This is an excellent book. I don't usually like modern versions of Pride and Prejudice but this kept my attention from the beginning. Well written and structured.

This is about two generations of Fitzwilliamses blended into one story.
Story started with the younger Fitzwilliam moving back home, and his (short) love story. In the middle are flashbacks of his father's love story, the Colonel's story.
The Colonel was the second son of an Admiral. He was in the army and his older brother in the navy. The Colonel seems to be a sad reminder of his mother's death, and thus was not loved as much as his perfect older brother. Because of this, it seemed the Colonel searched for this deep connection/feeling from others, outside his family. (He was lost and he was a player). After his near death experience, he ran away and met Elizabeth. Their love story began but it was short-lived. Then stories of his other loves and how he dealt with meeting EB again.
The author gave a glimpse of the war and the PTSD that follows such war heroes. This gave possiby another reason why the Colonel had times of undecisiveness and immaturity. (If not for this I would have disliked this Colonel). Some character redemption happened in the end when he found meaning in helping his fallen comrades and in becoming a father. (with so many partners, I wondered who the mother of his child is. I cannot tell you though you have to read the story ;) !
In a Darcy-less world, I would have wanted him to end up with EB.
This is a great but heartbreaking story.

I have received an ARC and voluntarily leaving a review of this book. The ARC in no way affected my viewof the story.

Reading this book was a stunningly beautiful experience. My heart is full and I feel an indescribable mixture of bittersweet ache, gratitude, and fulfillment. This book and these characters have stayed with me even after the final page.

One of the things that made this book so special for me was how real these characters felt. I never once felt as if my emotions were being manipulated or if characters were being tweaked simply to fit into a Pride and Prejudice mold. Likewise, I never felt as if settings or situations were manufactured as a way to get a gimmicky spin on Price and Prejudice. This felt so authentic to me that I forgot these were not exactly the characters and time period created by Jane Austen.

There is no denying that my heart broke at times and things didn't always resolve the way I wished. I found this to be reflective of life in general where there is always bitter along with sweet. And there is sweetness and happiness and love in this story. I was a bit afraid that it would be overwhelmingly sad, but I did not find that to be the case.

This book, of course, features the fascinating and complex character Richard Fitzwilliam. I believe that this companion book to the excellent Longbourn's Songbird is best read after that first book. I greatly enjoyed how this book had multi-generations and used the dual timelines. I felt comfortably immersed in history and loved the romantic storylines.

This book will clearly appeal to anyone who enjoys Pride and Prejudice inspired fiction. I also recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical fiction. This is a book that both readers who are familiar with Jane Austen and those who are not can thoroughly enjoy.

A P&P modern variation. It's 2002 and Ben Fitzwilliam walked out of his life in New York and went back to his family home in Annapolis, Maryland. But as he tries to deal with his past and the relating traum he discovers letters written by his father Richard Fitzwilliam, the Colonel. He then decides to write a book about his afther which expands to deal with other members of the Fitzwillaim clan and the Darcys.
As much as I am pleased that there is a book about the Colonel (my favourite male character of P&P) I was wary about the content.
In this modern tale he is suffering the affects of the emotional abuse from his father, and being in love with with Elizabeth Bennet, (a story line I don't care for because I always feel he deserves better irrespective of the tale) and the effects the wars have had him emotional, physically and mentally. He ‘copes’ by being a serial womaniser and drunk.
But will either of the male Fitzwilliams know peace?
This is a well-written and interesting story but did I enjoy all the book. Not sure that I did but I would still recommend it.

This is a hauntingly emotional tale. It's brilliant, but it's so sad and yet seems to tell the colonel's tale perfectly. This is a difficult book to read for many reasons - emotionally, it's really deep but the writing style adds something so essential to the way the colonels tale is told and making the reader feel we really know this complicated man. It draws you in so completely - I can't think of another book where I have felt so invested in wanting and wishing for a happy ever after.

