He thought his future was bleak, but a well-orchestrated misstep might just bring him the happiness he seeks. Fitzwilliam Darcy has experienced the sadness that currently resides in the eyes of his friend, Charles Bingley. Determined to see Bingley happy, Darcy confesses his part in creating the despondence his friend now feels and prepares to suffer the separation that will ensue. However, what … separation that will ensue.
However, what he expects and what he gets are very different things. Instead of facing a lonely life filled with heartache, he finds himself standing at the beginning of a path leading to not only his friend’s happiness but his own as well.
It will not, however, be an easy path. There will be obstacles to overcome, but with a little help and scheming, no impediment will be too insurmountable – not even Caroline Bingley.
Confounding Caroline is the first book in Leenie Brown’s Marrying Elizabeth series of Pride and Prejudice inspired stories. If you like well-written, sweet stories with determined heroes and surprising heroines who are willing to push the bounds of comfort and propriety to claim true love, then you will enjoy this story about out-scheming a schemer in the quest for the chance at a happily ever after.
So, put the kettle on, grab your copy of Confounding Caroline, and slip into a world of unexpected mischief and join Darcy on the first leg of his journey to happily ever after.
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[This book ends with a happy for now, and Darcy and Elizabeth’s story continues in the next book. Confounding Caroline can also be found in Marrying Elizabeth, Books 1-3 Compilation.]
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Book 1 in the Marrying Elizabeth serie, book 2 Delighting Mrs Bennet will be released January 10th 2019.
I loved the banter between Darcy, Bingley and the Colonel, hilarious!
The Netherfield party had left but in London, neither Bingley nor Darcy were particularly happy.
Cheering each other on, they decided to do something about it. There were one formidable obstacle to their happiness though… Caroline Bingley. The scheming that was needed to passify that enemy was rather impressive. It was a all hands on deck manoeuvre and the mastermind behind it, came as big surprise…
Heartily recommend this book!
I love most variations of Pride and Prejudice. Ms. Brown is one of the best at allowing me to imagine the “what ifs” with Darcy, Elizabeth and all of my other favorite characters. Confounding Caroline is wonderful!
The storyline was unique, interesting and very enjoyable. With each word, I became even more endeared to Darcy!
I received an ARC of this book. The choice to read and review it was all mine.
“Lord, confound this surly sister, blight her brow with blotch and blister, cramp her larynx, lung and liver, in her guts a galling give her.” –John Millington Synge
Well, if the above quote doesn’t adequately describe Caroline Bingley… then I don’t know what will. This story was novella size and a quick clean read. It was everyone trying to get rid of… em… marry off… Caroline so that Bingley would be free to court Jane without interference and so Darcy could breathe rarefied air without Caroline sucking the air out of the room. Lawd, that woman was as dense as peanut butter. Darcy told her, Bingley told her, Hurst told her and probably Louisa told her… but she refused to listen, refused to even consider that Darcy didn’t want her as his wife and mistress of Pemberley. I’m sure she dreamed of how she would decorate all the Darcy holdings and the number of social events they could cram into a week. She could just see herself on Darcy’s arm. Oh, the jewels, the pin money, the number of carriages… the social circle she would inhabit. Yes, she just knew she was perfect for and was made for being Mrs. Darcy. OMG! She needed a serious dose of reality and frankly was about to get one… only she didn’t know it.
Although this was your usual P&P love story, I think a reader would need a working knowledge of the events of Austen’s work. It isn’t a stand-alone as basic knowledge is needed on the timeline and the course of events and a knowledge of character traits and personalities. Our story deviates and takes a slight left turn after the Netherfield ball. When this story opened, the Netherfield party had already left Hertfordshire and Caroline had sent Jane her poison pen letter. After Christmas, Jane had traveled to London and was staying with her relations on Gracechurch Street. Jane had paid a call to Caroline and Louise and they were ignoring her with full intentions of dropping the connection.
On this new timeline, we are still prior to Darcy going to Kent for Easter. When Darcy paid a call to Charles [only to find him not at home], he learned of Jane’s visit from the superior sisters. Caroline told him of their treatment of the country fortune-hunter and insisted he help them keep Bingley from Jane’s influence. When Darcy and Richard met with Bingley later… he could no longer keep Miss Bennet’s presence in town a secret. He confessed all.
During their meeting, they strategized and made plans as to what needed to be done and in what order. In one part, they needed the expert help from our dear Colonel Fitzwilliam. Yeah, Richard was the man for the job… he first, needed to take out the trash [yeah, you-know-who]. Our dear Colonel wrote several letters… one… to Colonel Forster of the militia in Meryton. [Note: this was spelled several different ways in this story]. Next, letters to Mr. Bennet and Sir William Lucas… both needed to be warned so they could protect their daughters and the ladies of the community. Then the merchants had to be warned regarding debts.
Most of the consequences of those letters happened off the page. In fact, most of the story happened off the page. We knew things were happening or were at least put into motion… but we didn’t see it. We only heard about it or heard about or saw the results. Our main concern and focus were on several plot threads… 1) Darcy getting his act together with Elizabeth. 2) Bingley securing Jane. 3) And lastly, conspiring… securing Caroline in a marriage so no one would have to deal… em… live with her.
Enter Sir Matthew Broadhurst… a man needing… rather… looking for a bride. How convenient. So, the plan was devised and all the actors were in place. This was so cute and Caroline never saw it coming. And then the story ended. Cliffhanger… not exactly… call it a pause. The next story should pick up where this left off. Otherwise there would be a lot of unanswered questions… like what happened next?
What I liked: page-time with ODC and how quickly D&E resolved their differences. Also, how they revealed Wickham’s character to Elizabeth. We didn’t have Hunsford or Darcy’s letter to alert her to Wickham’s history with the Darcy family. Although he was off the page… we knew something was about to happen. However, knowing him, he won’t take this lightly. What about Lydia? I figure she is bound to do something stupid? Will Mr. Bennet rein in her activities in time to prevent disaster? What about Lady Catherine? Lots of questions.
What I didn’t like: errors… or maybe it was editing. Something happened in chapter 10, whether it was my e-reader or a publishing problem… but there were dozens of words that had a space in the mid dle of the word. A quick read through should have caught them. Also, Colonel Forster was misspelled several different ways: Forester, Forrester.
I volunteered to read an ARC [Advanced Reader Copy] from the author. The views expressed are my own. The Rating: clean, quick read. 4-stars