A Change of Legacies (Constant Love #2) in Austenesque Lovers TBR Pile Reading Challenge 2016

Apr 07, 2016 Sophie Turner added it · (Review from the author) · review of another edition

As I make plans for all of the books in this series, I've come to realize that they'll each have their own slightly different personality, which makes sense, as each is a complete book in its own right (this one comes in at 442 printed pages). So I'd like to introduce readers to A Change of Legacies. This WILL contain some spoilers for A Constant Love.

This book, while longer than A Constant Love, actually takes place over a shorter period of time. This is in part because it has two stories-withi As I make plans for all of the books in this series, I've come to realize that they'll each have their own slightly different personality, which makes sense, as each is a complete book in its own right (this one comes in at 442 printed pages). So I'd like to introduce readers to A Change of Legacies. This WILL contain some spoilers for A Constant Love.

This book, while longer than A Constant Love, actually takes place over a shorter period of time. This is in part because it has two stories-within-the-story, and also because it has more subplots. As a result, there are fewer historical events featured, but historical accuracy was something that was still very important to me. Part of the reason the edits for it took so long was because much about pregnancy and childbirth needed to be updated when I found a new, more accurate source on these topics, and wanted to work in what I had learned.

The danger of childbirth (about one in five women died from it, during this time) is a key theme throughout. It's not something we think about as much, in the first world today, but poor Darcy faces an event that could have a happy outcome -- or could result in the death of his wife. It's difficult to say more without spoiling, but this leads to some of the most poignant moments between the two of them thus far in the series.

Some themes ended up feeling more relevant today than I had expected. At the end of A Constant Love, we finally saw a potential love interest for Mary, in Captain Stanton's clergyman brother, David. In the course of this book, he shows Mary a more tolerant, forgiving Christianity, versus the more judgmental one practiced by his father. That father does make an appearance, and let's just say that a Stanton family reunion is never a good idea. Back to Mary, though -- she was very fun to write as a romantic heroine because she's rather non-traditional for such a role, a little prudish and surprised at the idea that she might actually be in love. Part of the reason a series grew from the first book was because I wanted to write her romance, and I really enjoyed doing so.

Another theme is youthful mistakes, and there is an exploration of how Georgiana's might have changed things for everyone. In A Constant Love, Elizabeth's growing relationship with her new sister was a key part of the book, and while this is still there in Legacies, this time it's Darcy's relationship with his sister that is explored in more depth. He has been like a father to her for many years, but following her wedding to Captain Stanton, he must return to the role of brother, something he struggles with. Georgiana, meanwhile, has married the man she loves, but comes to see that there are some downsides to marrying the dashing naval captain -- he's not particularly domesticated.

The last theme I will mention is that of weak love vs. strong love. In this book there are several widows and widowers, and it's one of the widows who best articulates this. Along the lines of this theme, one character I have not yet mentioned is Colonel Fitzwilliam, who lost his arm at Waterloo and must face a life beyond the army, a life that may well include the weak love of an arranged marriage.

As in A Constant Love, where there were actually multiple constant loves, there are numerous changes of legacies within this one. I hope readers will find each of the plotlines interesting, and enjoy this second installment of the series. Now I must get back to work on the third! ...more

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Mar 16, 2017 Don Jacobson rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Powerful Arc

This second installment in Ms Turner's "Constant Love" series brings all of the stories to their happy conclusion. "Change of Legacies" continues to strong underlying character development for the central and (barely) secondary characters. The dream sequences can seem to be a discontinuity...But they are revealing insights into the manner in which the mind bends reality. They also act as a vehicle to provide a plausible alternative narrative. I am not certain, though, about how well ...more

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Nov 25, 2016 J. W. Garrett rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: jaff-pride-and-prejudice, era-6-regency-1811-1820, 2016

This was not a stand-a-lone book. It followed Turner’s ‘A Constant Love’ and continued the story lines and character adventures already established in the first book. You will need to read the other book first.

Like a carpenter fitly joins two boards together with a dove-tail connection, Turner seamlessly joined our story lines together and continued the journey of our favorite P&P characters.

Story lines: There was a bunch of them: mostly centered around music of some sort.
Georgiana [Lady Stant ...more

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Jul 21, 2016 Sara rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: jaff, audible

I was disappointed with the too-lengthy dream scenes. I like the plot generally but it moved so SLOWLY. Not at all like the quick paced original Austen version. I think i would have liked it better if it was a little quicker pace and less dreams. Also, why was there no mid-wife available. Surely, there would have been one in the village for the town-folk. But i digress. It was well written, but just not fast paced enough for me.

