Love Will Grow by P.O. Dixon

Love Will Grow by P.O. Dixon

A Pride and Prejudice Story

We open this story in Kent shortly before Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam arrive for there anual visit to Rosings Park.

The first shift in the tale comes with Elizabeth being befriended by Anne DeBurgh.

Anne having watched Elizabeth's effects on Darcy and her vivacious banter with him and the Colonel, decides that Lizzy is just the person she needs to help her win the heart of her cousin Darcy ,who she tells Elizabeth that she has always loved deeply.

Lizzy questions Anne as to his suitability as a husband as she still has her prejudices firmly in place and Mr Wykham lies still are believed.

Anne shows Lizzy her letters from Georgiana  and puts her straight but this is not enough to change the outcome when Darcy proposes to her in a different venue but with the same result.

As far as Elizabeth is concerned she does not want to be part of a love triangle between Darcy, Anne and Herself caring for her new friend.

How is he going to get out of this one and win the woman he loves.

Pick up Love Will Grow and find out how this charming tale unfolds.

Interview With An Author – Kara Louise

Interview With An Author – Kara Louise

Kara Louise’s Website:   and    http://www.delightfuldiversions.net/

1) Your own favorite Austen character and why:

Kara:  It has to be Mr. Darcy. He is a man of strong convictions and integrity, loyal to family and to his friends (to a fault, where Bingley was concerned, though), and a man who did not flaunt his wealth and connections. The fact that he was handsome and rich might have a little to do with it.

2) Your Favorite Austen book:

Kara:  Pride and Prejudice is my favorite, with Persuasion a close second.

3) Which actor would you chose to be YOUR Mr Darcy and why:

Kara:   I am a Colin Firth fan all the way. To me he is Mr. Darcy in his looks, actions, and demeanour.

4) Who would be your perfect Elizabeth:

Kara:   If I could go back in time and mix eras, I might say Audrey Hepburn, although she may have been too pretty. She did have such fine eyes!

5) Your favorite book of all time by any author:

Kara:   Since I have read it so often and enjoy it every time, it would have to be “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen herself.

6) Your favorite Austen film or TV adaption:

Kara:   The 1995 “Pride and Prejudice” although I do enjoy the latest “Emma” with Jonny Lee Miller.

7) You are having a dinner party and can invite four Austen characters which would they be:

Kara:  Mr. Darcy, Captain Wentworth, Mr. Knightly, and Colonel Fitzwilliam.

8. Why have you chosen them:

Kara:  Do you have to ask? I would love to ask them all kinds of questions about how they knew they were in love, why they fell in love, and why that love endured (this of course might not apply to the Colonel, but he would add a little bit of levity to the group!).

9) Which character would you like to play in a film:

Kara:   I assume you mean a Jane Austen character. If I were to choose one who is most like me, it would have to be Jane Bennet. I am really like her in that I do try to see good in people. Now sometimes it’s hard, but I can usually still put up with them.

10) Tell us about your next planned book (whether Austen related or not):

Kara:   I wrote a series of stories several years ago that follow Darcy and Elizabeth in their first year of marriage as they celebrated each of the holidays and special events, beginning, of course with Christmas. I’m doing some major editing of it, adding some stories, and getting it ready for a fall release.

It will be self-published and titled, “Pemberley Celebrations – the first year.”

More from Kara Louise Here 

A Very Big Thank You To Kara.

If you are an Author and would like to Be Included In ‘Questions To Authors ‘- Click on the Questions To Authors link at the top of the page and go for it! 

Interview With An Author – Karen Wasylowski

Interview With An Author – Karen Wasylowski

Karen V. Waslowski’s Website

Karen V. Wasylowski, author of “Darcy and Fitzwilliam, a tale of a gentleman and and officer”

1) Your own favorite Austen character and why?

Karen:  Lady Catherine de Bourgh is certainly one of my favorites and a very misunderstood character to be sure. The older that I get the more I understand her irritation with the youngsters around her and their new fangled ideas about love and romance. She is so very pompous and so opinionated that she borders on the laughable and that’s how I see her – an eccentric old aunt about whom everyone must…up with put. (Can’t end a sentence with a preposition, you know.)

2) Your Favorite Austen book?

Karen:  Pride and Prejudice is nearly perfect in my mind. There is something about the elegant, handsome, superior male being brought to his knees by the clever, witty, and very beloved female that is very satisfying to behold. Darcy’s second proposal is tender and human and Elizabeth’s new found love and respect for him (and Pemberley) is poignant. All the characters are so normal – I can see sitting down with any one of them (except Reverend Collins) and enjoying a nice chat.

3) Which actor would you chose to be YOUR Mr. Darcy and why?

Karen:   That’s a real puzzler. I loved Colin Firth in the mini-series and enjoyed watching his falling in love with Elizabeth. However, I did enjoy Matthew Macfadyen’s portrayal also. There was a defensive shyness about Darcy with Macfadyen where Colin’s was more of a pride of his position.