The perspective in this book is really unusual. We have Ben's story, the colonel's son. He has left his career in journalism having suffered trauma of his own. He is going through his late fathers possessions and finds letters hidden away and decides to write a book about the family. This leads to a whole load of secrets being uncovered. Having this perspective, the letters and going through the possessions left behind after death makes for such an emotional story - it's about love, loss and how we can so rarely ever truly know people - even those we are closest to - there are still secrets of the heart not able to be told.

We then also get to go back in time and see things first hand from the colonels perspective. He has had a hard life - two very serious injuries, one life changing. We see first hand the impact of this trauma which is managed so sensitively and respectfully. Although, perhaps the biggest issue he faces is unrequited love - it's just awful (yet so beautifully written) to see that despite everything he goes through the injury to his heart is one that cannot heal.

Beau North has taken her Colonel and made him into someone so unique - Not only do we get the whole life view, we get the perspective from beyond the grave which shows how much of himself he had to keep hidden in his lifetime. I think this is what takes this tale to the next level, it just adds something that we wouldn't get from a first person perspective only.

Longbourn's songbird is one of my favourite reads and although the reader wouldn't need to have read that to appreciate this book, I think it's probably better enjoyed with it.

This is an amazing book but it is not a tale of happy ever after. It's a difficult, emotional read that very bravely takes on a whole range of difficulties and traumas whilst also giving consideration to the issues of the time the book is set in.

"This isn't a love story, but the end of one."

Thank you to Beau North and Netgalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I didn't know how much I needed this book until I was already into it, and I would easily recommend it to anyone who loves a good historical fiction novel I do highly recommend reading Longbourn's Songbird before reading this book. It isn't a direct sequel, more of a companion novel. Still, you should probably get Lizzie and Darcy's side of the story before crying over Richard's part, yes? And because I am going to try really hard not to spoil the first book, but it IS a bit difficult to gush and not.

Synopsis
How well do you really know your parents? (Not) Dealing with PTSD, Ben Fitzwilliam packs up his life and moves back to his dad's home in Annapolis, Maryland. Ben starts to find peace and purpose as he dives into the letters his father left behind, exploring the possibility of writing a book about his life. As he meets and falls in love with Keisha, he explores the heartaches and PTSD of his father, Richard Fitzwilliam's life.

Characters 
Bennet Fitzwilliam - a Pulitzer prize winning journalist and only son of Richard Fitzwilliam. He's dealing with PTSD after 9/11.

Keisha Barnes - Annapolis PD officer who agrees to help Ben explore his father's life through letter.

Richard Fitzwilliam - William Darcy's cousin. Fought in both WWII and the Korean War. The younger son and a bit of a playboy, always charming. Fiercely loyal to his family.

Rants, Raves, and Reviews
I rarely read books that are considered sequels to Austen novels, especially Pride and Prejudice. This is primarily because the story seems done, but mainly because every sequel I have read tones down Lizzie and Darcy's personalities. Even knowing this, I was incredibly excited for this companion novel. Longbourn's Songbird is one of my favorite P&P retellings because it captures the spirit of the original novel while also updating it and adding readable twists. My favorite thing to say about the novel is that for the first time I would have been okay with Lizzie not ending up with Darcy. So I had big expectations for this novel.

This book is told in dual timelines, though it is primarily about Richard. Ben's life is, in some ways, a quick and easy portion of the book, coming in at intervals when Richard's world is almost too much. Or well, at least at the part where I was about to cry on the subway. In some ways, if there has to be a weakest part of the book, it's Ben's story line. It serves a purpose to show that the family lines still continue and still are more or less dysfunctional. And to show how the last of the Fitzwilliam is doing, something that is a repeated point through out the book. Richard wants to leave his dad as the last Fitzwilliam, then Richard accepts his position as the last Fitzwilliam, and then when he has Ben, his legacy lives on.

Okay, that makes it sound short and sweet (and maybe a bit spoilery) but it does sum up the book: understanding and embracing what Fitzwilliam means.

