Review: Caroline Bingley by Jennifer Becton

Caroline Bingley. For Austen fans, even hearing the name can bring up feelings varying from annoyance to revulsion. For me, the feeling I get is kind of the same as the one that shimmies up your spine when someone scrapes their nails down a chalkboard. That “Oh my gosh, why? Make it stooooop” feeling. Caroline is one of the best examples of what I call “Austen’s smack-able characters,” and she could write some pretty darn smack worthy characters (pretty much everyone in Sense and Sensibility for example)! You love to hate Caroline.


So what is Jennifer Becton thinking centering a whole entire Pride and Prejudice continuation on this smack-able, nails-down-the-chalkboard, crazy girl? I have been wondering that every since I heard Caroline Bingley was coming out. I loved Jennifer Becton’s other Personages of Pride and Prejudice novel, Charlotte Collins. I really, really loved it. I also really enjoyed her thriller Absolute Liability. I mean the woman can write . . . but CAROLINE BINGLEY? Surely, you jest.




I don’t know quite how she did it, but at the end of this book I like Caroline. Not only do I LIKE Caroline, I totally get her. I sympathize with her. I want her to succeed. I want her to be happy. Up is down . . . wrong is right . . . “Dogs and cats living together . . . MASS HYSTERIA!”




The story picks up right after the end of Pride and Prejudice with Caroline being banished to her mother’s home in the north by her brother Charles for her interference in his romance with Jane Bennet (and her refusal to apologize to Elizabeth). To Caroline, who wants only to help further her families connections in society and to find her own home, this is a truly harsh punishment.




While in the north Caroline continues to try to advance her standing in society, but her best-laid plans seem to come to naught. To make matters worse for Caroline, her brother has saddled her with a paid companion, Rosemary, a woman she cannot stand. Caroline desires to distance her family from their roots in trade, but her mother’s husband doesn’t seem to be ashamed of his trade as a bridge designer at all, and his partner, the young and handsome Mr. Rushton, has the audacity not only to not be ashamed of his trade, but to find Caroline and her machinations amusing.




Can Caroline let go of her fear long enough to find her own home? Could it be be possible that Caroline will find a true friend where she least expects? Could Mr. Rushton be any more hot? The answer to that last one is no. If he was anymore hot readers everywhere would be spontaneously combusting, and I can’t imagine Ms. Becton wants that on her conscious, so she wisely went with an appropriate level of hotness.




So here I am, all confused and feeling slightly like I’ve cheated on Lizzy Bennet by ending up liking Caroline Bingley as a character. We often forget that Caroline is so very young, that was one of the first things that struck me while I was reading this book. She tried so hard to present a sophisticated and urbane front that, I, at least, forget she was the same age as Lizzy. Also, as the reader comes to learn more about Caroline’s history as Becton presents it, and the pressure put on her by her father (intentionally or not), and how she internalized that pressure, she becomes a much more understandable and sympathetic character. I’m not saying that she is easy to love, but there is something about the difficulty in getting past those prickles that makes the reward worthwhile.



Did I mention Mr. Rushton is hot?

E-book Giveaway! Five Copies of Absolute Liability by Jennifer Becton

I reviewed the awesome new thriller from Jennifer Becton last week (read my review here), and this week I am giving away five (5) e-book copies!

Yes, you heard that right!

Five lucky winners are going to get to read Absolute Liability for free! Yay you!

Meet Julia Jackson. Apparently, she's been abducted....

A woman is taken at gunpoint from the downtown office of Southeastern Insurance, and the police believe the victim is Special Agent Julia Jackson. Only it isn't true.

Now, with the help of her new partner Mark Vincent, state fraud investigator Julia Jackson must find justice for the woman who was taken in her place.

As Vincent and Julia begin to unravel the multimillion-dollar frauds that led to the abduction, they encounter a cast of quirky characters, one of whom will go to desperate lengths to hide a deadly secret.

Things only become more dangerous as bodies begin accumulating around town, and Julia must discover the truth before the abductor comes to rectify his mistake.

I am able to give away Kindle copies (for your Kindle or Kindle app) through Amazon, and in other formats (pdf, for your Nook), through Smashwords.

Remember, if you want to read it right away Absolute Liability is on sale right now! And through July 16th, Jennifer is donating 10% of her proceeds to Ride 2 Recovery, a charity that helps wounded warriors recover through cycling.

To enter just leave a comment below letting me know why you'd like to read Absolute Liability! And please, if you are a no reply blogger make sure I have a way to contact you!

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Entries will close 7/15 at 10pm MST. I will notify the winners by email by 7/16.

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Summer Reads: Absolute Liability

I admit I am a Jennifer Becton fan girl. I adore her book Charlotte Collins (you may have heard me mention it), and have been anxiously awaiting the release of her newest book – a thriller entitled Absolute Liability. And it’s here! Yay! Jennifer was nice enough to let me have an Advanced Reader’s copy and I was so excited I sat my kids down in front of some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and read it in one sitting!

Here’s the description of Absolute Liability

(have I mentioned I love the cover?)

Meet Julia Jackson. Apparently, she's been abducted....

A woman is taken at gunpoint from the downtown office of Southeastern Insurance, and the police believe the victim is Special Agent Julia Jackson. Only it isn't true.

Now, with the help of her new partner Mark Vincent, state fraud investigator Julia Jackson must find justice for the woman who was taken in her place.

As Vincent and Julia begin to unravel the multimillion-dollar frauds that led to the abduction, they encounter a cast of quirky characters, one of whom will go to desperate lengths to hide a deadly secret.

Things only become more dangerous as bodies begin accumulating around town, and Julia must discover the truth before the abductor comes to rectify his mistake.

