Every Woman Dreams...

“A Touch of Honor” [or] What to Do With a Character You Despise?

Posted on January 8, 2020 by Regina Jeffers

Early on, I convinced my traditional publisher, Ulysses Press, to print one of my Regency romances – a book I originally called A Touch of Gold and later called A Touch of Scandal. Ulysses released the book under the title The Scandal of Lady Eleanor. That book has been followed by seven others, each the tale of one of the members of a fictional covert military group operating out of the Home Office during the Napoleonic Wars and known as “the Realm.” The men of the Realm have served their country honorably and have returned home to claim their titles and a chance at love, a fleeting hope each held during their service. Unfortunately, a Baloch warlord claims one of the group has stolen a fist-sized emerald, and Shaheed Mir means to have the jewel’s return, or he will know his revenge.

Today, I celebrate Book 7 in the series, one of favorites. As with each of the others, A Touch of Honor addresses what we sometimes think of as “modern” issues, but ones commonplace in the Regency Period. This one addresses the desire of young women to remain slim, as well as the addictive overuse of laudanum during this period.

Those who followed this series waited for this episode, which they had predicted to include the bringing together of Baron John Swenton and Miss Satiné Aldridge. However, for me, I had long ago forsaken the possibility of the two finding happiness. You see, I did not like the character of Satiné Aldridge, and before you chastise me by saying such things as “You created the girl, you could have endowed her with endearing qualities,” I get it! If I wanted Satiné to be as strong willed and intelligent as her twin, Cashémere, who is the heroine of book 3, I should have written her as such.

However, the more I thought of treating her as a “twin” to Cashémere in all ways, Satiné told me otherwise – told me that she had been raised in the “ideal” home with their maternal uncle, Lord Charles Morton, a baron, while Cashé had suffered under the care of their paternal uncle, Lord Samuel Aldridge, a religious fanatic. There was no means for them to be equals. Therefore, Satiné would not react to adversity in the same manner, as had her twin. The more I wrote of her, the less I liked Miss Satiné, and I made up my mind she was not good enough for any of the Realm heroes. That fact created a problem: Who would be the ideal mate for the VERY private Lord Swenton? John has never known love; his mother deserted him and the former baron (his father) for life upon the European continent. John means never to make the same mistakes as his father and never to know the scandal of a disastrous marriage, but from the beginning of their relationship, Satiné Aldridge offers nothing but duplicity and manipulations, even bringing Shaheed Mir’s notice to their marriage.

The books in the series are…
The Scandal of Lady Eleanor (Book 1) – the story of James Kerrington, Lord Worthing, and Lady Eleanor Fowler

A Touch of Velvet (Book 2) – the story of Brantley Fowler, the Duke of Thornhill (and brother to Lady Eleanor), and Miss Velvet Aldridge (the Fowlers’ cousin and Cashémere and Satiné’ s elder sister)

A Touch of Cashémere (Book 3) – the story of Marcus Wellston, the future Earl of Berwick, and Miss Cashémere Aldridge, the middle Aldridge sister and twin to Satiné Aldridge

A Touch of Grace (Book 4) – the story of Gabriel Crowden, the Marquis of Godown, and Miss Grace Nelson, a governess in Samuel Aldridge’s household and sister to a baron

A Touch of Mercy (Book 5) – the story of Aidan Kimbolt, Lord Lexford, a viscount, and Miss Mercy Nelson, the younger sister of Miss Grace Nelson

A Touch of Love (Book 6) – the story of Sir Carter Lowery and war widow, Mrs. Lucinda Warren

A Touch of Honor (Book 7) – the story of Lord John Swenton and, well, he starts out with Satiné

A Touch of Emerald (Book 8) – the conclusion to the series and the story of Daniel Kerrington (son of James Kerrington by his first wife) and Lady Sonalí Fowler (the Duke of Thornhill’s daughter by his first wife).

His American Heartsong: A Companion Novel to the Realm Series – the story of Lawrence Lowery (brother to Sir Carter Lowery) and Miss Arabella Tilney

Book Blurb for A Touch of Honor:

For two years, LORD JOHN SWENTON has thought of little else other than making Satiné Aldridge his wife; so when he discovers her reputation in tatters, Swenton acts honorably: He puts forward a marriage of convenience that will save her from ruination and provide him the one woman he believes will bring joy to his life. However, the moment he utters his proposal, Swenton’s instincts scream he has made a mistake: Unfortunately, a man of honor makes the best of even the most averse situations.

MISS SATINE ALDRIDGE has fallen for a man she can never possess and has accepted a man she finds only mildly tolerable. What will she do to extricate herself from Baron Swenton’s life and claim the elusive Prince Henrí? Obviously, more than anyone would ever expect.

MISS ISOLDE NEVILLE has been hired to serve as Satiné Aldridge’s companion, but her loyalty rests purely with the lady’s husband. With regret, she watches the baron struggle against the impossible situation in which Miss Aldridge has placed him, while her heart desires to claim the man as her own. Yet, Isolde is as honorable as the baron. She means to see him happy, even if that requires her to aid him in his quest to earn Miss Satiné’s affections.

The first fully original series from Austen pastiche author Jeffers is a knockout. – Publishers Weekly

Book Excerpt: (In this scene, John has reluctantly escorted his wife to a ball where he has encountered his baroness’s former “lover,” Prince Henrí of Rintoul. Deeply drowsy from the excessive laudanum she has consumed, Satiné is unaware of Henrí’s appearance in London. John has removed Satiné to his Town home, but his quick anger finds a target, Miss Isolde Neville, his wife’s companion and a woman he secretly desires.)

She had repaired the tat where the material had torn in one of the gowns presented to her by Lady Lowery. It was a beautiful royal blue confection, and Isolde had been anxious to wear it. Her cousins would think she had taken on airs, but she would enjoy their jealousy. It was like no gown she had ever thought to wear for she was essentially of a very practical nature. In truth, she would prefer to wear it for Lord Swenton’s eyes only, but those dreams would never know fruition. Tomorrow, the baron meant to remove his household to York, and soon after, Isolde would depart for Ireland. She would never return to England, and most certainly would never see London again. She would accept the intentions of one of her countrymen, marry, and bear the man a half dozen children. Yet, she would always remember her time with Lord Swenton. “Your days are numbered,” she warned her foolish heart. “No dancing a jig in celebration of your marriage. No wearing a gown, which would set his lordship’s heart a reeling.” A wistful sigh escaped before Isolde could swallow it. “Best to wear the drab clothes of a lady’s companion,” she chastised her whims. “It remains my armor against temptation.”

The sound of a ruckus below interrupted her thoughts. She rushed from her rooms to encounter the man over whom she had spent too many hours of late in daydreams. Lord Swenton carried his wife toward the lady’s quarters. Lady Swenton’s limp form announced the baroness had discovered a new supply of laudanum.

“My Goodness!” Isolde rasped and then raced ahead of the baron to open the connecting doors. She jerked the counterpane free of the bed to permit him to deposit Lady Swenton upon the mattress. “What happened?” Isolde asked as she undressed her mistress.

“Did you know?” the baron asked in accusatory tones. He stood beside his wife’s bed, his hands fisting and unfisting, arms akimbo.

Isolde’s fingers released the clasp of the baroness’s necklace and turned her mistress to her stomach so she could unlace Lady Swenton’s gown. Out of breath, she asked testily, “Did I know what?”

Lord Swenton’s voice had turned cold. “When you convinced me to escort my mother’s remains to York, did you know Lady Swenton meant to remain in London to meet her lover? Or was it your purpose for me to encounter Prince Henrí tonight? You did say this evening would be a monumental event.”

Isolde’s fingers froze in their task. “Have you taken leave of your senses?” Her hands wildly brushed away his allegations. “I have been nothing but loyal to you. Other than Lord Morse, I am ignorant of a potential lover, and I have never heard of Prince Henrí.”

“What of a heated spat between your mistress and Lady Fiona?” he accused.

“Nothing!” Isolde said defiantly. “When I came to Miss Aldridge’s service, the baroness was some four months with child. She withdrew from her social engagements shortly after my taking the position. I never held the pleasure of an acquaintance with the former baroness.” With a huff of exasperation, Isolde returned to Lady Swenton’s unconscious state. “If you will pardon me, I must attend to your wife.” Despite her best efforts, a soft sob escaped. He had never spoken to her harshly.

Within a heartbeat, the baron had circled the bed and had caught her to him. He drove Isolde backward until her spine was pressed against the interior door and his hard body plastered her front. “Forgive me,” he whispered roughly against her temple. “I never meant to harm you. Please, Isolde, I have acted a fool.”

Some dark, inexplicable passion rushed through her, and Isolde instinctively pressed against him. The white-flare of need ripped the breath from her chest, and she buried her face into the crook of his neck. “We should not…”

“Should not what?” His voice sounded as breathy as did hers. “Should not claim one moment of happiness?”

Isolde could not dismiss how aware she was of this man’s masculinity. “One moment would never be enough.” She could taste the salt upon his skin, and Isolde ran her tongue along the crease of his neck. A groan of desire rewarded her efforts.

A rush of silence followed before Lord Swenton placed his hands against the wall on either side of her head and lifted his body from hers. Immediately, she experienced the bleakness of his withdrawal. “Some way,” he rasped as he gently cuffed her cheek. “I mean to finish this. For now, please assist me with Lady Swenton. I cannot fathom what the future holds, but please know somehow my soul will find its way to you.”

* * *

After they had undressed Satiné, they had tucked his baroness into her bed to sleep away the effects of the medicinal. Then by silent consent, he had escorted Miss Neville into his sitting room to discuss what had happened earlier. “Evidently, my wife has discovered someone within my household to keep her confidences,” he disclosed when he had seated Miss Neville across from him and had poured her a small sherry and him a well-deserved brandy.

“No doubt Sally,” she asserted. “The girl has ambitions, but has not yet learned subtlety.”

Deep in thought, John nodded his agreement. “I will return the girl to Thornhill tomorrow. The duke has sent Mrs. Tailor and the boy ahead to Marwood Manor. I will see Sally returned to him.”

Miss Neville sat straighter. “Might you inform me of what occurred this evening?”

John closed his eyes to the shame racing to his heart. He dealt better with chaos when he could keep busy; this “rush” to wait endlessly vexed him greatly. “Lady Swenton could barely speak or move. If not for Lady Worthing’s assistance, the prince and much of the ton would have learned of Satiné’s dependency on laudanum. The only saving grace was my wife will likely not recall the appearance of Prince Henrí.”

“Is this prince Rupert’s father?” she asked quietly.

“In appearance, it would seem so. The boy has the countenance of the Prince of Rintoul. However, Prince Henrí claimed no previous knowledge of Rupert. He accused Lady Swenton of keeping secrets.” John recalled the familiar way the prince had spoken to Satiné, and fury rushed to his mind again.

“What does the prince mean to do?”

John attempted to place the tumult of his soul aside. “I have convinced Prince Henrí to call upon my household in a week. I did not think it wise for him to be seen entering Swenton Hall, but the prince made it clear he means to claim Rupert.”

“What will you do?” she whispered into the familiar silence that rested between them. John required these moments or he would run mad into the streets. The lady held no idea how important she had become to his sanity.

“What will I do?” he repeated. Every emotion within John rushed into the dark void of helplessness. “The question is what will my baroness do when her former lover and the father of her child makes an appearance on my threshold?”

Posted in book excerpts, Church of England, estates, fashion, Georgian England, historical fiction, Inheritance, Ireland, Living in the Regency, marriage, marriage customs, marriage licenses, medicine, Realm series, Regency era, Ulysses Press | Tagged " "His American Heartsong, " A Touch of Cashémere, A Touch of Emerald, A Touch of Grace, A Touch of Honor, A Touch of Love, A Touch of Mercy, A Touch of Scandal, A Touch of Velvet, Napoleonic Wars, Regency historical fiction, series, the Realm | 2 Comments

James Wilmot on “Who Wrote Shakespeare’s Plays?” + an eBook Giveaway

Posted on January 6, 2020 by Regina Jeffers

anonymous engraving of James Wilmot – scanned from Serres, O The Life of the Author of the Letters of Junius, the Reverend James Wilmot, MD, London, 1813. ~ public domain via Wikipedia

James Wilton was supposedly the first to question whether William Shakespeare was the actual author of the plays and sonnets we now attribute to him. Wilmot was an English clergyman, having been educated at Oxford, and scholar from Barton-on-the-Heath, Warwickwickshire, some six miles from Stratford-upon-Avon. We know something of his Shakespeare research because his friend James Corton Cowell conducted two lectures at the Ipswich Philosophic Society on the subject in 1805. However, there are those who believe the Ipswich Philosophic Society did not exist, nor can they find a record of James Corton Cowell. That being said, Cowell’s two lectures DO exist in handwritten manuscript form: “Some Reflections on the Life of William Shakespeare.” They can be found in the Durning-Lawrence collection at London University. Could Cowell simply have written out his research, but not shared it with others?

