The weather outside is frightful, but that doesn’t stop Miss Bingley from dragging her sister off to a trendy new flower shop in a slightly less than modish part of London. What could be so important as to bring two socialites out in the cold? Why, Mr. Darcy is coming for Christmas dinner.Unfortunately for Miss Bingley, a winter storm and her own arrogance combine to ruin her Christmas plans, but … plans, but maybe the Christmas she ends up having will actually turn into the Christmas of her dreams.
This Pride and Prejudice Variation Christmas short story is approximately 8,000 words.
Renata McMann and Summer Hanford began writing Pride and Prejudice Variations together in 2014 and have since become immersed in the amazing world Jane Austen created. Whether you’re a fan of Darcy and Elizabeth specifically or of clean Regency Romance in general, you will enjoy both McMann’s ability to imagine variations of this classic love story and Hanford’s skill in turning these variations of Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth Bennet and their enduring love into entertaining stories.
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Delightful, clean, quick read, touching transformation of a P&P character: 4.5 stars
What a delightful novella. I simply adored it. I didn’t think I would like reading about Caroline Bingley and her hopes and aspirations for the perfect Christmas Dinner. However, I was delightfully wrong. Oh, this was so cute.
Caroline and Louisa had gone into the flower district to pick out the prefect flowers for their Christmas Celebration dinner. The Darcy’s would be there and, for Caroline, anything less than perfection was unacceptable.
As they returned home, an accident occurred in front of them between two wagons. Their poor coachman pulled up in time to avoid being involved in the accident. The wagon behind them also pulled up short, causing a problem with his load. Thus, boxing their carriage in between two accidents. It was our modern version of a multi-vehicle pileup and the resulting traffic jam.
The ladies were cold and the temperature was dropping. Not being in the most fashionable part of town was bad enough but to freeze was worse. They decided to walk as it couldn’t be that far… could it? As they walked together, the temperature continued to drop, a carriage splashed nasty water on them, and it began to spit snow. To make matters worse, Caroline missed out on a few of the directions and they soon became terribly lost. But, who to the rescue do we see? A carriage with eight tiny… no, wrong story. It was a carriage containing Miss Bennet, Miss Elizabeth Bennet and Mrs. Gardiner. Could things get any worse for Caroline? Yeah, it did when Mrs. Gardiner insisted on taking Louisa and Caroline to her home which was nearby. Caroline, with no other option, needed to get Louise warm and dry immediately. She was in a delicate condition and was becoming pale and weak.
This was a most delightful turn of events that we don’t usually see in JAFF variations with Caroline. I think we have seen just about every side of her that is possible within the human condition. This Caroline was completely different as we experienced her POV throughout the story.
Oh, my goodness. Maybe it’s the Christmas season or the emotions of the holidays that touched me so deeply as I read this. Some of the conversations were of those family members that had left them and we felt the sting of their loss during this time of the year. Maybe it was the war going on between the persona of Caroline vs Miss Bingley. Our authors expertly brought forth the struggle within Caroline as she struggled with what she thought she wanted out of life. She looked around her and saw things through new eyes or perhaps a different perspective. This new lens gave her a new realization of where she had come from, where she was now and where she wanted to be. It was very revealing and poignant.
I suppose my tongue will fall out of my head, but I must say this at least once. This was a delightful Caroline. Did I really say that? The authors did an excellent job of explaining the cracking of the ice around a heart we always thought was made of stone. Indeed, it was not. What a delightful reveal for Caroline. I loved the epilogue and I loved this variation.