Given Good Principles, Boxed Set

Given Good Principles #1-4

by Maria Grace

The complete boxed set of the Given Good Principles series.Darcy's DecisionSix months after his father's passing, Fitzwilliam Darcy still finds solace in his morning reflections at his parents' graves. Only in the quiet solitude of the churchyard does he indulge his grief. None but his unlikely mentor recognize the heartache and insecurity plaguing him as he shoulders the burden of Pemberley estate.In the midst of his struggles to reinvent himself, his school chum, Charles Bingley, arrives. Darcy hopes the visit will offer some respite from the uproar in his life. Instead of relief, Darcy discovers his father's darkest secret staring him in the face. Pushed to his limits, Darcy must overcome the issues that ruined his father and, with his friends and mentor at his side, restore his tarnished birthright.The Future Mrs. DarcyWith the regiment come to camp in Meryton, many young ladies are pleased. Not all share their enthusiasm. Among them, Mr. Carver, who removes his family from Meryton's savage society. He blames, not on the militia officers, but the Bennet family. The flirtations and boisterous ways of the youngest sisters are too much to be borne. Not even Jane’s renowned beauty and charm can make up for them. Elizabeth denies the allegations at first, but rapidly uncovers the shocking truth. The Carvers are not the only family to cut the Bennets from their acquaintance. Their reputations materially damaged, the family borders on social ruin.Warned by Mr. Pierce, the local curate, that several of the officers have unsavory designs on the local girls, Elizabeth must find a way to honor her father, rein in her sister and salvage the family’s reputation, all in the most ladylike way possible.All the Appearance of GoodnessWhat is a young woman to do? One handsome young man has all the goodness, while the other, the appearance of it. How is she to separate the gentleman from the cad?When Darcy joins his friend Bingley on a trip to Meryton, the last thing on his mind is finding a wife. Meeting Elizabeth Bennet changes all that, but a rival for his affections appears from a most unlikely quarter. He must overcome his naturally reticent disposition if he is to have a chance of winning her favor.Elizabeth’s thoughts turn to love and marriage after her sister Mary’s engagement. In a few short weeks, she goes from knowing no eligible young men, to being courted by two. Both are handsome gentlemen, but one conceals secrets and the other conceals his regard. Will she determine which is which before she commits to the wrong one?Twelfth Night at LongbournTwelfth Night—a night for wondrous things to happen.At least for other people.Since Lydia’s infamous elopement,nothing has gone well for Kitty Bennet. Her friends have abandoned her, and Longbourn is more prison than home. More than anything else, she wishes to leave the plain ordinary Kitty behind and become Catherine Bennet, a proper young lady.Her only ray of hope is an invitation to Pemberley for the holidays. Perhaps there she might escape the effects of her sister’s shame. Getting to Pemberley is not as simple as it sounds. She must navigate the perils of London society, the moods of Georgiana Darcy, and the chance encounter with the man who once broke her heart. Perhaps though, as Catherine, she might prove herself worthy of that gentleman’s regard.But, in an instant all her hopes are dashed, and her dreams of becoming Catherine evaporate.

704 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 23, 2013

About the author

Six time BRAG Medallion Honoree, #1 Best-selling Historical Fantasy author Maria Grace has her PhD in Educational Psychology and is a 16-year veteran of the university classroom where she taught courses in human growth and development, learning, test development and counseling. None of which have anything to do with her undergraduate studies in economics/sociology/managerial studies/behavior sciences. She pretends to be a mild-mannered writer/cat-lady, but most of her vacations require helmets and waivers or historical costumes, usually not at the same time.

She stumbled into Jane Austen fan-dom in the mid '90s with Emma Thompson's Sense and Sensibility film, having somehow graduated HS without ever having read Austen. It was only a short leap then to consume all of Austen's works, in all their various media forms. In the hopes of discovering more works by Austen, she stumbled into the fan fiction forums, which naturally led to asking 'What if...' herself. Twenty nine books later, she still asks that question.

She writes gaslamp fantasy, historical romance and non-fiction to help justify her research addiction.

Reviews

[J. W. Garrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Given Good Principles Box Set: I have posted each book individually. See each title for the full review.

Vol. 1: Darcy’s Decisions: 5 stars
Noblesse oblige
This was a most unusual story. I was completely captivated by the inner turmoil, the self-examination or introspection that Darcy went through as he came to grips with his father’s death. The tremendous weight of responsibility of Pemberley and its people set heavy on his young shoulders. [See individual title for full review]

Vol. 2 The Future Mrs. Darcy: 3.5 stars
“Problems do not go away. They must be worked through or else they remain, forever a barrier to the growth and development of the spirit.” – M. Scott Peck

I am not sure why they selected the title The Future Mrs. Darcy, because Elizabeth doesn’t meet Darcy until the very last paragraphs of this story. Now if what Elizabeth endures in this variation is what makes her worthy or gives her abilities necessary for being the future Mrs. Darcy…I suppose that could work. It just seemed rather odd to call it that when this work focused on the Bennet family and the changes they had to make. [See individual title for full review]

Vol. 3 All the Appearance of Goodness: 4 stars
“By their fruits you will know them.” Matthew 7:16

The tone of this book is very unusual. We start off by repeating the last of Vol. 2 in order to remind us of how Darcy and Elizabeth met. When we left Vol. 2, we were given the impression that there was definite interest between the two parties. I just knew things would be different in Vol. 3 because Wickham had been dispatched in Vol. 2, so there shouldn’t be any problems…right? Oh how naïve I was to believe it would be that simple. I was so amused at how the author lulled me into thinking all would be smooth sailing from here on out. [See individual title for full review]

Vol. 4 Twelfth Night at Longbourn 3.5 stars
I am glad this series is finished. Or is it? We still don’t have a completion for Georgiana. Could there be another book for her? I simply could not abide reading about another sister or young girl acting badly and doing damage to their family. [See individual title for full review]

[Shayan Kh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read this in fanfiction.net and I have no idea how similar is that version to the published one.
Overall I liked this fanfiction. The writing was good, the book had a good balance on sweet moments and gut-punching moments ( meaning the balance was tipped towards the sweet ones). And I liked almost all of the main characters. I quite like the stories in which I like Mrs. Bennet because when I do not like her, I hate her with a passion and it could become quite distracting.

The only issue I have with this fanfiction is that there are three or four times that the lines are copied exactly from P&P, which is a bit silly when things happened quite differently from canon. The worst though was having Collins say dialogues of Darcy! He was quoting Darcy in his proposal! it was just stupid and out of character for Collins to utter such lines.

[William Hovey · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars for story; 3.5 stars for style

I loved the story as it unfolded over the 4 books. The usual villains got appropriate punishment, though Miss Caroline’s storyline seemed unfinished. The problems occurred in the way the books themselves needed some polishing. I agreed with the author’s self-critique that the first book “meandered” though something as simple as chapter titles would have done much to fix that. The book containing Mary’s story had at least one chapter that was completely out of order. The chapter about the assembly after the wedding was placed between those of the day before the wedding and the day of the wedding. That totally confused the timeline. There were also enough editing errors of extra words to distract from the flow in several places.

That said I love all this author’s books and highly recommend all of them.

[Angela Clayton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm definitely not sure I buy that the Bennets could be cut by the Carvers and have all of Meryton against them for such small slights. I mean, this is a tiny town, people. I grew up in a tiny town. People love to gossip, but they also all flout conventions and rules because it's casual and informal.