This is the second of the three Pride & Prejudice fanfics I indulged in last week. Another kind of odd one, but in a far different way, since this oneThis is the second of the three Pride & Prejudice fanfics I indulged in last week. Another kind of odd one, but in a far different way, since this one involves Elizabeth and Darcy having powerful magical abilities that are vital in England’s war with France. For the kind of magic they do, it's important to do it in pairs, with a magical Bonding. And this being Regency times, for an opposite sex Bonding, because of all the time the pair spends together, they need to be married. Yes, it's marriage of convenience time!
Elizabeth and Darcy do their typical "enemies to friends" thing. The big problem is that Elizabeth's magical training has been very unconventional, and maybe because of that or maybe for other reasons, the two of them can't magically bond. In fact, their magic seems to cancel each other out. Not a great thing when you're in the middle of mage wars with France.
Except for a couple of short scenes in Longbourn, this whole novel is set in the Mage Hall where Britain's war mages mostly live and train. And that leads me to my main issue with this novel: there's just really no good reason for this to be based on the P&P story and characters (other than that it probably catches the attention of Austen fans, so you sell more copies?). The plot is completely different in every conceivable way, and the characters ... well, if they didn't have the same names as the P&P characters, nothing in their behavior or in the story generally would have clued me into the fact that this is JAFF.
So as a fantasy novel (first in a series, apparently, though this works reasonably well as a standalone read) it's not bad. Not great either, but not bad. Just not reminiscent of P&P in any meaningful way....more
So I felt like I was slumming, in a literary kind of way, when reading this JAFF (Jane Austen fanfiction). One of my GR friends *waves to Shifra* loveSo I felt like I was slumming, in a literary kind of way, when reading this JAFF (Jane Austen fanfiction). One of my GR friends *waves to Shifra* loves JAFF and gave this one 5 stars, and I was all, hey, it's on Kindle Unlimited so why not?
In this variant of the Pride and Prejudice story, Elizabeth meets up with Darcy much earlier, when she's staying with her aunt and uncle Gardiner up in the area of Pemberley for several weeks one summer. Their initial meetings lead to some tension between them, but without Elizabeth's family in the way, the two of them come to an understanding much quicker and with far less drama. That is, until Elizabeth's father catches wind of her romance.
Mr Bennet doesn't even know who Darcy is, other than a rich guy who is - thinks Mr Bennet - certainly untrustworthy with his favorite daughter's affections. Plus, Mr Bennet has his own plans for Elizabeth's future. So he immediately takes steps to squelch their romance. Of course, it's not that easy.
I've read my share of JAFF (usually to my regret). This was a particularly odd version because Mr Bennet and Mr Collins have SERIOUSLY different characters than they do in the original, to their detriment. (I know, it's hard to believe Mr Collins' character could be worse, but Mary Smythe found a way.) It's necessary to make the plot here work, but I could never really get on board with this one. On the plus side, Mrs Bennet got a character upgrade from the original.
The writing style is okay, if rather uneven, and the book had a few funny and interesting scenes. It was weirdly fun seeing various famous lines from P&P pop up in the narrative, except they often came out of the mouths of different characters. So if you're a fan of P&P fanfic (and not picky about character makeovers or historical accuracy), you … could do worse?...more
So after two swings and misses on the Jane Austen fanfic, I went back to my GR friend Shifra's list of her top 10 JAFF novels, and read the Kindle samSo after two swings and misses on the Jane Austen fanfic, I went back to my GR friend Shifra's list of her top 10 JAFF novels, and read the Kindle sample of the one that came out on top, which was this one. It hooked me in enough that I actually decided to pay for it (it wasn't cheap, fair warning, but I was really needing some good P&P fanfic to take the taste of the mediocre ones out of my mouth).
In this iteration of Elizabeth Bennet and Darcy's tale, the point of divergence occurs when Darcy makes his first proposal to Elizabeth while she's visiting her friend Charlotte (who recently married Mr Collins). Rather than turning Darcy down flat, she asks him for some time to think about his proposal. Yes, she's still angry about his interference in Jane's and Wickham's lives, but he's intelligent, rich and handsome, and he inexplicably (to Elizabeth) has fallen in love with her, and he's promising to take care of her family if and when needed ... I guess this version of Elizabeth is a little more practical-minded than the original.
So after several days of mulling things over, Elizabeth accepts Darcy's proposal, though she warns him that she's not in love with him. Not a problem! says Darcy, sure that she'll fall for him soon. But as things develop, there are naturally bumps in the road (many of them familiar to P&P fans), Elizabeth isn't falling in love very quickly, and there are ample reasons during the engagement for both Elizabeth and Darcy to wonder if they're really doing the right thing. These being Regency times, it's very difficult to back out of an engagement, though.
So yes, I really did enjoy this one. It's much more romantic and relationship-focused than the original P&P, but it's pretty true to the original story and characters, and far more intelligently written than your run-of-the-mill fanfic. Lara Ormiston does a great job of digging into the characters' flaws and making them work through issues with a fair degree of realism.
And I'm a romantic at heart, I guess. This one got me in the feels. I probably wouldn't recommend this book to those who aren't down with Regency romance. But if you are, this one really is well done for the genre. It’s up near the top of my own JAFF list too! Will def reread when I need a romance fix....more
Thoughtful, introspective and slow-paced story of the middle Bennet sister, Mary, who’s studious and priggish in Pride and Prejudice. She’s a lot moreThoughtful, introspective and slow-paced story of the middle Bennet sister, Mary, who’s studious and priggish in Pride and Prejudice. She’s a lot more nuanced and complex in this novel, which begins some time before P&P and ends a few years after.
