An unexpected inheritance…When their rumored engagement supposedly takes the new Earl off the marriage mart, Elizabeth Bennet finds herself subject to public scrutiny like never before. With a title between them, how can Darcy marry her now?What readers are saying about this Pride & Prejudice retelling:“If you are looking for suspense, intrigue and romance, you’ve come to the right place.”… you’ve come to the right place.”
”…both thrilling and captivating”
”…an entertaining, well-written story”
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“At the end of the day, the position is just a position, a title is just a title, and those things come and go. It’s really your essence and your values that are important.” Queen Raina of Jordan
Out story opens with Darcy visiting Bingley at Netherfield. He had been delayed and arrived on a later timeline from canon. Thus, he missed the Assembly and, for those of us who know the story… missed giving offense to the denizens of Meryton and giving his famous insult to Elizabeth.
Following the canon timeline… Jane became ill when she was invited to dine at Netherfield by Caroline Bingley and Louise Hurst. When Elizabeth arrived to tend to her sister, she too fell ill and required additional time staying for her own recovery. During that time Darcy received a visitor informing him of the demise of his Uncle, the Earl of Matlock… along with his son and heir and his sons. The old Earl had made special arrangements in case something ever happened to him and his son and heirs and even had the king sign off on it. Thus, Fitzwilliam Darcy, of Pemberley, Derbyshire, became the Earl of Matlock.
“My principles are more important than money or my title.” –Muhammad Ali
This was a quick, clean story full of conflicts, sudden wealth and open season declared on a newly titled bachelor. Fitzwilliam Darcy had a big bulls-eye painted on his back and he needed a plan to push back the matchmaking mamas of Meryton and London. However, his plans did not take into account his aunt Lady Catherine de Bourgh. That b-witch was sneaky, conniving and downright nasty. She wanted her way and was determined to have it. Nor did it include Wickham coming back into his life to cause chaos and mischief. Let’s not forget Caroline Bingley and her machinations.
“If a man loves you… he’s willing to profess it. He’ll give you a title after a while. You’re going to be his lady, his woman, his fiancée, his wife, his baby’s mama, something.” –Steve Harvey
The formula was the same that any good JAFF story should contain… they meet, fall in love, have a major misunderstanding, go their separate ways, get kidnapped, have an unlikely rescue, then need another rescue… proclaim their love and have a most excellent epilogue. There were still questions but the epilogue was a series of letters that were just cute. Although, it still didn’t answer all of the questions that I had regarding a few people. It was cute and actually better than I remembered as a WIP. I upgraded it to 4-stars. It was enjoyable… somewhat predicable but enjoyable none the less.
I first read this in 2017 as a WIP on FF and awarded it 3-stars. I had decided at the time that I would wait to review this work after I had an opportunity to read the book. I volunteered to read an advanced copy via the publisher and NetGalley. The views expressed are my own. After reading the completed book… I am upgrading to 4-stars. Errors were minimal: missing words, her vs here, [decorum and propriety] having a gentleman visit a lady’s sickroom, baldy vs boldly [no one was bald], etc. When I questioned the use of family are vs family is… I looked it up and found that collective nouns [in American English] take singular verbs, while in British English] they can also take plural verbs. I guess the author gets to decide.