The Lizzy Chronicles by Cat Gardiner @40sExperience #HarryFrost @sophiarose1816 #LoveAudiobooks

Review copy was received from Author. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

For lovers of romance, history, and holiday magic, The Lizzy Chronicles offers four enchanting tales (three novellas and one short story) inspired by Pride and Prejudice that sweep readers from the charm of bygone eras to the warmth of contemporary holiday romance.

Kiss of Promise - Set during the American Civil War, this touching story follows Elizabeth Bennet, a Southern volunteer in a Union hospital. Amid the peril of wartime, Elizabeth pines for Captain Fitzwilliam Darcy, the Northern soldier who stole her heart. Will their one shared kiss and the promise of love endure, or are her memories all she will carry through the years?

The Sound of Christmas - Travel back to the Jazz Age in Brooklyn, 1922, where the music flows, smiles are free, and the radio is the hottest gift selling in the Bennet Talking Machines shop in Brooklyn, New York City. Shopgirl Lizzy Bennet is captivated by a mysterious customer, Mr. Darcy, whose brooding demeanor hides a sad secret she tries to uncover. As the melodies play, can Lizzy’s open heart heal Darcy’s pain and bring joy to his sorrowful spirit at Christmastime?

Darcy, Urban Legend - Help Lizzy solve a cold case in the historical village of Lambton Harbor, where locals believe young Darcy murdered his father before his own fateful plane crash sixteen years ago. Now, Darcy has reappeared to claim his fortune, sparking both shock and suspicion. But is he truly the man he claims to be, and will super-sleuth Lizzy solve the case?

Serendipitous Love in the Time of Corona - In a humorous, heartwarming tale set during the Covid-19 lockdown, Darcy, a talented cellist, becomes Elizabeth’s new neighbor. Separated by the street, they meet without speaking, sharing mornings over coffee, biscotti, and the written word on whiteboards, all while her spirited grandmother plays matchmaker. Watch as love blossoms across fire escapes and window sills in a delightful homage to the power of connection.

The Lizzy Chronicles compendium captures the essence of romance during the holidays, blending the allure of history with the charm of modern love. Each story is a heartwarming escape into passion, humor, and enduring affection—a holiday collection perfect for fans of Pride and Prejudice and anyone who dreams of love that spans time.

Last year, Cat Gardiner released her The Darcy Files and I fell for her debonair, swoony hero based on Jane Austen’s Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pride & Prejudice.  This year, she regals with Darcy’s lady, the sassy, witty and utterly charming Elizabeth Bennet in her The Lizzy Chronicles.  Two historical and two contemporaries offer a variety of settings, eras, and situations in which Lizzy finds her Darcy.

Kiss of Promise, a Civil War Era piece, was poignant and bittersweet as Southern belle, Elizabeth Bennet, with secret abolitionist and Union leanings, has fallen for a Union officer.  With the war raging, she sneaks away from the family’s Virginia plantation to work as a surgical nurse at a nearby Union hospital.  During a break, she gets lost in her memories of the past- the memorable meeting with Captain Darcy and the forming of her convictions- while praying and hoping not only that he survives the nearby battle, but she’ll see him again.  I loved this one, but it does end abruptly and open-ended.

The Sound of Christmas was experienced in audio and Harry Frost shone as usual with his narration work of this upbeat, syncopated post-WWI Flapper Era romance of a music shop gal and a brooding, quiet customer.

Lizzy and her Bennet family are English transplants to Brooklyn and live above her father’s music shop.  She knows her records and the all new invention, radio wireless.  She is coming to know handsome Fitzwilliam Darcy who struggles with shell shock and reveals his heart as they spend the holidays together.  So tender and nostalgic with the treatment of war wounds, the time period, and the relationships- the author’s strengths, for sure.

A small town Long Island gal has dreams of cracking the case in Darcy, Urban Legend.

