Once Upon a Kiss

This amusing and self-aware retread of Pride and Prejudice, set in 1815, centers on feisty, engaging Miss Justina Penny. More likely to leap into mud puddles than protect her skirts, Justina dashes through the narrative, determined to be an independent woman and eschew traditional marriage. But when Darius Wainwright, a stodgy London businessman with no use for female company, arrives in her little village of Hawcombe Prior, Justina realizes that some of her brazen actions in the past might turn into something like seduction. Even as the hero and heroine steal kisses from each other, they work at cross purposes, denying their burgeoning romance until Darius’s female relatives arrive to bring him back to London and marry him to a suitable woman. This witty romp disappoints only by suddenly accepting the constraints of culture when its unconventional leads finally consummate their affair. [em](June) [/em]