Upon arriving in London from Kent, Miss Elizabeth Bennet assumes it was an error in her behaviour that made Mr. Darcy believe she would accept his proposal. Elizabeth decides she should act more like her sister Jane from this point forward.
When the gentleman who wishes to invest in her uncle’s business makes advances, Elizabeth Bennet can do nothing but watch as the stranger who tries to rescue her is murdered. After the murderer threatens Elizabeth and her family, she escapes and goes into hiding. With no money and no way to get home, she accepts employment as a maid at a great estate.
A sweet Regency romance with suspense.
What advanced readers are saying about A Precarious Excursio
"Great story!!! Suspenseful. Romantic. " "All the feels with this story!" "Eagerly anticipating your next" "Loved the story and now looking forward to your next one. Such talent!"
Wendi Sotis lives on Long Island, NY, with her husband and triplets. Years ago, while searching for Pride and Prejudice from Darcy’s point of view, she became thoroughly enamored with Jane Austen Fan Fiction or JAFF. In early 2010, she dreamed an idea for a story and hasn’t stopped writing since.
The Marriage Pact, and some of her works-in-progress, have branched away to Regency Romance and Contemporary Romantic Mysteries, but Wendi will also continue bringing Darcy and Lizzy together again and again in an unusual manner.
I have read almost all of this author's many stories. I believe the ones I have missed are the anthologies...some day I will read those. This story is high on angst, but those who have read my reviews know I love angst.
In this story the Hunsford proposal has already occurred and Elizabeth has reread Darcy's letter many times. She realizes her mistakes and has made a decision to attempt to act more like Jane in not jumping to conclusions and making hasty judgments upon first impressions.
She and Maria travel to the Gardiners, where Jane has been staying. Elizabeth learns that a possible business associate of her uncle's has been visiting daily and even offering to take Jane out for a ride. Jane has demurred but Elizabeth decides to accept his offer to her. (Here I was not comfortable with the fact that Aunt Gardiner allowed E. to go off without a chaperon or even a groomsman in the vehicle.)
First, Mr. Evan Curtis, the fifth son of the Earl of Millsend, races through the streets and then in Hyde Park he pulls Elizabeth behind some hedgerow and attempts to assault her, bruising her face and arms. E. yells out and a man comes to her rescue, only to be killed by Curtis. He threatens E. that if she reports any of this to the authorities or to her family there will be dire consequences. He again takes her into his vehicle but E. manages to escape. We read of a perilous chase through the streets of London, with E. suffers cuts and bruises as she gets caught on objects and climbs over crates, etc. in her flight. She finally finds refuge in a cart loaded with baggage and as this cart begins to travel north, she soon realizes that Curtis is following them.
The trip north has many phases and Elizabeth gets no reprieve: no food, no water, her clothes torn and dirty, she is afraid to ask for help as she has overheard Curtis' claiming he is searching for his runaway sister.
The author's description tells us that Elizabeth finds employment as a servant in a rich estate. I won't go on with my telling about the premise here due to spoilers. Just know that Elizabeth now has to learn an entirely different set of behaviors as she is part of the working class. She has arrived at this point with no money, no change of clothes and a fear of using her real name!
Getting knocked down in life is a given. Getting up and moving forward is a choice. ~ Zig Ziglar
As the story begins, Elizabeth has already had a knock-down experience. She refused a proposal at Hunsford and accepts a letter detailing, for her, her lack of understanding of characters, specifically the characters of Fitzwilliam Darcy and George Wickham. She sees that her sister, Jane, had judged these two men more kindly and more correctly. Elizabeth makes a vow: to behave more like Jane.
Elizabeth Bennet accepts an offer of an excursion, channeling her inner Jane, and gets knocked down again — repeatedly.
I am not going to recount much of this story. I will just say that it grabbed me this morning and would not let me go back to bed until I had finished it. Only one issue for me: the villain’s fate is left a bit up in the air.
But look at what we have — danger, travel, hiding in plain sight, and coincidences galore.
I loved it!
Many times the wrong train took me to the right place. ~ Paul Coelho
It is nice to read a new Wendi Sotis book. The build up of our story, following the disastrous Hunsford proposal, has Elizabeth in terrible danger, her whole family threatened and her running for her life.
She is fortunate to end up at an estate where she can find work as a maid. Taken care of physically, but still terrified for her family, she is desperate for word from them, but also fearful of the vicious man she knows is searching for her.
When the Master of the estate returns, she feels in an even more precarious position. Needing to run again, her life and the lives of all around her are in danger when her pursuer shows up as well.
