Face the Music: A Pride and Prejudice Variation

The Secrets of Elizabeth Bennet #1

by Harriet Knowles

Fitzwilliam Darcy now knows how frustrating it was to fight the hydra of legend.
For every secret of the hauntingly talented Miss Elizabeth Bennet he uncovers, another rises to replace it.

But he must know all. A gentleman assists those beneath him when they quite obviously need his help — even if they have not asked.

Miss Elizabeth Bennet trusts no man.
Ever since she was a small girl, her Papa has constantly impressed upon her the need to keep that one last secret. The one that must never, never be revealed.
Any man who knew it would be even more determined to possess and control her talent.

All she can do is use this gift to slowly build her fortune, so she will never have to be dependent on a man. Even if he is tall, dark and impossibly handsome.

But, behind the final secret, the greatest betrayal awaits.

Can a love for the ages ever be born from an immovable stubbornness meeting an irresistible arrogant officiousness?

Face the Music is a standalone sweet and clean Regency Romance of more than 115,000 words

Genres: Romance

524 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 28, 2024

Reviews

[Sheila Majczan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars.

Yes, Elizabeth has a secret. The only ones in on that secret are her father, Charlotte Lucas and the Gardiners. Early in her life it was discovered she had an amazing talent both composing and singing songs she wrote with the help of Charlotte on the words put to the songs. Her father has enforced keeping this secret by pointing out that men who learned of her talents will want to "possess" her in order to benefit from the notoriety and money she gains.

Part of the BIG secret is that Elizabeth's works are published by her uncle under an alias, Santorio. "That man" refuses interviews, public performances and/or meeting with any of "his" fans.

We have that infamous insult by Darcy who quickly reverses his opinion after hearing her sing. Now he wants to help her gain a position in society with her talents and here we have a problem. He moves to do so without her consent. He learns later that she has already had a presentation to the Queen and thus had her chance to join the ton.

The issue is trust. Darcy must earn Elizabeth's and it is not an easy task. Not all is as it seems in the Bennet household. I won't give away that here, but, again, trust is an issue.

Then we also have the militia coming to Meryton but in this variation it seems that is NOT a good thing. Wickham figures in the thread but not as in canon.

This story needs editing: missing words, wrong words and awkward sentences had me taking off a half-point in my rating. The story did keep my interest.

[Sam H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Things are not what they seem

Elizabeth is a child prodigy, a music savant. Her music and voice enthrall the men who hear it.
She is fearful for her freedom of choice in regards to her future. Something happened to make her think all but her papa and uncle Gardiner are untrustworthy.

Darcy plays his cards wrong, but works at making amends. She is perfect for him. When he makes one mistake too many, Elizabeth's world implodes.

I would have appreciated a little less focus on her distrust, anger and other issues, and more focus on Darcy's real reasons for loving her. (red herring?)

Furthermore, some questions, reasons, historic events, etc. are never answered or clarified.

The ending was sweet, but the unanswered issues remain annoying.

Still, as a musician and singer, I loved some of the descriptions of Elizabeth's process and inner musical soul.

[Chiwei · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oddly unsatisfying.

I love stories where Elizabeth has some secret that makes her better than what others expect of her, and the comeuppance is usually pretty sweet. Here, the story is moving right along, and I actually really dislike Darcy. He just doesn't quite get it, for the longest time.

Then comes a big twist. I definitely did not see it coming but of course it makes total sense. With something that big and juicy, I thought I was going to get my comeuppance treat. But the rest of the story seemed sadly vague, sort of hopping over the juicy details, as if there was a rush to finish the book.

We don't really get any satisfying closure on our "villain", and even the HEA is a bit tepid, imho. Things just flitter flutter to the end - there were several loose ends and the ones that were finished were not tied off securely.

There were some minor issues with oft-repeated language (any other way to say "possess her"?), some minor typos/missing words, and a few cases of awkward language, but nothing overly detracting.

[Peg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Turned out to be...less than I would wish. Darcy's reaction to the Big Secret was irksomely overblown, especially given the clue bats that Richard (and even occasionally Mr. Bennet) have been using to whack him over the head ("Show her you're trustworthy, Darcy!" "Why no, I'm just going to have a totally needless temper tantrum in the corner here. For no discernable reason.").

Then the grovel and the forgiveness (and really, Lizzy's reaction was needlessly overblown, too.)

It seemed unsatisfying in the end.