Page from a manuscript purportedly written in 1805 by James Cowell, which has since been determined to be a forgery. MS 294, Senate House Library, University of London ~ public domain ~ via Wikipedia

Sir Edwin Durning-Lawrence was a British lawyer and Member of Parliament. He was a strong advocate for the idea that Francis Bacon was the true author of Shakespeare’s plays. Durning-Lawrence penned several books on the subject and hosted public debates on his Baconian theory. His widow donated his research to London University upon his death, among those pieces were the two “Cowell” manuscripts, which tell something of Wilmot’s search for any books or papers that reference Shakespeare as being the author of the plays attributed to him. After covering a 50-mile radius of Stratford, Shakespeare’s home, Wilmot concluded that Shakespeare was not the author of the plays, but rather the author was Sir Francis Bacon. The problem is that Wilmot only confided his findings to Cowell. The actual research was supposedly burned.

It has even been suggested that Wilmot may have been the author of The Story of the Learned Pig (1786). “The anonymous pamphlet The Story of the Learned Pig, By an officer of the Royal Navy (1786) picked up the theme of reincarnation. This presents itself as the personal reminiscences of the pig, as told to the author. He describes himself as a soul that has successively migrated from the body of Romulus into various humans and animals before becoming the Learned Pig. He recalls his previous incarnations. After Romulus he became Brutus, and then entered several human and animal bodies. Adapting the Shakespeare theme, the pamphlet states that he became a man called “Pimping Billy”, who worked as a horse-holder at a playhouse with Shakespeare and was the real author of his plays. He then became a famous British aristocrat and general — identified only by asterisks — before entering the body of a pig. [McMichael, George L.; Glenn, Edgar M. (1962), Shakespeare and His Rivals: A Casebook on the Authorship Controversy, Odyssey Press, p.56. via Wikipedia]

caricature by John Leech

“Puns on the name “Bacon”, referring to the philosopher Francis Bacon, also appeared in the literature. In the poem ‘The Prophetic Pig,’ in The Whim of the Day (c.1794) a believer in reincarnation states, ‘I can easily trace…A metempsychosis in this pig’s face!…And in transmigration, if I’m not mistaken,/This learned pig must be, by consanguinity,/Descended from the great Lord Bacon. Thomas Hood’s poem The Lament of Toby, The Learned Pig also uses the Bacon pun, adding another on the poet James Hogg. He describes the thoughts of a learned pig forced to retire from his intellectual pursuits to be fattened for slaughter.” [Learned Pig]

In The Times Literary Supplement, James Shapirio, author of Contested Will: Who Wrote Shakespeare?, declared the document [the lecture manuscripts] a forgery based on facts stated in the text about Shakespeare that were not discovered or publicised until decades after the purported date of composition. Peter Bower, an expert in paper history analysis, identified the paper as drawing paper, not writing paper, probably made shortly after the type was introduced in the mid-1790s. He noted that he knew of no instances of that type of paper being used to write out a long lecture. You can read the whole article HERE: Forgery on Forgery

Introducing Pride and Prejudice and a Shakespearean Scholar

Unless one knows the value of loyalty, he cannot appreciate the cost of betrayal.

What if Darcy and Elizabeth met weeks before the Meryton assembly? What if there is no barely “tolerable” remark to have Elizabeth rejecting Mr. Darcy’s affections, but rather a dip in a cold creek that sets her against him? What if Mr. Bennet is a renown Shakespearean scholar who encourages Darcy to act the role of Petruchio from Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew” to bring Elizabeth’s Katherina persona to the line.

ELIZABETH BENNET’s pride has her learning a difficult lesson: Loyalty is hard to find, and trust is easy to lose. Even after they share a passionate kiss outside the Meryton assembly hall and are forced to marry, Elizabeth cannot forget the indignity she experienced at the hands of Fitzwilliam Darcy. Although she despises his high-handedness, Elizabeth appreciates the protection he provides her in their marriage. But can she set her prejudice aside long enough to know a great love?

FITZWILLIAM DARCY places only two demands on his new wife: her loyalty and her trust, but when she invites his worst enemy to Darcy House, he has no choice but to turn her out. Trusting her had been his decision, but proving his choice the right one before she destroys two hearts meant to be together must be hers, and Darcy is not certain Elizabeth is up to the task.

Excerpt from Chapter Two, where Darcy learns the true identity of Mr. Bennet. You can see how the “history” becomes part of the story line.

“Darcy!” Bingley called from the third storey balustrade. “I did not hear your carriage.”

“Likely because it is some two miles removed with a lame horse being tended to by Mr. Farrin. Do you possess an animal that would serve until my horse can heal?”

Bingley spoke as he rushed down the stairs to greet Darcy properly. “I sent my large coach to London to fetch my sisters to Netherfield, but the smaller carriage and its team is available. I planned to dine out this evening—before Caroline and Louisa arrive,” he said conspiratorially, “but I can take my curricle, if necessary arrangements cannot be made otherwise. Longbourn is only a little more than three miles removed. Permit me to send to the stables, and you may explain to the head groomsman what you require.” He motioned to the footman to fetch the groomsman. “Come join me in my study. You must be starving. Mr. Byers, ask Cook to send up something for Mr. Darcy and prepare a room for him.”

“Yes, Mr. Bingley.” The butler rushed away to do Bingley’s bidding.

Bingley motioned for Darcy to follow him. “I did not expect you today. In truth, I was not certain how long you might be required in Kent.”

“I removed my sister from my aunt’s residence and returned her to Darcy House yesterday,” Darcy explained. “Lady Catherine will not have such easy access to Miss Darcy at my home.”

“Another of her ladyship’s demands that you marry Miss De Bourgh?” Bingley asked in what sounded of concern.

“My aunt is hard to dissuade,” Darcy admitted.

Bingley ventured, “Perhaps you should choose another to wife.”

Darcy prayed his friend was not suggesting his younger sister Caroline would make a good mistress for Darcy’s properties. If so, Bingley would be as disappointed as Lady Catherine. “While we traveled to London, Georgiana suggested something similar.”

Bingley, thankfully, changed the subject. “I despise that I was unaware of your distress today. It would be pleasant to be of service to you.”

“You are of service to me,” Darcy corrected. “You have rescued me from Lady Catherine’s manipulations.”

“Most assuredly, but I wish to be more. I mean to employ your knowledge of running an estate to determine whether this one would serve me well. Therefore, I will be further in your debt.”

Darcy chuckled as he sat before his friend’s desk. “We shan’t keep tallies, Bingley. That is not the way of friendship.”

“Nevertheless, I will be in the positive this evening for more than a daring rescue of your person from Lady Catherine’s demands.” Bingley reached for a sheet of foolscap. “Permit me to send a note around to Mr. Bennet that I will be bringing a guest with me this evening.”

“I would be perfectly content to remain at Netherfield. You do not need to alter your plans simply because I have appeared upon your doorstep,” Darcy assured his friend. “I do not expect you to cry off at such short notice nor should you inconvenience Mr. Bennet’s cook by adding another to her preparations.”

“Nonsense,” Bingley declared good-naturedly. “If worse comes to worse, we will split the portions between us. You know I could never abandon you to a house with which you are unfamiliar. The library here is sadly lacking. Moreover, Mr. Bennet of Longbourn is Mr. Thomas Bennet.”

“Thomas Bennet?” Darcy asked. “The Thomas Bennet? The man who is both a Shakespeare and a Bacon expert and who means to refute claims that Francis Bacon wrote Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets? The one our professors at Cambridge so often quoted?”

“The very man,” Bingley said with a wide smile. “Bacon made this part of Hertfordshire his home, thus Mr. Bennet’s interest in the man. Bennet and a group of scholars have been trying to refute Wilmot’s research claiming that Bacon is the true author of Shakespeare’s plays.”

“Ah, naturally. Who better to look for Bacon’s imprint upon the work of Stratford’s hero than England’s most renown expert on each?” Although he considered the true pleasure of taking Bennet’s acquaintance, Darcy wondered more upon the Shakespearean influence upon a certain young lady who had set his blood on fire when he touched her. “I happened to be in Suffolk when James Cowell lectured at the Ipswich Philosophic Society back in ’05. I was preparing for my final exams and thought to gain several insights to impress my professors. It was all quite fascinating.”

Bingley began to scratch out his message to Bennet. “What I find fascinating,” his friend said as he dipped his pen again into the ink well, “has nothing to do with Bennet’s treasured manuscripts. I am more concerned with the fact that the man possesses five daughters, equally renowned for their beauty and their amiability.”

NOW FOR THE GIVEAWAY! LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW TO BE PART OF THE GIVEAWAY, WHICH CLOSES AT MIDNIGHT EST ON FRIDAY, JANUARY 10. THE WINNER WILL RECEIVE AN eBOOK COPY OF PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND A SHAKESPEAREAN SCHOLAR.

Posted in Austen Authors, book excerpts, book release, British history, Elizabethan drama, excerpt, Georgian England, Georgian Era, history, Jane Austen, legends and myths, literature, Living in the Regency, Pride and Prejudice, reading habits, real life tales, theatre, Vagary | Tagged Baconian theory, book excerpt, book release, historical fiction, James Corton Cowell, James Wilmot, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Pride and Prejudice and a Shakespearean Scholar, Regency romance, Vagary, William Shakespeare | 15 Comments

A Closer Look at “Mr. Darcy’s Present: A Pride and Prejudice Holiday Vagary”

Posted on December 27, 2019 by Regina Jeffers

Mr. Darcy’s Present: A Pride and Prejudice Holiday Vagary from Regina Jeffers is currently on sale until January 5, 2020. Enjoy the excerpt below.

Genre: Classics; Regency Romance; Austenesque; Christmas Romance

Book Blurb:

When we care more for another than ourselves, the seeds of love have an opportunity to blossom.

What if Mr. Darcy purchased a gift for Elizabeth Bennet to acknowledge the festive days even though he knows he will never present it to her? What if he suffers a terrible accident and cannot tend to his duties personally? What if, during his recovery, the gift is posted to the lady by his servants and without his knowledge? What if the enclosed card was meant for another and is more suggestive than a gentleman should share with an unmarried lady? Join Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet, for a holiday romp, loaded with delightful twists and turns no one expects, but one in which our favorite couple take a very different path in thwarting George Wickham and Lydia Bennet’s elopement. Can a simple book of poetry be Darcy’s means to win Elizabeth’s love? Only time will tell.

Excerpt:

Darcy turned to view his sister holding the card from her gift. Her eyes were filled with tears. “Do not fret, my girl,” he said as he scooped her into his embrace. It seemed to him since the incident with Mr. Wickham that Georgiana cried often. “I did not mean for my card to

bring you unrest.” He turned his attention upon the earl. “I will escort my sister into the hall. We will return in a moment, once Georgiana reclaims her composure.”

“Such dramatics!” Lady Catherine grumbled.

In the hall, he turned Georgiana so she faced him. Lifting her chin with his fingertips, he wiped her tears away with a handkerchief. “My sweet girl, I am grieved to have upset you. I thought the circlet would please you.”

“It does,” she insisted. “A girl could not ask for a finer gift or a better brother.”

“Then what brings on your dismals?” he said with a smile of encouragement.

“It is…it is just…” A new round of tears ensued.

“Georgiana,” he said with emphasis. “I cannot correct of what I am ignorant.”

She shoved the gift’s card into his palm. “I know I am foolish,” she sobbed. “But this…this is something…you write to a stranger.”

Darcy tucked her into his shoulder, so she might have her cry while he brought the card to where he could read it. To a woman who will always claim my admiration and respect. “Bloody hell,” he growled beneath his breath, although shouting the curse would have proved more satisfying. He turned Georgiana to him. One step at a time, he told his racing heart. “Georgiana, this card was meant for another. Your card spoke of the pride Lady Anne would know with your debut into Society. Mrs. Guthrie and one of the maids wrapped the gifts because I could not. Somehow the cards and the parcels were mismatched.”

“Truly, William?” she asked through tear-rimmed tones.

“You are the most precious gift our mother could share with me. I think only of your pleasure.”

“I thought I disappointed you,” she confessed. “And you were simply reassuring me of your love while still despising me for what occurred at Ramsgate.”

“I feared for you,” he explained, “but never despised you.” Before more could be said between them a shriek of joy from Lady Catherine told him his worries were far from over. “I have an uncomfortable feeling the card intended for you has been located.” He caught Georgiana’s hand and returned to the drawing room and the confrontation he had anticipated.

“Ah, Darcy ” Lady Catherine gushed upon his entrance to the room. “I now understand why you spoke of not having a wife. You meant to propose to Anne as a surprise to us all!”

Darcy glanced to the Matlocks to determine how they would take his rejection of Anne, but neither the earl nor the countess displayed any emotions. Swallowing his anxiety, he announced, “Your assumption comes from a misunderstanding, your ladyship. It is not my intention to propose to anyone today.”

Lady Catherine held up the card from Anne’s gift. “How else is my daughter to interpret a card that reads Lady Anne looks down upon you and smiles. You were always meant to be a Darcy?”

“Such is the reason for Miss Darcy’s tears,” he explained in more calm than he felt. “The cards for the gifts were knocked to the floor when the fairings were wrapped on my behalf by one of my maids. Fearing she would be sacked for her clumsiness, the maid placed the cards in the prepared parcels, but the girl knows not her letters and made an egregious error.”

