A Fine Stout Love (Pride and Prejudice Petite Tales #1) – Renée Beyea + GIVEAWAY!!!

May 9, 2016 • Giveaways, Reviews • 66 Comments

A Fine Stout LoveOf Verses and Visions

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Source: Review Copy from Author

I am excessively fond of Austenesque anthologies – I have thoroughly enjoyed the collections published by Chawton House Library, Meryton Press, and Indie Jane Press these past years and will always leap at the opportunity to read more. However, unlike the multi-author collaborations mentioned above, the collection I am reviewing today is all written by the same author. In her exquisitely elegant debut release, Reéne Beyea shares five Pride and Prejudice variations that either infuse a bit of poetry, unexplained phenomena, or both. Each story centers around Darcy and Elizabeth and range from 20 to 62 pages in length. Included in this collection is a preface and afterword where the author explains her inspiration and the genesis of each story (which I greatly appreciated!)

I hope you will find this breakdown helpful!

WORDS IN THE WIND

  • The Premise: Strips of foolscap with written verse proceed Lizzy on her walk one morning. Who wrote these words and how did they come to be hidden along her path to the Meryton churchyard?
  • What I Loved: The romantic mystery of it all. It was interesting to see Elizabeth’s speculation after each verse is found, how at first she thought it might be one of her sisters and then suspected a charming new acquaintance. While the author of the poem may be easy to guess, I loved wondering about how the placement of these verses came to be.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

A FINE STOUT LOVE

  • The Premise: Elizabeth has composed some verses after her stay at Netherfield and thanks to her sister’s provoking mischief they are discovered by the illustrious gentleman from Derbyshire.
  • What I Loved: That Elizabeth was the poet this time! We all know her famous remarks about poetry and love, and I definitely enjoyed the irony that she put pen to paper to organize, analyze, and work through her feelings regarding Mr. Darcy. I greatly appreciated how this story was told from both Darcy and Elizabeth’s perspective!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

NEITHER SLUMBER NOR SLEEP

  • The Premise: Lizzy is missing and thinking of Darcy while in London shopping for her sister’s trousseau. Little does she know they are about to have an unlikely and uncomfortable encounter!
  • What I Loved: Seeing Lizzy wish for an encounter with Mr. Darcy and how her New Years reflections were centered upon him. I love that their encounter took place in such a romantic setting and that there is something at Pemberley that reminds them of this absurd and undignified, but momentous and special encounter.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

GOLD, ALL GOLD

  • The Premise: Elizabeth is rescued by Darcy in the woods, but Elizabeth’s special gift of visions leads her to a new understanding about Mr. Darcy.
  • What I Loved: The beautiful and evocative prose used to describe these scenes and Elizabeth’s visions. I also love that Elizabeth has a special gift and witnessing Darcy’s reaction to it. This story delved into the fantasy realm and I would have loved for it to be a little bit longer.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

EDEN UNASHAMED

  • The Premise: Darcy hides a poem expressing his love for his betrothed but it is found by many other Bennets before Elizabeth ever sees it!
  • What I Loved: The hilarious mix-up and the chain of reactions it ignites! It was quite comical to see Mrs. Bennet’s reaction and supposition of who wrote the poem and I really appreciated the change this poem fostered in Mary. The words Darcy wrote are so beautifully tender and impassioned. *swoon*
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

CONCLUSION:

This collection of “petite tales” is wonderfully charming and creative! Ms. Beyea’s style is gentle, evocative, and lyrical and I found the premise of each story to be clever, memorable, and unique. I thoroughly appreciated the organization and professional presentation of this collection and I’m elated to find that another one is to be released soon – What Love May Come (Pride and Prejudice Petite Tales # 2) – expected to be released in winter 2016.

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GIVEAWAY TIME!!!

Renée Beyea is generously giving away 4 paperback and 4 ebook editions of A Fine Stout Love and Other Stories in conjunction with this blog tour!!  Woot woot!  Commenting and entering through the rafflecopter widget on this blog enters you in a chance to win!

