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Second Impressions: When Darcy Met Elizabeth Again
After Elizabeth Bennet fiercely rejected Fitzwilliam Darcy’s proposal in Kent, the last place Darcy expected to encounter her again was in Derbyshire.
He soon learns that Elizabeth has not come to pursue him but rather to help her aunt care for an injured relation. Realizing that his feelings for the lady have deepened, he sets about to show her he can please a woman worthy of being pleased.
As our dear couple stumbles toward love, their happy future is threatened by the treacheries of those around them—an angry sister bent on sabotage and a charming cousin willing to engage in dangerous crimes to achieve his ambitions.
He soon learns that Elizabeth has not come to pursue him but rather to help her aunt care for an injured relation. Realizing that his feelings for the lady have deepened, he sets about to show her he can please a woman worthy of being pleased.
As our dear couple stumbles toward love, their happy future is threatened by the treacheries of those around them—an angry sister bent on sabotage and a charming cousin willing to engage in dangerous crimes to achieve his ambitions.
332 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 12, 2023
30 people are currently reading
6 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
September 3, 2023
Delightful
An unusual premise and some charming new additions are in this variation inspired by Jane Austen’s classic novel Pride and Prejudice by JP Christy. I enjoyed it.
An unusual premise and some charming new additions are in this variation inspired by Jane Austen’s classic novel Pride and Prejudice by JP Christy. I enjoyed it.
September 25, 2023
wish I’d waited for the KU release
2.5 stars
This book didn’t know where it wanted to go, but it went there with two-dimensional characters and a plot that defies belief.
Did the book want to be pious? The first third of the book hinted at that.
Did the story want to show off with extensive, excessive, Regency research? Sweet mercy, yes. In one conversation, Anne deBourgh refers to her landaulet at least four times. And then there is this: “As he gestured for her to sit in the chair before his desk, he glanced at the clock on his credenza, which he had wound scarcely an hour ago. The sculptural setting for this timepiece was a rectangular marble base, and on either side of the round clock was a cherub cast in biscuit porcelain. The white clock face had gold hands and gold Roman numerals to mark the time.” Reader, you will be shocked to learn that the clock is never mentioned again, because it’s inessential to the plot.
I did enjoy some characters: the aforementioned Anne and her mother, Lady Catherine, are rational creatures. The Fitzwilliamses had a charming scene when the elder cousins from canon translate a younger (OOC) relative’s entire slang-filled recitation for Lady Catherine and her sister-in-law. Cousin Irene was also delightful.
Georgiana Darcy irretrievably hamstrung the story, however. She’s a two-dimensional character filled with spite and snobbery, and I cannot willingly suspend disbelief to deal with her. She is forever flouncing off and makes the same rude comments in the same manner. Darcy never checks her. Reading through her scenes was exhausting. We never do learn what caused her attitude (which began long before the narrative starts). For a while it seemed like the book was leaning toward a mental illness with her, but that avenue stopped. It would have been a brave subject for the author to tackle. I’ve never wished harder for a literary character to be on Prozac.
Much of the drama is manufactured, at first with a Trevor and later with Bingley (although the Bingley sisters were a revelation).
Finally, the frequent references to offstage, out of canon relatives only serves to muddy the waters. If you want to read this book, don your waders.
2.5 stars
This book didn’t know where it wanted to go, but it went there with two-dimensional characters and a plot that defies belief.
Did the book want to be pious? The first third of the book hinted at that.
Did the story want to show off with extensive, excessive, Regency research? Sweet mercy, yes. In one conversation, Anne deBourgh refers to her landaulet at least four times. And then there is this: “As he gestured for her to sit in the chair before his desk, he glanced at the clock on his credenza, which he had wound scarcely an hour ago. The sculptural setting for this timepiece was a rectangular marble base, and on either side of the round clock was a cherub cast in biscuit porcelain. The white clock face had gold hands and gold Roman numerals to mark the time.” Reader, you will be shocked to learn that the clock is never mentioned again, because it’s inessential to the plot.