4) Who would be your perfect Elizabeth?

Karen:  I hated Kiera Knightley’s look in the 2005 movie, as compared to Jennifer Ehle. Kiera looked like an unmade bed half the time where Jennifer looked perfect. In reflection though the Bennet’s were poor gentility so their clothes and their home would be rather shabby and they would not have the finest of maids to do hair. Aside from that Kiera just glowed as Lizzy. She was lit from within – a cliché that just seems to apply to her in all of her movies.

5) Your favorite book of all time by any author?

Karen:  Hands down – Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

6) Your favorite Austen film or TV adaption?

Karen:  I loved the 2005 movie of Pride and Prejudice for the actors. I enjoyed the mini-series much more however because it followed the book so closely. There were times in the movie it was even hard to understand what they said, and the story had been manipulated and so much was left out. Of course, it was a movie so they had to edit. I also loved Emma Thompson’s Sense and Sensibility, especially the scene where she finds out Edward isn’t married. I cry every time she does. And Persuasion is the most romantic of all, with Anne and Wentworth finally together at the end.

7) You are having a dinner party and can invite four Austen characters which would they be?

Karen:  Aunt Catherine, Colonel Fitzwilliam, Fitzwilliam Darcy and Colonel Wentworth

8. Why have you chosen them?

Karen:  Darcy and Wentworth are the most romantic of Austen’s men in my view, and I love Colonel Fitzwilliam from my own book, Darcy and Fitzwilliam. I took Austen’s few words about his affability and charm and he emerged into a full blown character in my mind, trouble is I forget that other people don’t see him as I do. Aunt Catherine would need to attend so the men don’t suspect that I am a stalker.

9) Which character would you like to play in a film?

Karen:   Lady Catherine – can’t you tell? I get a kick out of her, besides I am too old to be an ingénue.

10) Tell us about your next planned book (whether Austen related or not)?

Karen:  I have begun a continuation of Darcy and Fitzwilliam with the two cousins’ now married and fathers and both seemingly headed for Parliament. The tentative title is “A Parliament of Owls.” 

I also have a more contemporary story started about a horrible first date.

More from Karen Waslowski Here

A Big Thank You To Karen

If you are an Author and would like to Be Included In ‘Questions To Authors ‘- Click on the Questions To Authors link at the top of the page and go for it! 

Darcy And Fitzwilliam by Karen V. Wasylowski

Darcy And Fitzwilliam by Karen V. Wasylowski

a tale of a gentleman and an officer 

The story starts two months after the wedding of Fitzwilliam Darcy to Elizabeth Bennet.

There is a lot of humor in this book mostly centered around Lady Catherine De Bourgh, who, is brought to life by Karen V. Wasylowski in a way none of the other authors I have read, have ever managed to do. She is entertaining, outrageous and endearing whilst still being a total tyrant.

Once she has had a change of heart about Lizzy she manages to put the entire blame on to her butler, Jameson for her earlier missgivings and lack of compassion.

Elizabeth and Darcy are very much their quarrelsome selves, often picking fights and arguing. 

Elizabeths hormones are not helping the mix as she falls pregnant, and to top it all Caroline Bingley is out to make Darcy her own by whatever fowl means she has to use, and, she can stoop pretty low, causing a lot of havoc.

The second part of the story concentrates on Colonel Fitzwilliams love life.

He has returned from the Napolionic wars a hero, recognized in the streets and universally well thought of. A confirmed bachelor who struggles with his own demons in the aftermath of war and violence.

No, he will never marry, that is until he is slapped around the face by Cupid and falls head over hills in love.

But, the course of true love never runs smoothly and there are almost insurmountable problems, until Lady Catherine De Bourgh steps in to rescue him , with the help of Mrs Fitzherbert and boy do they do a good job.

A very enjoyable book that made me smile and laugh a plenty.

I hope Karen produces more works of this quality, any one who can put a smile on peoples faces is doing a good job.

www.karenwasylowski.com

The Perfect Bride For Mr Darcy by Mary Lydon Simonsen

The Perfect Bride For Mr Darcy by Mary Lydon Simonsen

Mr Darcy obviously needs a good matchmaker... or two...

I started this book with huge expectations having really enjoyed Searching for Pemberly by the same author.

The Perfect Bride for Mr Darcy is another rerun of Pride and Prejudice but with some added characters. Central to the story is a plot with Anne de Bourgh who has with Georgianas help to try and make sure the stubborn  Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy get together and mend their differences.

Anne De Bourgh though very frail is very determined to help the cause of true love along, even when it means hours spent in tiring journeys and plenty of subterfuge.

Georgiana is a fairly bubbly and enthusiastic teenage only too keen to find the romance in any situation, with a huge love of the gothic novel (as an aspiring author herself) she is keen to have Elizabeth and her support as a permanent part of her family.

