The morning after the Netherfield ball, Elizabeth Bennet refuses an offer of marriage, setting off a row in the Bennet household that ends tragically.Faced with homelessness and untenable poverty, Elizabeth receives a different sort of offer—from quite an unexpected quarter—and finds herself considering the once-inconceivable prospect of going into trade.When Elizabeth and her sisters open a tea … sisters open a tea shop in Meryton, she must deal with Mary’s penchant for entertaining the customers, Mama’s enthusiasm for the officers, Kitty’s fear of French spies, Caroline Bingley’s relentless attempts to degrade her ~ and Mr. Darcy’s irritating refusal to get out of her life!
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I enjoyed this version of Pride and Prejudice. Due to bad luck, the Bennet women are left near penniless. Even though they open a tea shop in their small town, this doesn’t lessen Mr. Darcy’s interest in Elizabeth. New characters are introduced that fit nicely with the original story.
I don’t remember what made me choose this omnibus in kindle unlimited, as I’d never read anything by this author before, and I almost quit in the first few chapters of the first book.
Something kept me reading on, for which I am so glad!
It truly picked up, to the point I spent several nights into the not so early morning reading!
Each story was wonderful, though a bit off of canon, which made them more intriguing! The plots were great! The characters drew me in. In fact, I even liked Lydia!
This omnibus is the way to go, so you can just read straight through!
I adored the humorous tone in this book, it was well written although not a stickler for regency propriety. I find I can easily overlook that as it was a highly entertaining and engaging read. What I found difficult to stomach was the reduced circumstances that fell upon the Bennet’s after the patriarch demise, shortly after the Netherfield ball.
The Bennet sisters opened a coffee shop in Meryton with the “aid” of none other than Caroline Bingley…
If I were to nit pick though, some of the re-use from canon did not fit the new events. As an example, after Darcy’s proposal, Elizabeth accused him of being the only means to separate Bingley and Jane while she knew very well Caroline and her own role in the separation. The vehemence in her refusal also seemed out of place due to ODC’s earlier interactions.
It was all forgotten by the end though as the out-of-this-world reconciliation blew my mind. Absolutely and utterly fabulous!!! Very creative, I must say…
Would have loved some more interaction between ODC, hopefully my E&D addiction will be satisfied in the next book in this serie.
Heartily recommend this book!
All’s Fair in love and… Trade war
Most of the P&P story has transpired. We have the Bingley party at Netherfield Park with Mr. and Mrs. Hurst and Mr. Darcy. Jane recovered from her cold, Bingley had his ball, Lizzy refused Mr. Collins and Charlotte took him to Lucas Lodge. Mrs. B was furious with Lizzy and Mr. B went for a walk. While this was going on, the Bingley party departed Netherfield and Mr. Darcy encountered Mr. Bennet injured on the lane. Elizabeth worried, when her father did not return home, went looking for him and encountered him in the ditch injured, just as Mr. Darcy pulled up with a dogcart to take him home.
The apothecary arrived at Longbourn, set the broken leg and administered laudanum for the pain. After Mr. Darcy saw that Mr. Bennet was on the mend, left for London. Caroline’s letter arrived for Jane and we are set for the remainder of the story. As the book blurb described, Mr. Bennet did not survive and Collins inherited. Elizabeth realized the danger in having refused Mr. Collins and tried to repent her actions. She swallowed her pride and attempted to talk to him. I have never disliked Mr. Collins more than I did with his words to her. “I would have borne it all—your mama’s constant fawning, Lydia’s ridicule, Jane’s sad and serene pity at the thought of your accepting me… I think not many would not condemn me if I now find it hard to pity you.…” He then told her he was no longer free to accept her request. We know why, but it is sometime before she finds out he has offered for Charlotte and that she had accepted him.
There was so much in this book. I don’t know why I took so long in reading it. I’m glad I did as the second book is out now and I plan to read it next. My thoughts on this…WOW!!! This book blew me away with the creativity, the surprises and the wordplay that the author used to convey the many moods of our characters. The story line was ‘what if’ something happens to Mr. Bennet, what would become of his family?
There was the addition of a new character Major Carleton Quartermaine, son of Sir Lewis de Bourgh’s sister (nephew to Lady Catherine and cousin through marriage to the Darcy, Gerogiana, Richard, and Anne). The cousins Darcy, Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam, Major Quartermaine are three of a kind. These guys are breathtaking. Quartermaine is the best of both worlds. He has the sensibility, humor and gregarious demeanor of our dear Colonel, but the wealth, financial sense and good looks of Darcy. Yeah, these three cut a swath through the female populous of Meryton. Be still my heart.
The story was creative in how the author used POV to let the reader in on what characters were thinking. I loved the interplay when someone was listening to a conversation and we could hear their thoughts as that conversation was going on. I really like that. It was hilarious.
The staff at the Beau Bon-Bon was so cute. Our author gave us clues along the way and I caught a few and was pleased then those clues were important later. Then other clues, I missed completely.
I LOVED the cover. It was the most beautiful cover I’ve seen in a while. Most excellent. I gave an extra point for the most creative Lydia scenario EVER in the history of JAFF. I have never been so surprised in all my life. I am still bowled over by the creative twist I encountered in this story. An extra point for the most romantic scene in the history of JAFF. I have never read anything like it [the king and queen scene]. It was TOTALLY inappropriate for the time period and so awesome, I couldn’t help myself. Propriety, rules, comportment, etiquette, etc., thrown out the window. Cool!
I also gave an extra point for the most excellent exit line at the end of the story. Hilarious. Another point was awarded for making me like Caroline. OMG!! The dialogue was hilarious. I’m sorry, it was too good. A point for the creative dialogue throughout the book. Another for Quartermaine and his eye for one of our dear girls. You have to give him credit, he was most excellent. The author simply made me love him. How many extra points is that? As you can tell I have gone way over 5 points. Yep, this work deserved extra points.
Read the other reviews as I am not going to reveal anything else…I would spoil it. I don’t want to do that. I finished this in record time. I could not put it down. I didn’t want to put it down until I read that shocker at 86%. When I got to that point…I simply threw down my NOOK and put my hands to my face in total shock. I had to catch my breath in order to finish. Yeah, it was that AWESOME!!! The author really pulled a good one. I loved it. I’ve never seen it used and it was so clever. The story ended at 91% with excerpts of other works for the remainder of the book.