Winners of the Lucky 13 Giveaway

I have chosen the winners of the Lucky 13 giveaway using random.org and the two lucky winners are:

KrisAnn

and 

Anji

Ladies, I have emailed you both from the details you left on your entries to check what format ebook you'd like. Please can you reply within 48 hours so I can pass on your details to Cat Gardiner. If you haven't received your email please can you email me instead, at babblingsofabookworm (at) gmail (dot) com.

Thank you to Cat Gardiner for the giveaway and thank you all so much for your comments and interest in Lucky 13, which is available to purchase from tomorrow, 31 October!

Boots & Backpacks by KC Kahler Blog Tour + Giveaway

Today I have the honour of being the first stop on the Boots & Backpacks Blog Tour with a guest post by the author, KC Kahler. Read on to find out more about the book and author, and there is a chance to win a paperback copy of the book, open internationally! So without further ado I will pass over to KC Kahler

* * * * *

Book blurb:

Pride and Prejudice on the Appalachian Trail, roughly

William Darcy counts down the last few months to his 30th birthday with dread. Orphaned as a child, his parents’ will includes a bizarre clause: Darcy must get married by his 30th birthday in order to inherit the family fortune. To make matters worse, the press knows about this deadline, as do the hordes of women chasing him in the hopes of becoming Mrs. Darcy. His family legacy hangs in the balance, but Darcy has little faith in the fairer sex. Will he find a woman he wants to marry, and quickly?

Elizabeth Bennet is determined to pursue her education and career without letting a man get in the way. When her traveling companion drops out, her planned hike on the Appalachian Trail is jeopardized. She meets the spoiled, snobby William Darcy just when he is desperate to escape the spotlight. No one will suspect that the Prince of Manhattan has gone backpacking! Darcy and Elizabeth form a tenuous partnership and begin a 300-mile journey that will transform them both.

In classic romantic comedy tradition, Boots & Backpacks follows our reluctant partners as they build trust, friendship, and even more. Six weeks together on America’s most famous hiking trail may turn out to be just what these two need!

Romantic Comedy Tropes in Boots & Backpacks

Author KC Kahler

As a pop culture geek, I’m a sucker for tropes. What’s a trope? Well, according to the supreme time-sucking site TV Tropes:

“Tropes are devices and conventions that a writer can reasonably rely on as being present in the audience members' minds and expectations.”

Tropes are universal across all media types - mythology, literature, TV, movies, comic books, video games, etc. As consumers of media, we recognize tropes, either consciously or subconsciously, and form expectations about the characters and the plot. In a genre as formulaic as that of the romantic comedy, certain tropes get used over and over again, but fans of that genre keep coming back for more.

Jane Austen used tropes masterfully in her novels. Pride and Prejudice is considered by many to be the grandmommy of the modern romantic comedy. It is certainly the grandmommy of my novel Boots & Backpacks! So what beloved tropes from P&P can you expect to see in B&B? Here are a few:

• Tall, Dark, and Snarky - Yes, my hero is named William Darcy and he is quite the eligible bachelor! But he does have a few issues to work through: he’s a spoiled snob, he’s obsessed with the family fortune, and he distrusts basically everyone he meets, especially women.
• Spirited Young Lady - Elizabeth Bennet: as unimpressed with Mr. Darcy upon first introduction in 2014 as she was in 1813.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension - So much banter! The sexual tension in Boots & Backpacks starts out especially belligerent, but over the course of the story, our dear couple learns to get along.
• Will They or Won’t They - The staple of all romantic comedies! Usually it’s a foregone conclusion that they will, but the fun is seeing how and when they do.
• Inter-class Romance - Darcy’s a super-rich blue blood; Elizabeth is middle-class.
• Arch Enemy - Darcy’s arch enemy in Pride and Prejudice is George Wickham, but in Boots & Backpacks, the gossip columnist Gwen Younge fills the role.
• Grande Dame - Catherine De Bourgh, grand with or without a title.
• Act of True Love - In P&P, we know Darcy really loves Elizabeth when he drops everything to search for Wickham and Lydia in the seedy parts of London, and then, when he finds them, foots the bill to make them marry. And he never takes the credit or even wants Elizabeth to know about it, lest she feel indebted to him. Sigh.

