Hi friends! Happy June! Happy Friday!

Time to celebrate summer, fun, and new reads!  ☀️

And one new read I’m so happy to celebrate is A Practical Man by Grace Gibson! 😄

It just came out this week and sounds like it places Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth in a forced/fend for themselves kind of situation. 😮

Grace is here to share an excerpt from her newly published release – A Practical Man. 📖

We hope you enjoy! 

~ Book Description ~

I had been thrown most unwillingly back into the vicinity of Elizabeth Bennet’s net. How often had I told myself I did not want to get caught by her? But of course I did.

Fitzwilliam Darcy is hiding on the roof of a folly when he hears Elizabeth Bennet describe him as a man she could never love. It is, he will later reflect, not his finest hour.

Darcy has spent years convincing himself he is a rational man, not given to sentiment, not susceptible to a pair of fine eyes or an impertinent opinion. Rosings Park in the spring of 1812 puts an end to that particular piece of fiction. What he cannot yet put an end to is Elizabeth Bennet herself, who contrives to be stranded at the same posting house when the spring floods come, leaving him with no horses, no plan, and no means of pretending he does not care what happens to her.

Two days on the road to London with a borrowed farm cart, a widow’s cottage, and a mule of unexpected character, tear away every performance both of them have been keeping up, and leave something neither of them has a word for yet.

The road to Pemberley is longer than either of them expect. A London Season, a duel, a fever on the Northumberland moors, and Darcy’s own considerable talent for talking himself out of happiness all stand in the way of their happily ever after. Then Elizabeth arrives at his door, practical, determined, and entirely finished with waiting, and a practical man is finally brought to his senses.

A Practical Man is a variation of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice.

~ An Excerpt from A Practical Man ~

I entered the dim interior of my coach where sat Miss Elizabeth, looking questioningly up at me.

“I am afraid I might not have been of assistance to you at all,” I said in a tone of sincere apology. “Our way ahead is well and truly blocked and our means of return is very uncertain. The only surety I can offer you is that we are in for a miserable night.”

She spoke too kindly, I thought. “I see,” she said, looking down at her gloves before meeting my eyes and asking the most salient question. “What must we do, sir?”

“I am sorry to again burden you with the choice, but it is entirely yours to make. We either stay here until such time as the way can be cleared, or we ride ahead to find shelter.”

“I-I do not ride, sir.”

“You would not have a horse in any case. I have only one saddle and would have to take you up with me.”

When she did not answer I continued talking—an anxious impulse, I suppose, for it is unlike me to say more than I must.

“If we continue, we would head to a crossroad and strike north some five miles to a village where we hope to find an inn. Our aim would be to circumvent this, the main road, and eventually reach a posting house where I could hire a coach. Keller and Carsten would ride alongside us, the footman and groom would be left behind—John to guard the carriage, and Charles, who is the stronger of the two, to ride back towards Hunsford with a spare mount to bring what help he can find.”

As I babbled on, she looked at me with confusion writ large on her face.

At last I fell quiet. When she still did not answer, I spoke again, this time in a much lower voice. “I am terribly sorry, but you must also know that it may take a full day to extricate this coach—perhaps even longer, if there is more rain.”

She offered me a tenuous smile. “Then press on we must, Mr Darcy. Is it foolhardy of me? I do not like to go backwards and would almost rather face worse than stand still.”

My heart twisted painfully in my chest, so much did her courage move me. “It is the choice I myself would recommend,” I said. “Might I help you to step outside? You may find it more comfortable while the team is unhitched. I must warn you we could be riding for several hours and perhaps you might like to stretch your legs.”

She pulled on her cloak and put the hood over her head. “I thank you, yes, Mr Darcy.”

I led her towards the edge of a scrubby mass of bushes, and by doing so, I knew that if she needed to briefly step behind them, she would.

John lit a torch and placed it in a bracket on the coachman’s box. He then moved the trunks inside, where he would sit for the whole of the night and likely even longer. I knew already that Carsten, when retrieving my ‘few things’, had also retrieved my valuables, papers, gold, and pistols. Those would travel with us.

Charles unhitched the team and led the horses one by one to a nearby ditch for what water they could be encouraged to drink. Keller, having joined the groom at the ditch, looked over each horse, patted them with paternal admonitions to show him their worth, and then pulled two forwards.

Meanwhile, I had taken my riding horse to the ditch some yards away from the carriage horses, for he was a touch high-bred and not on friendly terms with haulers. He drank, but unwillingly, and I looked him over and patted him, also giving him a lecture.

“You had best leave off your objections tonight, friend,” I said. “We have some work yet to do before you are coddled and hand-fed your oats.”

What an experience to endure together! It looks like they are getting along, despite the situation…

Can’t wait to see what happens next…

Congrats on your release of A Practical Man, Grace. 

~~~

GIVEAWAY TIME!!!

In conjunction with Grace’s lovely visit, Quills & Quartos is giving away  copies of A Practical Man to  lucky readers of this blog. 

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

• This giveaway is open worldwide.  Thank you, Quills and Quartos!
• This giveaway end June 30th.