My First Self-Published Book: A SIMILAR TASTE IN BOOKS

Well, I've done it. Just like everyone else, I've self-published a book.

A Similar Taste in Books is a sweet regency romance novelette. Currently, it's available on Amazon and Smashwords and will soon be available on Barnes and Noble.

BLURB:

Pride and Prejudice has always brought lovers together, even in the Regency.

Justin has a deep, dark secret—he likes that most despised form of literature, the novel. His favorite novel is Pride and Prejudice, and, especially, Miss Elizabeth Bennet. Intelligent, lively, fiercely loyal Miss Elizabeth. How he would love to meet a lady like her.

Clara’s favorite novel is Pride and Prejudice and Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. Intelligent, steadfast and willing to admit when he is wrong. Can such a splendid man exist? And can she find him?

One day in the library, they both check out copies of their favorite book. When Justin bumps into Clara, the magic of their similar taste in books just might make their wishes come true.

A sweet, traditional Regency romance. 

EXCERPT:

With a curt nod to the officious clerk, Justin gathered up his package and stepped back. He collided with the person next in the queue. “I beg your par—” 

Before him stood the loveliest lady he had ever seen. She was short and willowy, her dark pink muslin walking dress emphasizing every slender curve. Deep brown curls peeped from the sides of a gauzy matching pink bonnet to frame an oval face. Her skin was creamy, her nose straight and proud.

Miss Elizabeth Bennet! The lady of his dreams! His jaw sagged.

“No harm done, sir.” The vision lifted a shapely dark eyebrow. “If I may reach the clerk?” Merry chocolate-colored eyes twinkled up at him and sweet rosy lips dimpled in an amused arch of a grin. A whiff of lilac perfume, delicate as the lady, wafted toward him.

He snapped his mouth shut with an audible click. “Oh, sorry.” Damn him for gaping like the veriest fool. Hugging his package to his chest, he stumbled away from the young lady and the plainly dressed woman, most likely her maid, who stood beside her. The maid flashed a grin as if she knew every one of his admiring thoughts.

He bumped into the table by the counter, and pain lanced through his elbow. Cradling his bundle with one arm while rubbing his throbbing forearm, he pretended to study the list of new books on the table, but kept his gaze fixed on the young lady. She was exactly as he had imagined Miss Elizabeth Bennet.

Who was she? And how could he make her acquaintance?

   

Available at Amazon here.

Available at Smashwords here.

Thank you all,
Linda

Review: The Truth About Mr. Darcy by Susan Adriani

What is the truth in Susan Adriani's The Truth About Mr. Darcy? The truth is Darcy is madly, passionately, obsessively and desperately in love with Elizabeth and doesn't know what to do about it. The Master of Pemberley has met his match and his well-ordered world crumbles. How to put the pieces back together? By swallowing his pride and telling Elizabeth the truth about Wickham before her prejudice can hurt them both.

Darcy's early confession changes Elizabeth's opinion of him, leading Darcy to declare his love and win her much sooner than in Pride and Prejudice. But their early engagement leads not to early bliss. In the grip of overwhelming ardor, Darcy, that most upright of men, courts a scandal which can destroy the Elizabeth he adores.

The wit and proper behavior of Pride and Prejudice sometimes obscures the powerful feelings seething beneath the surface. Ms. Adriani has humanized the story by adding emotion to the book's almost too cerebral characters. Enjoy watching the overly rational Darcy succumb to uncontrollable love in his pursuit of Elizabeth, and a newly ambivalent Elizabeth as she welcomes his advances while knowing she shouldn't. Not only Darcy and Elizabeth feel her touch. Lydia is louder and more obstreperous, Wickham more dastardly and a grudge-bearing Mr. Collins incites trouble. But Darcy's and Elizabeth's love is the focus, as they overcome more obstacles of their own making until they can complete their love.

Another enjoyable version of Pride and Prejudice.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC supplied by Sourcebooks

Review: WHAT WOULD MR. DARCY DO? by Abigail Reynolds

What Would Mr. Darcy Do? by Abigail Reynolds is a fast-reading sensual and emotional tale of love conquering all despite supposedly insurmountable odds.

