Book picks similar to
Happier in her Friends than Relations: A Pride and Prejudice Variation by Jayne Bamber
jaff
austenesque
fiction
historical
Expectations & Apologies
Elizabeth Squire - 2020
Darcy's caustic remarks about her at the assembly. Would she still have seen him as arrogant, selfish and conceited? Would he have been able to remain aloof and prideful if Elizabeth was not initially prejudiced against him? The road to true love turns in unexpected ways. Although there will be others in my What if series they are all stand alone stories.
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.
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?
There You Were: A Pride & Prejudice Variation
Michelle Ray - 2021
I cannot stop it, I cannot indulge it, so I must put distance between us and hope that time will heal this fever I have.”ABANDONED BY HER MOTHER and ignored by her father, it is hardly any wonder young Elizabeth Bennet’s curiosity soon brings about trouble and marriage to a man she does not love. Colonel Fitzwilliam’s family—save for his cousin Mr Darcy—despises her, and life is not what she dreamed of. As she matures and grows from an impetuous girl into a woman, Elizabeth’s most reliable source of friendship and comfort becomes Mr Darcy. When tragedy strikes leaving her a widow, she is free to find out [discover?] who has been in her heart all along. DARCY HAS ALWAYS BEEN INTRIGUED by the girl his beloved cousin married, and finds himself drawn into helping her after her husband’s death. Over time, admiration turns to love. Admitting his feelings to her – or even himself – could lead to ruin, but denying his passion could shatter him.
Fallen Woman: A Pride and Prejudice Vagary
Arthel Cake - 2019
Darcy has already left Netherfield. Torn by his attraction to Elizabeth Bennet, a woman he cannot marry, he retreats to Scotland, unaware of the social disaster that overtakes the Bennet family. Shunned by friends and neighbors, Mrs. Bennet succumbs and Mr. Bennet moves what is left of his family to London. As Mary and Kitty find husbands, Elizabeth and Jane are left to care for their failing father with little money and less hope for the future. After Mr. Bennet’s death, the sisters continue to live on the bare edge of gentility with fading prospects for happiness in life. But then Elizabeth accidently encounters Mr. Bingley. Both young women are drawn back into his sphere, which includes Mr. Darcy. Once again Bingley is plagued by his sister Caroline, who is as determined as ever to prevent his marriage to Jane, and whose machinations may go farther back than anyone realizes. Darcy is assisting his friend in his renewed courtship of Jane and as Elizabeth finds herself in continual contact with him a friendship grows between them, one Elizabeth tries to believe is platonic, while Darcy knows he is still inescapably in love with her. Torn between a growing attraction to Darcy and the taint of Lydia’s sin, Elizabeth struggles to find a way forward. Darcy has problems of his own. His sister Georgiana has withdrawn from her first Season, refusing to choose a suitor in spite of family pressure. Lady Catherine deBourgh believes she can force Darcy to marry her daughter Anne, and will stop at nothing to achieve her goal. And a threat from the past by Darcy’s old enemy George Wickham arises once more with the potential to ruin not only the Darcys but the Fitzwilliam family as well. Now at a Twelfth Night ball, Darcy is no longer able to deny his love and offers Elizabeth his hand. But Elizabeth, deeply damaged by her experiences, believes herself unworthy of him and rejects him with consequences no one could have predicted, forcing Darcy to face a turning point that will decide his and Elizabeth’s future in one last encounter. Finally, just when matters seem to be settled, Darcy and Elizabeth’s happiness is jeopardized once again by a ghost from the past as Wickham finally seems ready to strike.
Unintended: A Pride and Prejudice Accident
Alix James - 2020
the person who caught you in your most embarrassing moment is also the one your heart was meant to find?
It was never supposed to happen. Elizabeth Bennet never planned to get trapped in a ridiculous situation, and she certainly never intended for the person who found her to be a dizzyingly handsome... tall... and odiously haughty man who seems to regret ever meeting her. The only thing to do, naturally, is to tease him about it, and try not to let him under her skin. Fitzwilliam Darcy wishes he could erase that whole morning--especially the part where he laid bare his... well, it is hardly worth repeating. For a surety, he would rather forget about the temptingly pert lady who had borne witness to his blunder. The only trouble is, he keeps being thrown into company with her. Every encounter brings a new brush with calamity, and he is beginning to wonder if he will survive their acquaintance.When Lady Catherine asks Darcy to pay her respects to a Mrs. Ashton, an elderly neighbor in Meryton, he discovers a friend where he least expected it. But is Mrs. Ashton who he thinks she is? And what is he to do when the very woman he is trying to forget has entirely the wrong impression of him? He would ignore her, but she keeps wandering into his path with comically unlucky results. And when the rest of his family becomes suspicious about the reasons for his sister Georgiana's low spirits, the best way to protect her reputation is to bring her to Netherfield—into the vicinity of George Wickham, the man who broke her heart.Darcy must find a way to keep his wits about him, keep his sister's reputation safe, and keep Elizabeth Bennet from becoming something she was never supposed to be... his intended.
From the author of
Indisposed, Unintended
is a clean and sweet Regency variation of approximately 20,000 words.
Some Natural Importance
Jan Ashton - 2021
Men hold power over women, but I am not a man who wants to wield such power. I would prefer a woman who has some power over me.”Fitzwilliam Darcy already has one arranged marriage in his past. The last thing he envisions for himself is another, yet he has somehow become entrapped in a promise to a dying man. Not only must Darcy overcome his resentment in order to live up to his sense of honour, but when he realises how deeply his heart may be engaged, he must convince Elizabeth Bennet of his true feelings.Elizabeth never expected the imperious Mr Darcy to become a good friend of an idle gentleman like her father. And she certainly never anticipated they would form a secret pact compelling her marriage to a man she dislikes. She must set aside grief and resentment, as well as her suspicions: Is Darcy using her to avoid another bride pushed onto him by his family, or to gain riches Elizabeth never knew she had?Or is it possible he loves her?
Reckless, Headstrong Girl: A Pride & Prejudice Variation
Grace Gibson - 2021
Wickham, proving he is no gentleman, does the unthinkable and casts Lydia out of a second-rate coach. Filthy, exhausted, and penniless, Lydia is just facing the beginning of her ordeal! How can a spoiled, uneducated girl of fifteen—used to having her way—survive a night in the wilds of Sussex?As Mr. Bennet and Mr. Gardiner vainly search for her in London, Lydia’s sisters struggle to keep her secret from their Meryton neighbors. Though they fear the worst—that Lydia’s wild life has ended in tragedy—all hope is not lost. Mr. Darcy, in the midst of reigniting his courtship with Elizabeth Bennet, is determined to recover his love’s unfortunate sibling.Will Mr. Darcy succeed in finding Lydia and restoring her to respectability? In what shocking condition will this catastrophe render such a reckless, headstrong girl?
Forgotten Betrothal
L.M. Romano - 2021
He knew. From the moment she had uttered her true name, he had known that she was not free. So why was he here? Why did he still look at her in that way? Why could she see the adoration in his eyes and the torment in his features? Had he come to say goodbye? To leave her to this fate?CONFUSED AND CHASTENED following her cruel rejection of Mr Darcy’s proposal, Elizabeth Bennet returns to her aunt’s home in Gracechurch Street. Unable to find solace while pondering her terrible misjudgment of his character, she is overwhelmed with guilt for how she treated the puzzling gentleman from Derbyshire. Fitzwilliam Darcy has retreated to his London home after being spurned by the lady he loves, and after serious reflection has come to the realisation that he never deserved Elizabeth’s good opinion. A CHANCE ENCOUNTER WITH MR DARCY brings Elizabeth the opportunity to seek forgiveness, and possibly, a new start to their budding romance. But the introduction of a stranger into Elizabeth’s life threatens to reveal old family secrets that have the potential to truly unravel her world and all that she holds dear.
The Lady's Jewels: A Pride and Prejudice Variation (The Sweet Regency Romance Series Book 14)
Perpetua Langley - 2019
Her coachman, grooms and horses are gone, along with the lady’s jewels. The lady in question happens to be Lady Castlereagh, arbiter of Almacks, wife of the much-maligned foreign secretary and owner of such things as a kangaroo and a bad-tempered tiger. The lady’s injuries dictate that she must not travel for at least a month and she will stay at Longbourn for the foreseeable future. Determined to discover what has happened to her, Lady Castlereagh summons her dear friends Darcy and Bingley, and Bow Street man Horatio Quinn to Hertfordshire. Longbourn’s drawing room is given over to Mr. Quinn as he directs all involved in their efforts to solve the mystery. Who stole the jewels? What has happened to the coachman and grooms? Was it the coachman who executed the scheme? Could it have been highwaymen? Perhaps it was the lady’s errant maid and the butler she ran off with? Or maybe the mysterious Mr. Cratchet? As the party follows clues, Elizabeth and Darcy circle each other warily. She thinks he’s handsome and has a certain wit when he is not so serious. He thinks she’s uncommonly pretty and happily devoid of the coldness of a London lady. But he is too reserved and judgmental for her and she is too carefree and flouting convention for him. They are not at all suited. And yet… Hertfordshire is a hive of activity as proposals are made, proposals are rejected, theories are floated, red herrings are chased, a clergyman bumbles, a stern lady miscalculates, a devious miss is the architect of her own undoing and one Bennet daughter pays the piper.
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.
Conceit & Concealment: A Pride & Prejudice Variation
Abigail Reynolds - 2017
He even admits to collaborating with Napoleon’s troops. And Elizabeth Bennet despises all traitors. But she can’t make sense of Darcy. He doesn’t act like a traitor. He risks his own safety to save young women from the French. And how can she despise a man who loves puppies? Something about him doesn’t add up – and she finds him far too attractive. Then Darcy’s carefully constructed world crumbles, and he must entrust his closest-held secret to Elizabeth. To protect that secret, Elizabeth must disappear entirely, leaving her family and Darcy behind, to plunge herself into the dizzying world of fashionable London and the dangers of the Loyalist Resistance. Nothing will ever be the same again. Darcy is determined to find Elizabeth. Now that she knows the truth about him, there’s nothing to keep them apart – nothing, that is, until the day Darcy is forced to choose between his country and the life of the woman he loves…
Mistaken
Jessie Lewis - 2017
Miss Elizabeth Bennet, headstrong and usually self-assured, returns home to Longbourn chastened and confused after a surprising marriage proposal from Mr Darcy—a man she thought she despised. When Mr Bingley arrives soon afterwards, sent by his friend Darcy to resume his romantic attentions to Elizabeth’s beloved sister Jane, Elizabeth begins to feel something like regret for the man she so cruelly spurned.The once proud Fitzwilliam Darcy, thoroughly humbled by the rejection of his suit and resolved to become a man worthy of the woman he loves, sets about righting all the wrongs of which Elizabeth has accused him. But when terrible news reaches him from Hertfordshire, it becomes apparent that encouraging the capricious Charles Bingley to return to Meryton might just be the worst decision the master of Pemberley has ever made.Having assumed their own actions have ruined all hope of reconciliation, Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy soon learn they have greater troubles to overcome when betrayal of the worst sort threatens to forever ruin their chances of happiness.Mistaken is a novel-length Pride and Prejudice variation set in Regency England.
A Quest for Mr Darcy: An emotional tale of Elizabeth and Darcy inspired by the classic
Cassandra Grafton - 2017
Convinced he is over his foolish infatuation with Elizabeth Bennet, he returns from a year of travelling with a plan, both to protect the estate of which he is guardian and to ensure his sister's happiness: he intends to do his duty and secure a wife at the earliest opportunity. Duty; a path from which Darcy knows he should never have been diverted. Duty was safe and nothing would persuade him from it a second time. Soon restored to his home in Derbyshire, Darcy puts his quest in motion, preparing to welcome guests from Town, one of whom is the suitably eligible young lady he has earmarked as his future wife. But what of the Bennets of Longbourn? What befell them in Darcy’s absence from England? And what of the new tenants on his estate named Bennet? Is his path fated to cross with Elizabeth's once more? With the addition of his friend, Bingley's, mischievous twin younger sisters, letters from a stranger and a shadowy figure lurking in the grounds of Pemberley, Darcy's life is about to be turned upside down. Can he remain steady to his purpose, or will his carefully laid plans soon be in tatters as the rigid protection he has placed around his heart begins to falter?
A Happy Accident: A Pride and Prejudice Variation
Amelia Wood - 2019
And only the understanding that he is away from home allows her the freedom to explore the peaks around Pemberley, his magnificent estate in Derbyshire. But as Elizabeth as navigating the treacherous ground on her return to Lambton, she and Darcy come upon one another unexpectedly. Her shock caused Elizabeth to lose her footing and stumble. Darcy never thought he would have a greater shock than seeing Elizabeth Bennet exploring his lands only weeks after she broke his heart. That was until he had the shock of seeing her lose her footing and stumble from his sight. While Darcy cares for Elizabeth’s injuries at Pemberley, the two tentatively grow closer as they explore the misunderstandings and the growing feelings between them. But not everyone is pleased by Elizabeth’s stay at Pemberley. And they are prepared to do all they can to keep them apart. Even if it means corrupting their own honour and destroying the happiness of Elizabeth and Darcy forever. A Happy Accident is a Pride and Prejudice variation novella of approximately 30,000 words.