Play with Fire

A Pride & Prejudice Variation

By: J. Marie Croft

Narrated by: Harry Frost

Length: 3 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

Madness! It was nothing but madness from beginning to end, and Darcy was caught up in it.

What do occupants of Netherfield Park do on a dreary Saturday, while the Bennet sisters are still in residence, and when they have nothing at all to do? They take a page from Mansfield Park, of course, and decide on a theatrical.

In the process of planning and performing the play, certain participants get more than a little carried away, especially Fitzwilliam Darcy where Elizabeth Bennet is concerned. There might even be a kiss…and a skirmish…leading to a duel.

No one involved in the play had set out with the intention of creating a scandal. None preforming in the theatrical began with the aim of ending with blushing faces, or bruised bodies, or blemishes on their reputations.

Blame it on The Mésalliance.

©2020 J. Marie Croft (P)2021 J. Marie Croft

First person POV

It’s fun. But it’s also first person POV and i can’t return the title now.

The narrator was great!

The whole novel was hilarious and the audio book brought it to life! Bingley’s insistence on certain pronunciations added to the fun.

Funny story

I laughed out loud many times while listening to this story. So daft it was great fun. Loved it in its all absurdity. Witty and well written. Great narrator as well.

What fun!

Totally farcical but such fun. As always, Harry Frost’s performance is a tour de force! A perfect way to forget about pandemic stresses for a few hours. Loved it!

So funny!

Please write more like this. I spent the whole time laughing. The narrator was wonderful.

Delightful and witty

This was amazing. Darcy POV was quite insightful and his wit and sarcasm was delivered perfectly by Harry Frost. I have not found any narrator better at comedic timing than Mr. Frost.
The J. Marie Croft is quite talented and had me laughing out loud numeroustimes. I wanted to listen again to the novella since I was unable to pause or rewind during the first playing.
This is great lighthearted fun.

Acting Out Romance in a Sparkling Regency Romp

The discovery of an old trunk of clothes and a pile of plays in the attic on a rainy day has the occupants of Netherfield Park occupied with acting. Somewhere along the way, they begin to wonder if they are really acting when silent skirmishers, Darcy and Elizabeth exchange a scorching kiss and a duel elicits further understanding. The Skirmishes and Scandal series of novellas present new authors and new romantic escapades with each new installment. This airy, amusing piece had the added attraction of an already familiar and welcome narrator so I happily put in my earbuds and relaxed into an entertaining variation on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

For this novella-length Regency romp, taciturn, proud, and a wee bit grumpy Fitzwilliam Darcy offers the sole perspective on those who are staying on the estate and even his own changing opinions about them and about himself. This is a story within a story as the play is acted out. The reader/listener is aware of the uncanny resemblance of actors to their acted roles and also picks up on the true state of affairs before a distracted Darcy works it out.

It was fun to see both stories unfold and the author’s trademark witty wordsmithing gave the story some added sparkle. There is a hint of mystery about the convenient discovery of the play and I had my suspicions as I am pretty sure I was meant to guess so that the reader-listener can share a joke with the author as the players act out their parts to the end when comedy reigns and created some laugh out loud moments.

The variation is not just a change in the original storyline, but some liberty with the characters. I adored this version of Mr. and Mrs. Hurst, Bingley, and lord love a duck, Mrs. Phillips the stunning scene stealer. The main players, Darcy and Elizabeth were excellent, but I found the attention to the secondary characters was what really captivated me most.

Harry Frost caught onto the playful tone and the quips, voiced the characters with sensational individuality, and so it was an unsurprisingly excellent audio production.

Rave review from this listener for cleverly having Jane Austen’s characters playacting and enacting their own romance off scene. What a splendid story that other Austenesque fans and sweet historical romantic comedy lovers should flock to pick up.

Fun story! (First Person POV)

Found it to be a fun story, the author mostly stayed true to the character of the original Pride and Prejudice. But at first it was a little strange because of the First Person POV but overall a good book.
I have nothing to criticize about Harry Frost‘s performance as narrator. I like his different voices of the characters, even this time different narrations for the characters of the play. Good job!

Hilarious Romp

This is one of those highly diverting romps that really comes alive with the outstanding Harry Frost performing. The words and great writing have to be there to make it worthy, of course, and J. Marie Croft is masterful with her wordplay and banter. One of the best JAFF fun reads out there. I nearly cried laughing at Bingley’s/Harry’s performance in the play they performed. This audiobook is a wonderful palette cleanser to listen to in between the more serious variations. Don’t miss this one. Highly recommend. I was gifted a complimentary copy of this audiobook by the publisher without promise of a review, but I’m more than happy to provide one for this very amusing tale.