Most Ardently
by Susan Mesler-Evans
Genres: LGBTQ+, Contemporary Romance
Release Date: October 21, 2019
Pages: 372
Get from: Library | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo
My Rating: ★★★☆☆
Elisa Benitez is proud of who she is, from her bitingly sarcastic remarks, to her love of both pretty boys and pretty girls. If someone doesn’t like her, that’s their problem, and Elisa couldn’t care less. Particularly if that person is Darcy Fitzgerald, a snobby, socially awkward heiress with an attitude problem and more money than she knows what to do with.
From the moment they meet, Elisa and Darcy are at each other’s throats — which is a bit unfortunate, since Darcy’s best friend is dating Elisa’s sister. It quickly becomes clear that fate intends to throw the two of them together, whether they like it or not. As hers and Darcy’s lives become more and more entwined, Elisa’s once-dull world quickly spirals into chaos in this story of pride, prejudice, and finding love with the people you least expect.
Review
NOTE: This review is based on an eBook I purchased from Amazon on June 16, 2025.
There are **SPOILERS** in this review.
I read The Austen Project retelling of Pride and Prejudice, but it wasn’t fabulous. So, I was a little nervous going into Most Ardently. But, it was significantly more successful than The Austen Project’s modern rewrite.
I prefer to end on a positive note, so I’ll start with the issues I have with Most Ardently.
- There should be a content warning. There isn’t anything to alert a potential reader about the domestic violence, grooming, and statutory rape in a book targeted to a population who statistically have higher rates of such things. I consider this a HUGE failing.
- Some of the diversity feels shoehorned in or included only to check off representation boxes. For example, Kitty’s parallel is transgender, but she has a minor part in the book and her gender has absolutely zero impact on the story whatsoever. It’s just something mentioned a couple of times in passing.
Darcy and Georgiana’s parallels are black, but again, there’s no impact on the story, not even when we find out Darcy’s mom was white from a well-off line who probably would have had an issue with her choice of spouse. There was even an opportunity to bring in discrimination because of race in a believable way that was missed.
I enjoy representation and diversity in literature, but I don’t understand the need to “name drop” inclusion without it having an impact on the story. Granted, I know that diversity doesn’t have to serve a purpose, but to me, this feels like the author trying to check as many diversity boxes as possible.
Ok, with those out of the way, I enjoyed Most Ardently. I think the author did an excellent job fitting the events of Pride and Prejudice into a modern setting. Wickham’s parallel is actually worse, mainly because the author took 19th century story points and plugged them directly into the 21st century, which turns the unsavory into criminal.
I wish Anne de Bourgh had gotten a parallel, because it was a bit odd to have Mr. Collins as Lady Catherine’s son. That might have been a bit more exact if he had been her personal assistant or secretary. But, he does get a nice character growth arc he doesn’t get in the original. I don’t, however, like that Lady Catherine’s parallel attacks her own son and no one thinks to call the cops or even press charges.
I wish there had been an epilogue. I’d like the satisfaction of Wickham being found guilty and getting sent to jail. I want to know if Georgiana found the courage to testify. I’m curious if Jane and Bingley get back together. Do Charlotte and Collins get married? There are so many unanswered questions. I know my review sounds negative, but it comes down to the fact that I genuinely enjoyed the story and want it to be even better. If the content I mentioned that needed warnings aren’t triggers to you, I’d definitely recommend Most Ardently.
Notable Quote
Chapter 25: … we have books so we can escape from reality. Why would I want to read more about it?
About the Author
Susan Mesler-Evans is a writer, college student, D&D enthusiast, theatre nerd, and horrific procrastinator. Born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, Susan now lives in Florida, and can often be found reading, scrolling through Tumblr until 2 AM, overanalyzing her favorite fictional characters and relationships, bingewatching comedies on Netflix, thinking about writing, and even, on occasion, actually writing. Most Ardently is her first full-length novel.
Have you read Most Ardently? If not, is it a book that interests you? Let me know in the comments! I’d love to hear from you.
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