Audio: Done for the best

 

By: Amy D'Orazio

Narrated by: Simon Alison

Series: The Engaged to Mr Darcy Series

Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins

Release date: 06-27-25

Publisher: Quills & Quartos Publishing

Categories: Pride and Prejudice variation/audible

Someone asked me after I had the last book about the series name so I went back to book 1 to investigate ;) It seems Lizzy and Darcy gets engaged by circumstances and not by want, at least in the two I have read.

Here we open after the dreaded proposal scene. It is the day after and Lizzy is missing! Oh no! She has been bitten by an adder and is at death's door! But it gets even more eventful as Lizzy has memory loss and believes herself to be engaged to Darcy. Oh no, how will this end?

Obviously she will find out the truth and therein lies the drama of the book.

Love will prevail. And Wickham will show up to be an ass. And Lady Catherine is not a total nuisance.

I enjoyed it, I always do. Good narration too

Perhaps this concealment, this disguise, was beneath me… It is done, however, and it was done for the best. Elizabeth Bennet, walking in Kent the day after Mr Darcy’s proposal meets with an unfortunate mishap. A meeting with an adder has disastrous consequences for her and when she wakes from a period of unconsciousness, she has no memory at all of the last ten months of her life. To her complete shock she learns that she is engaged to a man called Darcy, a man she has no recollection of meeting before.

Darcy is shocked himself to realize that Elizabeth thinks she is engaged to him but his efforts to correct her misapprehension are thwarted by those around her who believe that to learn the truth will be detrimental to her recovery. As the days go by, Darcy and Elizabeth spend time together, reading and driving out around Kent, behaving as the lovers Darcy always dreamt they would be. To continue in the disguise, to forget the contentions and misunderstandings of their past proves an unbearable temptation.

When the worst happens and Elizabeth learns that not only did she refuse Darcy’s proposal, she hated him. What she learns seems completely incongruous with the man she has fallen in love with…and yet she simply does not know if she can forgive him for deceiving her.

Lula Dean´s Little Library of Banned Books

Format: 304 pages, Paperback

Published: July 7, 2024 by HQ Fiction GB

Fiction/borrowed

This felt heavier than I had expected.

Small southern town which seems to be filled with neonazis, racists, biggots, well you name it. And then Lula Dean gets the notion that books makes you gay, trans, everything that that is not Christian and right. So she bans most books from the library and opens her own little booklibrary thing on her front lawn.

The book is told in in many povs that gets their own chapter. Bad ones that think this is right, good ones that want to fight it, and then the middle people who I found interesting. The ones who went to see what crappy books she had and found other books inside. And those books changed their lives. They learned about rape, racism, antisemitism and wanted to change something in their lives.

An interesting book, and there is hope. Also for I really liked the epilogue for once. That one was cool

Beverly Underwood and her arch enemy, Lula Dean, live in the tiny town of Troy, Georgia, where they were born and raised. Now Beverly is on the school board, and Lula has become a local celebrity by embarking on mission to rid the public libraries of all inappropriate books—none of which she’s actually read. To replace the “pornographic” books she’s challenged at the local public library, Lula starts her own lending library in front of her home: a cute wooden hutch with glass doors and neat rows of the worthy literature that she’s sure the town’s readers need.

But Beverly’s daughter Lindsay sneaks in by night and secretly fills Lula Dean’s little free library with banned books wrapped in “wholesome” dust jackets. The Girl’s Guide to the Revolution is wrapped in the cover of The Southern Belle’s Guide to Etiquette. A jacket that belongs to Our Confederate Heroes ends up on Beloved. One by one, neighbors who borrow books from Lula Dean’s library find their lives changed in unexpected ways. Finally, one of Lula Dean’s enemies discovers the library and decides to turn the tables on her, just as Lula and Beverly are running against each other to replace the town’s disgraced mayor.

That’s when all the townspeople who’ve been borrowing from Lula’s library begin to reveal themselves. It’s a diverse and surprising bunch—including the local postman, the prom queen, housewives, a farmer, and the former DA—all of whom have been changed by what they’ve read. When Lindsay is forced to own up to what she’s done, the showdown that’s been brewing between Beverly and Lula will roil the whole town...and change it forever.

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I do not drink coffee, blergh! When it comes to tea I like chai, I have found this green chai that is so yummy. But you know to make at home, I would never order tea anywhere

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Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly discussion post where bloggers discuss a wide range of topics from books and blogging to life in general. Weigh in and join the conversation by adding your thoughts in the comments. If you want to do your own post, grab the question and answer it on your blog. Feel free to leave your links in the comments if you are participating.

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Carole´s Monday: Garters, ghosts and wedding toasts

 

Author: Angie Fox

Narrator: Hollie Jackson
Title: Garters, Ghosts and Wedding Toasts

Series: Southern Ghost Hunter Mysteries #15

Genre: Paranormal, Mystery, Cozy mystery
Format: Audiobook
Published:  February 27, 2026
Where I Got It: My shelf (Audible)

Summary: 

When Verity Long agrees to be her sister’s maid of honor, she expects wedding cake and champagne—not a dead hostess, a cursed honeymoon suite, and a ghostly bride reliving her tragic final moments. With a killer on the loose, a ballroom full of restless spirits, and Frankie stirring up trouble with a rogue ghost hunter, Verity must race to uncover the truth before Melody’s dream wedding becomes her worst nightmare.

Review:

Yayy book 15! Been waiting so long for this one (*cough* not that long *cough*)

Note......read the other books before this one. Lots of references, etc. 

The time has come for Verity's sister to get married! Verity hopes it will be a calm and beautiful wedding weekend filled with cake and champagne. But alas, that will not be the case.....the honeymoon suite is cursed, there is a ghostly bride reliving her tragic moments, a killer is on the loose, Frankie is causing trouble, and secrets everywhere. It will be up to Verity and team to find the truth and stop Melody's man from being the next victim. 

Always a blast. I simply love Verity and her crew. 

Loved the mysteries. So many red herrings and so many people (and ghosts) with motives. Who knows! I had zero idea until close to the end.

I'm still a little on the fence about our new narrator. This is her second one, and I am still feeling pouty about it. I loved our old voice, but this one is doing okay. Maybe the next book I'll finally settle in with her voice. Sighs. 

But yes, so much fun. Great characters. A fun local change. Wedding. Love. Ghosts. What more can you ask for?

Stamping this with 4 stars. 

Reading Challenges

- Audiobook #8