A modern-day cold case local murder mystery is at the heart of Lizzy Bennet’s focus as amateur sleuth while working as a home physical therapist.  She has a blog detailing all she’s discovered about the old crime featuring the murder of George Darcy thought to have ties to the mob and the tragic deaths of other family members. Lizzy was a wise-cracking local and has fun with newcomer, Charlie Bingley while getting her hopes up after getting confirmation that William Darcy, thought to be dead is alive.  She’s convinced the son, William Darcy, was the murderer.  I enjoyed the old, Long Island small town of gossips and quirky characters with Lizzy one of them.  Two handsome strangers come to town and the old cold case heats up.  Lizzy has to figure out the truth and figure out if she wants to give the cheeky Charlie a chance.  Light mystery and romance are a great combo.

Wrapping up the quartet, Serendipitous Love in Time of Corona is a swoony, sensual lock-down romance.

Social distancing and fears can’t keep love out.  A professional dancer becomes the muse for a germaphobic celloist who had distanced himself long before Covid came along.  Fitzwilliam Darcy lost his parents and has been afraid to fall in love, but there’s also the fact he’s more articulate in the language of music than words.  Lizzy Bennet, a professional dancer has been hung up on the guy who shared her first kiss- as embarrassing as that was.  Staying in an old Brooklyn apartment with her eccentric Italian grandmother playing matchmaker has her dancing into love in no time.  I must have sighed and swooned- and laughed- every other paragraph in this one.  A man and woman connecting across the way with whiteboard and markers and their music hit the sweet spot for me.

All in all, The Lizzy Chronicles were a collection of poignant novella-length tales drawing on a nostalgic, warm tone full of sassy heroines and romantic love.  Each claimed a slight connection with Jane Austen’s most famous hero and heroine, but they are more tribute stories and not retellings so anyone who loves a sizzling, but sweet romance in multiple eras can pick this up.

Review copy was received from Author. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Travel back to the Jazz Age in Brooklyn, 1922, where the music flows, smiles are free, and the radio is the hottest gift selling in the Bennet Talking Machines shop in Brooklyn, New York City. Shopgirl Lizzy Bennet is captivated by a mysterious customer, Mr. Darcy, whose brooding demeanor hides a sad secret she tries to uncover. As the melodies play, can Lizzy’s open heart heal Darcy’s pain and bring joy to his sorrowful spirit at Christmastime?

This heartfelt story will make you laugh, shed a few tears, and take you back to an age when the world began to change with the incoming popularity of radio.

I received The Sound of Music, a novella in The Lizzy Chronicles collection also separately in audio, so I chose to listen to and review (see above) the audio for that story.

Narration:

Harry Frost is an auto-buy narrator at this point.  I am ever impressed with his handling of the story, the characters, catching tone of the writing and pacing so well.  His work here was no exception.

Listen to a clip: HERE

• Author
• Recent Posts

Follow Me

Sophia

Reviewer at Books of My Heart

Sophia is a quiet though curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing, piano-playing, and gardening.Road trips and campouts, museums and monuments, restaurants and theaters are her jam. Encouraged and supported by an incredible man and loving family. A Northern Californian transplant to the Great Lakes Region of the US. Lover of Jane Austen, Baseball, Cats, Scooby Doo, and Chocolate.

As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing.Sophia is a prolific reader and audiobook listener which allows her to experience so many wonderful books, authors, and narrators.Few genres are outside her reading tastes, but her true love is fiction particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and romance.Though, sorry, no horror or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby.

Friend or follow me at Goodreads.

Follow Me

Latest posts by Sophia (see all)

• The Seaside Homecoming by Julie Klassen @Julie_Klassen @bethany_house @sophiarose1816 - December 11, 2024
• The Lizzy Chronicles by Cat Gardiner @40sExperience#HarryFrost@sophiarose1816#LoveAudiobooks - December 8, 2024
• Murder Takes the Stage by Colleen Cambridge @colleengleason @KensingtonBooks @sophiarose1816 - December 4, 2024

Please follow and like us:

Related Posts

• Same Genre

Here Comes the Sun by Marie Force

Alpha Night by Nalini Singh

Identity by Nora Roberts

Flirting with Fate by JC Cervantes

Audio: The Bachelor Auction by Rachel Va