Book picks similar to
The Best Part of Love by Amy D'Orazio


jaff
austenesque
pride-and-prejudice
historical-fiction

On Equal Ground: A Pride and Prejudice Vagary


Elizabeth Adams - 2017
     When she finally meets Mr. Darcy, she outranks him. Of course, that doesn’t stop him from insulting her. Married and wealthy, is she still beneath his notice? Elizabeth’s high society connections create new opportunities for her sisters and, in turn, keep Darcy close to her family. When tragedy strikes, will Darcy rise to the occasion? Or will his propensity to give offense show no respect for rank?

Undoing


L.L. Diamond - 2020
    Thrust into a society disinclined to accept a country nobody who somehow entrapped one of their most prominent members, Elizabeth holds her head high, ignoring their whispers and stares and a husband whose indifferent behaviour confuses her. Her marriage of convenience is nothing like what she expected.Fitzwilliam Darcy is a man torn. After meeting the Duchess of Leeds at a ball, he is fascinated by her intelligence and humour, but how does one maintain a respectable friendship with a lady - particularly when that lady is the wife of his cousin and godfather? His father and his sister both love Elizabeth, and he quickly realises he loves her as well, though not as one loves a cousin or even a sister. His feelings must stay hidden from everyone, particularly Elizabeth, but how is he to keep himself under such strict regulation when he is constantly thrown into her company? How does one prevent their own undoing?Contains scenes with adult content.

Suddenly Mrs. Darcy


Jenetta James - 2015
     But when Mrs. Bennet accuses Fitzwilliam Darcy of compromising her daughter, that is exactly the outcome. Trapped in a seemingly loveless marriage and far from home, she grows suspicious of her new husband’s heart and further, suspects he is hiding a great secret. Is there even a chance at love given the happenstance of their hasty marriage?

Bluebells in the Mourning


KaraLynne Mackrory - 2013
    . . ...nothing can be lost that love cannot find? Jane Austen's beloved "Pride and Prejudice" is readapted in this Regency tale of love in the face of tragedy. Mr. Darcy is thwarted in his attempt to propose to Elizabeth Bennet at Hunsford when he encounters her minutes after she receives the sad news from Longbourn of her sister's death. His gallantry and compassion as he escorts her back to Hertfordshire begins to unravel the many threads of her discontent with him. While her family heals from their loss, Darcy must search London for answers --- answers that might bring justice but also might just mark the end of his own hopes with Elizabeth.

To Conquer Pride: A Pride and Prejudice Variation


Jennifer Altman - 2018
    Indeed, knowing the lady's true feelings for him, he makes every effort to see that they do not. But when a chance encounter leaves him stranded in an abandoned cottage with the one woman he can never have, Darcy quickly realizes there is more at risk than just Elizabeth's reputation.Elizabeth Bennet knows Mr. Darcy is the last man in the world whom she could ever be prevailed on to marry. Until the morning he hands her a letter, his countenance as dark and forbidding as the windswept sky. Now, trapped in a snowstorm with the one person she was certain she despised, Elizabeth is startled to discover that her feelings are not at all what she expected.But is one night alone together enough to alter the course of their future?Can any man as proud as Mr. Darcy be expected to offer for the same woman a second time?In this tale of serendipity and second chances, the world's unlikeliest couple must conquer pride, prejudice, and faulty first impressions in the elusive quest for their own happily ever after.

Mr Bennet's Dutiful Daughter


Joana Starnes - 2016
    An offer of marriage from the all-too-proud Mr Darcy.Yet how is she to live with a husband she hardly knows and does not love? Will she continue to feel trapped in a marriage of convenience while events conspire to divide them? Or would love grow as, day by day and hour after hour, she learns to understand the man she married, before she loses his trust and his heart?Given the ‘early marriage’ premise, the issue of growing affection and intimacy is central to the story. The scenes are not graphic, but the novel does address mature themes.