Obviously, I can’t reveal what the Act of True Love is in Boots & Backpacks! But trust me, there’s a good one.

Now, just because we form expectations based on the tropes we recognize doesn't mean those expectations are fulfilled. Sometimes an author may set up a trope only to subvert it. A bait and switch, if you will. Think of a banana peel that no one slips on, or a damsel in 
distress who saves herself. So don't think that you know everything you need to know about Boots & Backpacks. There are quite a few surprises!

If you, like me, can’t get enough tropes, see the full TV Tropes list for Pride and Prejudice, as well as the section on romantic comedies. But be careful! One click will lead to many!

Thanks for reading, and thanks to Ceri for hosting my ramblings.

* * * * *

Thank you to KC Kahler for such an entertaining guest post! To find out more about KC Kahler you can visit her blog: http://kckahler.merytonpress.com/ and follow her on twitter @KCKahler

Meryton Press are very kindly offering a giveaway of one paperback copy of Boots & Backpacks on this stop of the blog tour, open internationally. To enter, just leave a comment on this blog post. Please leave a way for me to contact you should you win, twitter handle or email address (to prevent unwanted spam please leave your email address with an (at) instead of an @). Closing date is 10 November.

Please note that this giveaway has now closed and the winner will be chosen soon!

Since this a blog tour there will be other opportunities for you to learn more about the book and potentially win a copy. Here are the other scheduled stops:

28/10: Review at Songs and Stories

30/10: Excerpt & Giveaway at So Little Time…

31/10: Review at Wings of Paper

01/11: Guest Post & Giveaway at My Love for Jane Austen

02/11: Review at The Delighted Reader 

03/11: Excerpt at More Agreeably Engaged

04/11: Excerpt & Giveaway at The Calico Critic

05/11: Review at Warmisunqu’s Austen

06/11: Guest Post & Giveaway at The Darcy Obsession

07/11: Review at My Kids Led Me Back to Pride and Prejudice

Lucky 13 by Cat Gardiner + GIVEAWAY

Lucky 13 is a contemporary romance by debut author Cat Gardiner influenced by Pride & Prejudice. 26 year old Liz Bennet, despite having a successful career in advertising, has always considered herself unlucky. Her mother has always told her so at any rate. She was born on Friday 13th, a girl instead of a boy and has been told her whole life how she never measures up to expectations. Sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner with her parents, 4 sisters and their respective significant others and her aunt and uncle Liz has a realisation:

“There I was sitting down for our annual, calorie-laden, typically traditional, turkey dinner when all of a sudden, it hit me – once again, I was the unlucky number 13. It was the story of my birth and now my life. I was the odd person out. The only single at the table.”

Liz doesn’t envy her sisters their boyfriends – supermodel Jane is due to marry sweet millionaire Charlie Bingley on New Year’s Eve, Mary has settled for the unfortunate Billy Collins, Kitty has just become engaged to penniless Ashton and Lydia’s boyfriend is the lecherous George Wickham, who gropes her sisters under the table when given half a chance. However, she is sick of being singled out by her mother for being the only single Bennet daughter:

“I decided I would no longer sit idly by waiting for a good man to find me. I would have to go out and find him myself.”

Liz isn’t looking for Mr Right, just somebody she can bring as her date to the next Bennet family gathering, Christmas dinner and perhaps to Jane’s wedding. She sets about finding a date, trying personal ads (with unexpectedly amusing results!), speed dating, considers a blind date and even pays for the service of a Jewish matchmaker, despite not being of the Jewish faith herself.

Liz’s search is hampered by a few things. Firstly she doesn’t really believe that a decent man exists, judging from her unlucky dating history, and she’s had a real number pulled on her in the past, being manipulated and having her heart broken by her best friend Charlotte’s brother, John Lucas. She is scared to let anybody close to her.

“Unfortunately, now she’s become this self-fulfilling prophecy – dating and continually faultfinding, pessimistic about every man, and looking for a reason not to find love. She hides it well, but she’s immobilized by the fear of rejection and hurt.”

So if she meets somebody she’s very attracted to she’s likely to find excuses to fight it...

