My Share in the Conversation...Darcy's Dilemma

A Fair Prospect:  Darcy’s Dilemma by Cassandra Grafton

Volume II, another engaging novel by Cassandra Grafton, is the continuation of A Fair Prospect: Disappointed Hopes. It begins immediately where Volume I ended. Charles Bingley, at Darcy’s townhouse in London, has decided to return to Netherfield. He wants to take up residence again and be near Miss Jane Bennet, in the hopes of renewing their relationship.

Nicholas Harington, also an acquaintance of Bingley, is called home by his father. Harington, who had planned several events for the Gardiners and Bennet sisters, pleaded with Bingley to play host in his place. Bingley would only agree if Darcy would go along. This threw Darcy and Elizabeth together on more than one occasion. I thoroughly enjoyed these times of their shared company! Ms. Grafton continued to show their feelings and thoughts to the readers with the same expertise as she did in the first volume.

Colonel Fitzwilliam returns safely home from his mission to Brighton with news of Wickham. Wickham’s typical behavior once again troubles the two cousins. Although this new development brings a bit of seriousness to the Colonel, he is still the agreeable character that I have loved since the original Pride and Prejudice. Cassandra Grafton maintains her superb characterization of his role in this trilogy.

Georgiana, getting a bit feisty after realizing the feelings that Darcy has for Elizabeth, resolves to help the cause. At times, aided by the Colonel, she succeeds quite admirably. Georgiana and Darcy have a relationship built on love and trust, true reliance on each other as siblings. I enjoyed reading the scenes with the two of them.

Serena’s imminent arrival, the return of Nicholas to London and the hint of Wickham’s latest scandal set off an emotional upheaval for several of the characters involved. A letter unknowingly left, a potential disaster averted, silent reprimands over a careless action and Jane’s enlightenment, are just a few of the delights that await the reader in this volume. The witty dialog and Regency language, still present and smooth, make Volume II a sheer delight to read. I was not disappointed and I highly recommend this brilliantly written novel. 

PG rating for no explicit sex

5 out of 5 stars

This is my 10th selection for the P & P Bicentenary Challenge of 2013

Cassandra Grafton is offering an eBook or a paperback of Volume I or Volume II, winners choice, and the giveaway is open internationally. Please leave a comment to this post to be entered in the giveaway. Don't forget to include your email address so that you may be contacted if you are the lucky winner!  Thank you for stopping by and thank you to Cassandra Grafton for the giveaway. Giveaway ends at midnight, June 7. Winner will be selected by Random Comment software.

Winners Announced for the Jane Austen Giveaway Hop

The Winners are:

1st Winner:  Wendi Sotis

2nd Winner:  Kendal Stegmann

3rd Winner:  Kaci Verdun

Please contact me as soon as possible so you can confirm your win. I will need mailing addresses for each of you. Thank you for participating in the Blog Hop and Congratulations on being my winners! I look forward to hearing from you!

And the winner is...

Congratulations to junewilliams7 who left a comment on May 24, 2013.  

You are the winner of Yours Affectionately, Jane Austen, by Sally Smith O'Rourke. Please contact me within the next 24 hours. I need your email address so we can get your book to you.  Thank you and congratulations, again.

Jane Austen Giveaway Hop

Jane Austen Giveaway Hop

 May 24-27, 2013

hosted by vvb32 reads

Welcome to More Agreeably Engaged, my blog of guest posts and reviews.I hope you will take a few minutes to look around, read some of my reviews and guest author posts. The guest posts are informative, interesting and fun! On the Illustrations and Offerings page some of my items are showcased. These are made from my artistic interpretations of the 1995 BBC PnP miniseries. There is a link to my website, JT Originals, here and on the left where all of my items are listed for sale. I hope you will take some time and give them a look.

I will be giving away three different 
items from my website for this blog hop; 

a 200th Anniversary PnP mug, 

a mouse pad
(may not be the one pictured) 

 and a 200th Anniversary PnP Calendar

To be entered in the giveaway, please leave a comment below. To earn an extra chance in the giveaway, follow my blog and tell me in your comment that you are now following. This giveaway is domestic only. Giveaway ends May 27 and winners will be announced May 28.

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will come back again. Several authors and blog hosts have presented their calling cards for visits over the next few months. Come have your share in the conversations.

More blog hops below:

My Share in the Conversation...Yours Affectionately, Jane Austen

Yours Affectionately, Jane Austen by Sally Smith O’Rourke

Yours Affectionately, Jane Austen is a beautiful love story, romantic and poignant, laced with tenderness and tinges of sadness.  This novel takes up where The Man Who Loved Jane Austen ends.  It continues the lives of Eliza Knight, Fitz Darcy and Jane Austen. Although I would recommend reading The Man Who Loved Jane Austen first, it is not absolutely necessary as the author gives enough background without being redundant to make Yours Affectionately, Jane Austen, a stand-alone story.

Eliza and Fitz have each feared getting close in a relationship, but are inexplicably drawn to one another. Because of these strange new feelings they want things to be right. They continue to see each other but are taking their relationship at a slower pace. In the meantime, an event is about to take place in 1813 England, an event that could change everything for Fitz and Eliza.

In this tale, the time traveler is Robert Simmons, Edward Austen’s stableman. With Jane’s help, Simmons goes through the portal to the strange new world of machines and electronics in present day England. He is in search of Mr. Darcy who made a lasting impression on the young man by his kindness and fair treatment of him. He appears at the estate from where Darcy had disappeared in the previous book. The owners are friends of Fitz Darcy and take Simmons in, giving him a job working with their horses.

When Darcy gets a package from his friends at Windsong Manor in Hampshire, with contents that can only mean one thing, he soon departs with Eliza for England. The questions raised, the answers sought and the story that unfurls is filled with intrigue and romance.  

The bond between Jane Austen and Fitz Darcy is ever present. That chance meeting has affected their lives in ways that neither could have imagined. Ms. O’Rourke spins this tale in a way that makes that meeting seem plausible and true. In my mind Fitz became the ‘real Mr. Darcy’, the man that loved Jane Austen and was loved by her…but how does this effect Eliza? What is her chance of being loved by Jane Austen’s Darcy? The road to these answers will keep the reader enchanted.

At times going from Pemberley Farms to Windsong Manor to Chawton Cottage was a difficult switch although I knew each change was necessary to the story. With reluctance to leave one setting I read on in eager anticipation of the next visit there while totally immersed in the new setting.

Yours Affectionately, Jane Austen is a touching and lovely fantasy. I truly loved reading a fictional story with Jane Austen as one of the main characters. I would like to think that she did know of the love and romance that she was able to capture in words and depict so memorably to readers for two hundred years.  The tinges of sadness that I felt were for Jane herself and for what might have been. I will not be forgetting this book any time soon as I was profoundly moved.

5 out of 5 stars 

This is my ninth selection for the P&P Bicentenary Challenge of 2013

Sally Smith O'Rourke is giving away an eBook of Yours Affectionately, Jane Austen, with this review. Please leave a comment to be entered in the giveaway. You have until midnight, May 27, to have your share in the conversation.

And the winner is...

Congratulations!

MaiBritt Zeuthen who commented on May 18, 2013 

    

You are the winner of the eBook, Yours Affectionately, Jane Austen

by Sally Smith O'Rourke

And the winner is...

Congratulations to:

Carol who left a comment on May 14, 2013

Carol won the eBook, All the Appearance of Goodness, by Maria Grace