July 15, 2012 @ 10:46 AM

Mr. Darcy Parries Forth in Love is a continuation of the celebration of love between Jane Austen's characters in Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy. Mr. Ayers transports us to the Regency Era as he explores the bond between the two main characters as newlyweds, six weeks after the wedding. He presents the reader with a happy and devoted couple whose attraction to each other continues well after the honeymoon. Several explicitly romantic scenes are worthy of a few blushes, although the language used to paint them is consistent with that of Austen's time.

I was impressed by Mr. Ayers's portrayal of the characters' enduring love, and the side stories he presented, such as that of Charles Bingley and his reflections on his marriage to Elizabeth's sister, Jane, as well as Elizabeth's adjustments to life at Pemberley. Mr. Ayers has not only given fans of Austen a gift in this "what if" view of Elizabeth and Darcy, but a very romantic novel that could stand independently in the genre.