“So Georgiana’s card was in Anne’s presentation and vice versa?” his lordship clarified.

“Yes,” Georgiana agreed before he could respond. As it was best he did not mention the fact Georgiana’s card was meant for Elizabeth Bennet, he permitted the tale to stand. His sister knelt before their cousin. “I am grievously sorry, Anne,” she said in comforting tones.

Darcy knelt beside his sister to catch Anne’s fingers in his hand. “It was never my wish to harm you in any manner. We have been dear friends since our youth. I cherish the memories of us together in the nursery and later the schoolroom. Of sharing books and learning to dance. You were my first partner. Do you recall how often I stepped upon your toes?” Anne smiled weakly. “Yet, that is not enough for a tolerable marriage. You deserve someone not so…”

“Moody,” Anne supplied in the softest of tones.

Darcy smiled upon her. “I have been called impossible upon a rainy Sunday afternoon.”

“Impossible,” Anne repeated as if she enjoyed the characterization of his personality.

“Will you be well?” Darcy asked. He did not want his cousin to suffer because of his stubbornness.

Anne shot a glance to her scowling mother. “I believe I feel a headache coming on. Thank you for the music box. I shall cherish it as one of my most precious memories.”

Darcy nodded before standing to extend a hand to Georgiana. He turned to speak to the earl. They were at Rosings, but Lord Matlock was still the head of the Fitzwilliam family. “I should never have attempted to claim the Christmas celebration so soon after my injuries. I have made a bungle of this family tradition and caused my dear cousin to claim her bed once again. I beg you to forgive my vanity in thinking my presence was required this day. Miss Darcy and I will take our leave, so you may continue your reveries without the specter of my foolishness overshadowing your joy.”

“But it is Christmas,” the countess protested.

“Which means no one will be upon the road to delay our return to London.” Before his relatives could lodge another objection, he said, “Come, Georgiana. We must claim the daylight.” He led her from the room with the sound of Lady Catherine’s avowals trailing behind them.

Later, as he assisted Sheffield with the packing, he knew his trials were not yet over. If Mrs. Osborne received the greeting meant for Anne, and Anne received the one meant for Georgiana, and Georgiana received the one meant for Elizabeth, then Elizabeth received the one meant for Sarah Osborne. I learned so much of myself through you. I pray the wedding bells you desire will bring you joy. He must find a means of explaining away how he thought to send an unmarried woman a gift and if not, discover a means to convince Elizabeth Bennet to marry him.

Buy Links:

Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Mr-Darcys-Present-Prejudice-Holiday/dp/1537422022/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1473685089&sr=8-5&keywords=mr.+darcy%27s+present

Kindle https://www.amazon.com/Mr-Darcys-Present-Prejudice-Holiday-ebook/dp/B01LYSCC2U/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1473780113&sr=1-1&keywords=mr.+Darcy%27s+present#nav-subnav

Read for FREE on Kindle Unlimited

Author Bio:

Regina Jeffers, an award-winning author of historical cozy mysteries, Austenesque sequels and retellings, as well as Regency era romances, has worn many hats over her lifetime: daughter, student, military brat, wife, mother, grandmother, teacher, tax preparer, journalist, choreographer, Broadway dancer, theatre director, history buff, grant writer, media literacy consultant, and author. Living outside of Charlotte, NC, Jeffers writes novels that take the ordinary and adds a bit of mayhem, while mastering tension in her own life with a bit of gardening and the exuberance of her “grand joys.”

Social Media Links:

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Posted in book excerpts, British history, George Wickham, Georgian England, Georgian Era, historical fiction, Jane Austen, Living in the Regency, marriage, poetry, Pride and Prejudice, Regency era, Regency romance, Vagary, writing | Tagged Christmas, gift giving, holiday, Jane Austen, Mr. Darcy's Present, poetry, Pride and Prejudice, Publishing, tradition, Vagary, variation, writing | Comments Off

Twelfth Night Sale! 38 Titles from Regina Jeffers! December 26 – January 5!

Posted on December 25, 2019 by Regina Jeffers

On the upcoming Saturday, December 26, thirty-eight of my titles go on sale for my annual Twelfth Night Sale! The sale runs from December 26, 2020, to January 5, 2021. Fill up your eReaders!!!! For the books for which I own the rights, all books will be between $0.99 and $1.75. There are Austen-inspired titles, romantic suspense, a Regency series, and contemporary choices. Moreover, many are available to read for FREE on Kindle Unlimited. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

Darcy’s Passions: Pride and Prejudice Retold Through His Eyes [Austenesque; classics; retelling; Regency era; historical fiction]

FITZWILLIAM DARCY loves three things: his sister Georgiana, his ancestral estate, and Elizabeth Bennet. The first two come easily to him. He is a man who recognizes his place in the world, but the third, Elizabeth Bennet, is a woman Society would censure if he chose her for his wife. Can he risk everything he has ever known to love an impossible woman, a woman who has declared him to be “the last man in the world (she) could ever be prevailed upon to marry”?

Revisit Jane Austen’s beloved novel, Pride and Prejudice, retold from Mr. Darcy’s point of view. Discover his soul-searching transformation from hopeless into the world’s most romantic hero. Experience what is missing from Elizabeth Bennet’s tale. Learn something of the truth of Fitzwilliam Darcy’s pride. Return to your favorite scenes from Austen’s classic: Darcy’s rejection of Miss Elizabeth at the Meryton assembly; the Netherfield Ball; the first proposal; his discovering Elizabeth at Pemberley; and Darcy’s desperate plan to save Lydia Bennet from his worst enemy, George Wickham, all retold through his eyes. Satisfy your craving for Austen’s timeless love story, while defining the turmoil and vulnerability in a man who possesses everything except the one thing that can make him happy.

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Captain Frederick Wentworth’s Persuasion: Austen’s Classic Retold Through His Eyes [historical fiction; Regency romance; retelling’ Austenesque; classics]

(Disclaimer: This is not a new title; it is a reworking of “Captain Wentworth’s Persuasion” from Ulysses Press.)

The love affair behind Jane Austen’s classic, Persuasion, rests at the heart of this retelling from Captain Frederick Wentworth’s point of view.

He loved her from the moment their eyes met some eight years prior, but Frederick Wentworth is determined to prove to Anne Elliot that she made a mistake by refusing him. Persuaded by her family and friends of his lack of a future, Anne had sent him away, but now he is back with a fortune earned in the war, and it is Anne, whose circumstances have brought her low. Frederick means to name another to replace her, but whenever he looks upon Anne’s perfect countenance, his resolve wavers, and he finds himself lost once again to his desire for her. Return to the Regency and Austen’s most compelling and mature love story. Jeffers turns the tale upon its head while maintaining Jane Austen’s tale of love and devotion.

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Vampire Darcy’s Desire: A Pride and Prejudice Paranormal Adventure [Regency romance; paranormal; Scottish; Austenesque; classics]

[Disclaimer: This work was originally released by Ulysses Press. It has been reworked and self published by the author.]

Vampire Darcy’s Desire presents Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice as a heart-pounding vampire romance filled with passion and danger.

Tormented by a 200-year-old curse and his fate as a half human/half vampire dhampir, Fitzwilliam Darcy vows to live a solitary life rather than inflict the horrors of his life upon an innocent wife and his first born son. However, when he encounters the captivating Elizabeth Bennet, his will is sorely tested.

As a man, Darcy yearns for Elizabeth, but as a vampire, he is also driven to possess her. Uncontrollably drawn to each other, they are forced to confront a different kind of “pride” and his enemy’s “prejudice,” while wrestling with the seductive power of forbidden love. Evil forces, led by George Wickham, the purveyor of the curse, attack from all sides, and Darcy learns his only hope to survive is to align himself with Elizabeth, who is uncannily astute in how to defeat Wickham, a demon determined to destroy each generation of Darcys.

Vampire Darcy’s Desire retells Austen’s greatest love story in a hauntingly compelling tale. Can love be the only thing that can change him?

“An engaging and romantic paranormal surprise” ~ JustJane1813

“Jeffers ups the ante even more by basing the core of the plot line on the traditional Scottish ballad.” ~ The Royal Reviews

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Christmas at Pemberley: A Pride and Prejudice Holiday Vagary, Told Through the Eyes of All Who Knew It

THE DARCYS AND THE BENNETS CORDIALLY INVITE YOU TO CHRISTMAS AT PEMBERLEY: A PRIDE & PREJUDICE HOLIDAY SEQUEL

Darcy has invited the Bennets and the Bingleys to spend the Christmastide’s festive days at Pemberley. But as he and Elizabeth journey to their estate to join the gathered families, a blizzard blankets the English countryside. The Darcys find themselves stranded at a small inn while Pemberley is inundated with refugees seeking shelter from the storm.

Without her brother’s strong presence, Georgiana Darcy tries desperately to manage the chaos surrounding the arrival of six invited guests and eleven unscheduled visitors. But bitter feuds, old jealousies and intimate secrets quickly rise to the surface. Has Lady Catherine returned to Pemberley for forgiveness or revenge? Will the manipulative Caroline Bingley find a soul mate? Shall Kitty Bennet and Georgiana know happiness?

Written in Regency style and including Austen’s romantic entanglements and sardonic humor, Christmas at Pemberley places Jane Austen’s most beloved characters in an exciting yuletide story that speaks to the love, the family spirit and the generosity that remain as the heart of Christmas.

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Mr. Darcy’s Fault: A Pride and Prejudice Vagary (Fiction/Historical Fiction; Romance; Austenesque; Variation; Regency)

What if an accident prevents Elizabeth Bennet from reading Mr. Darcy’s letter of apology? What if said letter goes missing and ends up in the hands of George Wickham? What if Mr. Wickham plans to use the evidence of both Georgiana Darcy’s ruination and Darcy’s disdain for the Bennets to his benefit? How will Darcy counter Wickham’s plans and claim happiness with the woman he loves?

When he notices his long-time enemy in the vicinity of Hunsford Cottage, FITZWILLIAM DARCY means to put an end to an assignation between ELIZABETH BENNET and Mr. Wickham, but Darcy is not prepared for the scene which greets him in Rosings Woods. Elizabeth lies injured and crumpled beneath the trees, and in order to save her, by Society’s standards, Darcy must compromise Elizabeth. Needless to say, Darcy does not mind being forced into claiming Elizabeth to wife, but what of the lady’s affections? Can Darcy tolerate Elizabeth’s regard being engaged elsewhere?

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The Pemberley Ball: A Pride and Prejudice Vagary Novella [Austeneque; Regency romance; historical fiction; vagary; multiple endings]

Elizabeth Bennet’s acceptance of his hand in marriage presents FITZWILLIAM DARCY a hope of the world being different. Elizabeth offers warmth and naturalness and a bit of defiance; but there is vulnerability also. With characteristic daring, she boldly withstood Caroline Bingley’s barbs, while displaying undying devotion to her sister Jane. More unpredictably, she verbally fenced with the paragon of crudeness, his aunt, Lady Catherine, and walked away relatively unscathed. One often finds his betrothed self-mockingly entertaining her sisters and friends, and despite Darcy’s best efforts, the woman makes him laugh. She brings lightness to his spirit after so many years of grief.

Unfortunately for ELIZABETH BENNET, what begins gloriously turns to concern for their future. She recognizes her burgeoning fears as unreasonable; yet, she cannot displace them. She refuses to speculate on what Mr. Darcy will say when he learns she is not the brilliant choice he proclaims her to be. Moreover, she does not think she can submit to the gentleman’s staid lifestyle. Not even for love can Elizabeth accept capitulation.

Will Elizabeth set her qualms aside to claim ‘home’ in the form of the man she truly affects or will her courage fail her? Enjoy a bit of mayhem that we commonly call “Happily Ever After,” along with three alternate turning points to this tale of love and loss and love again from Austen-inspired author, Regina Jeffers.

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Elizabeth Bennet’s Excellent Adventure: A Pride and Prejudice Vagary [Pride and Prejudice, Fiction, Jane Austen, Regency romance, Historical romance, classics, variation]

The Last Man in the World She Wishes to Marry is the One Man Who Owns Her Heart!

ELIZABETH BENNET adamantly refused Fitzwilliam Darcy’s proposal, but when Maria Lucas discovers the letter Darcy offers Elizabeth in explanation of his actions, Elizabeth must swallow her objections in order to save her reputation. She follows Darcy to London and pleads for the gentleman to renew his proposal. Yet, even as she does so, Elizabeth knows not what she fears most: being Mr. Darcy’s wife or the revenge he might consider for her earlier rebuke.

FITZWILLIAM DARCY would prefer that Elizabeth Bennet held him in affection, but he reasons that even if she does not, having Elizabeth at his side is far better than claiming another to wife. However, when a case of mistaken identity causes Darcy not to show at his wedding ceremony, he finds himself in a desperate search for his wayward bride-to-be.

Elizabeth, realizing Society will label her as “undesirable” after being abandoned at the altar, sets out on an adventure to mark her future days as the spinster aunt to her sisters’ children. However, Darcy means to locate her and to convince Elizabeth that his affections are true, and a second chance will prove him the “song that sets her heart strumming.”