With some help from Mrs Gardiner and others, Mary begins to find herself and develop self-confidence, and possibly find some romance along the way. Her time staying at Longbourne with Mr Collins and his wife Charlotte was one of the more intriguing interludes in this novel.
It’s interesting, reasonably well-written, and pretty true to the Regency era, but slow-moving. It has some amusing callbacks to the original story. Recommended mostly for Jane Austen fans who want to revisit that world. ...more
Kindle freebie romance time again! In this contemporary romance novel, Sierra, who's been living in NYC for several years and has a serious boyfriend Kindle freebie romance time again! In this contemporary romance novel, Sierra, who's been living in NYC for several years and has a serious boyfriend there, gets called back home to South Carolina to help care for her aunt Bennie, who took care of Sierra after her mother died. There Sierra runs into Dalton, her ex-boyfriend - literally at first (in a rental car, hah) but then their paths keep crossing again and again, with maybe a little help from some friends. And Sierra can't retreat back to NYC because Bennie, in addition to having serious knee trouble, has also gotten herself into major financial trouble, and is far behind on her house loan, and Sierra feels like she can help with marketing Bennie's upcoming theater production to help Bennie make a profit.
This is billed as having a Jane Austen connection, and it is there, but it's pretty slight. The plot actually owes a lot more to the Reese Witherspoon movie Sweet Home Alabama. If reading a slightly different version of that movie's plot sounds like a great time to you, have at it! This is still free last time I checked.
I downloaded this and whipped through it in a couple of hours. It was okay, but the characters never really pulled me in and the plot felt overly familiar.
Content note: some minor Christian elements to the plot (overcoming personal weaknesses with prayer and God's help)....more
A Pakistani retelling of Pride and Prejudice? And by an author born in Pakistan? I was all, sign me up!
So ... 3.66 stars. It's not perfect, and oftenA Pakistani retelling of Pride and Prejudice? And by an author born in Pakistan? I was all, sign me up!
So ... 3.66 stars. It's not perfect, and often it follows the original P&P plot a little too closely, especially with the characters' names and some famous lines and scenes from P&P that were a little too spot-on. Alysba (Alys) Binat as Elizabeth Bennet and Valentine Darsee are okay, but I draw the line at Jeorgeulla Wickaam and the "Looclus" (Lucas) clan. Humeria (Hammy) and Sumeria (Sammy) Bingla for the Bingley sisters was pretty funny, though. Mr. Collins is Farhat Kaleen, an older widower with three children; Charlotte Lucas is Sherry Looclus. The character makeovers of those last two were awesome, by the way.
I liked it best where it veered from P&P in some interesting ways; Sherry's point of view and subplot, for example, was really fascinating to me (view spoiler)[and ultimately happier than Charlotte's; I love that Sherry is happy with her tradeoffs and more affluent lifestyle, and is even enthusiastic about sex with Kaleen, and mothering his children (hide spoiler)]. The Elizabeth Bennet character, Alys, is strident in her feminism, enough so that the ultimate romantic wrap-up seems a little out of character. The traditional P&P plot is modernized in several ways, including her character (age 30, and fighting against some of the traditions of her country relating to marriage and the role of women), as well as a gay character and sympathetic discussion of abortion(view spoiler)[ (the Wickham character got the Georgiana character pregnant a year or so before the events in this novel) (hide spoiler)].
I really enjoyed the immersion into modern-day Pakistani life. The moral quandaries transfer pretty well into current Pakistani culture, including the obsession with marrying well and the near-disaster that Lydia ("Lady") causes her family. The food sounded like it was to die for. And fairly frequently the novel was quite insightful into human relationships, in ways that aren't entirely owed to Jane Austen.
I wanted to tell him about my kind and generous Jena, my fearless Alys, my artist Qitty, who holds her head up no matter what anyone says to her, and my Mari, who just wants everyone to go to heaven. Even my silly, selfish Lady, who doesn't know what is good for her and just wants to have a good time all the time. But I didn't tell him about any one of my daughters. He doesn't deserve to know a single thing about my precious girls.
Awww!
The writing is sometimes a bit clunky, especially when the author is making a social point. But it was still an interesting story, as long as you don't mind that it toes the P&P line pretty closely.
I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley for review. Thank you!
Content notes: a few F-bombs (4, to be exact). Some innuendos, but no other sexual content....more
I picked up this collection of four Jane Austen fan fiction (JAFF) novellas and stories as a Kindle freebie and couldn't resist diving right into it. I picked up this collection of four Jane Austen fan fiction (JAFF) novellas and stories as a Kindle freebie and couldn't resist diving right into it. There are two Pride and Prejudice stories, one Mansfield Park one, and one that's a quirky combination of P&P, MP and Emma. The stories share a Christmas theme.
They're cute and fairly well-written and went down fairly easily, but there's just not a lot of substance to them. And what is this thing JAFF writers have with making Darcy so sappy and whipped over Elizabeth? I'm alarmed at his gooeyness. That is not MY Mr. Darcy.
