My hope for this series to continue on audio has happily come to pass, and again, Deborah Balm has performed it wonderfully.
If you’ve been following L.L. Diamond’s ‘The Montford Cousins’ series, you will know that Jane and Bingley do not marry. Instead, this wonderfully creative author has crafted a new love interest for Jane Bennet Montford. Throughout the series, Jane has been mentioned, and I often expected her new love would be Colonel Fitzwilliam. But alas, Ms. Diamond had different plans for her readers—plus, that would have been very predictable, wouldn’t it? Instead, she introduces the very respectable Henry Granville, the Duke of Albermarle. The duke also has two brothers: Charles and Simon—one good and one bad, which perfectly develops the plot for this fourth book in the series. I provide a clear hint about who the good one is when I say I loved Charles, who is always there to support his brother. Simon, on the other hand, plays the role of the perfect villain.
As the story unfolds, a great love blossoms between Henry and Jane, while a crushing illness changes Charles’ life forever. One of the things I particularly love about this author is her exceptional ability to create engaging and likeable non-canon characters. In this book, the author cleverly sets up her next installment in the series for the ‘honorary Montford cousin,’ Georgiana Darcy. I can definitely see a love story developing between the gentle Georgiana and the slightly broken Charles. He is such a sweetheart.
As expected, the author also includes the other Montford cousins and grandparents from the previous books, who continue to be engaging and entertaining in their supporting roles. I cannot express enough how much I have enjoyed this entire series and am now excited to look forward to yet another book when I thought this one would be the last.
I highly recommend this book and the entire series.