The Girl from Summer Hill

The Girl from Summer Hill by Jude Deveraux
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What would you do if you staggered downstairs for your early morning cup of tea and discovered a gorgeous man stripping to use the outdoor shower on your porch? Casey blinks and pulls up a stool, believing she's still asleep and having a fabulous dream. The fantasy sours rapidly when he notices her and flies into a rage. Having the stranger break through her screen door and accuse her of spying on him, of using her cell phone to take photos or video, first terrifies, then confuses, and finally infuriates her until she roars at him to leave.

As first impressions go, they are not off to a good start. The situation deteriorates when Casey discovers her intruder is both a famous movie star and her landlord, so she takes food to the Big House to make amends and keep Tate from evicting her but overhears him sharing his unfavorable opinion of her with his best friend (and her new champion), action movie hero Jack Worth. She doesn't stick around to hear the end of their conversation, leaving Tate with quite the uphill battle to redeem himself in her eyes as the two meet and clash again and again.

This is a delightful retelling of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. I love how P&P frames the modern story, using chapter headings to loosely telegraph what will happen but not constricting the characters to slavishly follow the original plot. It's a completely contemporary novel that uses the structure of Austen's tale to inform not just the casting of the internal play but also the broader story arc.

For reader's advisors: story and character doorways are both strong. There are a few sex scenes but they are not terribly explicit. Some swearing. No violence. Fans of Jude Deveraux will recognize allusions to her earlier works and characters (Montgomery & Taggert families), but it's not necessary to have read them to enjoy this volume.

I received an eGalley ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

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Loving Miss Darcy

Loving Miss Darcy by Nancy Kelley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

(Three and a half stars, actually.)

Two years after Elizabeth married Mr. Darcy, it's time for Darcy's younger sister to make her debut in society. But Georgiana still hasn't emotionally recovered from her colossal mistake in nearly eloping with Mr. Wickham and doesn't trust her own judgment when it comes to men. In an effort to boost her confidence and protect her from unsavory types, her guardians--Darcy and Col. Richard Fitzwilliam--ask the colonel's friends to dance with her at her first balls. Despite their best efforts and intentions, somehow rumors still leak out, and Richard is forced to more fully examine his own feelings toward Georgie as he races to uncover the plot to damage her reputation.

This is a light, fun read for Jane Austen fans. Nancy Kelley again remains consistent with Austen's original characters and tone. The one exception is that she develops Kitty Bennet into a much more mature and intelligent girl than in the original Pride and Prejudice, but I can live with that, since Kitty's been away from Lydia for two years, and all of us would like to think we improve with age. Plus I'm hoping Nancy's next book will focus on Kitty and Sebastian.

A couple of things brought my rating down a bit. First, there is a scene at Pemberley fairly early on in the book at the start of the Christmas gathering when Simon starts talking, and I hadn't even realized he was invited, much less had arrived. I flipped back several pages to see if I'd missed something, but there was no mention of him until he spoke. When Elizabeth's parents started speaking soon afterward, it was only slightly less jarring, and for the same reason.

Second, I thought the ending was a bit too...easy? I can't think of the precise word I mean. It just felt slightly rushed, maybe, or the villain was caught and too-gently dispensed with...I don't know. And when they were confronting him, one of his physical reactions was exactly the opposite of what would have made sense to me: he sat back instead of lunging up in protest/denial. I won't say any more than that because I want to avoid spoilers.

And third, there were a couple of painful (to me) grammar errors that jumped out at me, particularly toward the end of the book. There were occasional missing words or letters throughout, but they didn't bother me as much as the later incorrect sentence structures. (Nancy, please let me know if you'd ever like me to proofread your manuscripts for you. I'd be delighted to do so!)

Overall, though, I very much enjoyed reading book two in the series.

For readers' advisors: setting, story, and character doorways. No sex or swearing.

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Loving Miss Darcy book giveaway contest

My friend and fabulous author, Nancy Kelley, is giving away a copy of her new book, Loving Miss Darcy!  Enter to win here.  Hurry--the giveaway ends in 5 days, 22 hours...which equals approximately January 21, 2013, give or take a few hours.  This new book features Georgiana Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam of Pride & Prejudice fame.

Death Comes to Pemberley

Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

On the eve of the annual Lady Anne Ball at Pemberley, an hysterical Lydia Wickham arrives by coach, sobbing that her husband and Captain Denny are lost in the woodland and possibly shot. Mr. Darcy and Captain Fitzwilliam mount a small search and rescue mission and discover a drunken Wickham kneeling over Denny's body, saying he's killed his only friend. They return to Pemberley and summon the magistrate and constables. But is Wickham really guilty of murder?

James does a pretty good job of summarizing Pride and Prejudice and keeping faithful to the original characterizations. The chain of events seems plausible for the world of Jane Austen, although James' use of the term "police" seems out of place for the time period. (The word existed, but did the "police force" exist as such?)

The epilogue to this book is quite unnecessary, however. The superfluous explanatory scene feels like it should have been put at the end of the original Pride and Prejudice instead (or cut entirely). It really has almost nothing to do with the murder mystery but rather is a conversation between Darcy and Elizabeth that primarily rehashes their bumpy courtship--a conversation which should logically have occurred during the engagement or honeymoon periods, not 6+ years into a good marriage.

Still, it was an enjoyable read.

For readers' advisors: story doorway is primary, setting is secondary

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