Anyway, this collection started out fairly strongly but kind of petered off after the first story. Here's the breakdown (spoiler warnings for P&P and MP):
3.75 stars for "Her Christmas Gift" by Robin Helm. In this novella, the longest story in the collection, the plot veers off from the standard P&P when Lady Catherine de Bourgh never shows up at Longbourne, and Elizabeth and Darcy never get the chance to talk and work things out after he helps Lydia and then accompanies Bingley back to Meryton. Elizabeth has realized that she's very attracted to Darcy, but doesn't expect to ever get another chance with them.
Now it's the Christmas season, and Elizabeth has traveled to Rosings (Lady Catherine's estate) to help her friend Charlotte in her late pregnancy). Lady Catherine and Mr Collins both get ill (for different reasons), and Darcy shows up at Rosings with Thomas Jones, a handsome physician who's a childhood friend of Elizabeth's ... and is still carrying a torch for her. An interesting love-triangle-ish kind of story. I enjoyed the unexpected development of Anne de Bourgh's personality.
3 stars for "The Christmas Matchmaker" by Laura Hile. Wow, this one was kind of weirdly fantastical. It's right after Bingley's ball fairly early in P&P, and the morning after the ball Darcy and Bingley's sisters pack Bingley off to London to avoid him getting further involved with Jane Bennet. Before the rest of them can leave, they get some VERY unexpected visitors at Netherfield: it's Emma Woodhouse, accompanied by Miss Bates and Tom Bertram (from Mansfield Park). Apparently "Aunt Jane" sent them to Netherfield, hah.
Elizabeth Bennet also pays a visit to Netherfield to look for her amethyst bracelet that was lost at the dance the evening before, and Emma immediately launches into her matchmaking mode ... except that it's not Darcy who she wants to line Elizabeth up with. To his own surprise, Darcy is unhappy about Emma's meddling. Meanwhile Charles Bingley comes back to Netherfield because the bridge gets washed out, everyone is stranded, and mumps is going around (Caroline Bingley gets it, hah!). There's some really odd meta stuff going on, apparently due to Aunt Jane's meddling in the character's lives, trying to keep everyone on track.
"Aunt Jane," said Darcy in a low voice, "is apparently some sort of guardian to us all."
"That is very nicely said," agreed Miss Woodhouse. "It is most unwise to trifle with Aunt Jane. No good will come of it."
It's quirky (especially this one dream scene from their future that Elizabeth and Darcy share) but it had its moments.
2.5 stars for "No Better Gift" by Wendi Sotis. It's nine days before Christmas, and Darcy drops by the abandoned Netherfield estate to pick up a gift for his sister that he'd left there. He still can't get Elizabeth off his mind, but he's determined to avoid her. But Meryton is oddly abandoned, and when Darcy gets to Netherfield he finds ... Elizabeth mucking out one of the horses' stalls in the stable. Turns out there's YET ANOTHER bout of sickness going around - this time it's chicken pox - and so many people are ill that Elizabeth (who is immune since she had the chicken pox as a child) is helping out the ill servants at Netherfield. Darcy is alarmed at the state of Netherfield ... and about the return of his unwelcome feelings for Elizabeth. This story was weakened by (view spoiler)[ a sudden realization by Darcy that Elizabeth will actually make him a good wife and an even more sudden proposal scene (hide spoiler)], so joltingly sudden that I literally did a double-take. Minus points for sheer improbability (in a non-fantasy setting).
2.75 stars for "Mistletoe at Thornton Lacey" by Barbara Cornthwaite. This Mansfield Park fan fiction, which takes place right at the end of MP, includes a little conniving by Tom Bertram and Susan Price (Fanny's sister) to get Edmund to realize that he should marry Fanny. But an offhand comment by someone else has already led Edmund to that same thought.
On Thursday he wondered if true regard and affection were enough to build a good marriage on, deciding in the affirmative. On Friday he spent his time pondering if perhaps he could, in time, love Fanny in the same way that he had loved - well, at any rate, the way a bridegroom ought to love his bride. By Saturday morning he determined that the answer to that was yes, he certainly could - he was already thinking no other woman would ever do for him. By Monday he was overcome with nerves ...
But it turns out to be a tricky thing for Edmund to propose to Fanny.
It's not bad, but overall kind of lacking in depth and insight. Right after I finished this off I found myself rereading another Mansfield Park JAFF work, Everingham (which is free online, BTW), just to remind myself what really good JAFF is like....more
I picked up this cute, clean contemporary romance on a 99c Kindle special (still available at that price at the time I’m writing this review). DefinitI picked up this cute, clean contemporary romance on a 99c Kindle special (still available at that price at the time I’m writing this review). Definitely worth the price for fans of the genre!
So for starters, whoever wrote the Goodreads blurb made it way too detailed and included a couple of key spoilers from later in the book ... so don’t read the blurb if you’re interested in the book. Here’s the short version: Emma (a big Jane Austen fan) is a bit of a workaholic as a marketing executive with a gym franchise company. So she turns down her boyfriend Blake’s invite to visit his parents’ home, but changes her mind. Because probably Blake wants to introduce her to his parents and propose! ... Unfortunately, not so much. When she shows up, Blake’s parents aren’t there, but another woman is.
On her way out, Emma is snagged by Blake’s brother Lucas, who tries to defend his brother. Fast forward to the next Monday, when Emma finds out that Lucas is the new consultant for her company. After a rocky start, they start to hit it off ... but Blake is still in the background, asking for another chance. And Lucas is pushing Emma to give Blake that second chance.
