Mr. Darcy’s Letter by Abigail Reynolds

Hurray! I brand new book from Abigail Reynolds! I really liked Mr. Darcy's Letter!  There were times I couldn’t put it down, but with the holidays at hand, I had to! 

In this Pride and Prejudice variation, Elizabeth refuses to read Mr. Darcy’s letter, the one he writes to her after his proposal at Hunsford. As a result, Elizabeth is unaware of Mr. Wickham’s true character. She confides in him when she returns to Lougbourn and he tries to convince her to accept Darcy.  What is Wickham up to?

I liked the addition of Mr. Wickham’s older brother in this story. Even though he is a bit rough, he is a descent man. Bingley actions surprised me a little, although we know he is easily swayed. I was disappointed in Elizabeth for not reading Mr. Darcy’s Letter! Which leads to one misunderstand after another!  Of course, that’s what the story is about!

The story ended too quickly for me, it felt like it just stopped.  There is one intimate scene for those of you who don’t care for that. 

If you are a fan of Reynolds you won’t want to miss it!

Buy a copy of Mr. Darcy's Letter here.

Comments are always welcome!

Christmas at Pemberley By Regina Jeffers

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you have a wonderful holiday season! And what a better way to get into the Christmas spirit than by reading Christmas at Pemberley! It is a beautiful story!

About 2 years into Darcy and Elizabeth’s marriage, the Darcys are traveling home to Pemberley when they have to seek shelter from a storm and icy roads. They are stranded at a crowded inn for several days. Unknown to Elizabeth, Darcy has arranged for her family to come to Pemberley for Christmas.  Besides the Bennets and the Bingleys, Pemberley receives some other unexpected company. One is Lady Catherine! What is she doing there? Nothing good I’m sure! Caroline Bingley, Colonel Fitzwilliam (always a favorite of mine and he didn’t disappoint me in this one!), along with a few new characters are all in attendance. Georgiana has her hands full trying to entertain everyone. 

Meanwhile, the Darcys, while stranded at the inn, meet the Josephs.  Mrs. Joseph is about 8 months pregnant. What happens at the inn is beautiful and full of meaning as Ms. Jeffers captures the spirit of Christmas. 

I really enjoyed Christmas at Pemberley, and was pleasantly surprised to find an inspirational message in it!  Although, it jumps back and forth a bit too much for me, it comes together nicely at the end. Overall, it’s a wonderful story and a great Christmas read!

Buy a copy of Christmas at Pemberley here.

Your comments are always welcome!

The Mysterious Death of Miss Austen by Lindsay Ashford

I really liked The Mysterious Death of Miss Austen! I love Jane Austen and her work but I don't know much about her personal life, so I didn't have any preconceived notions about Jane's family. Please keep in mind that this is a fictional story based on letters and diaries.

Written from the point of view of Anne Sharp, who worked as a governess for the children of Jane Austen's brother Edward. It was there that Jane and Anne became lifelong friends. Anne began to suspect Henry Austen of having an affair with Edward's wife Elizabeth. Everybody liked Henry, he was a very charming, easy to get along with kind of guy, but he was also very manipulating. There were other odd things going on in the family, but was Anne reading too much into what she saw?

I kept trying to figure out if this was all just Anne's active imagination or was it really happening. I loved trying to figure it out. It all came together at the end.

I liked learning about the family and trying to put the pieces together of what was going on. Also, did Jane write her family members into her stories?

Lindsay Ashford is a contemporary crime/mystery novelist and has a degree in criminology. When she moved to Chawton, the village where Jane had lived, she began to investigate Jane’s death.

Buy a copy of The Mysterious Death of Miss Austen here.

Any thoughts? I'd love to hear from you!

Mr. Darcy's Undoing By Abigail Reynolds

I read Mr. Darcy's Undoing several years ago when Reynolds was self publishing her books. It was then called Without Reserve. She was picked up by Sourcebooks, who then rereleased it as Mr. Darcy's Undoing.