In this latest of Ms. Reynolds's Pemberley Variations, Darcy, instead of concealing his feelings at Lambton, proposes to Elizabeth after she tells him Lydia has run away with Wickham. Despite his proposal, Elizabeth convinces herself the disgrace to her family is too high for his love to overcome. She requests time to consider, while ultimately planning to refuse. With reluctance, he accepts her delay, and then hurries to London where he deals with Wickham.

When he returns, he presses her for her answer. Misunderstandings continue until both Darcy and Elizabeth each explain the behavior which has so confused and angered the other. Love so long suppressed comes to the rescue.

This relatively short (227 pages) account of Darcy's and Elizabeth's tortuous journey to understanding, love and passion is a delight to read. Both have suffered for their pride and prejudice, but the self-knowledge gained and the explanations given for misconstrued conduct make their love the sweeter. I especially enjoyed their negotiations in setting and resetting their wedding day. Elizabeth wants the wedding a week after Jane's and Bingley's. Darcy wants it sooner. Both are so eager, they finally fix on the day immediately after the other wedding.

Two weddings in a row and twice the marital bliss. Another wonderful Pemberley Variation from Abigail Reynolds.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

Guest Kara Louise: The Dreaded Entail

Today I welcome Kara Louise, whose latest book is the Pride and Prejudice retelling Only Mr. Darcy Will Do. Here she explains the mystery of that most dreaded of property entanglements, the entail.

Leave a comment with your email address for a chance to win the copy of Only Mr. Darcy Will Do which Sourcebooks has generously provided. Kara will select the winner. Check the comments to see who won, and how to contact me to claim your book. If I cannot contact the winner within a week of the selection, I will award the book to an alternate. Note, Sourcebooks can mail to USA and Canada addresses only.

And the winner Kara selected is Kaye Manro! Congratulations to Kaye, and thanks to all who participated.

Welcome, Kara!

Thanks for inviting me to share with you today. Linda asked me to share a little about the dreaded entail that had Mrs. Bennet so easily vexed. In fact, I attribute most of her episodes of flutterings and vexations of nerves to Longbourn’s entail and what it meant. If you do not fully understand what an entail is, you are not alone. Mrs. Bennet did not understand it either. Here is an excerpt from “Pride and Prejudice” concerning the subject:

“Jane and Elizabeth attempted to explain to her (Mrs. Bennet) the nature of an entail. They had often attempted it before, but it was a subject on which Mrs. Bennet was beyond the reach of reason; and she continued to rail bitterly against the cruelty of settling an estate away from a family of five daughters, in favour of a man whom nobody cared anything about.”

Even though she did not fully understand it, she knew it could mean the loss of her home to her and her daughters. Mrs. Bennet had every reason to fear what would become of them if Mr. Bennet died. Longbourn was entailed to the male heir, and since they had no sons, the closest male heir was the odious Mr. Collins, who, as Mr. Bennet teasingly suggested, “may turn you all out of this house as soon as he pleases.”

In my newest book, “Only Mr. Darcy Will Do,” Mrs. Bennet’s fears do come to pass and Mr. Bennet dies after Elizabeth returns from Kent. While Mr. Collins waits several months before taking his rightful ownership of Longbourn, he does eventually move in with Charlotte. He does extend the courtesy of allowing the Bennet ladies to remain, but none of them choose to do so.

Mrs. Bennet could not bear to live under the same roof with Mr. Collins, so she and her three youngest daughters move to Meryton to live with her sister and brother-in-law. Elizabeth and Jane both take governess positions in London. Jane becomes a governess in her aunt and uncle’s home, (the Gardiners) and Elizabeth becomes governess to six year-old Emily Willstone.

Elizabeth soon comes to learn that the Willstone’s have a long-time acquaintance with Mr. Darcy. When Mrs. Willstone’s sister, Rosalyn, comes to visit, Elizabeth learns that this young lady has had a secret affection for Mr. Darcy for a long time. Elizabeth fears that their paths might cross, but has a greater fear that someone will discover that he proposed to her and she turned him down. When the Willstone family is invited to Pemberley, Elizabeth cannot escape being in his company. And being in a much lower position, when she begins to see him in a new light, she regrets that he will likely never renew his offer since she is much more beneath him.