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May 15, 2020 Ceri rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: austen-inspired, austen-sequel, 2016-austeneseque-challenge

This review was first posted on Babblings of a Bookworm: http://babblingsofabookworm.blogspot....

This is book 2 in the ‘Constant Love’ series. The first book in the series, ‘A Constant Love’, is a sequel to Jane Austen’s ‘Pride & Prejudice’ and ‘A Change of Legacies’ picks up not long after the end of the previous book. Since this book is a sequel, there may be some spoilers for the first book of the series, but I have tried to keep things as spoiler free as possible.

In book 1 we saw more of Ki This review was first posted on Babblings of a Bookworm: http://babblingsofabookworm.blogspot....

This is book 2 in the ‘Constant Love’ series. The first book in the series, ‘A Constant Love’, is a sequel to Jane Austen’s ‘Pride & Prejudice’ and ‘A Change of Legacies’ picks up not long after the end of the previous book. Since this book is a sequel, there may be some spoilers for the first book of the series, but I have tried to keep things as spoiler free as possible.

In book 1 we saw more of Kitty and Georgiana, as those two ladies were launched into society by the new Mrs Darcy. I was particularly keen to catch up with Kitty, because she was just lovely. I was less fond of Georgiana and the first part of ‘A Change of Legacies’ particularly focuses on her. Since this is a family saga-type story, I was expecting to follow the various characters through the next stages of their lives and instead this book took a different turn. Instead of presenting just the events we get some speculation on what could have happened if past events had unfolded differently. Georgiana is happy in her life, but she has begun to have dreams featuring George Wickham; specifically, she has recurring nightmares that instead of confessing her elopement plan to her brother while she was at Ramsgate, instead she allowed Wickham to convince her to elope. We all know from ‘Pride & Prejudice' that Wickham’s chief object was unquestionably Georgiana’s fortune and so, once the knot is tied he would have no need to be kind to her - in Georgiana’s dreams, he is not kind to her at all – she is merely a captive, held while Wickham tries to negotiate for her dowry. This alternate dream storyline provides an interesting reminder of the rights of women in the period (i.e. very limited). Personally, I think that if Wickham had succeeded in eloping with Georgiana he’d have been careful to keep the charm up, show her off in public and try and force Darcy to accept him through gritted teeth as a brother and an equal, but this is Georgiana’s subconscious at play, not mine!

Although this is generally a saga-style story and therefore not filled with overly-dramatic events, the dream events are quite dramatic and these, coupled with another circumstance (I’m trying not to spoil anything here, hence the vagueness!) led me to be concerned enough about the fate of one of the characters that I had to peep ahead to check that the book wouldn’t be taking a sinister turn! Georgiana confides in Elizabeth of the dreams, resulting in Elizabeth having dreams of her own where she imagines the difference a successful elopement for Georgiana might have had on her past with Darcy.

By this time, Georgiana has joined the family at Pemberley. The Bingleys are staying with the Darcys while the former’s new manor house is being constructed. It’s quite a fair size house party, often including further sisters, which gives us a chance to catch up with them, and see how far they have come. Unfortunately, we don’t get a great deal of Kitty time (or Catherine, as she now prefers to be known). However, we get to see Mary, and how she is changing. Through the influence of a family connection of Georgiana’s, Mary comes to see herself afresh, and it’s a somewhat painful experience:

“His idea of being a Christian is in thinking himself more pious than anyone else, and entirely without sin. There is no kindness and no generosity in his Christianity, and certainly no forgiveness; he shall cast the first stone, every time.”

His words cut through Mary painfully, for she recognised in them the way she had thought of herself all these years.

Poor Mary! But although it’s unpleasant to look at yourself and find something wanting, realising that is an important step in changing and Mary continues to become a more pleasant companion. It’s good to see her come into flower.

My favourite characters are always Darcy and Elizabeth, and we get some time with them here. There are some lovely interchanges between them:

“Fitzwilliam Darcy, sometimes I regret that I taught you to teaze so well,” she said.

“You could not help it, even if you tried. Someone who is by nature so good at teasing must necessarily teach those close to her, so long as they are receptive to the teaching.”

