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The Poison Series #1
Pride and Prejudice and Poison
When Lady Catherine de Bourgh arrives at Longbourn with a warning for Elizabeth Bennet not to marry her nephew, Mr. Darcy, tensions between the two are at an all-time high. But as Elizabeth falls ill after her ladyship's departure, Mr. Darcy finds himself racing against time to save her life.As he travels to London to fetch a doctor, the depth of his feelings for Elizabeth becomes clear, and he begins to realize that his pride and prejudice have blinded him to the truth.In "Pride and Prejudice and Poison," the beloved characters of Jane Austen's classic tale are brought to life in a new and thrilling way, as Mr. Darcy fights to win Elizabeth's heart and prove his love. This sweeping romance will leave you swooning and begging for more.Pride and Prejudice and Poison is a 52,000 word JAFF novel that is one of many Darcy and Elizabeth variations, Darcy and Elizabeth free in Kindle Unlimited, P and P variation, Pride and Prejudice variations, Jane Austen, featuring Longbourn, Elizabeth Bennet, rescue of Elizabeth Bennet, poison, a Pride and Prejudice new releases, romance.
368 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 30, 2018
64 people are currently reading
96 people want to read
About the author
Bella Breen
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Bestselling author of clean and sweet Pride and Prejudice variation books, Bella Breen's books feature Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet. She first fell in love with Pride and Prejudice in highschool and again with the BBC mini series. Colin Firth will forever be the perfect Mr. Darcy. Today she brings her fantasies to life for every fan of Mr. Darcy.
She was born in Missouri, then moved to Iowa in grade school and finally settled in South Dakota which reminds her of the English countryside, if you squint and ignore the harsh winters and humid summers. Her favorite animals are cats, corgis and horses. When she's not writing you can find her walking in nature, cross stitching, reading, antique hunting and practicing calligraphy.
Visit her website at https://www.bellabreen.com
Bestselling author of clean and sweet Pride and Prejudice variation books, Bella Breen's books feature Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet. She first fell in love with Pride and Prejudice in highschool and again with the BBC mini series. Colin Firth will forever be the perfect Mr. Darcy. Today she brings her fantasies to life for every fan of Mr. Darcy.
She was born in Missouri, then moved to Iowa in grade school and finally settled in South Dakota which reminds her of the English countryside, if you squint and ignore the harsh winters and humid summers. Her favorite animals are cats, corgis and horses. When she's not writing you can find her walking in nature, cross stitching, reading, antique hunting and practicing calligraphy.
Visit her website at https://www.bellabreen.com
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
March 31, 2020
Even nectar is poison if taken to excess. ~ Hindu Proverb
Here is a different plot -- our story begins after Jane and Bingley have become betrothed.
As usual, Lady Catherine visits Elizabeth to make her sentiments known but with one difference from canon. She requests refreshment in the garden … specifically hot cocoa. After the ladies partake and have the usual dispute regarding Mr. Darcy’s marital intentions Lady Catherine leaves in her usual huff.
Soon after, Elizabeth feels ill … and then she feels very ill indeed.
A smart mother makes often a better diagnosis than a poor doctor. ~ August Bier
Unfortunately, Elizabeth’s mother is “smart” about only one thing – her daughter Jane’s marriage to Mr. Bingley. And now that ungrateful girl is trying to spoil her sister’s chances by being ill at the worst possible time. Well, Mother Bennet knows what to do about that!
Quote from the book: "Mama! You cannot banish Lizzie to the servant's floor!"
How can Elizabeth survive such parental abuse? Especially when her father is told the illness is nothing more serious than a “trifling little cold”. How can Elizabeth survive such parental neglect?
Darcy must take matters into his hands to aid his love’s recovery.
But what caused the illness in the first place? Suspicion falls on the last person to visit Longbourn: Lady Catherine.
What is one man's meat is another man's rank poison. ~ Lucretius
Beauty treatments and “health restoratives” can contain arsenic. How is Lady Catherine involved in Elizabeth’s poisoning? Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam must investigate.
If Lady Catherine is guilty, how should she be punished? What controls can the family put in place?
Full Disclosure: I read this as it posted WIP on a Fan Fiction site. As with most WIPs, a number of errors were present but the author’s notes indicated the copy would be proofread before publishing so I will not downgrade for typos, etc.
This is a well-crafted mystery that held my attention to the end. It is rather short and a sequel is planned. My personal preference is that stories be complete and posted as a single novel. I like to know what the total cost will be before I make a purchase.
Poisons and medicine are oftentimes the same substance given with different intents. ~ Peter Mere Latham
Here is a different plot -- our story begins after Jane and Bingley have become betrothed.
