Another Pride and Prejudice variation from the author of Words Spoken in Anger, follow Elizabeth on her journey to the altar as she tries to decipher the character of the stranger she has to marry.

    Will they get a second chance at a future? When Fitzwilliam Darcy sees Elizabeth Bennet across a ballroom, he cannot believe his eyes or his good fortune. After four years of searching, he has finally found her, and he is determined that nothing is going to keep them apart this time. However, their reunion does not go completely as planned. The same person who tore them apart years ago is still not pleased to allow them to be together. Secretly, Darcy and Elizabeth pledge themselves to one another, but will a marriage formed in secrecy be enough to help keep them together or will their nemesis succeed in separating them forever?

    Bingley finds out that he is to host the annual harvest dance. It seems like a daunting task, but fortunately he has the assistance of Mrs. Bennet and her daughters, the eldest of whom enchants him. The planning of the august event and the course of true love both run smoothly, but pandemonium breaks loose once the full moon rises. Many more people turn up than were first expected, among them Mr. Darcy, who finds more than he bargained for under the harvest moon.

    Fitzwilliam Darcy, cost what it may. In her determination to make the man see reason she develops a most ingenious plan, engaging the help of her sister. But when she upsets Mrs. Hurst, her sister starts to follow her own scheme instead of helping her. - With rather unexpected results. Warning: This story contains some slight sexual innuendo. Re-edited!

    A stolen kiss. After a scandal at Netherfield Ball, Elizabeth Bennet must immediately choose a man to marry - Mr. Wickham, Mr. Collins or Mr. Darcy - and she doesn't want any of them.What is a dutiful daughter to do?Run away, naturally.Between Darcy and the Deep Blue Sea is a Pride and Prejudice Variation novella, based on Jane Austen's most famous couple.

    Bennet insists that her next eldest daughter remain in the parlour as a chaperone. Eventually begging her father for relief, Mr. Bennet directs Elizabeth to turn her hand to writing a story to pass the days during the winter while Jane’s suitor sits with her. The suitor eventually loses interest, but Lizzy’s writing grows into an interesting novel that Mr. Bennet’s publisher in London purchases to print and sell. Over the next four years, Elizabeth continues to write one novel that involves a murder each winter.Unfortunately, the setting of two of Elizabeth’s novels is the town where her aunt grew up in Derbyshire. The success of the novel brings unwanted attention to the great house nearby. The master of this house, Fitzwilliam Darcy, is displeased for visitors to ask to view the parlour where ‘the murder’ occurred. After the second novel set in Derbyshire is published, Mr. Darcy visits the publisher about contacting the author, but the man refuses to disclose the information.On his own, he decides that the author lives in Hertfordshire, the setting of two other novels, and visits with his friend Charles Bingley, who has taken an estate there for a time. Darcy is determined to discover the incorrigible author and prevent the man from writing another novel set in Derbyshire. Shortly after arriving, Mr. Darcy is convinced that Mr. Thomas Bennet is the elusive author and tries to find out more information by talking with the man’s daughter, Elizabeth.

    Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet find themselves tending the sick at Netherfield Park after illness ravages the population of Meryton. The duties and strain of caring for those near and dear to them both draw them closer together. With crushing loss and poignant gain visited upon them, their budding relationship sustains them. Will a Christmas miracle be the catalyst that brings them to their happily ever after?

    Darcy – and also makes the acquaintance of his charming cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam. But the surprises do not stop there, as another group of guests arrive most unexpectedly, disturbing the peace and good order of Rosings Park and of Lady Catherine’s life. Could Rosings Park have more than one owner?Fitzwilliam Darcy was prepared for nothing more than his annual visit to his Aunt Catherine but instead finds himself forced to again face the very woman from whom he wished to escape when he left Netherfield. Soon enough he realises that he has been struggling in vain, so he decides to propose marriage to the only woman in the world he has ever loved. Unfortunately what he receives in return is not what he expects, so he has nothing else to do but to try to forget his addresses and his confession. Or so he believes in the heat of anger…Busy dealing with his aunt’s business and mediating the conflict within his family, Darcy could hardly have noticed that Elizabeth’s opinion of him was slowly improving and her feelings for him were growing more tender.On her side, Elizabeth is filled with remorse for her hasty misjudgement of Darcy’s character and intrigued to discover secrets that Lady Catherine is struggling to conceal. Furthermore, she is astonished to discover her growing attachment to Darcy and her desire to bond her future happiness to his.But what can she do to make Darcy aware of the change in her sentiments? Is there anything to be done, especially when news of a most unexpected wedding at Rosings triggers her feelings of jealousy, disappointment and remorse?Where, when and how will Elizabeth and Darcy find their well-deserved ‘happily ever after’?And how will the favourite nephew ever reconcile with his aunt?The answers to all these questions are in this lovely, romantic variation, waiting to be discovered.

