Fortune and Felicity in Austen Variations

Apr 30, 2020 wosedwew rated it it was amazing

Shelves: book-reviews, owned-books, 2020

If it takes a lot of words to say what you have in mind, give it more thought. ~ Dennis Roth

I’m gonna keep this review short.

I borrowed this book on Kindle Unlimited and read it.
Then I bought it.

I recommend this to anyone who enjoys JAFF.
The Best Yet from this Author!

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May 01, 2020 Sheila Majczan rated it really liked it

This is not the first book to have Elizabeth hired by Mr. Darcy as a governess. However, as far as I know, it is the first one which has her hired as a governess for his daughter. Seven years have passed. Yes, after the disastrous Hunsford proposal he decided NOT to give Elizabeth that letter to set straight her accusations concerning Wickham and separating Bingley from Jane. (Although he had labored at writing such a letter long into the night.) In a fit of pique he decides that next day to mar This is not the first book to have Elizabeth hired by Mr. Darcy as a governess. However, as far as I know, it is the first one which has her hired as a governess for his daughter. Seven years have passed. Yes, after the disastrous Hunsford proposal he decided NOT to give Elizabeth that letter to set straight her accusations concerning Wickham and separating Bingley from Jane. (Although he had labored at writing such a letter long into the night.) In a fit of pique he decides that next day to marry Anne de Bourgh. The marriage is not a happy one, as I am sure you must know. However it does produce a daughter, Catherine aka Kathy. Anne dies and Kathy becomes spoiled and unmanageable. Darcy decides hiring a governess is the best solution.

Meanwhile without Darcy's knowledge of Lydia's and Wickham's elopement and without Darcy telling Bingley that he was wrong to interfere those situations are not changed. Lydia is abandoned and Bingley marries an heiress. Jane marries elsewhere and has one child after another. Elizabeth has married a sea captain who dies, going down with his ship but leaving his wife destitute. Mr. Bennet is dead. So Elizabeth lives with Jane and her husband helping them with their brood. In this tale, as Jane is again pregnant and the house is becoming crowded, Elizabeth makes a move to give herself some independence and financial self reliance. She decides to become a governess, even though her own education was not a formal one and doesn't look good on paper.

Darcy takes over the interviewing of candidates as he knows what he is looking for and when he realizes that the one possibility is Elizabeth Bennet he thinks about her characteristics and believes they would do well in taming Kathy's tantrums and training her to be a correct young lady. At this point in the story neither party has any thoughts that past events and feelings will interfere with their relationship in the present...what's past is past...and buried.

Elizabeth's position, as with most governesses, is an awkward one; she is neither servant nor on the same level as family even though she was the daughter of a gentleman. Georgiana, who has married and has two sons befriends Elizabeth and this relationship leads to a "good deed" that goes all wrong. Elizabeth and Darcy have been becoming friends although Darcy still doesn't see how she would fit into his life as he wanted in the past. When Caroline's malice threatens Elizabeth's security Darcy steps into the breach. However, here, again, Elizabeth doesn't want a FMS and...well, now we have some angst. Will these two ever learn to say what they feel or is it always "what's best for one or the other"?

I was disappointed in not reading more about the relationship between Kathy and Mrs. Heriot/Elizabeth. There were several situations described but nothing which gave me an "ah ha moment". The epilogue was excellent as far as a romantic conclusion!

I had followed many blogs which made this a must read for me and was happy to find it on KU. I recommend this story. I have read a number of this author's books or books in which she was one of many authors. ...more

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Jun 01, 2020 Dawn rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2020-austen

This trope of Elizabeth being in reduced circumstances and working as a governess or companion is usually not my favorite, but this book has been getting such great reviews that I decided to give it a chance. I'm really glad I did, this was a great book. Probably the best of I've read of this type of variation. I felt that the author stayed pretty true to the characters and created a well written and developed enjoyable read!
In this variation, Darcy never completes or gives Elizabeth a letter a ...more

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