The Knight Before Christmas by Marilyn Brant - Review

Today I'm pleased to be bringing you a seasonal post. It's always satisfying when you are blogging about something at the right time of year! Marilyn Brant has brought out an Emma-influenced story which is set at Christmas time, The Knight Before Christmas, and she was so kind as to give me a copy to read and review. Let's look at the blurb and then I'll tell you what I thought of the book :)

Book Description

THE KNIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS is a light contemporary romance by New York Times & USA Today bestselling author Marilyn Brant, who also penned the award-winning and Jane Austen-inspired novels ACCORDING TO JANE and PRIDE, PREJUDICE AND THE PERFECT MATCH.

When successful building contractor Austin Knightley returns to his hometown of Crystal Corners, Minnesota after a decade away, he vows to avoid pampered and popular types like his old high-school crush Emma Westwood—the town's biggest queen bee and self-appointed matchmaker—only to get swept into a community Christmas project she's now organizing.

With nods to Jane Austen's classic novel EMMA, this modern heroine may be a little "clueless" in the Midwest, but she's got gifts to share and plenty to learn from the boy next door, who's all grown up and handsomer than ever. Even when a snowstorm threatens to derail her plans, she's determined to figure out how to set things right and save THE KNIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS.

This sweet and heartwarming holiday romance is a story that can be enjoyed by readers of all ages.

The Knight Before Christmas - Review

It’s been ages since I’ve read a Marilyn Brant book, so I was very interested to hear about this one, which I thought at first was a modernisation of Austen’s Emma. However, if you read the blurb, it’s clear that it’s a story with nods to Emma rather than replicating the story.

We start with the heroine, Emma Westwood, who is basically the princess of Crystal Corners, the small town where she has always lived in Minnesota. She is from a rich background, and her family uses their money for good; they run a charitable organisation, which Emma manages. Emma is very much a people person. She is genuinely interested in others, and tries to use her influence for good. It’s fair to say that Emma is a little spoilt, but she is a good person with good motives.

One of the ways that she has shown interest in making others happy is in her matchmaking. She’s made a fair few matches, often deciding that men she has dated would be a better fit with other people! Despite all her friends Emma is a little lonely. She has never met anybody that she would like to settle down with but she longs for a loving relationship that she sees all around her. Emma is very close with her parents, but this year, for their wedding anniversary, they are taking a holiday to Europe and will be away over Christmas, so she is more alone than usual.

Emma has a community project that she is focusing on completing; having fond memories of a knight statuette that she received as a small child, she works throughout the year to give every child in the town a personalised statuette, which reflects their interests. These are presented at Christmas time.

Emma has always had a soft spot for knights in shining armour:

One day, though, she wanted a real-life knight. 

And, with the certainty of someone well accustomed to getting what she desired, young Emma Westwood figured it was only a matter of time until her fantasy became a reality.

When there is a problem with the custom cabinet that Emma has ordered for the statuettes she could do with a knight in shining armour to help….

Austin Knightley was in school with Emma but he was never a fan, despite her attempts to win him over. Austin moved away from Crystal Corners and has made a successful building company. He’s moving back to the area for family reasons, as the health of Austin’s parents is starting to cause concern. Austin has 3 younger siblings, who all live locally, and only child Emma can’t help but be attracted by the warmth she sees in his family. Although Emma is interested in Austin and being friends, she is well aware that the feeling isn’t mutual:

It was strange that after all these years, it still rankled that she couldn’t win Austin over. It was as if he’d made a judgement call against her when she was a kid and refused to reverse that verdict. 