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Elizabeth Bennet’s Deception: A Pride and Prejudice Vagary (Fiction/Historical Fiction; Romance; Austenesque; Regency Romance; Vagary; Classics)

What if Fitzwilliam Darcy refused to approach Elizabeth Bennet when he observes her upon the grounds of Pemberley? What if Elizabeth permits Mr. Darcy to think her the one ruined by Mr. Wickham? What if love is not enough to bring two souls together?

FITZWILLIAM DARCY’S pride makes the natural lead to ELIZABETH BENNET’S ruination when the lady appears, without notice, upon Pemberley’s threshold to plead for Darcy’s assistance in locating his long-time enemy, George Wickham. Initially, Darcy cannot look beyond the pain of lost hopes, but when Charles Bingley demands that Darcy act with honor, Darcy assumes the task. Even so, the idea of delivering Miss Elizabeth into the hands of Mr. Wickham leaves Darcy raw with anguish. Yet, Darcy loves Elizabeth Bennet too much to see her brought low. He sets his heartbreak aside to save the woman he affects, but it is not long before Darcy realizes Elizabeth practices a deception, one Darcy permits so he might remain at her side long enough to convince the lady that only in each other can either find happiness.

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Mr. Darcy’s Present: A Pride and Prejudice Vagary [Fiction; Romance; Regency; Austenesque; vagary; Christmas; holiday]

The Greatest Present He Would Ever Receive is the Gift of Her Love…

What if Mr. Darcy purchased a gift for Elizabeth Bennet to acknowledge the festive days even though he knows he will never present it to her? What if the gift is posted to the lady by his servants and without his knowledge? What if the enclosed card was meant for another and is more suggestive than a gentleman should share with an unmarried lady? Join Darcy and Elizabeth, for a holiday romp, loaded with delightful twists and turns no one expects, but one in which our favorite couple take a very different path in thwarting George Wickham and Lydia Bennet’s elopement. Can a simple book of poetry be Darcy’s means to win Elizabeth’s love? When we care more for another than ourselves, the seeds of love have an opportunity to blossom.

Words of Praise for Mr. Darcy’s Present… Jeffers takes a familiar story and reinvigorates it with humor, warmth, and wisdom. – Roses and Lilacs Reviews

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Mr. Darcy’s Bargain: A Pride and Prejudice Vagary [vagary; Austenesque; Regency romance; scams; Ponzi; historical fiction]

Darcy and Elizabeth are about to learn how “necessity” never makes a fair bargain.

When ELIZABETH BENNET appears on his doorstep some ten months after her refusal of his hand in marriage, FITZWILLIAM DARCY uses the opportunity to “bargain” for her acceptance of a renewal of his proposal in exchange for his assistance in bringing Mr. George Wickham to justice. In Darcy’s absence from Hertfordshire, Wickham has executed a scam to defraud the citizens of Meryton, including her father, of their hard-earned funds. All have invested in Wickham’s Ten Percent Annuity scheme. Her family and friends are in dire circumstances, and more importantly, Mr. Bennet’s heart has taken an ill turn. Elizabeth will risk everything to bring her father to health again and to save her friends from destitution; yet, is she willing to risk her heart? She places her trust in Darcy’s ability to thwart Wickham’s manipulations, but she is not aware that Darcy wishes more than her acquiescence. He desires her love. Neither considers what will happen if he does not succeed in bringing Mr. Wickham before a magistrate. Will his failure bring an end to their “bargain”? Or will true love prevail?

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The Road to Understanding: A Pride and Prejudice Vagary [Pride and Prejudice; Inspirational Romance; vagary; historical fiction; Great Valley Road; Colonial romance]

DARIUS FITZWILLIAM’s life is planned down to who he will marry and where he will live, but life has a way of saying, “You don’t get to choose.” When his marriage to his long-time betrothed Caroline Bradford falls through, Darius is forced to take a step back and to look upon a woman who enflames his blood with desire, but also engenders disbelief. Eliza Harris is everything that Darius never realized he wanted.

ELIZA HARRIS is accustomed to doing as she pleases. Yet, despite being infuriated by his authoritative manner, when she meets the staunchly disciplined Captain Fitzwilliam, she wishes for more. She instinctively knows he is “home,” but Eliza possesses no skills in achieving her aspirations.

Plagued with misunderstandings, manipulations, and peril upon the Great Valley Road between eastern Virginia and western Tennessee in the years following the Revolutionary War, Darius and Eliza claim a strong allegiance before love finds its way into their hearts.

This is a faith-based tale based on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

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A Dance with Mr. Darcy: A Pride and Prejudice Vagary [JAFF, historical fiction, vagary, Pride and Prejudice, Scotland, sweet romance]

The reason fairy tales end with a wedding is no one wishes to view what happens next.

Five years earlier, Darcy had raced to Hertfordshire to soothe Elizabeth Bennet’s qualms after Lady Catherine’s venomous attack, but a devastating carriage accident left him near death for months and cost him his chance at happiness with the lady. Now, they meet again upon the Scottish side of the border, but can they forgive all that has transpired in those years? They are widow and widower; however, that does not mean they can take up where they left off. They are damaged people, and healing is not an easy path. To know happiness they must fall in love with the same person all over again.

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MR. DARCY’S BRIDEs: A Pride and Prejudice Vagary

I much prefer the sharpest criticism of a single intelligent man to the thoughtless approval of the masses.

ELIZABETH BENNET is determined that she will put a stop to her mother’s plans to marry off the eldest Bennet daughter to Mr. Collins, the Bennet heir to Longbourn, but a man that Mr. Bennet considers an annoying dimwit. Hence, Elizabeth disguises herself as Jane and repeats her vows to the supercilious rector as if she is her sister, thereby voiding the nuptials and saving Jane from a life of drudgery. Yet, even the “best laid plans” can often go awry.

FITZWILLIAM DARCY is desperate to find a woman who will assist him in leading his sister back to Society after Georgiana’s failed elopement with Darcy’s old enemy George Wickham. He is so desperate that he agrees to Lady Catherine De Bourgh’s suggestion that Darcy marry her ladyship’s “sickly” daughter Anne. Unfortunately, as he waits for his bride to join him at the altar, he realizes he has made a terrible error in judgement, but there is no means to right the wrong without ruining his cousin’s reputation. Yet, even as he weighs his options, the touch of “Anne’s” hand upon his sends an unusual “zing” of awareness shooting up Darcy’s arm. It is only when he realizes the “zing” has arrived at the hand of a stranger, who has disrupted his nuptials, that he breathes both a sigh of relief and a groan of frustration, for the question remains: Is Darcy’s marriage to the woman legal?

What if Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet met under different circumstances than those we know from Jane Austen’s classic tale: Circumstances that do not include the voices of vanity and pride and prejudice and doubt that we find in the original story? Their road to happily ever after may not, even then, be an easy one, but with the expectations of others removed from their relationship, can they learn to trust each other long enough to carve out a path to true happiness?

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Pride and Prejudice and a Shakespearean Scholar: A Pride and Prejudice Vagary

Unless one knows the value of loyalty, he cannot appreciate the cost of betrayal.

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Honor and Hope: A Contemporary Pride and Prejudice [romance; contemporary romance; classics; Austenesque; football; winery]

Liz Bennet’s flirtatious nature acerbates Will Darcy’s controlling tendencies, sending him into despair when she fiercely demands her independence from him. How could she repeatedly turn him down? Darcy has it all: good looks, intelligence, a pro football career, and wealth. Attracted by a passionate desire, which neither time nor distance can quench, they are destined to love each other, while constantly misunderstanding one another until Fate deals them a blow from which their relationship may never recover. Set against the backdrop of professional sports and the North Carolina wine country, Honor and Hope offers a modern romance loosely based on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

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Where There’s a Fitzwilliam Darcy, There’s a Way

To him that will, ways are never wanting.

ELIZABETH BENNET’s world has turned upon its head. Not only is her family about to be banished from their beloved Longbourn after her father’s sudden death, but Mr. Darcy has appeared upon her threshold, not to renew his proposal, as she first feared, but, rather, to serve as Mr. Collins’s agent in taking an accounting of the estate’s “treasures” before her father’s cousin steals away all her memories of the place.

FITZWILLIAM DARCY certainly has no desire to encounter Elizabeth Bennet again so soon after her mordant refusal of his hand in marriage, but when his aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, strikes a bargain in which her ladyship agrees to provide his Cousin Anne a London Season if Darcy will become Mr. Collins’s agent in Hertfordshire, Darcy accepts in hopes he can convince Miss Elizabeth to think better of him than she, obviously, does. Yet, how can he persuade the woman to recognize his inherent sense of honor, when his inventory of Longbourn’s entailed land and real properties announces the date she and her family will be homeless?

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In Want of a Wife: A Pride and Prejudice Vagary

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” – Jane Austen

Elizabeth Bennet Darcy wakes in an unfamiliar room, attended by a stranger, who claims she is his wife and saying she has suffered an injury to her head. He accuses her of pretending her memory loss, but to Elizabeth, the fear is real.

“Surely you know me,” he protested. His words sounded as if he held his emotions tightly in check. “I am William. Your husband.”

She thought to protest, but the darkness had caught her hand and was leading her away from him. With one final attempt to correct his declaration, her mind formed the words, but her lips would not cooperate. Her dissent died before she could tell him: I do not have a husband!

Fitzwilliam Darcy despises his new wife, for he fears she has faked her love for him, better to see her family well-settled, and if love is not powerful enough to change a life, what is?

“This is unacceptable. I realize I was never your first choice as a husband, but it is too late to change your mind. The vows have been spoken. The registry signed. You cannot deny your pledge with this ploy. I will not have it. No matter how often you call out George Wickham’s name, he will never be your husband. I will never release you.”

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Mr. Darcy’s Bet: A Pride and Prejudice Vagary

“Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.” – Act 1, Sc. 4, William Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure

FITZWILLIAM DARCY has done everything within his power to prove his devotion to ELIZABETH BENNET. He believes they are so close to knowing happiness; howbeit, when his aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, accosts Elizabeth with predictions of Elizabeth never being able to fit in with his social connections, everything changes. Although the lady sent his aunt packing with words to the contrary, a bit of doubt has slipped under Elizabeth’s shield of confidence, and she again refuses his hand in marriage, this time to protect him from the gossiping beau monde.

Therefore, Darcy must take a leap of faith; he proposes to her before the congregation gathered for the marriage of Jane Bennet and his friend Charles Bingley—a public proposal from which Darcy cannot legally or morally withdraw, one only Elizabeth Bennet can refuse. He bets, this time, he can win not only her heart, but also her consent. With the assistance of his family and hers, a plan is put into motion to prove to all comers that Elizabeth Bennet is not only worthy of his attentions, but also the only one Darcy should consider marrying.

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The Mysterious Death of Mr. Darcy: A Pride and Prejudice Mystery

A THRILLING STORY OF MURDER AND BETRAYAL FILLED WITH THE SCANDAL, WIT AND INTRIGUE CHARACTERISTIC OF AUSTEN’S CLASSIC NOVELS

Fitzwilliam Darcy is devastated. The joy of his recent wedding has been cut short by the news of the sudden death of his father’s beloved cousin, Samuel Darcy. Elizabeth and Darcy travel to Dorset, a popular Regency resort area, to pay their respects to the well-traveled and eccentric Samuel. But this is no summer holiday. Danger bubbles beneath Dorset’s peaceful surface as strange and foreboding events begin to occur. Several of Samuel’s ancient treasures go missing, and then his body itself disappears. As Darcy and Elizabeth investigate this mystery and unravel its tangled ties to the haunting legends of Dark Dorset, the legendary couple’s love is put to the test when sinister forces strike close to home. Some secrets should remain secrets, but Darcy will do all he can to find answers—even if it means meeting his own end in the damp depths of a newly dug grave.

With malicious villains, dramatic revelations and heroic gestures, The Mysterious Death of Mr. Darcy will keep Austen fans and mystery readers turning the pages right up until its dramatic conclusion.

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A Touch of Scandal: Book 1 of the Realm Series [historical fiction; Regency romance; romantic suspense]

2011 Write Touch Readers’ Award, 2nd Place, Historical Romance

(Disclaimer: This book is the self-published version of The Scandal of Lady Eleanor.)

The men of the REALM have served their country, while ignoring their responsibilities to home and love, but now Bonaparte is defeated, they each mean to claim their portion of a new and prosperous England. However, their long-time enemy Shaheed Mir has other plans. The warlord believes one of the Realm has stolen a fist-sized emerald, and the Baloch intends to have its return or his revenge.

JAMES KERRINGTON, the future Earl of Linworth left his title and his infant son behind after the death of his beloved Elizabeth, but he has returned to England to tend his ailing father and to establish his roots. With Daniel as his heir, Kerrington has no need to marry, but when Eleanor Fowler stumbles and falls into his arms, Kerrington’s world is turned upon its head. He will do anything to claim her.

LADY ELEANOR FOWLER has hidden from Society, knowing her father’s notorious reputation for debauchery has tainted any hopes she might have of a happy marriage. And yet, despite her fears, her brother’s closest friend, James Kerrington, has rekindled her hopes, but when Sir Louis Levering appears with proof of Eleanor’s participation in her father’s wickedness, she is drawn into a world of depravity, and only Kerrington’s love can save her.

