“The Favourite Nephew” is a Regency novel, sweet and romantic, low angst and appropriate for readers of all ages.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that Fitzwilliam Darcy is Lady Catherine de Bourgh’s favourite nephew and that the lady’s greatest desire is to see him married to her daughter, Anne. But what if the late Sir Lewis de Bourgh had a favourite nephew of his own, one to whom he had left an important bequest that would affect the lives of both Lady Catherine and Anne?
While Elizabeth Bennet is visiting her friend Charlotte Collins, she meets the gentleman she dislikes more than any other – Mr. Darcy – and also makes the acquaintance of his charming cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam. But the surprises do not stop there, as another group of guests arrive most unexpectedly, disturbing the peace and good order of Rosings Park and of Lady Catherine’s life. Could Rosings Park have more than one owner?
Fitzwilliam Darcy was prepared for nothing more than his annual visit to his Aunt Catherine but instead finds himself forced to again face the very woman from whom he wished to escape when he left Netherfield. Soon enough he realises that he has been struggling in vain, so he decides to propose marriage to the only woman in the world he has ever loved. Unfortunately what he receives in return is not what he expects, so he has nothing else to do but to try to forget his addresses and his confession. Or so he believes in the heat of anger… Busy dealing with his aunt’s business and mediating the conflict within his family, Darcy could hardly have noticed that Elizabeth’s opinion of him was slowly improving and her feelings for him were growing more tender.
On her side, Elizabeth is filled with remorse for her hasty misjudgement of Darcy’s character and intrigued to discover secrets that Lady Catherine is struggling to conceal. Furthermore, she is astonished to discover her growing attachment to Darcy and her desire to bond her future happiness to his. But what can she do to make Darcy aware of the change in her sentiments? Is there anything to be done, especially when news of a most unexpected wedding at Rosings triggers her feelings of jealousy, disappointment and remorse? Where, when and how will Elizabeth and Darcy find their well-deserved ‘happily ever after’?And how will the favourite nephew ever reconcile with his aunt?
The answers to all these questions are in this lovely, romantic variation, waiting to be discovered.
From teaching to business to television...and now to writing books.
Andreea Catana is a Romanian author; she has previously worked as a teacher, a human resource manager, and as a scriptwriter for prime-time television series in Romania. Now, she enjoys this new exciting opportunity to write romance novels.
Solid as a Rock Synopsis: This takes place chiefly in Kent, which means we get a lot of ODC conversing, meeting each other halfway between rich Rosings and humble Hunsford.
One of the first scenes features Darcy defending Lizzy’s education and impertinence from Lady Catherine's scrutiny, who is telling Lizzy: Lady Catherine's reign is soon contested by Lord Glenville, the nephew of the late Sir Lewis de bourgh, who pops in unexpectedly as is his wont. Lady Catherine is discomfited, seriously displeased, and in her style makes it blatantly known. See, there is this will that may entitle Lord Glenville to 1/3 of Rosings.
Lizzy loves it when it becomes apparent that there is an animosity between Lady C and Lord G, for one because it takes Lady Catherine's target off her, and their give and take battle of wits entertains Lizzy, who we know revels in the absurdity and follies of others. Lizzy:
Darcy is on his same old; struggling with the conundrum of being un/able to offer for Lizzy. Finally he decides yes, and does the whole crappy proposal and Lizzy- just as she parts her lips to furiously decline- is interrupted.
But here is where it deviates from any JAFF I've read previous, where usually Darcy assumes he is accepted. This Darcy has time to reflect on her visible lack of enthusiasm, and it dawns on him: Miss Elizabeth doesn't like him! Suddenly he fears she will accept him after a night's reflections of the advantages from such a marriage, like he imagined Jane would to Bingley, and he will be stuck in a loveless marriage.
What Impressed:
♡Keeps you on your toes. I wouldn't go as far as to say it’s angsty, but it's a tense, not a straight road to HEA- the bumps are felt but are minor.
♡The prose- excellent!
"But her refusal had been just as violent as his love."
♡All the Rosings walk and talks btwn ODC.
♡Lizzy has some solid comebacks and set downs for Darcy that left me exclaiming: dayuum!
What Depressed: ✗Something with the momentum. I found it easy to put down and forget for a day or two.
✗I know its the title, but after the 7th mention of ‘favorite nephew,' I was disappointed I had not had the foresight to make it a drinking game for the repetition of the title to be bearable.
✗There are some noticeable gaps of Darcy, not overly so, but I am spoiled by JAFF that maximizes ODC interaction and thus rendered disappointed on that front.