For a story that could have turned into an eye-rolling love triangle, this one threads the needle pretty well. There were a few times that I thought the main characters were acting out of character, just because the author wanted the story to go in a particular direction, but otherwise this was written quite well, with interesting characters, backstories and situations.
This story is much more thoughtful than most romance novels, and is spiced up with just the right amount of Jane Austen references. Good times!...more
3.5 stars, rounding up. An anthology of 22 Jane Austen-inspired short stories, an eclectic mix of straight sequels/epilogues to JA novels, ghost stori3.5 stars, rounding up. An anthology of 22 Jane Austen-inspired short stories, an eclectic mix of straight sequels/epilogues to JA novels, ghost stories featuring JA or her characters, modern stories with a JA connection, and a few other types of stories tossed into the mix. This was on a $1.99 Kindle sale, and I'm kind of a sucker for Jane Austen fanfic even though I usually end up being underwhelmed in the end. But this one has the fact that it's published by a traditional publisher going for it, the stories are written by some authors with chops, and the GR ratings (at least from the Austen fans) are mostly thumbs up. So I bit on it, and in the end I thought it was well worth my time and money.
[image]
The intro, quite humorously (at least for me) mentions that before the 1995 P&P miniseries (in which Darcy so famously appears in a wet shirt, giving thousands of fans heart palpitations even though that scene isn't in the original book) there was very little Austen fanfic. Since then, helped along by the Internet and the rise of self-publishing, the genre has exploded, for good or bad.
Off we go! **Spoiler alert for pretty much every Jane Austen novel**
4 stars for "Jane Austen's Nightmare": Jane records in her diary a distressing dream in which she is wandering the streets of Bath, repeatedly accosted by various characters from the novels she's written, beginning with Marianne from Sense and Sensibility. Marianne has a bone to pick with Jane:
"All the other heroines in every one of your novels end up with the man they love, except me. You marry me off to a man nearly twice my age! How could you do it?"
In fact, nearly every character she runs into has a bone to pick with Jane, even the ones, like Emma and Elinor, that she thought she treated well. Then Jane gets stalked by a gang, including Mr. and Mrs. Elton, General Tilney, Lucy Steele and other villains and buffoons, with pitchforks and torches in hand ... It's quite amusing if you're familiar with Austen's various novels and their characters.
2.5 stars for "Waiting": This one is an epilogue to Persuasion, as Captain Wentworth takes on the chore of asking Anne's father for her hand in marriage, and other post-engagement events occur. The writing is fine, but I just didn't really see much point to this meandering tale.
3 stars for "A Night at Northanger": A modern investigative reporting crew for the TV show Ghost Trekkers arrives at Northanger Abbey to see if they can spot any ghosts or supernatural activities. While they interview Mr. Tilney-Tilney on camera, strange things start to happen. Then crew member Cate meets an apparition in her bedroom, where there's an old cedar chest, and they have a rather amusing chat.
4 stars for "Jane and the Gentleman Rogue": Jane Austen tangles with Lord Harold Trowbridge, noted Corinthian and despoiler of maiden hearts, a lovely French lady, and a fashionable nobleman who may be spying for Villeneuve.
5 stars for "Faux Jane": A very amusing and well-written story about a modern couple, Charles and Nicola Scott, and their run-in with an actress who's being taken by some con artists. Charles knows there's no such thing as a first edition of Pride and Prejudice signed by Jane Austen (or worse yet, a signed first edition of Persuasion, which was published posthumously) ... but Charles really has no intention of getting involved in something that's not his problem. Nicola, though, has other ideas. This one really tickled my funny bone, and tied in nicely to the theme of P&P in the end.
3.25 stars for "Nothing Less than Fairy-Land": Another epilogue type of story, this one for Emma. Mr. Knightley is moving into Hartfield, the Woodhouse home, but Emma's father, old Mr. Woodhouse, is having more trouble with it than either she or Knightley expected.
Mr. Woodhouse sat huddled next to the fire, his knees and shoulders wrapped in blankets. Anyone who set eyes on him could be forgiven for thinking that Mr. Knightley was forcing himself abominably on them in Hartfield, rather than performing an extraordinary sacrifice.
Emma finds herself torn between father and husband - but Emma, characteristically, manages to come up with an idea. The author isn't afraid of showing the shortcomings of Emma and Knightley as well as Emma's father, which messed with my HEA expectations a little (and made me want to knock a little more sense into Emma, who takes her duty as a daughter much too seriously).
2 stars for "Love and Best Wishes, Aunt Jane": A letter written by Jane Austen to her niece ... as if Jane were living in our day. Some nice advice, but the magical transportation of Jane to modern times seems to be for the sole purpose of giving her the chance to lament how tweets, emails and texts have replaced the fine art of handwritten letters.
3.5 stars for "Jane Austen and the Mistletoe Kiss": Elinor Carsholt, a 35 year old widow, has been left in dire financial circumstances by the accidental death of her financially careless husband a year ago. Now she and her daughters live in a cottage on the handsome, 31 year old Sir Nicholas's estate. Perhaps Sir Nicholas is interested in Elinor's 16 year old daughter Amy? Elinor has mixed feelings about this, and hates accepting charity from him or anyone else. Jane Austen herself makes a brief guest appearance in this charming story.