As usual, Lady Catherine visits Elizabeth to make her sentiments known but with one difference from canon. She requests refreshment in the garden … specifically hot cocoa. After the ladies partake and have the usual dispute regarding Mr. Darcy’s marital intentions Lady Catherine leaves in her usual huff.
Soon after, Elizabeth feels ill … and then she feels very ill indeed.
A smart mother makes often a better diagnosis than a poor doctor. ~ August Bier
Unfortunately, Elizabeth’s mother is “smart” about only one thing – her daughter Jane’s marriage to Mr. Bingley. And now that ungrateful girl is trying to spoil her sister’s chances by being ill at the worst possible time. Well, Mother Bennet knows what to do about that!
Quote from the book: "Mama! You cannot banish Lizzie to the servant's floor!"
How can Elizabeth survive such parental abuse? Especially when her father is told the illness is nothing more serious than a “trifling little cold”. How can Elizabeth survive such parental neglect?
Darcy must take matters into his hands to aid his love’s recovery.
But what caused the illness in the first place? Suspicion falls on the last person to visit Longbourn: Lady Catherine.
What is one man's meat is another man's rank poison. ~ Lucretius
Beauty treatments and “health restoratives” can contain arsenic. How is Lady Catherine involved in Elizabeth’s poisoning? Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam must investigate.
If Lady Catherine is guilty, how should she be punished? What controls can the family put in place?
Full Disclosure: I read this as it posted WIP on a Fan Fiction site. As with most WIPs, a number of errors were present but the author’s notes indicated the copy would be proofread before publishing so I will not downgrade for typos, etc.
This is a well-crafted mystery that held my attention to the end. It is rather short and a sequel is planned. My personal preference is that stories be complete and posted as a single novel. I like to know what the total cost will be before I make a purchase.
Poisons and medicine are oftentimes the same substance given with different intents. ~ Peter Mere Latham
February 20, 2021
The premise of this story has possibilities. It starts at the point in canon where Lady Catherine visits Longbourn to confront Elizabeth Bennet about aspiring to supplant her daughter as Mr. Darcy's betrothed. This time, Lady C insists upon refreshments - specifically, hot chocolate - to be served during her interview of Miss Bennet.
Almost as soon as Lady C leaves, Elizabeth is struck with a serious illness. Mrs. Bennet is more concerned about Lizzy's illness spreading to Jane, who's now happily engaged to Mr. Bingley, than she is about her second eldest daughter. She doesn't send for the apothecary for fear that it become known Longbourn has anyone who's deathly ill - she doesn't want to scare Mr. Bingley away and have that artful Mrs. Lucas snatch him up for her own daughter Maria.
Mr. Bennet, always ensconced in his study, doesn't immediately recognize the seriousness of the situation and, when he does, just calls Mr. Jones. He doesn't check in on Elizabeth himself or monitor the apothecary's treatment to see what a mistake this is. (Neither Mr. nor Mrs. Bennet comes off well here - they're far worse than JA's version of them.)
When Mr. Darcy accompanies Mr. Bingley to call on the Bennets, he's alarmed to learn that Elizabeth is ill and even more alarmed at Mrs. Bennets's dismissive attitude when Jane is obviously distressed about her sister's condition. He manages to find out the truth for himself and then springs into action.
The story proceeds from there. It all leads to a nice HEA. However, there's a surprise ending that isn't adequately explained.
Unfortunately, that's not the only problem here. The writing is amateurish in many, many ways: glaring grammatical mistakes and misspellings, awkward phrasing, wooden dialogue, non-Regency dialogue, repetition, and stating-and-overstating the obvious. If there was any proofreading, it was badly done. (How could a character be "poleaxed"? Probably should be "perplexed.")
I understand this was originally an online fanfic story. It should have had far more editing and proofreading done before being considered for publication.
Not a book I can recommend. Content is clean.
Almost as soon as Lady C leaves, Elizabeth is struck with a serious illness. Mrs. Bennet is more concerned about Lizzy's illness spreading to Jane, who's now happily engaged to Mr. Bingley, than she is about her second eldest daughter. She doesn't send for the apothecary for fear that it become known Longbourn has anyone who's deathly ill - she doesn't want to scare Mr. Bingley away and have that artful Mrs. Lucas snatch him up for her own daughter Maria.
Mr. Bennet, always ensconced in his study, doesn't immediately recognize the seriousness of the situation and, when he does, just calls Mr. Jones. He doesn't check in on Elizabeth himself or monitor the apothecary's treatment to see what a mistake this is. (Neither Mr. nor Mrs. Bennet comes off well here - they're far worse than JA's version of them.)
When Mr. Darcy accompanies Mr. Bingley to call on the Bennets, he's alarmed to learn that Elizabeth is ill and even more alarmed at Mrs. Bennets's dismissive attitude when Jane is obviously distressed about her sister's condition. He manages to find out the truth for himself and then springs into action.
