A Man With Faults – Lory Lilian

July 24, 2017 • Reviews • 56 Comments

What if Darcy Held Onto His Resentment?

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Source: Review Copy from Author

TYPE OF AUSTENESQUE NOVEL: Pride and Prejudice Variation

TIME FRAME: Begins 4 months after the Hunsford proposal in London

SYNOPSIS: Still heated after Mr. Darcy’s disastrous and offensive proposal, Elizabeth reads only the beginning lines of his haughty letter the next day and decides she cannot bear any more. In her anger, Elizabeth returns to Darcy and tears the letter to pieces before his very eyes. Four months later Elizabeth has often felt terribly ashamed of her cruel actions and temper. While she doesn’t regret refusing Mr. Darcy’s marriage proposal, she regrets destroying his letter and the manner of her refusal. Even more so now, because Elizabeth finds herself in need of Mr. Darcy’s help. Her family has no one else to turn to and she hopes that his good opinion isn’t totally lost forever…

WHAT I LOVED:

  • Tormented and Bitter: What an inventive twist, what a painful and completely shattering situation. After such a heartrending and hurtful encounter, it is conceivable to understand that Mr. Darcy, like Captain Wentworth, is holding onto some resentment and bitterness. After all, his heart was just torn to pieces and he does admit one of his flaws is his resentful temper. It was interesting twist to see Darcy so angered and resentful towards Elizabeth. But before you go believing that he is monstrous ogre that isn’t recognizable, I will say that Ms. Lilian does a wonderful job of giving little glimpses of the man underneath all this resentment and anger. His mask cracks from time to time and we see his love, tenderness, and vulnerability.
  • Relationship with Georgiana: I love when Elizabeth has a special relationship with Georgiana and how their closeness makes Darcy so happy.  Although in this tale it was equal parts a cause of concern and a cause for happiness!  Either way, Georgiana was adorable and I loved seeing her find comfort and friendship with Miss Lizzy!
  • Relationship with Bennets: One of my favorite parts of the story was seeing how Darcy’s opinions changed about the Bennets and how many of the Bennets changed their opinions about Mr. Darcy. I especially loved what evolved between Mr. Bennet and Mr. Darcy – warmed my heart! And Mr. Darcy was adorable with how he handled Mrs. Bennet!
  • Repressed and Restrained: With their tempestuous exchanges and private anguish both Darcy and Elizabeth believe that any sort of future between them is completely improbable and hopeless! But we, the reader, know that can’t be so…Lory Lilian would never do that to us!!! However, with both Darcy and Elizabeth hiding their true feelings and constantly avoiding each other it makes you wonder how anything will get any better between these two! I loved how Ms. Lilian took her time exploring the emotional development between these two characters and how she never gave anything away too early or too quickly! She made us wait for it!
  • Learning His Character: Since Elizabeth didn’t read Darcy’s whole letter she lacks a bit of understanding about the man. But she is nearly always thinking of him and trying to figure him out. So many of his actions puzzle her. I enjoyed witnessing how Elizabeth grew to understand, appreciate, admire, and love Darcy bit by bit, layer by layer.
  • Lady Hardwick, Didi, and Mist: I have always been a big fan of any original character created by Lory Lilian! I adored the new Lady Hardwick and her strong affection for her niece and nephew in this novel. I thought her penchant for asking seemingly innocent questions that truly aren’t so innocent was brilliant! And big applause for the way she handled Miss Bingley! In addition, I absolutely adored the two little furry friends in this story – I want my own Didi and Mist to cuddle and travel to the park with!

WHAT I WASN’T TOO FOND OF:

  • I really can’t think of anything! 😉

NOTE: Only one intimate scene in the last chapter (before epilogue).

CONCLUSION:

In her latest Pride and Prejudice variation, Lory Lilian offers a dramatic and daring premise that is wonderfully executed and will completely enthrall the reader. Written with heartrending poignancy and powerful yearning, A Man with Faults is another magnificent tale to treasure from Lory Lilian!

