Blog Tour ~ "Darcy's Hope: Beauty From Ashes" by Ginger Monette

Book Description:1916. World War I has turned French chateaus into bloody field hospitals, British gentlemen into lice-infested soldiers, and left Elizabeth Bennet's life in tatters.

Her father is dead and her home destroyed. Never again will Elizabeth depend on a man to secure her future!

But when an opportunity arises to advance her dreams of becoming a doctor, she is elated--until HE arrives....

Heartbroken. Devastated. Captain Fitzwilliam Darcy is left rejected by the woman he loved and reeling from the slaughter of his men on the battlefield. "Enough!" Darcy vows. "No more sentimental attachments!"

"No comrades, no dog, and certainly no woman!"

But arriving at a field hospital to pursue a covert investigation, Darcy discovers his beloved Elizabeth training with a dashing American doctor and embroiled in an espionage conspiracy.

With only a few months to expose the plot, Darcy is forced to grapple with his feelings for Elizabeth while uncovering the truth. Is she indeed innocent? 

Darcy can only hope....
My thoughts:  War is an equalizer.  It can change the proudest of men into seeing another as a brother.   That is part of the Darcy's journey that I appreciated.

I hate to admit that I have not finished this book.  Frankly, I love Pride and Prejudice and whenever I get an opportunity to read a variation of the original I jump at the opportunity.   I like the fact that this story takes place during a different era.  The general characters of Elizabeth and Darcy are placed in different situations, but the story has elements that remain true to the original.

One thing that I have noticed about this variation is that in order to fully appreciate this version, you need to know Austen's story.  There are time skips and references that may be confusing to someone is unfamiliar with the general story.  It begins as Elizabeth and Darcy are at a dance.  He is a little haughty and she is resistant.  Next chapter he is reminiscing on how she refused his proposal.

This is a book that I intend on finishing within the next day or so.  I will post my full finished review on Goodreads and Amazon.  I am enjoying it and look forward to seeing how this book will play out.

Where can you purchase a copy?

Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Book Depository

Read an Excerpt:

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A week later Elizabeth quickened her pace to the overlook, anxious to read the letter from

Jane. She settled in her favourite spot, leaning against a sprawling oak with a magnificent

view of the canal below. Lieutenant Bingley had been back in Boulogne for nearly a

week, so surely there would be news.

Scanning the letter Elizabeth squealed in delight. A wedding—next week! And Jane

begged that she come. So soon? Oh, but did Charles have to ask Darcy to stand up with

him? Elizabeth grunted. Could she not go anywhere and be away from the man? Even the

wedding date was chosen to coincide with the captain’s meeting in Boulogne to ensure

his presence. Why in the world would Charles, who must have plenty of friends, pick

sour-grapes Darcy?

Could The Yank be right? Could the captain’s time in the trenches and his losses at the

Somme have profoundly affected him? She often heard horror stories of things soldiers

had seen and experienced that left them numb. She huffed under her breath. Certainly that

was not the case with Captain Darcy. He was stone cold by nature with an impenetrable

heart—no—he told her once he loved her. And that first day she nursed him, he kindly

consoled her about her mother and sister. There must be something beating in that broad

chest of his. What difference did it make? She shook off the thoughts as she refolded

Jane’s letter. Darcy had ruined her family, and she wanted nothing to do with him.

She raised her chin and gazed over the distant meadow. The morning sun shimmering off

the water in canal below and the quaint windmill on the adjacent rise beckoned her. She

had never ventured down the face of the bluff to the canal, but she had plenty of time

today, and the May weather was glorious.

Inching her way down, she steadied herself on rocks and branches protruding here and

there, nearly losing her balance on the loose embankment. Finally reaching the bottom,

she started towards the waterway. Rounding a knoll, she squinted into the sun at a tall

silhouette of a Tommy peering down the canal through field glasses. Whatever he saw

must have been intriguing, as he surveyed the horizon for quite some time. Nearing him,

she opened her mouth to call out a greeting when a stick snapped under her foot. In one

deft motion, the soldier whirled around and levelled his revolver at her.

“Don’t shoot!” Elizabeth cried, pleading her hands in surrender. It was Captain Darcy.

“What are you doing here?” he barked, lowering the firearm and glaring at her with

flashing eyes of steel.

Her heart pounding, she bit back, “Perhaps I could ask the same of you.”

“That is not the point.” He reached out and grabbed her arm above the elbow, nearly

shaking it in rage. “A lady has no business out here alone. There are men roaming about

who have no thought for their future and would be only too happy to ravage an attractive

woman such as yourself.”

She jerked her arm away. “I appreciate your concern, but I am quite capable of looking

after myself. But it’s nice to know you now consider me attractive as there was a time I

wasn’t handsome enough to tempt you.”

His face hardened. “If you were this obstinate towards your father’s authority, it is no

wonder he gave up on your sisters and retreated to his stud—”

His eyes widened in shocked contrition, and his manner softened. “Forgive me. That was

uncalled for and unkind. Please...trust me in this.”

“Trust you? You are asking me to trust you? After your reprehensible treatment of

Lieutenant Wickham and your calculated separation of Charles from Jane, I have no

reason to trust you.”

Darcy clenched his fist. “Perhaps had you read my letter explaining myself, you might

think differently.”

“Letter? What letter?”

“The one I sent to Longbourn from London after our...encounter at the Hunsford

parsonage. It detailed my dealings with Wickham and your sister. I suppose you were too

prejudiced against me to even open it.”

She opened her mouth, then shut it, dumbfounded. Was it possible he had an

explanation? She stayed an extra two weeks with Charlotte after the captain’s departure,

but surely had a letter arrived at Longbourn, it would have been left with her other

correspondence. Wouldn’t it?

He released a defeated sigh and broke the silence. “Although I no longer adhere to my

principle that my good opinion once lost is lost forever, I suppose I cannot fault you for

abiding by it. Good day, Miss Bennet.” He turned on his heel and strode away.

Elizabeth stepped back, wilting as she released a breath. Why did every encounter with

him leave her breathless and weak-kneed? The tension that radiated between them was

unlike anything she’d experienced before. It was somehow entrancing—both repelling

and tantalising at the same time.

She headed towards the chateau and shook off the thoughts, not wanting to think on it

any more.

...it is no wonder your father gave up on your sisters and retreated... She winced at the

grain of truth. But she wasn’t the obstinate one, her sisters were.

She hastened her pace, but his words crept through to her consciousness again. A lady has

no business out here alone....

She huffed at his presumptuousness. What made him such an expert on everything?

She’d never seen anyone out here except the children who played with her stuffed dog, an

occasional wagon on the road, or Sapper and his men at the cemetery. Under the

captain’s authority, she’d already surrendered the dowager house and the annexe. She had

no intention of following his every whim as if he were an omniscient god.

Besides, what was he doing out here gazing down the canal? Didn’t he go to the ward at

the school every day?

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About the Author:  The teacher always learns the most. And in homeschooling her children, Ginger Monette learned all the history she missed in school. Now she's hooked—on writing and World War I.

When not writing, Ginger enjoys dancing on the treadmill, watching period dramas, public speaking, and reading—a full-length novel every Sunday afternoon.

Her WW1 flash fiction piece, Flanders Field of Grey, won Charlotte Mecklenburg Library's 2015 Picture This grand prize.

Ginger lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she happily resides with her husband, three teenagers, and two loyal dogs.