Caffeinated Reviewer

Sophia Rose is here today to share a time travel romance perfect for Jane Austen fans. Come check out her thoughts on Nine Ladies by Heather Moll available through Kindle Unlimited.

How can Darcy and Elizabeth overcome 200 years of differences in this era-spanning love story?

The Darcy family has grudgingly kept the secret about the power contained within a nearby stone circle called Nine Ladies. Fitzwilliam Darcy is forced to contend with this secret when a young woman from the future appears at Pemberley. Until the opinionated stranger can return to when she belongs, Darcy is responsible not only for her safety, but also for ensuring that nothing she does threatens Pemberley’s well-being.

Elizabeth Bennet has returned to England to take care of her estranged father, and her life was off track long before she walked into that stone circle at sunset. She quickly discovers that, as a poor and single woman, she’ll have to rely on the arrogant Mr. Darcy. She tries her best to survive in the nineteenth-century until she can return home but, as she and Darcy grow closer, the truth she knows about his and Pemberley’s bleak future becomes harder to keep.

Will their love prove timeless as centuries and cultures collide in this time travel Pride and Prejudice variation?

Sophia Rose’s Review

Love transcends time when a 21st century woman uncertain about her future enters a stone circle and encounters a man of duty and responsibility two hundred years in the past. A modern Elizabeth Bennet and a traditional Fitzwilliam Darcy uphold Austen’s classic in an all new way in this time travel romance paired with Pride & Prejudice.

Nine Ladies provides a magical explanation for a stone time travel portal located on the Darcy estate of Pemberley and then invites the reader to journey back in time and what it would feel like to give up tech and conveniences for a pre-industrial time.  Two hundred years can make a big difference in social, legal, and scientific thought and this is acutely felt when Elizabeth wakes up in a time when she is a second-class citizen, bizarrely dressed to the locals, and the English spoken by her and to her might as well have been a language exchange between foreigners. The scenes in past and present came to vivid life and were described well.

The author did a great job of writing the unsettled, even scary feelings of being that far out of one’s element.  Perhaps too good a job, in Elizabeth’s case. I didn’t care for her for the longest time.  I was ready to thwop her on the head after her attitude continued several weeks in.  When in Rome…? Not her! I wasn’t impressed that someone who professed to love history spouted so much modern slang and got so tetchy about the past especially when she knew there was an expiration date on her stay- three months- and she was spending it in relative comfort with people who were caring for her needs. But, she does finally pull it together and try to settle in for the remainder of the time she is there and even engages with a shy young Georgiana Darcy, the housekeeper who has her own secrets, Mrs. Reynolds, and starts to understand and be friends with the estate owner, Darcy. Her sweet and playful side comes out at times and it was easy to see how the pair would slowly fall for each other and struggle knowing there was a future separation.

Minor spoiler… View Spoiler »Darcy got his turn to see what it was like when the tables were turned. And, again, I thought the author really brought out the anguish of being disposed in a completely bewildering situation where he had sometimes no point of reference. There was a scene where Elizabeth forgot to warn Darcy about airplanes so he is in a near panic when a big jet flies over. He is so used to being in command of himself and confident in his world where he has the charge of so many lives that he really had to dig deep to deal with the vulnerability perhaps more so than Elizabeth when she was back in Regency times. « Hide Spoiler

While they both get to narrate the story, I felt this was Elizabeth’s tale. She has to address some personal issues like her father’s utter abandonment of their family since she was two years old, her mother’s abrasive bitter attitude that always sees Elizabeth as less than her beautiful perfect older sister, and her need to decide if she will live her life to suit her mother or herself and what will that look like? All this on top of time traveling to the past and falling in love with a man who has responsibilities that will keep him in the past.

Amazon

About Heather Moll

Heather Moll is an avid reader with a masters in information science. She found Jane Austen later than she should have and made up for lost time by devouring Austen's letters and unpublished works, joining JASNA, and spending too much time researching the Regency era. She is the author of Nine Ladies, Two More Days at Netherfield, and His Choice of a Wife. She lives with her husband and son, and struggles to balance all the important things, like whether or not to buy groceries or stay home and write.

Website | Twitter

About Sophia Rose

Sophia is a quiet though curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing, and gardening. 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.

Twitter | Goodreads

About Kimberly

Kimberly is a coffee loving book addict who reads and listens to fictional stories in all genres. Whovian, Ravenclaw, Howler and proud Nonna. She owns and manages Caffeinated PR. The coffee is always on and she is ready to chat. BlueSky | Facebook | Instagram

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