Showing posts with label 5 Star. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 5 Star. Show all posts

FIVE STARS ~ REVIEW

 

5.0 out of 5 stars

Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2020 (J.W. Garrett)

“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.” –Roald Dahl

I love that photo on the cover: Warning: this review may contain *** SPOILERS *** As stated in the title, this is a Pride and Prejudice alternate universe… which means anything goes. And so, it does. Wow! Magic abounded in France and when the Terror hit, those that managed to escape brought it to the British shores. RATING: MA: listen carefully… I said MA and that means MATURE audience and no one… no one should read this who has not reached a certain age. I’m not sure I should be reading it. I blushed to the roots of my hair. I’m not sure if this qualifies as a bodice-ripper but it seemed close to me. It was graphic and descriptive and I don’t think virgins would do… what they did… the first time. I mean, seriously. OK, enough of that. TRIGGER WARNING: there are a few violent scenes that might be hard to read for some. One in particular involves a kidnapping, bondage, and a rape attempt [unsuccessful]. Just saying.

What I liked: I love a Large-And-In-Charge Darcy. OMG! Was he ever? My heart skipped a beat when he entered a scene. Lizzy was right behind him only we didn’t have a clear picture of her. The author doled out bits and pieces of her story all throughout the book and she didn’t come into all her glory until the very end. Again… OMG!! You’ll have to wait for it but it is well worth it. We have a big surprise with another of my favorite characters… our dear Colonel Fitzwilliam. This man was beyond any JAFF description I’ve read of him. Oh MY! My heart skipped another beat. I’ve got to stop drinking Mt Dew before I read a story. Whew! Take Austen’s male P&P characters, who were strong, to begin with, and add powers to them and it will take your breath away. It seems the author was surprising me on every page. ICNPID, seriously, I could not put it down. It was 2:00 a.m. when I finally crashed and burned. And that was from the story and not because I was tired. Whew! I’m too old for this.

“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.” –W.B. Yeats

There were surprises galore. I was constantly trying to close my mouth because something jaw-dropping was happening every few pages. Caroline Bingley, the superior sister, has always denigrated the Bennet sisters as being below her… well, let me tell you… oh, that would be a spoiler. I can’t say. Mr. and Mrs. Bennet both have a surprise reveal that made me catch my breath… again… jaw-dropping. Who are these people? OMG! Like canon, Collins notified Lady Catherine of the betrothal of his unworthy cousin to her nephew Darcy and she arrived under a full head of steam. The biggest surprise was when she asked about Lizzy’s relations… ‘but who’s your mother?’ Jaw-dropping… and that part of the story immediately turned-on-a-dime into something completely out of this world. Nothing was the same from here on.

Wickham: I need something stronger than SBRB… I mean… seriously, this guy was evil incarnate. He was the devil’s spawn and gleefully mistreated ODC. La! I nearly had a fainting spell when he was working his dirty magic and brought out the twins, Tweedledee and Tweedledum and… I can’t say. I’m not even going to mention Lydia… that girl.

What I didn’t like: Oh, I hate to say it… but I became a bit bogged down with the lineage of ODC, their family histories, the nobility, all the titles, [Caroline would have another cow, for sure, if only she knew], the different societies, their powers, and the abilities of each. Read slowly at this point so you don’t miss something important. Also, **** SPOILER**** I never like to read where ODC anticipates their vows. This just seemed like an excuse to have a sex scene. **** End Spoiler ****

I love a good epilogue but felt like a few threads were left dangling. Maybe my wanting more was the goal. If that was the case… it worked as I have questions. 9-14-20 I borrowed this through the KU program. I highly recommend this for those who love something completely different.



FIVE STARS ~ REVIEW


“Georgiana” is a standalone novel in the three-book “Pride & Prejudiced Continued” series from author Sue Barr. I am going to presume we are all familiar with Jane Austen’s masterpiece Pride & Prejudice and how Mr. Darcy saved his sister, Georgiana Darcy, from scandal when she nearly eloped with the manipulative, spendthrift George Wickham. Now married, Darcy and Elizabeth are ready to launch Georgiana out into the best society—but this young heiress’s limited (and unfortunate) experience with the opposite sex has left her anxious. However, when the Fifth Duke of Adborough, Maxwell Kerr, enters the picture and pays particular attention to her, she is at ease with this dear family friend. Might this handsome duke ever look at her as more than the girl he once knew and esteem her enough to court her?
“She’d been led astray before by fanciful thoughts. This time she would proceed with caution and wait for him to declare his intentions.”
Still when a young heiress is presented, all eyes are on her…and her thirty thousand pounds, attracting all kinds of fortune hunters. Incredulously, one such penniless peer absconds with her...
“A woman cowered on the floor beside the bed and a man clad only in his breeches, his back to the door, held her ankle in his left hand, his right had raised above his head as though to strike. The woman’s nightgown, twisted around slender thighs, had risen enough to reveal several bruises and one deep cut on her creamy skin.”
...but Max rescues her from the dangerous rogue before further harm. Gallantly, Max offers Georgiana his hand in marriage. But no sooner after the vows are said, Max learns that this was not her first near miss—and wonders if he has somehow been duped. Rather than asking her to explain what exactly Wickham did to her, he hightails it back to London, leaving her alone at his country estate. What started as a “knight in shining armor rescuing the damsel in distress and they live happily-ever-after” story becomes pages of much strife, yearning, misunderstandings, and lovelorn letters. Can he ever come to accept his lot and live with such a wife, and how will she ever know what she has done to turn him away from her? And wait until Darcy and Elizabeth find out their sister has been abandoned so soon after she has wed! It’s a melodrama that will keep you turning pages to find that hard-earned happily-ever-after.

I liked this one. Maybe not as much as my favorite of the series, “Caroline”, but it’s definitely a good read!