Farewell, Miss Darcy

No, this is not the end and I am not leaving.  I love this blog and these followers too much to do that. :)

But it is the end of Miss Georgiana Darcy.  You see, when I started blogging (almost two years ago already!) little me was a barely-teenaged girl, shy, rather too silly and extremely fond of Jane Austen.  Since then, I have matured (I hope!) and while I still love Miss Austen's books, this bloggie is having less and less to do with them.  And I'm not as shy anymore.  In fact, though I still think her name sounds sweet and elegant, it is time for it and me to part ways.

In short... I will be renaming my blog.  Miss Georgiana Darcy has a lot of sentimental associations with it, but I have at last found The Perfect Name that I think will reflect my life and my aspirations, as well as my blog, a lot better.  So here's a fond farewell to  Miss Darcy and hopes that you will like the new name, which is shortly to be revealed.

Until then!  I hope to post a nice long update on life in general soon.  There's so much to talk about that I don't even know where to start, but we'll see.  Have a lovely week, ladies!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Idolaters? Us?

We sit in the audience listening to him.  Perhaps he's the pastor at our church or maybe he's a speaker at an event or conference.  He's speaking about idolatry and since none of us (I hope) worship statues anymore he focuses on idols in our hearts. 

Our minds whizz with scenes from that latest TV show we watched.  We think of a clever thing about it we could say to our best friend when we meet her next.  We try to push these thoughts to the back of our mind, for now, and we listen, more or less attentively.

"These idols aren't always false gods," he says. "They're whatever steals our heart and focus from God.  It could be your financial prosperity, your boyfriend or girlfriend, your looks, some material possession, your family..."

We listen, checking off boxes in our minds. Financial prosperity? I can always use money, but it doesn't matter that much to me.  Boyfriend or girlfriend? I don't have one of those.  My looks?  For heaven's sakes, I'm not vain. I spend time on my appearance but I don't obsess about it.  Some material possession?  No, I can't really think of any I idolize.  My family? For pity's sake, I don't love them nearly as much as I should!

All boxes done.  All clear.  We're not idolaters. He finishes his speech and we go home.

We sign into pinterest and scroll through the pins on our home page. We see a Sherlock pin. It says "This show has taken over my life!"  We smile.  We repin.  We move to other pins and grin with the rest of the fandom that shares in our obsession.  Then we write a blog post about how amazing this character that we love is. Maybe he's Sir Percy Blakeney.  Maybe he's the Doctor.  Maybe he's Mr. Knightley.  Emails whizz between us and that friend who just happens to share our obsession.

After a long and fruitful evening on the internet, we go upstairs and rush through our devotions.  Somehow we just can concentrate on them tonight.

In the few minutes before we fall asleep, our mind goes back to that speech.  It was a good speech.  Did he forget to mention anything you could idolize? We think through it again.  No, we don't think so.

Then we fall asleep and spend the night dreaming about Lord Peter Wimsey.

"These idols aren't always false gods," the speaker had said. "They're whatever steals our heart and focus from God." 

Idolaters?
Us?

Of course not.  Those movies, those books, those shows, they're (for the most part) clean and appropriate.  They're exciting and well-done and have a good moral message.  Some of the most loving, least idolatrous people we know love them.  Those things are.... good. 

But do you remember that gold the Israelites in the desert used to make the calf idol? It was perfectly good gold.  The problem wasn't with the gold, it was what they made it into. The human heart is expert at fashioning idols.

Idolaters?
Us?

God help us.

Dear Peoples - a Quick Question

Since I know many of you love Les Miserables, I have a question that I hope you can help with. 

I know the movie has some skippable scenes.  Just... where?  I got the movie from the library and I'm hoping to watch it soon, but I'd like to know at where the objectionable scenes start so I can fast forward them beforehand.  Preferably even the specific beginning and end times of those scenes if you happen to know them.

Thanks so much!  I'm very sorry for not doing any 'real' posts in the last while, stuff and life has caught up with me, but I hope to totally redo the whole blog and go back to posting in the next few weeks...