Now, what exactly is an entail?

An entail was a legal stipulation put on a home and land to ensure it would be kept in the family on the male line. One of the reasons for doing this was that if the property was given to all the children of the owner, it would have to be divided up between them. Eventually there would not be enough for all future generations.

In the particular case of the entail of Longbourn, someone back in Mr. Bennet’s family line drew up this entail, which stipulated that the male heir would inherit. Mr. Bennet could do nothing about it now, but he could have ended the entail if he had a son.

In P&P we are told, “When Mr. Bennet had married, economy was held to be perfectly useless; for, of course, they were to have a son. The son was to join in cutting off the entail, as soon as he should be of age, and the widow and younger children would by that means be provided for.”

From the text above, Mr. Bennet could have, and probably would have, broken the entail in agreement with a son, when he had come of age, if he had one. The son would be the prospective heir, and only the two of them could break the entail legally. Without a son, the entail went to the nearest male relative in his family line, and that was Mr. Collins. Mr. Collins could do nothing about the entail, even if he wanted to, because he was merely the heir presumptive. An heir presumptive means just that. You are only presumed to be the heir until or unless a direct heir (son) is born. That could be either through a ‘surprise’ (and possibly a miracle) if Mrs. Bennet were to bear a son, or if she died and Mr. Bennet remarried and then had a son with his new wife.

It’s also interesting that even if one of the Bennet daughters were to marry and have a son, it could not go to him. It had to go through the male heir. I think we can see why Mrs. Bennet was so concerned. In “Pride and Prejudice” she does marry off at least two of her daughters to men who are wealthy enough to help out if they were to require their financial assistance.

In “Only Mr. Darcy Will Do,” however, we see what may have happened to the Bennet ladies if Mr. Bennet had died. I hope you will be curious enough to read the book and find out exactly what happens between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy.

Thanks for letting me share!

Only Mr. Darcy Will Do by Kara Louise
In this fresh and original retelling of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Mrs. Bennet’s greatest fear comes to pass—Longbourn is entailed to Mr. Collins. Elizabeth finds work as a governess in London, widening the social divide between her and Mr. Darcy and making it more difficult than ever for them to find their way to each other...

Kara Louise grew up in the San Fernando Valley and moved to the Midwest in 1991, where she enjoys the relaxed pace of the country. She began writing about nine years ago, first with a story inspired by her genealogical research. But that took a back seat when she discovered the writings of Jane Austen. She has written six novels based on Pride and Prejudice, including Darcy’s Voyage, answering the “what happened next” and the “what ifs” in Elizabeth and Darcy’s story. She lives with her husband outside Wichita, Kansas. Visit her at http://karalouise.ahhhs.net/

Review: MR. DARCY'S SECRET by Jane Odiwe

The bloom is off the rose in the Jane Austen sequel cum mystery Mr. Darcy's Secret by Jane Odiwe.

Mysterious passionate love letters from the past, supposedly written to Darcy, interrupt Elizabeth's newly wedded bliss. Even worse, there is a child who closely resembles Darcy. Is the boy Darcy's son?

Although Elizabeth can't change the past, the present is equally disturbing. Darcy reverts to type as he arranges Georgiana's loveless marriage to a "suitable" older gentleman. That Georgiana loves another, the landscape gardener, Tom, who also loves her, means nothing.

Full of the manners and mores so dear to Regency readers, Mr. Darcy's Secret is another fine addition to the Jane Austen universe. The worthy, if penniless, Tom must fight for Georgiana against the prevailing sentiment of marriage as a merger of fortunes and influence. In her turn, Georgiana must overcome her dutiful submission to her brother's wrong-headed ideas about marriage, ones he himself ignored.

And then there is the mystery. Ms. Odiwe keeps you guessing right to the end as to what the sad and shocking Mr. Darcy's Secret really is. The knowledge could either destroy Darcy's and Elizabeth's marriage or make it stronger.

Young love, old sins, characters we love, villains we love to hate, and a mystery threading through the whole--Mr. Darcy's Secret has it all.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

Review: THE LEGACY OF PEMBERLEY by Rebecca Ann Collins

As in life, good things in books also come to an end. So goes The Legacy of Pemberley, the tenth and final chapter in Rebecca Ann Collins's The Pemberley Chronicles.