The first half creates tension in the story with all the action, the second half got kind of blah for me. But it was sweet ODC getting their HEA.
3.5 rounded up. This book started off so well. The first half of the book, I was completely engaged and really loved the adventure and suspense and all the action. It was hard to put down and it gave me high hopes for the book. About halfway through, when Elizabeth finally reached Pemberley and started working as a maid, it started losing steam and believability to me, it started feeling like they were trying to drag the conflict out a little too long and, as a result, I started feeling bored and desirous of some new element to keep me interested. I guess I was ready for things to start to come together and the book was slow to get there.
The adventure was great and the premise for Elizabeth fleeing was very exciting and believable. In the end, with as admirable as Jane is, I love that Elizabeth realized the importance of being true to her self. "But just what had behaving like Jane gotten her? Suddenly it dawned on her—because she had not trusted herself enough to behave as Elizabeth, she had not spoken up against Mr. Curtis soon enough, which may have caused this entire mess. Whilst behaving like Jane worked for Jane, it was not working for Elizabeth. It was time to start being herself again." It was hard for me to believe that the names Darcy or Pemberley were never uttered, or that when she discovered she was in Derbyshire, with as clever as Elizabeth is, she didn’t have any suspicion that she was at Pemberley. There were too many clues not to be suspicious. I also found it difficult to believe that, with the strict rules of propriety for females, that Elizabeth’s reputation would be unaffected after leaving with a gentleman and then disappearing for weeks. I found myself wondering what story the family was giving to explain her sudden absence. The other thing that I found not plausible was Darcy’s relationship with Curtis. With as well connected as Darcy was, it’s hard to imagine that he would not be aware of the true character of Mr. Curtis. They had been known to each other for years and moved in the same circles.
Overall, there was a lot to enjoy, but the second half left me a bit disappointed. I would rate the first half 4.5-5 stars, but the second 3.
While the plot seems extreme to start, the resilience of Elizabeth Bennet is captivating. She will not give up. This was a fun story and provided an amazing look at the work done ‘downstairs’.
I have enjoyed some of Ms Sotis’ other works, The Mystic Blessing in particular, but A Precarious Excursion was a miss. Elizabeth decides, after Rosings, to change her mantra to What Would Jane Do?
Jane, apparently, is a gullible milquetoast. Thus, so is Elizabeth, who doesn’t realize until far too late that an unchaperoned ride is a bad idea. “First, he had driven like a lunatic. Then his manner of speaking had become noticeably less polished. He was drinking in the morning, forced kisses upon her, and now, he used her Christian name?” How does she have the presence of mind to fuss about her Christian name when she’s been attacked?
The villain, for reasons tbd, hunts for Elizabeth all over the Great North Road. He wants her to keep her silence, which is a ridiculous reason for pursuing her. His father is an earl, and she is but a woman. Once Elizabeth finds safe harbor, she decides she can’t write her father because she can’t possibly ask anyone in the mansion the name of the estate—again, probably because WWJD? It’s well over a week before she finally learns where she is.
The story climaxes at 75%; the last quarter is tacked on to focus on Darcy and Elizabeth’s reunion. Not only did they have no chemistry, but they needed to meet earlier in the action.
Finally, London to Pemberley is apparently only a day and a half ride, yet it’s 2+ days from Pemberley to Meryton. Grrrrrrrr.
Ліззі втрапила у велику халепу і тепер змушена переховуватися як служниця. На обличчі й по всьому тілу сліди побиття, одяг розідраний, на хвості — син графа, який загрожує їй та всій її родині. Пощастило, що в цьому маєтку — де б він не був — її прихистили співчутливі слуги й дали їй роботу. Тільки б спромогтися зв'язатися з родиною так, щоб лиходій не довідався! До речі, в якому саме маєтку вона опинилася? ;) Дія відбувається після невдалого освідчення. Я багато не чекала, але мені сподобалось, справді. Так, історія дещо наївна попри дуже неприємні сцени, забагато щасливих збігів, як на мене, але все одно захоплива і мила. Багато наляканої Ліззі, яка втім робить все можливе, щоб утекти від нападника, і тримає себе в руках, і коли зрештою її викривають, виявляється, що світ не без добрих людей, і це справді зворушливо.
