Six beloved authors deliver romantic Valentine novellas set in Jane Austen’s Regency world. Robin Helm, Laura Hile, Wendi Sotis, and Barbara Cornthwaite, together with Susan Kaye and Mandy Cook, share variations of Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, and Sense and Sensibility, featuring your favorite characters in sequels, adaptations, and spinoffs of Austen’s adored novels. Experience uplifting … uplifting romance, laugh-out-loud humor, and poignant regret as these authors deftly tug on your heartstrings this Valentine’s Day.
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This collection of short stories is set in Jane Austen’s worlds. It’s an enjoyable read of alternative stories that could have happened to Austen’s characters. Some of the stories I enjoyed more than others.
“Dream of You” by Robin Helm
An Elizabeth and Darcy continuation story that gives a glimpse into their married life, “I Dream of You” illustrates that a solid marriage is one where the couple puts their individual selves aside and pays attention to their spouse’s needs. I appreciate that Elizabeth and Darcy keep their unique personalities intact in this story. Serving a spouse selflessly does not mean losing one self in the process. It simply means loving your spouse as God intended, happily, wholeheartedly, and with true devotion.
“Sir Walter Takes a Wife” by Laura Hile
I am an ardent Pride and Prejudice fan. In the novel, Lady Catherine de Bourgh is a foil to Elizabeth Bennet, and she satirically represents cruel and unfounded superiority as illustrated by many in the upper caste during the Regency period. She’s not my favorite character. BUT, I absolutely loved her in this short story. I loved seeing things from her perspective, and I really enjoyed watching as everything she “knows” is turned on its head at almost every turn. And, Sir Walter is hilarious and arrogant and endearing. I laughed out loud with this wonderfully comedic short story.
“My Former Valentine” by Wendi Sotis
“My Former Valentine” is a fantastic short story filled with depth. This story beautifully blends the plot line from Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Sotis’s fresh take on the beloved classic. I had fun seeing Charles and Jane as a sweet married couple, and very much loved watching Anne and Richard play matchmaker. Sotis did a superb job of capturing Darcy and Elizabeth’s unique voices, but still crafted characters all her own. Overall, “My Former Valentine” is an outstanding Pride and Prejudice variant that I very much enjoyed reading.
“Pretense and Prejudice” by Barbara Cornthwaite
“Pretense and Prejudice” is a unique take on Pride and Prejudice. I will admit that I struggled with this story. I had a difficult time suspending my disbelief enough to believe that Darcy would behave, think, and talk as he does in this story. As written in this story, I don’t get the Darcy vibe. He really feels like a completely different character named Darcy. With that said, I did enjoy the friendship between Elizabeth and Millie. I like seeing Elizabeth interact with such a motherly figure. If you’ve read Pride and Prejudice then you know Elizabeth’s mom is a handful.
“My Valentine” by Mandy Cook
I adore this story! Of the six short stories in this collection, “My Valentine” is my favorite. It is so well-written, highly engaging, and SO sweet. It is a joy to read about Darcy and Elizabeth’s precocious child, Charlotte. Charlotte is a wonderful character full of vivacity. And, what a fun treat to see characters from Sense and Sensibility make an appearance in this short story. I loved the blending of these two stories. My most favorite aspect to this short story is the interaction between Henry and Charlotte. They are so sweet and endearing that I cheered for them the whole time.
“The Lover’s Ruse” by Susan Kaye
The final story in this collection is a variant on Jane Austen’s Persuasion. Persuasion happens to be the one Austen novel I’ve not read so I was behind the eight ball with this one, but I still very much enjoyed this story. The plot is highly engaging and the characters are very well done.
Overall, I found A Very Austen Valentine to be a lovely collection of short stories. Each story is generally well-crafted and includes endearing and unique characters. If you are a fan of Austen novels, or you just love a good collection of Regency-era romance novellas, then I highly recommend A Very Austen Valentine.
I received a review copy of this novel in eBook form from the author via Celebrate Lit. In no way has this influenced my review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.
I really enjoyed this Austen themed collection of stories! They were all so creative and each one kept me eagerly turning the pages. I am definitely a Jane Austen fan and have read other Austen themed books. These novellas were on par with other novels that I have read. I appreciated that certain stories gave characters their happily ever afters in different ways than the original novels did, however, they were just as satisfying! And in a couple of the stories, characters from Pride and Prejudice interacted with characters from both Persuasion and Sense and Sensibility. This collection was a lot of fun to read!
I received a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
Enjoyed reading more of 2 characters I liked from Pride and Prejudice
I took the average of all 6 novellas and rated it a 4-star. On the whole, I enjoyed them, though I did find it a little confusing to go back and forth between timelines in the same Austen world. The first novella was about Elizabeth & Darcy after they had been married for a year. The second, though the main story is not about them, takes us back to the days of Pemberly before Darcy proposed to Elizabeth. The third is when Elizabeth again goes into Kent to visit the Collins, but with an alternative timeline of Bingley already married to Jane. The fourth is yet another alternative timeline that happens before Bingley even rented Netherfield, but somehow Darcy and Elizabeth meet anyway. The fifth is years later, focusing on the Elizabeth’s children. I wish that either the authors had conversed with each other and chosen different Jane Austen worlds, or that perhaps there was some common sci-fi thread weaving these together as alternate universes or something.