Fifty years have passed since Darcy and Elizabeth married, and we have reached the midpoint of the Victorian era. This period, with its locomotives and coal-smoke belching industry, is very different from the elegant, if backward, Regency.

In this last novel, Ms. Collins concludes the stories of the grandchildren of the Pride and Prejudice characters. Although no one character dominates this book, the most compelling story is that of Caroline Fitzwilliam, the daughter of Elizabeth's uncle and aunt Gardiner and the widow of Colonel Fitzwilliam. Living with Rachel, her youngest daughter, Caroline suffers from the loss of her Fitzy, the love of her life. But Caroline is not a woman to roll over and die. She continues her and the colonel's crusade against injustice by opening a shelter for homeless women. No stranger to the tangles of politics, she defeats a developer who would carve the Derbyshire landscape into tiny plots of haphazard housing.

The main romance belongs to Rachel, who never found a man who caught her heart, until Daniel Faulkner returns from 20 years in Australia. Although Rachel and Caroline are distraught at the possibility of leaving each other, love finds a way to solve all problems. Again, Daniel is another of my favorite kind of hero, the decent man. Ms. Collins is an expert at writing them. I love them all.

The story ends as it began, with Elizabeth and Darcy. They look back over the events of their half century of happy marriage, content that they have trained the next generation to serve as wise stewards of The Legacy of Pemberley. I was sorry to read the final "The End".

Thank you, Rebecca Ann Collins.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

Guest Rebecca Ann Collins: The Regency and Victorian Eras and Their Women

Today I welcome Rebecca Ann Collins and The Legacy of Pemberley, Book 10 and the last book in her Pemberley Chronicles, which follow the Pride and Prejudice characters forward into the Victorian era.

Leave a comment with your email for a chance to win one of the two copies of The Legacy of Pemberley which Sourcebooks has generously provided. Rebecca will select the winners. Check the comments to see who won, and how to contact me to claim your book. If I cannot contact the winners within a week of their selection, I will award the books to alternates. Note, Sourcebooks can mail to USA and Canada addresses only.

Rebecca selected the winners Julie Robinson and catslady. Julie, please send me an email at linda@lindabanche.com by November 16 so you can collect your prize. catslady, I already have your address.

Thanks for coming over, Rebecca.

Hello Linda, many thanks for your interest in The Pemberley Chronicles and the historical eras covered by the series! I’m glad to be visiting your blog today. They are both interesting periods of English history and many changes that took place in that time are reflected in the lives of the characters of the Pemberley novels.

The earlier novels are set in the Regency and Georgian periods while the later books are in the Victorian Age. The final volume, The Legacy of Pemberley (in stores this month!) is set in the latter part of the nineteenth century, with the widowed Queen Victoria on the throne.

The Regency actually takes up ten years—from 1811, when King George the Third was declared insane and his son, the Prince of Wales, was sworn in as Prince Regent, until 1820 when the old king died and the Regent became King George the Fourth. He subsequently ruled until his death in 1830 and the impression of continuity in personality and style created the impression of a continuous period of about twenty years during which Prince George dominated the social and political scene in Britain.

It was a period filled with energy, diversity and innovation in many fields of activity: art, architecture, literature, music, science and fashion, all encouraged by the Prince Regent himself. But, it was also noted for the wasteful excesses and licentious behaviour of the courtiers and other hangers on around the prince. This too was encouraged by the Regent whose private life was one of self indulgence and excess. It was an era when the power and influence of the monarch was much greater than it is today.

Seen against the poverty and powerlessness of the vast mass of the British people, most of whom did not even have the right to vote, the behaviour of King George and his Court was widely regarded as arrogant, and excessive.

While the Prince was an educated and accomplished man, many of his courtiers were haughty, foppish men from aristocratic families with contempt for ordinary people. In one matter particularly—the attitude towards women—they were high-handed indeed, treating most women as chattels, to be wooed, seduced and dumped. It was not a pretty prospect.