The Brass Tacks: This was a fairly unique rewoven take on the Rosings period. As I listed above, it has its merits and faults. I wouldn't say it was anything out of the normal way, but it was solid nonetheless. This is one of those JAFFs that I liked, but know it won't stick with me. It is my first exposure to Ms Catana, so I can credit this with inspiring a desire to venture into her other works.
I cannot add much to the story description. It is very complete. Really the only new thing is that nephew to Sir Lewis de Bourgh mentioned in the story description. He has inherited 1/3 of Rosings under that will, which wasn't disclosed until he and Anne turned five & twenty.
Darcy and Elizabeth have their usual start and at the Hunsford vicarage he makes that horrid proposal. But as you expect, things progress and her opinions change. When another lady, (other than Caroline) seems to attract him, Elizabeth does have a time of despair. I did like it when he challenged her doubts about his constancy...although a second proposal was not yet forth coming.
Wickham has a part again and in his pursuit of Miss King meets with more than was dealt him in canon.
This was a sweet story. The part about "favourite nephew" doesn't really play a big part in the story although it is mentioned once or twice.
I would give the first half of this a 4 and the second half a 3, so a 3.5 overall rating. I enjoyed this book and the unique premise. Most of the book takes place during Elizabeth’s visit to Charlotte in Kent, but things are shaken up a bit when a new arrival shows up at Rosings while Lady C is entertaining the Hunsford party in the form of a nephew on the deBourgh side of the family. There is some contention due to a dispute between Lord Glenville and Lady Catherine that makes the situation a bit awkward for the guests. I thought Lord Glenville was interesting and added some color to the story and would have liked to see him get a little more page time and development. I also liked Anne deBough in this variation. It was nice to see that’s there’s a little bit more beneath the surface than meets the eye without completely transforming her into someone unrecognizable. The second half seemed to fall a little flat and didn’t quite live up the expectations I created from the first part of the story, but overall, it was a decent read and I enjoyed it.
I love the shock to Lady Catherine in the epilogue. Sir Louis DeBourgh figured out a way to get back at his wife by changing his will by leaving one third of it to his nephew who happened to be an earl. The new will wasn't seen until Anne and Lord Glenville both turned 25. Darcy and Elizabeth had a tempestuous conversation after his botched proposal, which was interrupted by Glenville and the Colonel. Glenville told Darcy that Elizabeth didn't like him. Darcy felt like a fool. Darcy and Elizabeth struggled in their relationship while Jane and Bingley reconciled thanks to Darcy after Elizabeth took a bite out of his backside!
Lots of stories featuring cousin Anne these days. This is another good one. The plot wanders a bit and gets clipped when you would a longer scene or a second scene to give the story some heft.
I enjoyed the story, might even read it again 2 or 3 years from now.
Good The description for this book very much provides a good background for this variation, so I won’t rehash it here. I thought the writing was good, but the story itself was just okay for me. It didn’t grab my emotions. I thought Wickham’s part was hardly necessary and irrelevant to the storyline, and could have been left out. I thought Darcy was too generous to him.
The book does not have many proofreading errors that I recall—always a plus. I did enjoy much of it.
The story begins while Elizabeth is visiting Charlotte Collins at Hunsford parsonage . Darcy, who is still fighting his strong attraction to Elizabeth, comes to Rosings with Colonel Fitzwilliam, with the intention of being able to see Elizabeth again.
The story progresses in a very similar manner to the original P&P, but the author throws in several additional characters just to mix things up a little. One of them is Lord Glenville, who, it turns out, is one of the "favorite nephews" of the title. He is favorite of Sir Louis Debourgh, while Darcy is, of course, favorite of Lady Catherine. Lord Glenville is loud, brash, and irreverent, and he provides a nice liveliness to the Rosings Park episodes, as well as a love interest for Anne Debourgh.
I particularly like these variations wherein Darcy and Elizabeth discuss their issues arising from the contentious proposal at Hunsford parsonage, rather than exchanging a letter, and then letting things fester. In this version, they talk things out while still visiting Kent, which sets the stage for a much quicker resolution to their misunderstandings. When this happens, the romance can get going sooner, which is nice. This is a slightly nicer Darcy, one who is not quite so rigid and silent, and it makes a big difference.
This is a low angst story, and nothing very different or earth shattering occurs. The only person who can be called a villain, perhaps, is Lady Catherine, and she's pretty ineffectual, especially owing to the presence of Lord Glenville, the other favorite nephew, who disputes the ownership of Rosings Park. Wickham and Caroline Bingley are referred to, but are not given much screen time. , The book is well written and well edited. This is not great literature, and the story is not at all exciting. However, it's a pleasant way to pass a few hours. I recommend it.
