Review || Love Unfeigned by M.J. Stratton

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Love Unfeigned by M.J. Stratton
Published by Amazon Self Publishing on 2 February 2025
Genres: Fiction, Adult, Historical Fantasy, JAFF
Pages: 133
Format: eBook
Source: Kindle Store
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What is Elizabeth to do when a most unexpected letter arrives from a certain Derbyshire gentleman?

Escape to London? Elizabeth Bennet is happy to. Her mother has been unbearable ever since Elizabeth refused to marry her odious cousin. Besides which, her beloved sister Jane is in London, heartbroken, and much in need of Elizabeth's help. Jane's recovery from her suitor's defection is utmost in Elizabeth's mind, until she receives a letter filled with romantic sentiments from the only source less likely than her already-refused cousin, the aggravating, arrogant, obnoxious Mr. Darcy.

Darcy has tried to purge Elizabeth Bennet from his thoughts and heart, but her fine eyes and pert opinions haunt him even in his sleep. When a letter arrives from Elizabeth Bennet, the machinations of someone close to him come to light. Delighted at the chance to pursue inclination rather than expectation, Darcy continues the correspondence started by another.

When untold truths surface, Elizabeth must decide if she can trust the gentleman with whom she has fallen deeply in love, and Darcy must do everything he can to persuade her that he is not the same unfeeling man she despised in Hertfordshire. Love Unfeigned is a sweet, low-angst Darcy and Elizabeth novella that brings an early happily ever after for our dear couple.

I loved this book so much. I read the synopsis and then ran to Amazon. I don’t think I have ever pre-ordered a book so fast. I totally dropped the other three books I was between as soon as I noticed it had been loaded on my Kindle to jump right into this. I knew I’d enjoy it, but I had no idea I would love it as much as I did.

The writing was perfect. The build up and flow worked very well. I didn’t feel like things were rushed at all, despite the short length of the book. The dialogue felt very natural and easy. I didn’t notice too much modernization, which I know can bother a lot of readers. It has to be really overt to bother me, but I didn’t notice it much here. The language was more true to canon/time period in the letters that were exchanged throughout the story than in the speech, however.

Never had Georgiana read something so insulting and romantic at the same time.
Love Unfeigned || page 12

The characterizations were wonderful. They felt very true to form. I don’t generally give characters a perfect score in a variation, but I couldn’t not give them one here. None of the characters felt foreign to me. When the characterization is poor in a variation, it can leave you feeling like you are meeting someone new instead of catching up with an old friend, but that problem didn’t exist here. I can count on a single hand other variations of the 200+ that I have read where I was able to give a book a perfect score for their canon characterization. Beyond sticking to canon, they were also very consistent throughout.

As he dipped his pen into ink, his confidence failed him. What am I to say? Feeling chagrined, he rang for Georgiana. She had got him into this mess, and now she would help him compose a proper missive to his lady love.
Love Unfeigned || page 49

The story was adorable. You find out quite quickly that the mystery writer is Georgiana, so I won’t look at that as a spoiler, but she is so adorable. I love her so much and she is wonderfully done here. I’ve always felt like she was meant to be a Jane with Lizzy tendencies, and she follows that ideal very well here. The letters she crafts do feel like they may have come from Darcy. I admit that I thought at first that she would be writing letters to both of them from each other, but not sharing the real letters in efforts to correct misunderstandings on both sides, so I was pleasantly surprised when that wasn’t the case. I think such a plot point would’ve quickly become too convoluted, so I was happy to be proven wrong.

When things came to light on Darcy’s side and he took over the letters, there was little in the shift between general mood in the letters. Unless you were looking closely (or knew they were done by different authors like we readers did), you wouldn’t have noticed he hadn’t been writing all of them. I know that would be easy enough for the author to handle, but the difference was just slight enough that I was able to see it, which lent a degree of credibility to them, since I knew they had two authors and knew what to look for between them. The fact that I could see a difference in the authors of the letters, even slight, is a point of recognition to M.J. Stratton for being able to showcase something so subtly.

“If you think Elizabeth is anything but the gem that she is, then you do not deserve her.”
Love Unfeigned || page 57

The feelings of the characters built at a perfect speed, leaving it all feeling very believable. There were a few loose ends that could’ve been tackled. Simple things like finding out Caroline’s reaction to Darcy’s marriage, Lady Catherine’s reaction to the same. How the Earl and Countess actually felt about it. A little bit more about the Colonel and Georgiana and how they felt about the couple after meeting Elizabeth. What we did get just wasn’t enough for me. They were either strings that were started and forgotten and didn’t need to exist or strings I would’ve liked to see tied up a little neater. That could just be a personal preference, however.

Really, the only thing about this that I didn’t like was how short it was. It didn’t necessarily need to be longer, but I wanted it to be longer. It ended too quickly for my preference, and if it hadn’t been midnight-thirty and past my bedtime when I finished it, I likely would’ve had quite the book hangover from it. I just wasn’t ready for it to end when it did. This is a fast, fluffy, feel-good variation and I loved every moment of it.

CAWPILED

10	9	10	10	8	9	10	10	9.67
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