Throughout the Pemberley Series, a range of characters like Jane Bennet, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner and Mr. Darcy criticize the “goings-on” at the Court.

Fortunately, not all of society was afflicted with these attitudes, because many of the “respectable” families in the country did not flock around the Regency Court, particularly because of the dreadful reputation of the Regent’s courtiers. Many families of the rising “middle class,” who are represented in the novels of Jane Austen, as well as in The Pemberley Chronicles, preferred to keep within their own social circle, where some of them did a lot of good work among the poor and needy, who were largely neglected by the King and his government.

Unlike the foolish women who became enmeshed in the web of intrigue around the court, those who stayed within their own communities, lived busy and useful lives, finding romance among their circle of friends and relations, making their own entertainment and bringing up their families.

However, women’s roles were still very restricted, since there were few avenues for advancement. Educational opportunities were almost non- existent except for daughters of wealthy families and many girls in middle class families were self-educated, as in the case of Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice, using the resources of family libraries.

The Victorian age saw a change, which though not sudden or radical, happened over the period of Queen Victoria’s long reign. Great political and social changes had taken place, extending voting rights and giving many middle class families wealth and influence, as trade and commerce flourished in Britain. It also saw the extension of education and the expansion of the role of women in society- as they became involved in teaching, nursing and business in their own right. The Queen herself set an example in moral and social values.

In the Pemberley novels, many of the women are active participants in their communities and families, not only as wives and mothers, but making a valuable social contribution organising political and community activities.

Characters like Caroline Fitzwilliam and Cassy Darcy are examples of women of this new age. They love passionately and care deeply, but are also capable of hard work and practical common sense—in a dynamic era of greater opportunity. This is reflected in the stories of The Legacy of Pemberley.

Thanks again Linda and I do hope you enjoy this final volume.


THE LEGACY OF PEMBERLEY BY REBECCA ANN COLLINS
Book 10 in the acclaimed Pemberley Chronicles Series

Return to the halls of Pemberley one last time

“Romance and intrigue are on the menu as they were in all Jane Austen's novels.” —Book News

It has been fifty years since Mr. Darcy took Elizabeth Bennet as his bride, and through half a century of both true happiness and difficult trials, their love has never faltered. When Charles Bingley's declining health forces Darcy and Elizabeth to travel with their dear friends to Europe, it will fall to the next generation to continue the legacy of love and family their parents have spent a lifetime establishing.

Reunions of old friends go hand in hand with the introduction of new adversaries, and long hidden secrets come to light. But as this chronicle comes to a close, the sadness in parting is tempered not only by splendid memories, but the knowledge that the legacy of Pemberley will live far beyond the written page...

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rebecca Ann Collins is the pen name of an author in Australia who loves Jane Austen’s work so much that she has written a series of 10 sequels to Pride and Prejudice, following Austen’s beloved characters, introducing new ones and bringing the characters into a new historical era. Thoroughly researched and beautifully written, this series has been extremely successful in Australia with over 80,000 books sold. Fore more information, please visit http://www.rebeccaanncollins.com/.

Guest Abigail Reynolds on Elizabeth Bennet, A Woman Ahead of Her Time

Today I welcome Abigail Reynolds and her latest Pride and Prejudice Variation, Mr. Darcy's Obsession. Two hundred years after the publication of Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet still resonates with modern women. Why? Read on to find out.

Leave a comment with your email for a chance to win one of the two copies of Mr. Darcy's Obsession which Sourcebooks has generously provided. Abigail will select the winners. Check the comments to see who won, and how to contact me to claim your book. If I cannot contact the winners within a week of their selection, I will award the books to alternates. Note, Sourcebooks can mail to USA and Canada addresses only.

The winners are Julia Barrett and Delle. Delle, I've sent you an email. Julia, please contact me at linda@lindabanche.com to claim your prize. If I do not hear from you by November 2, 2010, I will award the books to alternates.

Welcome Abigail!

In Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet refuses proposals from two eminently eligible suitors, at least if you consider it purely in the prudential light. But what did those refusals actually mean for her? I explore that question in my latest variation on Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Darcy’s Obsession.

