Hello readers!  We are very excited to welcome back author L. S. Parsons to Austenesque Reviews today!  Last month you may remember we participated in a cover reveal for Ms. Parson’s debut release, How to Mend a Broken Heart, where we learned that this story has a very interesting love triangle!  Today, Lee shares a little more about the creation of her cover and her interpretation of Darcy.  

Hello, Austenesque Reviews readers. First I would like to thank Meredith for hosting me today and for giving me the opportunity to introduce my debut novel, How to Mend a Broken Heart. Since Meredith hosted the cover reveal, I thought it appropriate to discuss my interpretation of the cover and what it says about Mr. Darcy and my story. Before I start, I wish to give a big thank you to Zorylee Diaz-Lupitou. Zorylee is the one responsible for creating an image which captures the heart of the story—Fitzwilliam Darcy, a man caught between duty, honor, and the woman he loves. She has done a magnificent job.

As readers of Pride and Prejudice, I’m sure you have your own ideas of what Darcy looks like in your mind’s eye. Many of you may use the image of one of the actors who have portrayed Mr. Darcy in the recent film and television versions of this classic story. Others have your own vision of him in your mind. This group probably contains those who read the book prior to viewing the remakes. While I have always enjoyed reading, I am ashamed to say that I never read Pride and Prejudice until after viewing the 1995 A&E/BBC miniseries. Now, I reread it every year.

That being said, the Mr. Darcy I picture as I read is not Colin Firth or Matthew Macfadyen, but an unknown face with dark, curly hair and dark brown eyes. I have searched for a picture of that elusive image, and now I believe I have found it on the cover of How to Mend a Broken Heart. Zorylee must be a mind reader to have found an image that so closely embodies how I see Mr. Darcy.

Both authors and readers of Jane Austen variations not only have their own vision of Darcy but their own thoughts on what he is like as a man. Of course, there are the usual aspects we all know: prideful, arrogant (at times), honorable, decent, loyal, and wealthy. Though Mr. Darcy has all these attributes which he presents to the public, there are different qualities that distinguish his private side. While the picture on the cover represents both sides of Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, it is his private side that the reader will explore in How to Mend a Broken Heart.

Darcy is a damaged man. He was deeply hurt by the rejection of the woman he loved, Miss Elizabeth Bennet. Once a man with a raging libido, a hereditary trait he shares with his cousins Edward and Richard Fitzwilliam, he suppresses his sexual nature as a show of love and loyalty for Elizabeth Bennet even after she shuns him. Three years is a long time to pine for a lost love, so when an old flame from his past re-enters his life with seduction on her mind, Darcy is vulnerable. He believes Elizabeth is lost to him, and it is time to move on with his life.

Fate enjoys playing tricks on the unsuspecting as it does on Darcy when he walks into his aunt’s drawing room to find Elizabeth Bennet as her guest. Elizabeth knew she would eventually face Mr. Darcy as he was her hostess’s nephew, and she made a vow to be civil and apologize for her intemperate words when they last met at Hunsford.

Darcy took Elizabeth’s congenial attitude as a sign that he might be fortunate enough to gain her favorable opinion. Regardless of the fact that he is engaged, he sets out to do just that. Underlying his stated purpose of improving her opinion of him, he begins to subconsciously seduce her. She has awoken in him a sexual desire that surpasses anything his future bride has engendered.

Elizabeth finds herself succumbing to Darcy’s persuasions. While she professes she is unmarriageable due to scandal and tragedy that has plagued her family since Hunsford, she finds his attentions a salve to her feelings of being unwanted by any man. Between his need to win her and her vulnerability, a powerful attraction develops that may lead them to ruin.

To find out what happens to Darcy and Elizabeth and Darcy’s betrothed, I invite you to read How to Mend a Broken Heart.

This story is a non-canon variation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and is meant for mature audiences.

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GIVEAWAY TIME!!

Meryton Press is generously giving away 4 paperback and 4 ebook editions of How to Mend a Broken Heart in conjunction with this blog tour!!  Woot woot!  Commenting and entering through the rafflecopter widget on this blog enters you in a chance to win!

       

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Thank you to Jakki Leatherberry and the lovely people at Meryton Press for making this blog tour possible! Click image to check out the rest of the tour!