It’s a shame then, that he might be the person with the skills available to help her out when she needs a new cabinet made at short notice. Austin is willing to help for the good of the community, but he’s not working for Emma. He wants her to roll up her sleeves and pitch in. To his surprise she is happy to do just that. The unfortunate side-effect of this might be that his perception of her changes…

This is a very sweet romance which develops quickly. Emma is far more likeable than Austen’s Emma, but the flipside of this was making Austin a little less likeable than Mr Knightley - or perhaps less admirable, as Austin isn't unlikeable by any means. Austen’s Mr Knightley didn’t need to change throughout the arc of the novel, but in this book, the opposite was true. Emma didn’t change much at all, but Austin had to make some attitude re-adjustments and get rid of long-held misconceptions.

I liked the nods to Emma but sometimes I wished they were stronger. For example, there were some characters which shared names with characters in Austen’s book and I expected them to have some of the same sort of roles that they did in Austen but that wasn’t the case.

I found the book reminiscent of a Christmas feelgood film in that that the relationship developed very quickly. I would have preferred a slower pace, which may partly have been because I was looking for it to be like Emma, where friends develop into more, rather than the relationship being romantic from early on.

If you are in need of some festive feelgood, with a sprinkle of Austen, and even a Christmas miracle then this book is certainly worth a go. I’d rate it as a 3½ star read.

*I received an ebook of this story from the author for my honest review.

Author Bio

Marilyn Brant is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling author of over 20 books in the genres of contemporary women’s fiction, romantic comedy, and mystery. Her debut novel about Jane Austen won the Romance Writers of America’s prestigious Golden Heart Award® (2007), and she was named Author of the Year (2013) by the Illinois Association of Teachers of English. She’s a travel addict, a music junkie, and an insatiable book collector, who loves to discuss story structure and periodically contributes novel beat sheets to the popular screenwriting website, SaveTheCat.com. Marilyn’s family believes she’s lost unquantifiable hours to the allure of “Tasty” videos on Facebook, but she refuses to substantiate this claim. For more about her writing, visit Marilyn’s website: www.marilynbrant.com

Website / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads 

Buy Links

The Knight Before Christmas is available to buy now in both ebook and paperback - Amazon US / Amazon UK / Amazon CA / Add to Goodreads shelf

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The Child by Jan Hahn - Blog Tour, Review and Giveaway

I'm happy to be featuring Jan Hahn again on the blog today, with her latest book, 'The Child'. I was lucky enough to receive a copy of the book for my review, and I'll share what I thought of it below. First, though, let's whet your appetite by sharing the blurb!

Book Description

Will Darcy ever grow to love a child he never wanted?

In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Fitzwilliam Darcy’s proposal to Elizabeth Bennet at Hunsford is disastrous. In Jan Hahn’s The Child, Darcy flees England soon afterward, striving to overcome his longing for her. Upon his return two years later―while standing on the steps of St. George’s Church in Hanover Square―he spies the very woman he has vowed to forget. But who is the child holding her hand?

Darcy soon discovers that Elizabeth and her family are suffering the effects of a devastating scandal. His efforts to help the woman he still loves only worsen her family’s plight. His misguided pride entangles him in a web of falsehood, fateful alliances, and danger.

Will Elizabeth be able to forgive Darcy for his good intentions gone awry? And what effect will the child have on Darcy’s hopes to win Elizabeth’s love?

Suddenly Mrs Darcy by Jenetta James - Review

Today the 'Suddenly Mrs Darcy' Blog Tour stops off here with my review of the book. Here's the blurb:

Elizabeth Bennet never imagined her own parents would force her to marry a virtual stranger. But when Mrs. Bennet accuses Fitzwilliam Darcy of compromising her daughter, that is exactly the outcome. Trapped in a seemingly loveless marriage and far from home, she grows suspicious of her new husband’s heart and further, suspects he is hiding a great secret. Is there even a chance at love given the happenstance of their hasty marriage?

And here's my review:

The Husband Maker by Karey White

Charlotte is a real romantic; she wants a man to fall madly in love with her and settle down with her forever. But in reality, this doesn’t seem to be happening. In fact, the men that Charlotte dates ARE settling down and getting married, but it always seems to be to whoever they start dating after they break up with her.

