Happier than We Deserve

By: Melissa Halcomb

Narrated by: Danielle Cohen

That terrible event Elizabeth and her family has ever dreaded has come to pass and brought with it changes which none of them could have anticipated. Faced with navigating a whole new world with whole new advantages, are they up to the task? Collecting marriage proposals like handkerchiefs, Elizabeth wonders if she might have spurned her one chance at lasting happiness when she learns that Mr Darcy is not at all who she believed him to be.

Darcy is tired of fighting his feelings. His heart knows what it wants, and that is Elizabeth Bennet. When he learns that Mr. Bennet has passed away, he imagines riding in as the white knight, a savior come to rescue his beloved from a life of poverty. But when he reaches Hertfordshire, something is amiss and he finds that Elizabeth needs no rescuing, thank you very much.

©2022 Melissa Halcomb (P)2024 Tantor

Pretty good

I enjoyed the story. The "rags to riches" trope is written well, just the way I believe Mr. Benet would have gone about it. While some of the story is understandably predictable and a tad corny, my only real issue with this was the fact that Darcy sounded like an absolute oaf. I'm uncertain why this specific voice was used for Darcy, but otherwise the narrator was quite decent. I felt the Lady Catherine part was incredibly rushed and a bit of a throwaway.

Great plot

First time listening to this author and narrator. I enjoyed the unexpected twists and turns to arrive at HEA.

Mrs. Bennet first to marry?!

While not great, the story was fun, flipping poverty for a suddenly wealthy Bennet family. Characters were little changed, and few anxieties or big surprises. It is an easy on the emotions read.
Narrator struggled with male characters, somehow they all sounded like bad politicians or actors.

Good story

Interesting take on pride and prejudice. Mr Bennet is an heir and gets a lot from his uncle. Nobody knows until he is dead. A little bit of angst. Great Jaff.

Reversal of fortune for the Bennet ladies.

Mr. Bennet has kept a great secret for almost all of his marriage, and when his will is read upon his passing and the secret revealed, everything changes for Mrs. Bennet and her daughters. Unlike her father, Jane decides to take over the guidance and education of her sisters, including Elizabeth. This Jane with a backbone was a pleasure to read. The HEA includes three brides—one may surprise you! I thought the premise was excellent and very well written. Lots of good dialogue. I like this author very much.
Danielle Cohen is a new-to-me narrator for the JAFF genre who I really enjoyed. She is very expressive in her narration without being over the top. I felt she performed the wonderful abundance of dialog extremely well. The one thing that could be improved upon, would be to perform a clearer distinction between the voicing the narration and some voices of the characters. I give 4.5* stars for her narration.