In this version Charles Bingley has a much larger family including an older brother who is a bit of a financial genius and aides Darcy as his partner in this search for Wickham and Lydia.

The other notable characters are Darcy’s ex-girl friends who turn up like bad pennies and Colonel Fitzwilliam’s older brother who is a total lush with a cutting tongue (not the first choice at a family re-union)

There is plenty in here to make it worth a read but I still feel that for me Searching for Pemberley is the better book. Read both & let me know what you think.

http://marysimonsenfanfiction.blogspot.com/

In The Arms Of Mr Darcy by Sharon Latham

In The Arms Of Mr Darcy by Sharon Latham

A Honeymoon Can Last A Lifetime 

Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice Continues...

So book number 4 starts with the Christmas season and a full house.

There is more detail to Darcy’s business as disaster strikes one of his mills in Derby, giving us  some deeper insights into the industry of the time.

This is followed by a christening, and then the beginning of a storyline for Colonel Fitzwilliam, giving Darcy’s cousin a great tale of his own struggles with love. Will he get his hearts desire?

We of course want Col Fitzwilliam to have the same kind of felicity as Darcy & Elizabeth have, but as with them, it isn’t that straight forward.

Georgina comes out and is presented at St James along with Lizzy to His Royal Highness, The Prince Regent. And, Darcy has to face the fact his little baby sister is out and attending balls at Almacks, something that he is coming to terms with.

There is quite a bit going on in this book and it does seem to me that when Sharon Latham lets her Darcy and Elizabeth out of the bed chamber, her stories are much more gripping.

This book had a quicker pace, covered more ground and had by-lines for quite a few of the original cast of Characters as well as some rather good new additions.

I am definitely liking these latter books better, maybe I am just not quite slushy enough (though my Husband would argue otherwise, as he regularly sees me dissolve into tears at sad films or while reading heartbreaking stories).

That’s the last Sharon Latham book for now.

So what will be next?

Vampire Darcy’s Desire by Regina Jeffers

Vampire Darcy’s Desire by Regina Jeffers

A Pride and Prejudice Adaption

As I read the authors preface, in which she states that on being asked to write this book her hackles rose, she says she flatly refused to even consider a vampire version.

She only gave in eventually when she started thinking that the project would go on with or without her.

Not a promising start I thought, but thank goodness she did give in.

This Vampire Darcy beats all the other ones of it’s ilk that I have read so far.

It is intelligent, interesting and a dam good read.

Regina twists the original to allow for her tale of horror and passion.

Wickham soars to new heights of Villainy as the source and executioner of the Darcy Family Curse. 

Celtic mythology and vampire folklore blend in a truly evil and impressive tormentor.

The evil super powers of the vampire make this story less predictable, as Darcy with his bold and plucky Elizabeth, have to try and stop the slaying of the innocents.

Darcy a half vampire has for sworn any hope of a wife and family in the hope of stopping his curse of the first born son being passed on, but, then he is blindsided by his passion for Elizabeth and he tries not to consummate their marriage.

But Elizabeth has other ideas, she wants to get to the root of the problem to do battle with the curse and lift it from their lives so that she can have a complete life.

With the help of Colonel Fitzwilliam they go into an epic battle.

The demise of Lydia Bennet, I have to say causes very little distress as she is as always not very likable, even less so as the undead.

This book is really, really engaging.

Next, I will be reading Regina Jeffers book – Darcy’s Passions

http://www.rjeffers.com/

Mr Darcys Great Escape by Marsha Altman

Mr Darcys Great Escape by Marsha Altman

Pride and Prejudice continues: A Tale of the Darcys and the Bingleys

Gosh if I used the term outlandish when reviewing The Plight of the Darcy Brothers, it was only because I had not yet read the third book, this is outlandish times ten.

Boy oh boy full of amazing plot lines, some I know will raise eyebrows and even blood pressures and yes parts are totally crazy, but, crazy in a good way.

Maybe this book does stray far from the original but it is great fun even if very far fetched, England is left far behind.

The story goes to Japan across Russia into the dark heights of the Carpatian Mountains.

It goes back in time and then splits into two different story lines completely and the adventures get dark and dastardly with torture thrown in. There is even a chance meeting with Napoleon.

By the time you reach the end after Elizabeth and Caroline have joined forces (yes they are just as rude as you would expect) with Colonel Fitzwilliam to save the day.

There are thought provoking dark moments and some very troubling times for the Darcy family but always with a healthy sprinkling of Austen Style humor.

So, at the end you are not surprised to have a religious miracle thrown in for good measure and why not.

I suspect Marsha Altman has amazing dreams at night, full of excitement, and I hope she writes more, I will certainly read them. Most books will seem pretty dull after this Trilogy of Books.