UNUSUAL Austen Retellings!

I've been noticing more of a trend to push the envelope in newJane Austen retellings, so I thought I'd take a look at 3 I've read recently, and highlight a few more off the backlist that fit the bill.

Let me know your thoughts if you've read these or any other unusual JAFF, or if there are any on your radar!

All of the books mentioned are listed below (click through!), and just as a heads up: There will be a giveaway of both Mr Darcy's Enchantment and Conceit & Concealment going up soon, and there already is one for Pemberley: Mr Darcy's Dragon!

Also, TRIGGER WARNINGS & THINGS I FORGOT TO MENTION:
Both Conceit & Concealment and Unforgettable Mr Darcy should have trigger warnings for violence and possibly implied or overt sexual threats? (I don't remember for certain). UNFORGETTABLE centers around Darcy lying to an amnesiac Lizzie that they are married (which was his only way to protect her, given the place and time period, but it deserves mentioning).

And totally forgot to say that CONCEIT is an alternate history! in which the British are definitely NOT winning the Napoleonic war. So now you know. =D




Mr. Darcy's Enchantment
by Abigail Reynolds

In a Regency England where magic and faeries are real…Fitzwilliam Darcy is a powerful magician who controls fire, water, and wind. What he cannot control is his growing feelings for Miss Elizabeth Bennet. But Darcy is also sworn to uphold the laws which forbid women to use magic, and Elizabeth knows it.Elizabeth’s sentiments towards Darcy are quite different. She detests his arrogance, and she fears he will expose her use of forbidden magic. He is the last man in the world she would choose to help her on a difficult and dangerous task. But when a magical war looms between the land of Faerie and their world, a Lord of Faerie demands that Darcy and Elizabeth serve together as his emissaries to make peace with the other mortals. That mission throws them into the middle of a chaotic power struggle between magicians whose power dwarfs their own, and everything Elizabeth has ever believed about her family, her friends, and her enemies will be called into question.This magical variation of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice makes the land of Faerie as real as Regency London and Rosings Park, as bestselling author Abigail Reynolds presents new challenges for Darcy and Elizabeth in her longest and most enchanting story to date.

Conceit & Concealment
by Abigail Reynolds

Six years after Napoleon’s invasion of England…Fitzwilliam Darcy is a traitor. He even admits to collaborating with Napoleon’s troops. And Elizabeth Bennet despises all traitors.But she can’t make sense of Darcy. He doesn’t act like a traitor. He risks his own safety to save young women from the French. And how can she despise a man who loves puppies? Something about him doesn’t add up – and she finds him far too attractive.Then Darcy’s carefully constructed world crumbles, and he must entrust his closest-held secret to Elizabeth. To protect that secret, Elizabeth must disappear entirely, leaving her family and Darcy behind, to plunge herself into the dizzying world of fashionable London and the dangers of the Loyalist Resistance. Nothing will ever be the same again.Darcy is determined to find Elizabeth. Now that she knows the truth about him, there’s nothing to keep them apart – nothing, that is, until the day Darcy is forced to choose between his country and the life of the woman he loves…

The Unforgettable Mr. Darcy
by Victoria Kincaid

Mr. Darcy arrives at Longbourn, intending to correct the mistakes he made during his disastrous proposal in Hunsford. To his horror, he learns that Elizabeth Bennet was killed in a ship’s explosion off the coast of France—in an apparent act of sabotage. Deep in despair, he travels in disguise to wartime France to seek out the spy responsible for her death.

But a surprise awaits Darcy in the French town of Saint-Malo: Elizabeth is alive!

Recovering from a blow to the head, Elizabeth has no memory of her previous life, and a series of mistakes lead her to believe that Darcy is her husband. However, they have even bigger problems. As they travel through a hostile country, the saboteur mobilizes Napoleon’s network of spies to capture them and prevent them from returning home. Elizabeth slowly regains her memories, but they often leave her more confused.

Darcy will do anything to help Elizabeth reach England safely, but what will she think of him when she learns the truth of their relationship?

 

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