Mr. Darcy’s Obsession begins two years after the action in Pride and Prejudice, but not the same two years Jane Austen intended. In my tale, Elizabeth is called home from Hunsford before Darcy can propose to her, and he takes this as a sign that he should not pursue her. Instead, Elizabeth returns to Longbourn to discover her father on his deathbed.

Longbourn was an entailed estate, meaning none of the Bennet girls could inherit it. Instead it went to their cousin, Mr. Collins, who was also one of Elizabeth’s refused suitors. Mrs. Bennet’s greatest fear is realized; the family is forced into, if not the hedgerows, a style of life substantially below that to which they are accustomed. To secure some kind of future for the family, Jane agrees to marry a much older shopkeeper. Elizabeth is sent to live in London with the Gardiners, where she serves as an unpaid governess to their children to earn her keep.

To a degree, I’ve sugarcoated Elizabeth’s life in Mr. Darcy’s Obsession because I can’t stand to think of what she really would have faced at that time. In my book, she may have no money and have lost her social status, but she still has a home with relations who treat her kindly, she doesn’t fear being put out on the streets, and her uncle even tries to arrange a marriage for her to one of his clerks. This is better than she would actually be likely to find. An unmarried gentlewoman lacking independent means had very limited options. She could depend on handouts from her family, as Jane Austen depended on her brothers’ charity. If she were very lucky indeed, she might find a position as a companion to an older lady, but there were far more impoverished girls than wealthy old ladies. The common fallback, becoming a governess, was a bleak prospect. Governesses as a rule worked very hard, often in poor conditions, and their future was completely dependent on the reference their male employer would give them. As a result, governesses were easy prey for the gentleman of the house if they wished to keep their position. Then there were the less respectable options: becoming a gentleman’s mistress, joining a higher-class brothel, or the ultimate last resort – street prostitution.

Jane Austen stacks the deck against Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice. She has no relations on her father’s side apart from Mr. Collins, who bears her a grudge; her mother’s side of the family is not as well-to-do; and with five sisters, the family is too large to be taken in by one relative. Unlike Austen herself, Elizabeth has no brothers to earn money. None of her sisters are likely to marry well; even the beautiful Jane has only had two admirers in five years on the marriage market. Mrs. Bennet is not thrifty, and would likely run through her small settlement quickly.

I think this stacked deck is deliberate on Austen’s part, designed to show Elizabeth’s strength of character in refusing Mr. Darcy. Yes, she disliked him and believed him proud and ill-tempered, but given the options that she knew awaited her and her family after her father’s death, it would have been very easy for her just to accept him. Her refusal is extraordinarily brave, and many would have called it foolhardy. In her choices, Elizabeth Bennet is a woman before her time, which is why so many modern women can identify with her.

MR. DARCY’S OBSESSION BY ABIGAIL REYNOLDS—IN STORES OCTOBER 2010
The more he tries to stay away from her, the more his obsession grows...

“[Reynolds] has creatively blended a classic love story with a saucy romance novel.” —Austenprose

“Developed so well that it made the age-old storyline new and fresh…Her writing gripped my attention and did not let go.”—The Romance Studio

“The style and wit of Ms. Austen are compellingly replicated…spellbinding. Kudos to Ms. Reynolds!” —A Reader’s Respite

In this Pride and Prejudice variation, Elizabeth is called away before Darcy proposes for the first time and Darcy decides to find a more suitable wife. But when Darcy encounters Elizabeth living in London after the death of her father, he can’t fight his desire to see and speak with her again…and again and again. But now that her circumstances have made her even more unsuitable, will Darcy be able to let go of all his long held pride to marry a woman who, though she is beneath his station, is the only woman capable of winning his heart?

About the Author
Abigail Reynolds is a physician and a lifelong Jane Austen enthusiast. She began writing the Pride and Prejudice Variations series in 2001, and encouragement from fellow Austen fans convinced her to continue asking “What if…?” She lives with her husband and two teenage children in Madison, Wisconsin. For more information, please visit http://www.pemberleyvariations.com/ or http://www.austenauthors.com/.

Review: MR. DARCY'S OBSESSION by Abigail Reynolds

Mr. Darcy's Obsession, the latest of Abigail Reynolds's Pride and Prejudice Variations, is a stunning tale of love lost and refound.

