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Thursday, April 26, 2012

GIVEAWAY!! "Compulsively Mr. Darcy" by Nina Benneton

A thoroughly modern, magnificient re-rendering of a classic that would send Miss Austen into fits of laughter!  This book sets Caroline Bingley as a sort of Kardashianish bitch from NYC tabloid hell, and puts another spin entirely on the ever finicky Mr. Collins, for instance. 
Rife with social comedy and commentary in our age with all the famous Austen characters, but not all in predictable venues. There are some surprises there. Great fun!
There's sooo much to this book! 
Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy are so well conceived you'll be beside yourself...perfectly set with chronic behaviors in modern times.  Loving that OCD on Darcy!  LOL
I promise you, this is THE book to read right now!
You'll be wanting to read passages of it aloud to your friends.
From all I know about her, Jane Austen would absolutely approve. 
Book groups should be making bee lines for this one...
the discussions and good laughter will make for a fabulous meeting!

Summary :

Nina Benneton has taken the best elements of Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice and spun a tale with a delightful modern twist, which will more than satisfy the most fickle of Austen fans. COMPULSIVELY MR. DARCY is exquisitely romantic. This is a tenderly written novel which would make even Jane Austen swoon. The Lizzie Bennet and Mr. Darcy who stole your heart in Jane Austen's novel are written to perfection in COMPULSIVELY MR. DARCY.

I loved that way Ms. Benneton worked in the characters from the original book and from other Jane Austen books as well. Some of the characters follow a similar path as the original version, but others go a different direction and it all works. Elizabeth and Darcy have a strong relationship that overcomes their own mistrust and outside influences. The bad people get punished and when you read the last page you think to yourself.... That was really an enjoyable read! I hope that we will see more from Ms. Benneton.

The story delivers characters with quality personalities, a conflict that has substance without being dark and a happy ever after that ends with a giggle. It's well rounded, entertaining and thoroughly lovable. I'd recommend this book as a must read, even for those like me, who've never read a Jane Austin book. Thank you, Ms. Benneton, for a story that had such wonderful heart, I read it in one sitting. It's that good.

It has love,a modern day romance,an old theme with a new idea,misconceptions,understanding,sweet sensuality,misunderstandings and of course strong characters. A must read for anyone who enjoys Pride and Prejudice but in present day.

Compulsively Mr. Darcy is the debut novel of Nina Benneton and it was a really fun read! This take on our beloved Pride & Prejudice finds Darcy and Elizabeth tackling the modern world and more than a few misunderstandings along the way. This funny and entertaining modern adventure is a great adaptation of an old and favorite classic!

There are many similarities to the original Pride and Prejudice story, the same characters are there; there are plenty of differences, even a cameo mention or two of characters from another book (FBI agents Colonel Brandon and Marianne Dashwood – sure hoping that means that will be a future story, maybe, perhaps?). This was a nice and enjoyable story for those who love Pride and Prejudice, and want to read a retelling, but are looking for something a bit different from a lot of others.

...sweet, silly and whole lot of fun. I loved the author's interpretation of these beloved characters and the ones she chooses to be the villains are fabulous. A delightful debut and a must read for any JA fan.

By just looking at the cover, the reader can tell this is going to be a fun book. From her humorous one-liners and wit, to her portrayal of her characters, Nina Benneton offers a great diversion... For readers who enjoy modern Pride and Prejudice variations, lighthearted reads, or want a vacation, this book should be on the top of their to-be-read list.

I love, love, love Jane Austen adaptations. Especially ones that take me out of my Austen comfort zone. This one was definitely very far from my comfort zone. And I absolutely loved every minute of it... Lizzy and Darcy were so squishy sweet and I found myself chuckling at their adorableness at times.




An Interview with Nina Benneton :

Hi, Nina, I can't tell you how very much I've been looking forward to our interview.  You've become a favorite in my Jane Austen inspired author groups.  I just adored "Compulsively Mr. Darcy."  I'm a huge fan of yours!!

Thank you for agreeing to come to A Bookish Libraria for an interview.

1) Psychologists tell us that when we're ten year old girls we have a solid idea of what we want to be when we grow up, and that's usually what our avocation is. What did you want to be when you were ten? Has it manifested itself in your life?

