3 out of 5 Stars
Synopsis
A secret wintry kiss. Mrs. Bennet sends Elizabeth out into the cold woods to gather mistletoe for Jane’s wedding decorations. Elizabeth meets the one man she hates the most – a very chilly Mr. Darcy. But a man in love won’t stay chilly for long.
Darcy’s Mistletoe Kiss is a Pride and Prejudice Variation Novella based on Jane Austen’s most romantic couple.
My Thoughts
The narrative for this story could get a little dry at times. I understand that there needs to be some explanation as to what has happened so we know where this begins as a variation, but there was A LOT of that!
“Mrs. Bennet sat surrounded by her five unmarried daughters in the sitting room at Longbourn. She stabbed a needle into the seat cushion she was embroidering. Her foul mood had begun more than a week before , when Elizabeth refused to marry her cousin Mr. Collins and it had intensified when Mr. Collins decided to marry their neighbour Charlotte Lucas instead. Due to an entail, Mr. Collins would inherit Longbourn when Mr. Bennet died, and Mrs. Bennet could not bear to think of Charlotte taking her place as its mistress.”
For a romantic book, this story seemed to have a very depressing look on love!
“Many a man has fancied himself in love, married in haste, and lived to regret it.”-Darcy
With most of my favourite quote, of course, coming from the wry sense of humour of Mr. Bennet. I don’t think I’ve read a variation before that focused so much on the failed marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet,
“Why not? Love can be a parasite, gradually draining the life from a person, just as mistletoe can kill a tree.”-Mr. Bennet
“Love? What good is that? Sometimes I think it is God’s joke on mankind.”-Mr.Bennet
This is also the first variation I’ve read that allowed Mrs. Gardiner to be the voice of reason. She’s always the confidant and the one that tells Elizabeth to follow her heart, in this one she actually gives some wise and prudent advice,
“And you are a prudent girl,” Mrs. Gardiner said calmly. “You will not disappoint your father. You will not let yourself fall in love with a man who could not support you.”
A couple of things that bothered me about the book are the fact that everyone kept calling Elizabeth Eliza. In the original Pride & Prejudice, only Miss Bingley called her Eliza and I took it as condescending. I felt that she knew that everyone close to her shortened her name to Lizzie, so she couldn’t be bothered to do the same. It was almost as if she thought “I refuse to call you what I know you prefer. But, I’ll take the liberty to shorten your name as if we’re friends, anyways.”
The other bother is WHY DOES EVERYONE WRITE MR. DARCY AS HAVING BLUE EYES??? This is a common bother in Pride & Prejudice variations. In the original novel, it is never mentioned what colour Darcy’s eyes are. But, he’s described as quite the dark and brooding figure…. why would people see dark and brooding and thing “he must have sparkling blue eyes??” IT JUST DOESN’T MAKE ANY SENSE!! Did I miss something??
It’s also hard for me to get behind Mr. Collins being represented and physically violent. I just feel that he is too much of a simpering fool to think to lay a hand on anyone. I suppose he could have little man syndrome after all the abuse he takes from Lady Catherine…. maybe he wants to lord some authority over someone for once… but, I just don’t buy it.
All in all a short, enjoyable read even if it wasn’t the GREATEST variation I’ve read. It still definitely had some cute situations and quotes!
“I am an imperfect man, but the one thing you cannot accuse me of is having no heart. For it beats for you, dearest Elizabeth.”
How can your heart not flutter at that??
Author Bio
I’ve been half in love with Mr. Darcy since I was twelve, although I’ll admit, the first time I read Pride and Prejudice, I was totally taken in by Wickham. I was stunned when Mr. Darcy proposed (I guess I was reading too quickly to catch all the hints), and even more stunned when Wickham turned out to be a jerk. But by the end of the book I was completely smitten by Darcy. I am still smitten.
The best part about writing Jane Austen Variations is that I can relive those moments of discovery and watch Elizabeth fall in love with Darcy one more time.
All my books and short stories are standalone stories, each with a slightly different Darcy and Elizabeth.
Darcy’s Mistletoe Kiss is Best Served with Honey Brandy Tea
Ingredients
- 1 Green Tea teabag
- 1 Teaspoon Honey
- 1 Round of Lemon
- a Splash of Brandy
- Boiled water
Directions
- Boil water
- Pour in cup and add teabag
- Wait until steeped
- Add Brandy and honey
- Stir
- Add Lemon Round
- CHEERS!
There are just sooo many variations :O I never realized until I started reading your reviews 😀 oh, that quote from Ms.Bennet, totally killed the magic from kissing under the mistletoe, now it feels like a curse 😛 I need some Honey Brandy tea mmmmm…
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Oh man…. Are there EVER so many variations!! I’ve read more than I would like to admit…. Like, A LOT!!! It’s rather frightening. The biggest shame is that I’ve read so many I can’t remember which the really good ones were!!
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hahahaha!! I bet, then I guess you need to re-read them all… just kidding! don’t spit your drink 😀
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*wiping drink off phone screen* …. Thanks for that… 😅😉
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😚😂😂
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Hi Nicole. I’ve never read one of the variations. With those and fan fiction, I just can’t decide how I feel about them… But I do get that people love the characters (as do I) and want their adventures to continue. I guess that’s all that really matters.
The drink however — I know exactly what I think about that… Delicious! Hugs.
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It’s tough with some of them when they seem to try to change the very nature of a character…. Sometimes it’s just too far into left field!
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Nicole is it true your on a first name basis with O’l Saint Nick?
