Hi friends! It is a busy month for author visits and I’m absolutely thrilled about it!! 😃

Especially when I get to visit with authors that have been long-time friends to this blog! 🫶🏼

Please help me in welcoming back author Monica Fairview!! 🙌🏼

As you may have seen Monica has a new Pride and Prejudice variation that came out titled – Pemberley Encounter! 🤩

Monica is here to share an enticing excerpt from her new release! 📖

We hope you enjoy!  🤗

It’s such a pleasure to be back again on Austenesque Reviews!! As I’m writing this, I’m thinking back to all the times I’ve visited your blog, Meredith, and once again I can’t help marveling at your being here for the Jane Austen community all these years!  

[Meredith: Side note for anyone who didn’t previously hear the story, but Monica will forever be special to Austenesque Reviews as she was the VERY FIRST author to visit our newbie blog! Wayyyyyyyy back in 2009! 😮]

I don’t know how you do it, but I’m very grateful!  

But I’d better get on with my reason for being here. As some of you may know, my last books have been the magical series Mr. Darcy’s Magic, which took up a lot of my time. I loved writing the series – I adored the magic context and the many obstacles Elizabeth and Darcy had to overcome, and I was really heartbroken when it ended. Still, sustaining a story over four books means you stay deeply immersed in that world, and that makes it emotionally demanding.  

Which is why I decided that for my next book, I was going to write a novella, because I wanted something short and sweet. Ha! Like I have any control over it! The short little book kept getting longer and longer, until it became a full-length novel. Go figure! 

Why can’t books do what we want them to?  

Not that I’m complaining! I’m very happy with the way Pemberley Encounter turned out, in fact. It felt great going back to familiar territory – writing a traditional variation. I liked the slow development of Darcy and Elizabeth’s relationship. I particularly liked the way they gradually came to know and appreciate each other. Darcy in this story starts off being a tad over-protective when it comes to his sister, but it makes sense, since the events take place right after the near-disaster of the elopement in Ramsgate. Everything is still very raw at this point, and he’s suspicious of everyone.  

Trust has to be earned, and that isn’t always easy. Still, ODC manage to work things out, and there’s a happy ending of course, which is exactly the way it should be.  

Writing Pemberley Encounter made me happy. I hope you enjoy it too.  

~  Book Description ~

During a visit to Derbyshire, an unexpected encounter will change everything… 

Elizabeth Bennet thought a walk on the footpath crossing Pemberley would be a quiet respite, a chance to marvel at its grandeur from a distance. But fate has other plans. A chance meeting with the shy Georgiana Darcy leads to an innocent invitation to dinner—an act of kindness that sets off a series of unexpected events.

When Darcy unexpectedly arrives at Pemberley, he is shocked to find a complete stranger in his house. His immediate suspicion of Elizabeth’s intentions – and his desire to prevent her taking advantage of his sister – drive him to cast her out in unfortunate haste.

This compelling tale of a fated, unexpected connection unfolds as Elizabeth’s headstrong charm grapples with Mr. Darcy’s stern reserve, setting the stage for a heartwarming romance that grows steadily long after their first encounter.

Set in the summer of 1811, before Netherfield Park is let, this is an alternative first impressions variation of Jane Austen’s timeless classic, in which Elizabeth’s first meeting with Mr. Darcy goes very badly indeed! 

Pemberley Encounter is a cozy, closed-door, full-length standalone Regency Jane Austen variation with mild angst and an enemies-to-lovers romance trope that will warm your heart. 

*** 

~ Excerpt from Pemberley Encounter ~

Elizabeth asked for her valise and her trunks to be brought up. She pulled items of clothing out of the cupboard and began to toss them pell-mell onto the bed in a heap which eventually spilled over to the floor. Mr. Darcy had issued a command, and now they were all tripping over themselves to obey him. No one cared enough about her to ask her whether she wanted this or not. Her wishes were completely ignored. She sank down onto the edge of the bed, for once in her life consumed by self-pity. 

The door opened and Jane peeped from behind the door.

“May I come in?”

Elizabeth would have preferred it to be her father, but she could never turn Jane away. 

“Of course.”

“I will help you organize your things, Lizzy,” she remarked, passing her gaze over the wreckage. “It is not like you to be so unhappy. I would have thought you would jump at the chance to live in Town. I know I would.” 

“So would I, if it did not involve Mr. Darcy.” She breathed out in frustration. “I wish Papa had spoken to me first instead of reading Mr. Darcy’s letter in front of the whole family. Now that Mamma has taken such a fancy to the idea, I will never hear the end of it if I don’t go.”

Jane smiled and sat next to Elizabeth. “Do you really feel so strongly about Mr. Darcy? Can you not bring yourself to forgive him?”

“I could easily have forgiven him, if he had not injured my pride so badly. It was a long walk back to Lambton. You cannot imagine how mortifying it was to limp into the inn at Lambton and be pitied by a complete stranger who, by the way, was not at all surprised to hear it was Mr. Darcy who was responsible. He as good as implied that it was not the first time it had happened.”

“But did this gentleman say so directly? Was he cast out and accused of being a thief?” 

Elizabeth considered what he said. “He did not tell me what happened. He was to introduce himself and tell me later, but I did not stay downstairs long enough, and we left early the next day. He simply suggested that he, too, had suffered at the hands of Mr. Darcy.”

“But you do not know the full circumstances, Lizzy. You cannot let assumptions dictate your behavior. Mr. Darcy’s letter was very civil. He admitted it was all a mistake, and he apologized. He is trying to make amends. He is even going so far as to invite you into his sister’s home for three whole months. It is a very handsome offer. You cannot hold a grudge after that, surely.”

Her sister did not like to think poorly of anyone. Even the dreadful Mr. Darcy had to be salvaged. 

“I know you like to see the best in people, Jane, but you cannot expect me to forget how poorly I was treated. Mr. Darcy cannot be redeemed. His arrogance, his disdain for the feelings of others and his ungentlemanly behavior – he did not even send a carriage after me when he knew I was wearing evening slippers – cannot be excused. And now everyone expects me to swallow my pride and agree to live with him.”

“You are not going to live with him. You are going to live with Miss Darcy. You might never even catch a glimpse of him. You will be pampered and live in a great house with your own maid and food produced by a French chef. How could that be a bad thing? Think, Lizzy. Unless you believe Miss Darcy is as bad as her brother?”

“No, Miss Darcy is the sweetest young lady, and she has suffered at the hands of her brother.”

“Then surely you would be willing to tolerate the brother for Miss Darcy’s sake. Think, Lizzy! Do not let your dislike of him overtake your chance to do good.”

Elizabeth had not thought of it that way. Was she prepared to endure the brother for the sake of helping the young girl? Poor Miss Darcy needed her. Could she really refuse? She felt trapped, locked in. Every instinct rebelled. At the same time, her conscience urged her to support Miss Darcy. 

“I do feel sorry for Miss Darcy,” she said, slowly.

Jane nodded. “And besides, it is a wonderful opportunity for – other things. It is just that—” Jane blushed “—imagine if you are introduced to his friends or family. Perhaps you might even find someone you could fall in love with. It is a good chance, Lizzy. Look at Charlotte. She is the daughter of a baronet, yet at twenty-seven, she still has not found a husband. You know very well there is no one in Meryton for us. At least you might meet someone there.”

Elizabeth sighed heavily. “Sometimes, Jane, you are just like Mama.”

She was feeling more and more like a pawn that was being moved here and there for everyone else’s convenience. No one considered what it would be like for her to be trapped in the household of a man who had humiliated her. 

“Well, then, there is nothing more to be said, Lizzy. It sounds like you have made up your mind. I think, if you talk to Papa and tell him how strongly you feel, he will understand and will send Mr. Darcy on his way.”

Despite her words, Jane looked unhappy. Elizabeth’s conscience stirred again, this time because she felt she was letting her sisters down. 

“Jane, do you think I am being selfish by not thinking about you and my sisters?”

“I think you must do what you believe is right. It is I who am being selfish by browbeating you into going when the very idea is abhorrent to you. If it makes you so unhappy, you should not sacrifice yourself, especially when there is no guarantee of any return.”

“Exactly. Mama is talking about invitations to balls and meeting young gentlemen, but who is to say any of that will come to pass?” She came to her feet. “I will go downstairs and convince Papa to write to Mr. Darcy and tell him I cannot come.”

Jane nodded. “It is for the best.”

***

Oh but we know she is definitely going…right? She will go and stay with the Darcys for three months…right?  🤭

Congrats on your new release, Monica! I cannot wait to see all the encounters that happen between Darcy and Elizabeth at Pemberley! 🥰

 

~ Connect with Monica ~

Website    ❧    Facebook    ❧   Austen Variations

~~~

GIVEAWAY TIME!!!

In conjunction with Monica’s lovely visit today, she is giving away  2️⃣ ebook copies ofPemberley Encounter  to 2️⃣ lucky winners!!

To enter this giveaway leave a comment, a question, or some love for Monica below!

• This giveaway is open worldwide.  Thank you, Monica!
• This giveaway ends July 23rd.

 

Pemberley Encounter is available now in Kindle and paperback!