I'm going to post this review for the whole trilogy for all three, since they are all three one story.

I love them. Yes, the story is VERY long, and there are a few aspects of Pamela Aidan's writing style that I don't care for... but I think she did an EXCELLENT job of making these books mesh with Pride and Prejudice. I've got P&P virtually memorized, and they flow so well, it's amazing.

I love the way Darcy's full character comes out, as well as how much more we see of Elizabeth. It is totally understandable why Darcy falls in love with her! The transitions that Darcy goes through between disinterest, to interest, to infatuation, to a lighter love, to anger, to a deeper and truer love are portrayed very, very well, too. I also love the way she brought out the characters of Georgiana, Col. Fitzwilliam, and Mr. Bingley. I like her new characters, too. They fall totally within the bounds of what a man of Mr. Darcy's station was likely to encounter.

Some people criticize the totally new (and slightly wild) plot line in Duty and Desire. I agree that it's out there, but Ms. Aidan had to create some sort of something... some story of what Darcy went through in trying to put Elizabeth from his thoughts. And in this, she did well. I love the way she portrayed what he went through.

Enough said... if you're a P&P fan, read these!

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This is the second book in Ms. Aidan's trilogy, following Mr. Darcy's side of the story in Pride and Prejudice. And there is a lot to fill in, since he is absent from Austin's book for a good deal of the story.

This particular volume follows his story when he is out of "Pride and Prejudice" entirely.

I have to say I found this story a disappointment because the tone and events were so unlike P&P. This feels like a Regency romance that turns into a Gothic romance.

This was not a mistake, rather the author states that she wrote in the style of a Gothic romance as a kind of homage to "Northanger Abbey," so I suppose it is a matter of taste. However, it certainly didn't work for me. I found the extreme difference jarring and the inflation of Mr. Darcy's importance unnecessary.

When I could read the book as an independent work with characters who simply happened to share names with characters in P&P, it was somewhat entertaining. But the differences from P&P in tone, actions, and characters bothered me greatly.

Still it is a great deal to ask someone to live up to Ms. Austen's prose. In the end it is entirely a matter of personal taste.

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The first book in the series covers Pride and Prejudice through the Netherfield Ball and Christmas of that year. This second book covers the time between Christmas and Darcy's trip to Rosings Park. This covers a time when Darcy and Elizabeth do not see each other at all.

In the story, Darcy decided he needs to search for a suitable wife (to distract him from the thoughts of Elizabeth). The story takes him to the estate of a friend and a party of acquaintances and strangers. After a short time of infatuation with a young lady, the events take a tragic turn for the party.

The story didn't fit in with the Darcy I see in the original story. Some of the events, while not completely out of character, seem out of another time period. Aiden states she was imitating other Austen work, like Northanger Abbey. It really never seemed to work with Darcy's character.

Although I liked the first book, this one strayed too far from the original subjects for me. The only positive was that we do see how Darcy could come to the conclusion that character of a lady outweighs her position in life. The is never entirely clear in the original.

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I really enjoyed the first book of the series, but was very disappointed with this book!! I honestly wouldn't recommend reading this book, it had many twists and turns that to me seemed very unrealistic and out of character.

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The first book in the series covers Pride and Prejudice through the Netherfield Ball and Christmas of that year. This second book covers the time between Christmas and Darcy's trip to Rosings Park. This covers a time when Darcy and Elizabeth do not see each other at all.

In the story, Darcy decided he needs to search for a suitable wife (to distract him from the thoughts of Elizabeth). The story takes him to the estate of a friend and a party of acquaintances and strangers. After a short time of infatuation with a young lady, the events take a tragic turn for the party.

The story didn't fit in with the Darcy I see in the original story. Some of the events, while not completely out of character, seem out of another time period. Aiden states she was imitating other Austen work, like Northanger Abbey. It really never seemed to work with Darcy's character.

Although I liked the first book, this one strayed too far from the original subjects for me. The only positive was that we do see how Darcy could come to the conclusion that character of a lady outweighs her position in life. The is never entirely clear in the original.