Enter Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy, President of Pem Tech, founder of the charitable FD Burns Foundation, part time fire-fighter and generally gorgeous hunky man. Darcy’s parents died a few years ago, not long before Christmas, in a house fire while he was out being a party boy and since then he’s been carrying a huge burden of guilt around with him that he wasn’t there. He assuages the guilt through his fire-fighting work but the period in the run-up to Christmas is very hard for him and he works too hard, drinks too much, and is generally a real grump.

Liz’s ad company has been hired to spearhead the FD Burns fundraising campaign by the Chairman of the foundation, Darcy’s cousin Richard Fitzwilliam. He wants Liz’s company to create a fundraising calendar featuring semi-clad firemen and he is determined that his cousin the Grinch will feature as Mr December. Between a grouch and a girl with a chip on her shoulder, what could possibly go wrong?! Luckily for Liz and Will there are plenty of potential matchmakers in each of their corners helping them direct the spark between them towards something more constructive than fighting, if only they will let it happen.

I really enjoyed this romance. The chemistry between Liz and Darcy was fantastic, and I loved the humour, there are a few laugh out loud moments, including a very amusing rendition of Caroline Bingley, as a pooch matchmaker with a very unfortunately misnamed designer dog. This isn’t a modern re-telling of Pride & Prejudice, but there were some nods back to the original, such as some of the wording:

“It’s important to emphasize that a single woman, living alone in Manhattan, who is somewhat in want of a man, need to protect herself.”

Though the central theme of the story is the same as Pride & Prejudice, first impressions can’t always be relied on, there were other themes that I liked, such as overcoming the labels that have been applied to you. Mrs Bennet had spent years putting Lizzy down and this lack of self-worth she felt was exploited by a manipulative ex-boyfriend, ‘John the Jerk’ who was there for Lizzy just enough to make her rely on him while simultaneously using her and holding her back. I’m sure we all know people who have settled for a partner who doesn’t treat them as they deserve because they don’t believe anybody else would want them. Seeing her overcome her hurdles and realise that her attitude and prejudices were causing some of her own bad luck was wonderful. Darcy grows too, from a man who is scared to commit to a relationship because of his fear of loss to somebody who is willing to take a chance on love.

Mrs Bennet in this story is a character you can simultaneously love and hate, which is an impressive achievement! On the one hand, the way she treats her daughter is deeply unkind, but on the other hand she has some wonderful, funny lines that I couldn’t help but giggle at. She is convinced, incorrectly, that Charlotte is a lesbian and is trying to make Lizzy gay! I also loved the characters of Charlotte and Rick, a.k.a. Punky and Preppy, who were wonderful friends to Liz and Darcy.

The story is told mostly in the third person, but Liz has set up a blog 'All I want for Christmas...' to document her progress in finding a date for Christmas which has extra information from her perspective, with guest posts from Charlotte. There are links at the end of most of the chapters to the blog posts. The blog adds not only differing perspectives on events but also progresses the story and I would strongly recommend reading the blog posts along with the story. I would have preferred the blog post text and comments within the book because they are such an integral part of the story that it would be a shame to miss them if you’re reading outside a wifi zone. My kindle also couldn’t cope with accessing the website but it’s worth the extra effort to access them on another device as you’re reading. The blog also has posts that give an insight into what happens to Liz and Darcy after the book finishes. I’d recommend this book in the run up to Christmas, it has a lovely slice of Christmas feel-good to it!

For those who seek/avoid such things there are no sex scenes in this book, though there are some flashbacks!

*I received an e-ARC of this book from the author for my honest review

You can see the book trailer for Lucky 13 here, and there's a chance to win an ebook copy of the book below!

