Pride and Persistence by Jeanna Ellsworth and giveaway!

I am very excited and honoured to be reviewer number one for Jeanna Ellsworth's newly published book, Pride and Persistence!  I read her first story, Mr Darcy's Promise (review here), quite a few months ago and it was brilliant and so I have been looking forward to the next story from this author for a long time!

"Undaunted by a threatening storm, Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley insists he must deliver his letter to Miss Elizabeth Bennet–– then tragedy strikes. Riddled with guilt, Elizabeth comes to the aid of the comatose Mr. Darcy and stays by his side until he regains consciousness. She soon learns that although Mr. Darcy has awoken, he has not returned to himself. And with no memory of his first disastrous proposal, he has concluded that there is nothing he wants more than to propose to Miss Elizabeth.  This humorous journey of love leaves one asking, does persistence pacify prejudice? Can Elizabeth see the real gentleman behind the injury, a man who persists in professing his love to her every chance he gets? In this Regency variation of Jane Austen’s beloved Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet both learn the value of persistence."

If you would like to find out a little more about the author as well as the latest story, then have a look at my interview with her from a few days ago here.

My first reaction after finishing the story: brilliant! This was an amusing, yet romantic, journey to love for Darcy and Elizabeth, under very different, and difficult, circumstances.  The premise of the book intrigued me as I had not come across a story involving memory loss resulting in multiple marriage proposals before!

There is so much I could, and wish to, say about this book but I do want to give anything away, so you shall just have to read the story for yourself.

I shall mention a few things, however, to wet your appetite...

If you are anything like me with Pride and Prejudice variations, you want the most important people in the story, Darcy and Elizabeth, to have centre stage for most of the book. If this is the case, then read this book. Darcy and Elizabeth have plenty of screen time - or rather page time - due to the nature of Darcy's injuries confining him to one room, one room which Elizabeth is very rarely not in.  The relationship between the two of them is very unique and most certainly far from conventional, or proper; Darcy struggles with a broken ankle and memory problems and Elizabeth seems to be the only one who can calm Darcy in his confused state. As Elizabeth feels rather responsible for the accident, she refuses to leave his side and does all she can to help his recovery, even if it means enduring a  marriage proposal and declaration of love every day!  Seeing how Elizabeth's opinion and view of Darcy changes as she sees him for who he truly is, his real character becoming more evident and clear in his confused state, is touching. We are also able to see the more caring and compassionate side to Elizabeth's nature. It is possible to learn so much more about someone when the rules of propriety are abandoned due to extraordinary circumstances!

As well as having a very different relationship with Darcy, Elizabeth also has interesting relationships with other secondary characters in the story. A few favourites of those for me would be with Colonel Fitzwilliam, and two new additions; Madeline, the nurse in charge of Darcy's care, and Mrs Wilkinson, the Collins's cook.

The Colonel is a wonderful character, as he generally is expected to be! He plays an interesting role in the story and even turns his hand to match-making! The bond of trust and the sense of openness which he and Elizabeth build throughout the story is sweet, as well as results in some rather amusing situations!

Madeleine is a very caring lady who comes to know Elizabeth very well due to the amount of time she spends in the sick room with Madeline, thanks to the positive effect only Elizabeth seems to be able to have on Darcy. Madeline also begins to entertain thoughts about the true nature of the relationship between these two young people before her...

Mrs Wilkinson was a favourite of mine. She becomes, in a way, the mother Elizabeth never had, as she is able to confide in her very easily, and in turn, Mrs Wilkinson has some very beneficial advice for Elizabeth. They share a very special relationship, regardless of the fact that her skills as a cook are sadly lacking! 

You will find Lady Catherine to have a very interesting and interfering role in the story, as you would expect, but you also learn the truth about her past ,which, I can assure you, you will not be expecting!

You will also find Mr Collins to be a very silly character and this story will provide you with some... lasting images, let's just say. Mr Bennet, too, brings his share of the humour to the story, however with Mr Bennet you will be laughing with him, rather than at him as you with Mr Collins.

Something which I loved about this author's first story was the use of metaphors and symbolism throughout the story. There were similar metaphors to be found in this second story, thanks to Colonel Fitzwilliam in this one. The Colonel's metaphor of the 'storm' is a very clever metaphor and it is extremely important for Elizabeth and her relationship with Mr Darcy - but I shall not ruin it for you! I loved how the metaphor is slowly explained, little by little, throughout the story. The clever use of symbolism and metaphoric language is one of my favourite aspects to this author's style of writing.

I have often remarked on the humour in this story, however it is also a very romantic story (whilst staying completely clean, which is how I like my stories to be.) While Darcy continually forgetting the fact that he has already proposed to Elizabeth, multiple times, is amusing to read (at times during his confused state I just wanted to hug him he was so sweet!) it is also very touching to see how his proposals are improving each time, making it harder and harder for Elizabeth to refuse him.

However you can be assured that it all works out eventually! Something I particularly enjoyed in Mr Darcy's Promise was that the understanding was reached between Darcy and Lizzy before the last page of the book, as is the case with many stories. I like to read about the occasional stolen kiss and the intimate and open conversations between the pair once the majority of the obstacles have been overcome.  So, of course, I was thrilled to find that this was also the case for this second story; it was not 'they kiss, they marry, the end', all on the last page!

As well as this, there is a delightful epilogue, set not long after the conclusion of the story (which I much prefer to skipping to years and years later) and never has an epilogue made me smile so much! All loose ends and the futures of the characters we have come to love are tied up in a very neat, satisfactory and perfectly appropriate way considering all the events of the story - I defy anyone not to smile and sigh with contentment whilst reading the concluding pages of this wonderful story! Who doesn't love a happy ending?

Read chapter one of Pride and Persistence here, as well as find out about her other stories due to be published soon here.

A thoroughly enjoyable read, particularly when you need a good book to cheer you up, and it is the perfect book for curling up with after a trying day at work; brilliantly funny and wonderfully romantic which will leave you feeling perfectly content and with a huge grin on your face - well I did anyway!

 

**GIVEAWAY - ends Friday, April 4th**

In celebration of the release, the lovely Jeanna is offering 1 paperback copy (US only) and 1 ebook copy (international) of her story.

To enter, leave a comment below and the two winners shall be picked randomly.
Please leave your email address and state whether you will be entering for the paperback or the ebook. I will then pass on the winners email addresses to Jeanna who will be in touch.

This will only be a short giveaway - I'm going on holiday! - and so it will end Friday, April 4th!

Good luck, and thank you again to Jeanna for offering this giveaway! And good luck with the book!

Your affectionate friend,