Confronting her first trials at Pemberley, Elizabeth takes on the tenant Christmas party, sidestepping her mother’s meddling, and finding a way to support the needs of all of her family members. But finding time alone with her husband, Mr. Darcy, in a house full of people is a challenge, even at an estate as large as Pemberley! As old secrets bear fruit, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth stand united and … and find support in each other. With a babe on the way, and surprise visitors, there may just be more than one winter wonder to behold.
The fifth season in the Seasons of Serendipity, a historical family saga that imagines how the story of Pride and Prejudice might have changed had Mr. Bennet died of illness before Mr. Collins arrived.
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Stick a fork in me…I am done
Year One:
Book # 1) A Winter Wrong: 3-stars
Book # 2) A Spring Sentiment: 4-stars
Book # 3) A Summer Shame: 4-stars
Book # 4) An Autumn Accord: 3-stars
Year Two:
Book # 5) A Winter Wonder: 3-stars
When I left book # 4, I was so frustrated that I swore I would not read the next book. Nothing was solved, it had become nothing more than a soap opera / novella type of installments and I simply did not want to continue. Never say never… I was tempted to read book 5 for a resolution I was curious about. Now that I have my answer, I can walk away. Especially after hearing rumors that there would be 5 years total in the series. Each year would be 4 installments [that’s 4-books each year!!!] and I finally decided the price was too high. That would mean I still have 15 books to go in order to conclude the series.
When book 4 ended, everyone was heading toward Pemberley. Book 5 opens as they arrive. We have Elizabeth establishing her role as Mistress of Pemberley, Mrs. Bennet trying to insinuate herself as Mother Adviser and Mr. Darcy having none of that. Elizabeth is increasing and NO ONE is to upset her. Lines and guidelines had to be set establishing Elizabeth as Mrs. Darcy and what she wanted was law. If Mr. Darcy had to be called, he would support Elizabeth.
The time frame for Book 5 is October through the Christmas Holidays. We have all the winter activities at Pemberley that included decorating for the holidays, and having various celebrations. The Darcy’s established the tenant gathering and gift giving. They hosted a dinner that included His Grace, Duke of Devonshire, William Cavendish and his older sister Lady Morpeth. It was at this dinner that we were in the gallery with Elizabeth and Lady Morpeth [both are increasing and needed to walk about]. She was telling Elizabeth about the various portraits when Elizabeth pointed at one Alistair Darcy. Lady Morpeth mentioned his libertine ways in Derby. Based on that, I think we can expect his entry later.
FITZWILLIAM FAMILY: We have the financially strapped Matlock clan at Pemberley.
The Earl and his son the Viscount are drinking Darcy’s cellars dry. They vacillate between blaming [pointing the finger at] each other for their financial predicament, and demanding that Darcy do his duty to the Fitzwilliam family. There is a hint that there had been a handout in the past.
The Darcy House spy from a previous book made her way to Rosings in order to inform Lady Catherine that Lord and Lady Matlock had left London for Pemberley and were selling furnishings and jewels. Lady Catherine asks the question if they had retrenched.
Lady Matlock wants Darcy to sponsor both girls [Georgiana and Kitty] in their first London season. It would allow the Fitzwilliam family to return to London [to the Darcy House] and re-establish themselves in society. However, both Darcy and Elizabeth feel the girls are not ready for the marriage mart and need another year to mature. Plus, and most importantly, they want their child [the heir] to be born at Pemberley. As the discord regarding London continues, Georgiana pouts like a petulant child and Kitty has a meltdown over thoughts of facing a season and hearing the news regarding what happened to Lydia.
THE VILLAIN: With Wickham out of the picture, our story needs a villain. Enter Alistair Darcy, a libertine that shamed the family years ago and was banished from England. He is Darcy’s uncle… brother to his father. His grandfather Darcy banished Alistair to India years ago and like a bad penny, he has returned informing everyone that the holdings in India have burned to the ground. As the book closes he is eyeing the Widow Bennet. In Book 4 she shamelessly entertained a seducer in a house rented for her by Mr. Darcy. This has nowhere to go but down hill. I don’t think I can bear it.
Our dear Colonel is now Brigadier Richard Fitzwilliam and for some reason he avoided Mary for the entire book and at the very end, Uncle Gardiner traveled to New Castle and demanded to know his intentions toward his niece. Yeah, I wanted to shake him silly and ask him what was his problem. There were humorous sections with Richard’s man Corporal Pratt. I love this guy and the interactions between him and his superior officer. This guy was a hoot.
The ending wasn’t as frustrating as book 4; however, there was a lot of loose threads and cliffhangers galore. I’ll not read the next… I simply no longer care what happens. There were editing problems galore and that was a shame.
I have enjoyed this author’s other non-series books and will continue to look at them individually; however, this series is now off my radar.