3.75 stars for "When only a Darcy Will Do": Elizabeth, a modern American young woman living in London and attending university, is trying to earn some money by dressing up as a Regency-era lady and offering Jane Austen-themed walking tours. It's not working very well ... until a man dressed as a Regency gentleman shows up, introduces himself as Fitzwilliam Darcy, and asks for her tour. We learn a little bit about Jane Austen's life in this meet-cute story.
4 stars for "Heard of You": In another epilogue to Persuasion, Anne and Captain Wentworth are visiting with Admiral Croft and his wife Sophy, Wentworth's sister. Wentworth is persuaded to tell the story of how he helped Croft and Sophy come together, back when Wentworth served as a young midshipman under Captain Croft on the ship Viper. This story mostly focuses on Wentworth's life as a 15 year old midshipman, with just a touch of romance, but it's an interesting and well-researched story (they talk about eating rats at sea!! o.O).
3.5 stars for "The Ghostwriter": Sara, an aspiring author, is distraught when her live-in boyfriend Charles suddenly disappears from her life, leaving behind only a letter that says he can't compete with her love for Darcy. Perhaps the ghost of Jane Austen can help? Jane the Ghost's personality is rather abrasive and no-nonsense, actually, but intelligent and insightful, and it's rather funny seeing her take Sara to task for idolizing Darcy. The plot element relating to Sara adapting a lost book for publication was off, though (it's still plagiarism even if Jane's ghost didn't think so, unless credit is given. Humph.) But the ending was funny.
2.75 stars for "Mr. Bennet Meets His Match": Basically this is the story of how Elizabeth Bennet's father met and romanced the girl who would become Mrs Bennet. A nice-enough story, but knowing their relationship and characters later in life from P&P sucked all the joy out of this story for me. I did appreciate the discussion of entailment:
... when the inheritance would leap over wives and daughters like a capricious frog and pass to the nearest male relative. This admirable arrangement was devised by men, who reasoned sagaciously that women had no need of a roof over their heads as they were protected from the elements by their charming bonnets.
Also worth the read for meeting Mr Collins' avaricious parents.
5 stars for "Jane Austen, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah": This hilarious story is about Julie, a young teacher in 1960s England, who has to supervise three Beatles-crazy high school girls during after-school detention. They get into a crazy discussion comparing characters in Sense and Sensibility to the Beatles, debating, for example, whether George Harrison is Edward Ferrars or Colonel Brandon. Julie learns something about her own life and romantic relationship as well from their discussion. Insightful as well as funny.
4.5 stars for "Letters to Lydia": Charlotte's younger sister Maria writes letters to her friend Lydia from Hunsford Parsonage, where she and Elizabeth Bennet are visiting with Charlotte and Mr Collins, and are occasionally graced with an invitation to Lady Catherine's mansion. SO FUNNY seeing Elizabeth and Darcy from Maria's point of view! And this story has a few interesting twists to offer to P&P, shedding a possible new light on some of the events in P&P.
I narrowly observ'd Lizzy's Face during dinner. Aware of our Scrutiny, she forc'd herself to partake of a hearty Meal. If I had but lately renewed my Tyes with my Lover, I could never have taken two Helps of Black Pudding. She is a magnificent Actress.
Or maybe it's all just Maria's vivid imagination.
2.5 stars for "The Mysterious Closet: A Tale": A quirky modern-day story in which Henry from Northanger Abbey shows up as a sexy ghost. The ending is so illogical that it deflated the whole story for me, like a collapsed souffle.
2.5 stars for "Jane Austen's Cat": Auntie Jane amuses her nieces by retelling some of her stories with the characters turned into cats. It had some amusing moment but didn't amount to much overall.
2.75 stars for "Me and Mr. Darcy, Again": So this appears to be a 4-years-later sequel to Me and Mr. Darcy. It probably would work better for someone who's read that novel. Darcy shows up as a ghost, helping Emily with her love life problems (another relationship that's having major issues).
4.5 stars for "What Would Austen Do?": Told from the point of view of high school aged James Austen, who's trying to find out who he is while surrounded by other students that he calls zombies (those who wear Kabuki makeup and black lipstick), vampires ("two kids with their incisors capped with fangs"), and werewolves. When James decides, as a result of a English country dancing class he took during the summer, that proper dressing and manners is his real persona, the principal and guidance counselor at his school are actually alarmed, thinking he must be on drugs or something because he's deviating so far from the norm.
So I get perp-walked to my locker, past the zombs and the vampires and the werewolves, and they all sort of orbit in, and Mr. Oakes goes, "Don't you have somewhere you should be?" so they lurch and waft and lope off.
A solid story that has both humor and insight into human behavior, and some great comments on Austen's novels from a high school boy's POV.
3.5 stars for "The Riding Habit": A P&P epilogue, in which Darcy and Elizabeth, now married, are in London for the season, planning Georgiana's coming out ball. Darcy decides it's time for Elizabeth to learn how to ride a horse. Elizabeth is highly dubious, not to mention she's beginning to wonder - based on London society's snootiness - if Lady Catherine was right in saying that Elizabeth would never be accepted by society.
4 stars for "The Love Letter": In this modern take on Persuasion, Mark is a new doctor about to finish his residency, when a page from an old novel is mailed to him in one of his own self-addressed stamped envelopes that he had used to hunt for a job in his specialty. The page contains a certain love letter written by a man to the woman he had loved and lost years ago and resented for many years. As Mark tracks down the novel and reads it for the first time, he sees many parallels to his own life and a past relationship. A very good story; I just felt like it needed to be a little longer and more in-depth.