A Fine Stout Love A Fine Stout Love A Fine Stout Love A Fine Stout LoveA Fine Stout Love A Fine Stout Love A Fine Stout Love A Fine Stout Love

a Rafflecopter giveaway

  • This giveaway is open worldwide.  Thank you, Renée!
  • This giveaway ends May 19th!

FSL Blog Tour Banner

Thank you to Jakki Leatherberry and Renée Beyea for making this blog tour possible! Click image to check out the rest of the tour!

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Disclaimer: The Amazon links used in this post are affiliate links. 

66 comments

  1. These short stories all sound wonderful Meredith and I do value your opinion. Another one to be added to the wish list!

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    1. Thank you, Michelle! I’m honored! I really have come to appreciate these shorter works, I guess I love the idea of having multiple stories in book. 🙂

      Reply

  3. Wonderful! Thanks Meredith for this lovely review and to Renee for the great giveaways. I will definitely be reading this

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  4. This sounds absolutely delightful and with such a generous giveaway I can’t resist the temptation of trying my luck! Congrats on the release, Renee, and thanks for being my JAFF beacon, Meredith 🙂

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  5. Thank you for this review, theses shorts stories sound great & delightful !!! 🙂 Thank you for the generous giveaway !!: 🙂

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  8. Loved your review and how you broke each story down. I think this will be such a beautiful read!
    Thank you!

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  12. These sound like a lovely set of stories. I do like to read short stories from time to time. It’s nice and relaxing.

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  13. The short stories all sound wonderful and they are about my favorite couple! Thanks Meredith for the review and Renee for the giveaway. LeslieGB

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    1. They are wonderful! I love Darcy and Elizabeth stories, but I would love to see if Renee Beyea will write about some other Austen couples one day! 😉

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  15. Sounds wonderful! This book has been recommended to me on Amazon but i haven’t picked it up. Thanks for the giveaway chance.

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  16. Great review Meredith! These sound like such sweet stories. Will add this to the wishlist 🙂

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  17. I love a collection is short stories, I can read one and put it down or read them all in one sitting. Would love to win a copy. Thanks for the chance to win one.

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  18. I had just read the sample from Amazon and it is lovely!! I hope to read all the stories especially the last one. Thanks for the giveaway opportunity!

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  19. This sounds fantastic! I hope I’ve entered the rafflecopter widget correctly because I’m keen to enter the giveaway 🙂

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  22. Thank you, Meredith. I also found these stories to be delightful. I’m actually somewhat amazed by how much your reviews match my own. Since we seem to be in such accord with books we both have read, you have become my “go-to person” to determine whether or not I will enjoy an as-yet unread book. I really do appreciate all of the time and effort you put into these reviews. So — mega thanks from me!

    Reply

    1. Thank you for your lovely visit, Jan! I’m delighted to hear you enjoyed these stories and that we share the same opinions on them! 🙂 I really appreciate your kind words! It is always my main goal for my reviews to be helpful, so I’m honored you have found them to be so!

      Reply

  24. Meredith, enjoyed and really appreciate your mini-blurbs and reviews of each of the stories! Thanks

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  25. Thank you Meredith for a wonderful breakdown of the short stories! The premises for all the stories sound intriguing.

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  29. Oh this sounds great! I’ve found myself reading more short stories and novellas than usual lately and I look forward to reading these too. I’m sitting here imagining what the Bennets’ reactions are to reading Darcy’s poetry! I bet it’s hilarious. 🙂

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    1. Absolutely! I’ve really enjoyed reading short stories and novellas together in anthologies. I really love having a collection all together in one tome.

      Reply

  30. “Petite tales” – what a wonderful definition for such stories! From your review I find that I am particularly interested in reading Eden Unashamed and Neither Slumber Nor Sleep. Sounds very interesting!

    Reply

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