A Darcy Christmas ~ A Holiday Tribute To Jane Austen

A Darcy Christmas ~ A Holiday Tribute To Jane Austen

Amanda Grange, Sharon Lathan, Carolyn Eberhart

As the book blurb goes: "Share in the magic of the season in these three warm and wonderful holiday novellas from bestselling authors".

If you need a little nudge to get you in the christmas mood, here is a good push in that direction.

Three christmas themed stories in one book, starting with:

Mr Darcy's Christmas Carol by Carolyn Eberhart

Where a remake of Dickens Christmas Carol meets Pride and Prejudice in quite a clever blend.

Staying with Austen's characters Darcy is visited by Ghosts and Christmas Spirits in an effort to show him how badly his life will turn out if he does not get off of his high horse and go and propose to the woman he loves.

The spirit of Christmas past shows him he was not always such a prideful and judgemental man and the ghost of Christmas future shows him such a bleak future with no Elizabeth in it that he is galvanised into action. 

A fun mash up of two classics.

The second story is:

Christmas Present by Amanda Grange

Mr Darcy receives the most welcome christmas present of all, an heir for Pemberley.

In this heart warming story Jane has already pipped Lizzy to the post and given birth to a lovely baby boy and Charles is besotted.

Lizzy in the latter stages of her pregnancy persuades Darcy to let her go and see Jane and the baby and spend christmas with her family.

Caroline is ruling the roost while Jane is recovering and has organised a ball. Lizzy cant help but want to dance, resulting in labours onset.

This is a warm uplifting story with a full cast brought together over christmas.

and finally we have:

A Darcy Christmas by Sharon Lathan 

If you are a fan of Sharon Lathan's books you will love this collection of glimpses into the Christmas's through the years as the Darcy family increases and new arrivals join the loving family, some come  through marriage some through birth and of course some leave them through death.

The stories sweet or sad are all heart warming and full of love.

Romance is Sharon Lathan's forte and this collection of christmas stories delivers plenty. 

I always enjoy her character Dr Darcy, he is a real splash of colour on the page.

Wickham’s Diary by Amanda Grange

Wickham’s Diary by Amanda Grange

Jane Austen's Quintessential Bad Boy Has His Say...

Well I have to say I was a bit disappointed as I expected more from this book. It’s say’s Jane Austen’s quintessential bad boy has his say, so, I was expecting carousing, womanising, the fall of the country boy into a full blown rake and the inveterate gambler.

I was aware the book only covered up to Wickham’s attempted elopement with Georgina Darcy, but it was all rather tame and really does not so much show Wickham as a bad boy but more a sociopath.

He shows no empathy for others feelings, He genuinely believes he should have everything he wants with no effort on his part, of course he should marry an Heiress and have a country estate, he is pretty and his Mummy said so.

I just feel that there was so much more that could have been in this diary, and his elopement with Lydia Bennet.

It would have been fun to read about another human who also believes she deserves everything she wants and constant entertainment, I would have enjoyed the interaction between two people that believe so strongly that their hearts desires should be delivered straight into their hands.

http://www.amandagrange.com

Also by Amanda Grange

Mr Darcy Vampyre 

Mr Darcys Diary

Mr Darcys Diary by Amanda Grange

Mr Darcys Diary by Amanda Grange

Pride and Prejudice: It's Darcys Turn to Tell His Side Of The Story...

Well, this book delivers exactly what it offers, a look at Pride and Prejudice faithfully from cover to cover and a little beyond from the point of view of Fitzwilliam Darcy.

It does not go for any sensationalism, it sticks with the original story line, starting with Georgina and Wickham’s attempted elopement to give a bit of sympathy for Darcy as a loving brother before we have his terrible behavior and haughtiness at Netherfield.

A lot of the books I have read have Darcy almost having an epiphany after Elizabeth refuses to marry him. In this one Amanda Grange has him realizing by degree, slowly but surely what a pride full and rude proposal he had made, with it taking a while for him to get over his anger, much more true to life I think.

All the characters are well drawn, Bingley is spot on and Caroline is also, so desperate to get a proposal from Darcey.

She does not see that her cutting comments and down right bitchiness are not endearing her to Darcy at all.

I have already reviewed Amanda Grange book Mr Darcy Vampyre and I shall look forwards to reading more of her work.

She has also written diaries from Captain Wentworth, Edmund Bertram, Mr Knightly and Colonel Brandon.

Mr Darcy Vampyre by Amanda Grange

Mr Darcy Vampyre by Amanda Grange 

(also author of Mr Darcy’s Diary)

I share my love of Jane Austen with my Daughter who is now a committed fan and like all teen age girls of our time she is also a great fan of the Twilight saga (I much prefer True Blood personally).

So when I first saw Pride and Prejudice with Zombies I was quite pleased as I had always said to my daughter some one should do a Vampire style Pride and Prejudice and hey presto, there it was on the book shelf.

I bought it as soon as I saw it and read it very quickly over two days, so that I could pass it on to my daughter and by pass on I mean post back to England which certainly took longer than it did for me to read it.

After the wedding instead of the original honeymoon in the Lake District, Mr Darcy whisks her away on a Grand Tour across Europe where she get’s to meet some fairly bizarre family members of his. 

The travels are fine and the descriptions good but for me the fact that the dark brooding Darcy who can not consummate his marriage with Elizabeth is not enough to ignite the Lizzy that I am sure would not put up with all that brooding and neglect. I found myself very frustrated with her.

The gothic bits of the book are very Gothic just the style Jane Austen poked fun at Northanger Abbey but maybe the Swiss castle and angry nest scene was stretching it somewhat.

And when they did finally get around to passion it should have been big, bold and powerful not just a mention. But at the end of the day any book that took my favorite heroine to my favorite city of Venice cannot be all bad.