Beth (Cousins of Pemberley #6) by Linda O'Byrne
Genre: Historical fiction, Regency romance
Read: 5th February 2024
Published: 26th January 2024
★★★★★ 5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
Many years have passed since the dramatic events of Pride and Prejudice. In The Cousins of Pemberley series we follow a new generation of heroines - cousins with lives as different and interesting as those enjoyed by their mothers.
Beth Bingley: twenty-one, kind and beautiful, dedicated to a life of duty until Fate decrees otherwise.
She must find a new path to follow, but first she has a sister’s reputation to protect, at the expense of her own!
Book 7 in the series coming Autumn 2024.
MY THOUGHTS:
I have loved this Cousins of Pemberley series since I first read "Miriam" and then went back to read the first two "Cassandra" and "Catherine" before venturing onto "Jane" and then "Merryn". I have eagerly awaited BETH's arrival which ended with the promise of "Flora" coming in the second half of the year.
Every journey undertaken alongside whatever cousin whose story is being told has been a pleasure to be a part of. And through it all Pemberley remains the central focus as each branch of the family always comes back to the Darcys and their Derbyshire estate. But even more invigorating, with each tale of each cousin, is the inclusion of the Darcys' youngest daughter Bennetta who is a delightful charm to behold. I love her vigor for life and while we met her when she was just 15 years old when Cassandra turned up one rainy night seeking refuge, she is now on the cusp of womanhood at 20. I've said with every review I have penned on each book how I long for Bennetta's story, so enchanting as she is.
But the story this time around is of 21 year old Beth Bingley (named Elizabeth for her Aunt Darcy), eldest daughter to Jane (nee Bennet). She has remained in the shadows as she cared for her ailing mother who never quite recovered from the birth of her youngest sister Aletha, now four. But with the untimely death of their family physician, Jane's care was thus passed over to her niece, Cassandra's husband Dr Richard Courtenay. And surprisingly she has rallied well. Seems modern medicine has triumphed where the old remedies given by the late doctor had failed.
With her mother's surprisingly remarkable return to good health Beth, who had tendered to her mother's every need, is now made redundant. When the sudden death of their grandmother, the rather silly Mrs Bennet, put paid to Beth's 21st birthday celebrations, Jane and her husband along with Elizabeth and Mr Darcy made the journey to Bath after attending the funeral in Hertfordshire. Beth, who had accompanied them stayed on at Longbourn to instill some order in the house and that of the idle servants.
Upon her return to Clifton Park, Beth was feeling rather at a loose end with no one to tend to or care for. She entertained the notion that maybe she would be required to care for her four year old sister until such time she required a governess but then her parents summoned both little Aletha and 16 year old Sophia to Bath. But not before she was given the task of breaking off an engagement Sophia had somehow managed to get herself into.
Enter the rambling old Tudor cottage Maze House, just a few miles from their estate. Beth called on the master of the house to put an end to the somewhat hasty engagement. But not before ex-naval Captain Taylor Lennox mistook her for the young Sophia and gave her a piece of his mind. Angered on behalf of her frivolous sister, Beth chose not to correct him and thus keep Sophia's reputation in tact. Needless to say, Beth had never met a more unfriendly gentleman (he was not!) in her life and decided to avoid any further contact with the horrid man.
Of course that is not how these tales go. Having put Captain Lennox firmly to the back of her mind, Beth accepted an invitation from her cousin Bennetta to stay at Pemberley until her parents' return from Bath. And there she meets a most agreeable man, Sir John Carlyle. A little older perhaps but handsome and kind and Beth, who doesn't believe in the love or romance of fairy tales, is content to settle for a marriage of friendship and tending where she is most needed. Having been at a loose end since her mother's return to good health, Beth feels the need to be needed again. And Sir John offers her that chance in the form of his own ailing mother who adores Beth from the moment she meets her.
However, when chance puts Taylor Lennox in her path once more, Beth discovers she has a choice to make. Passion or friendship? Excitement or contentment? But then Beth finds that the decision may be taken out of her hands with the return of brother and sister duo Stephen and Elinor Blaine - the pair who tried robbing Lady Merryn of her fortune. While both Sophia and Beth are charmed by the siblings, neither know of their true intentions. And it seems Elinor is to be a rival while Stephen has his eyes firmly on the young Sophia. Can Beth save her sister from another disastrous choice before it's too late? Or is Sophia wiser than her years?
A truly magnificent addition to this delightful series. I have loved each and every tale, however frusrating each woman can be at times. And I eagerly await "Flora" a cousin we have yet to meet and have not yet heard about. I'm sure Bennetta Darcy will be on hand yet again to impart her vivacious anecdotes. I can't wait to meet up with her again.
I thoroughly enjoyed BETH, as I have all the others, and yet there is so much more to this tale, I have barely touched the surface. You will have to read it for yourself. Each book can be read as a standalone but to enjoy it completely, I do recommend you start from the beginning. You won't be sorry. They are each of them addictive 5 star reads.
1. Cassandra
2. Catherine
3. Miriam
4. Jane
5. Merryn
6. Beth
7. Flora
MEET THE AUTHOR:
I have been writing all my life in the time I could spare from having a “proper job”, mostly for children under the name of Linda Blake, stories of ballet dancers, pony riding and talking animals! Not all in the same book!
But my love of romance, a great tendency to say “What if..?” and the endearing characters of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice have now resulted in a series of books that will take the reader forward to the next generation of heroines.
I am retired, live in Kent and am a keen member of my local drama group. Directing and acting take up a lot of my time - I have been given the onerous task of writing the Christmas pantomimes - but I still need to cope with a large garden, doing daily battle with the heron who thinks my pond is his own breakfast buffet and keeping in touch with friends and family scattered all over the world.
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