Author Bio
Cat Gardiner loves to take you around the world in her novels, places you may never have been with music you’ve never heard.  A member of Romance Writers of America and her local chapter Tampa Area Romance Authors, she enjoys writing across the spectrum of Pride and Prejudice inspired romance novels.  From her debut novel - the comedic, chick-lit “Lucky 13” set to release on October 31st to bad boy, biker Darcy in the upcoming “Denial of Conscience,” contemporary genres will appeal to many of her readers.  Her greatest love, however, is penning 20th Century historical fiction – taking our dear couple to World War II in novels that will be forthcoming: “The Very Thought of You” and “My Dearest Darling.”  Where else can we find the greatest examples of both Pride and Prejudice?
“I love to take the reader on a multi-tiered adventure using the sights and sounds not only within the novel but with the use of Spotify playlist, information blogs, and image Pinterest.  Books should be an escape to a time, place, or world where you can become immersed.”
She found Pride and Prejudice by accident through Elizabeth Gaskell’s North & South and after reading and re-reading almost everything out there in the JAFF world, decided to try her own hand and imagination.  Now, she can stop.
Married 21 years to her best friend, they are the proud parents of the smartest honor student in the world – their orange tabby, Ollie.  They live in Tampa Florida, but will always be native New Yorkers no matter how far away they are.

Giveaway time!

Lucky 13 is due out on 31 October and Cat has very kindly offered to give away TWO e-book copies in kindle, nook, ibook or pdf! To enter, just leave a comment below, including a way for me to contact you (twitter handle or email address – if you’re leaving an email address please write it with an (at) instead of an @ to prevent unwanted spam). The last day to enter is 29 October.

Please note that the giveaway has now closed and winners have been chosen!

Revisit Mansfield Park: When Fanny Married Henry by Sarah Ozcandarli

It’s no spoiler to say what happens in this book, as it’s right there in the title! This is a variation based on Mansfield Park, exploring what could have happened if Fanny had given Henry Crawford more encouragement. This is a plot bunny for a variation that Austen herself set up within the text of Mansfield Park, Chapter 48:

‘Would he have persevered, and uprightly, Fanny must have been his reward, and a reward very voluntarily bestowed, within a reasonable period from Edmund’s marrying Mary.’

Revisit Mansfield Park's opening three chapters sum up the happenings of Mansfield Park as a reminder, or for those who haven’t read it, which is a bit dry, but we then get into the substance of this variation. If you’ve read Mansfield Park you may well remember that when Fanny Price goes to Portsmouth Henry Crawford visits her there. When he leaves he asks her to advise him as to whether he should return to his estate or go to London. Fanny declines to advise him and instead replies with one of the most famous quotes of the novel:

‘We have all a better guide in ourselves, if we would attend to it, than any other person can be.’

Crawford goes to London, and Fanny doesn’t see him again. However, in this book, when Crawford asks for her advice Fanny decides to give him a chance. To test Crawford’s regard for her, she will give her opinion. If he follows her advice then it could be that what he says is true, his interest in her is genuine and she has judged him unfairly. She advises him to return to his estate to settle the matters of business he has outstanding there. Given this encouragement Crawford requests that he might be allowed to correspond with Fanny, and she agrees, subject to her uncle’s consent. Obviously Sir Thomas is happy to agree with this, as the reason he sent Fanny to Portsmouth was to try and change her mind about Crawford’s proposal.

In this book, Fanny is more introspective. She wonders whether she is too guarded, comparing herself against the warmer Miss Crawford, and reflecting that she has opened her heart to her sister Susan, and has been rewarded by a growing sisterly relationship with her. Perhaps she could be less guarded in relation to Mr Crawford too? She decides to try and get to know him and give him a chance to see if she could care for him. As they correspond Fanny and Henry get to know each other better and she comes to see his good qualities – he’s intelligent, successful at things when he applies himself, and he is able to talk sensibly and interestingly with people ranging from William Price, to Sir Thomas to his daughters. Henry is also taken to task on his flirting and writes to Fanny:

‘I assure you that henceforth I will flirt with no one unless I fully intend to make her my wife, or she is already my wife. Therefore, I may flirt with you, Miss Price, when or if you allow it, though it may be that your honest heart knows not how to play that game.’

Henry Crawford is a very charming man and I found myself charmed by him in this variation. He says such lovely things, and is very thoughtful towards Fanny. So much so, that she begins to be won over. You may wonder, what of Edmund? Well, Fanny is so much more introspective here that she questions whether she was mistaken in thinking that she loved Edmund romantically. In fact, when Fanny receives a long-awaited letter from Edmund, who is staying in London, she receives a letter from Henry the same day which eclipses Edmund’s epistle:

‘She had meant to write to Edmund that evening, but her thoughts were less of her cousin than of Mr. Crawford, and she deferred Edmund’s letter until the next morning.’

