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Review by Christina Boyd
One of my favorite romance tropes is a forced marriage scenario. You know...something occurs that brings about Elizabeth Bennet marrying the last man in the world she could be prevailed upon to marriage—and ends up falling in love with a besotted Mr Darcy. Well...in this Austenesque forced marriage scenario, Mrs Bennet forces her second daughter to marry the last man in the world we want her to marry—Mr Collins!
When Darcy learns that Elizabeth has married her odious cousin because her father seems to be at death’s door, and she must save her family from genteel poverty, the anguish he suffers knowing all she must endure married to such a man leads him to ask his aunt Lady Catherine and cousin Anne to keep a watchful eye out for her.
Told through a series of letters to friends and relatives, the plot moves at a brisk pace as we discover news through the eyes of either Darcy or Elizabeth. And we feel all the regret and worry as Darcy learns her lot in life is even darker than he imagined. I found it poignant that even in his letters to his cousin, Darcy could never refer to Elizabeth as Mrs Collins, instead writing of Elizabeth, even Miss Elizabeth. But don’t worry, angst weenies...there is a happy ending.
“Letters from the Heart” by Kay Bea is a lovely debut from a promising author on the Austenesque scene. Read this satisfying novella sooner than later.
Rated “Chaste” for kissing and affection.