The Journey


Jan Hahn - 2011
    Bingley's sisters and the proud, arrogant Mr. Darcy. Suddenly, their carriage is abruptly stopped, and Elizabeth hears the menacing cry, "Stand and deliver!" Abduction The leader of a band of highwaymen, Nate Morgan, a handsome, masked rogue, plans to seize Elizabeth for his amusement, but Darcy steps forward and offers himself as a hostage in her place. When his proposal fails to secure Elizabeth's release, Darcy makes a shocking declaration-Elizabeth is his wife! Romance At a time when a woman's future could be ruined by the slightest hint of scandal, Elizabeth's reputation will depend not only upon the actions of a hero but a villain as well. Filled with danger, excitement, daring and passion, The Journey follows Jane Austen's beloved characters from Pride and Prejudice as they embark on a fateful journey that changes their lives forever.

A Most Civil Proposal


C.P. Odom - 2013
    It was therefore rather easy for Elizabeth to reject his offer in much the same manner. But what if Darcy, never one at ease when trying to speak of inner sentiments, had realized beforehand how his intended proposal would sound to the young woman he hoped to make his bride? What if he had attempted a much more civil and thoughtful proposal of marriage? Could Elizabeth Bennet have coldly and angrily rejected an offer made in such a manner? A Most Civil Proposal, a variation on Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice," examines and explores how the lives of the two main characters and their families and friends might have turned out differently had Darcy realized his error beforehand and thus avoided being so forcefully instructed and corrected by the love of his life.

The Events at Branxbourne


Caitlin Williams - 2018
    You are loved for all that you are, for all you once were, and for all that you will come to be.” - Fitzwilliam DarcyLady Lambert, or Elizabeth Bennet as she was once known, appears to have made the perfect match. Having refused Mr. Darcy’s proposal of marriage at Hunsford, she is now married to a viscount. While everything seems well, beneath her fine clothes beats a heart filled with regrets. Dark secrets lurk in every corner of her elegant London townhouse, and while she might have at her disposal many excellent and numerous carriages, they all seem to take her places she does not truly want to go. Into her now desolate existence comes Mr. Darcy again—a changed man, a better man, the very best of men, and still very much in love with her. Is it all impossible? She ought to resist him, yet she cannot stay away. Theirs is a dangerous, scandalous love that proves impossible to resist. In an age when women are owned by their husbands, can a wife escape a husband she has come to loathe, and when there is blood on her hands, how will Elizabeth explain herself?

These Dreams: A Pride and Prejudice Variation


Nicole Clarkston - 2017
    Taken far from England, presumed dead by his family, and lost to all he holds dear, only one name remains as his beacon in the darkness: Elizabeth.Georgiana Darcy is now the reluctant, heartbroken heiress to Pemberley, and Colonel Fitzwilliam her bewildered guardian. Vulnerable and unprepared, Georgiana desperately longs for a friend, while Fitzwilliam seeks to protect her from his own family. As the conspiracy around Darcy’s death widens and questions mount, Colonel Fitzwilliam must confront his own past. An impossible dream, long ago sacrificed for duty, may become his only hope.Newly married Lydia Wickham returns to Longbourn- alone and under mysterious circumstances. Elizabeth Bennet watches one sister suffer and another find joy, while she lives her own days in empty regrets over what might have been. Believing Darcy lost forever, she closes her heart against both pain and happiness, but finds no escape from her dreams of him.

