01 August 2011
REVIEW: Promises (Pride and Prejudice Variation) by Wendi Sotis
Wendi Sotis
ISBN #: 978-1463643065
Publisher
Name: Create Space
Date Released: July 2011
Genre: Romance/Jane Austen
Fan Fic
Book
Format: Kindle Version
Price: $7.99
BACK COVER BLURB:
Elizabeth
Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy meet as children. Over the years, their feelings
for each other grow, but what will happen when unfortunate circumstances and
interfering family members seek to keep them apart?
COVER SNARK:
Self-Pubbed.
Boring.
FIRST LINES:
William’s distress was evident on his face. So confused was he by the turmoil of emotions churned up by this quest that he no longer knew how to find what he was looking for among the rows of publications on the shelves of the bookshop.
LYNETTE'S TWO CENTS:
WARNING
– MY FILTER IS OFF. I APOLOGIZE FOR MY RANT IN ADVANCE.
PROMISES
lead me into a false sense of security. I really enjoyed the beginning. It
reminded me of contest entries I read of unpublished romance novels. The first
fifty pages or so are really great because they’ve been read and re-read
forever by judges and industry professionals, but when you get the rest of the
book, you’re like WTF, what was this person thinking.
This
is how PROMISES read to me, like the author never had someone critique her
whole work just bits and pieces, because it didn’t fit together as a cohesive
novel. So when I got it (and brought it with my own money) I was furious. The
only upside is that I think PROMISES has cured me of my fascination with Pride
and Prejudice Sequels. To be honest, I’m tired of wasting the little money I
have on fan fic from any Tom, Dick, and Harry who wants to write a Pride and
Prejudice variation and hasn’t really worked on the craft of storytelling.
I
haven’t been this annoyed since I attempted to read Sharon Latham’s fan fic
attempt. Yes, I know that she is a very popular author of P&P fan fic, but
no many times that I have tried I have been unable to read past the first fifty
pages of her first novel. Because nothing happens except sex, and I love you so
much. Plus, it’s obvious that Ms. Lathan didn’t even read Pride and Prejudice
when she wrote that story, just went by that crappy Keira Knightly movie.
NOTE
TO SELF: LYNETTE TAKE A DEEP BREATH AND GET A GRIP.
PROMISES
has a very interesting and intriguing premise. Mr. George Darcy and Mr. Thomas
Bennet are old school friends who meet up again by chance in Mr. Gardiner’s
bookshop. Fitzwilliam Darcy who is grieving the recent loss of his mother meets
the nine year old Elizabeth Bennet and becomes enchanted with her wit and
intelligence. Elizabeth has a photographic memory and is something of a child
prodigy. So she and Fitzwilliam hit it off right away. Over the years they have
encounters and when Fitzwilliam comes back from his Grand Tour and sees how the
now sixteen year old Elizabeth has blossomed, the sibling love and affection
he’s always had for her has blossomed into love. He proposes but Mr. Bennet states
that they cannot marry until Elizabeth turns seventeen so that she can benefit
from a season to meet other men and to make sure that marriage to Fitzwilliam
Darcy is what she really wants.
Well,
you’re asking, what’s wrong with that? Nothing at all, because this is the part
of the novel that was very compelling and justified me spending my hard earned
money on PROMIES, but what happened next went right into WTF territory and made
me wonder what book I suddenly picked up and started reading because it wasn’t
the same book that I had just started.
After
Elizabeth and Mr. Bennet leave Pemberly there is a serious of WTF events which
involve missing letters and misunderstandings. These missing letters occur year
after year through asinine circumstances that a two year old could have figured
out how to overcome. I mean really, I’m not a history buff or anything, but
even I know that it was no big deal for Mr. Darcy to send a letter by express
or personal message to get to Longbourne, especially considering the
circumstances he was in.
So
what happens when Fitzwilliam Darcy meets Elizabeth and Thomas Bennet again?
Years later, to what I presume is when Elizabeth is twenty years old like in
Pride and Prejudice when Darcy arrives at Netherfield . . .. Do they talk about the situation and figure
out what was going on? Do they ask the most basic questions a two-year old
would want to know? No they do not and the comedy of errors continues. And if
PROMISES wasn’t on my Kindle and if I hadn’t had my Kindle replaced at least
three times so far, I would have thrown it across the room.
Enough
was enough. I stopped reading. My time is too short.
BTW.
I am desperate for an awesome read (non Pride and Prejudice related please) to
get the bad taste of this out of my mouth. I need to get out of my reading
slump. So please in the comments below mention the most awesome book that you
have ever read.
I
need recommendations desperately to get out of this reading slump.
WHERE PURCHASED:
Purchased
with my own money.
RATING:
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7 people posted their 2 cents:
....a bit loss for words here. And we all know he would have sent it via express
Do not give up, but perhaps no more un polished fan fic for you
The reason the author stated for not sending an express is because Mrs. Bennet might have read it. WTF. All the express would've said was that the older Mr. Darcy had died, so what if she read it.
The book was a series of stupid WTF to justify a weak plot.
Also, I apologize for the formatting. Blogger is acting stupid on me. I can't go back in and change the formatting or even preview the post after I write them. Very annoying.
Ok that is just stupid! They were friends, so why would it had mattered if his wife read it. Ok I just can't think of any reason that excuse would have worked.
Also, I would have been sure that when he met later I would have asked why the hell he did not write, and he would have asked the same and the whole mess would be over. Damn what a weak plot
Yeah, buu on formatting
Wow. I'm sorry the book didn't do it for you but I have to say I got a good laugh reading your review. I'm not a huge fan of self published books just becasue the majority seem to start alright and them turn to garbage. Like this one. As for good books, too many to name. But my all time favorite romance is Only Hers by Francis Ray. I'm also partial to Jude Deveraux's historical romance novels. With The Duchess, Knight in Shining Armor, and The Summerhouse being among my favorites. I hope you break your slump soon!
Oh and I meant to mention that bloggers I know who use blogger often have formatting issues. But by using windows live writer, which works with a myriad of platforms, the formatting and posting problem could be eliminated. I'm going to be trying it out soon myself.
Okay, I've spent two days trying to reply to comments here. I apologize. I'm reading to gank Blogger.
Jade, I'll have to try Windows Live. I've read one of Francis Ray Grayson Friends novels and the heroine annoyed me after the first couple pages that I couldn't read another line. Heroine kept kid away from hero for some lame reason because he was a race car driver or something. So he was okay to fuck and get engaged with but not tell him you had his kid. Then she had the nerve to get an attitude because he found out and wanted to be in his kid's life. I was like WTF.
I read my first Jude Deveraux when I was 11 and read all the Montgomery/Taggert novels. Though I haven't read her in awhile, I did read Summerhouse and enjoyed it a lot.
@Bloudedd
I'm seriously getting turned off by the P&P adaptations, but I've been reading them steadily pretty much all year, so I might just need a break, especially after this on. While I can excuse a lot because these are fans not writers writer, the not asking why the other hadn't written cinched the deal for me and I couldn't read another page.
@ Lynette, that's one of her later novels. I was also annoyed by that one and also thought her reason for keeping the kid away was lame. But Only Hers is one of her earlier novels and by far her best (to me). But there has been a change in her writing as of late. But her first I'd say about 10-15 books are pretty good.