Happy Friday, readers! I’m thrilled to share a cover reveal for the fabulous Lucy Marin with you today! 😊

Lucy has so gifted us so many fantastic Austenesque books, and it is looking like she is far from being done! How fortuitous for us readers!! 🥳

Lucy’s new release – The Art of Apology – is coming out soon. And I will give you one guess who is the character making the apology...  😏

Lucy is here to share the stunning cover reveal for The Art of Apology. 👏🏼

We hope you enjoy! 🤗

 

~ From the Author ~

Hi one and all, and thank you, Meredith, for hosting the introduction to my upcoming novel, The Art of Apology.

I can’t quite remember how this plot bunny came to exist. I keep a list (several actually, haha) of ideas, and The Art of Apology pulls together elements from several.

The core of the story is about Elizabeth and Mr Darcy, of course. I was interested in how he would react if he was forced to confront his faults early in the story and in light of being told by two men—one a friend and one not—that he was behaving poorly. This time, it is not his love for Elizabeth motivating him to become the honourable gentleman we all know he is meant to be.

The other plot element relates to Mr Bennet and my desire to give him more of a role than I usually do. How would he act if provoked? In this case, it is Mr Darcy’s insult to Elizabeth that causes him to examine his own failings as a father and husband. We know he is an intelligent man, and I had to see if I could coax him into being a better one.

In the end, it is a relatively simple story of two men who each take a look at their lives and relationships, realize they are letting other people (and themselves) down, and have to decide how to act. In the middle stands our dear girl, Elizabeth—who is not without fault herself. One man is motivated by love for her, and the other might just discover he is rather keen on her too!

Enjoy the excerpt, and I look forward to seeing what you all think of the cover designed by the wonderful and multi-talented Pemberley Darcy. I love the colours, and Elizabeth being outside by herself fits the story wonderfully!

~ Book Description ~

You have made me view the world about me and the people in it with greater clarity, and I shall forever be grateful, especially because it means I have had the chance to know you.

WHEN ELIZABETH BENNET IS INSULTED by Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy at the Meryton assembly, she is determined to despise him forever. How could she do otherwise, given what an arrogant, rude man he is? She intends to forget about what happened, but she finds it is not so easy when faced with incessant scorn from her neighbours in the weeks following.

DARCY IS SHOCKED when Mr Bennet confronts and reprimands him about his actions, but afterwards admits it was rather ungentleman-like behaviour. He condescends to apologise but, startlingly, Elizabeth rebuffs him, claiming he must learn to apologise properly if he truly wants her forgiveness. Darcy is ready to dismiss her, but when Mr Charles Bingley also questions his recent actions, he realises he must reform himself, beginning with making amends to Elizabeth.

ELIZABETH WATCHES WITH AMAZEMENT as she sees not only Mr Darcy but also her own father attempt to ameliorate their connexions to the friends and family about them. Still, she keeps her distance from Mr Darcy, stubbornly clinging to her first impression of him, until an unexpected meeting ends with her wondering if there might be more to him than she had supposed. But just how far can an apology go?

~~~

~ Excerpt from The Art of Apology ~

Rupert Bennet watched as Elizabeth left the room. How could Mr Darcy look at her, the most admirable of his girls, and dismiss her? As much as he often called his daughters silly, especially the three youngest, and thought girls should be left to their mother’s care, he truly believed that Jane and Elizabeth were estimable and that Mary, Catherine, and Lydia would naturally become more like them as they matured. It might be another few years, but one day, he would be able to contemplate what fine, sensible, well-behaved young women all his daughters were.

If Mr Darcy could insult Elizabeth, what did that mean for her sisters? Might other gentlemen have a low opinion of them? It seemed impossible, yet…

Bennet sighed and ran a hand over his face. He was tired and should have sought his bed long ago. He found it amusing to hear his wife and daughters speak of their evening entertainments, if only so that he could tease them, but he had never liked keeping late hours. The best thing he could do for himself was to forget the entire business of Mr Darcy and his ill-conceived words. After all, what could he do about it; he had not even been present when the sorry episode happened. Accordingly, he pushed himself out of the armchair and made his way to his chamber.

At breakfast the next morning, Bennet found he could not rid himself of the irritation of knowing a man he had never met—which for some reason made his vexation worse—had spoken so harshly about his dearest girl. He observed his daughters as they chatted amongst themselves and steadily ate their meal. Unconsciously, he was looking for fault, some reason Mr Darcy had felt it reasonable to act as he had. There could be none, of course; even if Elizabeth and her sisters were the most tiresome creatures in the kingdom, it would not justify him or any other person speaking poorly of them, especially in public.

In as much as he could be glad about anything to do with this disgusting business, he was relieved Mr Darcy had not taken it into his head to insult Jane. She was too tender hearted to laugh it off as Elizabeth had. None of the younger three would have cried over it, but there was a little something—almost like an itch at the back of his consciousness—telling him that overhearing such a dismissive statement would have injured Mary and Catherine. As for Lydia, he could not say why, but instinct suggested it would have been very bad for her too.

Instead, that wretched man chose my Lizzy! How could he have seen her—Bennet’s most worthy girl—and refuse to dance with her? How could he call her not handsome? It was preposterous! Any man would be fortunate to earn her regard. Slighted by other gentlemen? Was this Mr Darcy blind or merely stupid? There were hardly ever enough partners for all the women at the assemblies. It was a frequent topic of conversation in drawing rooms across the area. If Mr Darcy was any sort of gentleman, he would have participated more, ensured the single young ladies went home with fond memories of the evening.

What kind of father would let an insult to one of his daughters stand unchallenged? The thought surprised him, but in an instant, he knew it was true. He was far from being a young and foolish man and had no intention of calling out Mr Darcy, but the man must be told that what he had done was unacceptable.

Elizabeth might laugh about what happened and soon forget it, but Bennet would not.

And without further ado….here is the big reveal!!!

(expected release date: November 18th)

The fall colors!! So warm, sun-kissed, and inviting! I love it! I love the vision of Elizabeth enjoying a walk at golden hour like this. 🍁

Elizabeth’s pose is thoughtful and contemplative – I can imagine taking a walk amongst such scenery is helping her work through everything on her mind or heart. 🧡

Mr. Darcy being confronted about his insult by multiple people, Mr. Bennet taking action – I love the idea of both of these been taking steps to reform! 📕

And the apology…I cannot wait to see how that plays out. Hopefully Elizabeth will see the sincerity behind it soon! 🤞🏼

What do you think, friends? 🤔

~~~

GIVEAWAY TIME!!!

The lovely people at Quills and Quartos are offering  3️⃣ ebook copies of The Art of Apology to  3️⃣  lucky readers who comment on today’s post!

To enter this giveaway leave a question, comment, or some love for Lucy below.

• This giveaway is open worldwide. Thank you, Quills and Quartos! 
• This giveaway ends October 25th

 

You can preorder The Art of Apology now!

My sincere gratitude to Lucy Marin and the wonderful people at Quills and Quartos for putting this special post together!