Review - My Dear Sophy by Kimberly Truesdale

RATING
Story - 9.5/10
Characters - 9.5/10
Overall - 9.5/10

A book about Sophy and Admiral Croft?! Yes please!!! This book was so romantic. It is on the shorter side and I was so disappointed that it ended!

The Story:
The story begins with Sophy Wentworth living her predictable mundane life chasing after her younger brother's Edward and Frederick. Living in a small town affords very few opportunities to meet potential suitors. She has watched many eligible men move on from her small town or marry someone else and she begins to come to terms with the fact that she might never marry. Enter Mr. Joshua Holingsford. Wait what about Captain Croft? Well that my dear friends is the fun in the story and I would not want to ruin it for you. Suffice to say Captain Croft had his work ahead of him :) Of course we all know how it ends even before it began but there were delightful twists and turns and as much as I wanted to dislike Mr. Holingsford I found him to be a delightful character.

Characters:
The characters are amazingly true to form... at least how I always pictured them being. Frederick was the troublesome youth that I expected him to be and Sophy was the pillar of strength for her family. Captain Croft was every bit as intriguing as you would expect a man who has sailed to far off countries to be. I loved the interactions between the characters and the scenes of Sophy with Captain Croft are incredibly romantic.

Overall:
This book has become a fast favorite of mine. I am not a prude but there is something beautiful about a book that can convey romance and love without having to include scenes of a sexual nature. This book was well written, had convincing characters and was very romantic. I highly recommend this book! According to the back of the book Sophy and Captain Croft's future adventures will be coming soon. 

Catching Up

I am a bit behind on my reviews. Upcoming are reviews on My Dear Sophy and Mr Darcy's Proposal. Stay tuned!

Review - Fitzwilliam Darcy, An Honourable Man by Brenda J. Webb

RATING
Story - 9.5/10
Characters - 7.5/10
Overall - 9/10

Wow this was quite the gothic tale. Definitely not like most of the Austenesque novels I have read but it was riveting right from the beginning.

The Story:
The story begins with Darcy returning back to the country after he has been away for two years abroad licking his wounds from Elizabeth's harsh rejection. He is of course still in love with her but he has resolved to break free from her hold. Before leaving he had told Bingley the truth and consequently Jane and Mr. Bingley are married. While he was away for those two years though things were not all happiness for the Bingley's. They have a big secret that nobody can know and Elizabeth's life depends on their success. Mr. Darcy is the only one that can help them but will he?

Characters:
Things are definitely different in this novel. One of the things that struck me the most was that Georgiana is not the shy young miss in this book. Instead she is a married woman living near Pemberley as Mrs. Ingrahm. Mr. Darcy is very much Mr. Darcy though there were some elements that struck me as odd. One major oddity was his leaving his responsibilities for 2 years. I don't think Jane Austen's Mr. Darcy would have done that no matter what the circumstances but it did feel like less of an issue considering Georgiana is older and settled in this variation. Elizabeth is nothing like Austen's Elizabeth but this can be mostly attributed to her circumstances throughout the novel. I also found Mrs. Bennet's actions to be shockingly bad though mostly believable. In a lot of ways this novel is only loosely connected to Austen's characters as a large majority of the characters are original creations or fairly different from their Austen counterparts. The characters are all interesting though and well fleshed out and I enjoyed the Austen universe that the author created.

Overall:
This book had a very original (and gothic) storyline that gripped my attention from the very beginning. There is murder, intrigue, and deception throughout the book. This is quite the page turner! Despite its loose Austen connections it is a really good read and I highly recommend it! If you are an Austen purist though you probably will not enjoy this novel as a lot of the characters either behave in questionable ways or they have been greatly changed (like Georgianna).

Review - The Imperative Series by Linda Wells

RATING
Story - 8.5/10
Characters - 8.5/10
Overall - 8/10

First I must say that this was one whopper of a series. The first book is 791 pages and the second book is 695 pages. Definitely not a quick read. Since I am one of those people that gets lost in the universe and hates when an enjoyable book ends I am not necessarily adverse to a very long book. This series could have lost about 100-200 pages though and would have been a much better read (more on that later).

The Story:
I do not want to give too much away here so I am going to just give a brief general overview. The story begins with Caroline Bingley's jaw dropped to the floor as Darcy purposely compromises Elizabeth in the Netherfield library in front of its inhabitants. It was quite enjoyable to see Caroline's reaction to that, especially so early in the novel. From there the story moves forward at rapid pace with secrets, deceptions, angst, drama and quite a number of intimate scenes. I really enjoyed the new characters that the author created as well as the little known characters that she fleshed out. The story is original and very dramatic (someone wants Darcy dead and its NOT Wickham; Georgiana DID run away with Wickham and is now facing the consequences).

What I didn't like (especially in the second book) was that I felt the intimate scenes were overdone. At least 1/3 of them could have been left out without having any impact on the pacing or cohesiveness of the novels. This would have also served to make the length of the book more palatable to some. Honestly I found myself skipping pages to get past some of the intimate scenes because there were just too many and it was making the book a tad boring. That being said the actual story was really good and overall I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Characters:
I truly enjoyed the author's characters. Elizabeth had a biting wit and was madly in love with Darcy without losing her spirit and independence. Darcy was romantic, overprotective and took on all of the challenges and dramas as I would have expected him to. Their relationship was full of romance, trust, love, and understanding. The new characters were also interesting and added a lot to the story. I did not necessarily like what she did to Mr. Bennet's and Jane's characters though I could see the logic as well as the necessity for her storyline.On the other hand I loved how she chose to flesh out Lady Catherine, Mr Hurst, Louisa and Wickham. The long length of the novel allowed the author to create three dimensional characters that were a joy to read about.

Overall:
The book was original, full of drama and an interesting what-if story. If it wasn't for the excessive intimate scenes (particularly in the second book) that made the book drag a bit I would have given this series an 8.5.

New Find! - Fitzwilliam Darcy An Honourable Man by Brenda Webb

I am constantly scouring Amazon for new Austen inspired novels to read and I came across this little gem today.

http://www.amazon.com/Fitzwilliam-Darcy-Honourable-Man-ebook/dp/B004W0IU5G

It was published back in 2011 but I somehow missed this one. It looks like it has some good reviews and there is an excerpt on the Amazon page that already has my attention. After I finish the Imperative series I think I will read this one next!

Welcome!

This blog will be devoted to all things Austen but will focus primarily on Austenesque novels and reviews. Being the only Austen obsessed person in my family circle I am looking forward to discussing the vast number of Austen inspired novels out there. Please don't be shy.

For my reviews I will strive to be objective and always honest. I know people look for different things in their Austen inspired novels so not everyone will agree with my assessments. I am not an Austen purist but maintaining character personalities is very important to me.

I am also ALWAYS looking for more Austen inspired novels to add to my to-read list so please feel free to post your recommendations!

Up first for review is the Imperative Series by Linda Wells. These are two MONSTER books but I am almost done and I can't wait to share my thoughts with you!