Please tell him I’ve been good this year and I’d like to retire early, and. If that isn’t feasible I’d like penut butter and Fetta cheese as gifts.
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Of COURSE I’m on a first name basis! We PRACTICALLY have the same name, so why WOULDN’T I be??
I’ll only go after your retirement if I can come with… Although, that peanut butter and feta cheese sounds pretty good too. Just, not together. I’m weird. But, I’m not peanut butter and feta cheese weird.
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😂🤣 Deal! Send the letter i look forward to our early retirement! Penut butter Fetta cheese and eggs are what I go through the most, make an omelette in the morning with ham, garic , green onions, a bit of fish sauce soy sauce sesame oil and then you top it with Fetta cheese for an Orgasmic Omelette.
Penut butter I lather on to bananas.
Penut butter and Fetta together sounds
yucky 🤢 but i run out of them awfully quick.
Do you have any penut butter ,Fetta ingredients that you Love Eating?
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For me it’s cream cheese and hot sauce…. And those I’ll even eat together! I, at all times, have at least 7 different types of hot sauce open at once!
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Although, I do have some things that I eat together that people think are disgusting… Like peanut butter, honey and yellow ballpark mustard on toasted bagels… And sandwiches made of extra old cheddar and strawberry yogurt.
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🤔 im trying to picture that taste on a bagel a sweet and tart combination with honey pb, mustard taste.
You might like melted chocolate on Pizza
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Actually… I don’t like chocolate! 😅
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I also hear chetos in milk taste good but im not brave enough for that
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… And I’m lactose intolerant! 😂😂
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I just want you to know that it after this text conversation I’m now contemplating making mashed potatoes and eating them with peanut butter , I’ve been looking at strange food combinations it includes grape jelly with eggs ketchup up with popcorn
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My friend used to put peanut butter on perogies…. I couldn’t do it. But, he LOVED IT!
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Ukrainian dumplings 🤔 I’ll have to try
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Let me know what you think if you try it out!!
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I definitely will, The last two weeks of December the lab will be closed , that means two weeks of shutting myself in my home while I code, eat Ukrainian dumplings with pb and write
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….. I’m so jealous…
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It won’t be all fun and games I’ll be coding 8 hours a day, the more I code the More lucrative entering the tech sector looks , 125,000$ base pay for a developer looks extra juicy
#IWantToRetireEarly
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Ha ha ha! Wow…. I could only imagine making that kind of money…. I’ll die behind my counter. Retirement is probably not in the cards. 😅
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Honey brandy sounds just what I need… I am probably the only one who never liked/loved Darcy… So I never read these interpretations. Black brown blue or green – who cares… Hehehe.. Have a fab day…
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I just thought it was funny that they don’t even mention an eye colour in the original and somehow everyone just seems to ASSUME that they’re blue… Did I miss a memo?? 😂😂 And, I’ll DEFINITELY get you some honey brandy tea if you want some!! 💖💖
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I love the idea of sipping this tea.. Bliss♥️♥️ how you doing, darlin
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So sleepy…. I don’t know what is in the air… But, it’s not sleep inducing…. 😅
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How you doing??
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I am okay, darl😘
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That’s good to hear!! 💖💖
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Colin Firth so supplanted himself in my mind as Darcy that no matter what variation I read that’s just immediately where I go. It’s a nice place to be though even without the blue eyes 🙂
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DEFINTITELY a nice place to be!! I absolutely think of Colin Firth… But, beyond that, when he’s constantly described as dark and handsome, I wouldn’t really imagine blue eyes anyways! I feel that if he had blue eyes it would have been explicitly mentioned!…. Maybe that’s just me. 😅
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Whoa! So many variations of P&P! You know, I could actually picture Mr. Collins being physically violent. He’s wound so tight… Omg my mind just went to a naughty place lmao. Anyways, lovely review. In my head Mr. Darcy has brown eyes lol
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Thank you! I agree with the brown eyes… Not so much the Mr. Collins. Lol! He’s TOO squirrelly….. But, like I said… After all the abuse from Lady Catherine I guess he could feel the need to have control over someone.
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Mr. Darcy is Collin Firth. Any book that tries to make him look like anything else is just WRONG!
That said, the quotes you chose are fun! Poor, sad Mr. Bennet. And I agree, Collins is too simpering to be violent!… unless Lady Catherine commanded he act so 😉
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Ha ha ha!! Now, I never thought of THAT! Lady Catherine could have been like “you need to get that wife of yours in check!” and started the whole thing!! 🤔🤔 That makes way more sense!! 😂😂
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See! 🤣🤣😉😂😂😂
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But was it smutty? Inquiring minds want to know. Your cocktail looks delish, as always. I should think it could take the place of a hot toddy when you’re feeling sick, right? I’ve been fighting a cough since last week, so I think I may have to give this drink a try……strictly for medicinal purposes, you understand. 🙂
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It’s a great replacement for a hot toddy!! Of course, purely medicinal…. 😂😂
I try to keep away from the smutty P&P variations…. They weird me out. Ha ha!! I like things to keep rated G with the times… But, rest easy! Smut it DEFINTITELY on the way!! I just got a pretty wacky author request and I HAVE to read and post a review on the book! It’ll probably be up tomorrow or Saturday. Keep your eyes peeled for “Sugar Plum’d” 😂😂
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LOL! Cannot wait! And if you’re up for Sexy Sunday starting up again in January, I have a couple of ideas. 🙂
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Sounds good! I’m in! 😁
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