When I was ten, I wanted to be a priest. No, not a priestess. A priest.


Why? He's a boy. I wanted to be a boy. He had power over the nuns. I wanted to have power over the nuns.

That celibate thing? Bonus. I wouldn't have to do the yucky with anyone. Ever.


How could a sweet, reverent ten-year-old angelic gal not want to be a priest, I ask you?


Has it manifested itself in my life? Many of the reviews of 'Compulsively Mr. Darcy' come with warnings of 'certain scenes intended for mature audiences,' so, ahem…I'm guessing not.


Of course, you know, I could be a respectable priest somewhere who has a tabloid addiction, who has the hots for Mr. Darcy, and who dabbles in writing romance.
Or, you could be the naughty priest who gets away with just about anything, including murder!!  LOL


2) What's the biggest challenge you've had to face in your life that caused you to "come of age" or face your own "pride and prejudices?"


You mean besides not becoming a priest?    Yes,  LOL, besides that! 


Besides that, the next challenge that comes to mind was falling in love with a man who, aghast, belonged to the other political party. I was like Darcy in 'Pride and Prejudice.' I was attracted to this hot guy who had a dry sense of humor that curled my toes, but I was ashamed of having falling in love with this…this political plebeian. I struggled over the thought of introducing him to my friends or bringing him home to my family. He wouldn't fit in. It was election year when we met, you understand.


But no other guys I'd met up until then had held my interest or made me laugh or made me so glad I never became a priest, so, what could I do but grow ane humbly admit that I suffered from an arrogant sense political pride? That from my upbringing, I was allowed, encouraged, and almost taught to be selfish and overbearing, to care for no other political concerns beyond my own, to think meanly of the rest of the other political parties, to think meanly of their sense and worth worth compared with my own.

*Italics: adapted from P & P, Volume III, Chapter 16.


I'm happy to report that he and I , after many years of marriage, now vote for the same political party. Just like dogs and owners, you know, you start to look alike and vote alike and all that…Best of all, he still makes me glad I'm not priest.   
Geez, Nina.  Phew'! I'm certainly glad that priest thing worked out for you!  But, of course we know it did from your writing, too!  LOL   Okay, here comes a tough one....


3) What's the sneakiest thing you ever did that still brings your heart delight when you think of it?


Years ago, when my career-Army brother was home on leave from being stationed overseas, I called my parents' home and left a message on the answering machine for him—in the voice of a bargirl who's looking for her big, American lover-boy…'cause he's promised to marry her and bring her to America,' you understand.



My father gave him the 'talk,' daily. My mother dragged him to her prayer group, daily. To this day, my brother can't convince the pater and mater unit that I was the one behind that phone call. Moi? Sounding like a bargirl? No way. I was the pious one who wanted to be a priest, remember?
Yes, Nina, I'm starting to see how this "priestly" pattern is manifesting itself in your life!  ;}
4) What's on your nightstand?  
(And, may I say, Nina, you got away with something here...you didn't really tell us all of what was on your nightstand, I bet.  We just got distracted by all these cool books!!)    Here's her answer:


'I Praise My Destroyer,' a book of poems by Diane Ackerman— because it's National Poetry Month.
I've heard so much about Diane Ackerman, but mostly in non-fiction circles.  I'll have to find this book of poems...or, you could send me an example, Nina!!  :]    I'm a Keats fan, myself.   And an Emily Dickinson one.  I actually don't read contemporary poetry that often, though I do appreciate it. 


'An Actor Prepares' by Constantin Stanislavski, translated by Elizabeth Reynolds Hapwoods—because being a writer is like being a method actor, and sometimes irreverent me can't feel the characters' pain.   You know, this has come up several times recently with authors I've read about.  Joyce Carol Oates has especially spoken to this in a similar way.  She considers her characters and her construction of  her novels in the same vein as writing plays.  She talks quite a bit about it.  Interesting that you're drawn to this as a means of sensing a character's pain. 