And here is my review:

I love mysteries and thrillers. I was raised right, which means on a healthy doses of Columbo and Murder She Wrote. I am very picky about my mysteries/thrillers because so many authors either try to hard (the wise-cracking lead comes off more like someone who missed a career in standup as opposed to someone whose just quick on their feet), or don’t try hard enough (I know who dunnit by chapter 4). When I find a really good mystery I cannot put it down and that is the case with Absolute Liability, which I read straight through as fast as I could.

Julia Jackson is a really believable lead character. She’s funny without being annoying, she’s vulnerable and insecure enough to not be a superwoman, and she yet she is clever and dedicated enough to keep me interested and rooting for her.

Her new partner Mark Vincent is, um . . . hot. Yes, I said it! But he’s got layers and layers that I so want Julia to start unraveling. I love the chemistry between them and I cannot wait to read more about these awesome characters.

All in all, I say two thumbs up! Five stars! I vote this as one of my “super satisfying summer reads,” and I highly recommend that you read it.

You can purchase Absolute Liability for your Kindle on Amazon (I have the Kindle app for my iPhone and it’s pretty cool), or for your Nook at Barnes & Noble, or as a downloadable ebook at Smashwords.

Free Short Story - Cancellation Notice

One of my favorite authors, Jennifer Becton (Charlotte Collins), has a new novel coming out this summer called Absolutely Liability. It is the first in the Southern Fraud Series, a six book series of thrillers set (you guessed it!) in the south.

If there is one thing I like better than Austenesque sequels it's mysteries. I really, secretly and desperately, want to be a sexy, smart-talking, quick on her feet girl-detective, but enough about me . . .

Jennifer has a free short story from the Southern Fraud thriller series up on her site. It is called Cancellation Notice and you should totally go there now and read it! And if you want to be total sweetheart, let her know if you love it (cause of course you will) and that I sent you!

Read a Free Chapter of Caroline Bingley!

As much as I love Austen, I only started reading Austen sequels and adaptations recently. I think I was scared of them! I was incredibly lucky that the first one I read was Charlotte Collins by Jennifer Becton. It was ah-mazing! If you haven't read it, go buy it now . . . no really . . . I'll wait . . .

The problem with reading Charlotte Collins as my first Austen sequel, however, is that not all of them live up to it. There are some good, some not so good, but I can honestly say, thus far Charlotte Collins is by far my favorite. So imagine my excitement over Becton's new novel Caroline Bingley, which is coming out this summer! I love that she's chosen to write about such a universally despised character! I, for one, have some sympathy with Caroline and cannot wait for her to get her own story!

Now for the best part! You can read the first chapter of Caroline Bingley free online right now! But only until the middle of the week! So hurry! Go! Read it! I promise you'll love it!

Charlotte Collins by Jennifer Becton - A Review

You might have figured out by now that I am kind of an Austen freak. I love everything Austen, books, movies, regency era dress . . . The awesome Victoria got me a book of hand-sewing projects from the Regency period and I am totally ga-ga over it! Although I haven't had the time to sew anything from it yet, I can't wait to have some time to really delve into it! The one thing I haven't really gotten into is sequels and adaptations written by other authors (in spite of writing one myself!) Well, ladies and germs, all that has changed! I have made a rather lengthy list of books to be read, and the first one I have crossed off my list is Charlotte Collins by Jennifer Becton. I recently downloaded the Kindle application for my iPhone, so I was able to get the book through Amazon, sent straight to my phone, for only $4.99. This is so awesome because I can read on my phone while I am laying with James trying to get him to fall asleep at night (he is a bit clingy!). So without further ado here is my brief review of Charlotte Collins!

I have always had a special place in my heart for Charlotte Collins (formerly Lucas) from Austen's Pride and Prejudice. It is so easy to compare her to Elizabeth, to applaud Elizabeth's rejection of Mr. Collins, and lament Charlotte's persuing of him. After all, who would want to be married to someone like Mr. Collins? The reader often feels dissapointed in Charlotte, and that her weakness highlights Elizabeth's strength. I have never felt dissapointed in Charlotte, but I have felt desperately sorry for her in many ways. To compare her, and her choices and options, to Elizabeth is unfair. As few choices as Lizzie has, Charlotte has even fewer. For one thing she is significantly older, with less family support, and probably an even more shaky financial future if she didn't marry. Charlotte is forced to make the realistic choice, and while we recognize it was realistic we have no real hope for her future happiness.

Which is why I am so excited to see a continuation of Charlotte's story that gives her a chance at that happiness! Jennifer Becton's beautifully written novel is both believable and satisfying. While Darcy and Elizabeth make brief appearances, Becton remains focused on Charlotte's life and circumstances, turning her successfully into a true romantic heroine. After Mr. Collin's untimely demise Charlotte faces widowhood with the same seemingly unflappable calm that she faced her marriage. As Charlotte enters society again, this time as a chaperone to her younger, unmarried sister, she begins to realize that there might yet be a life for her beyond what she had imagined for herself. She even attracts the attention of two very different men . . . but are these men scoundrels or heroes? You will just have to read the book yourself to find out! And I highly suggest that you do!

Becton's writing style is lovely, her novel is obviously very well researched, and, in my opinion, seamlessly weaves a new story strand into the rich tapestry of Austen's characters. The final scene rates high on the "tingle" factor, which is an important requirement for all romantic novels.

You can find the novel at Amazon in both paperback and Kindle format, and on Jennifer Becton's website. Jennifer is also available on Twitter and Facebook. Make sure to follow her to be updated on any future works, I am excited to see what else she will be writing!