The story proceeds from there. It all leads to a nice HEA. However, there's a surprise ending that isn't adequately explained.
Unfortunately, that's not the only problem here. The writing is amateurish in many, many ways: glaring grammatical mistakes and misspellings, awkward phrasing, wooden dialogue, non-Regency dialogue, repetition, and stating-and-overstating the obvious. If there was any proofreading, it was badly done. (How could a character be "poleaxed"? Probably should be "perplexed.")
I understand this was originally an online fanfic story. It should have had far more editing and proofreading done before being considered for publication.
Not a book I can recommend. Content is clean.
October 27, 2018
A fast paced, action filled, thriller.
Enters with Lady Catherine's visit to Longbourn and it starts with a bang.
After Lady Catherine's visit, Elizabeth immediately fell violently ill. Muscle cramps and unable to keep anything down, she was hauled off to the servants quarters not to inflict the rest of the family with her ailment. Mrs Bennet showed her lack of maternal skills, in every way possible and her manners was no better...
Mr Darcy enters the fray and takes action to save Elizabeth's life most admirably while he stumbled upon a possible culprit. The hunt to find the guilty as well as finding a fitting punishment, was a major part of the book.
Ends in a HEA. Would have loved to see a bit more interaction between ODC but I loved the plot.
Recommend.
Enters with Lady Catherine's visit to Longbourn and it starts with a bang.
After Lady Catherine's visit, Elizabeth immediately fell violently ill. Muscle cramps and unable to keep anything down, she was hauled off to the servants quarters not to inflict the rest of the family with her ailment. Mrs Bennet showed her lack of maternal skills, in every way possible and her manners was no better...
Mr Darcy enters the fray and takes action to save Elizabeth's life most admirably while he stumbled upon a possible culprit. The hunt to find the guilty as well as finding a fitting punishment, was a major part of the book.
Ends in a HEA. Would have loved to see a bit more interaction between ODC but I loved the plot.
Recommend.
August 20, 2018
2.5 stars. I have to preface this by saying I don't think i read the "pubished" version. That being said, the plot was meh. We know the culprit nearly the entire time and then a twist comes at the very end that I totally predicted would happen 50 pages sooner. That part is not resolved and we have an ending which i take it will lead to another expensive book (the author should label this as part 1 instead of making readers think this book is complete, IMHO).
My problem with this work is that the writing is disjointed and needs a thorough edit. The prose doesn't come natural and the description of scenes is odd. The dialogue is not natural between the characters and even the romance is completely lacking. Like we Darcy referring to his uncle as the Earl of Matlok. In one sentence he is using a familiar name in the next a formal name. It just does't make any sense. Also Mrs. B is absolutely awful and nothing is resolved or done there which i found unsatisfying.
I have recently read 2 murder mystery books that were free that I found to be so much better that it's hard for me to recommend this. I know its a new author and I applaud her for the attempt, but the price is way to high for the length, etc.
I also recommend you read Rose's review.
My problem with this work is that the writing is disjointed and needs a thorough edit. The prose doesn't come natural and the description of scenes is odd. The dialogue is not natural between the characters and even the romance is completely lacking. Like we Darcy referring to his uncle as the Earl of Matlok. In one sentence he is using a familiar name in the next a formal name. It just does't make any sense. Also Mrs. B is absolutely awful and nothing is resolved or done there which i found unsatisfying.
I have recently read 2 murder mystery books that were free that I found to be so much better that it's hard for me to recommend this. I know its a new author and I applaud her for the attempt, but the price is way to high for the length, etc.
I also recommend you read Rose's review.
September 25, 2023
I loved this. It’s a new but within the bounds of interpretation plot, the characters are excellent, and the twist in the plot fantastic. Really well crafted.
October 7, 2023
Whilst the idea was different I found the writing to be very awkward in its structure. Besides the obvious typos and such as, made for maid, transposing fiance and financee as well as saying he would give them some quid, there was a lot more that made this book rather tedious to read I am sorry to say.
I doubt very much Darcy's uncle or cousin would call him Mr. Darcy unless they were introducing him to someone. Paragraphs appeared to repeat themselves, the author did not look for alternative words so making this more of a young teens effort.
The ideas are there but unfinished. The author needs to do some research as families in the nobility would send members away to remote estates to be looked after not just place them in Bethlem as the notoriety of such would have a great effect on the members of that family.
Nothing was really explained and this was not just an instance of I have given you information make of it what you will, but a great chasm. A beta would be useful as would some cold readers.
I wish the author well, for as I said she had an idea, she just needs to develop her writing to be less juvenile.
I doubt very much Darcy's uncle or cousin would call him Mr. Darcy unless they were introducing him to someone. Paragraphs appeared to repeat themselves, the author did not look for alternative words so making this more of a young teens effort.