The first fully original series from Austen pastiche author Jeffers is a knockout. – Publishers Weekly

Jeffers’s characters stay in the reader’s heart and mind long after the last page has been turned. – Favored Elegance

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A Touch of Velvet: Book 2 of the Realm Series [historical fiction; Regency romance; romantic suspense; adventure; mystery]

After years away from England, members of the Realm return home to claim the titles and the lives they once abandoned. Each man holds on to the fleeting dream of finally knowing love. For now, all any of them can hope is the resolutions of their previous difficulties before Shaheed Mir, their old enemy, finds them and exacts his revenge. Mir seeks a mysterious emerald, and he believes one of the Realm has it.

No one finds his soul mate when she is twelve and he seventeen, but BRANTLEY FOWLER, the Duke of Thornhill, always thought he had found his. The memory of Velvet Aldridge’s face was the only thing that kept him alive all those years he remained estranged from his family. Now, he has returned to Kent to claim his title and the woman he loves, but first he must obliterate the memory of his infamous father, while staving off numerous attacks from Mir’s associates.

MISS VELVET ALDRIDGE always believed in “happily ever after.” Yet, when Brantley Fowler returns home, he has a daughter and his wife’s memory to accompany him. He promised her eight years prior that he would return to make her his wife, but Thornhill only offers her a Season and a dowry. How can she make him love her? Make him her “knight in shining armor”? Regency England has never been hotter or more dangerous.

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A Touch of Cashémere: Book 3 of the Realm Series [historical fiction; Regency romance; romantic suspense/adventure/mystery]

MARCUS WELLSTON never expected to inherit his father’s title. After all, he is the youngest of three sons. However, his oldest brother Trevor is judged incapable of meeting the title’s responsibilities, and his second brother Myles has lost his life in an freak accident; therefore, Marcus has returned to Tweed Hall and the earldom. Having departed Northumberland years prior to escape his guilt in his sister’s death, Marcus has spent the previous six years with the Realm, a covert governmental group, in atonement. Now, all he requires is a biddable wife with a pleasing personality. Neither of those phrases describes Cashémere Aldridge.

MISS CASHEMERE ALDRIDGE thought her opinions were absolutes and her world perfectly ordered, but when her eldest sister Velvet is kidnapped, Cashé becomes a part of the intrigue. She quickly discovers nothing she knew before is etched in stone. Leading her through these changes is a man who considers her a “spoiled brat.” A man who prefers her twin Satiné to Cashémere. A man whose approval she desperately requires: Marcus Wellston, the Earl of Berwick. Toss in an irate Baloch warlord, a missing emerald, a double kidnapping, a blackmail attempt, and an explosion in a glass cone, and the Realm has its hands full. The Regency era has never been hotter, nor more dangerous.

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A Touch of Grace: Book 4 of the Realm Series [historical fiction; Regency romance; adventure; romantic suspense/mystery]

SOLA’s Seventh Annual Dixie Kane Memorial Awards, 3rd Place, Historical Romance

“Jeffers’s close look at the dark secrets of Regency society instills a sense of realism.” – Publishers Weekly

After years away from England, members of the Realm return home to claim the titles and the lives they had previously abandoned. Each man holds onto the fleeting dream of finally know love and home. For now, all any of them can hope is the resolution of his earlier difficulties before Shaheed Mir, their old enemy, finds them and exacts his revenge. Mir seeks a mysterious emerald, and he believes one of the Realm has it.

GABRIEL CROWDEN, the Marquis of Godown, can easily recall the night that he made a vow to know love before he met his Maker. Of course, that was before Lady Gardenia Templeton’s duplicity had driven Godown from his home and before his father’s will had changed everything. Godown requires a wife to meet the unusual demands of the former marquis’s stipulations. Preferably one either already carrying his child or one who would tolerate his constant attentions to secure the Crowden line before the deadline.

MISS GRACE NELSON dreams of family died with her brother’s ascension to the title. Yet, when she meets the injured Marquis of Godown at a Scottish inn, her dreams have a new name. However, hope never has an easy path. Grace is but a lowly governess with ordinary features. She believes she can never earn the regard of the “Adonis” known as Gabriel Crowden. Besides, the man has a well-earned skepticism when it comes to the women in his life. How can she prove that she is the one woman who will never betray him? The Regency era has never been hotter.

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A Touch of Mercy: Book 5 of the Realm Series [historical fiction; Regency romance; adventure; romantic suspense; mystery]

Members of the Realm have retuned to England to claim the titles they left behind. Each holds to the fleeting dream of finally knowing love, but first he must face his old enemy Shaheed Mir, a Baloch warlord, who believes one of the group has stolen a fist-sized emerald. Mir will have the emerald’s return or will exact his bloody revenge.

A devastating injury has robbed AIDAN KIMBOLT, Viscount Lexford, of part of his memory, but surely not of the reality that lovely Mercy Nelson is his father’s by-blow. Aidan is intrigued by his “sister’s” vivacity and how easily she ushers life into Lexington Arms, a house plagued by Death’s secrets–secrets of his wife’s ghost, of his brother’s untimely passing, and of his parents’ marriage: Secrets Aidan must banish to finally know happiness.

Fate has delivered Miss MERCY NELSON to Lord Lexford’s door, where she quickly discovers appearances are deceiving. Not only does Mercy practice a bit of her own duplicity, so do all within Lexington Arms. Yet, dangerous intrigue cannot squash the burgeoning passion consuming her and Viscount Lexford, as the boundaries of their relationship are sorely tested. How can they find true love if they must begin a life peppered with lies?

Kindle (Also available to read on Kindle Unlimited)

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A Touch of Love: Book 6 of the Realm Series [historical fiction; Regency romance; adventure; romantic suspense; mystery]

The REALM has returned to England to claim the titles they left behind. Each man holds to the fleeting dream of finally knowing love and home, but first he must face his old enemy Shaheed Mir, a Baloch warlord, who believes one of the group has stolen a fist-sized emerald. Mir will have the emerald’s return or will exact his bloody revenge.. Aristotle Pennington has groomed

SIR CARTER LOWERY as his successor as the Realm’s leader, and Sir Carter has thought of little else for years. He has handcrafted his life, filled it with duties and responsibilities, and eventually, he will choose a marriage of convenience to bolster his career; yet, Lucinda Warren is a temptation he cannot resist. Every time he touches her, he recognizes his mistake because his desire for her is not easily quenched. To complicate matters, it was Mrs. Warren’s father, Colonel Roderick Rightnour, whom Sir Carter replaced at the Battle of Waterloo, an action which had named Sir Carter a national hero and her father a failure as a military strategist.

LUCINDA WARREN’s late husband has left her to tend to a child belonging to another woman and has drowned her in multiple scandals. Her only hope to discover the boy’s true parentage and to remove her name from the lips of the ton’s censors is Sir Carter Lowery, a man who causes her body to course with awareness, as if he had etched his name upon her soul. Cruel twists of Fate have thrown them together three times, and Lucinda prays to hold off her cry for completion long enough to deny her heart and to release Sir Carter to his future: A future to which she will never belong.

Kindle (Also available to read on Kindle Unlimited)

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A Touch of Honor: Book 7 of the Realm Series [historical fiction; Regency romance; romantic suspense/adventure/mystery]

For two years, BARON JOHN SWENTON has thought of little else other than making Satiné Aldridge his wife; so when he discovers her reputation in tatters, Swenton acts honorably: He puts forward a marriage of convenience that will save her from ruination and provide him the one woman he believes will bring joy to his life. However, the moment he utters his proposal, Swenton’s instincts scream he has made a mistake: Unfortunately, a man of honor makes the best of even the most horrendous of situations.

Sacrifice and honor, betrayal and redemption, all make for an exceptionally satisfying romance. A Touch of Honor is a mesmerizing story of extraordinary love realized against impossible odds. – Collette Cameron, Award-Winning Author

Kindle (Also available to read on Kindle Unlimited)

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A Touch of Emerald: The Conclusion of the Realm Series (Fiction/Historical; Historical Romance/Mystery/Adventure; Regency)

Four crazy Balochs. A Gypsy band. An Indian maiden. A cave with a maze of passages. A hero, not yet tested. And a missing emerald.

For nearly two decades, the Realm thwarted the efforts of all Shaheed Mir sent their way, but now the Baloch warlord is in England, and the tribal leader means to reclaim the fist-sized emerald he believes one of the Realm stole during their rescue of a girl upon whom Mir turned his men. Mir means to take his revenge on the Realm and the Indian girl’s child, LADY SONALI FOWLER.

DANIEL KERRINGTON, Viscount Worthing, has loved Lady Sonalí since they were but children. Yet, when his father, the Earl of Linworth, objects to Sonalí’s bloodlines, Worthing thinks never to claim her. However, when danger arrives in the form of the Realm’s old enemy, Kerrington ignores all caution for the woman he loves.

Kindle (Also available to read on Kindle Unlimited)

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His American Heartsong: A Companion Novel of the Realm Series (Regency romance, Historical romance, Series, The Realm)

The Deepest Love is Always Unexpected.

LAWRENCE LOWERY, Lord Hellsman, has served as the dutiful son since childhood, but when his father Baron Blakehell arranges a marriage with the insipid Annalee Dryburgh, Lowery must choose between his responsibilities to his future title and the one woman who makes sense in his life.

Although her mother was once a lady in waiting to the Queen, by Society’s standards, MISS ARABELLA TILNEY is completely unfit to be the future baroness: Bella is an American hoyden who demands that Lowery do the impossible: Be the man he always dreamed of being.

Kindle (Also available to read on Kindle Unlimited)

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His Irish Eve (Fiction/Historical Fiction; Romance; Regency Romance/Adventure)

When the Earl of Greenwall demands his only son, ADAM LAWRENCE, Viscount Stafford, retrieve the viscount’s by-blow, everything in Lawrence’s life changes. Six years prior, Stafford released his mistress, Cathleen Donnell, from his protection; now, he discovers from Greenwall that Cathleen was with child when she returned to her family. Stafford arrives in Cheshire to discover not only the son of which Greenwall spoke, but also two daughters, as well as a strong-willed woman, in the form of AOIFE KENNICE, who fascinates Stafford from the moment of their first encounter.

Set against the backdrop of the early radicalism of the Industrial Revolution and the Peterloo Massacre, a battle begins: A fight Lawrence must win: a fight for a woman worth knowing, his Irish Eve.

Kindle (Also available to read on Kindle Unlimited)

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Lady Joy and the Earl: A Regency Christmas Romance

They have loved each other since childhood, but life has not been kind to either of them. James Highcliffe’s arranged marriage had been everything but loving, and Lady Joy’s late husband believed a woman’s spirit was meant to be broken. Therefore, convincing Lady Jocelyn Lathrop to abandon her freedom and consider marriage to him after twenty plus years apart may be more than the Earl of Hough can manage. Only the spirit of Christmas can bring these two together when secrets mean to keep them apart.

Kindle (Available to read on Kindle Unlimited)

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Letters from Home: A Regency Christmas Romance

She is the woman whose letters to another man kept Simon alive during the war. He is the English officer her late husband claimed to be incomparable. In her, his heart whispers of finally being “home.” In him, she discovers a man who truly stirs her soul. Unfortunately for both, the lady fears no longer being invisible to the world and assuming a place at his side. Can Major Lord Simon Lanford claim Mrs. Faith Lamont as his wife or will his rise to the earldom and his family’s expectations keep them apart?
“This was both a heart-breaking and heart-warming second chance love story, made all the more satisfying by the Christmas setting.” – Calico Hearts Review

Kindle (Available to read on Kindle Unlimited)

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Lady Chandler’s Sister: Book 3 of the Twins’ Trilogy

Sir Alexander Chandler knows his place in the world. As the head of one of the divisions of the Home Office, he has his hand on the nation’s pulse. However, a carriage accident on a deserted Scottish road six months earlier has Sir Alexander questioning his every choice. He has no memory of what happened before he woke up in an Edinburgh hospital, and the unknown frightens him more than any enemy he ever met on a field of battle. One thing is for certain: He knows he did not marry Miss Alana Pottinger’s sister in an “over the anvil” type of ceremony in Scotland.

Miss Alana Pottinger has come to London, with Sir Alexander’s son in tow, to claim the life the baronet promised the boy when he married Sorcha, some eighteen months prior. She understands his responsibilities to King and Crown, but this particular fiery, Scottish miss refuses to permit Sir Alexander to deny his duty to his son. Nothing will keep her from securing the child’s future as heir to the baronetcy and restoring Sir Alexander’s memory of the love he shared with Sorcha: Nothing, that is, except the beginning of the Rockite Rebellion in Ireland and the kidnapping of said child for nefarious reasons.

An impressive ending to the beautifully crafted Twins’ Trilogy – Starr’s ***** Romance Reviews

Love. Power. Intrigue. Betrayal. All play their parts in this fitting conclusion to a captivating, romantic suspense trio. – Bella Graves, Author & Reviewer

“Lady Chandler’s Sister,” Award-Winning Finalist in the Fiction: Romance Category of the 2019 International Book Awards ~ http://www.internationalbookawards.com/2019awardannouncement.html

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A Regency Christmas Proposal: A Regency Romance Christmas Anthology

A Fabulous Regency Christmas anthology from Best-selling Authors.

