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Saturday 4 September 2010

A Weekend with Mr Darcy - Victoria Connelly


Katherine Roberts is fed up with men. As a lecturer specialising in the works of Jane Austen, she knows that the ideal man only exists within the pages of Pride & Prejudice and that in real life there is no such thing. Determined to go it alone, she finds all the comfort she needs reading her guilty pleasure - regency romances from the pen of Lorna Warwick - with whom she has now struck up an intimate correspondence. Austen fanatic, Robyn Love, is blessed with a name full of romance, but her love life is far from perfect. Stuck in a rut with a bonehead boyfriend, Jace, and a job she can do with her eyes shut - her life has hit a dead end. Robyn would love to escape from it all but wouldn't know where to start. They both decide to attend the annual Jane Austen Conference at sumptuous Purley Hall, overseen by the actress and national treasure, Dame Pamela Harcourt. Robyn is hoping to escape from Jace for the weekend and indulge in her passion for all things Austen. Katherine is hoping that Lorna Warwick will be in attendance and is desperate to meet her new best friend in the flesh. But nothing goes according to plan and Robyn is aghast when Jace insists on accompanying her, whilst Katherine is disappointed to learn that Lorna won't be coming. However, an Austen weekend wouldn't be the same without a little intrigue, and Robyn and Katherine are about to get much more than they bargained for. Because where Jane Austen is concerned, romance is never very far away!

When i received this book I couldn't wait to start it. As with many women I love anything Jane Austin!!
The main character of the book is Katherine Roberts, an English Professor, who also writes books about Jane Austen. She is asked to speak at an annual Jane Austen Conference and falls for a male attendee of the course, who has a secret to conceal.
The other main character is that on Robyn who also loves Jane Austen and is attending the convention, looking forward to an weekend spent with other people who love Jane Austen just as much. She has planned the weekend away from her boyfriend, but he has other ideas.

I absolutely loved this book, and read it within two days, which is very quick for me. I enjoyed the story but also loved the insight i had into Jane Austen's novels. Throughout the book there was reference to many of Jane Austen's novels, the television adaptions and also Jane's life. I saw from the authors website that Victoria reread the books and rewatched television adaptions aswell as visiting the places in teh book and from reading the book I could see all the background work the author did, to ensure the book was factually correct.
I also enjoyed this book because when i read this book I could imagine being at the convention, Victoria's language was very descriptive and set teh scene well for the scenes. It was evident that Victoria was enjoying telling the story, aswell as ensuring that the story was a good read and factually correct.

I am looking forward to the next installment from Victoria which was previewed in this book.

I would recommend this book to Jane Austen enthusiasts as it won't disappoint, however i would also recommend it to readers who woud just like a good old love story to curl up with too!

Thank you to Charlotte Allen at Harper Collins for sending me this book.

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