Happy Monday to you my sweet Austenesque friends! I’m so honored to share another exciting cover reveal with you today! What’s even more exciting is that this cover reveal is for a new author, J.L. Ashton, and her debut novel, A Searing Acquaintance!
A special thanks to Jan and the team at Meryton Press for putting this all together!
~ A Searing Acquaintance ~
Elizabeth Bennet, saddled with a difficult family, dull dating prospects, and a mundane marketing job, had never met a man like Fitzwilliam Darcy, the wealthy and remote British-American heir to a family famous for both style and tragedy. The aspiring novelist finds herself intrigued yet aggravated by the enigmatic businessman who never imagined thinking about, let alone falling in love with a woman as conversant in Looney Tunes and Yogi Berra as in literature and Greek poets.
When they’re thrown together for a weekend in the country, they find themselves of like mind and lust. Confessions are made and secrets exchanged until misunderstandings and angry feelings overtake the intimacy they shared. Things only worsen when George Wickham stirs up an emotional tempest with tales of the Darcy family’s unhappy history and laces Elizabeth’s book project with traces of legal impropriety.
Marked by their painful pasts, their acquaintance sears them both with anger, yearning and confusion.
Two weekends. She’d spent two weekends in his company, a few dinners and parties, and a football game. And he’d fallen in love with her before they’d ever really sat down and talked, as they had this weekend, or spent time in the other’s company, learning about each other’s lives and likes, histories and personalities. Apparently he’d learned enough about her at Netherfield, and told her enough about himself, to light the spark between them. She’d thought it was irritation she’d felt, but it turned out to be some kind of slow burn.
None of it had made any sense to Elizabeth. Too much, too soon. You can’t fall in love with someone if you don’t even know his favorite color, she reminded herself. It was the smart girl mantra: Ask, then verify. If he says he loves romantic comedies, make him watch a few and monitor his reactions. Does he roll his eyes or have to clear his throat during the sad, achy, yearning scenes? If he says he’s handy around the house, go blow a fuse or loosen some screws and see how much prompting he needs to ask for a screwdriver. Bonus points if he carries a Swiss Army knife.
Can Elizabeth reconcile her distrust of unconditional love and lasting relationships with Darcy’s need for trust, forgiveness and enduring love? She expects to have expressions of love laughed away; he never anticipates receiving them.
This modern spin on Jane Austen’s classic Pride & Prejudice sweeps the couple through Darcy’s heartbreaking background and Elizabeth’s ongoing family complications as they duel over everything from stray cats to the Social Register to college football.
Expected Release Date: Some time today (February 15th!)
~ Author Bio ~
J.L. Ashton didn’t meet Jane Austen until she was in her late teens, but in a happy coincidence, she shares a similarity of name with the author and celebrates her birthday on the same day Pride & Prejudice was first published. Sadly, she’s yet to find any Darcy and Elizabeth candles on her cake, but she does own the action figures.
Like so many Austen fans, Jan was an early and avid reader with a vivid imagination and a well-used library card. Her family’s frequent moves in the U.S and abroad encouraged her to think of books and their authors as reliable friends. It took summers in London, a history degree, and another decade or two for her to start imagining variations on Pride & Prejudice, and another decade—filled with career, marriage, kids, and a menagerie of pets—to discover the world of JAFF. Today, in between writing Jane Austen variations, Jan lives and works in the Chicago area, where she volunteers far too often and is a member of the local and national chapters of the Jane Austen Society of North America.
A Searing Acquaintance is her first book.
And without further ado….here is the big reveal!!!
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Connect with Jan
~ A Searing Acquaintance Blog Tour ~
March 7th – 21st
(Jan will return to Austenesque Reviews for a guest post March 21st! YAY!)
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What do you think, readers? Isn’t it gorgeous?
Sounds like this Darcy and Elizabeth have very different first impressions!
We can always count on George Wickham to stir things up, right?
Love the cover! I enjoyed reading this story when it was being posted online, glad to see it being published 🙂
I love this cover and the storyline sounds intriguing. I will definitely be adding this to my wishlist. Thanks Meredith for introducing me to another author. I hope Wickham gets his just desserts in this book and that there isn’t too much angst as I much prefer it when Darcy and Elizabeth are together fighting off all ‘enemies’!!
My pleasure, Glynis! I love learning about new authors and sharing new about their books with you all! 😉
Firstly, the cover IS absolutely gorgeous. Secondly, I had to smile at ‘ bonus points if he carries a Swiss Army knife’!
As I don’t have time to read the online story postings, this is a totally new author and story to me and it sounds fantastic from the little snippet above. Well done to the author and Meryton Press!
Great cover! Excited to read this one after hearing it much praised 🙂 Congratulations, J.L.!
Love the cover! Congrats on the new release, Jan!
Beautiful cover. I can’t wait to read this book too, as I’ve heard some really great praise for it already. Thanks for the cover reveal!
I love the cover and the smiles on each of them! Thank you for introducing me to another new author! Congratulations Jan!
Sounds delicious–hadn’t heard it was releasing today. Exciting!
Beautiful cover – Congratulations, Jan and Meryton Press!
Beautiful cover and congrats on the new release! Looking forward to reading this one!
Lovely cover and best wishes with your publication.
Oh, yes! I love this cover! Congratulations, Ms. Ashton, and happy release day!!
Congratulations on the release! It is a great cover and it sounds like a great book!
Thanks everyone–and especially thanks to Meredith! I’m very excited to publish the story, especially with such a lovely cover by Zuki at Meryton Press..
Thank you for sharing your special reveal here, Jan! I’m very honored!! Wishing you much success with your release!
Beautiful cover, Jan! Congratulations and happy release day! I can’t wait to come back and read your guest post. Thanks for bringing a new title to our attention, Meredith!
Very happy to share this cover reveal here! I’m such a cover-junkie, so I love doing these types of posts!
I loved the cover Meredith! Thanks for sharing it with us 🙂
Me too! I love how happy the couple looks! I wonder if the setting of a park and the birds have any special significance?
What a lovely cover. Looking forward to this story very much.
Reading a story on darcyandlizzy.com all day so just checking my messages. Going to look for this a.s.a.p. Sounds great. Congratulations and good luck. Thank for the introduction, Meredith. Great Cover.
Thanks for checking out the reveal, Sheila! I love how you were able to start reading the book right away! 😉 Glad to hear you are enjoying it!
Not released…yet
It’s available now. (Not sure if I can post a link)
Here’s the link: http://www.amazon.com/Searing-Acquaintance-J-L-Ashton-ebook/dp/B01BTC0G88/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1455633479&sr=8-1&keywords=j.l.+ashton! Congrats, Jan!!!
Beautiful work by Zorylee Diaz-Loupitou! I look forward to reading this story, as the teaser here is interesting! Happy to see you published, Jan!
I like the title and the cover. Thanks introducing us to a new author. I will add it to the TBR pile.
Love it! I am definitely eager to read this one and try a new to me author.
I am about 1/2 way through reading this and already had many tears….I rate many books on the tissues used and this one rates very highly. Well done and so intense.
So do I, Sheila! I can’t wait to dig into this one.