The Story starts after Darcy's disastrous proposal in Kent. When she receives another proposal from a third man she decides to accept it even though she does not love him, at least she likes him and it would secure her family in the unhappy event of her fathers passing. Darcy returns with Bingley and is surprised by Liz's engagement. He goes away and returns for Bingley's wedding to find Elizabeth not married. Darcy begins to pursue her again but this time she won't have him because of her fallen reputation. She is concerned Darcy's reputation will be damaged if he marries her. Darcy cannot except this and is very persistent!

I really felt for Mr. Darcy, even I didn't like to see Elizabeth with another man! But I loved that Darcy doesn't give up. He is so determined, that he goes so far as to enlist the help of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet.

This is a fast moving, don't want to put down read. It focuses mainly on Elizabeth and Darcy. It does contain a few sexual scenes.

Abigail Reynolds is the author of several Pride and Prejudice variations or what-if stories. Among them is my favorite From Lambton to Longbourn, rereleased as What Would Mr. Darcy Do?. When I need a quick Darcy fix I love to read her short story Intermezzo.

ARC of Mr. Darcy's Undoing provided by author. I purchased my own copy of Without Reserve.

Buy a copy of Mr. Darcy's Undoing here.

What is your favorite Abigail Reynolds story?

His Good Opinion By Nancy Kelley

I have read a couple of Pride and Prejudice retellings from Darcy's point of view, and I must say I loved this one!

His Good Opinion starts out just before Ramsgate where Darcy surprises Georgiana with a visit, and ruins Wickman's plan to elope with her.  Nancy Kelley is able to expand on some of the conversations that I always wished Jane Austen would have done.

Can I just say, I love this Darcy! I love being in his head; knowing his thoughts. We see him reflecting on what Elizabeth said when she refused him. He begins to notice how he treats people beneath him. I also like the relationship he has with Georgiana, and that he confides in her more.

Another favorite of mine is Colonel Fitzwilliam. I delighted in the banter between him and Darcy. This is the Colonel Fitzwilliam that I like! He's funny, charming and loves to tease Darcy. There were times he had me laughing out loud.

This is Nancy Kelley's first novel and a beautiful story. A definite must read! She is currently working on another story about Colonel Fitzwilliam that I can't wait to read!

I was given a copy of book for review.

Buy a copy of His Good Opinion here.   

Tell me what you think! I'd love to hear from you!

Guest blogging today! Pride and Prejudice: The Jewess and the Gentile

Today, I'm guest blogging on Indie Jane! You can read my review of Pride and Prejudice: The Jewess and the Gentile by Jane Austen and Lev Raphael. You can find it here. I hope you stop by!

This review was original published on Indie Jane.

In Pride and Prejudice: The Jewess and the Gentile, Elizabeth Bennet and her family are Jewish. While Mr. Darcy is Christian. This does put an interesting spin on things. Wickham is Jewish and he maligns Mr. Darcy's character by saying that he is very prejudice against Jews. Wickham paints a very ugly picture of Mr. Darcy.

It was interesting to learn some of the reasons why Jewish people were looked down upon. Elizabeth certainly didn't like it when any bad behavior by her family or other Jews added to the prejudice of her race.

The biggest problem I have with this book is that it is practically word for word straight Jane Austen, with some Yiddish and a sprinkling of sentences added through out the story.

I read in an interview Lev Raphael gave were he said it would be a subtle difference in this version from the original, and I would say that is very correct. I could feel the prejudice against Jews through out the story especially in the beginning, but I wish he would have expanded on it a little more. To me religious conflict is harder to resolve than class conflict. Maybe that's because I live in this century and not 200 years ago when class prejudices were huge. I also don't know enough about religious prejudices of the 1800s. How big of a deal would it have been? That is a question that might have been answered with, maybe, a conversation between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth, or Jane and Elizabeth.

3 out of 5 stars.


Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of the book for my honest review.

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