My book, 'Compulsively Mr. Darcy'— because when I read a good review, I want to know what the dickens the reviewer saw in the book that I didn't when I wrote it.     My english lit. professor, Sister Chiccase, may she always be revered and remembered, said that authors really have no idea about their subconscious intent when they write their books.  It's up to us, the readers, to discern that--to cull out what might be meant by what they wrote on a deeper level.  So, it's only right you have your book there to see for yourself!  :]


'Mr. Darcy's Bite' by Mary Lydon Simonsen—because a Darcy howling at the moon is just too delicious to resist.   Seriously!  I reviewed this one of Mary's  and  it was great.  Such the nightstand kind of book...


'The Criminal Law Handbook'— because you never know when you're supposed to be read your Miranda rights.    Actually, somebody reads YOU your Miranda rights when the time comes, Father Benneton....  or  try to stay on this side of the law if you haven't finished your monastic requirements!


'The Prize,' an old Scottish historical by Julie Garwood— because sometimes you need visions of a medieval Scottish man, with a big sword in a kilt, to put you back to sleep when you're awaken by nightmares of being read your Miranda rights by the likes of the Toughest Sheriff in America.     I know what you mean.  An occasional Scottish man helps me sleep, too, sometimes!  :]



Loved, loved that interview and getting to know Nina.  She's so cool !  And, her book is, too.  I hope you'll get a chance to pick up a copy very soon. 
You can find it here:   Amazon
Or here:    Barnes & Noble
Or here:    Sourcebooks

More About Ms Benneton :

As a child, Nina Benneton promised the Catholic nuns who taught her that she would grow up and find the cure for cancer, effect world peace, and win a Nobel Prize for something, anything. Her very own Mr. Darcy and the requisite number of beautiful children interrupted her plans. Tired of alphabetizing her spices and searching for stray Barbie shoes she turned to writing. 


Her debut novel, Compulsively Mr. Darcy, earned a Best Book review and the Reader's Poll Book of the Month February 2012 from Long and Short Review, 'Hands down…a must read for lovers and fans of classic romance.' Fresh Fiction Review called it a 'tenderly written novel.' Savvy Verse and Wit described it as ' 'More than a love story, Compulsively Mr. Darcy is about loving someone faults and all, accepting and not changing who they are, and growing together in love. Publishers Weekly wrote, 'Die-hard fans of everything Austen will enjoy this update of her classic tale.'


Find her on her website/blog:  Nina Benneton

Find her on Facebook:  Facebook
Find her on Twitter:

Find her on her groupblog: www.AustenAuthors.com


GIVEAWAY!!!! 

One Book for US only
one ebook International

ENTER:  Just join my Network followers on the sidebar
Comment leaving your "follower name"
and your email addy

and follow Nina Benneton on Facebook!

Giveaway Ends:  MOTHER'S DAY!!  MAY 13th


Please tell your friends, and

THANKS FOR STOPPING BY!  :]

Btw:  5 star book
Deborah/TheBookishDame























25 comments:

rhonda

Rhonda Lomazow. Lomazowr@gmail.com. thanks for giveaway .

Deborah Batterman

I'd be fool not to try to win a copy of this one . . .Sounds fantastic. And a delightful (priestly?) interview, indeed. I'm already a follower of yours, Deborah. Now I'm off to follow Nina.

Chrissy

I'm a follower. My e-mail address is alexandchrissy(at)yahoo.com. Loved this interview and the book looks FANTASTIC!!!!!!

DDCKnitt

I'm a follower ddcknitt(at)yahoo(dot)com. Thanks for the giveaway.

Mary Simonsen

Nina, I've said this before, you're a hoot! I wanted to be a nun until 7th grade when I developed my first crush. Thanks for the mention of my book. I hope you enjoy it. Mary

Mary Simonsen

P.S. Hi Deborah! Excuse my manners. I won't be entering the giveaway. I am fortunate in having an autographed copy of Compulsively Mr. Darcy.

Patricia

Follow via GFC as Patricia. Also follow via Networked Blogs. And have liked Nina on FB. Count me in, I'd love to win this!

patricia dot mariani dot esq at gmail dot com

Deb

Hey, Mary! No problem. I'm used to you popping in and talking to other authors on my blog. Nina wants to come chat with my readers. I'm about to unleash her...watch out, everybody!! Yikes!