[K. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got progressively more frustrated with this book as I went along until ultimately I decided not to finish it. Elizabeth Bennet as presented in canon is already an amazing woman. Piling on “talents” (side note, as others have said, the repetitive text about “possessing her talent/voice” got really irritating. It felt like she whined about that at least once on every page I read) to the extent done here just turns her into a ridiculous Mary Sue. She’s a musical prodigy with genius level ability on the piano, a world-renowned composer (and therefore also secretly rich), a once-in-a-generation vocal talent, oh and did we mention no one in the world can beat her in chess? Either the composition or the voice would be more than enough; giving her both is gilding the lily to an absurd extent. And of course she’s beautiful and witty and confident and poised and the specialest snowflake ever, and man did I start to roll my eyes every time she spoke.

The author has various characters reiterate ad nauseum the importance of finding a husband who loves her for her and not just her talent. At the same time, Darcy’s pov shows him repeatedly deciding she’s not enough to be worthy of being his wife… until he remembers hearing her sing and changes his mind. This is doubly irritating since, of course, Darcy loves her in canon without the voice. Really, this version of Darcy is so arrogant and utterly incapable of considering any perspective outside his own that it makes no sense for Elizabeth to love him.

The writing style is engaging with minimal grammatical errors etc, but the repetition just gets so tiring. Outside the endless reiteration of “possessing her talent/voice” and the idea that she needs to find a husband who will love her beyond her voice, we’re repeatedly told that “Darcy is clever” (as he repeatedly fails to put together increasingly obvious clues), “Santorio must not be discovered” (the endless rumination on this point was especially frustrating as it never actually addressed what she thought would happen if he was discovered, beyond a vague fear of fortune hunters), and just general careless repetition of words/phrases in general.

[Fastidious Kingdoms · Rating 2 out of 5]

not buying for my collection.

Darcy has to deal with, and repeatedly apologize to, a practically perfect Elizabeth. “Possessing her talent/gift” and variations thereof appear with mind-numbing frequency. In addition, “possessing her talent” reminds me of Ursula in the Little Mermaid. Mr Bennet’s dark turn defies logic. I skimmed the last 10%.

[abmom · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was definitely different. My main problem with this author's stories (that I've read), is that they are slow paced in the beginning but near the end, it rushes forward leaving you confused as to the reason for the hurry. This book was had the same problem but the speed was not so bad. But I did have a problem. I didn't detect any sort of mercenary tendencies in Mr. Bennet's dealings with Darcy. They felt pretty normal. How did Jane, who didn't even know Elizabeth's secret, could guess at it and also find out her father's intentions, is something that felt not so believable. Also, since Gardiner was handling Elizabeth's finances and he confesses that he supplied Mr. Bennet from his own funds protecting Elizabeth, why did he not tell Elizabeth about her father when he had her in his home any number of times. Isn't that part of the protection he's giving her? And how stupid is Mr. Bennet that he didn't think of getting Bingley's relatives's address from Hurst when he enquired there but just decided to go to Gretna green after wasting days running here and there but expected to precede Darcy and Elizabeth? These many plot holes could've been easily avoided, IMO.

[Teresita · Rating 4 out of 5]

An lovely portrayal

I enjoyed reading this book and the only thing I don't after with is Lizzy's extreme reaction. Everything else was great!

[Madenna U · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elizabeth Bennet is a musical prodigy who has been taught to keep her true skills a secret. Fitzwilliam Darcy is fascinated by this woman who is drawn to but realizes she wants to be loved and wanted for more than her music. They both have trust issues and tend to react strongly, which causes lots of drama on their way to happily ever after.

At times I wanted to tell the characters to get over themselves. The final part of the main plot line was surprising to me and didn’t fully resolve, it just seemed to end. It wasn’t quick, but was just gone. That said I loved the story.

[Gratia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sanctuary in her music


I'm a big fan of Harriet Knowles's writing, but I don't think that this book was quite up to her usual standards of editing. Although Elizabeth's musical talent presented a unique premise, I felt that certain elements of her past story were both necessary and noticeably absent. For instance, the narrative mentions her encounter with Robert Goulding, which significantly contributes to her trust issues, yet it doesn't provide a detailed explanation of what transpired. The story becomes melodramatic at the 80% mark (which I didn't mind) and ends rather abruptly for me. All this said, I found the insight into Elizabeth's creative process delightful, and I enjoyed this story sufficiently to add it to my re-read collection.

[Elizabeth Swing · Rating 3 out of 5]

Abrupt ending

While the main story was a little far fetched, it was a really good story up until Elizabeth and Darcy got married. Then it was like the author had a timeline crunch and basically wrote "and they lived happily ever after. The end". There was a fantastic plot twist towards the end with so many unanswered questions like: did they tell Georgiana or Aunt Matlock the secret? What about Mrs. Bennet? Did anyone go back to Meryton and confront Mr. Bennet? So many questions. And after the major plot twist, Elizabeth turned into a demure kitten who couldn't think for herself. The storyline also had a lot of chess matches which I thought would play into the resolution of the plot twist. Another part of the storyline mentioned Elizabeth being presented to the Queen and I thought perhaps the Queen would intervene, since Aunt Matlock was vaguely involved in the story.

