Review: As a tribute to Austen, this fails.
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 03 16, 2013
I am a sucker for Jane Austen, and I do enjoy the spin-offs, though I'm careful in choosing them, and rely heavily on reviews. There's a lot of junk.  This is not junk.  This is short fantasies around Christmas, as imagined in the Darcy family.  It is no way true to Austen's portrayals of the characters involved, in my opinion.  Darcy is entirely too maudlin.  Lizzie is a bit more racy than seems plausible for the era.  I enjoyed the children and their development as characters.  I also thought the frame for the collection was well crafted. But it would have stood better as a collection of stories, rather than any imitation of Austen.I almost didn't read it.  The first few stories were so dismal I nearly gave up.  They do improve.  They're not badly crafted stories.  But what disappointed me was the way they seem to  try to meld Austen's characters into a Harlequin romance.  The best feature of this offering was its price.  Still, it seemed as if it was the longest collection of short stories I've ever waded through.