I did enjoy some characters: the aforementioned Anne and her mother, Lady Catherine, are rational creatures. The Fitzwilliamses had a charming scene when the elder cousins from canon translate a younger (OOC) relative’s entire slang-filled recitation for Lady Catherine and her sister-in-law. Cousin Irene was also delightful.
Georgiana Darcy irretrievably hamstrung the story, however. She’s a two-dimensional character filled with spite and snobbery, and I cannot willingly suspend disbelief to deal with her. She is forever flouncing off and makes the same rude comments in the same manner. Darcy never checks her. Reading through her scenes was exhausting. We never do learn what caused her attitude (which began long before the narrative starts). For a while it seemed like the book was leaning toward a mental illness with her, but that avenue stopped. It would have been a brave subject for the author to tackle. I’ve never wished harder for a literary character to be on Prozac.
Much of the drama is manufactured, at first with a Trevor and later with Bingley (although the Bingley sisters were a revelation).
Finally, the frequent references to offstage, out of canon relatives only serves to muddy the waters. If you want to read this book, don your waders.
Read
September 7, 2023DNF. I’m not a big fan of this writing style - too many useless details for my taste.
Others might enjoy it more.
Others might enjoy it more.
October 6, 2023
Wonderful
Love this author, who is an automatic purchase for me. After the disastrous proposal at Hunsford parsonage, and after Darcy has given his letter of explanation to Elizabeth, Darcy goes to London, and Elizabeth is reunited with Jane at the Gardiner's home in London when news arrives that Aunt Gardiner's father has been seriously injured in an accident. He has an estate in Lambton where he lives with his son, a man with some handicaps. Because Uncle Gardiner is away on business, Jane takes the Gardiner's children to Longbourn, and Elizabeth accompanies Aunt Gardiner to Lambton. Meanwhile, Darcy stays only a short time in London, and then goes to Pemberly to join his sister while he recovers from his rejected proposal.
The star of this book is Georgiana Darcy, and not in a good way. This is an "evil Georgiana" version . Of course Darcy eventually sees Elizabeth in Lambton, and for reasons unknown, Georgiana immediately dislikes her, and embarks on an active and aggressive campaign to, not only disrupt any relationship between Elizabeth and Darcy, but to actually cause harm to Elizabeth. Georgiana is not the only villain. There are plenty of people near Pemberly that resent Darcy merely because he's a good guy who's wealthy.
Fortunately, the author has shuffled the deck, and given us many characters, some new and some familiar, that we can care about. The romance is lovely. There is a lot of clever banter, and much appreciated humor to lighten what would otherwise be a pretty dark story. I deducted a couple of stars for a couple of reasons. One is the need for editing, especially for words that are hyphenated throughout the book in error, such as "Pem-berly". Also, I was not satisfied at the end of the story with any feeling of resolution. Although ODC achieve their HEA, I wanted Georgiana in particular to have consequences for her badness, either a scathing setdown or a spectacular comeuppance. Neither happened, which left a kind of gaping wound that wasn't healed. This also lowered my opinion of Darcy and Georgiana's other guardians, who appeared inept at raising this girl.
The book is very well written, with an interesting and imaginative premise. I recommend it highly.
Love this author, who is an automatic purchase for me. After the disastrous proposal at Hunsford parsonage, and after Darcy has given his letter of explanation to Elizabeth, Darcy goes to London, and Elizabeth is reunited with Jane at the Gardiner's home in London when news arrives that Aunt Gardiner's father has been seriously injured in an accident. He has an estate in Lambton where he lives with his son, a man with some handicaps. Because Uncle Gardiner is away on business, Jane takes the Gardiner's children to Longbourn, and Elizabeth accompanies Aunt Gardiner to Lambton. Meanwhile, Darcy stays only a short time in London, and then goes to Pemberly to join his sister while he recovers from his rejected proposal.