[Elissa Bell Bell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Music makes the story

A totally original premise, Elizabeth has a secret and no she is not adopted or heir to a fortune. Elizabeth is a musical prodigy and publishes her music under another name with Uncle Gardiner’s help. Mr. Bennet has taught her not to trust anyone with her secret. Men will want her for fame or fortune. Mr. Darcy needs neither but if she doesn’t trust him will their new relationship continue. The author adds in the militias and Wickham but it seems like a filler. Overall much better than a lot of the variations.

[Carolyn Drake-terwilliger · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh

I just did not like this one. Every other page was Elizabeth lamenting about men wanting to "possess her talent". Also, the half historically acurate/half modern form of writing was distracting.

[Talia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the originality of the story but the reasoning in the story was odd, the reveal was odd, and the conclusion was unsatisfying.

[Marci · Rating 2 out of 5]

pick a story line and stick with it

Honestly I can’t believe I finished this book. It would spin and repeat then something interesting would finally happen. It was almost as if the writer couldn’t decide who to make the bad guys and who to make good. But whew! I am finally done.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started well

I usually love Harriet Knowles books, but this one left me dissatisfied. It started out well, and is well written - proper grammer and punctuation, decent dialogue, good flow. But then it veered into melodrama and treacle. I doubt if I'll read it again, much less add it to my permanent collection.

[Bello Valérie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't finish this one. These characters didn't feel like Elizabeth and Darcy. I play, but I found the plot boring and not very realistic. Why would all men want to possess Elizabeth for her musical talent? It doesn't make any sense. At least not to me. The plot and the writing are not always consistent. I had to read a few pages twice to understand what was going on. I rapidly stopped to make the effort... This Elizabeth is annoying, obsessed with her music. Not appealing. I didn't like her relationship with Charlotte either. Too much scenes with these two characters. Not enough with Darcy. I stopped at 40 %. This author usually writes better than this. I don't recommend this particular variation.

[Lexy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Being completely honest, I only read up to about 85% of the book, but I’m choosing to mark it as read because of the time I spent on it—only for it to go south.

Everything was going okay—not perfect, but fine. From the start, I didn’t really like the interactions between Darcy and Elizabeth. They were too awkward and felt forced. Elizabeth had more prejudice than usual and wouldn’t let Darcy in—not even a little. I tried to understand her. She had a lot, A LOOT, of trust issues with men who weren’t her uncle or her dad, because of past experiences with men who tried to impose on her, to "own her, and her music." She had grown used to believing every man only wanted to meet her because of her music, not because of who she was.

Then we have Darcy, who also initially became interested in Elizabeth because of her music. After meeting her, he liked her mind too. My problem is: this was a toxic relationship. Darcy wanted Elizabeth to be devoted to him, to tell him ALL of her secrets—even when he was the only one in love, and she still didn’t like him. At the same time, he wanted to keep his own secrets. I let that go because Colonel Fitzwilliam explains to Darcy how that’s incredibly wrong.

The story goes on and we see Elizabeth continuing her composer activities alongside Charlotte, and she wants to tell Darcy the truth—that she’s the famous composer Santorino, who Georgiana loves. Mind you, they’re already in a courtship, or maybe even engaged (I don’t really remember), and when he finds out her status as a composer, he gets FURIOUS. Like, it’s almost like he sees red. He storms to Elizabeth’s house to confront her—not in a gentlemanly manner, but screaming at her, calling her a liar, a deceiving woman, and LOTS of other insults. It gets to the point where even he can see that she’s afraid of him, flinching—almost like she’s expecting him to hit her. Mr. Bennet has to step in, and only then does Darcy stop. He leaves, but not before declaring that their relationship is over.

He goes home to brood and act like he's the victim—because he’s SO SAD that Elizabeth isn’t the person he thought she was. Sad because the life he envisioned with her is gone. Until Colonel Fitzwilliam and Bingley (who had to come back from his honeymoon with Jane) go to Darcy’s house to tell him ELIZABETH IS DYING OF A BROKEN HEART. I thought this was an exaggeration, until they show Darcy visiting her and finding her in bed—skinny, pale, and on the BRINK of death because she won’t get up, won’t eat, won’t talk. A serious case of depression.

