NEW COVER – February 6, 2017“One Love”, legendary in proportions, unites the “Two Hearts” of Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy. Delight in the sweet romance of “Three Stories” from J. Dawn King’s what-if variations inspired by Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. The Library becomes the set of a comedy of errors which just might open up the path to endearing confessions between these two … confessions between these two hearts as Mr. Darcy takes a golden opportunity to command Elizabeth’s attention while at Netherfield Park. (Novella)
Married! Elizabeth Bennet is thrown into a misadventure when she successfully assists a fellow maiden in distress only to find her own reputation jeopardized. When the only solution is to marry a man she just met, can she find happiness with the kind-hearted, but imperfect stranger? Is love a faraway dream in her new life as Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy? (Novel)
When Darcy receives not one letter, but two from Ramsgate, he immediately drops everything to rush to his sister’s rescue. What will he find at the end of the road? While expecting the worst, this might possibly be the best thing to ever happen to him. (Novella)
The Library and Married! have both been voted reader favorites at Jaffrecs.com. J. Dawn King has also written Amazon bestsellers A Father’s Sins and Compromised!
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Oh my heart, three stories to lift the spirit
Part 1: The Library:
Love is in the air…or was that the library
The one thing readers of JAFF have always wanted was more face time with ODC [our dear couple]. In this short story by J. Dawn King we have that. The reader was witness to a window of time when Elizabeth and Darcy are in the Netherfield library during the time Elizabeth helped care for Jane during her illness.
In spite of their reticence, ODC open up in a way we do not normally get to see. As our author pointed out, the scales fell from their eyes as they saw a whole new side to the person in front of them. It was revealing, poignant, heart wrenching, and delicious to hear their coming to understand each other. The feelings that had been hidden for so long was now allowed to bubble forth unhindered.
A pivotal moment was when Caroline barged into the serene setting and caused a scene that made the reader want to sit up and shout. Way to go Darcy. I loved the footman… keep an eye on him. The epilogue was delightful… simply delicious. OMG!!! I wanted to cry. It was so cute.
Part 2: Married!
A good deed rewarded…or not
As Elizabeth traveled the coach from London north to Meryton, she noticed a teenager that seemed to be in distress. The woman and man traveling with the girl did not seem to treat her well and Elizabeth decided to intervene. This opening scene started an avalanche of events that ended by compromising Elizabeth’s reputation. Yeah, this is a P&P variation so we can assume the identity of the teenager and her companions. As the title indicates, the result of the compromise was a wedding.
The rest of the story was Elizabeth dealing with a new husband, a new sister who acted like Lydia, only dressed better, and a new set of relations that acted as bad or worse than her own relations. Such is married life.
I liked the way Ms. King didn’t rush the evolution of the affection of ODC. In many variations authors have Elizabeth hating Darcy and in the next paragraph in love with him. No, this took time. I loved the little steps as they circled and then walked toward each other. They weighed their options, evaluated each and all possibilities, and came to the conclusion we all long for…a HEA.
Characters: Mr. Collins was his usual toady self. How many times have we wanted to ram a fist into his disgusting face? OH, and he was vile. We were given a glimpse into his inner thoughts…shudder.
Lady Catherine was deliciously awful as was her brother Lord Matlock. Those two were a pair. How on earth did our dear Colonel come from the loins of that horrid man? He must take after his mother, Lady Matlock. I loved her.
Caroline was her supercilious self. Oh, does she ever get the surprise of her life and so well done. Delicious. Jane and Bingley were their usual selves.
Georgiana was a teenager flexing her fledgling wings and not doing a good job of it. She was the catalyst that started the whole debacle and then didn’t want any consequences. This caused major problems for everyone around her. She flitted from one object to another and Elizabeth [well used to sisters] called her on it. This caused more than one disagreement between Darcy and Elizabeth.
I loved Uncle and Aunt Gardiner, they were simply awesome. Mr. Gardiner proved to be a better uncle than Lord Matlock. The revelation of the Fitzwilliam business dealings was a shock. But not as big a shock as the reason behind the Fitzwilliam’s push to unite the Rosings and Pemberley estates. OMG!!! The real feelings of the Fitzwilliam brother and sister toward Mr. Darcy senior broke my heart. The machinations of the siblings toward the marriage connections for Darcy, and our dear Colonel will shock and amaze. How could a father…?
The epilogue was delightful and I loved the conclusion to this short story. Yeah, it was fantastical in places; however, for those who believe in fate…Elizabeth could very well have been on a coach with a rebellious teenager that would change her life. I believe.
Part 3: Ramsgate:
The seashore and a walk on the beach
Like Darcy, when we hear the word Ramsgate, we shudder. We open with the Gardiner family at Ramsgate and the Bennet family on holiday with them. While strolling on the beach Elizabeth and Jane encounter Georgiana Darcy and her companion Mrs. Younge. They soon discover that they are staying next door to each other. So begins a friendship between the elder Bennet ladies and Georgiana.
This was a short-short story and actions moved very quickly. Like a DVD on fast forward, the machinations of Wickham and Mrs. Younge were soon revealed and a frightened Georgiana sought sanctuary next door with the Gardiner/Bennet household. An express was sent to Darcy in London and the rest, as they say, is history. WOW!!!
When Darcy received the express, his world changed when he read the word Wickham. And then action simply exploded on the page. Before he left London, he sent a quick message to our dear Colonel and he, being the hero we all love to love, was propelled into action. Just a note here: It is not wise to mess with our dear Colonel on a good day. Imagine him upset over Georgiana. No, that is not a force anyone would want to face. Shudder. Let’s just say the outcome was AWESOME!!!
Enter Lady Catherine for her share of the conversation and action. She likes to stick her aristocratic nose into everyone’s business. They say a picture is worth a thousand words and Darcy with Elizabeth is one bright picture. Man, did the feathers ever fly.
We cannot forget Bingley. Poor Charles; he had absolutely no control over Caroline. When Darcy invited Bingley to join him at Ramsgate… Caroline, who would go to the ends of the earth to be near Darcy, invited herself along and stuck her upturned supercilious nose into the mix. What a mess.
Then we have the introduction of new characters. A father with an unmarried daughter, enough said. He had visions of a connection with the Darcy coffers… I mean… a marriage between his daughter and Darcy. Oh the web we weave… the conclusion was hilarious.
J. King pulls a good one on us with the mix-up of characters. It was so creative. I love how she pulled that off. Way to go!!! I like a good mix-up every once in a while, it keeps me on my toes.
Always love a good clean historical romance. Fun to see 3 different versions of Mr Darcy.
Not very memorable
I enjoyed getting more of “Pride & Prejudice-like stories. This fitted nicely into the original story.
Fan fiction at it’s best! Three different imaginings of two of my favorite characters!
I enjoyed all three of the stories.
Entertaining