3 stars for "The Chase": For a real change of pace, we have this nautical adventure of Captain Francis Austen, Jane's brother. The author comments in an end note that this story is based on historical fact. If I didn't know it was true, I'd say it's a far-fetched story! Somewhat interesting, but with all the naval battle details and no whiff of romance, it just wasn't quite my cuppa tea.
3 stars for "Intolerable Stupidity": In this sort of screwball fantasy, there is a mysterious court of law, presided over by Lady Catherine de Bourgh, who runs the courtroom with an iron fist. The case at hand: a lawsuit against everyone who's written an Austen fanfic story or made an Austen movie. Fitzwilliam Darcy himself testifies that Austen fans (many of whom are in the courtroom as spectators) keep throwing cold water on him, causing him discomfort as well as a perpetual cold. The plot is thickened by a romantic attraction between the lawyers for the plaintiffs and the defendants.
Overall, there are a few gems in this collection as well as several others that are well worth reading if you're an Austen fan. Just don't go throwing water on Darcy or offending Jane's ghost....more
Jane Austen's Persuasion is rather loosely translated into a light contemporary romance, set among the faculty of Fairfax, a small California liberal Jane Austen's Persuasion is rather loosely translated into a light contemporary romance, set among the faculty of Fairfax, a small California liberal arts college. Anne Corey, a 32 year old English professor trying to get tenure, has to deal with Adam Martinez, her ex-fiancé from over ten years ago, becoming the president of the college. Rather than having one good heart-to-heart talk with him, (view spoiler)[which would have pretty much resolved everything immediately, (hide spoiler)]she avoids him and quickly gets involved with a suave author who's at Fairfax for a year as a writer-in-residence.
This main plotline shares time with a few interesting subplots: Anne's best friend Larry, a gay professor, falls for a handsome actor who's firmly in the closet; Anne and her sister deal with their aging father's health issues; and Anne is anxiously trying to get her literary criticism book published - if she fails, she'll probably be denied tenure.
It was a decent read but never fully engaged me. The writing style, plot and characters are all straightforward, without a lot of depth, and the romance felt a little underbaked. Frankly I was hoping for more from this book, but it's fine for a quick, breezy romance read, if that's what you're in the mood for. The author (who is an English professor) has some telling insights into the travails of life as a non-tenured college professor. Anne's - and by extension Julia Sonneborn's - love for libraries and the classic authors like Austen shines through in many parts of the story.
I read a lot of Austen retellings and fanfic (more than I probably should). This one seemed about par for the course, for a retelling set in our modern world, with how much it deviated from the original characters and plot. The one deviation that bothered me most: **spoilerish comments for both this book and Persuasion follow** (view spoiler)[In Persuasion Captain Wentworth is emotionally set against Anne at the start of the book, and much of the story is about how he comes around, eventually regaining his attraction for her and understanding/forgiving her for the choice she made to cut him loose years ago. In By the Book it's clear to the reader, if not Anne, that Adam is just waiting for the chance to make things right with her again and give their relationship another try. (hide spoiler)] It sucked a lot of romantic tension out of the room for me.
I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher and NetGalley for review. Thanks!
Content notes: There are a handful of F-bombs; all sex scenes are behind closed doors....more
It's Kindle freebie romance time again, and this one comes in the form of Pride and Prejudice fan fiction. Here we have the plot veering from P&P earlIt's Kindle freebie romance time again, and this one comes in the form of Pride and Prejudice fan fiction. Here we have the plot veering from P&P early in the book, just before Darcy and the Bingleys are about to leave Netherfield. Before they leave, Darcy meets Mr Bennet while they're out riding horses early one morning, and they get to know each other a little better. Mr Bennet can tell that Darcy is fighting feelings for Elizabeth, but doesn't expect anything to come of it.
The tipping point, and where this variation really starts to diverge from the original story: Mr Bennet has a fall from his horse on his way back home. While he's lying in bed at home, in a coma, family and neighbors gather to wring their hands (in some cases) and offer help (in others), including Mr Collins, Darcy and Bingley. Collins takes advantage of the situation by publicly offering marriage to Lizzy. She rejects him in horror, but with her mother and Collins putting pressure on her to accept and her father not able to counteract them, the situation is getting fraught. Darcy surprises himself, not to mention astounding everyone in the room (and the whole town, once word spreads), by insisting that Lizzy can't marry Collins because ... she's already engaged to him. Jaws practically bounce off the floor.
The problem: Lizzy, at this point in their relationship, really doesn't like Darcy. His private explanation to her later (echoing an actual scene in P&P) does absolutely nothing to help his case.
So parts of this novel were really engaging, if you're into P&P fanfic at all. There's some worthwhile dialogue and developments that vary enough from the original story to make it enjoyable reading, if a little slow at times.
The problems are that (like so much other Austen fanfic and Regency romances generally) the author is either unaware of or ignores Regency manners and ways when it suits her. **Going to get slightly spoilerish now; you've been warned** Darcy is head over heels for Lizzy very early on - the guy is just whipped - which I thought lessened him as an interesting hero. Once the romance heats up, the prose, it is HIGHLY purple. Very unRegencylike makeout scenes ensue.
I was still basically enjoying it, on a definitely brain candy kind of level, when there's a development regarding Lady Catherine de Bourgh and her daughter Anne that ... well, let's just say the book jumped the shark for me right there.