After Darcy's declaration of love coming as such a surprise, and after refusing Darcy so vehemently at Hunsford, and then reading his letter explaining his dealings with Wickham as well as his interference with Bingley and Jane, Elizabeth begins to doubt herself and wonder if she needs to behave more like her sister Jane. Then, in order to give Jane some space - Jane is still heartbroken over Bingley - Elizabeth agrees to go for a carriage ride in Hyde Park with the young man who's been calling on the Gardiners daily. Mr. Gardiner hopes to do business with Mr. Curtis, who is the younger son of an earl, and Mrs. Bennet has heard of his visits and hopes for one of her daughters to make a match with him. She insists they extend their visit with the Gardiners to see where this goes. So, although she doesn't really like Mr. Curtis, Elizabeth agrees to the carriage ride.
Mr. Curtis, though, is not a gentleman. He first seems to be drunk and drive the carriage recklessly. Once at the park, he tries to take liberties with Lizzy, and then brutalizes her, and murders the man who comes to her rescue. Elizabeth realizes she is in grave danger, even before he threatens her family and takes her hostage. She must escape!
This is a suspenseful story based on but not merely a variation of Pride and Prejudice because it veers so far from the original story. Yet it gets lots of point for suspense that kept me awake reading during the pursuit, and again once I realized where Elizabeth had finally landed herself. The reader figures this out before Elizabeth herself seems to, which maybe we can chalk up to her being under some distress.
There are a lot of coincidences that must be overcome by the reader in order to enjoy this story, and not all of them are that necessary. The coincidences, combined with mishap after mishap made it at times feel almost like a Perils of Pauline melodrama. I mean, how much trouble can you land yourself in before you're no longer in an Austenesque romance but in something else entirely? The biggest coincidence is where our heroine winds up in her escape from the murderer. But that on its own wouldn't have stretched my suspension of disbelief so far if not for the others, such as her pursuer so easily finding her again, and who finds the body of the murdered man.
All of that said, the story kept me reading, and was well crafted in every other regard. I loved - yes, loved - the portrayal of how the servants lived in that great house, and the hard work and hours involved in such work. It's nice to see Jane Austen's world (and the Regency era) from the other side now and then. I love that Elizabeth gained such a complete perspective as part of her experience.
Good story. A pleasant page turner. I took away a star since the bad guy is not for sure convicted even though he is a murderer. So does the murderer get set free since he is the son of an Earl ? Does the Earl try to ruin Lizzie to squash her seeing the murderer happen? This is a very long story to not be told if Lizzie is safe from the main bad guy of the book.
After having read many of this author's creations, this one seemed a little more fanciful with the premise, more of a wild ride than usual. After the disastrous proposal at Hunsford parsonage, Elizabeth is at the Gardiner's home in London, and meets a young man who is interested in investing in her uncle's business. He takes Elizabeth for a ride to Hyde Park in his gig, and there he accosts her with unwanted advances. He becomes violent, Elizabeth screams for help, a man comes to her assistance, but the man is killed by Elizabeth's attacker. Elizabeth has to escape from the young man, who is an earl's son, and she goes into hiding, fearing for her life. She takes up work as a maid at a large estate to earn some money.
There was no warning in the book summary of the terribly violent scene in which Elizabeth is assaulted, and consequently when her would-be savior gets killed. Perhaps there should be a warning, because the author writes well and doesn't spare any details. That scene, and the subsequent scenes of Elizabeth's flight into hiding, are quite distressing and exciting. I thought it was well done, but there may be some readers out there who would be disturbed.
The whole wild story jumps back and forth between Elizabeth's and Darcy's experiences, and their individual circumstances are cleverly intertwined. The romance is superb. This is a swoon worthy Darcy, and Elizabeth spends most of her time regretting her harsh refusal of Darcy's proposal, and consequently developing a much improved opinion of him. This is Elizabeth the way we like to see her: brave, determined, resilient, and kind. It's wonderful when she's not so stubborn about her opinions.
The book is well written and well edited. The book is filled with drama, and with many new and wonderful characters that we can care about. I recommend it highly.
Warning: Meant for mature audiences. Contains scenes that would scandalize the ton. Readers of a delicate constitution are advised to keep their fans and vinaigrettes close at hand. Includes scenes of violence and death.
It was so enticing that I couldn’t put it down, this book grabbed my interest from the very first page. I couldn’t put it down, I had to know what happened next. The story is well written with a very good storyline. You will see the most beloved characters in a whole new way. This is a Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice variation. A sweet Regency romance with suspense, and all the feels.
Upon arriving in London from Kent, Miss Elizabeth Bennet assumes it was an error in her behaviour that made Mr. Darcy believe she would accept his proposal. Elizabeth decides she should act more like her sister Jane from this point forward. When the gentleman who wishes to invest in her uncle’s business makes advances, Elizabeth Bennet can do nothing but watch as the stranger who tries to rescue her is murdered. After the murderer threatens Elizabeth and her family, she escapes and goes into hiding. With no money and no way to get home, she accepts employment as a maid at a great estate. So with all that and more this story pulls you in and holds you tight. It’s a must read. I highly recommend to everyone.
