Constant as the Sun: The Courtship of Mr. Darcy (One Thread Pulled, #2) in Austenesque Lovers TBR Pile Reading Challenge 2016

Nov 05, 2016 J. W. Garrett rated it really liked it

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

My love is constant as the Sun...

This was book two in the One Thread Pulled series. It was the long-awaited sequel to the 2013 ‘One Thread Pulled: The Dance With Mr. Darcy,’ which was 5-stars for me. I loved it. I have waited patiently for the conclusion of that story. Many threads were left hanging in book one and I was desperate for a conclusion to the love story between Mr. Darcy and Miss Elizabeth Bennet.

I think someone could read this book without having read the first. However, I would su ...more

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Dec 31, 2016 Talia rated it it was amazing

My final finished book for the year. I started another but then got the flu midway through reading so this will be it. Loved it, of course. My only problem with this author is that she has too few books to her name. It was everything wonderful as expected.

Reread: Yes, I totally agree with myself, ;)! The author needs to write more or faster. I absolutely love this author. I need more books!

Reread: Have to see if there are any new books by this author now!

Reread: Would love a third book in this s ...more

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Nov 24, 2016 Debbie rated it liked it

Shelves: jaff, kindle-unlimited

This author is blessed with immense writing talent. Lovely Regency-esque prose just flows throughout this book. Sentences come alive with just the right words to paint a picture for the reader, conveying the story vividly.

Ah, but there's where we come to the problem. It's the story itself that becomes too muddled to follow, despite the clarity and beauty of the language.

Ms. Oaks starts with a wonderful premise established at the end of the first book of this series. Mr. Bennet will only grant p This author is blessed with immense writing talent. Lovely Regency-esque prose just flows throughout this book. Sentences come alive with just the right words to paint a picture for the reader, conveying the story vividly.

Ah, but there's where we come to the problem. It's the story itself that becomes too muddled to follow, despite the clarity and beauty of the language.

Ms. Oaks starts with a wonderful premise established at the end of the first book of this series. Mr. Bennet will only grant permission for Darcy to marry Elizabeth after a long engagement, during which Elizabeth must partake of a London Season among Darcy's elite social class. If Elizabeth is unhappy mingling in this society, Mr. Bennet will withdraw his approval. He elicits Darcy's pledge that Elizabeth will not know about this stipulation. This is a unique idea, to my knowledge, and has the potential for numerous plausible obstacles to emerge that the couple would stumble through on their way to the inevitable HEA.

We have the anticipated posturing and snobbishness of the bon ton despite Elizabeth's obvious superiority to them all as well as her determination to augment her education so she will not disgrace her beloved betrothed. She and Darcy are quite the formidable pair, despite their lack of opportunity to share confidences.

Of course, there are obvious difficulties one might expect when Mrs. Bennet and Lydia (as well as Kitty and Mary, who are much better behaved) find their way onto the London scene and are included in some social calls. Mary is getting married at Longbourn to Mr. Timmons, Meryton's rector. Mrs. B. is determined to take advantage of Elizabeth's situation to get the best wedding clothes for Mary and throw her other unattached daughters in the way of Darcy's rich friends. When Elizabeth returns home for the wedding, she confronts her father.

However, there are enough additional secrets, intrigue, revenge and murder plots to fill at least five or six books of the most melodramatic variety, and most of these storylines have little to do with each other aside from the fact that they affect Elizabeth and Darcy. We have a previously unknown cousin from America, Mr. Robert Darcy, who happens to look exactly like Fitzwilliam Darcy and is surprisingly well-connected in London for someone whose country is currently at war with his hosts. Lady Catherine wants to use R. Darcy to strip F. Darcy of his inheritance. Anne finally breaks the chains of her overly-attached mother and connects with Mr. Fellows, a long-lost suitor. Another cousin, Viscount Milton, is Colonel Fitzwilliam's older and profligate brother who suddenly returns home from Ireland with a dark secret agenda. Mrs. Younge flits in and out of the tale with a backstory that links her to Lady Catherine, Mrs. Jenkinson and Mr. Fellows. Caroline Bingley somehow escapes from her banishment at the Isle of Wight and implausibly becomes a house guest of Earl and Lady Matlock.

Sir Vincent Parker is a Bow Street Runner investigating on Darcy's behalf, and he enters at about the 65% mark with a lengthy report. His story (with assistance from others in the room) is difficult enough to follow because of all the convoluted relationships and plots that are exposed, but then the reader discovers at about the 90% mark that part of the information disclosed (which was hard enough to keep straight) was not true after all, and yet more layers are added to the story.

Along with this incomprehensible plot, many of the characters behave more like characitures than believable people. This is especially true for Lady Catherine, Mrs. Bennet and Lydia, but also Elizabeth and Darcy are way too perfect to be believed. For example, here's Elizabeth: She is pretty, graceful, brilliant, musical, perky, witty, honest, loyal, patient, unselfish, intuitive, undaunted by anything, humble and unaffected, able to navigate any difficult social situation, and she has the occasional dream which foretells the future. She even identifies a spy in the household and plants the means to trap the bad guys in the act. I can't identify a single flaw in this Regency goddess. She lacks only a dowry, a title, and a sensible mother.

I would love to see what Ms. Oaks could do with a simple, straightforward plot rather than the layers upon layers of complexities in this book that left me bewildered about what I just read. The style of prose itself really is beautiful, with graceful phrasing and well-written dialogue. It just needs a good story to match. ...more

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Nov 28, 2016 Nicole Barton Sasser marked it as jaff-tbr · review of another edition

Shelves: giveaway-winner, signed-by-author, physical-library

Status: unread
*** Giveaway winner via Austen Authors (http://austenauthors.net/) - provided with no expectation of, or promise of a review (favourable or otherwise). ***

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Review:

My Library Notes:
description

Constant as the Sun: The Courtship of Mr. Darcy (One Thread Pulled #2)
by Diana J. Oaks
Paperback, First Edition, 356 pages
Published November 30th, 2016 by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 1479327204 (ISBN13: 978-1479327201)
*signed by author*

Elizabeth Bennet’s father imposed a six-mon ...more

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Jan 21, 2017 Charlene rated it it was amazing

Courtship

Amazing! This second installment showing the forced courtship with Elizabeth and Darcy during a season was a page turner. Mr Bennet doesn't want Elizabeth to marry Darcy because he feels the ton and Darcy's circles will make her unhappy. So he imposes a 6 mo courtship with the stipulation that they have to do the season and if Elizabeth is at all unhappy they cannot marry. Of course he wants Darcy to keep this secret from Lizzy and so the London season begins.

Loved the new characters, t ...more

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Jan 12, 2019 Teresita rated it it was amazing

Shelves: teresita, jaff

A lot to overcome

Why did Elizabeth and Darcy had to wait so long to marry? An interesting story with everything under the sun, intrigue, pretensions, high society, and more, and a very sweet romance.

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Jan 06, 2017 Alison rated it really liked it

I really enjoyed this book (not quite as much as the first in this series). This one seemed to have some repetitive parts and lots of various plot lines going on at once. It would be nice if those were condensed (or dispensed with altogether since many of them were unnecessary for the story and were not even started in the first story).

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