Fanfiction for Jane Austen-ites. The first 2 were quite delightful..they began to lack luster as the book went on. But fun reading for those of us who love Austen characters!
A bit too predictable for my taste, but an easy read.
It was great to read more about Mr. Darcy.
Boring!
I you like Jane Austen work, you will enjoy this twist from great authors who are inspired by Miss Austen.
I love Jane Austen. I was truly disappointed by the boring wanna-be authors who were remaking Jane’s ideas and doing a very bad very ho-hum job of it. A reader would be better off just picking up any of the originals and spending time with true greatness.
I enjoy anything Austen… this one was good.
i just douldn’t get into it.
First, I’m not particularly a ‘fan’ of fan-fic. These were ok, but very predictable.
These stories are really contrived and boring
Enjoyed meeting Austen characters through their offspring.
An anthology of novellas devoted to Jane Austen’s beloved characters from three of her novels will always be a delight and heighten my anticipation. I have read and enjoy most of these author’s works before and am particularly pleased by the variety of writing style, story focus, and tone that I can expect. They each approached the theme of St. Valentine’s Day and cleverly worked it into their stories in unique ways that were great Valentine tributes. This is an anthology that I will likely pick up over again when I want to read engaging stories for the holiday.
I Dream of You by Robin Helm
A P&P sequel
A year into her marriage, Elizabeth watches her husband leave in the morning and return exhausted after dark from tasks around the estate. She doesn’t want to lose the companionship and closeness of their courtship. Between dreams and reality, Elizabeth courts her husband and shows him that he can still do his duty to his estate and have a loving marriage.
Sweet married courtship and a heartwarming series of cute dates to rekindle the romance! Enjoyed the engaging aspect of what comes after the Happily Ever After for the romance pair.
Sir Walter Takes A Wife by Laura Hile
A Persuasion sequel and P&P variation
Sir Walter Elliot’s last remaining unmarried daughter is married and he finds himself left alone. This will not do so acourting he will go. A misdirected Valentine from him arrives for Lady Catherine de Bourgh and a genteel mayhem ensues.
Sir Walter absolutely shines and Lady Catherine surprises in this delightful Regency Romantic Comedy. I couldn’t stop laughing through the encounter between Sir Walter and the bewildered nephews who couldn’t figure out how they lost the upper hand in that meeting.
My Forever Valentine by Wendi Sotis
A P&P sequel variation
This one did an interesting twist placing Charles and Jane’s wedding just before Elizabeth goes to visit Charlotte in Kent. Anne and Colonel Fitzwilliam play matchmaker when Darcy and Lizzy still have that tempestuous Hunsford Proposal. Will a letter and a Valentine change Lizzy’s mind?
Enjoyed the twist to the original that gave favorite side character’s more page time and there was a definite swoon quality. The matchmaking work by all their friends was entertaining.
Pretense and Prejudice by Barbara Cornthwaite
A P&P variation
Darcy and Elizabeth meet in a coastal village by happenstance and mistake one another for French spies. As time together bring increasing attraction so does the pressure of their lies about who they are and their fears that the other’s lies truly are hiding a spy.
This was a delightful Regency romp that had me laughing and sighing with pleasure. If only it could have been longer. I was captivated by this altered version of Darcy and Elizabeth’s story.
My Valentine by Mandy Cook
A P&P and a S&S sequel
It started when little Charlotte Darcy was four years old and rec’d her first Valentine right before she became dreadfully ill. Her brother and his friends the Brandon boys had to act the knights in Charlotte’s name. Over the years through finishing school, court presentation, and social seasons Charlotte continues to receive Valentines from her secret Valentine. As the older generation passes off the scene, she wonders when the last of the Valentines will arrive.
Tender and poignant. Wonderful build up. The last scene left me smiling for the story’s culmination.
The Lover’s Ruse by Susan Kaye
Persuasion Variation
Starting before the events of Austen’s Persuasion, Lover’s Ruse begins with the meeting of Commander Frederick Wentworth and Anne Elliot while he is a half-pay sailor on shore waiting for his first ship to command. Frederick forms impressions of the eldest Miss Elliot, Lady Russell, and Anne through a series of social engagements. He encounters social snobbery from the first two and a genuine interest in the latter, but is Anne’s love strong enough to survive interference from her nearest and dearest right when Frederick gets his orders?
Enjoyable from Frederick’s POV and his efforts to ignore upper class snobbery or the temptations of outer beauty to choose the sister who is genuine. The speech to ‘persuade’ her was a gem.
I didn’t really like the depiction of Elizabeth and Darcy. Ok book if not a huge Jane Austen fan
Great read!
Easy reading and the authors obviously had fun with some of my favourite Austen characters. I especially like the one where Sir Walter Eliot used his superior tongue twisters to befuddle Darcy and Fitzwilliam.