I was wondering at this point what effect this might have on other people in Fanny’s family, most notably her cousin Maria, when you consider what happened in Mansfield Park! We catch up with what happened in London while Henry was at his Norfolk estate, and some questions here were raised that I didn’t feel were resolved by the end of the novel in relation to Maria and also Edmund and Mary. Also, the fates given to some of the characters seemed unnecessarily harsh to me and not very Austenesque!

On the whole I enjoyed this novel, however, in parts I felt it fell a little flat. I enjoyed the general tone of the writing, which was quite witty in parts but sometimes it seemed to be lacking in sparkle, with a bit too much telling the reader things rather than showing.  This wasn’t helped by the three summary chapters at the beginning. I appreciate why they were in the book, but as they were summaries they were dry reading and sometimes I felt the other parts of the book reverted to this style. I thought the author brought Henry Crawford to life nicely but Fanny was a little too insipid for my liking and she was critical of her relations in some of her letters to Crawford, which seemed out of character to me. Also, when scandal affects Fanny’s family, it seemed unlikely that she wouldn’t worry that it might affect Henry’s plans towards her. However, I was very pleased to see a Mansfield Park variation as most books based on Mansfield Park seem either to be sequels or modern retellings. I also found it interesting to see a scenario exploring a possible variation proposed by Jane Austen herself! I’d rate this book at 3½ stars.

Winners of Fitzwilliam Darcy An Honourable Man Giveaway

The three winners of their choice of Brenda's books have been chosen using Random.org and are as follows:

Luthien84

Loren Dushku

Chiara Lanzi

I have emailed the winners from the contact details left on the entries, please respond within 48 hours with your choice of book so I can pass your details on to Brenda. If you don't receive your email please contact me at babblingsofabookworm (at) gmail (dot) com.

Thank you all for your comments and a big thank you to Brenda Webb for her very generous giveaway!

Planned Reading for October 2014

Well I didn't have a good reading month in September. I was really busy in work, and feeling pretty tired a lot of the time which led to a real slow down in my reading :( I have another busy month ahead so I don't have high hopes that this month will be much better. However, there were high spots to September such as my lovely birthday presents, particularly the clothbound classics range of Jane Austen books. I also had a trip to Bath where I took the waters at the Pump Room! If you are wondering what it was like, the water is warm and tastes like metal.

I am hoping to catch up on the things I planned last month and didn't get to, namely Jane and the Twelve Days of Christmas: Being a Jane Austen Mystery by Stephanie Barron, which is due out later this month, and a book based on Jane Austen's unfinished book The Watsons, Emma and Elizabeth by Ann Mychal. I also have been planning for a couple of months to read Northanger Abbey. How dare I neglect our beloved Jane!

My Mansfield Park inspired read this month will finally be The Beresfords by Christina Dudley. I don't know much about this book, only that it is a modern(ish) version of MP, set in the mid 1980s, which I find pretty intriguing. This book comes highly recommended by the lovely Meredith over at Austenesque Reviews, which is recommendation enough for me!

I also plan to read An Obstinate, Headstrong Girl by 'A Lady'. From what I understand this is a modern version of Pride and Prejudice set in California. Lizzy is a landscape gardener, hence the cover. From what I've gleaned so far it has some fun updates and a male Jane! I'm looking forward to reading this one.

Anyway, keep your fingers crossed for me that I manage to fit in some lovely reading time this month. Happy reading!

Giveaway - Fitzwilliam Darcy An Honourable Man by Brenda Webb

Having read my review of Brenda Webb's Fitzwilliam Darcy An Honourable Man I am guessing you want to read it? Well Brenda has very generously offered to give away THREE copies of it! A choice of paperback or kindle ebook for US/UK residents, and kindle ebook for other countries.

Here's the blurb to further whet your appetite:

Fitzwilliam Darcy, An Honourable Man is a Pride and Prejudice variation. Not a simple retelling, it is an intriguing new story. 

Leaving England after his disastrous proposal was refused at Hunsford, Darcy spent two lonely years in Scotland and Ireland before returning home to face Elizabeth Bennet, certain that he could regard her as an indifferent acquaintance. 