Two years have passed since Darcy last saw Elizabeth. Having convinced both himself and a reluctant Bingley of the Bennet sisters' unsuitability for marriage, Darcy encounters Elizabeth in London. Her father's death has cast her family into dire financial straits and Elizabeth labors as an unpaid nanny for her Uncle and Aunt Gardiner's children.

Even as he tries to stay away, Darcy rediscovers how much he enjoys Elizabeth's conversation and wit. Against his better judgment, he asks her to marry him in his trademark bungled proposal. An enraged Elizabeth refuses, and Darcy must convince her to agree.

Already disillusioned with his world of privileged excess that often mistreats the less fortunate, Darcy regrets the grave errors he made in losing Elizabeth--twice. A distraught Bingley, furious that he accepted Darcy's advice to spurn Jane, lashes out at him when he discovers Jane has married to survive.

This novel brings to the forefront what many romances gloss over--the importance of money. Elizabeth's uncle and aunt, hard-pressed to support her, urge her to accept the marriage proposal of her uncle's head clerk. Jane wed a kind shopkeeper old enough to be her father because he helps support her mother and sisters.

Ms. Reynolds paints vivid portraits of real people struggling with harsh economic reality to survive and find happiness. Jane and Bingley's story is especially heartbreaking. That we wonder how all will fare, even as we know the ending, is a testament to Ms. Reynolds's fine storytelling.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

Review: DARCY'S VOYAGE by Kara Louise

Darcy's Voyage by Kara Louise is an ingenious and original retelling of Pride and Prejudice with Darcy and Elizabeth meeting on a ship bound for America.

Ah, a sea voyage--crisp, fresh salty breezes, a time far away from the cares of everyday life, and the ship's best private cabin, which provides desired solitude.

Ah, a sea voyage--stale steerage air, cramped quarters much worse than those at home, giving up your narrow cot to a sick child and sleeping on the floor.

Such are the opposite experiences of Darcy and Elizabeth as they embark on Pemberley's Promise. Darcy, crossing the ocean to escort his sister Georgiana home, is the owner of the ship, and occupies the best cabin. Elizabeth, on her way to visit her Uncle and Aunt Gardiner in New York, insisted her father secure the cheapest berth and sleeps in steerage.

As fate would have it, they meet on early morning walks on the upper decks. There attraction is instant, but something niggles at their memories. Did they meet two years ago on a short carriage ride neither forgot? And where neither asked the other's name?

Elizabeth thinks the reserved Darcy is proud, and Darcy thinks he should have nothing to do with a lady so far beneath his social level. But when Elizabeth falls ill, Darcy comes to her aid. By the time they disembark, they are madly in love. But neither has told the other and so they separate, causing themselves no end of avoidable trouble.

I like a book that sweeps me along wondering what the ending will be, even when I know the ending. Ms. Louise has succeeded in writing just such a story, proving yet again Pride and Prejudice's enduring appeal.

For the Regency purists out there, there are errors. Forget them and enjoy this delightful retelling of reluctant love triumphing.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

Review: To Conquer Mr. Darcy by Abigail Reynolds

To Conquer Mr. Darcy is the latest in Abigail Reynolds's series of Pride and Prejudice sequels that ask "What if?" In this case, what if, after Elizabeth Bennet refuses his badly bungled marriage proposal, Mr. Darcy returns to Merryton and courts her?

The story opens as a despondent Darcy comes to his senses and determines to win Elizabeth. In a subtle campaign of tolerance of her family, more sociability towards those he formerly considered his inferiors, and tender escalating attentions toward Elizabeth, he overcomes her doubts.

Since she read his letter explaining the situation with Wickham, Elizabeth's low opinion of Darcy has undergone a radical change. Her feelings toward him, while still unsure, have softened. While she tells herself and him that they can only be friends, his efforts lead to much more than friendship.

Ms. Reynolds does a stunning job of chronicling their growing emotional attachment as their passions flare higher and higher. Suffice it to say that in this version, they marry much sooner than in Pride and Prejudice.

I love Ms. Reynolds's portrayal of the always-certain-of-herself Elizabeth confused and unsure, as logic tells her to maintain her distance from Darcy, while her feelings draw her nearer.