And as with most women in the book, I am just beyond smitten with Richard. He's charming and brilliant, with that ridiculous air of vagrancy that really rich people can make seem so appealing. I knew some of his story from the first book -- his brother and father's death, fighting in World War II...basically most of the 1940s are a deeper dive from the first book. And yet it never feels like a rehash; I never felt like I was trying to skip ahead to the next part. In fact, it's even more painful, because I love Richard even more by the time we hit his and Slim's story. And I was so scared to see the aftermath of its fall out. We are told this book isn't a love story. We know from the beginning that Richard died unmarried, that Ben was a product not necessarily out of love in the traditional sense. And yet I still held on hope for Richard to get....something.

This book also focuses on all the characters we love from the first book. How are Jane and Charles? Charlotte, Anne, Lizzie and Darcy? Does Georgina find her stride, her own place in the world? All these characters are there in some capacity. Richard lives in New York with Anne and Charlotte before going off to Korea, and then recovers there after. Anne and Charlotte help him recover mentally and physically. I love their trio. Who is really helping and depending on whom? It rotates as the book goes on. I honestly don't know how I feel about Anne by the end of the book, (begrudgingly like her, maybe? Find her pompous and spoiled definitely) but I am love Charlotte. I won't go too much into her as to avoid spoiling the first book, but if there is a third person whose story needed to be told, it is hers.

He can't hurt me now, not that I know my own worth.

And Georgina! I never have cared for how a sequel has treated Georgina. She always comes across as meek and timid, ruined by what Wickham did. Someone who needs Darcy to keep her from falling. Not this Georgina, which is a huge relief. We find out she's married from Ben, but I didn't actually expect to find out about how she met her husband.

Your sister isn't sad, you cabbage. She's in love.

Even knowing this book was about war and lost loves, I didn't expect to shed as many tears as I did. And yet this book didn't steer me away from love, or feel like it wasn't still hopeful in the end. Lost time, lost love...these are usually anxiety triggers for me, things that send me into a bit of a spiral. But surprisingly, this book didn't do that. Richard's life isn't worthless or incomplete, even if he never marries. And that? That is why I love this book.

Final Thoughts
I've recently been toying with the idea that I want my relationship status to be "fell in love with my soulmate a decade ago. It didn't work out, and I'm happy being alone." Of course, this would require me to admit that I believe in soulmates, which I don't. Either way, this book was a perfect read for someone feeling that way. This book has so much heartache. But it also had so much good in it too. It's not really a romance but is still a book about relationships. About regrets. About learning to live with it all. About learning to let it all go. And the added bonus of loving P&P characters doesn't help.

Now to try really hard to not read Longbourn's Songbird again RIGHT NOW because I have way too many new books to read.

Content Warnings for war, PTSD, 9/11 discussion, mentions of both physical and mentally abusive relationships

I read Ms. North’s earlier book, Longbourn’s Songbird, a few years ago but realized that I had forgotten most of the details, so decided to reread it before beginning The Colonel. I’m very glad that I did, as I believe that it gives this lovely store additional context.

While we first met Richard Fitzwilliam in Longbourn’s Songbird, we really get to to know him in The Colonel. The Richard that we come to know is an incredibly complex and loving man, who never seemed to be completely happy or at peace. In addition to Richard’s story, readers also learn more about the later years of the character’s introduced to us in Longbourn’s Songbird and are introduced to their children.

Fans of Pride and Prejudice will enjoy this variation of the beloved story.

DNF

I would like to thank netgalley and
Victory Editing NetGalley Co-Op for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I didn't really get what this book was trying to do.

THIS is Beau’s finest work yet! She had me in tears a number of times, happy tears too, and the dialogue is smart and well-intended, so honest. The scenes with Elizabeth and Darcy are electric and when Richard is with them…you can feel the dangerous, loving undercurrent that just “is” between the three. But this masterpiece, and I can honestly and confidently call this a masterpiece, is so much more than a romance or fan fiction. Readers bemoan they want something new while still being familiar, that they want something more. This definitely answers that call. Be prepared to have your socks blown off by this sweeping novel.
Think: if Jane Austen and William Martin collaborated, this novel might be their love child.