Handsome, Clever, and Rich

By: Jayne Bamber

Narrated by: Alexandra Lee Smith

Length: 21 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

What if Elizabeth is not a Bennet by birth, but by marriage?

When Netherfield Park is let at last, the village of Meryton is inveigled in romance, intrigue, and a few less-than-happy reunions. The Bingley siblings return to the home of their youth, an estate purchased just before the death of their father. The neighborhood, especially the Bennet family, is ready to welcome them back with open arms, but Mr. Bingley’s attempt to make a good impression on his community backfires so badly that it is his awkward friend Mr. Darcy who is obliged to salvage the situation in the aftermath of Mr. Bingley insulting Jane Bennet at the Assembly.

Young widow Elizabeth Bennet begins her acquaintance with Mr. Darcy on amiable terms, but the reckless folly of his friend and the regrets from her own past create a bumpy path to Happily Ever After for them.
Not long after an injury obliges Elizabeth to recover at Netherfield Park, her estranged sister finally discovers Elizabeth’s whereabouts, and journeys from Highbury to Meryton in all haste, suitors in tow.

When one unexpected betrothal arises out of necessity, Jane Austen’s most notorious matchmaker is inspired to work her magic at Longbourn, Netherfield, and Lucas Lodge - but she, too, will have met her match in matters of meddling & mischief….

©2023 Jayne Bamber (P)2023 Jayne Bamber

Excellent story and delightful narration

Oh such fun to be had!

I do love how this author takes Ms. Austen characters and plays with them. They are twisted around and put into new and vastly different situations, usually stretching them to new heights, all while keeping them recognizable. Amazing, it always keeps me coming back to her books.

I love the narrator, they are fairly new to me and with so many different voices I was still able to tell who was speaking. It was easy to listen to and didn’t drag but not too slow. I look forward to listening to more books read by her!

Clever and Hilarious

This book did justice to the odd mix of the cast of characters from Pride and Prejudice and Emma with hilarious results while creating a new but recognizable story. The story may seem long at first, but the way everything comes together at the end is well worth the wait.

So good!

Loved the story line. I laughed and cried. Great narration. I’m going now to look for more books by this author.

A Most Excellent Crossover Novel

This is bar none one of the best crossover novels that I have read. It contains the lovely characters of Mrs. Elizabeth Bennet, the entire Bennet Clan with the edition of the unexpected heir to Longborn, the usual suspects in P & P; but also the main characters of the novel, Emma. All of the characters remained true to form. if you are familiar with both novels, you will be surprised with the couples that end up together. You do not need to have read either works from Jane Austen to be able to understand and follow this book.

Excellent Mashup

Jayne Bamber has become one of my favorite JAFF authors. She excels at creating new and interesting situations for Austen's characters to navigate that show different facets to their previously established personalities.

The audio narration of this story was engaging and delightful. The narrator is gifted at vocalizing each character. I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook!

Delightful Austen Crossover/Mashup

Excellent narration by Alexandra Lee Smith. If you’re looking for a long listen, this one fits the bill.

Elizabeth Bennet, née Woodhouse, is the widow of Benjamin Bennet, former heir to Longbourn, with whom she eloped at the age of fifteen in her desire to escape her father’s indifference and her solitary life at Highbury. In her marriage, Elizabeth was blessed with a son, Thomas, and the genuine love of a new family. She is happy.

The usual Netherfield party arrives, but this time with Colonel Fitzwilliam, George Knightly and Emma Woodhouse in tow. Emma is determined to reconcile with her sister after having been separated for five years. After Elizabeth is injured and carried to Netherfield to recuperate, the fun really begins. The story is long, but it is filled with a pleasing abundance of engaging dialogue, humour and meddling schemes. There’s never a dull moment.

Bringing together the characters of Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Emma, Jayne Bamber once again reveals she is the undeniable ‘Queen of Mashups’. Combining a clever “not a Bennet” trope—at least not by birth—with the meddling machinations of Emma, makes for a humorous romp with a great cast of beloved characters. Throughout this book, I couldn’t help imagining the story as a film or limited series. It would be very diverting!

Content is clean with kisses only—well, maybe a little grope or two.

Highly recommend if you enjoy a romp, and if it’s not been your cuppa, this one may change your mind.

A witty tale

This was a combination of P&P and Emma having Emma and Elizabeth being sisters that lead different lives due to their father’s fears.
I’m not a fan of Emma but this story was so very interesting and the changes to the pairings so much better. Elizabeth and Darcy’s journey was not as smooth but made their journey to expressing their feelings of love so swoon worthy.
The narrator was awesome!

Might have benefited from being shorter

I had not read Emma before this, so I watched the 2020 film and read enough of that book to get a feel for the personalities of those characters. I like the pairings the author chose in this one. (SPOILERS) Though I tend to prefer it when Jane and Bingley get their HEA, I thought the character she ultimately ended up with made sense. Bingley's new choice put Caroline in her place better than Jane would have. I also liked Emma's new suitor.

Overall, I liked the story fine, but there were a few parts where characters either talk about "drugging" other characters or they actually do it that did not sit right with me. There were a few repetitive phrases that got distracting after a while. The number of times characters exclaimed "Good God!" or they "made a droll face" is enough to make a drinking game out of it. There were parts that felt unnecessary, and one or two things that I don't feel got proper closure at the end.

If you liked Five Daughters Out at Once, then I'm sure you'll probably like this one.

The narrator was great. There were a few instances where I thought a line might have been read differently, but not many, and it didn't detract from my enjoyment of her narration.

Disappointed

This is not what I expected of Ms. Bamber. I’ve listened to others by her and found them very enjoyable. This rambled and repeated itself so often that at one point I wondered if she had help from Mr. Collins writing this one.

An abundance of characters

Characters from Austen's book "Emma" are mixed in with "Pride and Prejudice" characters, which is not the best premise in my opinion. In this reimagining, Elizabeth is the sister of Emma and Isabelle. She had eloped with Benjamin, the son of the Bennetts when she was very young, and was loved by the Bennett family, including Mrs. Bennett. Elizabeth's husband died about a year after they married and Elizabeth and her son (the heir to Longbourne) lived with the Bennett family and Elizabeth managed the estate. By the way, I liked Mrs. Bennett in this version. She was not so silly and mean - she coddled her daughters and her daughter in law, Elizabeth. I truly disliked Emma and wanted to slap her a little bit.