The ideas are there but unfinished. The author needs to do some research as families in the nobility would send members away to remote estates to be looked after not just place them in Bethlem as the notoriety of such would have a great effect on the members of that family.
Nothing was really explained and this was not just an instance of I have given you information make of it what you will, but a great chasm. A beta would be useful as would some cold readers.
I wish the author well, for as I said she had an idea, she just needs to develop her writing to be less juvenile.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 7, 2022
I read this book in one sitting, and there were few surprises outside the main twist of the story. I did very much enjoy the opportunity to read Bella's books, and have three in a row here because they have been enticing me for months and longer! But I was a little surprised at the dramatic evocations for Darcy and his, I would say more feminine reaction, to the stress of doing what needed to be done. I get that there is some leeway, as it is humanly depicted, but even I would have drawn a line of not worth all this anxiety when protecting those we love from things like being poisoned, especially after having watched the affects and seeing his Elizabeth so near death...Overall, a nicely done twist!
March 13, 2023
The writing was mediocre/poor. Some of the plot was actively disturbing to me. The end result for Lady Catherine . The whole thing did not sit well with me.
August 20, 2019
Lady Catherine visits Elizabeth, has some refreshments with her, and afterwards Elizabeth falls violently ill. Darcy gets her a doctor and Mrs. Bennet is more vile than usual. It was okay but not great, the prose could have done with some polishing. Not sure but I read an online version that might have been a little different from the published version.
November 12, 2019
Avid Reader
Hard believe that Lady Catherine would stoop to poisoning Elizabeth so that she couldn't marry Darcy, but at least she survived! Darcy made a round trip to London to locate a doctor that he knew could help Elizabeth. Had it been left to Mr. and Mrs. Bennet Elizabeth would have died!
Hard believe that Lady Catherine would stoop to poisoning Elizabeth so that she couldn't marry Darcy, but at least she survived! Darcy made a round trip to London to locate a doctor that he knew could help Elizabeth. Had it been left to Mr. and Mrs. Bennet Elizabeth would have died!
March 24, 2022
This Pride and Prejudice variation starts when Lady Catherine visits Elizabeth at Longbourn. Not long after she leaves Elizabeth becomes ill. Can her life be saved, has someone tried to harm her. As to why and whom is guily becomes obvious to Darcy and Elizabeth and now they must convince the Colonel before action can be taken.
An enjoyable story
An enjoyable story
November 17, 2019
Disappointed
It was pretty disappointing and sometimes even if I don’t like a story I don’t give bad reviews but I really wished someone would have told me not to buy it,
No plot, boring, no suspense or anything exciting to wait for..... Disappointing
It was pretty disappointing and sometimes even if I don’t like a story I don’t give bad reviews but I really wished someone would have told me not to buy it,
No plot, boring, no suspense or anything exciting to wait for..... Disappointing
November 30, 2020
Good story!
I liked the storyline, but I did feel there was something missing. The strength of attachment of Mr. Darcy to Lizzy was wanting, also, he seemed to be more affected by having to incarcerate his aunt than by Lizzie’s illness.
I liked the storyline, but I did feel there was something missing. The strength of attachment of Mr. Darcy to Lizzy was wanting, also, he seemed to be more affected by having to incarcerate his aunt than by Lizzie’s illness.
November 5, 2021
Wow a great story
I liked this take charge Darcy. Bingley was much the same. Glad the lydia wickham debacle was already done. Good love story with darcy and Lizzy already in love! Lady Catherine was a bit much, but what was Anne and Mrs Jenkinson talking about!! Book two awaits!
I liked this take charge Darcy. Bingley was much the same. Glad the lydia wickham debacle was already done. Good love story with darcy and Lizzy already in love! Lady Catherine was a bit much, but what was Anne and Mrs Jenkinson talking about!! Book two awaits!
May 12, 2020
Lovely
A rather lovely variation inspired by Jane Austen's classic novel Pride and Prejudice by Bella Breen. I really enjoyed it.
A rather lovely variation inspired by Jane Austen's classic novel Pride and Prejudice by Bella Breen. I really enjoyed it.
September 18, 2021
Good story. Sounded and felt like Jane Austen.
Recommend this book to anyone that loves Pride And Prejudice. Characters are well developed.
Ending may be a little long.
Recommend this book to anyone that loves Pride And Prejudice. Characters are well developed.
Ending may be a little long.
November 24, 2021
Haven't read this both before and after it's being published, I can truthfully say it is an excellent variation of pride and prejudice. Reverting very closely to what Austen would have written.
Read
October 19, 2023boring
July 30, 2024
An enjoyable variation. I really didn’t like Mrs.Bennet in this one she was particularly bad and Mr. Bennet almost cowed by her, but I liked Darcy and Elizabeth in this one.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews