Book picks similar to
Son of a Preacher Man by Karen M. Cox


romance
jaff
jane-austen
historical-fiction

Fitzwilliam Darcy in His Own Words


Shannon Winslow - 2021
    Darcy’s life like before he met Elizabeth Bennet? – before he stepped onto the Pride and Prejudice stage at the Meryton assembly? More importantly, where is he and what is he doing all the time he’s absent from the page thereafter? And what is his relationship to a woman named Amelia?With "Fitzwilliam Darcy, in His Own Words," the iconic literary hero finally tells his own story, from the traumas of his early life to the consummation of his love for Elizabeth and everything in between.This is not a variation but a supplement to the original story, chronicled in Darcy’s point of view – a behind-the-scenes look at the things Jane Austen didn’t tell us. As it happens, Darcy’s journey was more tortuous than she let on, his happy ending with Elizabeth in jeopardy at every turn in his struggle between duty and his heart’s desire, between the suitable lady he has promised to marry and the woman he can't stop thinking about.

Headstrong: Book Three: Overcome


Melanie Rachel - 2019
     It’s been a stressful Christmas for Elizabeth. She’s working thousands of miles from home and is out of contact with everyone she loves. She’s trying to keep her mind on her work—lives depend upon her ability to concentrate—but she can’t stop thinking about Will Darcy. Back in the States, Will’s company, FORGE, has barely averted disaster. As he works to manage the recovery, he’s left to wonder when Elizabeth will return and whether she’ll still be his when she does. Worse yet, he is haunted by the possibility that she’s in harm’s way—and that it’s his fault. Elizabeth’s work has always been dangerous, but this time, going home might pose the greater risk. Can she and Will work together to overcome all the obstacles they’re about to face? JOIN ELIZABETH AND WILL FOR THE EXCITING FINAL BOOK IN THE HEADSTRONG SERIES!

The Clergyman's Wife: A Pride & Prejudice Novel


Molly Greeley - 2019
    Intelligent, pragmatic, and anxious to escape the shame of spinsterhood, Charlotte chose this life, an inevitable one so socially acceptable that its quietness threatens to overwhelm her. Then she makes the acquaintance of Mr. Travis, a local farmer and tenant of Lady Catherine…In Mr. Travis’ company, Charlotte feels appreciated, heard, and seen. For the first time in her life, Charlotte begins to understand emotional intimacy and its effect on the heart—and how breakable that heart can be. With her sensible nature confronted, and her own future about to take a turn, Charlotte must now question the role of love and passion in a woman’s life, and whether they truly matter for a clergyman’s wife.

Wishful Romance: Volume 3


Kait Nolan - 2019
    When a major gas line breaks, leaving them with no heat, no hot water, and no way to cook for Christmas, Jace Applewhite invites Tara and her sibs out to his family's Christmas tree farm. Will a good old fashioned farmhouse Christmas be enough to get Tara to give him a second glance?See You Again (Book 8)Mayor Sandra Crawford has survived divorce and cancer, but she's not at all sure she'll survive the discovery that her town's benefactor is actually the man she nearly left her husband for almost 30 years ago. Gerald Peyton, III didn't fight for Sandy back in college--a decision he's regretted ever since. Now Trey's older, wiser, and determined to win the heart of the woman he's never forgotten.The Christmas Fountain (Book 9)After finding out her Mr. Right was actually Mr. Wrong, Mary Alice is taking a break from love to chair her favorite holiday charity. Chad thinks volunteering is the perfect way to get to know his Christmas crush. Will he manage to overcome her once bitten, twice shy caution?

Into Hertfordshire


Stanley Michael Hurd - 2013
    Bingley, has acquired a new manor. Darcy accompanies his friend into the wilds of Hertfordshire, where each of them encounters the lady who will change his life. Follow the beginnings of a story that will take Darcy from the heights of wealth and status, to the depths of pain and self-condemnation, and, ultimately, to the safe haven of the love and respect of his heart’s mistress. This lovingly crafted companion to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice will give her fans a feeling of homecoming, and a chance to see this beloved story from a new perspective, all the while immersed in the endearing world of Regency England Austen so masterfully created. Darcy’s Tale was written first for the readers who were enchanted by the original and wanted the chance to return, to learn more about one of the most popular characters in English literature. But it is also for those new to the Pride & Prejudice saga: Darcy was a wealthy, well-intentioned, intelligent, and educated man; how on Earth did he become so thoroughly tangled by his acquaintance with Miss Elizabeth Bennet? She, too, is among that rarefied firmament of favourite English characters: her pert manners, quick wit, and quiet beauty made her a strong, independent figure of a woman who was over a hundred years ahead of her time. The clash of their personalities and the nearly constant misunderstanding between them, founded on an unfortunate first impression, has delighted readers for two hundred years. This, then, is a new view of their first year as seen through Darcy’s eyes, and written by a man who insisted both that Darcy should be true to Austen’s vision of him, and that he should be a man throughout: wrong, perhaps at times, but always prepared to stand up and do what he saw as necessary and right, especially when he found himself to be in the wrong. Darcy’s Tale is written in the richly textured style of Regency English, and even the most demanding Austen fan will find little here to cavil with—but they will certainly find many new thoughts, perceptions, and interpretations to revel in. Volume 1 takes Darcy to Hertfordshire and the beginnings of his relationship with Elizabeth. In Volume 2: Into Kent, the two meet again at Rosings, the estate of Darcy’s Aunt Catherine. In Volume 3: Back Home, Darcy’s many trials and labours are concluded, and he finds his true place in life, at last.

Memory: Volume 1, Lasting Impressions: A Tale Of Pride And Prejudice


Linda Wells - 2010
    Influenced by their experiences and the people around them, they must endure a year of transformation to find their love. What effect would the sight of their soul mates have upon Darcy and Elizabeth if it occurred at a much earlier and vulnerable moment? How would this shared memory change his advance into arrogance and pride, and her sensitivity to the opinions of others? And ultimately, what will happen when they finally meet somewhere beyond their imaginations? The Memory series is a story of family, and how the love affair of one couple influences the lives of everyone around them. Volume 1: Lasting Impressions begins on a fateful day in Hyde Park when 15-year-old Elizabeth Bennet spies the handsome 22-year-old Fitzwilliam Darcy. Instead of wondering over his status: bachelor, rich, gentleman . . . all of the qualities she had been taught by her mother to seek for her husband, she saw only the sorrowful man in need. Darcy heard laughter and saw a girl and a smile. Both have much to overcome before they can be together, but one thing is certain, they would have loved each other no matter where or when they had met.The story continues in Volume 2: Trials to Bear, and Volume 3: How Far We Have Come. These stories contain scenes of a mature nature.

The Longbourn Quarantine


Don Jacobson - 2020
    A feared specter has escaped London’s grimy docklands and now threatens the wealthy districts. Amongst that ragged stream is a single carriage jostling its way toward Meryton. Inside are the Darcy siblings along with Charles and Caroline Bingley. They desperately seek the safety of Netherfield Park.For all their riches, they could not evade the epidemic’s dark hand. Bingley’s leasehold had been reduced to rubble as roving bands raped, pillaged, and burned. The only sanctuary was Longbourn where, once installed, the Darcys and Bingleys were barred from leaving by a fortnight’s quarantine.Events converge with disease in The Longbourn Quarantine. Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy abandon old prejudices to face grief and mourning. Pride is set aside as Death hovers nearby. The couple forges ahead. knowing that love unexplored is love lost: that words must be said lest they remain unspoken in the time of smallpox.

The Forgotten Sister: Mary Bennet's Pride and Prejudice


Jennifer Paynter - 2012
    She retreats to her room to read and play the pianoforte and, when obliged to mix in society, finds it safer to quote platitudes from books rather than express her real opinions. She also finds it safer to befriend those who are socially “beneath” her. When wealthy Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley glide into her sisters’ lives, Mary becomes infatuated with an impoverished young musician, the son of her old wet-nurse, who plays the fiddle at the Meryton assemblies.It is only after her sisters tease her about her “beau with the bow” that Mary is forced to examine her real feelings and confront her own brand of pride and prejudice.An elegant accompaniment to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, The Forgotten Sister plucks the neglected Mary from obscurity and beautifully reveals her hopes and dreams.

His Uncle's Favorite


Lory Lilian - 2013
    There, the girls encounter familiar faces and intriguing new acquaintances. As fate would have it, their aunt’s Gracechurch Street home is frequented by intimate members of Mr. Darcy’s family, and Elizabeth discovers that she and Darcy’s uncle have more than one favorite in common.This is a tale of wrong first impressions, mistaken pride and prejudice, rights and wrongs — a divergent but familiar story of the struggle for happiness of Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy.

A Will of Iron: A Pride and Prejudice Variation


Linda Beutler - 2015
    Their return finds Rosings swathed in mourning. In death, Anne is revealed as having lived a rich life of the mind, and she plotted rather constantly to escape her loathsome mother, Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Anne’s journal—spirited into the hands of Elizabeth and Charlotte Collins—holds her candid observations on life and her family. It also exposes her final, and sadly fatal, means of outwitting her mother. Anne’s Last Will and Testament, with its peculiar bequests, sends Lady Catherine into a tailspin and throws into turmoil every relationship amongst the Bennets, Darcys, Fitzwilliams, Collinses, and even the Bingleys! Was Anne de bourgh a shrewder judge of character than Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy combined?Includes mature content.

Alias Thomas Bennet


Suzan Lauder - 2013
    . . of most interest to Bennet was Mr. Darcy of Pemberley.When Fitzwilliam Darcy attends the Meryton assembly, he befriends a quiet, intelligent gentleman. In frequent visits to his friend's home, he becomes acquainted with the Bennet family of Longbourn. Yet Mr. Darcy is distracted by a strange feeling of having met some of them before. This is a different Bennet family from the cleverly crafted one in Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice. This Mr. Bennet is a responsible gentleman who takes an active role in the education and upbringing of all five of his daughters, manages Longbourn to be prosperous, and displays loving guidance toward Mrs. Bennet-a gentle, caring mother and wife. There is a mystery lurking at Longbourn-a secret unknown even to Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy is entangled in its extraordinary revelations. Who is Thomas Bennet?---Notes: This is a "what-if" variation on Pride and Prejudice: What if Mr. Bennet's personality were entirely different than in canon? What events would change in Austen's original, leading to fresh, new plot points? How would it affect Elizabeth and Darcy and the other characters? There is a second story line to tell how Mr. Bennet's personality became different, and that's the heart of the mystery!This book contains sexual scenes and violence, including one brief scene of non‑explicit sexual violence that may be concerning to sensitive readers. The sexual violence does not include Elizabeth Bennet.

