An Endeavour to Be Worthy

The Montford Cousins, Book 1

De: L.L. Diamond

Narrado por: Deborah Balm

After a long separation, Elizabeth Bennet is off to spend Christmas in London with her grandparents, Lord and Lady Richmond, and her cousins Nicholas and Amelia. While her grandmother is determined to see her spoiled with new gowns and the like, Elizabeth would prefer to play chess and shop for books with Nicholas and her grandfather and visit with her grandmother and Amelia.

At Lady Vranes’s private art exhibition, Elizabeth happens upon the one person she hoped she would never see again, Mr. Darcy. Not only that, but her grandparents and cousins are well acquainted with him, his cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam, and his young sister, Georgiana. How is she to behave around a man who finds her merely tolerable and made his disdain for her evident during his time at Netherfield? Moreover, what is she to do when he calls at Richmond House as a good friend of the family?

Fitzwilliam Darcy is a man torn. He has just realized that the Elizabeth Bennet he thought so unsuitable in Hertfordshire is, in fact, eminently suitable to be Mrs. Darcy, and boasts of connexions that even his uncle Lord Fitzwilliam cannot fault. The only problem seems to be his behavior in Meryton. Now, he must seek her forgiveness and attempt to court the only lady who has ever tempted him beyond reason. Will he be the gentleman who wins her heart? In the end, she will make her choice, all he can do is endeavour to be worthy.

Contains scenes with adult content.

©2022 L.L. Diamond (P)2023 L.L. Diamond

Great story.

I read it as a book last year and now listened to it. Great time spent. I like the Monkfords. Great Jaff.

Alternate Pride and Prejudice

This story is based on the characters in Pride and Prejudice but the histories and circumstances for Elizabeth and Jane have changed, allowing Darcy to more easily accept Elizabeth as a prospect for a wife and furthering her opinion that he is the most vexing man. The story is well written and I love the way Lizzie and Jane's lives have changed. there are some adult scenes at the end of the book once the Darcys are married.

Enjoyable

I enjoyed listening to this book. It brings me back to the soft romance novels I used to read when I was really young and just starting to delve into romance.

Enjoyable

Bottom line: A ‘worthy’ addition to your JAFF collection Full Review (NO spoilers): If I could give 1/2 stars I would give this 4.5 /5, overall. This was a nice, easy, enjoyable read. I’ve read A LOT of JAFF and I tend to enjoy those which mix both Austen’s spirit and a unique plot (not to mention those with a little more spice) and this book certainly did just that. I appreciated it being rather low-angst (especially when compared to other JAFF) while still providing an interesting story. I thought the take on Elizabeth’s family was interesting and certainly one I haven’t come across before. Although there were a few moments of ODC being a little too over the top with the whole “But I love you more” “no, no, no, I love YOU more” idea, but not nearly enough to detract from my enjoying the book as a whole. Yes, there are a few scenes of a more mature nature, but I thought they were tastefully done and not entirely unrealistic, especially for how passionate both Elizabeth and Darcy are in every other aspect of their lives. There was some (unnecessary, IMO) drama/angst regarding Bingley which I honestly thought added absolutely nothing of value to the story and could’ve easily been left out; however, I’m assuming this storyline will come into play later in the series. If not, the book really would’ve been better off without it. I did not enjoy the narrator and to be fair, I don’t have anything objective to complain about. I just did not care for her voices for the male characters (which seemed to all run together) and how shrill every female character sounded (even Elizabeth). I found her intonation to be VERY repetitive, regardless of whether she was reading dialogue, a question, an exclamation, or non-dialogue text — it all seemed to be voiced the same. I sped up the playback speed to 1.75x, which helped some but not enough to overlook (or should I say ‘overhear’) these. Now if Stevie Zimmerman (maybe in a duet with Harry Frost!?!?) were to read this, I’d have to give it a 5/5.

Enjoyble

I always enjoy listening/reading another version of Jane Austin's character, it give you another view of the characters and in some cases-like this one-brings them more alive. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!