Book picks similar to
When Duty Calls by Belén Paccagnella


jaff
austenesque
historical-fiction
pride-prejudice-variations

Ardently Loved: A Pride and Prejudice Variation


Lory Lilian - 2018
    The story begins after Lady Catherine’s visit, and the readers will join Elizabeth through the bittersweet experience of learning about her desires, hopes, regrets and fears, until the long-awaited “happily ever after” and a little bit beyond it … Author Note: most of the book is appropriate for the general audience. The last chapter contains scenes recommended for mature readers only (which can be skipped, if preferred).

Compromised by Mr. Darcy: a Pride and Prejudice variation


Valerie Lennox - 2020
    Fitzwilliam Darcy only knows that his sister grows pale when he asks her what happened. He knows that she seems incapable of putting her ordeal into words.He’s in Hertfordshire for one reason: to find out what befell her. He doesn’t have time to dance at this horrid ball in Meryton, so he claims that none of the women are handsome enough to tempt him.As if fate means to scold him, he immediately sets eyes on Miss Elizabeth Bennet. From then on, he is a man destroyed.Miss Elizabeth Bennet hates Mr. Darcy, and not only because she overheard him saying that she wasn’t handsome, but because he is arrogant and disparaging and altogether wretched. But when Mr. Darcy comes upon her at the Netherfield Ball as she is having an unfortunate mishap with her clothing, they are discovered together, her dress in disarray.The scandal demands a solution, and Mr. Darcy provides it. He asks her to marry him. But when he claims to be swept away by her beauty, she knows he is lying. Indeed, it seems he is lying about a great many things and hiding even more.Trapped in this marriage for the sake of her family’s reputation, she abhors Mr. Darcy’s secrets, even as his kisses awake tumultuous reactions deep within her. She is falling for this man, but how can she ever love him when he will not trust her?By the by, this book isn’t the least bit clean. Be advised.

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.

Compromise & Consequence: a Pride & Prejudice Variation


Sue Barr - 2021
    Darcy are irretrievably compromised and forced to marry. Angered beyond reason, Mr. Darcy prepares the vilest marriage settlement known to man, forcing Mr. Bennet to accept his terms or suffer the consequences of ruined reputations and unwed daughters.The repercussions that follow show a determined young lady with keen intelligence and a prideful man who comes to realize that the consequences of their compromise are the best things that ever happened in his life.

The Child


Jan Hahn - 2018
    In Jan Hahn’s "The Child," Darcy flees England soon afterward, striving to overcome his longing for her. Upon his return two years later—while standing on the steps of St. George’s Church in Hanover Square—he spies the very woman he has vowed to forget. But who is the child holding her hand? Darcy soon discovers that Elizabeth and her family are suffering the effects of a devastating scandal. His efforts to help the woman he still loves only worsen her family’s plight. His misguided pride entangles him in a web of falsehood, fateful alliances, and danger. Will Elizabeth be able to forgive Darcy for his good intentions gone awry? And what effect will the child have on Darcy’s hopes to win Elizabeth’s love?

Still Waters: A Pride and Prejudice variation


Elin Eriksen - 2019
    The aid of a solicitous gentleman is appreciated until her distraught mother misconstrues the circumstances and creates a situation more intolerable than she could ever have imagined.Elizabeth is grateful when her betrothed leaves the area to let her grieve the loss of her sister in peace but the gentleman who returns for their wedding is not the same gentleman who left her behind.She had not expected her life would be easy, moving halfway across the country, married to a man who found her only tolerable, yet Elizabeth is not made for misery. The decision to make the best of what life has given her was easy to make but the follow through breaks her heart as she must fight for her position and accept betrayal too despicable to contemplate.Warning: Infidelity, betrayal and descriptive sexual encounters that are appropriate for a mature audience only.

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.

Being Mrs Darcy: A Pride & Prejudice Variation


Elizabeth M. Bridges - 2018
     Elizabeth Bennet takes her friend's words to heart and when Mr Darcy proposes to her in Hunsford, she doesn't reject his hand. She decides to put her feelings aside and responds in a more reasonable manner. Flattered at his affection and devotion, Elizabeth is drawn to Mr Darcy, realising that they are both well-matched in a sense, and their tempers are complementary to each other. Nevertheless, his condescending attitude and pride still trouble her. And the gentleman himself is indeed very proud of his excellent bride and the mistress of his home. And being very selfish in his love for Elizabeth and grateful to her for his happiness, Mr Darcy doesn't recognise her true sentiments. And he isn't aware that he is forcing his wife to acknowledge that she is depending on him for her finances, her social status, and even her name. Their marriage is just the beginning of getting to know one another. Therefore, the misunderstandings between the young couple increase and their felicity in marriage is soon to be threatened...

Dare to Refuse Such a Man


Mary Smythe - 2021
    When his dearest, loveliest Elizabeth is taken from him with only a curt note of explanation, he determines that, far from accepting her father’s rejection of his suit, he must instead find her again and make his case. After all, a woman worthy of being pleased is also worth fighting for.SEVERAL MONTHS SHY OF HER MAJORITY, it is not so simple a thing to defy Mr Bennet’s will, but Elizabeth, for the sake of her future happiness, must try. With various allies in her corner, as well as foes standing against her, Elizabeth’s courage must rise against all attempts at intimidation. Even from her own, much beloved father.

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.

What's Past Is Prologue


Ann Galvia - 2018
    Before her marriage, she saw herself making the best possible choice. Her husband saved her family from ruin. All he asked in return was her hand. Secure in his good opinion, Elizabeth married him. Only with hindsight and his cryptic warnings that passion is not immutable does Elizabeth question her decision. Her solution? Give him a son as soon as possible. Once his lust for her has been slaked, this service she has rendered him will ensure her value. The newlyweds are summoned to Rosings Park almost the moment they are married. Though the estate can boast of beautiful grounds, Elizabeth and Darcy arrive to find devastation. A flood has swept away Lady Catherine’s last hopes of hiding debt and years of mismanagement. She expects Darcy to shoulder the recovery efforts. The effort to save Rosings strains the already tense relationship between Elizabeth and her husband. To make matters worse, her presence is met with disdain and disinterest from the family. As the days in the besieged estate drag on, Elizabeth slowly untangles the histories and secrets of her new relations. Like Elizabeth’s marriage, the crisis at Rosings is the culmination of past events. Disaster need not be the result of only bad choices; good principles have led them astray as well. As for Elizabeth, she barely knows her husband, and loving him might be impossible. Yet, she is determined to save all she can—her marriage and the estate—and somehow create the future she longs for.

Entirely A Matter Of Chance: A Pride and Prejudice Variation


Sophia King - 2019
    Her mother would be furious with her for missing dinner with Mr Bingley, but at least Elizabeth would not have to tolerate his friend, the rude and proud Mr Darcy. Until she finds her way to the cabin to discover she is not the only one seeking shelter from the storm.Fitzwilliam Darcy is shocked but not displeased to discover he must pass the night with the woman who, despite her inferior connections, has bewitched him like no other. And if they are discovered together, it will give him the perfect excuse to finally give in to his desires and offer Elizabeth Bennet his hand in marriage. Until, to his shock and dismay, he discovers this is the last thing in the world Elizabeth wants. But as the storm rages on and the hours' pass, the confined space of the cabin tests both their willpower.In the small society of Meryton, rumours spread that Darcy and Elizabeth were together that stormy night. They are determined to dismiss it as gossip until Darcy’s old enemy, George Wickham, hears the rumours and finds the proof he needs to force his old friend into what he believes will be a degrading marriage. But when he discovers he has enabled Darcy to marry the woman he is passionately in love with, he must change tactics and do all he can to come between them and persuade Elizabeth she cannot trust her future husband. As Elizabeth and Darcy resign themselves to the idea of marriage to a spouse they fear can never love them, Wickham’s deceit and lies threaten to come between them and destroy their growing love for one another. And if Elizabeth cannot put her fears to one side, she might lose the man she has come to love to a charmer who can bring her nothing but pain.

With My Whole Heart Forever


Wendi Sotis - 2020
    Miss Elizabeth Bennet’s pleasure trip to the Lake District with her aunt and uncle is redirected when they receive an express stating Mrs. Gardiners’ sister and two nephews have fallen ill. The trio proceeds to a farm in Derbyshire to assist the ailing family, on the estate where her aunt grew up, Pemberley. During a walk, Elizabeth happens upon a young lady. A friendship is born, but secrets and heartache surround her new friend. Perhaps Elizabeth will finally meet Ana’s brother, of whom she has heard so much, at Pemberley’s Harvest Ball?Fitzwilliam Darcy is desperate to help his sister recover from the events at Ramsgate but is at a loss as to how to do so. After she begins to ride every day, she also seems to begin healing. In his state of relief, he does not push for answers as to why. When Ana comes to him excitedly requesting that he make the Harvest Ball a masque, he is so grateful for her interest in something, he agrees.

The Letter of the Law: A Pride & Prejudice Variation


J. Dawn King - 2018
     Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy is desperate. If he doesn’t marry within 33 days, he loses guardianship of his sister to his cantankerous aunt Lady Catherine de Bourgh. His diligent search within the ton was in vain, so he heads to the country with his mind filled with determination and his heart hoping for love. Miss Elizabeth Bennet is desperate. Her father’s disinterest in their estate has resulted in concern for the future of her family. When circumstances become precarious, Elizabeth accepts an offer from the last man on earth she suspected would be interested in marriage to her. Will the hero and heroine of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice find their happily-ever-after when the odds and the wickedest of enemies are against them? Follow Elizabeth and Darcy in this novel-length Regency romance as J. Dawn King takes them through a sweet adventure where their happiness comes only if they obey The Letter of the Law. By the author of Amazon bestsellers Compromised! and The Abominable Mr. Darcy.

Darcy’s Paramour: A Pride and Prejudice Variation


M.A. Sandiford - 2020
    Shaken, he has retreated into solitary pursuits such as walking and fishing. Much time has been lost lamenting past errors, but he sees at last a way forward. He will try to get Elizabeth back. Risk a confession to Bingley. Convince Lady Catherine that he will never marry her daughter. Curb his pride and disrespect for others. Seek a reunion. And hope.No sooner has this resolution been formed than Darcy receives dramatic news of the Bennets. The family has been disgraced, not by Lydia, but by Elizabeth herself. She has been convicted of a felony and is now missing, believed a fugitive. Alone and without means, she faces destitution—or transportation at best if caught.Convinced of Elizabeth’s innocence, Darcy stands by his resolution. But how can he help Elizabeth without locating her? And how can he locate her without betraying her to the authorities? The conundrum seems insoluble. Will love find a way?