What if Darcy and Elizabeth had come to understanding in very different circumstances and a bit later than in the novel? --------------------------------- Elizabeth walked back to the desk. Mr Darcy was writing busily, a frown of concentration gracing his forehead. “Yes, Miss Bennet?” he asked, interrupting his work to look up at her. “Have you changed your mind about keeping my company?” “The door is closed.” “Closed,” he repeated. She nodded. “Yes. I cannot open it.” “It must have gotten stuck.” “Well, I have no strength to push it open.” Darcy stood up, walked around the desk and straight to the door. After a moment it turned out that he was as unsuccessful at opening the solid oak door as she was. “What is the meaning of this?” Elizabeth asked. “It appears that someone must have locked the door from the outside.” Her eyes widened. “Locked it?” “Yes, I cannot explain it otherwise.” “Why would someone do such a thing?” “Yes, why would someone do such a thing…why indeed?” Darcy asked, his expression both bewildered and dazed. “What shall we do now?” she wanted to know, expecting him to find a solution to their dilemma. “We should wait,” he answered quickly. “Wait?” “If someone locked it by accident, this person must open it in due time,” Darcy stated. Elizabeth was not convinced with his reasoning. “Perhaps,” she said, the tone of her voice doubtful. She stepped to the door and pulled at the handle. She did not know why she did it. The door was closed, after all. “Should we not cry for help?” she suggested. “Or look for the key? Mr Bingley might keep a spare key in one of the drawers of the desk.” “Are you in any danger, Miss Bennet?” he asked. “Do you not trust me?” “No, of course not. I mean, I do trust you, sir. Nevertheless, it is all rather strange, will you not agree with me?” “I am confident that it is nothing more than a simple misunderstanding. As for the key, I have never seen one.” “Could it be a servant? The person who locked the door?” “Quite possibly.” Elizabeth felt that her confusion was growing. “I do not understand,” she whispered.

    Moments before Mr. Darcy asks for her hand, Elizabeth reads a letter that alters her decision to his proposal but not her heart toward the man. Obstacles from within and without hedge up their way as the two learn how to move forward on this untried path. Will the unforeseen misfortunes and constant missteps be enough to end their journey before it has truly began? How do broken hearts and injured souls heal on a rough and beaten road?

     Jane Austen wrote that in her novels she painted the world on a “little bit (two inches wide) of ivory,” working “with so fine a brush.” Her well-known books, such as Pride and Prejudice and Emma, display the power of this approach; her observations about human nature have proven so accurate and entertaining that her books continue to be beloved two hundred years after they were written. Inside you will read about... ✓ A Young Writer Emerges ✓ Austen’s Romances ✓ Pride and Prejudice ✓ Jane’s Mysterious Illness ✓ Last Days and Death And much more! Jane Austen’s life contains the seeds of her novels—the events, people, and places that inspired her as she created her stories. Here you will discover how Austen’s writing and life developed in parallel, from her teenaged Juvenilia to her unfinished last work The Brothers (published posthumously as Sanditon).

     Can a free-spirited tomboy learn to fit in with respectable society…? 1799, Suffolk When her father dies in battle, seventeen-year-old Isolde Cavanagh is forced to rely on the protection of an old family friend. But when she arrives at the imposing estate of Bawdsey Grange it seems her would-be guardian has died. And his son Richard de Baudresey has never heard of her. To remain at the Grange, Richard insists Isolde learns to fit in with high society. But having grown up in military camps, tomboy Isolde has no interest in becoming a lady. Can Isolde bend her will to please her guardian? Will Richard learn to accept her as she is? Or will the dark secrets bubbling below the surface threaten their growing bond? IN HONOUR BOUND is the first book in the Brides By Chance Regency Adventures series, an enchanting set of Regency romances set in Georgian England. THE BRIDES BY CHANCE REGENCY ADVENTURE SERIES BOOK ONE: In Honour Bound BOOK TWO: A Chance Gone By BOOK THREE: Knight For A Lady

    With only her few possessions, she flees her former life with no thought of returning. What she discovers upon her arrival at Rookhaven Hall, however, is quite different from what she anticipated. When the enigmatic Lord Edmond Rookburne returns from his long travels in India, the handsome widower shocks the household with the addition of three young children. They are not his lordship’s own blood but are Indian orphans left in his care. As their nanny, all Elsie sees is the desperate need of the traumatized little ones. She sets to work enveloping them in love and concern, and Edmond is immediately drawn in by Elsie’s exceptional warmth. Working together as unlikely caretakers, they forge a genuine friendship. But when they find themselves spiraling toward a forbidden romance, both Edmond and Elsie know that a life together would be impossible. For Edmund, the constraints of Society are absolute. But for Elsie, it is the secret of her past that ensures their love can never be.

    Rhys, Viscount Hadley, is the practical sort. A true gentleman of the Ton, he leaves London at his Uncle’s request to render counsel to the daughter of an old friend. Riding through the country to a small Hampshire village, he has no idea where this journey is headed. Lady Alice Korte-Giddenhurst senses his imminent arrival. She has strange gifts — talents for which there are no rational or scientific explanations. She knows, in that mystical place within her mind, that Rhys will be more than just a visitor. So much more. And she finds herself eager to begin their dance of desire. When Rhys arrives, he’s thunderstruck — the woman welcoming him seems to be glowing. Or maybe it’s just the immediate and powerful attraction he feels toward her. Whatever it is, he’s intrigued enough to stay for dinner…and thus the adventure begins.

    He is her only hope.But they will need Mr. Darcy's help for their plan to succeed.When Lucy Tolson's father dies, she must either marry quickly or go to live with her uncle. For Lucy, there is only one choice, and his name is Philip Dobney.To be presented with an offer of marriage from a long time friend is shocking to be sure! But the thought is not unwelcome. Philip, who has recently received the living at Kympton, is in need of a wife, after all, and Lucy is more than qualified to be a parson's wife.However, what seems to be a simple solution soon becomes complicated when Lucy's uncle and Wickham show up with plans to gain enough money to cover debts and secure the living that Wickham at one time refused. Events from the past combined with threats in the present threaten to tear Lucy and Philip apart unless Darcy can help his friends save their blossoming love and rid Lucy of her uncle once and for all.This book contains a bonus regency romance short story of about 5,900 words called Hope at Dawn.The story And Then Love is approximately 22,000 words in length or about 125 printed pages of story without front or back matter.

    Welcome to the hottest Season that Regency London has ever seen.An enemies-to-lovers regency romance that's like watching an episode of Bridgerton. Perfect for fans of Georgette Heyer, Outlander and Romancing the Duke.Miss Essie Craven has been engaged since birth to a man she has only met once. The haughty, black-haired man with the intense blue eyes: Aidan Ravell, Earl of Denholm. The most coveted man in all of the Ton.The day of their marriage is set. The only problem is, spirited Essie dreams of more than being a Countess. She soon finds out that Aidan has his own reasons for not wishing to marry, but is compelled to proceed due to his sense of honour and the financial baggage his father has left him.So, Aidan and Essie strike up a deal. Essie will find him a more suitable match, and in the meantime they will keep up appearances as the most fashionable couple in all of the Ton.But soon what is real and what is fake begins to converge. Suddenly, what seemed to be a simple agreement is no longer quite that straightforward . . .

    Here, it is coupled with the short novel Lady Susan, in the epistolary form popularised by Samuel Richardson in the 1760s.

    Could she pick her destiny, Vivian would choose adventure in the rolling hills, endless afternoons in the dusty garden, and a husband who speaks to her heart; no matter what his income might be. One magical evening at Almack’s - London’s most exclusive club - Lady Vivian runs into the dashing Lieutenant Sawyer Cook and discovers that her future is not so set in stone. Romance ensues, scandals are wrought, and real identities are revealed. Trapped between duty and longing, Lady Vivian must come to grips with the very notion of fate. Lady Vivian is a 70.000 word clean and wholesome Regency-era romance novel. It makes the first volume of Almack's Assembly Rooms. Each book of the series can be enjoyed as a stand-alone, or read as a collective. Garuenteed to make you chuckle!

    Turning to the most successful Matchmaker of London, she is shocked to be paired with the very man she used to love once upon a time. Overwhelmed by the path that her heart has been on, she realises she has to make a critical decision. Will she let her anger prevail or will she listen to what the man who once abandoned her has to say? Could she really forget about her lost love by finding a new one, or is it impossible for her heart to overlook how she once felt?Thomas Gregory is an Officer in the army, but after a tour of service, he has decided to retire. After getting back to his estate, he is inevitably overcome by the memories of a long lost love. Tired of being haunted by his painful past, he decides to obey society's rules and turn to a London matchmaker in order to make a satisfactory match. But how will his heart react when the lady who once betrayed him will be chosen as the perfect match? Will he dare to give love a second chance?When past bitterness and hurt arises, Sophia and Thomas cannot pretend that love was ever easy. Will they be able to overcome the wounds of the past? Or will the chance of finding another match be too tempting to resist?

    William Chesterton, the Earl of Chester, might be the perfect gentleman, but his feelings for Constance Bridgewater are anything but gentlemanly.Constance Bridgewater, the daughter of the late Earl of Bridgewater, might be the perfect lady, but her feelings for the Earl of Chester are anything but ladylike.They both know that if they were together, everything would be just perfect.So what is keeping them apart?

    . . . It tells one all one needs to know about Jane Austen, and, best of all, leaves one wanting to read the novels once more, and better."—Jane Aiken Hodge Every devoted reader feels that, in some way, they know Jane Austen. But how can we make sense of her extraordinary achievements? At a time when most women received so little formal education and none could obtain a place at university, how did Austen come to write novels that have commanded the attention of some of the most brilliant minds ever since? Why were hers the books that Darwin knew by heart and Churchill read during the Blitz? In this graceful introduction to the author’s life and works, Fiona Stafford offers a fresh and accessible perspective, discussing Austen’s six astonishing novels in the context of their time. Newly updated, Jane Austen: A Brief Life offers a rich and sympathetic insight into a writer who was just as much the Romantic genius as Keats, Shelley or Byron—full of youthful exuberance, intensely creative once she had found her individual voice, and dead before she reached middle age.

    She will, she says, marry the ugliest man in London rather than become the wife of a man she loathes. Her three loyal friends are determined to help her, but how does one advertise for an ugly husband? Then, one day, a solution appears. The girls rescue a man who is being attacked by a gang of thugs and Matilda rashly conspires to marry the man, even though he is unconscious and unable to assent to marriage. But who is this stranger, and why was he attacked? As the story unfolds a world of highborn Dukedom and heartless intrigue unravels, sweeping Matilda into a dangerous mystery, as she helps her new and unexpected husband reclaim his title. If you love clean historical romance with sumptuous storylines and lashings of love you will enjoy this new novella by bestselling author Charity McColl. Read “The Ugliest Man in London” today and be swept into a world of romantic Regency intrigue.

    When her brother’s friend offers to pay for a Season in London in exchange for pretending to be his betrothed, she sees it as a miracle. Jonas needs a fiancée in order to inherit his grandfather’s estate, but he didn’t consider how spending several months with Barbara would make her necessary to his happiness. Now she’s in London and he’s in agony. A gentleman never reneges on an agreement…unless his heart is broken.