The star of this book is Georgiana Darcy, and not in a good way. This is an "evil Georgiana" version . Of course Darcy eventually sees Elizabeth in Lambton, and for reasons unknown, Georgiana immediately dislikes her, and embarks on an active and aggressive campaign to, not only disrupt any relationship between Elizabeth and Darcy, but to actually cause harm to Elizabeth. Georgiana is not the only villain. There are plenty of people near Pemberly that resent Darcy merely because he's a good guy who's wealthy.
Fortunately, the author has shuffled the deck, and given us many characters, some new and some familiar, that we can care about. The romance is lovely. There is a lot of clever banter, and much appreciated humor to lighten what would otherwise be a pretty dark story. I deducted a couple of stars for a couple of reasons. One is the need for editing, especially for words that are hyphenated throughout the book in error, such as "Pem-berly". Also, I was not satisfied at the end of the story with any feeling of resolution. Although ODC achieve their HEA, I wanted Georgiana in particular to have consequences for her badness, either a scathing setdown or a spectacular comeuppance. Neither happened, which left a kind of gaping wound that wasn't healed. This also lowered my opinion of Darcy and Georgiana's other guardians, who appeared inept at raising this girl.
The book is very well written, with an interesting and imaginative premise. I recommend it highly.
August 20, 2024
A rambling second chance variation.
Accompanied by a raft of non-canon characters, Lizzy and Darcy end up in Derbyshire as Darcy changes Lizzy's mind after the Hunsford proposal. Many canon characters are the opposite of their original personality and several different villains, including Georgiana, stir the plot. Needs a good proofreader.
Accompanied by a raft of non-canon characters, Lizzy and Darcy end up in Derbyshire as Darcy changes Lizzy's mind after the Hunsford proposal. Many canon characters are the opposite of their original personality and several different villains, including Georgiana, stir the plot. Needs a good proofreader.
September 24, 2023
Good premise and low angst but boring
The premise of intertwining Mrs. Gardiner’s family with the Darcys in Lambton and the new characters added are engaging in the beginning and the story trundles along pleasantly enough to its natural conclusion for ODC with little angst. Unfortunately, it is drawn out entirely too long after that point, focusing on the silly machinations of a truly awful Georgiana. Darcy is frustratingly tolerant of her malicious behavior and the “comeuppance” she receives is abrupt and unsatisfying in the end. Also unsatisfying is the lack of any spark in the romance between Darcy and Elizabeth, which is the bigger sin in my book.
It is written well overall, aside from some errata. But every minute piece of internal dialogue of most characters is chronicled along with every speech they utter so that helps the story drag even further. It was a chore to reach the end.
The premise of intertwining Mrs. Gardiner’s family with the Darcys in Lambton and the new characters added are engaging in the beginning and the story trundles along pleasantly enough to its natural conclusion for ODC with little angst. Unfortunately, it is drawn out entirely too long after that point, focusing on the silly machinations of a truly awful Georgiana. Darcy is frustratingly tolerant of her malicious behavior and the “comeuppance” she receives is abrupt and unsatisfying in the end. Also unsatisfying is the lack of any spark in the romance between Darcy and Elizabeth, which is the bigger sin in my book.
It is written well overall, aside from some errata. But every minute piece of internal dialogue of most characters is chronicled along with every speech they utter so that helps the story drag even further. It was a chore to reach the end.