But the best part of the book is Mr. Darcy. Jane Austen created a hero for the ages in Mr. Darcy, but Abigail Reynolds has made him even better. He's breathtaking in his emotional journey to win Elizabeth's love--determined, tender, vulnerable, willing to change and madly in love. May we all find a hero like him.

Thank you all,

Linda

ARC provided by Sourcebooks

Review: THE DARCY COUSINS by Monica Fairview

Monica Fairview's The Darcy Cousins is a book full of surprises, and the surprises start with the title. This follow-on to The Other Mr. Darcy continues the saga of the American Darcys, but this book is the coming-of-age tale of the very English Georgiana, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy's sister.

Three years have passed since Pride and Prejudice. Shy, retiring Georgiana is still unsure of herself after the debacle with Wickham. She awaits the start of her first Season, when into her life swoops her American cousin, Clarissa. The younger Clarissa is everything Georgiana wants to be--confident, outgoing and attractive to men, especially the handsome, charming Mr. Channing, to whom both girls take a fancy.

Mr. Channing's friend, Mr. Gatley, also handsome but not so charming, disapproves of Georgiana's infatuation and her attempts to ape Clarissa, and he makes no bones about telling her so. Each takes the other in dislike, and they spar constantly, refusing to admit their growing attraction. As Georgiana learns to be herself, with her own strengths and weaknesses, she at last sets to rest the ghost of Wickham. Mr. Gatley, so confident he is always right, realizes he can make mistakes, too.

Ms. Fairview has written a tale true to the Regency era, yet at the same time brimming with strong women. Clarissa is strong in an outgoing way. Georgiana is quieter but equally determined. The delightful surprise is the fate of Anne de Bourgh, the down-trodden daughter of the domineering Lady Catherine.

For those who can't get enough of Pride and Prejudice, The Darcy Cousins is sure to please.

Note, for a chance to win a copy of The Darcy Cousins, see my previous post here.

ARC supplied by Sourcebooks.

Thank you all,
Linda

Review: RECOLLECTIONS OF ROSINGS by Rebecca Ann Collins

If you like Pride and Prejudice, you’ll like Rebecca Ann Collins's Recollections of Rosings. Recollections of Rosings, Book 8 of The Pemberley Chronicles, follows the Pride and Prejudice characters and their offspring into the future with this tale of love new, love old, and love lost. Emotional intensity, pictures painted with words, and an engrossing story--Recollections of Rosings has it all.

The Chronicles have now reached the Victorian age, and Ms. Collins deftly interweaves the stories of Catherine Harrison and Becky Tate, daughters of Elizabeth Bennet's friend, Charlotte Lucas, and Mr. Collins, and Catherine’s daughter, Lilian. Lilian is caught up in her first love, and Becky’s marriage is troubled.

But the story centers on dutiful daughter and wife Catherine, who has spent her entire life near Rosings, the palatial residence of the late, unlamented Lady Catherine de Bourgh. The book opens with a devastating fire that incinerates part of Rosings. The destruction dredges up twenty-five year old memories, which force Catherine to reexamine her experience as companion to the difficult Lady Catherine, and her valued friendship with Mr. Frank Burnett, who was then the great house's librarian.

As Catherine tends her seriously ill husband, Frank returns as an advisor on conserving the remaining Rosings treasures. Their friendship resumes and she wonders if she felt more than friendship for him in the past, and if he felt the same.

Ms. Collins keeps you guessing almost to the end before she reveals what happened between Catherine and Frank so long ago, including Lady Catherine's meddling, and what their feelings for each other are now. Both characters are finely drawn. And while I love Catherine, I adore Frank. Would that more romance novel heroes were like him.

Since Recollections of Rosings is Book 8 of The Pemberley Chronicles, a lot of story has gone before. I haven’t read Books 1 to 7 yet, but Ms. Collins has kept any necessary explanations of the past to a minimum.

So, if you can't get enough of Pride and Prejudice, try Recollections of Rosings. Book 9 is sitting in my TBR pile, and I can’t wait to see how the story continues.

Thank you all,
Linda

ARC supplied by Sourcebooks