The story fits exactly the description provided. After witnessing a murder Elizabeth Bennet flees. You get a detailed description of the crime and her flight. She ends up - you guessed it- at Pemberley but that isn't revealed until the very end. You get some insight into what Darcy is doing during this time but it's more focused on Elizabeth. She is met by a kind cook and maid who help her adjust to life below stairs. You get a detailed description of her life as a maid too. At the end all the characters end up at Pemberley and everything is revealed.
I really liked the additional characters and how Elizabeth felt written true to her character. The waiting was somewhat drawn out and the story had small events to help fill the time and give more insight into the characters but there were a couple of slow spots. They were necessary though for the story line. Overall pretty good
Get ready for a lively adventure! Elizabeth and Jane Bennet are in London and Jane has a most persistent suitor. Jane finds him an annoyance because she is still pining away for Mr. Bingley. However, Mr. Gardiner does not want to offend the man as they are working on a lucrative business deal.
When the suitor insists on taking Jane for a drive through Hyde Park, Elizabeth hopes to give Jane a break by offering to go in her stead. When the couple reach the Park, the suitor assaults Lizzy, beating her when she resists. A man attempts to intervene but is killed by the suitor.
Elizabeth understands her precarious situation and watches for her chance to escape. When she does, the man chases her relentlessly, trailing her from London to Derbyshire. Elizabeth is running for her life with nowhere to go.
Elizabeth returns to her uncle's home to a taciturn Jane after she has refused Mr. Darcy's proposal. She decides to act like Jane when she realizes that Jane doesn't want to go riding with Mr. Evan Curtis, the youngest son of an earl. Mrs. Gardiner should have known that something was wrong when he picked Elizabeth up early in the morning without a groom and Elizabeth had no chaperone! Really? After the craziest ride ever with a man who had been drinking early in the morning, Elizabeth has to run for her life and ends up in the north at an unnamed estate. She meets Mrs. Ansley and has no idea whose estate she's working at as a maid. She arrived beaten, ragged, hungry, filthy, and without money. Of course, she gives a false name.
super cute! my one complaint is that I feel like the pace of the book went by too quickly once Lizzy got to Pemberley. Suddenly everything was working out and within a week there was a happily ever after. I just feel like the plot had so much more potential that could have been fleshed out. maybe the author was tired of thinking up ideas and just wanted the book to be done? Really great premise, but a lot of potential lost 😞
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This was dramatic and a tad ridiculous but still very on brand for Wendi Sotis’ writing.
For me, I think it’s a one time read, which is not a fault against it, but some stories you just need to read once and consume in a solitary moment never to visit again.
But there was attempted kidnapping and adventure and hiding one’s identity as they are on the run and impersonation all on Elizabeth’s part and it was a fun time.
Very good! Another wonderful book from this author. I was worried that it would be too angsty for my taste. I feel sometimes adventurous books can turn a little full of over the top drama. This book had lots of moments of I can’t put it down, which was mixed in with lovable new side characters. It was a delight! The romance between Elizabeth and Darcy is still lovely as ever!
Elizabeth was so brave, defending herself against a man who treated her badly. Driving his gig recklessly, nearly causing several accidents, striking Elizabeth, causing her to flee for her life. Hiding in carts driven by other people. She finally found sanctuary at pemberley, although she didn't know at the time in the end, she married Mr. Darcy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Through the actions of a new and evil antagonist, a heroic Lizzy Bennet finds herself in survival mode while a series of coincidences lead her toward her destiny. The original plot is neatly woven into this version, which kept my attention throughout.
An excited escape and chase for Elizabeth. Some violence but nothing too graphic. The staff at Pemberly are fabulous! Not only is this an exciting tale but we get to see Darcy’s servants protect, defend and accept (mostly) our heroine. Give it a go!
Adventure, danger, romance,what more could you want? Our dear couple of course. Mr. Darcy wasn't as prominent in this rendition but still manages to save the day.
The story is well written, even if a bit far fetched. It still is engaging and the reader wants to keep reading to know how matters unfold. But... ...What is Mr Curtis's fate?
Adventure, I love a journey where E has to show how resourceful she is. Can’t say too much but she escapes from a villain and then takes a long difficult journey and hides away as a maid in a great estate. She learns to be a good maid, she befriends her coworkers and eventually has an HEA from the adventure and with Mr. D. The original characters were well developed and it was worth a reread.