Six full length novellas to keep you reading all through Christmas, each featuring a happily ever after centered around Christmas. The anthology includes:

The Last Woman Standing by Regina Jeffers
A Gypsy blessing for choosing a wife bound to rare flowers, a Marquess loath to comply with it, a companion with horticulture in her blood, lies, deception and manipulation, a blessing fulfilled in unexpected ways, an enduring love.

Twelfth Night Promise by Alanna Lucas
A Lord with a steadfast love, the Lady who broke his heart, six long years ago, now forced to a marriage against her will, a snowbound Christmas which brings them together again, deception unravelling as love proves stronger than lies, a second chance claimed.

A Bluestocking for a Baron by Arietta Richmond
A Bluestocking with unfashionable interests, a Baron with a deep investment in trade, an unscrupulous business rival, kidnapping, blackmail and rescue, love found in the face of danger.

The Earl and the Bluestocking by Janis Susan May
An Earl who needs a wife – but dislikes all of the women he meets, a young lady who staunchly denies any interest in fashion and frivolity, a Christmas Eve Ball, and a chance to be different – just once, a mysterious beauty who disappears, a slender clue to a lifetime love.

His Yuletide Kiss by Summer Hanford
A gentleman, the woman he believes he is fated to marry, her cousin, a family feud, an approval denied, secrets lies and deception, dark character revealed and true love redeemed.

Wooing the Wallflower by Emma Kaye
A Viscount’s daughter, a man of business, a conflict of class, a secret of art, an unsuitable affection, the threat of a marriage, a love worth fighting for.

Kindle (Available to Read on Kindle Unlimited)

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A Regency Summer Escape: A Regency Summer Romance Anthology

Three wonderful Regency Summer stories! Will the Lord win his Lady by summer’s end?

Her Summer Duke by Arietta Richmond
A Lady promised since childhood, now questioning her feelings, a Duke also promised, and questioning his desire for love, a noblemen turned to the sea, now desperately in love, a cousin doubting her own betrothal, a confusion of suitors, and unexpected triumph of love.

Lady Margaret Caulfield is somewhat spoiled, and newly come out into society, finds that she suddenly doubts everything – about love, and about her future. Promised since childhood to the man who saved her life when she was ten, she had not questioned it – until she met a man at a Masquerade Ball, and immediately fell in love with him.
Captain Lord Adam Halstone is barely accepted by society, and only then because he is the second son of a Duke – for he has done the inexcusable, and not only invested in trade, but chosen to work as a ship’s Captain. Love is not something that he has considered, yet when he meets a green eyed beauty at a Masquerade Ball, he finds himself utterly in love.
But Lady Margaret must contend with her uncertain feelings for the Duke she is promised to, who himself is coming to doubt the wisdom of the promise he made eight years before. And matters are complicated by others who would also seek Lady Margaret’s hand, should she cry off from that promise.
In the end, will love triumph? Or will duty bind each of the players in this tangle to an unhappy future?

Courting Lord Whitmire by Regina Jeffers
At a bend of the path, an unexpected meeting. She is all May, he is December. But love knows not time.

Miss Verity Coopersmith, at twenty, has not met a man she feels anything for, and expects that she never may. Mostly, she is content with her lot.
Andrew, Viscount Whitmire, at forty two, a widower newly come into his inheritance, with a fifteen year old daughter to contend with whom he had spent little time with since her birth, does not expect love or happiness to ever be part of his life. Duty will have to suffice.
But when they meet on a muddy lane in the rain, life is irreversibly changed for both of them.

Sarah’s Summer Surprise by Victoria Hinshaw
Miss Sarah Kinnard is the youngest of ten children, and when her father’s death and her mother’s grief delayed her London Season, she found herself with no options but to accompany a friend to the countryside, or to play nursemaid to her sisters’ children. The countryside seemed an excellent choice – until she met the man responsible for the renovations of the manor house at which they were staying. The man who, just by his presence, made her feel things that she had never felt before.
Captain Benjamin Lockhart took on the role of renovation manager to give himself something to do, as he healed after the war. It was a new life that he found comfort in, until the arrival of Miss Kinnard, when he found himself desiring more from life than he had ever considered before.
Can the restoration of a long abandoned manor house also restore the joy of life and love for two souls somewhat abandoned by their families?

If you love great stories, and the regency era, you’ll love these!

Kindle (Available to read on Kindle Unlimited)

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Second Chances: The Courtship Wars (Contemporary Romance, Psychology, Sexology, Reality TV, Downs Syndrome, Eccentric Hermits)

Rushing through the concourse to make her way to the conference stage, GILLIAN CORNELL comes face-to-face with the one man she finds most contemptible, but suddenly her world tilts. His gaze tells stories she wants desperately to hear. As he undresses her with his eyes, Gillian finds all she can do is stumble through her opening remarks. The all-too-attractive cad challenges both her sensibility and her reputation as a competent sexologist.

DR. LUCIAN DAMRON never allows any woman to capture his interest for long. He uses them to boost his career and for his pleasure. Yet, Lucian cannot resist Gillian’s stubborn independence, her startling intelligence, and her surprising sensuality. Sinfully handsome, Lucian hides a badly wounded heart and a life of personal rejection.

Thrown together as the medical staff on “Second Chances,” a new reality TV show designed to reunite previously married couples, Lucian and Gillian soon pique the interest of the American viewing public, who tune in each week, fascinated by the passionate electricity coursing between them. Thus begins an all-consuming courtship war, plagued by potential relationship-ending secrets and misunderstandings and played out scandalously on a national stage.

Kindle (Also available to read on Kindle Unlimited)

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One Minute Past Christmas: Tale of an Appalachian Christmas Miracle [short story, Appalachia, holidays, Christmas, family relationships, legends]

One Minute Past Christmas is the story of a Greenbrier County, West Virginia, family in which a grandfather and his granddaughter share a special ability — they call it a “gift”– that enables them to briefly witness each year a miraculous gathering in the sky. What they see begins at precisely one minute past Christmas and fills them with as much relief as it does wonder. But they worry that the “gift” — which they cannot reveal to anyone else — will die with them because it has been passed to no other relative for forty-four years.

Kindle (Also available to read on Kindle Unlimited)

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I do not currently own the rights to the three books listed below, but Black Opal Books, the publisher, has placed a reasonable price on these eBooks.

Angel Comes to the Devil’s Keep: Book 1 of the Twins’ Trilogy [romantic suspense; Regency romance; historical fiction; mystery; twins]

SOLA’s Eighth Annual Dixie Kane Memorial Awards, 3rd Place, Historical Romance; 2017 finalist in the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense; 2017 finalist Derby Award for Fiction

Huntington McLaughlin, the Marquess of Malvern, wakes in a farmhouse, after a head injury, being tended by an ethereal “angel,” who claims to be his wife. However, reality is often deceptive, and Angelica Lovelace is far from innocent in Hunt’s difficulties. Yet, there is something about the woman that calls to him as no other ever has. When she attends his mother’s annual summer house party, their lives are intertwined in a series of mistaken identities, assaults, kidnappings, overlapping relations, and murders, which will either bring them together forever or tear them irretrievably apart. As Hunt attempts to right his world from problems caused by the head injury that has robbed him of parts of his memory, his best friend, the Earl of Remmington, makes it clear that he intends to claim Angelica as his wife. Hunt must decide whether to permit her to align herself with the earldom or claim the only woman who stirs his heart–and if he does the latter, can he still serve the dukedom with a hoydenish American heiress at his side?

The story is charming, with interesting and realistic characters, a complex plot with plenty of surprises, and a sweet romance woven through it all. The author has a good command of what it was like to be a woman in nineteenth-century England–almost as if she had been there. She really did her research for this one. – Taylor Jones

Angel Comes to Devil’s Keep is a well-written tale of courage and sacrifice and what women went through in order to marry well in Regency England. The author did her homework and it shows in an authenticity that we don’t often see in Regency romances. – Regan Murphy

Nook Kobo Smashwords Kindle All Romance eBooks

Black Opal Books iTunes Regency Reader

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The Earl Claims His Comfort: Book 2 of the Twins’ Trilogy [historical fiction; romantic suspense, Regency romance; mystery, twins]

2016 Hot Prospects Award Finalist, Romantic Suspense

Hurrying home to Tegen Castle from the Continent to assume guardianship of a child not his, but one who holds his countenance, Levison Davids, Earl of Remmington, is shot on the road and left to die. The incident has Remmington chasing after a man who remains one step ahead and who claims a distinct similarity—a man who wishes to replace Remmington as the rightful earl. Rem must solve the mystery of how Frederick Troutman’s life parallels his while protecting his title, the child, and the woman he loves.

Comfort Neville has escorted Deirdre Kavanaugh from Ireland to England, in hopes that the Earl of Remmington will prove a better guardian for the girl than did the child’s father. When she discovers the earl’s body upon road backing the castle, it is she who nurses him to health. As the daughter of a minor son of an Irish baron, Comfort is impossibly removed from the earl’s sphere, but the man claims her affections. She will do anything for him, including confronting his enemies. When she is kidnapped as part of a plot for revenge against the earl, she must protect Rem’s life, while guarding her heart.

Amazon Kindle Kobo Nook Black Opal Books

Barnes and Noble Smashwords

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The Heartless Earl:A Common Elements Romance Novel (Regency romance, historical romance, trilogy, series, mystery, family relationships)

STERLING BAXTER, the Earl of Merritt, has married the woman his father has chosen for him, but the marriage has been everything but comfortable. Sterling’s wife, Lady Claire, came to the marriage bed with a wanton’s experience. She dutifully provides Merritt his heir, but within a fortnight, she deserts father and son for a baron, Lord Lyall Sutherland. In the eyes of the ton, Lady Claire has cuckolded Merritt.

EBBA MAYER, longs for love and adventure. Unfortunately, she’s likely to find neither. As a squire’s daughter, Ebba holds no sway in Society; but she’s a true diamond of the first water. Yet, when she meets Merritt’s grandmother, the Dowager Countess of Merritt creates a “story” for the girl, claiming if Ebba is presented to the ton as a war widow with a small dowry, the girl will find a suitable match.

LORD LYALL SUTHERLAND remains a thorn in Merritt’s side, but when the baron makes Mrs. Mayer a pawn in his crazy game of control, Merritt offers the woman his protection. However, the earl has never faced a man who holds little strength of title, but who wields great power; and he finds himself always a step behind the enigmatic baron. When someone frames Merritt for Lady Claire’s sudden disappearance, Merritt must quickly learn the baron’s secrets or face a death sentence.

Smashwords Black Opal Books Amazon

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Kindle

Posted in books, contemporary romance, eBooks, historical fiction, Jane Austen, paranormal, Pride and Prejudice, publishing, reading, Realm series, Regency romance, romance, Vagary, writing | Tagged contemporary romance, eBooks, Jane Austen, Regency romance, Romantic Suspense, Twelfth Night Sale, Vagary, Variations | 20 Comments

Say “Hello” to Author, Christina Alexandra

Posted on December 23, 2019 by Regina Jeffers

One of my new author friends is Christina Alexandra, a fellow historical romance writer. It is my great pleasure to introduce you to her.

First, tell us a bit about yourself. From where do you come? Past jobs, awards, the usual bio stuff.

Hi, my name is Christina Alexandra. I write historical romance set in Georgian and Regency England. I use my varied life and work experiences to craft true-to-life characters and emotional stories with a unique twist on modern issues. When not researching, writing or working as an emergency services operator, I spend my spare time travelling, cooking—oftentimes with a historical flare—and connecting with fans and friends on social media.

An avid trivia junkie, I am constantly on the lookout for random facts in the hopes that it will help me in my never ending quest for a spot on “Jeopardy!”

You can connect with me online at

website ~ facebook ~ Haute Ton Reader Society ~ twitter ~ instagram

Tell us about your new release.

I’ve actually had to delay my release due to health reasons. I’m hoping to have it out in January. It’s part of the Common Elements Romance Project—individual stories that are tied together by 5 common elements: a lightning storm, a haunted house, a person named Max, a thick stack of books, and a set of lost keys. Along with these elements, The Worth of a Viscount is based on one of my favorite tropes: second chance romance.

Led to believe her high-spirited nature chased away her first love, Lady Maxine Pearson bent to family demand, cultivating a facade of docile, boring perfection. But after four seasons without a single offer of marriage, she realizes perfection is decidedly overrated. Desperate to escape the cage of her own making, Maxine seizes the opportunity to travel to her cousin’s wedding scandalously alone.

Adam Hawkins always dreamed of marrying Lady Maxine. Even when the point was beaten into him, he refused to accept that a knight’s son would never be good enough for an earl’s daughter, leaving England to prove his worth. Now, six years later, he has returned with the wealth, influence, and status beyond his expectations.

When Maxine’s act of rebellion leaves her stranded, she has no choice but to accept help from the man who broke her heart, giving Adam the perfect opportunity to win it back. As passion flares, discovery by her family has Maxine falling back into her role as obedient daughter, leaving Adam to show her their second chance at love is worth fighting for.

What difficulties does writing this genre present?

The difficulty in writing Regency stories is getting past people’s perceived notions of what it is. Many stories take place in London, which was a bustling trading city. There were people of all nationalities there. It wasn’t made up of only an all white upper class or all white lower class. There was a thriving, rising middle class of merchants, bankers, etc. And the diversity! The more research I do, the more Regency London resembles modern London in its demographics. Incorporating character not just from the continent, but also Africa, Asia, the Americas, and the Middle East is important in representing the time period properly.

What do you enjoy most in the writing process? What parts of it do you really dislike?

I think I like the editing process the best. For me it’s really easy to come up with an Idea and it’s easy for me to fix something that has been done. But the actual first draft is painful!

Are you more of a plotter or a pantser, or does it change from book to book?

I’m a plotster! lol. I plot major events and the ending, but everything in between is a mystery until it’s on the page.

How do you keep all your research information and plot ideas organized and accessible?

I use Evernote to organize my ideas. I have a file of story ideas (I think I’m up to 120 now). Many can be combined with each other, some are duplicates, and some need more development. But I have about 65 useful plots I can pick from right away.

I have a file for names, too. I have names for heroes and heroines, names for secondary characters, surnames, titles, and estate names. These I get from everywhere. My favorite resource is the Day Job—either people in my department, or people I talk to over the phone. Even street names have some great sounds to them!

What will you be working on next?

After Worth, I’ll be working on book 2 of the Reluctant Lords, The Seduction of the Duke, as well as working on my as yet untitled Christmas novella for my reader group, the Haute Ton Reader Society.

911 Operator by Day, Historical Romance Writer by Night.
Critter keeper.
Travel & trivia junkie.
Historical & Everyday Foodie.

Posted in book release, Georgian England, Georgian Era, Guest Post, historical fiction, Regency era, Regency romance, writing | Tagged book release, Christina Alexander, Georgian Era, guest post, historical fiction, Historical Romance, interview, Regency romance | 1 Comment

Regency Christmas Games, a Guest Post from Jann Rowland

Posted on December 18, 2019 by Regina Jeffers

(This post appeared on Austen Authors on December 12, 2018. I thought to resurrect it here. Enjoy!)

Tis the season to write Christmas based posts it seems. As we’re now in the middle of the season, with the day itself just around the corner, we’ve already seen many of my fellow AuAu bloggers write of Christmas in Regency times. I thought I’d focus on fun at Christmas—specifically, on some of the fun-loving traditions of our English cousins in the early nineteenth century.

Some of the games that were played at Christmas in Regency times are well known today. For instance, similes was often played in Regency times, and while it is more popularly known as a game played during Victorian times, particularly in the novel A Christmas Carol by Dickens, its origins stretch back long before that time. Of course, none of Jane Austen’s contemporaries would have known to answer “Tight as” with Fred’s “Uncle Scrooge’s purse strings!” Similarly, charades was a favorite which was often played by Regency Christmas goers.

Two of the most common and liveliest games they played had to do with food. The first was, of course, the infamous snap-dragon. A large shallow bowl was produced, and into this bowl was poured a liberal amount of brandy. Then they would put raisins and nuts in the brandy and light it aflame. The object was, of course, to grab treats from the burning bowl and eat them. Of course, for the lace-wearing populace of the time—particularly ladies of Mrs. Bennet’s ilk—doing so without setting yourself on fire was a true talent, indeed! In order to make the setting more striking, the lights would often be doused, leaving the blue flames of the burning brandy the only lights in the room. Don’t try this at home, kids!

Another food-based game was called bullet pudding. While it was called a pudding, the descriptions I’ve read suggest it was mostly flour, with a “sort of pudding” piled on the flour and formed into a peak at the top. The object of the game was to cut a slice of the pudding without disturbing the bullet which was placed on the peak. If the bullet fell while you were cutting the pudding, you had to retrieve it with your mouth, which left the unfortunate liberally coated with flour. In addition to these favorites, the revelers would often pull out old classics such as blind man’s buff—self-explanatory to most, I think—or any one of a number of rhyming games.

And while it is not specifically a game, the placement of mistletoe around the house was often treated like one, especially when kisses from pretty young ladies could be had. A large ball of mistletoe would be hung from the rafters, and whenever a young woman was found under the mistletoe by a gentleman, he would pluck a berry and claim his kiss. The young lady could not refuse a kiss when caught, so the Elizabeth Bennets of the world had to be on the lookout for young men like William Collins! When the berries had all been plucked, the mistletoe would be taken down, and any young lady who had not received a kiss could not expect to be married that year.

Posted in British history, family, Georgian England, Guest Post, history, holidays, Jane Austen, Living in the Regency, Regency era | Tagged amusements, British history, Christmastide, games, guest post, holidays, Regency | Comments Off

Christmas in Jane Austen’s Time, a Guest Post from Eliza Shearer

Posted on December 11, 2019 by Regina Jeffers

(This post appeared on Austen Authors exactly one year ago today. Enjoy!)

Christmas is very much upon us and with it a vast amount of different customs and traditions across households, counties and countries. However, what was Christmas like in the Regency, and how different was it from today’s festivities? Nancy Lawrence recently told us about Washington Irving and his experiences in 1815 England, but Jane Austen also gives us a fair deal of information in her works.

A Time for Friends and Family

Christmas was a time for family and friends to gather around and enjoy some time together. In Pride and Prejudice, the Gardiners go to Longbourn to spend their Christmas with the Bennets “as usual.” In Northanger Abbey, James Morland is said to have spent Christmas at the Thorpes. In Emma, Isabella, her husband and their five children, very much settled in London, spend a few days at Hartfield over Christmas. In Sense and Sensibility, Mrs Palmer invites the Misses Dashwood to “spend some time at Cleveland this Christmas,” an invitation they decline.

As pompous Mr Elton puts it in Emma, “This is quite the season indeed for friendly meetings. At Christmas, everybody invites their friends about them, and people think little of even the worst weather.” Happily, the custom has not changed much since the Regency, and most of us continue to get together with our loved ones to celebrate together.

Deck the Halls

Although the Christmas tree as such did not become widespread until Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, brought the custom from his native Germany, English people during the Regency adorned their homes in a way that most of us would recognise as definitely Christmassy. As well as the gentle glow of candles, then a practical necessity, it was very popular to decorate the house with evergreen boughs indoors, such as holly with berries, ivy and laurel. The custom went back to pre-Christian celebrations of the winter solstice and a reminder that the good weather would return.

As with any gathering and celebration, during a typical Regency Christmas, there would have been music and singing. Some of the tunes were specific to the season, such as “Green Groweth the Holly”, supposedly composed by none other than Henry VIII, although carol singers as we know them today were a Victorian invention. Charades and theatrical performances by the young ones would have also featured heavily. In Mansfield Park, Tom Bertram says that “I am sure, my name was Norval every evening of my life through one Christmas holidays.” The words refer to the most famous lines of an XVIII century play titled Douglas, by John Home:

My name is Norval; on the Grampian Hills
My father feeds his flocks; a frugal swain,
Whose constant cares were to increase his store.
And keep his only son, myself, at home.

Douglas, II, i

Mass on Christmas Morning

Christmas was observed with a church service, but many churches at the time were damp and very cold, with no heating of any kind, so going to Christmas morning mass would have involved getting dressed as warmly as possible and avoiding the slippery ice and frozen mud that was likely to be encountered in the way to church.

In Emma, the heroine is much relieved by “the sight of a great deal of snow on the ground” on Christmas morning. The lousy weather gives her the perfect excuse not to go to church, and therefore avoid Mr Elton, the Highbury vicar, who the previous night, as they are returning from dinner at Randalls, makes her an embarrassing and unwanted marriage proposal.

Plum Pudding, Mince Pies and Presents Galore

With food being at the heart of the celebrations, it was also traditional for some charitable individuals to invite the poor for a meal. Charitable clergymen like Mr Tilney or Mr Edmund Bertram would have most certainly welcomed the least fortunate into their homes, although Mr and Mrs Elton would perhaps have been less inclined to do so. They would have served them plum-pudding, the ancestor of today’s Christmas pudding, and mince pies. In Pride and Prejudice, Charlotte Lucas is “wanted about the mince pies” sometime in November, which suggests that the ladies at Lucas Lodge were busy preparing the filling, made with fruit and spices (by the XIX century the recipe no longer included meat).

Christmas is synonymous with presents. Jane Austen would have exchanged gifts with her friends and family around this time of year, but not on Christmas day, but rather on Twelfth Night, on January 5th. The date marks the Feast of the Epiphany, which celebrates the arrival of the Three Kings and their offerings of frankincense, gold and myrrh to the Christ child. Twelfth Night parties, with music and dancing, were frequent during the Regency. Everyone in the household, from the master to the lowliest of servants, was served a piece of special Twelfth Cake. Hidden in the dough of the cake were a dried bean and a dried pea, and the lucky finders would be the King and Queen for the night.

A Jane Austen Christmas

As you can see, a great deal of the spirit of Christmas during the Regency would be entirely recognisable to most of us, and as proof, allow me to quote a paragraph in Persuasion, one of the most touching family scenes in Austen’s works, depicting Christmas at Uppercross:

Immediately surrounding Mrs Musgrove were the little Harvilles, whom she was sedulously guarding from the tyranny of the two children from the Cottage, expressly arrived to amuse them. On one side was a table occupied by some chattering girls, cutting up silk and gold paper; and on the other were tressels and trays, bending under the weight of brawn and cold pies, where riotous boys were holding high revel; the whole completed by a roaring Christmas fire, which seemed determined to be heard, in spite of all the noise of the others. Charles and Mary also came in, of course, during their visit, and Mr Musgrove made a point of paying his respects to Lady Russell, and sat down close to her for ten minutes, talking with a very raised voice, but from the clamour of the children on his knees, generally in vain. It was a fine family-piece.

Persuasion, Chapter 14

I anticipate that my Christmas will not be vastly dissimilar from the Musgroves’ this year. There will be mountains of food, evergreen decorations, Christmas carols playing in the background, dozens of presents, excited children running around and many adults speaking at the same time. Two centuries may have passed, but certain things remain the same, and may they never change.

Have a wonderful Christmas, wherever you are!

Which one of the Regency traditions above will you be embracing in the coming weeks?

Posted in British history, film adaptations, Georgian England, Georgian Era, Guest Post, Jane Austen, Living in the Regency, Mansfield Park, Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice, Regency era | Tagged British history, celebrations, Christmastide, Emma, guest post, holidays, Jane Austen, Persuasion, Regency | 1 Comment

Meet Author, Tabetha Waite

Posted on December 9, 2019 by Regina Jeffers

Today, it is with great pleasure to introduce you to Tabetha Waite, another of those who writes historicals set in late Georgian to the Victorian era. Tabetha and I are part of the Common Elements Romance Project.

The Common Elements Romance Project includes over seventy romance authors who have come together to write stories that contain these just five things in common:

–>a lightning storm
–>lost keys
–>a haunted house (really haunted or rumored to be)
–>a stack of thick books
–>a person named Max

Everything else is up to the individual authors.

Our stories are not connected to each other or in the same “world,” so they can be read in any order. Some are shorter, some are epic, and some are in between. They run the gamut of romance sub-genres and heat levels, too, so there’s something here for everyone. At the end of October, I introduced you to The Heartless Earl, my contribution to the project.

Today, it is Tabetha’s turn. However, let us first learn something about Ms. Waite.

First, tell us a bit about yourself. From where do you come?

I’m a small town, Missouri girl born and bred! I’ve been married to my true love for the past twenty years and we have two amazing daughters. I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was nine years old, and I give that credit to my fourth grade teacher who encouraged me. I saw that dream realized in 2016 with the release of my first novel. Since then, I’ve won several awards and been involved in several anthologies. It truly is the best job ever!

Tell us about your new release.

While I normally write Regency, the research can be challenging at times, so I like to try different genres. To date, I’ve written a couple contemporary shorts and even an erotic paranormal short! But my latest book, “Behind a Moonlit Veil,” is a Victorian Gothic set during the time of Jack the Ripper, an unsolved mystery that has always intrigued me. In my story, I keep the reader guessing who the killer might be, while there is a completely different intrigue taking place. All in all, it’s a little darker than what I’ve written in the past, but it was a book that was bursting out of me!

Are you more of a plotter or a pantser, or does it change from book to book?

I say that I’m going to try and map out a book, but it ALWAYS ends up going in a different direction that I planned, so I’m a definite pantser. While it might sound odd or deranged, as my characters start to develop their personalities change and the story becomes theirs. The mind of a writer!

How do your choose your characters’ names?

I still have my original baby name book at home that I’ll flip through to get ideas, but I have gotten inspiration from people I’ve met.

Can you tell us about your upcoming projects?

I’m currently working on another Victorian story loosely based on The Pied Piper of Hamelin, and I will be starting a fairy tale retelling set in the American West, another first for me! I also have a couple new Regency anthologies coming out next year, as well as the start of a brand new Regency series called, “Season of the Spinster.”

