The Hypocrite
by Shana Granderson, A Lady
NOTE: This version of The Hypocrite is only available as part of The Collins Effect.
Genres: Regency Romance, Historical Romance
Release Date: January 20, 2026
Pages: 346
Get from: Amazon
My Rating: ★★★☆☆
What would happen if Miss Elizabeth Bennet took Darcy to task over the hypocrisy that she sees in some of his behaviour after his horrendous proposal and her reading the letter in Hunsford. What if the Bennets were not penniless and unconnected? For the purposes of this story great wealth is assumed, the source of the wealth is explained in the book. Will Darcy choose to acknowledge the rectitude of Miss Elizabeth’s reproofs or will he reject them in pride and conceit?
Does he have the fortitude to change and how will knowing the Bennets affect those around him? Bingley in this variation is closer to his irresolute character that we see in canon. That is the only similarity that your will see in him my dear reader. There are villains but they are not the focus of the story.
You will find all of your favourite characters from canon with a few new ones added in to broaden the tale. I trust that you will enjoy my effort.
Review
NOTE: This review is based on an eBook I borrowed from Amazon as part of the Kindle Unlimited program.
Unlike when I reviewed the previous, standalone, copy of The Hypocrite in 2023, I believe that the one included with The Collins Effect has actually been re-edited. When I saw the note about an additional edit and the new 2026 copyright, I decided to give it another chance. My issues with odd vocabulary and errors every couple of pages have mostly been addressed. It does seem as though the first half to two-thirds of the book was better edited than the last half to one-third.
That said, The Hypocrite could still benefit from a good editor. The story gets difficult to work through in places because the pacing is so slow. There is too much detail, and even too many events described throughout the story, slowing it down terribly. There are too many repetitive descriptions; how many times do we need to have a complete recounting of a marriage ceremony, for example?
For my personal taste, The Hypocrite is overly religious. There is a lot of emphasis on God and religion in general, much more than Ms. Granderson’s later books.
Having reread The Hypocrite, I can appreciate how much Ms. Granderson’s writing has improved — especially when comparing it to her newest offerings — but I doubt I’d read it again, even if it were edited a third time.
Notable Quote
Chapter 4: “My heart is far too valuable to be given away except for the truest and deepest love… “
About the Author
I have three children and after a disastrous first marriage I found my soul mate who I thought that was lost to me over 25 years ago. I recently married the love of my life. I live with my soul mate in Australasia and have three pets, two cats, Darcy and Bingley and a golden lab, Honey.
Like many high school students, Pride and Prejudice was assigned to me in an English literature class. It was not my favourite book, but I read it as I had to. I forgot about the book until in my 30’s when I saw and fell in love with the 1995 Pride and Prejudice version made for TV in England, and purchased a copy of the DVD that is now much played.
The tipping point was the 2005 big screen adaption of P&P. Not long after seeing it I found and read the complete works of Jane Austen on Amazon, starting with Pride and Prejudice. The latter book is by far my favourite. After I read it three of four times over, I wistfully said to myself: ‘it is a great pity that Miss Austen never wrote a sequel to her seminal novel.’ One day I was searching Kindle books and for the fun of it I entered “Pride and Prejudice Sequel’ into the search not expecting any results.
The rest is history. I discovered the JAFF community and books. I became a veracious reader of JAFF books and once I had devoured all of the sequels and continuations that I could find, I read my first variation. I had been resisting variations wrongly thinking that I would not enjoy them as much as the sequels. Boy, was I ever wrong! Today I am the proud owner of well over 1,000 JAFF novels that I have purchased on Amazon. ‘A Change of Fortunes’ is my first book that I wrote. There are a number of others on the way.
Author links: Goodreads | Amazon Author Page
Have you read The Hypocrite? Let me know in the comments! I’d love to hear from you.
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