Lúthien84

I love the funny interview. Please enter me for the eBook copy since I'm international.

I'm a GFC follower and Lúthien84 is my screen name. I also follow Nina's FB page. evangelineace2020(at)yahoo(dot)com

Btw Deb, I thought FBI agent is Elinor Dashwood and not her sister Marianne. Colonel Brandon is ex-Secret Service Agent who is now working for Darcy. How I know this? I have read Nina's brilliant novel but don't own a copy yet.

kaewink

Fabulous book and a lovely interview! I thought of becoming a nun too. Not a priest though :D.

People, this is the funniest P&P modernization I have read so far!!

(So please don´t enter me - I do have a copy!)

Deb, I love you new webdesign, looks wonderful!!

Deb

Thanks for the blog compliment! I'm pretty psyched about it...I had help. :] Nina just loves these comments about her books. I'm going to unleash her on them! LOL Maybe give her her own post space this week!

Nina Benneton

Rhonda Lamozow

Thank you for stopping by.
Okay, Rhonda,I love your last name and I'm going to have to borrow your last name for a character sometimes, if that's okay? I'm always on the lookout for good last names.

As a writer, I have the hardest time with characters' names, especially secondary characters. That's why I wrote a Jane Austen novel. All the names were there there already. I did have to come up with the name of Elizabeth's ex-boyfriend, and Darcy's secretary.

I'm afraid I used this sweet secretary at my kids' school, Mrs. Ching. She's so sweet, even when she's just called and told me my son has bitten some kid, I didn't even feel more than a a GrandCanyon-size mortification for having spawned Hannibal Lecter junior. When I walked into the school office to wait for the principal, she smiled at me and welcome me as if I was Angelina Jolie coming to pick up Shiloh.

Mrs. Ching would be perfect to deal with OCD Mr. Darcy, I figured.

Hmm. My rambling here reminded me of a little vignette I wrote about Darcy's little monster getting called from the school. I have to dig that out.

Oh dear, this is what you get for being first to comment. Hey, you don't get this kind of reply from the other normal authors, eh? But, hey, they didn't make Mr. Darcy OCD!

Nina Benneton

Dearest Deborah Batterman,



Oh, my, for a woman with the last name of Batterman, you are not at all like your last name. You are kind, show good taste, and not foolish at all for using words like 'I'd be a fool' and 'delightful.'

Thank you! I'd be a fool not to bend down and kiss your feet in gratitude. [Us debut authors are very Sally Field-esque, you understand. Are you old enough to remember her Oscar speech?]

Batterman would make a great FBI character, don't you think? Or a bouncer?
Or, I could go against type and give your last name to a doddering gray-haired, birdwatching lady stressed about how in the world can Angelina take care of those six kids while being an ambassador to the United Nations? Not to mention keep Brad Pitts happy (Blech, who would want to? But I digressed...)

Nina Benneton

Carissima Chrissy Peebles,

Jackpot!!! With a name like Peebles, darling, you have got to play the role of a gorgeous girlfriend of someone in a story. You are FANTASTIC yourself for all those exclamation points!!!!!!

Okay, I see the character as an adorable, bubbly SMART Legally Blonde-ish character in my next romantic comedy. People underestimate her because with a name like Peebles, they think she's a Chicklit girl, but she's really a Dystopia kinda girl underneath.

Forgive me, Chrissy, I've just got back from a writing conference and I'm thinking in genres.

Nina Benneton

Darling DDCKnitt,

You're in the cosy mystery genre! DD C. Knitt. Do you not think that's a great name for a cosy mystery character? What would you like to be?
Not victim. DD C. Knitt as a victim? Never!

I'm thinking you'd be a shady character or the PI who's trying to steal the case.

Deb

Sister Nina, You are still having "head rings" from that RT Convention, aren't you. Get some rest and check back with us later!! FOTFL

Nina Benneton

Deb,

I wasn't at RT convention, I wish. (My crit partner lives in Chicago.) I got interrupted in my precious, relaxing time replying time to comments yesterday. --
'Mom, it must be a chartreuse binder with front view for my science project. I need it now.'
'Mom, did I tell you I was invited to a birthday party an hour away, and can you drive me there and pick me up at ten?"
"Mom, my Comicon costume's not fitting.'

