are a few lovely Elizabeth/Darcy interactions. I quite enjoyed Darcy’s rude and impolitic comments being more of a marital faux pas than a drama. It was a fresh way to deal with it. Also like when Mr Collins is forced to choose between Darcy and Lady C.

The downside: needs to be edited for poor phrasing/bad word choice and anachronistic language. There is more tell than show, especially with the drama - a bit more angst/drawn out resolutions would have made things more believable. The forgiveness for all was somewhat too easily and indiscriminately given. Everyone was wildly OOC or too strongly one aspect of their character. I also really disliked the Jane storyline - it felt even more like settling than the original.
Profile Image for Bethanne.
618 reviews11 followers
Read
September 8, 2021
Loved it

It's a surprisingly interesting story of our favorite characters mixed up a bit. Charles Bingley comes to rent Netherfield and everyone informs him that Miss Elizabeth is the brightest jewel in the county. Of course he falls for her BUT the feeling isn't mutual. She likes him as a friend only and is more interested in Darcy. EVERYONE except for Darcy want her to marry Charles and it causes trouble. Even Jane gets upset when Elizabeth and Darcy are engaged!!
There's plenty of troubles : Lady Catherine makes her displeasure known and scares Collins and his wife Mary. Caroline and Louisa cause some trouble. The Earl is pompous. And then a new villain appears - A poor Baron who takes Charles under his wing and plays with everyone. It appears that he wants to run a bordello from Netherfield and needs to get Charles financially dependent on him to take over. Fortunately Darcy's on hand. We only get a bit of Wickhams attempts to get money off Darcy and in this story Lydia realized early that Wickham is just too poor for her!
I did enjoy reading this very much! It's well written and at times funny!
Profile Image for Jessica.
326 reviews
November 2, 2021
This was a very convolutedly weaved tale. It felt like several storylines desperately pushed into one story that wasn't as cohesive as it could have been. A good premise, but could have stayed just as a story of both men loving Lizzy. The Wickham parts and the Baron parts really weren't needed to give substance to this story and just prolonged it further than need be. Also, there are a few parts of continuity that needs addressed, ie Elizabeth rode to Netherfield in this story but later Darcy says she walked there. There were also grammar issues and misspelled words/incorrect words used. All in all, with some editing this could be an interesting story to read.
667 reviews
April 4, 2022
I've been searching for this...

I have been searching the internet looking for a P&P book where Bingley is also in love with the lively Elizabeth Bennet- Jane is pretty dull, so I figured one had to exist. This is a fun book, nothing too complicated. It didn't bother me that this Darcy was less than honest in his dealings with Bingley since I wanted a Darcy and Elizabeth HEA.
A big plus for me was Darcy and Elizabeth coming together early on in the book. Also, plenty of Darcy and Elizabeth screen time.
Profile Image for Talia.
973 reviews4 followers
February 26, 2023
Bingley can't take a hint or pick up on any social cues that E isn't into him. He insists that darcy took any chance he had of making her love him away. B is delusional, disrespectful, and possessive toward E. He never asked to court her. I found him to be presumptuous and sickening.

Mr B and J also treat E like an object. How dare she have her own feelings and thoughts!

I won't even go into the problems I had with this story after they were married. There was a glaring continuity problem as well. I made it to 76% of the book before I gave up on it.
3,518 reviews44 followers
August 17, 2023
I enjoyed this twist. Bingley sets his sights on Elizabeth and annoys her in the process. Darcy and Elizabeth get engaged without his knowledge. After their HEA there are a couple of villainous subplots that I didn't care much about. Elizabeth has a weird obsession with getting along with absolutely everyone who ever worked against her happiness. Poor Jane got the short shrift and had to do with Elizabeth's leavings and Darcy never apologized for insulting her. Minor editing issues and the line spacing changes several times in the Kindle version.
336 reviews
April 11, 2022
Wonderful escape for the day

This was a sweet story. There was conflict but not so much with Wickham nor Lady C. I enjoyed how they changed this story from the beginning to the end.
The conflict was believable and how it was solved was not drawn out nor did it seem contrived.
Yes there were some grammatical errors and there were scenes that were written reimagined and then remembered as the original P&P.
I highly recommend this story.
Profile Image for Patricia Edmisson.
149 reviews4 followers
July 25, 2022
Words Can Be Too Good

Lovely flip of the Pride and Prejudice storyline. Too many good words are spoken, and Lizzy is the attraction for two gentlemen.

I enjoyed Mr. Darcy. He is quite cunning in his endeavors to win Lizzy for his own wife. Others were not amused.

I recommend this to those who are not afraid to read a noncanon Pride and Prejudice variation. Do not worry our couples do have happily ever afters.
92 reviews1 follower
October 16, 2022
Unusual twists from canon

I enjoyed this book. It was well written. I was uneasy with the out of character behavior of Darcy in his interest in Elizabeth despite Bingley's active relationship with Elizabeth. Elizabeth and Bingley never progressed to a courtship, and the romantic feelings seemed to be one sided. But ODC got their happily ever after and their families were none too affected.
Profile Image for Li Xin.
121 reviews1 follower
October 7, 2025
For a while, both Mr. Bennet and Jane didn't care about Elizabeth's feelings for different reasons to put she and Bingley together. Despite her repeated insistence that she did not like Bingley as a husband, they continued to pressure her.
Elizabeth was rather perfect. Darcy's awakening was swift, and he wasted no time in securing Elizabeth.
I quite like the strange friendship between Elizabeth and Caroline and Louisa.
17 reviews
October 8, 2021
enjoyable

Enjoyed the book very much. I love being taken in totally different directions when I read all the variations. I especially enjoyed your book on how it started and ended.
Profile Image for Alena (Ally) Scott .
495 reviews4 followers
June 18, 2023
Inspired variation

Unique perspective of the Elizabeth and Darcy HEA with Jane and Bingley eventually coming together. Caroline Bingley and Mrs Hurst were unexpected. Wickham was as expected, but didn't know enough to give up with he was ahead.
55 reviews
December 1, 2024
Refreshing!

There are a few mistakes but nothing outrageous and certainly nothing to detract from the lovely story.
Darcy is super sweet and Elizabeth is way less prejudiced.
There is no major disaster that separates ODC and very low angst throughout.
Overall, simply lovely!
Profile Image for Carolina.
119 reviews5 followers
September 10, 2021
Love triangle, Angst and intrigue

Amazing, fast moving variation where two friends fall for the same woman. No spoilers here but lets just say lots of passion and angst
Profile Image for Michelle David.
2,578 reviews14 followers
September 15, 2021
Very interesting

An interesting and different variation inspired by author Jane Austen’s classic novel Pride and Prejudice by Kimberlyn Wyn. I enjoyed it.
Profile Image for Terri Conley.
1,066 reviews8 followers
December 4, 2021
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book.
I was not sold by the blurb but borrowed it UL.
It was very good.
271 reviews4 followers
September 11, 2021
A very amusing story!

Poor Bingley is enamoured of Elizabeth, who only wants to be his friend. Unbeknownst to Elizabeth, Darcy has fallen in love with her. This love triangle results in some drama but even more hilarity.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.