Jane Austen Made Me Do It: Original Stories Inspired by Literature's Most Astute Observer of the Human Heart


Laurel Ann NattressSyrie James - 2011
    Sullivan • and Brenna Aubrey, the winner of a story contest hosted by the Republic of Pemberley “My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.” If you just heaved a contented sigh at Mr. Darcy’s heartfelt words, then you, dear reader, are in good company. Here is a delightful collection of never-before-published stories inspired by Jane Austen—her novels, her life, her wit, her world. In Lauren Willig’s “A Night at Northanger,” a young woman who doesn’t believe in ghosts meets a familiar specter at the infamous abbey; Jane Odiwe’s “Waiting” captures the exquisite uncertainty of Persuasion’s Wentworth and Anne as they await her family’s approval of their betrothal; Adriana Trigiani’s “Love and Best Wishes, Aunt Jane” imagines a modern-day Austen giving her niece advice upon her engagement; in Diana Birchall’s “Jane Austen’s Cat,” our beloved Jane tells her nieces “cat tales” based on her novels; Laurie Viera Rigler’s “Intolerable Stupidity” finds Mr. Darcy bringing charges against all the writers of Pride and Prejudice sequels, spin-offs, and retellings; in Janet Mullany’s “Jane Austen, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!” a teacher at an all-girls school invokes the Beatles to help her students understand Sense and Sensibility; and in Jo Beverley’s “Jane and the Mistletoe Kiss,” a widow doesn’t believe she’ll have a second chance at love . . . until a Miss Austen suggests otherwise.Regency or contemporary, romantic or fantastical, each of these marvelous stories reaffirms the incomparable influence of one of history’s most cherished authors.Look for special features inside.Join the Circle for author chats and more.RandomHouseReadersCircle.com

Boots and Backpacks: Pride & Prejudice on the Appalachian Trail, Roughly


K.C. Kahler - 2014
    Orphaned as a child, his parents’ will includes a bizarre clause: Darcy must get married by his 30th birthday in order to inherit the family fortune. To make matters worse, the press knows about this deadline, as do the hordes of women chasing him in the hopes of becoming Mrs. Darcy. His family legacy hangs in the balance, but Darcy has little faith in the fairer sex. Will he find a woman he wants to marry, and quickly?Elizabeth Bennet is determined to pursue her education and career without letting a man get in the way. When her traveling companion drops out, her planned hike on the Appalachian Trial is jeopardized. She meets the spoiled, snobby William Darcy just when he is desperate to escape the spotlight. No one will suspect that the Prince of Manhattan has gone backpacking! Darcy and Elizabeth form a tenuous partnership and begin a 300-mile journey that will transform them both.In classic romantic comedy tradition, Boots & Backpacks follows our reluctant partners as they build trust, friendship, and even more. Six weeks together on America’s most famous hiking trail may turn out to be just what these two need!

Mr. & Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two Shall Become One


Sharon Lathan - 2007
    But now that they’ve seen each other without prejudice, their trust, attraction, and delight in each other grows with every passing day. Both are inexperienced and innocent, sharing moments of shyness and boldness as they discover the kinds of intimacies that a newlywed couple shares.As their love story unfolds, they reveal their innermost secrets and feelings, embracing each other in a marriage filled with romance, passion, humor, and drama that will keep you spellbound.

The Olive Branch: A Pride and Prejudice variation


Sarah Courtney - 2021
    Collins or watch him destroy her entire family.Given a choice, Elizabeth would never dream of marrying the pompous, ridiculous Mr. Collins. But when she refuses his offer, he threatens to reveal a shocking secret that could ruin the Bennets.Fitzwilliam Darcy has no intention of giving in to his unsettling attraction to Elizabeth Bennet. Still, before he flees to London, he cannot resist seeing her one last time and discovers, to his dismay, that she is now betrothed to her odious cousin. She did everything in her power to evade Mr. Collins at the Netherfield ball, and the woman he sees before him now is not merely unhappy, but afraid. Elizabeth is in trouble, and Darcy cannot bear to abandon her in her distress.As the wedding day looms, Darcy and Elizabeth become desperate to break the engagement without scandal. It is only when a stranger arrives—a stranger Mr. Collins seems to fear—that Darcy and Elizabeth have any hope of extricating her from this frightening predicament.As Mr. Collins’s plan begins to unravel, it is clear that Elizabeth may not be the only one in danger. Will she and Darcy be too late to stop Mr. Collins’s vile plans?The Olive Branch is a clean, full-length Pride and Prejudice variation of about 90,000 words.