Like many Austen fans I've dipped now and then into P&P-land where everyone that's ever read P&P has written a sequel. Some are good, some are awful and some are wonderful. Linda Berdoll's two books following the Darcy's are my favorite of this genre and the third book "Ruling Passion," is a wonderful follow-up to the follow-up of... well, you get the idea.

The things I love about Berdoll's writing and story-telling are - she gets the feel and the flow of the language right. You can imagine Miss Austen writing like this - if she had a late-20th/early 2st century American female's mindset. Because there's a whole lot of loving that goes on -- there are no discreet veils pulled over Darcy and Elizabeth's closed doors. If Miss Austen were a purveyor of trials and travails as we see trials and travails, then the situations that Berdoll puts Austen's characters, and her own supporting cast, in to would fold right into P&P. Part romance, part mystery, part Austen, part Dickens, part National Enquirer and all Berdoll.

The stories can't be put down, Ruling Passion is no exception. When the Nor'easter is blowing and you can sit yourself in a comfy chair, with a soft lap rug, a glass or mug of your favorite sipping beverage and a box of something indulgent to snack on - when you have no place to go for two days - that's the time to read one of Berdoll's sequels and delight in the full lives of the Darcys, their families, friends and Wickham. ( )