    The story is part of the Hot Mush Series: a quick read, hot, low angst, focused on Elizabeth and Darcy.Fitzwilliam Darcy is tormented by an ardent love he cannot explain even to himself. A love that he must conceal, as he cannot possibly consider proposing to Miss Elizabeth Bennet - an extraordinary woman who stirs his mind and his senses, belonging to an ordinary family with questionable manners, no connections and with a situation so decidedly beneath his own.His feelings cannot be shared with any living soul, but cannot be repressed either. So what could the gentleman do, in order to keep his sanity? Write several letters to the lady of his heart, letters uncensored, unguarded, as they were not meant to be ever sent or seen by anyone. No names, no address, only pieces of his soul on paper.Mr. Darcy and Miss Elizabeth Bennet used to enjoy the same paths at Rosings Park and the same old oak. After they happened upon each other one day, they purposely avoided such awkward encounters, so they never met again in person, until fate intervened.After an early, solitary ride and time spent reading under the oak, while he mounted to return to Rosings, the book with the pile of letters fell from Darcy’s pocket.Elizabeth - fond of her morning walks, being sure there was nobody around - found them and, with astonishment, shock and disbelief, she read the last one.Mr. Darcy’s hasty return made Elizabeth throw the book back into the grass and hide behind the bushes, watching him as he searched for the infamous treasure in utter despair, before finding it and hiding it in his inner pocket then departing at a gallop.The discovery of Mr. Darcy’s true sentiments for her was a revelation that Elizabeth could hardly comprehend and accept. She had spent the last few months hating Mr. Darcy, holding him responsible for separating Bingley from Jane. Even more so, she had always been certain that he despised her, from that evening when he had called her tolerable and refused to dance with her.Now, her entire world was turned upside down.How will that piece of scandalous knowledge change the course of events and how will Elizabeth ever dare to face Mr. Darcy again?

    After the disastrous proposal in Kent, Elizabeth travels to London and is reunited with her sister Jane before returning to Longbourn. Still distressed by the revelation of Mr. Darcy’s true feelings, she is overwhelmed with guilt for completely misjudging him and for trusting Wickham so readily. A walk with her sister and aunt in Hyde Park provides an opportunity for fate to intervene and to cross her path with Darcy’s again in a most unexpected way. The presence of Mr. Bingley and the proof that Darcy has quickly admitted his error and tried to remedy it, makes Elizabeth’s self-reproach increase and her feelings for him soften. However, Mr. Darcy is a proud man, whose good opinion once lost is lost forever. Will he even consider any further connection with a woman who rejected him so rudely, especially when other worthy young ladies are vying for his affection? Mr. Wickham is also part of this story, stirring the waters with his usual viciousness; his role is somehow the same, yet different and original compared to the canon and to most P&P variations. The readers would be surprised to find out who is the recipient of his dishonourable interest this time. With the generous intervention of several sweet and loving individuals - including Miss Georgiana Darcy, a young lady who is very much like her brother in spirit and character - our dear couple will eventually find their well deserved Happily Ever After.

