George Wickham, a widower with a penchant for gambling, women, and alcohol, has recently gained his freedom and fortune. Now, there are only two things he still desires: respectability and revenge on Fitzwilliam Darcy. As luck would have it, he might be able to achieve both ends by marrying a country beauty named Elizabeth Bennet.Elizabeth can’t believe her luck. A wealthy, charming, and handsome … and handsome widower has moved to town and appears to enjoy her company as much as she enjoys his. Of course, they must observe a proper mourning period, but she is certain there are wedding bells in her future.
It has never been easy for Fitzwilliam to make friends, and it was even harder for him to find love. When he finally developed feelings for a woman who is entirely unsuitable, he ran away. Now, Fitzwilliam’s discovered that this very woman is in danger of falling in love with a scoundrel from his past. Rushing back to Hertfordshire, he learns rescuing Elizabeth from a dangerous and cunning rake is not nearly as easy as he’d hoped.
A sweet, Regency-era romance perfect for fans of the beloved characters from Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice.
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Pride and prejudice is so impactful, because the satire of human foibles is applicable to every society of people.
Ms. Worth has done an excellent job of understanding the author’s characters and deepening their story with a twist of fate. Mr. Wickham gets a fortune. With this change in the story, Wickham becomes free from the restraint of pursuing only women of lower rank or lower logic. Now even women of mean would consider him a possible match, thus allowing Wickham the freedom to manipulate them.
What could go wrong?
This is a peculiar twist on a timeless tale!
I received this ARC through Story Origin and am giving a voluntary review.
Deception and Debauchery by Cinnamon Worth (4.5 stars)
Ms. Worth comes up with such creative variations! She does’t just put the characters in a different setting, then start quoting from the book. She comes up with totally new plots for our beloved characters. She doesn’t allow herself to be stifled by sticking to the classic characters, though. If she needs someone else, she write the person in. I feel like she stays basically true to Elizabeth and Darcy/Jane and Bingley, but other secondary characters are open for some adjustments in personality and are open to back stories where she explores why they are the way they are. Needless to say, I really like her variations!
Most of the characters from the book make an appearance, but Wickham and his schemes are focused on in the first half, then Darcy and Elizabeth in the second half. There is a very amusing scene regarding a horse race/bet and one of my absolute favorite side characters in this one is Mary! (She’s great in the few scenes she’s in!)
Spoiler alert:
The following will make you think that I didn’t love the epilogue, but I did: it was so cute!
The part that shocked me upon first hearing it was the fact that George Wickham is a favorite uncle and godfather to Darcy’s heir! (That was the only part of the book that I struggled with. Darcy knew the kind of man Wickham was and we, as listeners, have been privy to some of Wickham’s schemes as well as his contempt for people who are bound by rules.)
Anyway, that was a bit of a stretch for me. But I could also see the author has given us lots of clues about how this change could have come about. I simply wish the author had given us a Wickham epilogue separate from the Darcy epilogue. I needed to know, as only an author can relate, that the changes in Wickham are real enough that it’s ok that he’s godfather to Darcy’s heir; that he’s satisfied with his wealth and standing and won’t be scheming for Darcy’s downfall, anymore.
I listened to this on audiobook and the narrator is good! She has a cadence that takes a moment to get used to and she chooses to make Mr. Bingley’s voice rather high which caused me to confuse who was speaking; Mr. Bingley or Caroline, in a couple of scenes. Obviously context quickly solved that. Regardless, she does an excellent job and is a good voice actor!
*poor, **ok, ***good****very good, *****something special
This is a good pride and prejudice variation though not really the best story. Cinnamon Worth has more greater stories than this one. Still a good and easy read/listen. Entertaining.
I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. A great variation of Pride and Prejudice. I enjoyed following the antics of Mr. Darcy and the sisters. The narration was excellent on the Audiobook by Megan Green. It was so fun reading who was wishing after who and who was going to get their heart broken or get married. Definitely recommend.