Pride and Provocateur by Melissa Yi – A Book Review

Lixie Bi Bennet is an artist in need of a life.

When she is left her great aunt Aurora’s little house located in Dildo Newfoundland, it seems like her prayers are answered. Lixie piles everything into their dilapidated old car, as well as her five closest friends, drive across Canada to Dildo to take ownership of the bright yellow house. She doesn’t know what she will find there, but it has to be better than the life she is living right now.

Full of hope for what the future, Lixie is keen to get her art business on the map. She makes glass dildos of the highest quality. How perfect will it be to make dildos in Dildo Newfoundland?  What she isn’t keen on is some of the locals. Almost as soon as they arrive, Lixie meets D’Arcy, a rich and entitled man who, for some reason she can’t fathom, sets her teeth on edge and her heart into rapid fire. Is it possible to hate and want a person at the same time? Lixie is intent on disliking him on principle.

And he’s not the worst of it. A man named Wilco Collins shows up and lays claim to the house, claiming that he is the rightful owner. He’s even more insufferable than D’Arcy. He is pompous, arrogant, rude and believes he is entitled to everything that he wants. He also makes a move on Lixie with the thought that women should be quiet and do what they are told. He has no idea who he is messing with and Lixie knows that she will have her hands full making herself as distasteful as possible to Collins.

Lixie was hoping that life in Dildo Newfoundland would be simpler. She has no idea how chaotic her life is about to become. Thankfully, as she gets to know the town of Dildo Newfoundland, she begins to finally know herself. But does she have what it takes to survive the growing affections of D’Arcy?

Only time will tell but time is something they are quickly running out of.

I love Jane Austen, but I love tributes to her work even more. I’m thinking of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Dawn of the Dreadfuls and Dreadfully Ever After. When I head about Pride and Provocateur by Melissa Yi, I was hooked right away.

I hoped that it would be a good romp within the world of Jane Austen with the occasional bit of Canada peppered throughout the novel. However, Pride and Provocateur is so much more. Melissa Yi has taken the storyline of Pride and Prejudice and made it something entirely her own. The story is full on Canadiana, and it is glorious.

All of Melissa Yi’s strengths are what make Pride and Provocateur so incredible. The world of Newfoundland comes to life and those that are familiar with the province will recognize certain sights and sounds. She creates amazing character that felt like my friends by the time I finished the novel and you root for them all to find their happily ever for now. I laughed, cried and hoped as I read this book. Pride and Provocateur takes you on a roller coaster of a journey and I for one am changed by it.

That’s the mark of good writing, when a writer can take the plot of a book I know so well and yet they go beyond that to create something their own. Melissa Yi has written something akin to perfection. I can’t wait to read this book again and fall in love with Newfoundland, Lixie and D’Arcy all over again.