Disguise of Any Sort by MJ Stratton, narrated by Arthur Rowan
Historical Romance
Publisher: MJ Stratton
Published: 6.25.26
Time: 12 hours 43 minutes
Rating: 4.5 stars
Format: audio
Source: Author
Sellers: Amazon
ADD TO: GoodReads
GoodReads Synopsis:
Elizabeth Bennet never meant to disobey.
With her mother in the throes of delivering an unexpected sixth child, a fifteen-year-old Elizabeth and her sisters are ushered into the garden. Restless, Elizabeth wanders off and is stunned to witness a deadly carriage accident. She races to the rescue, but only a wee babe survives the devastating wreck, protected from harm in the arms of his mother.
Uncertain what to do, Elizabeth brings the child back to the house, only to learn that her mother and new younger brother have died. Faced with an uncertain future, a ruse is the orphaned child will become a Bennet. The burden of secrecy falls on Elizabeth's shoulders, and as the years pass, feels almost too heavy to bear.
Fitzwilliam Darcy has searched for his missing cousin for five long years. Miss de Bourgh's disappearance shocked her mother, and though time plods on, Lady Catherine refuses to believe her only child will never return. How surprising, then, when Darcy encounters a young boy who is the very image of his Fitzwilliam cousins, while on visit to Hertfordshire. Questions abound, and one person seems as if she might hold the answers.
Torn between duty to her family and her growing love for the gentleman from Derbyshire, Elizabeth must decide if she can trust Darcy enough to reveal her secret. But specters from the past rise up, threatening the future for all, and disguise of any sort is abhorrent to Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy.
Disguise of Any Sort is a sweet, low-angst Pride and Prejudice Variation novel.
Sophia Rose's Review:
When a young lady’s mother and the long-for heir are dying in childbirth, she happens upon a wrecked coach and an orphaned baby boy, a family conspiracy is formed that has lasting repercussions on the future. MJ Stratton’s heartfelt, suspenseful Pride and Prejudice variation kept me riveted to my earbuds from start to finish.
Disguise of Any Sort introduces the Bennet family who live under the curse of a family entail to heirs’ male. Mr. Bennet and his wife have only been able to produce five daughters and the future of Longbourn is bleakly to be passed into the hands of Mr. Bennet’s ignorant, cruel, bitter cousin. With this threat looming, it affects their daily lives with disappointment and uncertainty until Mrs. Bennet falls with child again long after they hoped for such an event.
Sadly, the pregnancy is not going well and the second oldest daughter, Miss Elizabeth begs a chance to get out in the fresh air alone from her other worrying sisters and their governess. Her walk takes her along a path at a time when she is horrified to watch an out-of-control coach in the distance along the main road. She sees the crash and makes her way there to be of help only to find a dying woman who insists Elizabeth take her son.
Elizabeth’s return home is quietly unobserved because her father is grieving the loss of Mrs. Bennet and the servants have long-since made themselves scarce to give the family privacy. So, only her father and the midwife know the young son died with his mother. Her father’s desperation leads to a stunning plot. The unknown orphan has no family so he will be the hope of the Bennets.
Meanwhile, a shadowy figure had escaped the carriage wreck and abandoned the woman and son he hoped to take advantage of once they achieved Gretna Green. His greed and malice were thwarted this time, but he will come up with a new scheme to achieve the status and wealth he feels he deserves.
Elizabeth loves her younger brother as do they all. She and her father are the only ones to know the security of their futures is based on a lie. She shoulders this guilty truth so her sisters do not have to and eventually, a man comes to the neighborhood visiting his friend and she sees a spark of recognition in his face when he sees young Tommy. Fitzwilliam Darcy knows he’s looking on family features, but how? He wants answers even as he slowly realizes that Elizabeth Bennet is a lady after his own heart.
Disguise of Any Sort has an exciting beginning and sets the table for what is to come. It has a necessary slow build plot as it establishes the situation for two different families and a villain of the darkest cloth. Years must pass before the next grand series of plot events occur and by then, the tension can be cut with a knife as the villain plots, Elizabeth and Darcy circle each other warily in a slow-burn class difference romance and a big secret looming between. I felt there was some repetitiveness over Elizabeth’s internal monologue, particularly when mulling over how she felt about hiding the truth or Darcy mulling over how he felt about the possible truth of Thomas’ origins. I loved how balance of romance and suspense and that feeling of wondering how things would ever turn out well.
The narrator, Arthur Rowan, was new to me, but I settled into his narration style and voices quite easily. He gave nice distinct voices and even did well young child voices. He was in sync with the tone of each scene and delivered the emotional scenes with good impact. I would definitely listen to more of his work.
All in all, this was a riveting tale that gripped me from start to finish. I never wanted to stop listening. I was vested early on and couldn’t wait to learn how the truth would come out, the villain- who really needed to come to a bad end- was to be thwarted, and a romance could ever overcome the difficulties would happen. It was dramatic without high-angst in all the good ways. Pride and Prejudice variation and historical romance fans should definitely treat yourselves.
Author Bio:
MJ Stratton is a teacher turned full-time writer. She and her husband live in rural Utah in the tiny pioneer town where MJ grew up. Together, they are raising four children and have the care of five cats and a flock of ducks, chickens, and guinea hens.
Sophia’s Bio:
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.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sophia.rose.7587
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GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13418187.Sophia_Rose
Great review Sophia. I like that it's low angst.
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