Insults, apologies, and kissesA lady must make a good impression if she wishes to secure a handsome husband during her first season in town, and Kitty Bennet is determined to be successful.Trefor Linton might have best friends who were rakes, but he’s never been one to step outside the bounds of propriety. Indeed, he has spent a good deal of time reminding his friends of those boundaries.However, … boundaries.
However, when Trefor and Kitty’s worlds collide, quite literally, the result is going to be a tantalizingly delicious tale that will set tongues wagging.
A Scandal in Springtime is the third book in Leenie Brown’s Darcy Family Holidays series. If you like well-written sweet romances laced with humor and accidental scandal, then you’ll enjoy this story about discovering that love doesn’t always make sense or fit inside the rules.
So, put the kettle on, grab your copy of A Scandal in Springtime, and join Kitty and Trefor as they stumble down their path to happily ever after.
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“A lie has no leg, but a scandal has wings.” –Thomas Fuller
Book 3 in the ‘Darcy Family Holidays’ series. Rating clean, Sweet Romance
This London adventure centered around Kitty Bennet’s visit with her uncle and aunt Gardiner. She was no longer in the smaller familiar Meryton society and was struggling with maintaining proper behavior. She was constantly fighting against her mother’s advice on how ‘to catch’ a husband and Lydia’s advice on how to flirt. What was a girl to do? How about getting her name in the gossip section of the paper linked with a very handsome and very vexing man.
“People love scandal; people love drama. They love stripping away the layers to see what’s really in there, and they’ll do anything – as well as make it up – to get it.” –Julia Roberts
Jane and Elizabeth were already married and we had limited page time with them. This was mainly Kitty [a small fish in a big pond] finding her way without Lydia’s influence. This story was part of the ‘Darcy Family Holidays’ series with cross over appearances from several characters that were featured in a couple of Brown’s ‘Other Pens: Mansfield Park’ series. It was so much fun running into familiar names from the other stories.
This novella could easily stand-alone; however, I would recommend reading the other books for the background information. Plus, they are delightful stories. Brown skillfully wove information into the narrative as a reminder to the reader just who the characters were and their place in the story-line. I have read all the other books; however, I did appreciate the reminder as it had been a while since I read the history of these guys. For many authors, it is hard writing an interesting story for Austen’s secondary and even tertiary characters. In many variations, Kitty is usually featured as a silly girl following her younger sister. I was glad to see her get her own HEA in this variation.
There was very little angst, other than a misunderstanding which was sort of humorous. Poor Trefor had a hard time coming to grips with his feelings and emotions. His aunt Gwladys and sister Constance Linton were favorites in the other novellas and I have waited for Trefor to get his own HEA. I recommend this for those who like a clean, sweet, romance in the springtime.
Special note: in the author’s newsletter, she mentioned that she had written a short for the story that Kitty was writing on throughout this story. It is a free download when you sign up for her newsletter. What fun.
Other books in the ‘Darcy family Holidays’ Series:
Book 1: Two Days Before Christmas
Book 2: One Winter’s Eve
Books from Brown’s ‘Other Pens: Mansfield Park’
Book 1 Henry: To Prove Himself Worthy
Book 2: Charles: To Discover His Purpose
Book 3: Mary: To Protect Her Heart
Book 4: Tom: To Secure His Legacy
Although I received an ARC [advance-reader-copy], I purchased my own copy when the book launched. The views expressed in this review are my own thoughts and opinions.
This is the third book in the Darcy Family Holidays series and is also strongly connected to the first two books in the Other Pens, Mansfield Park Series with a very small reference to the third book near the end. It has been a few years since I read the first two books in either series and I haven’t read Mary Crawford’s story yet but this story gives enough background to catch the reader up with what is going on. I loved Kitty in this story as well as Mr. & Mrs. Gardiner. It was fun to see how Kitty got closer to them now that she has the opportunity and I loved how her and her Uncle interacted. It was also great watching how Trefor Linton kept messing up and accidentally offending Kitty and how their relationship unfolded. I hope to read more about them and that their will be another story in this series in the future involving Mary since she is the next single sister.