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56 comments

  2. I totally agree Meredith. Another wonderful book from Lory. I did wonder how on earth they were going to get their happy ending at times but thank heaven for the ‘help’ they got. This is definitely a read and read again book as are all her others. What a lovely review.

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  3. I jumped on this one immediately — because Lory Lilian, right? — and loved it of course. The new human and furry characters are wonderful.

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    1. Thanks so much, Colleen; your kind words are much appreciated 🙂 Glad you enjoyed the new original characters. It’s so much fun to find new characters that can help ODC to finally get together. 🙂

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  5. I, too, read and thoroughly enjoyed this book. I will be rereading it. Lovely review – right on! Thanks for sharing.

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  7. Excellent review Meredith. I loved this story… it was 5-stars for me. Whew! Makes me want to read it again.

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  8. Sounds like a brilliantly thought out variation! True to the characters, and to the intensity of Darcy’s and Elizabeth’s feelings at Hunsford. I’ve always been a little surprised that Elizabeth actually did read the letter, and this story seems to drive a wedge right into that fault line. Smart!

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    2. Indeed! I thought so, Abigail. It does make sense if Lizzy was still fuming from the previous day that Darcy’s opening lines would throw her over the edge.

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  9. Beautiful review, Meredith! I have to confess that I still have to read a book by Lory Lilian. This one sounds really tempting! Can you recommend one to start with?

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    1. Maria, thanks for the comment and I will allow Meredith to make the recommendation. 🙂 Actually, I confess I am excited: I am soooo old in the JAFF world, that I am surprised and pleased when someone reads my books for the first time 🙂 Hope you will read one soon and let me know what you think of it. 🙂

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      1. I thought it was indeed strange that I had never read anything by you, so I checked and I did read something! Though a short story 😀 The one you wrote for the collection Then Comes Winter. I remember I really liked that Darcy! Now I’m eager to read a full-length novel!

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    2. Maria, I could be really unhelpful and say, ‘All of them,’ but I’m thinking Rainy Days. I adored that. And I have read Sketching Mr Darcy several times and thinking I’m needing to reread again soon, I love that one too.

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    3. Thanks Maria! 🙂 I hope you do try reading one of Lory Lilian’s books soon! I know Rainy Days is probably her most popular, but I have special affinity for this one and Sketching Mr. Darcy. I like seeing Darcy and Elizabeth have a good emotional development and slow journey to love and understanding. I don’t think you could go wrong with any of them though! 🙂 Please let us know if you give one a try!

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      1. Oh, I will definitely read them all, Meredith! Such great recs, thank you!! I love your enthusiasm! 😉

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  10. Lovely review, Meredith!! I read this book a couple of weeks ago, and I fell in LOVE!! Of course, it’s Lory Lilian!! I’ve adored all of her books!! 😀

    Thank you!!

    Warmly,
    Susanne 🙂

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  11. What a lovely review, Meredith! I’ve been a huge fan of Lory Lilian’s ever since ‘Rainy Days’ and I loved all her books, but I absolutely adored this one. It was so beautifully done, the heartache, the misunderstandings and best of all, just as you so beautifully put it, Darcy’s mask cracking now and then and letting his goodness, love and vulnerability show. Excellent!! Now, the big question is how do we persuade Lory Lilian to write another angsty book 😉 ?

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    1. Thank you so much, dear Joana. Hmmm … writing angst again? Will see… For now, I am just enjoying writing a low angst new story and reading your full of angst beautiful books 🙂

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    2. Haha! I agree and second this! I know Lory partly blames me for the higher angst quotient in this story and I think she did very well with it! But as always, I am happy to read whatever she writes!

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  12. Thank you for this review. I had noticed the book available on Amazon, but for some reason had been hesitating. Now with your positive review, I’m sure I will also love it! Thank you again!

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  15. Ahhhh…Meredith, been hoping you would review it, and it was a great review. I haven’t read it yet, but I WILL. And I really love how Brenda put it above: ‘Lory Lillian is one of my go-to authors.’ Perfect. So looking forward to reading this.

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  16. Heartily agree with your review. I absolutely loved this book, it was perfect. Especially love that Lory does not give everything away easily, I want food for thought.

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