Tried not to expect too much...this is about a 2.5 star book. I liked it.

Pros...it is fun, quick and a cute idea.

Cons...not too much in Austen style (what was with all the parentheses like this). All the characters from all the books kind of come at you quick (good thing I have read all the books TONS of times...notice my parentheses :) and I wasn't super happy with her interpertation of how all the kids turned out. I don't know, I would have thought differently based on Austen's original characters. ( )

As a sequel, The Darcys Give a Ball takes place a couple of decades after the end of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice. In this book, the reader gets to see some of our favorite original characters along with plenty of new ones -- the next generation, if you will -- as all of these characters have now had several children each. The crux of the story is that Eliza, the 17-year-old daughter of Mr. Collins and Charlotte (Lucas) Collins, and Henry, the second son of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth (Bennet) Darcy, fall in love. Mr. and Mrs. Darcy decide to give a ball purportedly to celebrate their daughter Juliet's 19th birthday, but also to see if Henry will still care for Eliza after her sees amongst his own family and peers. Other pairings are considered amongst the various young people belonging to the families and extended families of the Darcys, Collinses, and Bingleys as well as other wealthy landed gentry.

Despite being subtitled “A gentle joke, Jane Austen style,” this book is neither particularly funny nor really in Austen's style at all. It is very descriptive, particularly of bloodlines, clothing, and houses, whereas Austen left a lot of this up to the reader’s imagination, choosing to focus instead of dialogue, characterizations, and plot. There is also very little of Austen’s wit and wry observations, except for when the author drops in occasional lines from the original novel as though that will make this one Austenesque. The author also uses the parenthetical far too liberally, which got a bit annoying at times. Lizzy (Bennet) Darcy rambles more than sparkles with wit, and the other characters aren't always spot-on in their resemblances to the originals either.

When the ball is planned, the author thinks it is funny (I presume that is the rationale) to drop all these Easter eggs in the invites. The Darcys are inviting the Bertrams, the Elliotts, the Knightleys, and a host of other characters from Jane Austen’s remaining five novels. But it's just ridiculous to think that the Darcys out in the countryside are going to be acquainted with other families from the complete opposite side of the country. Remember this is set in the mid-1800s when travel was not an easy thing, nor was it particularly necessary for these people with giant estates who have everything they need handy. And let's not forget the nature of these characters -- the Elliotts love Bath and city society not the country; the Knightleys rarely leave their quiet town; etc.

The majority of the plot in The Darcys Give a Ball takes place over a few days so the speed is a bit breakneck, leaving little room for anything like a surprise. But it also makes it a quick and pleasant enough read, and this book served as something nice and light to counteract some of the darker things I’ve been reading. ( )

Most sequels by other authors to well-known novels are not worth the paper they are written on. This one is no exception. The characters have lost all definition. The plot turns are almost wholly predicable. There are a few witty bits of prose - all lifted from Austen.

The only delightful bit to the book is the way an elopement is prevented. ( )