One newly married couple plus one troublemaking best friend’s sister equals a challenge to face.Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth Darcy have already dealt with plenty of people who object to their marriage. Now they are faced with one more.Caroline Bingley, Darcy’s best friend’s sister, has always wanted Darcy for herself. Now that he is married and can no longer be hers, she resents the new Mrs. Darcy … resents the new Mrs. Darcy and will stop at nothing to cause discord between the newly-wedded couple. When she hires someone to make it appear that Darcy is unfaithful, will Elizabeth believe his claims of innocence, or will she turn away from him and live a life of mistrust and heartbreak?
Caroline’s Censure is the third book in Zoe Burton’s Darcy Marriage Series. If you like catty villains, devoted heroes, and sweet romance, you’ll love this Pride and Prejudice novella variation. Purchase Caroline’s Censure to read the Darcys’ latest adventure today.
This 21,839 word book is 127 pages in print.
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“In a drama of the highest order there is little food for censure or hatred; it teaches rather self-knowledge and self-respect.” Percy Bysshe Shelley
Well Dang!! Even though I had a knowledge of the previous two books, I was as lost as a lamb in a hail storm and couldn’t find my way home. What-the-crap??!! This was a clean, QUICK read, and I do mean quick. I have somewhat enjoyed this series [see my reviews] but did notice that it was becoming a bit lazy in the handling of the story-line. Come on… seriously?? What happened?
“To punish someone for your own mistakes or for the consequences of your own actions, to harm another by shifting blame that is rightly yours; this is a wretched and cowardly sin.” Richelle E. Goodrich, Smile Anyway
This was really several stories squeezed into the spandex of one title. Caroline’s story ended at 71% and then she was mentioned again in the last chapter in order to tie up the loose ends. In that respect, the title was misleading. The rest of the story was divided between Jane’s and Bingley’s courtship, the Bennet sisters vs their mother, M/M Darcy vs Mrs. Bennet, and the explanation of Mrs. Bennet’s censure for her treatment of Lizzy. The best way to describe her is the following quote.
“You do ill if you praise, but worse if you censure, what you do not understand.” Leonardo da Vinci
OK… let me try to explain this. Having read the two previous books… I found parts that I simply did not remember, or recognize. This was sloppily put together with NO explanations, no reviewing, no prompting or refreshing of the memory for those like me who apparently had a senior moment and forgot a poignant part necessary to the understanding of what the crap was going on. It was just straightforward writing with no breaks, pauses and was full out, full speed ahead. The author was completely oblivious to the iceberg ahead that was in our path. Not cool!!
This storyline is now in its third installment. It actually felt like it had been written as one story and had been chopped into segments or installments. I think if you are selling it as soap-opera segments, you should at least refresh the reader about what happened before, why things are what they are and at least set up the new story-line so there is a smooth transition from one story to the next. As a stand-alone, it was very confusing with the information presented out of the blue and nothing to relate this third book to the others. Was there such a rush to publish that is was necessary to disregard giving it the time and attention that it deserved? That disrespects the reader and the story. Dang. I am seriously displeased.
What irritated me the most… I know this author can write better than this. Perhaps it’s writer’s block, choke or panic. She has had many changes in her personal life [perhaps too many all at once] and they have gotten in the way of her writing mojo. I am trying to give her time to get that zing back… that she seems to have pushed to the wayside. I like this author and have enjoyed her writing. At least nothing was said regarding another book for this series.
Book One: Darcy’s Wife Search: 4-stars
Book Two: Lady Catherine Impedes: 3-stars