[image]
R&R is still a freebie as of the time I'm writing this, but I recommend it only for non-critical romance readers. It's sappy, clean romance reading, but kind of fun in its way....more
This P&P variation is a Kindle freebie as of June 13, 2017. I have a hard time resisting these kinds of freebies, and most of the time I chastise myseThis P&P variation is a Kindle freebie as of June 13, 2017. I have a hard time resisting these kinds of freebies, and most of the time I chastise myself later for wasting my time. But yes, I've downloaded it. Because I need a little extra Mr Darcy in my life!
[Later] 2.5 stars. One more for the "marshmallows are less fluffy" shelf.
[image]
Read this if: 1. A story where Darcy spends the whole book pining after Elizabeth and wanting to kiss her face off and run his hands all over her body sounds like a good use of your reading time. 2. You aren't a stickler for historical accuracy. At all. 3. You like shallow romantic fluff. 4. The idea of reading about Darcy and Elizabeth kissing with tongue action doesn't squick you out. 5. You don't mind if characters from the original P&P have had a personality transplant. Or maybe a partial lobotomy?
I grabbed this Pride and Prejudice fanfic as a Kindle freebie. It's a collection of two novellas and a short novel, all based around alternative storyI grabbed this Pride and Prejudice fanfic as a Kindle freebie. It's a collection of two novellas and a short novel, all based around alternative storylines in the P&P world:
* What if Darcy had gotten up the nerve to actually have a heart to heart talk with Lizzy in the library at Netherfield? (Worth the price of admission just to read about Darcy putting Caroline Bingley in an armlock when she tried to put the moves on him, lol! So out of place for Darcy's character and his time, but it made me laugh.)
* What if Elizabeth saw Wickham trying to force Georgiana Darcy to go to Gretna Green and marry him, so she wrote a quick letter to Darcy, saving Georgiana but compromising herself, so Darcy marries her in a quick marriage of convenience to save her reputation? (This is long before they met in the actual book.) The weird alternative universe thing here is that sweet, quiet Georgiana is a spoiled brat. Elizabeth tries to take her in hand, but meets with some resistance from Darcy, not to mention Georgiana. Bonus plot device: slaveholding concerns, which was quite interesting.
* What if Elizabeth and Darcy met when she befriended Georgiana on a family stay in the seaside town of Ramsgate, when Georgiana catches Wickham kissing Mrs. Younge and goes running to Elizabeth to stay with her until the cavalry (her brother) arrives? More freaky alternative universe things happen, as other characters get involved with people who are not the ones they marry in the actual book.
It's not too bad for fan fiction, if you don't mind: - some characters who are totally reimagined from their personalities in the original book. Mr Bennet, for example, gets a hard knock in the second story, as well as Georgiana. - the Regency setting being thin, with lots of anachronisms that will drive Regency sticklers nuts. - Elizabeth and Darcy being all sappy about each other very quickly, in every story (even the arranged marriage one), and both are Practically Perfect in Every Way®. For example, Darcy admits that he lied when he said Elizabeth wasn't handsome enough to tempt him; really he thinks she's lovely and has wanted her bad from pretty much the very start.
[image]
If you're just looking for a light, sweet romantic read to while away some time, like I was, and don't plan to think about it too hard, then it's fine and even enjoyable....more
4.25 stars. Everingham (which is the name of Henry Crawford's neglected estate) is a novella-length alternative ending to Mansfield Park. It's free on4.25 stars. Everingham (which is the name of Henry Crawford's neglected estate) is a novella-length alternative ending to Mansfield Park. It's free online here at archiveofourown and can be downloaded or read online. **spoiler alert for Mansfield Park**
Everingham diverges from MP toward the end of that novel, when Henry Crawford decides not to hang around the married Maria Bertram in London (thus avoiding a WHOLE lotta trouble for himself and, indirectly, for his sister Mary as well). Instead he goes to Everingham and then back to Mansfield Park to try again with Fanny. Fanny is distraught over Edmund getting engaged to Mary. She's still averse to Henry's company, but he's determined to be patient and become an actual friend to her - especially after he realizes that she was hopelessly in love with Edmund.
No, he could not give her up, not just yet. Whether it was love, or pride, or a combination of the two, he did not stop to determine; but if anything she had become more irresistible to him than before. But he could not remain in the position of suitor. Continual rejection he could not bear, even to be near her. The only way to remain in her company, and perhaps earn a place in her good graces, must be to become her friend. He must study the art of friendship as avidly as he had once studied the art of making love to pretty girls.
It's quite thoughtful and well written, and I really like what the author did with Fanny's and Henry's development as characters. I'm sure Henry's character ends up in a place far from what Jane Austen had imagined, but it's plausible and I could buy it. I'm sure Cassandra Austen* would have approved!
It did dispense completely with the Tom Bertram subplot at the end of MP, which was just a little distracting. And one element in it (view spoiler)[(the unresolved troubles in the marriage of Edmund and Mary Crawford) (hide spoiler)] was rather sad, though not at all unlikely. There was also one jump forward in time that was distractingly disjointed(view spoiler)[: for some reason the author decided to skip right over Fanny and Henry's wedding and jump forward a month or so for the final chapters (hide spoiler)]. But I did like how she explored how all of a couple's relationship issues aren't magically resolved with the wedding.
Well worth reading (especially since it's free!) if you're interested in alternate endings to Jane Austen's works. This is far above the usual level of fan fiction.