    This may be especially so when the man in question not only possesses the rightful inheritance of said ladies, but is also of a most odious disposition and less than agreeable in appearance. Such was the lot of five young women near the town of Meryton. Not only had they no fortune, their own father, an absentee parent at best, had not the foresight to put aside a single pound should they not have the opportunity marry. For this sole reason, their overbearing mother deemed it necessary for one of her daughters to marry this impossible man. However, a mother’s best laid plans cannot come to pass if the gentleman in question is not only repulsive, but also very, very dead. Desperate times often call for desperate measures. There is a myriad of ways to dispose of an unwanted suitor, all of which may be deemed accidental, for who would ever accuse a young lady of good family? The answer is simple… no one. However, some persons are as extremely difficult to be rid as they are to tolerate in life. The Reverend Mr. Collins, despite his obvious deficiencies when it came to appearance and personality, has an uncanny knack for staying alive but, where there is a will, there is always a way…

    - Johannes KeplerWhen she arrives at Hunsford Cottage for a visit with her long-time friend Charlotte Collins, Elizabeth Bennet does not expect the melodrama awaiting her at Rosings Park.Mrs. Anne Darcy, nee de Bourgh, has passed, and Rosings Park is, by law, the property of the woman’s husband, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy; yet, Lady Catherine de Bourgh is not ready to abandon the mansion over which she has served as mistress for thirty years. Elizabeth holds sympathy for her ladyship’s situation. After all, Elizabeth’s mother will eventually be banished from Longbourn when Mr. Bennet passes without male issue. She inherently understands Lady Catherine’s “hysterics,” while not necessarily condoning them, for her ladyship will have the luxury of the right to the estate’s dower house, and, moreover, it is obvious Rosings Park requires the hand of a more knowledgeable overseer. Therefore, Elizabeth takes on the task of easing Lady Catherine’s transition to dowager baronetess, but doing so places Elizabeth often in the company of the “odious” Mr. Darcy, a man Lady Catherine claims poisoned her daughter Anne in order to claim Rosings Park as his own.

    However, she cannot control how her talent is revealed in her art. Lizzy is determined to live as an independent lady and needs her talent to provide the income for her dream. But, she has to be so very, very careful that no one discovers her secret.Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy wants Miss Bennet, a notable artiste, to paint a portrait of his beloved sister, Georgiana, and he is willing to pay handsomely. She, however, refuses to paint adults. He does not understand her reluctance. Darcy is determined to discover whatever it is that Miss Bennet is hiding.

    No matter where Fitzwilliam Darcy goes, there are always whispers passed from matching-making matron to hopeful debutante about who he is and what fortune he holds. And then, the prowling and scheming to snare him begins. He knows that eventually, he’ll have to marry, but, at present, after the summer he’s had, he’s just not ready.Therefore, when his friend presses him to dance at the Meryton Assembly, Darcy is desperate to refuse as adamantly as is necessary to avoid partnering any young lady. But then, fate steps in, and Darcy’s disparagement of the dance partner his friend has suggested dies on his lips.She’s captivating and fascinatingly unusual. In fact, she just might be enchanting enough for him to long to make her what he wasn’t looking for — his wife.From Tolerable to Lovely is a novelette of just over 11,000 words and is the first installment in Leenie Brown’s Teatime Tales Collection of Austen-inspired quick reads. If you’re looking for a sweet romantic escape from the everyday, where love comes calling when it’s least expected, then you’ll love this story about how love can turn a tolerably good life into one that is simply lovely.So put the kettle on, download your copy of From Tolerable to Lovely, and steal away with Darcy and Elizabeth for a few moments of sweet indulgence.---[This story was previously published in a MUCH shorter form as part of a Teatime Tales short story anthology. That original short story is now part of the first chapter of this novelette.]

    Darcy, now happily married to Elizabeth, is honored to be the patron of Mr. William Collins, formerly an idiotic and self-serving flatterer to Darcy's autocratic aunt, now an eccentric genius. Despite such remarkable abilities and far-ranging pursuits, he works to positively affect the lives and loves of those in his orbit.Lydia Bennet, who had been devoted to self-indulgence and chasing officers, discovers in Mr. Collins a caring teacher who stokes in her a new passion for scientific endeavors and introduces her to a fascinating and handsome young scientist. Her sister, Kitty, struggles with a sense of worthlessness. With poor prospects for marriage, she worries she will be the only unmarried Bennet sister. Georgiana Darcy longs to pursue her passionate love for music, but a marriage of convenience threatens to dash her dreams. Love fills the pages as problems both big and small are solved by the enigmatic Mr. Collins.