January 4, 2025
kept me interested
Enjoyed this low angst (well, albeit if a reader disregards Georgiana’s creepy never fully explained poor behavior vs EVERYONE lol) story on second chance at love by more than ODC. Thrilled at this version of Lady Catherine & truly admired family banter. FD is much more relaxed than cannon, EB is less judgmental & supporting characters generally hold each other’s welfare as group dogma. No Wickham interaction but couple of other characters take his role, Lydia already received her comeuppance b4 story begins, remaining Bennetts (besides Jane) have little to no impact in this story, just a sweet trajectory (ok maybe a couple of oh no what if he/she … ?moments but nothing to induce unnecessary drama) of fated characters find their way to each other! Deducted star bc story had drawn me in & i was vested—-bam, imo ending felt most decidedly rushed & while informative, epilogue made me want to toss my kindle (i would never) on the bed bc lack of HEA information about ODC & gave more time to the undeserving minor characters; glad those received some much deserved retribution but wanted more details on how ODC navigated initial married life esp w/GD hanging about & there was none, gave me a feeling of being cheated instead of charmed. Will read book again & liked enough to follow this author. (Hoping a re-edit/release by the author might fluff out last chapter & epilogue someday too). Good solid book for a quiet evening or cold weather weekend.
Enjoyed this low angst (well, albeit if a reader disregards Georgiana’s creepy never fully explained poor behavior vs EVERYONE lol) story on second chance at love by more than ODC. Thrilled at this version of Lady Catherine & truly admired family banter. FD is much more relaxed than cannon, EB is less judgmental & supporting characters generally hold each other’s welfare as group dogma. No Wickham interaction but couple of other characters take his role, Lydia already received her comeuppance b4 story begins, remaining Bennetts (besides Jane) have little to no impact in this story, just a sweet trajectory (ok maybe a couple of oh no what if he/she … ?moments but nothing to induce unnecessary drama) of fated characters find their way to each other! Deducted star bc story had drawn me in & i was vested—-bam, imo ending felt most decidedly rushed & while informative, epilogue made me want to toss my kindle (i would never) on the bed bc lack of HEA information about ODC & gave more time to the undeserving minor characters; glad those received some much deserved retribution but wanted more details on how ODC navigated initial married life esp w/GD hanging about & there was none, gave me a feeling of being cheated instead of charmed. Will read book again & liked enough to follow this author. (Hoping a re-edit/release by the author might fluff out last chapter & epilogue someday too). Good solid book for a quiet evening or cold weather weekend.
November 15, 2023
Mixed Emotions
It is an intricate, meandering story, but The Lady who authored it obviously has either too much access to a thesaurus or not enough. She frequently (at least to me for a period piece) resorts to profanity. Technically, one can say, "He cursed aloud or under his breath" and leave the actual curse to the reader's imagination!
On the other hand, she also used many words that were very uncommon, as if she was trying to draw attention to her regency knowledge.
Either way, it was interesting, but will be consigned to the 'not interesting enough to warrant a second reading' column. No wonder the beginning is so compelling, she makes you buy it before you realize it isn't worth the time or money. (Definitely needed more editing, also!)
It is an intricate, meandering story, but The Lady who authored it obviously has either too much access to a thesaurus or not enough. She frequently (at least to me for a period piece) resorts to profanity. Technically, one can say, "He cursed aloud or under his breath" and leave the actual curse to the reader's imagination!
On the other hand, she also used many words that were very uncommon, as if she was trying to draw attention to her regency knowledge.
Either way, it was interesting, but will be consigned to the 'not interesting enough to warrant a second reading' column. No wonder the beginning is so compelling, she makes you buy it before you realize it isn't worth the time or money. (Definitely needed more editing, also!)
May 18, 2025
Disjointed
There were about 5 different storylines - most with inept villains trying to execute farfetched schemes. A good editor would have caught the dropped words and unclear sentences. Not one for my permanent collection.
There were about 5 different storylines - most with inept villains trying to execute farfetched schemes. A good editor would have caught the dropped words and unclear sentences. Not one for my permanent collection.
August 19, 2024
light
A light and enjoyable work by this author. Many characters vary from canon. I highly recommend this current novel. 🤩
A light and enjoyable work by this author. Many characters vary from canon. I highly recommend this current novel. 🤩
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews