Hi friends! Do you fancy a visit to an up and coming premier summer destination? 🏝️

If yes, you are in luck!  🍀

Jayne Bamber is here to share more about her newest Pride and Prejudice variation Preference & Neglect (which releases tomorrow!) and takes Darcy and Elizabeth to Sanditon!! 🤗

Jayne gives a lot of delicious clues about what readers will find in this variation and shares a most romantic excerpt from Preference & Neglect. 📖

We hope you enjoy! 😊

Hello, Janeites! It’s great to be back at Austenesque to tell you about my upcoming release, a Pride & Prejudice variation titled Preference & Neglect.

There’s so much I loved about writing this book, and I’m looking forward to releasing it on April 15th. But there are too many fun surprises I don’t want to spoil for the readers. Here’s what I can share for now….

It’s set in Sanditon!

I’ve been in love with the idea of Sanditon since the first completed variation I read in high school, and the BBC miniseries brought it to life in my imagination. I spent a lot of time building that world as I wrote this book, from the characters Darcy and Lizzy would encounter there to the ways they would entertain themselves in the up-and-coming resort town.

Uncle Gardiner is a knighted hotelier!

With Jane wed to Bingley, Mrs. Bennet dead and Mr. Bennet remarried, Elizabeth has chosen to live with her uncle, who has been honored by the King for his efforts at making Sanditon a premier summer destination. Sir Edward Gardiner runs the luxurious Tremont Hotel, and Elizabeth had built a new life supporting his efforts.

Charlotte has had her HEA!

Elizabeth did not leave Meryton without her pragmatic and insightful bestie, who plays a considerable supporting role in this tale. Who’s the lucky fella? Gardiner’s also-knighted business partner, a recent widower and father of five, Sir Thomas Parker.

Not the BBC’s Sidney Parker!

While I adored the television series’ take on Sidney, I went a different route with the character in this rendition. As the aspect of Elizabeth working at the hotel was inspired by Forgetting Sarah Marshall I based Sidney off of Russell Brand’s portrayal of Aldous Snow – for those who aren’t familiar with the film, see also: Daphne’s drunken brother Simon in later seasons of Frasier – debauched, bawdy, and with absolutely no filter (I especially enjoyed writing his irreverence to Lady Catherine….)

Who doesn’t love a fake dating trope?

I won’t spoil the reason for it, but circumstances – cough, Colonel Fitzwilliam – prevail upon Darcy & Elizabeth and force them into a mutually beneficial fake courtship. Naturally, all their friends assume it’s only a matter of time before they fall for each other for real.

Georgiana with a backbone!

The timeline of the story is altered, with most of it taking place two years after Ramsgate… where Georgiana got pregnant. After bearing Wickham’s child in secret and enduring other hardships, the Georgiana in Preference & Neglect speaks her mind to her brother, making her and Elizabeth fast friends.

Familiar Austen faces!

Y’all know I love a crossover. While the primary focus of the story is Darcy & Elizabeth and their romance, a few other Austen characters made their way into the story. Marianne Dashwood appears as Elizabeth’s step-sister, and honestly the courtship of Mr. Bennet and Mrs. Dashwood probably deserves its own book! The newlywed Knightleys also appear, as honeymooning guests at the hotel – and you know Emma can smell intrigue a mile away.

Could there be a sequel?

This is one of my quicker reads, at just over 100k words, with most of the fast-paced story taking place over just two weeks (except for angry flashbacks!) Though the story can absolutely be read as a stand-alone with a guaranteed HEA, I have loved the world-building of Sanditon so much that I might just have to revisit this seaside paradise for more summer revels and romantic romps….

And now, here’s a little sneak preview for you….

~ Excerpt from Preference & Neglect ~

At the back of the garden was a small gazebo, and Darcy followed Elizabeth up the three little steps as she stood in the center of the quaint little structure, staring out at the sea and the village that arced along the clifftop. She moved to the edge, leaning on the railing and drawing in a long, slow breath of sea air.

Darcy mirrored her gesture, moving to her side and resting his hands on the freshly painted wooden railing. When he looked over at Elizabeth, there were tears in her eyes. She blushed as he silently offered her his handkerchief.

She dabbed at her eyes, her other hand sliding closer to his as she smiled up at him. “Forgive me – I was overcome by how perfectly happy I am. Jane’s absence has been Sanditon’s only imperfection. I am fond of my other sisters, and Papa and his new wife and son, of course – though I know not what it shall take to persuade them to visit. But to have Jane here, to know that it will cheer my uncle, who is still so forlorn, and to have so many happy events to look forward to…. And is it not exquisitely beautiful?”

Darcy had nearly worked up the nerve to rest his hand atop her own when she raised it in a sweeping gesture at the idyllic landscape before them. He took in the vibrant coastal vista, the air fragrant with the blossoms of the garden and laden with the distant sounds of the seabirds that dipped in the wind over the water. Sunlight glittered on the undulating waves and cast a golden sheen on the colorful pastel edifices along the cliff. Beyond all this, the Tremont Hotel rose above the village like a beacon, as if reminding him where home was. It was where he had met Elizabeth – where he had properly come to know her. And it was all utterly glorious.

“You and Sanditon are one and the same,” he said, feeling his eyes crinkle with affection as his gaze landed back on Elizabeth. “Full of light and energy and warm cheer.”

“My goodness, Mr. Darcy, what a lovely thing to say. I shall cherish that compliment all the more because you do not say it to perform to our usual audience.”

“As I told Miss Dashwood, I seldom give my best performances before an audience.”

Elizabeth laughed. “Tomorrow’s assembly will be just the opportunity to do so. I hope you truly do intend to dance with Marianne and Jane, for I believe gentlemen may be scarce if the guest register at the hotel is any indicator.”

“Of course I shall; I am a man of my word even if I am no great orator. Besides, it will be an impish sort of delight for me to shock Bingley and Knightley by taking to the floor so often. Like my cousin Richard, they have often wished to see me more sociable and prone to merriment. Our play-acting is the liveliest they have ever seen me.”

“Then I suppose it is an accomplishment of sorts, that I have induced you to such frivolity where they have failed.”

“And it is miraculous that I am so eagerly anticipating an evening of dancing. Do they do anything as scandalous as waltzing here in Sanditon?” Darcy felt the question spill out of his mouth before he could think about it.

“I would only disappoint you if they did, for I do not know the steps. At Longbourn I had my sisters to practice with, but here….”

Darcy spoke softly and extended his hand to her. “Here, I could teach you.”

She placed her bare hand in his, letting out a low gasp as she appeared to recollect that she had stripped off her delicate lace gloves when examining some roses Lady Parker had especially admired. He slowly moved their hands and arms into the correct position, and she stared intently up at him as their position brought their bodies so near.

“This is how we begin,” he whispered, not quite meeting her eye. “I have left enough space between us for you to observe the footwork, but at the assembly I shall hold you closer – that is, I – that is how the dance is done – close.”

“How thrilling,” she said, perhaps a hint of anxiety in her voice.

“You need not be nervous,” he said softly. “The steps are quite simple, you need only relax yourself and follow my lead. I shall start with my right, and you with your left. Three steps in a quarter turn, and then the next step pivots us like so. Now, with your left, three steps again, and then pivot about. And another three, like so.”

Elizabeth’s skirts swirled in a becoming manner that appeared to please her as she gazed downward, watching their feet move in time together. She hummed a tune in triple meter to keep time as she made the steps, less hesitant with every turn. “I feel graceful; I hope I do not look a shambles.”

“That would be impossible,” Darcy breathed, laughing gently as she gained her confidence and began to hum faster. They quickened their movements a little, and he pulled her closer to him. “Can you do it without looking?”

“I think… yes.” Elizabeth tilted her head upward, her lips a perfect o of surprise. Her humming ceased.

It was the first time they had looked at one another since they began dancing, and now they were moving in absolutely magnificent harmony as their eyes locked. And then a wonderful and terrible thing happened to Fitzwilliam Darcy. He was struck by lightning – struck utterly dumbfounded – struck by a most inconvenient and incandescent discovery. He was utterly lost to the love that roared in his heart for the wrong woman – for Elizabeth Bennet.

The best and worst part of it was that he saw all of this reflected back to him in Elizabeth’s shining grey eyes.

He drew her closer, their bodies nearly touching. She stilled, her upturned face inches from his. A few curls had come loose when she had removed her bonnet upon arrival, and they now blew around her face as a warm breeze swirled through the gazebo. Her skirts billowed around his legs and she leaned into him, their hands still entwined.

Darcy peered down at her lips and imagined his arms encircling her. He remembered what it had felt like to carry her in his arms that day in the rain. He had relished the feel of her body, and he longed to do so again. How would she react? She had agreed only to the pretense of courtship; was this but a lark, the ruse an act of friendship – or worse, pity?

It was this disheartening notion that saved him from disaster. Darcy recovered himself and slowly released her, dipping into a bow as he would have done in a ballroom. Had he been obliged to speak, he might have lost all sense of his mission in coming to Sanditon, and even the blackmail that bound him to his purpose; he might have kissed her, claimed her, begged her to end the pretense and return his love in earnest.

❓ the wrong woman… that day in the rain…fake courtship….blackmail….??? I’m so intrigued. I adore Sanditon and I think a sojourn there with Elizabeth and Darcy sounds like just the thing! 🌊

Congrats on your new release, Jayne! 🙌🏼

Preference & Neglect is available for preorder and releases TOMORROW!!!

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GIVEAWAY TIME!!!

Jayne is kindly offering an ebook giveaway of Preference & Neglect, in conjunction with her visit today!

To enter this giveaway, leave a comment, question, or some love for Jayne below and fill out the rafflecopter form.

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• This giveaway is open worldwide. Thank you, Jayne!
• This giveaway will end April 17th!