The Mistress of Longbourn

The description of the book is good. An epidemic had swept through Meryton and Elizabeth and Kitty are the only remaining Bennets. Because of remarkably good forethought from her father and grandfather, the entail was broken deades ago and Elizabeth, as the oldest remaining daughter, has inherited Longbourn.Lizzy is a phenomenally good mistress of Longbourn and since her mother and Lydia are no longer around to waste money on fripperies, and Lizzy has self control, Longbourn is turning a profit and Kitty has a decent dowry.For the most part, the story itself is rather delightful and with a really good edit, it would be worth 5 stars. But here are the biggest distracting issues:1. Rowland keeps writing climactic moments with various of the bad guys -- Miss Bingley, Wickham, and Collins -- and they don't seem to matter because he writes them again. And again. And again. The repetition is annoying and takes away from the power of the moments.2. Mr Collins story doesn't make sense. His last climactic moment -- there are three or four -- started out the same and then all of a sudden flips on itself and while the flip itself is really, really good, it doesn't feel real at all. It feels like the author was writing it and then had a thought of "Oh hey what if I do THIS?!" and wrote it out then forgot to rewrite previous interactions so it would make sense. If the author started at the beginning and rewrote Collins' story and actually SHOWED the progression, it would be a much more believable storyline. And would be fascinating.3. Miss Bingley's behavior doesn't make sense unless he planned to have her end up diagnosed as insane. It just doesn't. Nothing Darcy says matters. Not. One. Thing. She keeps doing crazy stuff over and over and over. And, along with her, Charles Bingley's behavior is all over the place. The characterization doesn't make sense.4. If Lizzy owns so much of Wickham's debts AND he has been threatened with Marshalsea if he goes anywhere near her again, the climax involving him WOULD NEVER HAPPEN. That had me rolling my eyes so bad it gave me a headache. Also, the amount of debt owned by her and Darcy kept changing. I suspect that Rowland forgot that whole bit with her and Colonel Forster reining Wickham in because it makes absolutely no sense. It's like it's two different stories.I wanted to like this more because I know how well Rowland can write but these flaws really were glaring and distracting. Sharpening the writing in this would make it a very good book. For now, it's average.

I loved the thought of Elizabeth being the heir to Longborn although the fact that Jane was not in the story was kinda of sad. But still a wonderful story and wonderfully written.

I enjoyed the story overall but I felt some of the essence of the characters got lost as the story progressed.

A JR book that I will reread.Reread- Enjoyed it as much as the first time. Noticed more repetition and over explaining this time than I did the first time I read it. Darcy did not do much wooing of Elizabeth. It was more a subtle process of friendly, friends, love...?The fact of the matter is in a way, ODC took a back seat to this strong woman, who through tragedy became the Mistress of L. She at a young age stepped up, took control of her sister, her estate and her own future. Even to the point of defending herself against unwanted notice. In that grain, I would have liked seeing a turn around from her male counter parts, when they saw how successful she was being with the estate. We only hear that her Brother in law does well with the horses.

For consistently good, clean variations, I love Mr Rowland's books and this is no exception. A plague of some sort has wiped out all but two, Elizabeth and Kitty, in the Bennet family. Through reminiscences we learn of the relationships with the lost family members but it is kept mostly light, not maudlin.There are several suitors for the Mistress of Longbourn, mostly after her property, not her person, such as a man of a neighbouring town, Mr Collins, and Mr Wickham, not that Elizabeth is really interested in marriage. Then there is the lessee of Netherfield who, as usual, is chasing after his latest angel, Miss Kitty Bennet until he leaves to chase another and another...Lots of moving parts and much intrigue as a suitor or two desires revenge or marriage to Elizabeth at any cost.Then there is Mr Darcy, someone Elizabeth has come to know and respect, but never considered as a potential suitor until he proposed marriage. How they progress from friends to being in love is a twisty, turny journey, but worth it.By the way, Mr Collins goes from the most annoying gentleman to one who is at least interesting. Very well written, but somewhat less well edited.

The cast of characters are significantly trimmed down due to the story's arc, but behave in accordance with what we have come to expect. Situations arise and are dealt with appropriately. Collins was a surprise, as was Bingley. Caroline remains as tunnel-blind as ever despite the headlamp of the oncoming train. I enjoyed this variation.

Jann Rowland does not write short stories! This book is a treat and very entertaining. The only thing that bothered me was the loss of a friendship, I found it very disappointing. Apart from that the whole book is well worth reading, and one that one will probably read again from time to time.

As usual, Mr. Rowland hit this one out of the ballpark with his amazing plot. I loved the fact that he showed the strength and knowledge that Elizabeth always has and her love of loyalty to Longbourn and her family. She showed the love through the care of Kitty and the respect of their family friends and neighbors.In the plot, Darcy was more aggressive in his pursuit of Elizabeth with the help and maturity of his sister, Georgiana.I was glad that it showed Bingley as the weaker character that he was normally and that he couldn't control Caroline. It was much more apparent in this novel as to the general character of his and his controlling of her and it helped improve the plot's interest. Caroline and George Wickham proved to be the same in this novel as usual.It was wonderful to read how Darcy controlled the Rev. Collins and kept him in line and in return Rev. Collins kept Caroline in line to an extent.It is a worthwhile read, interesting, twists and turns and does lead to love all around except for a few that don't deserve to find love.

Lizzy Bennet and Kitty are all that remain of the Bennets following an epidemic which swept through Meryton. Lizzy, due to some shenanigans on the part of Mr B and Grandfather B has inherited Longbourn. All the usual suspects are there. Mr Darcy loves Elizabeth but she can’t decide if she loves him!! There are so many JAFF out there and in a good many of them I dislike Miss Elizabeth Bennet intensely. She is portrayed as a grown woman capable of throwing a temper tantrum which would put even the most recalcitrant 2yr old to shame, or in this case a woman who thinks so highly of her own abilities she can’t see the wood for the trees. Mr D is all she wants in a husband but is it love? Does she require an angel bearing their names in letters of gold. If it’s in a book she must believe it of course.Perhaps said angel could hit her over the head with said bookI often wish just once Mr Darcy would say. Thank you and good bye. I’ve done my best now I’m off to find a nice gentle calm intelligent young lady who doesn’t think the sun shines out of her backside. There is such a woman next dooor at Lucas Lodge isn’t there

I loved this version of Mr Darcy who quickly understood how special Elizabeth was, and realised that she was the one for him.I also liked the twist that it was Elizabeth who had to develop her feelings for Mr Darcy.It was also good that both Kitty and Georgiana's characters were developed, as opposed to just one dimensional filler characters.

This is very well written with believable characters and a realistic storyline. Mr Collins was a particular favourite of mine!I heartily recommend this to all fans of JAFF

Parts of this story were too in credible for words. Fist half better than second half. The only bits I really liked were those relating to Elizabeth and D'Arcy.

Really enjoyed this variation and have read again and again