Does Edmund seem as dull as dishwater as a romantic hero? Was his relationship with Fanny just hero w4.5 stars. **Note: Spoilers for Mansfield Park**
Does Edmund seem as dull as dishwater as a romantic hero? Was his relationship with Fanny just hero worship for her, and settling for him? Are Henry and Mary Crawford not as irredeemable to you as Jane Austen felt they were? If those questions have ever run through your mind, you should give Sherwood Smith's Henry and Fanny a read.
Henry and Fanny begins a few chapters from the end of MP, with Henry Crawford on his way to a party at Fanny's cousin Maria's home. As in MP, she gives him the cold shoulder, he pursues, she entices him ... and he runs away, realizing that he's not really attracted to her and it would be a stupid thing to fall into an affair with her. Maria pursues him and, despite the fact that nothing actually happens between them in this version of the story, there's still a scandal. Henry takes off, deciding to buy a yacht to help the war effort by carrying secret dispatches.
Meanwhile, back at Mansfield Park, Fanny gradually comes to the realization that the brotherly kind of love Edmund has for her isn't good enough for her, and so she gently discourages him from proposing to her. In fact, Fanny subtly encourages Mary Crawford to give it another try with Edmund, and Mary, realizing that a simpler life with Edmund will make her happier than the glittering life in London society, decides to take her up on it. Will Edmund be willing to give her another chance?
I read Mansfield Park right before I started this "alternative ending" novella, and I had done quite a lot of critical reading to prepare myself for a book club discussion of MP (because I was in charge of leading the discussion). Because of that study, I was fairly convinced by Jane Austen's approach to the various romantic relationships in MP, from a literary and realistic point of view, so I started out a little skeptical here. Also, Sherwood's narrative voice was different enough from Jane Austen's that it took me a while to slip into the story, and even longer to buy into the underlying premise.
But in the end this alternative version had me, if not entirely logically convinced, at least very happy and more romantically satisfied. I have to say this story is a lot more heartwarming than the real ending. Sherwood Smith doesn't rush the plot here--it takes place over a couple of years--and that pacing helped it feel more natural and believable. By the end the writing was beginning to feel very much like Austen's. And the idea of Mrs. Norris being sent down to Portsmouth to stay with Fanny's family, and taking charge there and whipping them into shape, was genius, and absolutely delightful.
I enthusiastically recommend this for Austen fans, unless you're a committed purist or actually like the way Mansfield Park ends.
Initial comments: Now I just have to read Mansfield Park again before I read Sherwood Smith's alternate ending here. I have a feeling I'll like it better than the actual ending. :)...more
In this Austen fanfic bit of fluff, we have Mr. Darcy falling off his horse and injuring himself--including a really nasty bump on the head--immediateIn this Austen fanfic bit of fluff, we have Mr. Darcy falling off his horse and injuring himself--including a really nasty bump on the head--immediately after giving Elizabeth Bennet his letter after she refuses his first proposal. Darcy is taken to the Collins' vicarage to recuperate. It soon develops that he has limited amnesia and can't remember the last couple of days, including his proposal. Worse yet, every time he goes to sleep, he forgets those couple of days plus everything that's happened since. Think 50 First Dates. So he keeps proposing to Elizabeth, every day, not remembering he's done it before. Will his proposals get any better? Will Lizzie's heart soften? [image] It's a very silly but harmless romance, but what put me over the edge (besides several proofreading errors, like "paused for dramatic affect" and "had to reign in their kisses" and rampant punctuation issues) were the terrible characterization--these characters are almost nothing like the actual ones in P&P--and the truly awful dialogue, with a supreme disregard for Regency-era manners of speaking and mores. There are lots of lines like these:
Nurse (!) to Elizabeth: "Your body language seemed disrespectful, not at all how a lady would behave toward her host. But I see now that he is family, and one does not choose family—they kind of come as a package deal. You have to deal with them, no matter how they are.” (Did people say "kind of"? Or talk about "body language" or "package deals"? Would a nurse ever presume to talk like this to a lady she's just recently met?)
Darcy: "Well, that explains a lot."
Elizabeth thinking to herself: "Oops. Fell into that one."
Mr. Bennet thinking to himself: "These poor, love-struck kids." ("Kids??")
Mr. Bennet to Darcy (!): “We do not want any roamin’ hands or rushin’ fingers, do we?” (Whut???)
Darcy also (1) cries, (2) prays, (3) sings to Elizabeth, and (4) tells a group of people that Lady Catherine was actually the daughter of a servant woman, that she had a youthful incestuous affair with a stable hand who was actually her birth mother's brother, and Anne is his illegitimate daughter. o.O
If this kind of stuff doesn't bother you, and you like Austen takeoffs with lots of kissy-face scenes, have fun! Otherwise give this one a wide berth. It's really not worth the time I spent skimming it and writing this review....more
I like contemporary literary fiction. I really like book clubs. I love Jane Austen. I thought this book would be right up my alley. How could [image]
I like contemporary literary fiction. I really like book clubs. I love Jane Austen. I thought this book would be right up my alley. How could it bore me to tears like that??
Lots of drama about the current lives and loves of the various members of this book club, which has its reflection in the themes of the various Jane Austen novels they read each month. It was mildly interesting, and I finished the book, but it just never really engaged me....more
Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽
>
Books:
all-aboard-the-jane-austen-train
(40)
Loading...