Moonlight Masquerade - a review

Sometimes it is hard to tell if you are the cat or the mouse.

 

Lady Céline Wexham seems the model British subject. French by birth but enjoying life in 1813 as a widowed English countess, she is in the unique position of being able to help those in need-or to spy for the notorious Napoleon Bonaparte.

 

When Rees Phillips of the British Foreign Office is sent to pose as the countess’s butler and discover where her true loyalties lie, he is confident he will uncover the truth. But the longer he is in her fashionable townhouse in London’s West End, the more his staunch loyalty to the Crown begins to waver as he falls under Lady Wexham’s spell.

 

Will he find the proof he needs? And if she is a spy after all, what then will he do?

Source: bakerpublishinggroup.com viaMaria on Pinterest

 

The perfect historical romance... spying, secret attraction, intrigue, secret kisses...  All the same, I wasn't quite sure what to think of Moonlight Masquerade.  On the one hand, it is exquisitely done, brimming with attraction and intrigue, a book that I would have been proud to have written; on the other hand, Mrs. Axtell goes a little farther romance-wise than I would have done (clandestine kisses make everything soooo awkward afterwards... Just have a little self-control, will you?), the middle is melodramatic and the ending is unnecessarily drawn out.

 

All that to say that you shouldn't expect a perfect book.  But if you want a very well-written Regency Romance, what are you waiting for?  Other than the fact that the cover is gorgeous; (always choose a book by its cover!) the setting is lush and vivid and the interaction between upright, gentlemanly Rees and beautiful, clever Celine makes for a hard-to-put-down story.  This is the first of Mrs. Axtell's books I've read and I'll be definitely looking for more.

 

My rating: 8.5 out of 10.

 

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.

Available at your favourite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group

The Icecutter's Daughter - a review

 

As the lone female in a houseful of men, Merrill Krause dedicates her life to caring for her family and their business, as her dying mother asked. Besides, it suits her; she's never felt like she fits what most people expect in a girl--she'd rather work with her father’s horses and assist with the ice harvest. And though she’s been mostly content up to this point, a part of her wonders if there will ever be anyone who will notice her amid the bevy of brothers determined to protect her from any possible suitors.

When Rurik Jorgenson arrives in their small Minnesota town to join his uncle's carpentry business, he soon crosses paths with Merrill. But unlike other men, who are often frightened away by her older brothers, Rurik isn't intimidated by them or by Merrill's strength and lack of femininity. The attraction between them begins to build...until Rurik's former fiancee shows up with wild claims that bring serious consequences to Rurik.

Can Rurik and Merrill learn to trust God--and each other--when scandal threatens their newfound love?

I'm surprised how much I enjoyed The Icecutter's Daughter.  I consider myself notorious for disliking the heroines in romance novels (They all seem so fake. I think Miss Austen's superb characterization may have spoiled me slightly. :P)  However,  her name is only one of the unique things about Merrill.  She's strong and capable - and very talented. I must confess I enjoyed the bits about her amazing cooking and painting a great deal.  But still, she's a real woman.  Not a corset-burner by any means; she likes to be pretty but doesn't often get the chance, and she's kind and helpful, but very able to stick up for herself.  So yes, very well-done. :)

Rurik was nice too.  Not as unique as Merrill, but solid and easy to like.  I had mixed feelings for Svea, his former fiancee, but that's only to be expected. (By the way, there are some things about a pregnancy out of wedlock, but Mrs. Peterson deals with it tastefully, without any more elaboration than necessary.)  I really enjoyed the inclusion of Merrill's brothers, though. (Why are most romances so sadly lacking in older brothers?  Maybe the authors think they'll spoil the fun.)  With one of my own, I rather have a thing for older brothers and I'm glad they were in there.  On top of that, Merrill's only friend her own age has a thing for one of the brothers, which makes it sort of amusing. 

And the ending...  It was sort of strange and later, sort of cute. Call me a hopeless romantic, but there it is. :)

For a Christian romance story, The Icecutter's Daughter is clean, enjoyable, and very well done.  My rating: 8 out of 10.

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group