Two More Days at Netherfield Paperback – January 19, 2020

I stayed up all night reading this, which I guess proves it's a page turner, but all I was left with was a massive headache and regret.It starts off wonderfully in fact and I thoroughly enjoyed it up until about the 40% mark as ODC were allowed to gain a better understanding and build a decent foundation for a relationship. Their earnest conversations, growing admiration, ways of resolving conflicts and shared disdain for Caroline Bingley were a delight to read.But alas, paradise is lost when Elizabeth's IQ takes a precipitous nosedive and the wheels fall off.I know, know there must be drama and angst. Otherwise you're left with saccharine tripe. I'm not opposed to angst at all but for me it must MAKE SENSE. This did not. It was straight up plot device for the sake of plot device. One ceaseless lazy scenario after another to separate ODC drawn out over far too many chapters. One example of a source of misunderstanding: Bingley, a *Cambridge graduate*, apparently has the penmanship of a toddler. Ridiculous! My wall very nearly suffered a dent from my Kindle after this one.I simply do not understand the logic behind going to all the trouble of thoughtfully establishing a strong understanding between Darcy and Elizabeth of one another's true character in the opening half only to destroy it all so easily and thoroughly with superficial obstacles to which, had their characters been written consistently from the beginning, they should have been immune.The fatal and most egregious error of course was having Lizzy believe Wickham implicitly, over the objections of a gentleman she knew much better and claimed to admire and respect. It's just not believable, ESPECIALLY her clinging to this belief, at least in some small measure, even after Wickham physically assaults her. Insanity. Truly, by the third act I was praying for some Lydia. That's how devoted pod Lizzy was to her mistaken trust in Wickham.The Fitzwilliam Christmas at Pemberley and Darcy's ill-fated (thank God) escapade with a courtesan added only to the word count and little to the story. I skimmed a lot of these lengthy sections but did like the italicized asides (here and throughout the entire story.) The little PS from the courtesan at the end, though a nice "aww" moment for Darcy admirers, felt like a random and unnecessary footnote.Colonel Fitzwilliam himself was flat, too grave and encouraging Darcy to vice. Just no.Who knew Lady Catherine would be the hero of the piece?Unless you really enjoy angst for angst's sake and the prospect of a dumbed down Lizzy, a Darcy outsmarted by Caroline and a sociopathic serial sexual abuser Wickham, I would strongly suggest reading to ODC's dance at Netherfield and picking back up around page 255 when brain cells begin to start functioning again. I include this information because there are some very worthy and enjoyable sections and I would gladly pay the book price only to have been spared the pain of a well-written, character-driven D&E separating over what was essentially a literary hangnail.

I thought that this was going to be a five star book until about halfway through, and then the main characters inexplicably begin acting stupidly, which is why I deducted two stars. I just can't give five stars when the characters start annoying me so much that I have to put the book down in disgust, and come back to it later. As the title would indicate, the story begins at Netherfield Park when Elizabeth is nursing Jane, who has becomes ill there after getting wet in a rainstorm. Instead of borrowing Bingley's carriage to return home, Elizabeth decides to stay the extra few days until the Bennett carriage is available.The story is lovely while the two Bennett sisters are at Netherfield. Instead of the contentious relationship that develops in the original P&P, Darcy and Elizabeth come to understand and respect each other much better, so that after they part, their attitudes aren't so negative. Darcy also learns more about Jane Bennett and her reserved manner. He still doesn't want her matched with Bingley, but he comes to doubt his intentions to separate them, and Bingley exhibits a little more backbone.After the sisters depart Netherfield, the story goes off the rails for me temporarily. Elizabeth, after having been warned by Darcy in no uncertain terms not to trust Wickham, proceeds to do just that. And more than that, she seems prone to blab and run off at the mouth to him, saying way more than she should. Darcy is uncharacteristically stupid by believing gossip told him by Caroline Bingley, and uncharacteristically dishonorable by not returning to Elizabeth when he said he would. Then later, he pulls another shocker by attending a house party of courtesans, all while he is abandoning guests at Pemberly. What is going on !!??Add to this, my annoyance with Jane Bennett for her deliberate insistence on blindness to people's faults. She crosses a line from sweetness and good intentions, to stupidity. Then there is an issue that appears here, and in many other JAFF versions: the reluctance of Elizabeth and/or Darcy to tell Mr Bennett frankly about the evils of Mr Wickham. Why won't they spell out the problems? Why won't Mr Bennett believe them? They always choose to dance around the issue instead of making an urgent communication. Makes no sense.Thankfully, these lapses in judgement don't take up the entire remainder of the book. The story comes around again, and concludes nicely. Heather Moll is a talented writer and storyteller, who knows how to develop a plot, and create characters that you can care about. I recommend it.

I gave it 5 stars because she or he is a good writer and this is well written, but I could not finish it. The Bennett are lowsome, Anne is a drug addict, Georgians is a mouse and appeared to be liable to disappear into thin air if someone breathed on her, the FitzWilliam brothers are vile and almost half the book is spend on Darcy and his cousins week long romp in the company of several h------rs. The rest of the character are on par or as expected. Could not finish when for the first few chapters I was ready to add this book to my library.

I have read the before on JAFF. It starts out so promising, but then it gets stale as it dragged through 12 chapters. I felt so annoyed with the belief that Darcy would take Miss Bingley’s testimony and not actually confirm it for himself that Elizabeth was lost to him. It makes me doubt the true sincerity of his love for her. It paints Darcy to be as fickle/ weak as Bingley in a way. Not believable! Darcy is decisive and a man of action once he has made up his mind. Therefore, I was greatly frustrated throughout reading this and I was forced to take breaks from this book after a few chapters to prevent the resultant headache it created. I read 3 other books in the midst of trying to finish this work. It was horrendously long and torturous. Our love birds spent so much time in their pining for the other. Not happy! Once I finally got to the last 6 chapters it tried to redeem my opinion but by then I felt I had sadly wastes so much time that on the whole was not an enjoyable experience.

The story line was amazing! I like how she kept both Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy in character. Plus, the author writes as if she grew up regency period!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I love when Darcy and Elizabeth become friends earlier, in this case when Elizabeth overheard that Darcy admired her eyes, leading to his apology for the initial insult.They then had some conversations leading to both being drawn to the other.Wickham is his usual troublemaking self although in a different way as he realised that Elizabeth liked Darcy. Caroline also caused trouble but both got their comeuppance eventually.These two caused some misunderstandings involving much misery for both Darcy and Elizabeth.I don’t want to give any more spoilers so will just recommend this book.

The story was well planned and the language appropriate. Story h we of you until the end . A good variation

I enjoyed reading this book and look forward to more by Heather Moll.