This is a Pride and Prejudice variation in which a teenage Elizabeth makes a daring rescue at boarding school and now, years later, has money for a season in London for her and Jane. They'll just have to manage fortune hunters, mean girls, gossip, and that guy who insulted Elizabeth at the first ball of the season (you know the one).
Darcy has no desire to be on the marriage mart or in the ballrooms of London for the season, but he's there for his family. After his insult to Elizabeth, he's tasked to look out for her best interests and slowly falls in love with her. But how will he get Elizabeth to trust him?
After editing 18(!) of Melanie's books, I can tell you that this story features the funniest scene she's ever written. Her Whole Heart is out now on KU!
My Dear Friend by Heather Moll
What if Regency Darcy and Elizabeth swiped left on each other?
Heather Moll’s My Dear Friend is a Pride and Prejudice variation where Darcy and Elizabeth separately sign up for a matchmaking scheme and start writing letters to each other, signed only with their initial.
In the meantime, every time Elizabeth sees Darcy in person, she can't stand him, but F in her letters is quickly becoming her best confidant. Darcy, meanwhile, is still crushing on Elizabeth but is conflicted with the feelings he has for L, his correspondent.
This is Pride and Prejudice crossed with You’ve Got Mail, in a sweet and satisfying novella! It's out now on KU!
Discretion and Avarice by Mary Alice Alexander
This one is playing with some different what-if scenarios for Pride and Prejudice: Darcy and Elizabeth are younger, Darcy's parents are alive, and Darcy is the youngest of three, with a wastrel older brother Andrew who's the heir to Pemberley. Without having the riches and responsibilities and pride of the heir, Darcy can approach Elizabeth with a lot more openness, and they fall for each other. But Darcy isn't established in a career and can't support a wife.
But Andrew's vices are catching up to him, and the Darcy parents have ensured that our Darcy is in control of the money and Pemberley. Elizabeth, meanwhile, also has to care for her family, who is on the brink of ruin (but not because of the sister you expect!). Can Darcy and Elizabeth ever manage to be together when Darcy's responsibilities (without the title or the money) and Elizabeth's family are keeping them apart?
Discretion and Avarice is ou
Darcy and Elizabeth's Dreams of Redemption by Melissa Anne
After Darcy leaves Netherfield, he begins having dreams of Elizabeth in which she rejects his proposal—but it gets him thinking about Elizabeth and if she might not be the exact match for him if he can get past his pride. Meanwhile, Elizabeth is also having dreams that are making her reconsider her opinion of Darcy.
By the time they meet up again at Kent, they’re both ready for each other—but their families aren’t necessarily ready for them together. With opposition from both sides, they only have themselves and their dreams to keep them together.
A teeny tiny bit of a paranormal spin on the classic P&P story, Darcy and Elizabeth’s Dreams of Redemption is available now in KU!
An Accidental Meeting by Melanie Rachel
This is a Pride and Prejudice variation in which Darcy and Elizabeth meet at Pemberley, and Darcy invites her and the Gardiners to stay at the house. He's trying to do everything he can to show Elizabeth that he's changed, and it's working! They're on their way to falling in love when they discover a mysterious treasure, and things (and people) around Pemberley start getting weird and suspicious.
This is a super engaging and funny novella that explores Darcy and Elizabeth's shaky new relationship in a sweet, lighthearted way, like all of Melanie's work in this series of novellas has. (They're all standalones so you don't have to read the previous to understand this one.) An Accidental Meeting is out now on KU!
Rising Courage by Heather Moll
How do we feel about kidnapping in our romances? How do we feel when the hero and heroine are kidnapped together?
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This is a Pride and Prejudice variation where Darcy still makes his terrible proposal to Elizabeth and gets shot down. Elizabeth takes herself out for a walk after this, and kidnappers mistake her for Anne de Bourgh. Darcy sees her getting kidnapped and he gets taken along with her so that he can protect her (and also ‘cause he’s rich and can be ransomed for $$).
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Now, stuck together (gotta love that forced proximity!) and desperate to escape, Darcy and Elizabeth have to work together, get past their misunderstandings, and save themselves from danger.
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Adventure and angst await! Rising Courage is out now on KU!
Sex, Lies and Sensibility by Nikki Payne
Nora is not having a good year. She’s just discovered that she and her sister Yanne are her late father’s secret family, all they got left in the will was a barely habitable house in MAINE of all places, and oh yeah, her sex tape just went viral. With no options at home, she and Yanne head to Maine with hopes of fixing the place up and making it a viable inn before they run out of money.
Bear has a habit of taking on more responsibility than he can handle, and the weight of his Abenaki community rests on his shoulders. If his tourism business fails, the community fails too—and it’s not looking good for business right now, especially since the abandoned house they use as a home base is suddenly un-abandoned by a beautiful woman and her sister. But maybe if they work together, all of them can succeed—or maybe it’ll bring all of them down?
This is a modern retelling of Sense and Sensibility, and in Nikki’s capable hands, it’s fresh and funny and sexy. It’s out everywhere today!
(I’m not the editor on this one—just worked with Nikki on an early version of the story. But I’m always happy to hype her up!)
An Accidental Proposal by Melanie Rachel
This is a Pride and Prejudice variation in which Darcy doesn’t quite get the chance to put his foot in his mouth when proposing to Elizabeth for the first time (oops, spoiler for a 211-year-old book) because someone ELSE barges in and accidentally proposes (not to Elizabeth).
But as Darcy and Elizabeth sort out the implications of this other proposal between their friends, they get to know each other better, and both of them start to understand where they’ve gone wrong with each other in the past. But will they fall back into their old patterns before Darcy can propose properly this time?
Melanie always writes unique and banter-y Austen variations, and this one is no exception. An Accidental Proposal is out on Amazon and KU now!
An Old Acquaintance by Cat Andrews
Surprise! A brand-new release dropping from Cat Andrews just in time for Christmas!
This is a Pride and Prejudice-inspired modern second chance romance, where our Darcy is a musician trying to make it big and he meets Elizabeth at a Christmas frat party when they’re at college in the ‘80s. Except we start with them separated in the ‘90s.
We see the Christmases when he makes a disastrous first impression to their happier holidays together and then how things fracture and the awkward post-breakup run-ins in holidays following. So can they make it back together at a future holiday season?
As always with Cat’s stories, this gets deep into emotions and angst, plus the chemistry and heat that she brings to every book. An Old Acquaintance is available now on Amazon and KU!
Mr. Darcy's Christmas Letters by Melanie Rachel
SO. MUCH. PINING.
(And yes, it’s a pun, because Christmas.)
It’s release day for Melanie Rachel’s Mr. Darcy’s Christmas Letters!
Darcy didn’t come back to propose to Elizabeth after Lydia’s disastrous elopement, and he’s been regretting it ever since. He’s heading back to Hertfordshire for Bingley and Jane’s wedding in December and trying his best to respectfully stay away from Elizabeth. All he can do is write a letter to confess all his feelings, though he never intends to send it.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth has also been pining for him and wishing she didn’t waste her chance with him. When Darcy gets detained at Netherfield (for...nefarious reasons?), they’ll finally have a chance to actually clear the air—if Caroline Bingley doesn’t get in their way first. (And what happens with the letter? You’ll have to read to find out.)
A second-chance holiday novella that’s perfect for a cozy afternoon of reading! It’s out on Amazon and KU now!