The Darcy Brothers - by Various Austen Variations Authors

Jakki of Leatherbound Reviews offered me the opportunity to review 'The Darcy Brothers' by Monica Fairview, Maria Grace, Cassandra Grafton, Susan Mason-Milks and Abigail Reynolds for her blog. It was originally published here, but in case you missed it, here it is.

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Last year, on the Austen Variations website, a serial story was posted, with the authors taking turns in posting chapters. At the end of the chapter there was a poll which gave the readers a choice in the direction of the story. This must have been such a challenge for the authors involved, picking up the threads of the story where somebody else has left it, and having to follow the readers’ choice of direction rather than the writer’s own muse. I read most of the challenge as it was being posted and was therefore really interested to see this published version of ‘The Darcy Brothers’ by Monica Fairview, Maria Grace, Cassandra Grafton, Susan Mason-Milks and Abigail Reynolds.

This is a variation on ‘Pride & Prejudice’ where the variation is a change to Darcy’s family. Here, he has a brother two years younger than himself, Mr Theophilus Darcy. The Darcy brothers unfortunately do not have the closest of brotherly bonds, and Theo has become Darcy’s scapegoat for a number of events including Georgiana’s failed elopement with Wickham, as Theo accompanied her to Ramsgate and was very close to Wickham. Darcy is paying his annual visit to Lady Catherine and has decided to take his brother with him, to keep him out of trouble. Darcy and Theo have a very unhealthy relationship at the start of this story. Theo craves his brother’s approval, but also derives great enjoyment from needling and annoying him, and a perverse pleasure in proving all his brother’s worst suspicions correct. At the beginning of the book I really didn’t like the side in each other that the brothers provoked (because anybody with siblings will know that they can bring out the absolute worst in you!); Darcy was more humourless, intolerant and unpleasant than I am used to, and Theo, while being amenable to others, was quite childish in his provoking manner. I found his childishness towards Lady Catherine much more amusing though:

‘Dipping a quill in ink, he began a sketch of his aunt with fangs and bat wings, then neatly labelled it ‘The Old Bat’.’

Theo has very keen powers of observation and is quite sure that something is wrong with his brother, who has, unbeknown to Theo, travelled to Kent under the spectre of dread that Caroline Bingley has put into his head that Elizabeth may have married Mr Collins. Being a person with an enquiring mind, and having nothing else to do in the country, Theo has decided to try and puzzle out what is preying on his brother’s mind:

‘A plan began to take shape in his head. True, it would mean undertaking several of his least favourite things – awakening early in the morning, attempting to be polite to his aunt and avoiding annoying his brother – but sometimes sacrifices must be made.’

Once Theo is on the case, it doesn’t take long for him to come to some quite accurate conclusions regarding his brother’s feelings, but unfortunately Darcy isn’t blessed with the same level of success in determining people’s feelings and he isn’t sure if Theo also has feelings of admiration towards Elizabeth. Elizabeth has even less reason to think well of Darcy in this variation, as she sees him add mistreatment of his brother to his list of crimes, not realising that Theo is extremely provoking to his sibling. With so much pushing them apart, is there a way towards happiness for Darcy and Elizabeth? And can the Darcy brothers ever bridge the gap between them and be brothers in more than name?

I thought this was an interesting idea for a variation because on the face of it, Darcy having a brother shouldn’t make much difference to his relationship with Elizabeth unless he directly interferes, but of course, having a different family dynamic would make Darcy a different person, and he is a sorely-tried man with a brother like Theo. The root cause of this isn’t Theo’s fault, he has been blamed unfairly by Darcy for a number of events, but he has perversely exacerbated the problem as much as possible, because, like his brother, he is a proud man, and will not admit that he wants his brother’s respect and love so their relationship has evolved into a bit of a vicious circle.