If you like a saga-style story and enjoyed the first book in the series I should think you’d enjoy this read too. At the end of the previous book there were some story threads which hadn’t been resolved, but this is not the case with this book so there aren’t many leads on where the story will head in the next instalment, but when the time comes I’ll be interested to see where Sophie Turner will take her characters next. I’d rate this as a 4 star read.

*I was provided with an e-book of this story by the author for my honest review. ...more

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Sep 10, 2016 Meredith (Austenesque Reviews) rated it really liked it

Shelves: jane-austen, pride-and-prejudice

A Reverent and Heart-Rending Continuation

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Source: Review Copy from Author

(Note: Potential readers should be made aware that this is the second volume in the Constant Love series. While it does stand alone, I think it would be a more enjoyable experience to read volume one, A Constant Love, first.)

What first arrested my attention about Sophie Turner’s newest installment of her Constant Love series was that the story focused on two major storylines – one following Darcy an A Reverent and Heart-Rending Continuation

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Source: Review Copy from Author

(Note: Potential readers should be made aware that this is the second volume in the Constant Love series. While it does stand alone, I think it would be a more enjoyable experience to read volume one, A Constant Love, first.)

What first arrested my attention about Sophie Turner’s newest installment of her Constant Love series was that the story focused on two major storylines – one following Darcy and Elizabeth and one that followed the newly married Georgiana and her husband, Matthew Stanton. I love dual storylines! Georgiana’s story takes us to Paris as she and her new husband adjust to being married and find their footing as a couple learning to compromise and communicate. Unlike the newlyweds, Elizabeth and Darcy remain at Pemberley for the majority of this tale as Elizabeth is expecting and the Bingleys are living with them temporarily while they wait for their new home to be built. The obstacles the Darcys face have to do with Elizabeth and the dangers of childbirth.

Besides the dual storylines and lovely character development for the Darcys, the Stantons, Mary Bennet, and Colonel Fitzwilliam, I think my favorite aspect of this story was the dream sequences. I don’t think it would be a spoiler for me to say that these dreams are sequential scenes that explore a variation of Pride and Prejudice. Yes, that’s right. There is a variation within a dream in this sequel. I loved the ‘what if’ question the dream sequence asked as it is one you don’t often see in Pride and Prejudice variations. The dreams are beautifully poignant and encompass sinister schemes, dangerous villains, harsh realities, and tender romances tinged with sorrow. I love how the dreams powerfully and emotionally effected me and the characters of the story. I also thought it was very clever how Ms. Turner tied the reason for the dreams to the present-day events. Very well done!

One of Ms. Turner’s strong points as a writer is her ability to paint vivid backdrops of the Regency period and infuse her story with actual historical events, people, and themes relevant to the era. While this story doesn’t consist of as many big battles and landmark events as A Constant Love did, this story centered more on the practices and realities of daily life such as childbirth, marriages, fox-hunting, entertaining neighbors, and planning for the next generation. The events of this story have such a strong feeling of authenticity to them and that feeling is compounded after reading the Author’s Notes at the end where Ms. Turner canvasses in detail her inspiration, her resources, and her decisions regarding this work of fiction. These notes and the amount of research and meticulous attention Ms. Turner puts into her stories is impressive and very much appreciated!

Like with A Constant Love, there were a couple of points in this story (mostly in the beginning) where I felt the pacing was a little slow. But other than that my only other quibbles would be that I thought it a little unlikely and inappropriate for Colonel Fitzwilliam to discuss mistresses with Georgiana and the very heavy focus on heirs. It sometimes didn’t sit right with me that there was so much immediate concern and discussion about heirs and inheritances (even before a couple was married or expecting!). But this may in fact have been the reality of life for this time period and maybe was something that truly never was far away from parents’ minds.

This sequel is truly all-encompassing! I greatly admire Ms. Turner’s style and applaud how she seamlessly can weave together a tale that includes so many characters, historical details, and underlying themes. The end result is a stimulating, compelling, and moving continuation that I will definitely read again and again! I cannot wait for more! ...more

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Apr 09, 2016 Charlene rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Constant love

This is the second in a "Pride and Prejudice" vagary. This story continues in the lives of all of our fav characters. We see how each find love and heartache and come out happy in the end. There are some sadness that propels two of our main characters, Georgianna and Lizzy to alternative roads they could of traveled. This is done through their dreams. It was like getting to read three stories in one novel. It was done seamlessly and I enjoyed the sub plots immensely.

Totally enjoyed ...more

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