Events that transpired in his absence have left Elizabeth a changed woman. The victim of a marriage by deception to Count Stefano, she has suffered greatly at his hands.

Will Mr. Darcy rescue the woman he vowed to forget?

To enter for the giveaway just leave a comment below. You can gain an extra entry by leaving a comment on my review post, here.  Last day for entries is Monday 6 October 2014. Please make sure you leave your twitter handle or email address so I can contact winners. To prevent unwanted spam please leave your email address with an (at) instead of an @

The giveaway has now closed for entry and winners will be chosen soon!

If you already have this book Brenda has very kindly offered a choice of her other books, instead, Mr Darcy's Forbidden Love, or her new book A Most Unlikely Couple, which is due out in October.

Many thanks to Brenda for offering this generous giveaway!

Fitzwilliam Darcy: An Honourable Man by Brenda Webb

This is a Pride & Prejudice variation which varies quite widely from the original book. Aside from the changes unfolding as you read there are a number of changes to past events which aren’t obvious at first, such as a much smaller age gap between Georgiana and Darcy, 3 years instead of 12, and the history of George Wickham is also different – there was no attempted elopement with Georgiana and Wickham never joined the militia, meaning that hasn’t been to Meryton and has never met the Bennets. Following the disastrous Hunsford proposal Darcy informed Bingley that he had been mistaken in his estimation of Jane Bennet’s feelings towards Bingley. Feeling a need to escape for a while Darcy has spent the last two years visiting his estates in Scotland and Ireland. Personal mail wasn’t forwarded at his request. Finally, Darcy feels that he is over his unrequited love for Miss Elizabeth Bennet, and he is ready to marry and produce the requisite heir for Pemberley.

‘It had taken a long time, but he was certain now of one thing – he could meet her as an indifferent and common acquaintance.’

Georgiana is unaware of the reason for her brother’s prolonged absence but is thrilled that he is finally thinking of marrying. Although she and her husband have been unable to have a child of their own she wants her brother to be happy and she looks forward to lavishing love on a niece or nephew. Georgiana has a candidate for a bride too, her husbands’ step-brothers’ widow, a Mrs Preston. She is plain, but aside from that Georgina feels that she might fit Darcy’s personality quite well. Having given up on love Darcy is amenable to considering a marriage with Mrs Preston, who he feels will not expect him to love her.

Meanwhile Bingley is at the end of his tether; though happily married to the former Miss Jane Bennet he is extremely worried about Elizabeth. After Elizabeth’s return from Kent a Count, Stefano, came to Hertfordshire and became besotted with Elizabeth, who showed no interest in him. The Count proposed marriage to Elizabeth but was refused consent by Mr Bennet. Following Mr Bennet’s death soon afterwards, the Count renewed his addresses to Elizabeth, receiving far more encouragement from Mrs Bennet. Then one night Elizabeth disappeared and suddenly Mrs Bennet was in possession of a large sum of money, having sold her daughter’s hand in marriage. News was next heard of Elizabeth having married the Count, presumably against her will. The next contact relating to Elizabeth was via a servant, who informed the Bingleys that Elizabeth had been involved in a violent altercation with her husband in which she witnessed her husband killing her maid, and had herself been grazed by a bullet. Her husband had then set the house on fire. The servants had hidden Elizabeth and put out word that she was dead. A grave in Meryton holds the body of a servant who perished in the fire and the secret of Elizabeth’s survival has been carefully kept from all but a handful of people.

Lizzy is by no means unscathed by her experience. She’s had a breakdown of sorts and barely communicates. If she sees a man she often panics and the need to limit the people in Meryton who know she’s alive means that Elizabeth is cared for by Jane and one servant. She has escaped from the house on more than one occasion and it is purely by good luck that she hasn’t already been discovered. Bingley is praying that his good friend Darcy will assist them with their need to get Lizzy away from Meryton and be assured that she will be cared for by somebody who loves her and will be able to keep her existence a secret. This is obviously asking a huge amount of Darcy – firstly, it is asking him to take on the care of somebody who rejected his offer of marriage and broke his heart, which will be hard enough, but Bingley is also asking Darcy to sacrifice his future. Should Lizzy recover she is married to a dangerous madman so she wouldn’t be free to marry Darcy and the likelihood of Darcy marrying somebody else willing to put up with the care of her husband’s first love seems slim. Darcy sees all the disadvantages of him taking on Elizabeth’s care but once Darcy sees Elizabeth and realises that he is one of the very few people she responds positively to it becomes a very difficult task to walk away from the only woman he’s ever loved in her hour of need.

‘If he took Elizabeth to Pemberley, he would be giving up the prospect of a future with another woman, and there would be no future with Elizabeth as his wife, as she was already married.  

Could I settle for another woman, knowing that Elizabeth is alive? Can I live with the prospect of caring for her a lifetime without being able to marry her?’

Will Darcy succumb to the pressure of his responsibilities to marry and provide an heir for Pemberley? Will Lizzy ever recover? Is there any chance of a happy ever after for our poor couple!?

I thought this was a really inventive and unusual premise. Some elements reminded me of a story by Victorian author Wilkie Collins, called ‘The Woman in White’ which features a villainous Italian Count, sees a character presumed dead and touches on mental illness. It’s certainly very sad to read of the circumstances that Lizzy has found herself forced into due to her mother’s avarice. In some variations Mrs Bennet is shown to be pettily spiteful to Elizabeth but her behaviour here transcends the petty, it’s genuinely evil!

I wasn’t sure about the behaviour of some of the characters, Caroline Bingley in particular does something that I can’t see her doing, as any shame on the Bennets is also shame on her, via her brother’s family connection. Also, many of the characters are quite demonstrative, which surprised me a tad. For those who prefer to avoid them there are some sex scenes although they are not especially graphic.

There are some strong gothic elements in this story – madness, violence, villains, peril and high drama. The characters tend to be either good or entirely bad and every female who Darcy meets in society is abhorrent, they are either trying to catch his hand in marriage or secure him as a lover. This is certainly a gripping story, not the type of thing you pick up if you have 10 minutes here and there to fill, you need a good stint of reading time because I needed to know what happened next to the characters but was almost afraid to read on and find out! There is no need to worry too much as eventually no bad deed goes unpunished, rapturous happiness awaits the deserving and best of all, we see a victim become a victor. I would recommend this as an extremely romantic, extremely entertaining read but not for the Austen purist, as I felt this story had a more gothic romance feel than Austen feel to it.

*I received a copy of this book from the author for my honest review

Edited to add: Brenda has very kindly offered a giveaway of this book, to three lucky commenters. Please see giveaway post for details!

Birthday Austenesque Loot!

As some of you may know, it was recently my birthday. Although getting older doesn't make me super happy, what does make me happy is the fact that I am always the grateful recipient of some lovely new stuff :)

This year I had some lovely Austen-y things. I had a Pride & Prejudice phone cover and a kindle cover

The phone cover is from Etsy. The kindle cover was from Amazon. It's possible to get a kindle cover in the lovely peacock design but they don't do it for my kindle. You have to get the cover for the exact model of kindle you have as the kindle sits in a cradle which is the shape of the back of your kindle. I could have had a peacock design one where the kindle sticks to the back board but I didn't fancy sticking my precious kindle to anything! I wanted the cradle style instead. This was an early birthday present so I've been using it for a while and I'm happy with it so far, it's really pretty and as you can see from the photo showing the inner that it's just a tiny bit bigger than the kindle so it doesn't take up too much room in a bag, which is important as I carry it with me pretty much everywhere I go!

Though I've read all of Austen's main novels I didn't actually own all of them hard copy. In fact, I only own Emma, which is temporarily in a box in the attic due to a lack of storage space, and Persuasion and Pride & Prejudice, which I bought about 20 years ago. You may not believe it to look at them, because I am a neat reader, but these books have been read many, many times.

So I'd been after a really nice set of Austens, and look at what I have now!

Soooo nice!

And a side view...

Bask in their beauty!

They are sooooo beautiful. These are from the clothbound classics range from Penguin. I have all 6 of the main novels, and also pre-ordered Love and Freindship and Other Youthful Writings from Austen's juvenilia which is being released later this month.

And I also had some lovely kindle vouchers so I can buy some more JAFF to fill up the already over-stuffed kindle. I'm very lucky and grateful to have received such lovely stuff :)

North and South by Mrs Gaskell

I have been trying not to re-read books because I have so many new book I haven’t read yet, but the Goodreads North and South group that I’m a member of were having a group read and I couldn’t resist joining in. Since everybody approaches a book from their unique perspective we all interpret a story through our own filter and will see things differently. I got a lot out of doing the group read as people raised points that might not have occurred to me, and solidified my views of other aspects. As with any book I’d consider a classic it’s very hard to write a review, I don’t feel worthy! So instead I’ll just say I’m sharing my thoughts!

North and South tells the story of 18 year old Margaret Hale. She has been brought up in her aunt’s house in London for the last 9 years as a companion to her cousin Edith, but now Edith is due to marry and Margaret will return to her parent’s home. Though sincerely fond of Edith and Aunt Shaw, Margaret can’t wait to be able to be a daughter to her parents again back in the hamlet of Helstone in the New Forest. However, Margaret’s joy at returning home is short-lived. Her father, Mr Hale, is a clergyman, but he has been having a spiritual crisis, disagreeing with many of the doctrines of  the church. He doesn’t feel that he can, in good conscience, continue to act as a clergyman and has decided to move the family to Milton, an industrial town in the North of England, where Mr Hale proposes to work as a tutor, teaching the finer points of classics and literature to adult students.

Milton couldn’t be much more different to the New Forest. It is dirty, industrial and the people are different too, being far less class-conscious, more forward, and the pace of life is also quite different. One of Mr Hale’s pupils is John Thornton, a successful mill-owner. To Margaret, he personifies the North, being hard, uncaring of people, seeing his workers only as cogs in the machine of his business rather than as people in their own right and only caring for money. Margaret is sadly prejudiced against Mr Thornton, still retaining some of her London snobbery towards tradesmen and their pretences of being something other than they are.

In fact, Mr Thornton is a self-made man. Following his father’s suicide the then-teenaged Thornton left schooling and obtained a job as a draper’s assistant to be able to support his mother and sister. He not only repaid his father’s debts but managed to get a job as an assistant manager in a cotton mill, eventually becoming a successful mill-owner, through his hard work. He is driven, and proud of his achievements, though he feels that anybody willing to work could have achieved what he did. Over time and through some very sad events, both Margaret and Thornton change. She comes to understand how the Northerner’s minds work and the reasoning behind their views. Thornton comes to appreciate his workers on a more personal basis and once he is able to understand their perspective he can work to improve his workers’ lot in life without overstepping the boundaries of his proud countrymen.

I’ve always thought of North and South as being like Pride & Prejudice with a social conscience and I still think that’s a fair summation. Mr Thornton is proud, and rightly so, but the reason he holds himself apart from his fellow-man isn’t particularly his pride but his somewhat incomplete view of them. Margaret is also very proud, but she’s also extremely prejudiced. She has an additional problem in the form of the support she has to provide to her family during a time when they are under a lot of pressure.

Mrs Gaskell was writing at a time well-known for the increase in social conscience, where people took an interest in reducing problems and injustices in wider society. There were many attempts made by authors to raise awareness of the way life was for the working man in order to gain more understanding and empathy for his situation. In North and South Thornton himself is initially unsympathetic to the troubles of his worker – since he has raised himself up from scant earnings he sees no reason why any other man who can read and write couldn’t do the same but once he gets to know them on a human level he gets to understand them and their issues better. For all his self-made success, even Thornton isn’t infallible so he learns that hard work alone isn’t always enough.

One thing I always enjoy with older books is a peep at aspects of life in times gone by. In some stories this glimpse could be nuances of society, etiquette etc. Here, the focus is on the life of the workers, an exploration of industrial relations and the moral role of the master is brought to life with human interest. All of this with the undercurrent of a romance that is full of twists, angst, misunderstanding and plenty of passion, kept sternly repressed by crinoline and frock coat for the most part!

If you’ve watched the excellent BBC adaptation I would still recommend reading the book. Not only do you get more of the inner thoughts of Margaret and Mr Thornton but I think you get more of the societal message that Gaskell was intending to convey along with the growth of the main characters. This is one of my all time favourites and I highly recommend it.