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I really love to read fan fiction about Fitzwilliam Darcy. This is the second in a three part series. It centers around the time in the original Pride and Prejudice when Darcy is absent and Elizabeth is dealing with the fallout of her cousin's proposal. I really missed Elizabeth Bennett and found that I disliked many of Darcy's acquaintances. It was still interesting and introduced a great character, Dy. I liked book one better and am really enjoying book three.

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I didn't like this as well as the first and third of this trilogy, but it is a pretty good read. Aidan's writing style, not awkward or stilted at all, is consistent throughout the trilogy, which makes this still a pleasant novel. By the end a reader will be itching to get her hands on a copy of book 3!

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Book 2 in Pamela Aidan's "Fitzwillam Darcy, Gentleman" trilogy which retells Pride & Prejudice from Darcy's point of view. This novel covers the span between the ball at Netherfield and Darcy & Elizabeth's meeting at Rosings...meaning no actual interaction between D & E. Instead we go further in developing Darcy's character. In an attempt to get over Elizabeth he spends some time at London, Pemberly (and we meet his sister, Georgiana), then joins a party at Norwycke Castle in an attempt to meet a woman more in keeping with his expectations of a suitable wife for the Darcy name. Scenes of dissipated nobility and some Gothic mystery ensue. Needless to say, Darcy does not find another woman to drive the memory of Elizabeth out of his heart, but by the end of this novel he is resigned to the notion that their paths will ever cross again anyway. But we know they do, and so we go on to Book 3...

Overall, not as good as Book 1 (An Assembly Such As This) but still a good read. I am *very much* looking forward to the next book in the series.

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So I heard that the reviews for this book were not good and I can clearly see why. The beginning isn't bad, it just follows Darcy as he prepares for Christmas at Pemberly with Georgianna and how changed she is when he arrives there. From the beginning, I knew Aidan was a Christian by how many Religious reference she made and how affected Darcy was by some sermons. Being a person of faith myself, I had no issues with Georgianna's... Radicalism. It seemed to suit her, in my opinion, and the relative goodness that seems to surround her in P&P. After Darcy leaves Pemberly, it all goes down hill. I don't want to ruin the book, so I'll try to go without too many spoilers.

Aidan's smart move was basically stating that Darcy needed to get married so he would forget Eliza. Makes sense to me for a "spin off". So he agrees to spend a week with some old College buddies and possible women. It's in this Gothic castle (which was a nice reference to Northanger Abbey, but really has no place in P&P.) Basically, she follows this Gothic theme and throws Darcy into a weird, Gothic, bloody weirdness that seriously has no place with the rest of the series. I had to stop reading about 3/4s of the way through. I understand the author was attempting to bring in that Gothic feel that Austen experimented with in Northanger Abbey, but they are two COMPLETELY different books and don't mesh well.

My recommendation? Don't buy it, just get it through PBS, read the first half and then once Darcy goes to the castle STOP and buy These Three Remain. The story remains the same, classic P&P tale so missing parts of the spin-off won't matter.

One last thing that really bothers me about this entire series: the nicknames. I couldn't, under any circumstances, see my Darcy AKA Colin Firth call another man "Dy" or put up with be called "Fitz". It's just weird.

~ciao

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This series is much too long and the completely unnecessary inclusion of the "Norwych Castle" episode was part of the reason. Also, the copious amounts of political information makes for very dry reading. Especially for a series that is supposed to mimic Austen's Pride and Prejudice which was much more relative to local settings.

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The first book in the series covers Pride and Prejudice through the Netherfield Ball and Christmas of that year. This second book covers the time between Christmas and Darcy's trip to Rosings Park. This covers a time when Darcy and Elizabeth do not see each other at all.

In the story, Darcy decided he needs to search for a suitable wife (to distract him from the thoughts of Elizabeth). The story takes him to the estate of a friend and a party of acquaintances and strangers. After a short time of infatuation with a young lady, the events take a tragic turn for the party.

The story didn't fit in with the Darcy I see in the original story. Some of the events, while not completely out of character, seem out of another time period. Aiden states she was imitating other Austen work, like Northanger Abbey. It really never seemed to work with Darcy's character.

Although I liked the first book, this one strayed too far from the original subjects for me. The only positive was that we do see how Darcy could come to the conclusion that character of a lady outweighs her position in life. The is never entirely clear in the original.

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