Searching for Pemberley and The Perfect Bride for Mr. Darcy by Mary Lydon Simsonsen

I am patiently awaiting the release of Mr. Darcy's Bite by Mary Lydon Simonsen. It should be arriving in my mailbox next week! I have been clearing my reading schedule as some of my favorite Austen Authors have novels coming out this fall.  It seems they are publishing one after the other, which makes this Darcy Junkie super excited! :)


I always love the attempts by authors to combine my two favorite reading genres paranormal and Austen. While Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith was great, the prequel Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith was just "dreadful". I haven't even attempted his sequel Dreadfully Ever After.  I have read two Pride and Prejudice/Vampire novels, both Vampire Darcy's Desire by Regina Jeffers and Mr. Darcy, Vampyre by Amanda Grange; and while I was kinda underwhelmed by the latter, I absolutely loved Jeffers' version.  With Mr. Darcy's Bite coming out, I have high hopes from one of my favorite Austen authors.


In anticipation I took down two of her novels Searching for Pemberley and The Prefect Bride for Mr. Darcy in a little over a week. As I commented in a recent tweet, it seems as though I enjoy anything I pick up by this author, it seems as though her writing comes with a guarantee.  Austen enthusiasts looking for new variations and re-tellings, will find her writing classy, creative, and informative.  No one can claim that she doesn't do her research.

In Searching for Pemberley, Maggie Joyce is from a small town in Pennsylvania.  After WW2 she finds herself working in England and touring the famous estates believed to once be the inspiration for the famous Austen novel Pride and Prejudice.  She is warmly welcomed by a friendly couple that has a close connection with the family that the fictional Darcy's are based on.  Although the names and places had been changed by Austen, Maggie hears and reads evidence that may just prove that Elizabeth and Darcy's love story is in fact true.  Juxtaposed with her own budding love triangle, and played out in front of the post-WW2 backdrop, this novel is fast paced and packed full of both historical and P&P references. I love how Maggie was so lovingly accepted into the family, and I enjoyed watching her work out both her own love story and the love story of the P&P characters too.

The Perfect Bride for Mr. Darcy was just a refreshing classic P&P variation.  After being rejected by Elizabeth in Kent, Darcy turns to Anne DeBourgh.  Anne gathers her strength and concocts a plan to save the relationship before it is doomed forever.  With both Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth  reflecting on their words and actions, Anne plays match-maker and devises a planned encounter to bring the two together, hoping that the result will end differently, if not completely the opposite than the previous one.  I enjoyed the addition of an elder brother George Bingley who contributes to the rescue of Lydia Bennett. I was cringing though with the introduction of Mr. Darcy's previous love interest... or two!?  But, it did make it all that more rewarding when the two were finally united once again.  


I find reading Austen's Pride and Prejudice relaxing and a true form of escape into a different time and romantic world.  I crave it, and cannot get enough.  Simonsen's novels and novellas provide this alternate Austen world for me, while remaining classic, tasteful, and very well written.