Sophia Rose Reviews: A Dutiful Son by Kelly Miller

Today Sophia Rose returns with, A Dutiful Son by Kelly Miller a retelling of one of her favorite author's stories.
Enjoy! 

A Dutiful Son by Kelly Miller

Historical Romance

Publisher: Meryton Press

Published: 10.18.22

Pages:  322

Rating: 4.5 stars

Format: eARC

Source: Meryton Press

Sellers: Amazon

ADD TO: GoodReads

GoodReads Blurb:

What will Fitzwilliam Darcy do when his beloved father stands between him and happiness?

Darcy has always emulated his wise and honourable father, George Darcy. But following a sinister act of betrayal by a former family friend, his father rejects his most benevolent principles.

When Georgiana forms a friendship with Miss Elizabeth Bennet, Darcy convinces his father to allow the association to continue. However, Elizabeth soon presents a thorny problem: she entices Darcy as no other lady has before, and with his current outlook, his father would not approve of her as a daughter-in-law.

Still, Darcy’s problem may resolve in time: his father, after getting to know Elizabeth, is certain to recognise her many admirable qualities and change his mind. But what if he does not?

In this Pride & Prejudice Regency variation, Fitzwilliam Darcy is caught between the influences of love and duty. Which of these will wield the greatest power?

 

Sophia Rose's Review:

After making a mistake about a favorite’s character, George Darcy has learned to be cautious and his young adult children feel the results.  What a fascinating premise for this latest Pride and Prejudice various from Kelly Miller!  Not only is the senior Mr. Darcy alive for this one, but he both discovers Wickham’s weak character and dictates a class distinction to his children in their friendships and love lives.  I was all eagerness to see how these profound alterations worked on Austen’s classic tale.

 

As many who read my reviews know, I have a great fondness for Austen variation stories.  I love to explore ‘what-if’ questions to take different paths with the characters through a familiar setting.  A Dutiful Son begins the changes from the start by having Mr. George Darcy alive at the beginning of the story and able to see that his preference and elevation for young George Wickham from merely the steward’s son has created a profligate with expectations beyond his station.  Instead of seeing Wickham as a weak specimen, the senior Mr. Darcy chooses to take the extreme view and see it as a weakness of class status so bands his children from forming any new connections outside the sphere of their status.  Not being a tyrant, he does allow for current friendships his children formed to stand, but he makes it clear that he has expectations of a different sort for Fitzwilliam’s future.  Young Mr. Darcy has a friendship with Bingley who is a wealthy young man from the merchant class and young Miss Darcy has a friendship with Miss Elizabeth Bennet a gentleman’s daughter with no real prospects of wealth or status.  Bingley falls for Elizabeth’s sister and their story is an easy happily ever after.  Elizabeth leaves them to it for a pleasant visit with Darcy and Georgie to their home.

 

Darcy and Elizabeth are attracted and he falls in love after meeting her during his visit to Bingley’s estate in Hertfordshire, but there is his internal conflict of pleasing his ailing father by doing his duty vs following his heart. At Pemberley, Darcy finds that a marriage prospect is already on the table and even Elizabeth finds the possibility of a courtship, but neither have their hearts or heads turned by these others.  However, it does drive home the expectation placed on them.  Elizabeth sees her own status as inferior and is miserable under the cautious gaze of Mr. Darcy senior and his equally class-conscious sister.

 

I really enjoyed exploring this new avenue for the story and loved seeing the friendship element as strong.  Darcy and Elizabeth avoid much of the ‘pride’ and ‘prejudice’ of the original and of course Wickham is unable to work his wiles on Elizabeth, but their being forced to dwell on always being parted by other’s disapproval of their status of wealth was wearying.  I will admit to feeling the pace slow down while they struggled through this period of internal monologues and waiting for the catalyst that would change the status quo of the issue they were facing.  There was some good suspense here as I waited to see how they’d find a way and there was some good surprise there. The resolve eventually came and it was gratifying to see them find their happy and the swoonworthy moments.

 

All in all, I enjoyed exploring this new variation path and time spent with the author’s representation of the P&P world.  Those who enjoy sweet yet feeling-filled character-driven historical romance should pick this one up for a closer look.

 

Author Bio:

When not writing, Award-winning Regency romance author Kelly Miller spends her free time singing, playing the piano, reading, and working out. Like a much loved Jane Austen character, she is an excellent walker. She lives in Silicon Valley with her husband, daughter, and their many pets.

She is often on Twitter: @Kellyrei007
or Facebook:
https://www.facebook/Author.Kelly.Miller
or IG: kelly.miller.author

"Death Takes a Holiday at Pemberley," won 1st place in the Royal Dragonfly Awards and Indies Today Awards, and is a finalist, International Book Awards. "Mr. Darcy's Perfect Match" is recommended by the Historical Novel Society. "Accusing Mr. Darcy" is a 1st place winner of the Firebird Book Awards and Queer Indie Awards-Ally Division, a Wishing Shelf Awards finalist, and a Recommended Read, Author Shout Reader Ready Awards. Her forth release is the novella "A Consuming Love."

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sophiarose1816

GoodReads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13418187.Sophia_Rose