And from my wonderful Mr. Darcy, "Honey, I think I have a retinal detachment."

Everyone's okay and taken care off, btw.
This is why I wake up at 4AM to get any quiet writing time, just about the time you go to bed, I see from your early AM posting.

Nina Benneton

Mary!

As a former vegetarian, I'm not into raw animal-flesh eating Mr. Darcy, I'd hesitated at picking up a book with Mr. Darcy as a werewolf, but, after you realized you've spawned Hannibal Lector and all things with Y chromosomes have this need to bite and eat flesh, I gave in and read your book. Your Mr. Darcy with all his fur was sexy and adorable. He was really just big misunderstood wolf, wasn't he? How could I resist getting beastial with a fictionalized werewolf Mr. Darcy?

Nina Benneton

Perfectly Patricia Dot Mariani Esq.,

I have the perfect role for you, Patricia Dot Mariani Esq., you are a sharp-eye lawyer a la Gloria Allred! (But much prettier, gentler, and kinder, though no less lethal!) Whenever a sister is dissed by the powerful and the famous, you're there to champion her rights. You'd take on a Tiger (because he's not a wolf--see Mary's book above, which mates for life!), a pizza king (why would Hermain Cain need that many women friends, I ask you?), and you'd love a chance to go at the the biggest pork-sausage, Dominique Strauss-Kahn (why should he be excused because he's a French man? Especially because he's a Frenchman, you'd say as you go to grill his Andouillette sausage on your George Forman)

Say, you want the job?

Nina Benneton

Lovely, loveliest Luthien 84!

You are brilliant yourself! I'd say with a name like Luthien 84, you have to play the role of a femme fatale spy. You'd be the one who will take the US Secret Service Agency and their peccadillos down!!! And then you'd zip up to Patricia dot Mariani Esquire there and get her to represent you.

Thank you for stopping by and good luck!

Nina Benneton

Kindly Kaewink,

Thank you for the plug!

See! All good girls were raised to want to be nuns! We were brainswashed!

I'm so glad you didn't become a nun. Sister Kaewink just doesn't give that warm and fuzzy feeling one associates with nuns (Yes, yes, we'll talk about that warm and fuzzy and nuns another time--if I get invited on another blog after this one).

You'll be Professor Kaewink in my cosy mystery. The tall, statusque Valkerie who gives all us short, flat-chest, women envy--because not only do you teach old German language, but you know how to understand and decipher Arnold Schwarzenerger's accent. (Maria Shriver should have talked to you before she married him. I think he actually said, "I promise to love and honor you and your housekeeper!).

Forgive me, I love the tabloids, can't you tell?

Nina Benneton

Delicious Deb,

I know what you would be in my book. You'll be Mother Superior Deborah, of course.

You'll whip us all into shape and teach us all about the good books, not just THE GOOD BOOOK. You'll give Sister Hildebrandt a run for her pious money. You'll write about how you were corrupted by innocently picking up a book to review (because you were curious about the shoes on the cover) and then you got pulled into the author's madness.

Okay, on my nightstand? Forgive me, I only see the books on my nightstand, but after your comment there, I had to go look to see what else. Hmm: Udder footcream to soften my dragon feet. Bottles and bottles of scented lotions my children gave me, a tweezer, a candle, and the pile of books.

I will end with something from a Diane Ackerman's poem, 'Timed Talk':

...timed talk is how we meet,
across the garden fence,
so to speak, where the borders
are fixed and the risks are weak,
provided timed talk is what we seek.


THANK YOU for having me on and letting me mess with your commenters.

kaewink

Oh Nina, I had to laugh out loud reading you comment! Thank you soo much, you just made my day! :D :)

Lúthien84

Dear Nina, my dream is to be a super spy ala Jason Bourne and the cast of BBC's Spooks aka MI-5 in US. Secret Service agent? I'll have to think about getting naturalised first before becoming a full-fledged agent. Hehehe :P

Deb

Update: The winner is Patricia!!! Thanks, everyone for entering this giveaway. This was an awesome book. Thanks for the entertainment, Nina!!!

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