The Mistress of All: A Pride and Prejudice Variation


Lory Lilian - 2020
    It is recommended for a mature audience, due to the subjects of violence and abuse – that are often mentioned but never detailed other than in Elizabeth’s recollections.This is the story of Elizabeth Bennet, thrown by fate and unfortunate circumstances into the middle of an ordeal from which she struggles to escape, fighting for her life. Her character, her strength and her determination are tested more than ever before. She has to enter into a battle which she must win, or the loss will be immeasurable. She has a strong ally in Darcy, first from afar, then by her side. The man she rejected just a month before will return to prove his loyalty, and the depth of his feelings.Elizabeth also benefits from the loyal support of a friend – a young woman of colour – who struggles to prove her worthiness and find her deserved place in a society unwilling to accept her.The story begins when Elizabeth returns from Kent and stays in London for several days. She is surprised to find her sister Jane and aunt in a new, but rather close acquaintance with a young earl and his mother. Over those several days, the nightmare slowly envelops the Bennets and Gardiners, and the threat of ruin and misery weighs heavily on them.To their apparent salvation came a hasty and strange – but so timely – marriage proposal from one of the most illustrious gentlemen of the ton. Despite her reasoning, her suspicions, her fears and her lack of feeling for the man she barely knows and even less respects, she does not dare refuse a third marriage proposal, which would throw her entire family into ruin.By the time of her marriage, Darcy has returned to London and Mr. Bingley has returned to Jane. Things appear to have improved for the Bennets. But for Elizabeth, it is too late.Trapped in a marriage as dark as a nightmare, never consummated but dreadful nevertheless, she must protect herself and those around her from the evilness and cruelty of a horrid man and his supportive mother and friends.With fate’s mercy, Elizabeth’s ordeal will not last long. Circumstances turn her into a widow, one of the wealthiest and most influential women in London, with a power she is not yet ready to use.Darcy’s feelings are the same, while Elizabeth's are quite the opposite compared with those she expressed in Kent. Darcy is the only man she can trust. Near him she feels safe, protected and supported. But her heart is so full of hate, distrust and plans for revenge, that it has little room for love and happiness.Darcy’s feelings for Elizabeth have remained strong and deep, but the woman he adored had changed dramatically. She is now above him in terms of position, wealth, and power.While she accepts him as a friend, and gratefully benefits from his support, Elizabeth is not ready to surrender to the power of another man yet, even if she has no reason to doubt his affection, his honour or his character.Elizabeth Bennet is now Lady Barrington – smart, well educated and beautiful, with the power and means to treat those around her as she pleases. Her old sweetness, her teasing wit, the smile that made her eyes sparkle, her musical laugh and tendency to joke seem lost. But they are only deeply buried under fear, and hate and are just waiting for the right moment and the right man to bring them back up into the light again.

Friends and Enemies: A Pride and Prejudice Variation


J. Dawn King - 2017
    Fitzwilliam Darcy, the hero of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, has his world turned upside down when his character, of which he is particularly proud, is called into question by those whom he trusts. Will he learn from his mistakes or remain his own worst enemy? When he discovers a secret which could destroy not only the reputation of his beloved sister but threatens her very life, he can no longer hide behind his mask of social indifference. Dismaying circumstances will test the strength of his personal beliefs and convictions as well as his devotion to family and friends as a rival from his past determines to ruin him and take everything Darcy holds dear. Out of the flames of adversity, Miss Elizabeth Bennet, once scorned, becomes a beacon of hope. Can love grow from adversity? Is happiness possible? In this full-length novel set in Regency, England, true friendships are made, enemies are revealed, and happily-ever-after is on the horizon. Or is it…

A Remedy Against Sin: A Pride and Prejudice Variation


Christina Morland - 2016
    Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy put this notion to the test when they find themselves in a passionate and unexpected marriage.

Fearful Symmetry: A Pride & Prejudice Variation


Gailie Ruth Caress - 2021
    Seeing how he put his own life at risk to pull her from the fire, how could she help but change her opinion of him?THROWN TOGETHER AGAIN in the refuge offered at Netherfield, Darcy and Elizabeth’s unexpected bond gains strength. But disapproval, debts, and doubts all arise when the costs in time and expense involved in rebuilding Longbourn threaten to widen the gulf in standing between Elizabeth and Darcy in the eyes of society. Amidst these perplexities of destruction and decorum, can love’s courage overcome calamity?FEARFUL SYMMETRY is a Pride and Prejudice variation

A Matter of Honor: A Pride & Prejudice Variation


Abigail Reynolds - 2019
    He must marry her. It is a matter of honor. All he has to do is find her and propose. Surely that will be simple enough. But Elizabeth does not want to be found, especially not by Darcy. From the moment he entered her life, he has caused disaster after disaster. Now he has followed her all the way to Scotland, foolishly certain it is within his power to fix all her problems. But far more is at stake than Darcy knows, and Elizabeth is out of options. Darcy’s quest for Elizabeth takes him from backstage at Edinburgh’s Theatre Royal to the wilds of the Scottish Highlands, where Highlanders prove both friend and enemy. And now his search risks exposing long-hidden secrets that threaten his happiness and her future. On the run and in danger, Elizabeth is forced to make impossible choices to protect those whom she loves – including Darcy. Her growing attraction to him is at war with her need for caution, and the stakes are impossibly high. Can she trust him to continue to fight for her protection when he knows the whole truth? And if he does, will it be for love… or will it be merely a matter of honor? Join bestselling author Abigail Reynolds as she transports the reader to the Scottish lochs and mountains in this sweeping Regency drama based on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice!