There are a lot of things I’m excited about with today’s author feature –

1. It is a brand new author, Belén Paccagnella
2. She is from Argentina
3. Her debut book is a modern-day Pride and Prejudice with an equestrian theme
4. And lastly, it is being published by Meryton Press!!

Today Belén is sharing a lovely vignette from her story, Obstacles. We hope you enjoy!

Thank you, Meredith, for hosting me during the tour for my book, Obstacles. This scene is titled, Home for the Weekend, which is a scene inspired by a picture that somehow up ended in Darcy’s phone. I hope your readers have fun reading it!

~~~

“Margaret!” Darcy called on entering the house. “I’m home!”

“Hi, Will!” It was Georgiana who came to greet him. “She’s out on an errand. I thought you were at Rosings.”

“Richard travelled to London so I preferred to come home for the weekend.” He dropped his bag on the floor and gave his little sister a tight hug. “And I thought you’d be in Manchester.”

“The girls are coming over tonight, and we’re going to the pub. They’ll stay for the weekend.”

“What girls?” He frowned as they walked together to the family room.

“Bridget and Roxanne, you know them.”

“Yes, I do,” he said with a smirk. “One of them passed out on my bed on your eighteenth birthday.”

“Yeah, Bridget. “ Georgiana smiled with fondness at the memory. “That was a great party.”

Darcy’s memories of that time weren’t as merry. The party spiralled out of control when the ‘girls’ smuggled tons of liquor into the house, and Pemberley was raided by an army of sloshed youths. That had been the start of the one of the worst weeks of his life. The following day, after cleaning up the mess, he drove to Devonshire and found Miss D nearly dead in her stall.

“Didn’t want to stay the entire weekend alone with Kate?” Georgiana pulled him out of his thoughts.

He chuckled. “You know how she can get. Richard went home, and Annie is making herself scarce these days, so she focuses all her energy on me.”

“Of course, you are her dear boy,” she teased him as they sat on the couch to continue their conversation.

“It wouldn’t hurt if you called or visited your aunt once in a while. Kate would love to see you.”

“I’ll go after the finals.” She sighed. “So how’s the selection for the auction going? Any good prospects?”

“We have a nice lot this year. There is one mare in particular that is stands out from the rest.  Petticoat is so beautiful; maybe I’ll keep her. Look.” He grabbed his phone and scrolled through the pictures.

Georgiana leaned closer to look as he slid his finger across the screen and showed her more than two dozen of pictures of the horses he took during his stay at Rosings.

“Who’s that?” She paused the panning and pointed at a young girl riding one of the horses.

“Elizabeth.” His heart sped up just with the sight of her. “She’s one of the trainers Catherine hired.”

“Oh?”

“She’s great. I met her in Meryton while we were training for the Cup. She was our assistant. The horses loved her. I think I told you, remember?”

“Mm…” Georgiana thought for a moment. “Oh yes! Didn’t she go to the Olympia with you?”

“Ah ha.”

“She’s very pretty.”

“Ain’t she?” He just couldn’t stop his smile from broadening and his eyes from glinting. “It was quite the surprise to find her at Rosings. Kate was short of staff so she hired her. She’s doing a great job, by the way. Fantastic rider.”

That must have peaked Georgiana’s interest, because she snatched the phone from his hand. He tried to recover it, but she didn’t let him.

“You took loads of photos of her.” She passed the pictures one after another.

“Not really—it’s the horses,” he replied defensively, suddenly uncomfortable that his sister was spying in his phone and examining thoroughly all seven pictures that included Elizabeth while training the horses at Rosings. He didn’t realize there were so many.

“Yeah, right.” Georgiana’s curiosity faded, and she gave him back his phone.

Not sure why he felt so relieved, he blocked his phone and left it on the table. “I’m hungry. Wanna go to the village to grab a bite?”

“Sure!” Georgiana jumped to her feet. Darcy followed her as they exited the house.

They chatted about everyday stuff. Georgiana told him about university and her plans for the weekend with her friends. Darcy spoke very little and carefully avoided anything related to a pretty girl who had once been his assistant and was now working at for his aunt at Rosings Stables.

Aw! I love this little sampling of Darcy’s interest in Elizabeth. I do wonder…does she admire and respect him as much as he does her? Can’t wait to find out!! Congrats to Bélen on her debut release!!!

~~~

About the Author

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Belén Paccagnella discovered the world of Jane Austen fan fiction after watching the 1995 BBC miniseries of Pride and Prejudice. In her  teens, she lived in Brazil when her family moved to the city of Curitiba due to her father’s work. She moved back to Buenos Aires a few years later, where she studied agronomy but finally pursued a different career and started working in the development administration of shopping centres.

In 2001, she started writing both Regency and modern stories adapted from the Pride and Prejudice storyline, merging drama, humour, and adventure while creating  characters with unique traits.

Belén still lives in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, where she shares her home with her  daughter and her pets while spending her time working, reading, and writing.

Connect with Belén

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Giveaway Time!

Meryton Press is generously giving away 8 ebook editions of Obstacles in conjunction with this blog tour!!  Woot woot!  

   

   

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Commenting on this post and filling out the rafflecopter widget on this blog enters you in a chance to win!

• This giveaway is open worldwide.  Thank you, Meryton Press!
• This giveaway ends September 30th!

Thank you to Claudine Pepe, Meryton Press, and Belén Paccagnella for making this blog tour possible! Click the image above to check out the rest of the tour!