While at Rosings we see a very different side to Anne de Bourgh. I really enjoyed Anne’s character, and have never seen one quite like it in my Austenesque reading. Having been so secluded from society, Anne hasn’t learned the boundaries required for polite society, and is extremely outspoken and headstrong (I wonder where she gets that from?!), which I found very entertaining. She also wants to ‘help’ Darcy’s courtship of Miss Bennet, for her own reasons. I also liked the new character of Theo’s good friend, the genial man-mountain Sir Montgomery Preston.

Through the trials and tribulations they face, we see the Darcy brothers draw closer together and overcome the obstacles to true brotherhood that they’ve placed between them; it’s lovely to see them becoming closer and as they do, you can see Darcy changing to become more like the character that we know and love, and as Darcy changed I enjoyed the story more and more. This is a less romantic variation than some as the focus is more on the brothers, particularly Theo, but it was entertaining and interesting. There was a really interesting section relating to how wounds were dealt with which was fascinating to compare to medicine today.  I was also interested to see whether having this many authors would lead to changes in style throughout the book, but reading the published version I don’t think I’d have realised that there were so many authors involved in creating the story if I hadn’t have known the fact.

I don’t know whether it’s intended for this story to have a sequel but I think there is definite scope for it, and I’d love to read it if one is written. I would like to see what happens to Theo after the close of our tale! I’d recommend this to Austenesque readers, and I’d rate it as a 4½ star read.

*I was provided with a copy of this book to review for Leatherbound Reviews. 

Head in the Clouds by Karen Witemeyer

This is a story set in Texas in the late 1800s. Miss Adelaide Proctor took a job as a teacher after her father died, and part of the conditions of the contract were that she wasn’t allowed to marry for 2 years. At the end of this time, the potential suitors who she met when she first came into town have moved on.  Adelaide has no family and she dreams of starting a family of her own, so she’s been concentrating her efforts on a young man called Henry, whom she doesn’t love, but likes enough to see as a potential husband.  Henry works as a travelling salesman, so Adelaide only sees him about once a month, and when he gets a promotion he tells her he won’t be in the area again. Adelaide believes Henry is too shy to propose, so she decides to give him some encouragement, resigning her job and followings him to a new town where she is met with disappointment.

Adelaide needs a new job quickly, and is lucky enough to be given a chance of being a governess to Gideon Westcott’s 5 year old daughter, Isabella.  The poor child lost her mother 5 months ago, and has been mute ever since.  She is absolutely crushed by her grief, and Gideon isn’t so much looking for a teacher for Isabella, but somebody who will bring her back to a normal childhood.  Adelaide is no stranger to grief and she and Isabella immediately bond.  Adelaide also feels a strong pull towards Gideon, but she’s getting her head out of the clouds this time; he’s her employer, the son of an English baron, and she’s not exactly marriage material he’s likely to be looking for.  In addition to this Adelaide is under the belief that Gideon’s wife has just died, not realising that he adopted the orphaned Isabella.

Adelaide is a great character, she is fun, hard-working, brave, sensible and sweet.  Her father used to call her his sunshine, and it’s an apt nickname, she is a very sunny soul! She has a genuine affection for Isabella and is patient with her, trying to draw her out of her shell and come out from the shadow her experiences have cast on her short life. Adelaide and Gideon’s attraction towards each other is almost instant, but it’s still believable, and you are rooting for them to get together when it becomes apparent that there is a very real danger threatening Isabella, and they have to work together to fight it off.  There is quite a bit of action going on in this book, and I was riveted to the page!

This book has a strong Christian theme, but I didn’t feel it was too much; Adelaide in particular has a bit of a spiritual journey in this book, starting off by being almost impatient with God for how her life is, and moving towards the realisation that rather than asking God to give her certain things in life she should instead have been asking for courage to do what needs to be done and patience to wait when needed. 

This is the first book I’ve read by this author but I would definitely read other books by her, I really enjoyed this read.