Behind a Moonlit Veil by Tabetha Waite

An evil lurks in the darkest corners of Victorian London…

Amaris Maxwell has lived her entire life with ill health. As the daughter of a prominent doctor, it never occurred to her to question his abilities, nor his associate’s rather unorthodox treatments. But the life of a sheltered woman has its disadvantages. She yearns to be free, to live an existence outside the same four walls. It isn’t until fate thrusts her into the path of Mr. Jackson Moreland that she begins to question everything she’s ever known. As a mysterious killer begins to terrorize the streets of London, Amaris realizes that things are not always how they may appear…

But how close is the true villain?

Jackson Moreland has lived the last two years of his life in a personal hell after the brutal murder of his wife. Released from an asylum, he struggles to come to terms with his reality. When he is engaged by Scotland Yard to assist in learning the identity of the murderer of Whitechapel, everything changes the moment he meets Amaris. He knows something isn’t right and he’s determined to find out what it is.

As things progress between them and secrets are revealed amid their growing attraction, they begin to fear that the true threat may not be the Ripper after all.

Kindle

Amazon

Meet Tabetha Waite:

Tabetha Waite is the multi-award winning author of the Ways of Love Series. Her debut novel, “Why the Earl is After the Girl,” was published in July of 2016 and won the 2017 Best Indie Book Award in Romance and the 2018 Second Place Feathered Quill Book Award in Romance. Her second book, “Where the Viscount Met His Match” was a 2019 Finalist in the International Book Awards for Romance and a 2019 Finalist in the Book Excellence Awards for Romance. Her third book, “When a Duke Pursues a Lady” was a 2018 Finalist in the Book Talk Radio Club Awards, and “Who the Marquess Dares to Desire” was a 2019 Finalist in the Raven Awards. She is a certified PAN member of the RWA. When she’s not writing, Tabetha is reading, as true bookworms do, or checking out any antique mall she comes across. She is a small town, Missouri girl, born and bred, and continues to make her home in the Midwest with her husband and two wonderful daughters.
You can find her on most any social media site, and she encourages any fans of her work to join her mailing list for updates.

www.authortabethawaite.wix.com/romance

Posted in book release, eBooks, Guest Post, historical fiction, mystery, reading habits, romance, Victorian era, writing | Tagged Behind the Moonlit Veil, Common Elements Romance Project, guest post, interview, mystery, Publishing, Romantic Suspense, Tabetha Waite, Victorian era, writing | Comments Off

A Woman of Faith, a Guest Post from Elaine Owen

Posted on December 4, 2019 by Regina Jeffers

(This post originally appeared on the Austen Authors’ blog on December 7, 2018. Enjoy!)

Every December we like to remember the birthday of Jane Austen the author, the genius writer who penned witty, and sometimes scathing, observations of society. But during this holiday season, when Christians around the world celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, it seems appropriate to remember Jane Austen in another way: a woman of deep faith.

Jane Austen grew up in a strong religious tradition. Her father was a clergyman with the church of England (also called the Anglican church) and two of her brothers eventually took orders. She grew up attending church services regularly. She would have been familiar with the Book of Common Prayer, the Thirty-Nine Articles, and the writings of the church fathers. She would have known the order of service and the readings through the church year. Yet even this does not encompass all of Jane’s religious life.

In Jane’s time there were few careers open to men of gentle birth, so it was common for a man to take on the profession simply as a way to make a living. Piety was frequently a bonus, not a requirement. (Remember George Wickham?) Yet Jane’s father was pious. He led the family in readings, prayers, and a sermon at night. He was known to be a conscientious pastor, faithful in his duties to his flock. Without a doubt he did more than just go through the motions. He worked to actively inculcate faith in his children.

Jane’s father, the Reverend George Austen

And Jane seems to have taken this faith to heart! The same woman who wrote such gems as, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife,” also wrote prayers like this:

“Give us grace, Almighty Father, so to pray, as to deserve to be heard, to address thee with our hearts, as with our lips. Thou art every where present, from thee no secret can be hid. May the knowledge of this teach us to fix our thoughts on thee, with reverence and devotion that we pray not in vain. Look with mercy on the sins we have this day committed and in mercy make us feel them deeply, that our repentance may be sincere and our resolution steadfast of endeavoring against the commission of such in future. Teach us to understand the sinfulness of our own hearts, and bring to our knowledge every fault of temper and every evil habit in which we have indulged to the discomfort of our fellow-creatures, and the danger of our own souls. May we now, and on each return of night, consider how the past day has been spent by us, what have been our prevailing thoughts, words, and actions during it, and how far we can acquit ourselves of evil. Have we thought irreverently of thee, have we disobeyed thy commandments, have we neglected any known duty, or willingly given pain to any human being? Incline us to ask our hearts these questions oh! God, and save us from deceiving ourselves by pride or vanity. Give us a thankful sense of the blessings in which we live, of the many comforts of our lot; that we may not deserve to lose them.”

This is a prayer that Jane composed for reading during the family devotions. It’s important to remember than Jane had no shortage of other prayers to choose from. The Anglican tradition is full of prayers for every occasion. But she wrote this prayer herself, along with at least two others**, as an expression of her own deep faith. These are not rote, dispassionate expressions; they are the words of someone whose beliefs touched their life in profound ways.

We also know that Jane had strong opinions about Evangelicals, one of the more fanatical religious group of her day, and that she and Cassandra frequently assisted the poor in her father’s congregation. These things also tell us how seriously she took her faith.

So why isn’t faith more evident in Jane’s writings? Why doesn’t she ever use her stories as vehicles to urge others to greater piety? I submit that she does, just in ways that are not obvious at first.

For instance, Jane’s world has no moral ambiguities in it. Jane doesn’t try to get the reader to understand what made John Willoughby a cad. She doesn’t express or generate sympathy for Lydia’s wayward behavior. She doesn’t try to justify Henry Crawford’s womanizing. In her novels immoral behavior is always immoral, and the characters who act in immoral ways do not come to good ends. They typically end up frustrated and unsatisfied, not experiencing what we would call a happy ever after.

On the other hand, Jane’s good characters, the ones who behave in moral ways, are portrayed with genuine understanding. They are flawed but they are always capable of becoming better. Through humility and self-reflection they come to know themselves, to acknowledge their shortcomings, and to make a permanent change in their character. For them there is always a happy ending. The idea of humility, repentance, and a person who repents and is rewarded with happiness is a very Christian concept.

So what do you think? Why didn’t Jane’s faith find more expression through her stories? If she were alive today would her faith be expressed in the same way? Here is some further reading on the subject.

***Of three Jane’s reputed prayers, the authorship of two has been questioned.

https://www.crossway.org/articles/the-christian-faith-of-jane-austen/

https://www.guideposts.org/better-living/entertainment/books/the-faith-of-jane-austen

https://janeaustensworld.wordpress.com/2017/07/19/exploring-jane-austens-prayers/

Posted in Austen Authors, British history, Church of England, customs and tradiitons, family, Georgian England, Georgian Era, Guest Post, Jane Austen, Living in the Regency, Regency era, religion, research | Tagged Austen Authors, British history, Christmastide, Church of England, guest post, Jane Austen, religion, Reverend George Austen | Comments Off

A Closer Look at “The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon, Esq.” by William Makepeace Thackeray

Posted on December 2, 2019 by Regina Jeffers

I have debated whether this post should be a review of the book The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon, Esq. by William Makepeace Thackeray or a review of the Stanley Kubrick movie Barry Lyndon or something in between. In truth, I was researching Richard Bertie for another post, but the happenings in Bertie’s real-life reminded me of the fictional Barry Lyndon, and I had to go back and look at at the Thackeray tale. In addition, I recently set through a screening of this movie in September at the Carolina Theatre of Durham (NC). The film originally came out in 1975, but it was re-released to the “art” theatres in 2016. I can say that it is one of the best costume dramas in existence, but know that it is 3 hours long and is, by today’s standards, a VERY slow-paced movie. Like Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut and Full Metal Jacket, this is more of a character study that “chronicles the picaresque journey of Irish chancer Redmond Barry (Ryan O’Neal) as a British soldier of the 1756-63 Seven Years War, deserter, turncoat hero of the Prussian army, gambler, adulterous husband, devoted father, aspiring aristocrat, and symbolically emasculated wanderer, his travels taking him to Germany, Holland, Belgium, England, and back to the continent around 1789. The film is gorgeously appointed and offers many painterly vistas and static or semi-static dioramas – direct homages to the works of, among others, Hogarth, Watteau, Gainsborough, Stubbs, Constable, Reynolds, Fuseli, Zoffany, and de la Tour and Schalcken, the latter pair inspiring Kubrick’s exquisite candlelit interiors.” (The Arts Desk)

The film fared poorly at the box-office upon its release and received mixed reviews, but it has gained in reputation in recent times and remains one of Kubrick’s better and most underrated films. John Alcott’s cinematography gives the film its elegant look. The movie paints a detailed picture of Europe’s 18th-century period that could have been drawn by master painters such as Constable, Gainborough and Watteau. It’s a sumptuous costume movie that tells both an adventure story and one that’s a comedy of manners, that goes at a leisurely pace for three hours. (Home Pages by Dennis Schwartz)

In April 2017, the New York Arts Organization featured the film in one of those Wordless Music presentations with a 50-piece orchestra. They sum up the movie, which stars Ryan O’Neal as Barry, as such: “Redmond Barry is a young, roguish Irishman who’s determined, in any way, to make a life for himself as a wealthy nobleman. Enlisting in the British army and fighting in Europe’s Seven Years War, Barry deserts, joins the Prussian army, gets promoted to the rank of a spy, and becomes a pupil to a chevalier and con artist/gambler. Barry then lies, dupes, duels and seduces his way up the social ladder, entering into a lustful but loveless marriage to a wealthy countess named Lady Lyndon. He takes the name of Barry Lyndon, settles in England with wealth and power beyond his wildest dreams, before eventually falling into ruin.

“Barry Lyndon’s Oscar winning soundtrack features Irish traditional music and military marches, along with baroque and classical themes by Mozart, Vivaldi, Bach, and Paisiello. Most notable are sumptuous interpretations of Handel’s Sarabande and Schubert’s Piano Trio in E-Flat Major, D. 929, which emerges as a recurring, melancholic love theme for Lady Lyndon.”

As to Thackeray’s novel, the story begins with a teenage Redmond Barry, who loves his cousin, but more importantly, thinks of himself as coming from the nobility. It is this belief, instilled in him by his mother, that brings him glory and ruin. The book does not shy away from reality. For example, although he thinks himself worthy of grand honors and respects, Redmond faces needs of day-to-day survival. They are from the gentry, but from an impoverished Irish family. With thoughts of his “rightful” place in society, Redmond refused to choose menial work or even one of the more acceptable professions. Living with blinders on, Redmond’s aspirations to the nobility destroys him.

In the bibliographical notes of a collection of Thackeray’s works, Walter Jerrold [The Works of William Makepeace Thackeray, J.M. Dent & Co., London, 1903] speaks to the inspiration for Redmond Barry’s character. Jerrold believes Thackeray was familiar with the accounts of the adventures of Andrew Robinson Stoney [later called Stoney=Bowes], who also married a countess [Countess of Strathmore] for money and mistreated her. Parts of Stoney’s real-life tale comes to life in the book.

Barry Lyndon is completely reprehensible, but even so the reader holds a bit of sympathy for him because those with whom he associates are more abhorrent than he. In Depth Info tells us, “When he gets back at a haughty lieutenant or skips town, escaping from an oppressive Prussian secret police, we can applaud his ingenuity. But as he enters the field of matrimony we come to have a dimmer view of Redmond Barry and his self-justifications. This is because many of his early adventures can be viewed almost as a game, a game at which he begins to excel. But later as he contemplates marriage we realize that he is totally unequipped to come to grips with the serious business of life, and ultimately, it is his wife who ends up suffering for his inadequacy, self-destruction, and self-delusion.

“Throughout the work the whole idea of honor, especially as it is expressed in the code duello hovers in the background. Redmond Barry makes use of this almost legitimized threatening force in order to get his way. He acts as an enforcer collecting gambling debts owed to himself and his cheating uncle. He largely bullies whomever gets in his way because he is an expert swordsman and a wicked shot with the pistol. It is interesting that Redmond Barry never kills anyone in a duel. His object is not to so much get others out of the way, but to bend them to his will.

“The underlying message seems to be that this very talented man, Redmond Barry Lyndon, an innocent in his youth is formed by the age in which he lives and through this pernicious code of nobility becomes a monster. Indeed, it is one of the functions of a novel to chronical the change of an individual as he moves through a story. In most works we find the forces of society and nature bring maturity, redemption, or insight – some positive good. In the case of Barry Lyndon the character goes from innocent youth to a thoughtless, self-centered manipulator.”

The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon, Esq.

Posted in books, British history, drama, film, Georgian England, Great Britain | Tagged analysis, aristocracy, book, British history, film, William Makepeace Thackeray | 2 Comments

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A Time for Friends and Family

Deck the Halls

Mass on Christmas Morning

Plum Pudding, Mince Pies and Presents Galore

A Jane Austen Christmas

Meet Author, Tabetha Waite

A Woman of Faith, a Guest Post from Elaine Owen

A Closer Look at “The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon, Esq.” by William Makepeace Thackeray

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