Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart by Beth Pattillo

Claire Prescott is in Oxford, England filling in for her sister at a Jane Austen seminar. Claire has taken care of her sister Missy since she(Claire) was 18 years old. Claire has put her life on hold in order to please the people around her. Her week at the seminar studying Pride and Prejudice causes Claire to reflect on where her life is going.

Claire has left her boyfriend Neil at home in America. Their relationship is casual and she feels neglected as his life is consumed by sports. The first day of the seminar Claire meets James a publisher in New York. Thinking to reinvent herself while she is in England she introduces herself as a pediatrician. James is aloof yet there is an attraction between them.

Claire meets Harriet a decidedly eccentric elderly woman. While having tea in her cottage Harriet brings out pages of a manuscript that she proclaims is the first manuscript of Pride and Prejudice entitled First Impressions. As Claire begins to read she finds that First Impressions is totally different from Pride and Prejudice. Harriet's dilemma is knowing what to do with the manuscript. Her daughter would love it for the monetary value of it. Mrs. Parrot wants it so that The Formidables may continue to preserve Jane Austen's request of her sister to burn any correspondence or manuscript that has not been published.

Claire finds that she is not the only one being deceptive while at the seminar. The question is will she be able to discover her own heart before it is too late.

This was another fun Austen-read by Beth Pattillo. I loved her other book Jane Austen Ruined My Life. She has a way of making her characters delve into self-examination and discovery without being boring or preachy.

Don't Know Where Don't Know When by Annette Laing

Hannah, Alex and Brandon find themselves back in time in war-torn England. It is World War II and the children are being sent to live with families in the country to escape bombs falling on the cities. Shortly after arriving in 1940 Brandon disappears to England 1915! This time the setting of World War I.

The young people are sent back in time to find whatever happened to George Braithwaite. Hannah and Alex find themselves living with Mrs. Devenish, her grand-daughter Verity and Mrs. D's evacuee Eric. Brandon becomes apprenticed to a dentist named Mr. Gordon in 1915.

Hannah has the most difficult time adjusting to the time period and what their purpose for being there is. She has a huge attitude that needs adjusting!

Throughout the story the kids learn some history about WWI and WWII but mostly they learn about George Braithwaite and what happened to him and why they were sent to the past to help.

I enjoyed the story very much. I became attached to the characters. I think that Hannah still ended up being self-centered and selfish. But I also think that she learned a lot about herself and how to love other people. I will look forward to the next installment of the Snipesville Chronicles to see if she matures as she travels to different centuries and learns that there are other people with problems bigger than hers.