And Darcy? He’s looking at her and all he can think about is how compromising it is to be in Elizabeth’s room, seeing her in bed. And how, despite everything that happened, if he ends up in a compromising situation, he’ll marry her. INSTEAD OF THINKING ONLY ABOUT HOW AWFUL SHE LOOKS, HE’S THINKING OF A COMPROMISE. He ends up feeding her broth and talking to her, and she opens her eyes, says his name, and then he TELLS HER THAT HE “LOVES HER” AND KISSES HER???

At that point, I couldn’t keep reading. I know Elizabeth will forgive him, and they’ll marry and be “happy,” but I’m sorry—NO. He does not get to behave like that and just come back like nothing happened. I hated this version of Darcy, and didn’t particularly like Elizabeth either. I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone who hates angst, drama, miscommunication, and unnecessary problems.

[William Hovey · Rating 5 out of 5]

And what music it is!

The descriptions of the effect Elizabeth’s music has on Darcy, Georgie and all other listeners reminds this reader of her reactions to her favorite music. The idea that men want to possess Elizabeth for her talent alone is a bit of a stretch, especially in the early chapters. The revelation of the twist provides the reasons for this covetousness, but, like other reviewers, I won’t spoil the surprise. You need to read it for yourself to get the full impact.

Although the author says all her books are stand alone, I felt this was like the first part of a multi-part story. There were too many threads left dangling and too many questions not answered for this reader’s preference. The answers, if sufficiently explained, could require another book. Perhaps the next books in the series will provide the answers.

The writing style is excellent as always. The one editing error that disrupted the story was incorrectly naming Mrs. Reynolds as the housekeeper at Darcy House even though a different name had been used in the previous paragraphs.

Highly recommended. Eagerly waiting for the next one!

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intriguing and Different

This was a nice read as it’s quite different to the usual JAFF styles. I enjoyed the story, although the plot twist towards the end wasn’t as fleshed out as it could have been, and I would have liked to see a final confrontation for some closure. The storylines are a little bit darker than the original, as are some of the characters.
My main dislike though was Elizabeth channeling Bella Swan and going comatose when she thought her love had gone for good. That didn’t ring true to the character either in P&P or in this story. Other than that, it was a fairly gripping read.

[CEK · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good!

Interesting twists throughout the story, with Elizabeth as a musical prodigy who is keeping many secrets related to her musical abilities. Darcy is his usual rude, arrogant self, but he learns his lessons quickly, apologises and then makes fresh errors! Without spoilers, there is a strong Bingley, a faithful Charlotte, a nasty Wickham, and an excellent Jane. Look for surprises in the plot.

[Mariska · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Masterpiece!!

I love it when we are given a highly gifted yet still flawed Elizabeth, When Darcy can be taught, Lydia doesn't ruin everything, and many characters are better than normal. Mr Lucas is a fairly minor character in the original book, but I love it when he gets to be seen as being sharp of mind and competent in life. This is a true page turner story.

[Natalie Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Missing something

I don't normally write reviews, but I felt the need with this one. While I thoroughly enjoyed this book, as I have others by this author, I felt as though a major plot line was left to dangle. I would have like there to be a more detailed final confrontation with Mr. Bennet. It felt as though it was a cliffhanger. 3.5 stars.

[Amanda E · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit painful to read

It’s a good idea. Plot was laid out with good pacing but I couldn’t love this book. The whole dying from a broken heart was melodramatic. The amount of anger Darcy had around secrets was also over the top. Then you went from having a very protective, supportive Mr Bennet to an unhinged man taking money from her. I hated that twist.

[Leslye B Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very nice!

Although I wish more of Mrs. Bennett could have been mentioned in the end (it felt like she no longer existed, even when Lizzy was at death's door!) I really enjoyed this story. Page turner!

[Mona Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Her stories get better and better!

It is cold hearted of me, but I was glad about what happened to Wickham. Some of the beloved one slip out of character. No more hints, but the plot lines are great

[Rosanne M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I’m speechless

I enjoyed this variation. Mr Bennett was not what I expected. I’m so glad Jane is Jane but stronger and better. The main characters are present but intensely better or worse.
I admit I had to stop reading a few times. Lots of emotion.

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Never trust a man!

This author's stories always has a diversity that is a page turner. The culprit in this story is Mr. Bennett . Jane surprises readers by turning aggressive with Mr. Bennett ! This story is surprisingly unpredictable.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although I agree with those who thought the ending was rushed, I'm eagerly awaiting Book 2 -- which might tells us more about what happens with Mr. Bennett and Lizzie's continuing musical career. The premise for these books is original and very interesting. I look forward to more.

[Kitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet without being saccharine

I would have wished more conflict,, much went along too smoothly.
Justice for Kitty!

Spoiler Ideas
What if Elizabeth was one of the women caught up with the militia?
Also more foreshadowing of Mr Bennets' secret with a clearer resolution.