Blog Tour: Cassandra – Linda O’Byrne

*I received a free copy of this book with thanks to the author and to Zoé of Zooloo’s Book Tours and SpellBound Books. The decision to review and my opinions are my own.*

Blurb: Many years have passed since the dramatic events of Pride and Prejudice.
In The Cousins of Pemberley series we follow a new generation of heroines – cousins with
lives as different and interesting as those enjoyed by their mothers.

Cassandra: Cassandra Wickham, daughter of a flirt and a scoundrel, an innocent abroad in a world where money can buy you anything, even a bride.

When danger threatens and the man she thought she could rely on fails her, there is only one place she can turn to for help – Pemberley.

Surely the Darcy’s will protect her, no matter what happened in the past to divide the two families?

I’ll start by saying that this is a brilliant concept for a series! I love Jane Austen’s books, and can confirm as a fan that while this may not replicate the style of the source material, it definitely stays true to both the characters and the spirit of the originals.

This is one of the first Pride and Prejudice-inspired books I have read that presents a believable and recognisable Lydia, Lizzie and Darcy respectively, yet at the same time updates the tone and content to reflect the new upcoming generation of romantic heroines.

Cassandra Wickham is a pleasant main character – more of a Jane Bennet than a Lizzie in temperament – and it is fascinating to see how her relationships with her silly mother and errant father are represented in the story. The author finds a clever balance of filial affection, rueful realism and wistful self-deception, helped along by the family tendency to hide unpleasant truths from tender young eyes.

It’s pretty clear from the beginning where Cassandra’s HEA is going to lie, but that doesn’t detract from the enjoyability of the journey to get there, and cousin Benetta is an absolute joy along the way… I can’t wait for her story!

Anyone looking for a lovely, light romantic read with some endearing new, young characters and some delightful cameos from the older and more familiar ones, need look no further. Indeed, it is a truth universally acknowledged that a reader in want of a clean, sweet romantic story, must be in possession of the Cousins of Pemberley books!

Look out for Kitty’s daughter Catherine’s story, coming up in March 2022!

It is a truth, universally acknowledged, that a fun-loving lady, who will not see her thirty-fifth birthday again, is likely to be exceedingly irritated by having to present to her social circle a daughter who is eighteen years of age. It means that all present will know that she is not as young as she pretends to be!
– Linda O’Byrne, Cassandra

Author Bio

Fiction has always been my go-to world, a place of entertainment, excitement and imagination – I am told that I wrote my first story when I was four about a lady who had twenty children! Sadly it has been lost for posterity.

I have been writing all my life in the time I could spare from having a “proper job”, mostly for children under the name of Linda Blake, stories of ballet dancers, pony riding and talking animals! Not all in the same book!

But my love of romance, a great tendency to say “What if..?” and the endearing characters of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice have now resulted in a series of books that will take the reader forward to the next generation of heroines.

I am retired, live in Kent and am a keen member of my local drama group. Directing and acting take up a lot of my time – I have been given the onerous task of writing the Christmas pantomimes – but I still need to cope with a large garden, doing daily battle with the heron who thinks my pond is his own breakfast buffet and keeping in touch with friends and family scattered all over the world.