This story is just what I was looking for. Every once in a while I come across a story where I'm like, 'it's about time... (fill in the blank.) What I liked: -Someone finally telling Lady Catherine the truth about her manners (I never heard like this.) -The author made Austen's scenes her own (it becomes tiring rereading the same lines, book after book.) -Darcy and Elizabeth struck the right balance, IMHO. -Elizabeth wasn't overbearing. -Lord Glenville. I wouldn't mind seeing this nephew in another story by the author. Elizabeth's original words to Lady Catherine looses its strength after reading it for the 100th time, so Lord Glenville is now my favourite nephew. -The story went by pretty fast so it didn't feel like an eternity before Darcy and Elizabeth came to an understanding. If I had my druthers, I wouldn't have to wait until the very end for an understanding. -I liked all the characters, even Mr. Collins and his marriage. -Darcy and Elizabeth are equally remorseful. -No angst. Just two people working through their feelings.
If I had to add a negative, and that may be too strong of a word, I would have liked to read more of Darcy and Elizabeth interactions after their engagement.
Darcy's POV chapter during the proposal ruined the rest of the book for me. His thoughts towards Elizabeth are not kind or loving. He only proposes to her when he thinks Elizabeth is confronting him for raising her expectations and not proposing. Even after that he hesitates for some time. Its not him deciding to chose his love for her above all. Then when they are interrupted before she can give her refusal, comments by others clue Darcy about Elizabeth's dislike for him. He immediate worry is only about the humiliation of being rejected by someone of her station, no hurt about his disappointed hopes. He thinks Elizabeth will make fun of his proposal with her sisters and Wickham (yuck). Then he worries that she will accept his proposal anyways for mercenary reasons and next day before she can even give her answer, he quickly takes back his proposal and asks her to forget it. Canon Darcy never even thought of Jane as mercenary, only that Mrs Bennet will force her. But this Darcy seems to think so low of Elizabeth even when he claims to love her. Honestly in his pov, his claims of love felt just like Mr Collins processing love to Elizabeth. There was no true affection or respect for Elizabeth in this Darcy's POV. We later get no Darcy pov, so there is nothing to see about Darcy's changes (if any). Because of this, i couldn't enjoy the rest of the book and i hated how the author ruined Darcy's character.
Elizabeth was also unrecognisable after the proposal. She is constantly anxious, worrying about Darcy, crying, jealous etc that it was honestly too much. She spends the entire time until his 2nd proposal thinking Darcy will propose to someone else, first Anne and then Anne's husband's sister. Even though Darcy teased her about doubting his constancy, after he cleared her misunderstanding about Anne. Darcy apparently realises her jealousy and teases her but for some reason never proposes again even though they purposely begin to meet again for walks in Rosings. For drama, we have Darcy not coming back to Netherfield for months for no reason, and Elizabeth worrying about it during the entire time.. I feel like the characters words, actions, thoughts were never consistent and therefore i was mostly disappointed with both E & D throughout the book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
The setting is at Rosings and Hunsford parish. The usual disastrous proposal takes place, but Elizabeth doesn't leave for London and has many opportunities for conversation with Darcy. As her understanding and feelings change, she goes through a lot of inner turmoil, causing sleepless nights, wobbly legs, painful headaches, and copious tears. Conversations on certain subjects make her dizzy. She often gets so lost in her thoughts that she doesn't hear direct questions. In short, a bit of a delicate flower, which seems out of character.
A previously unknown (to the reader) nephew of Lady Catherine's late husband appears with a couple of friends. Another will has been found, which causes a legal tizzy. Lord Glenville can be quite rude, but inappropriately funny at times. I felt a bit more background on his relationship with the woman he married was needed.
The final scene at Pemberley with Lady Catherine didn't seem at all realistic, although it was a nice way to end the book.
This is a creative story. It has a mixture of known and new characters. The three stars is that the story plods a bit and Elizabeth and Darcy are one dimensional. Her initial response is usually anger and his is apologizing all the time. This results in protracted encounters and turmoil that two stronger characters would resolve fairly quickly and not repeat. This lessened the impact of the story for me. The author has talent and I will be looking for her next P&P variation.
Sir Lewis deBourgh had a nephew, Lord Glenville, who inherited part of Rosings, and Lady Catherine is utterly displeased by such a pollution. Darcy and Elizabeth get interrupted during the proposal and both get to do a lot of thinking afterwards. I thought this was amusing and cute. While his part is pretty small I have a weakness for these roguish, entertaining characters such as Glenville, and I liked Darcy's approach to a woman's choices.