A 99-cent Boxed Set…and a New Scene from Pride, Prejudice & the Perfect Bet by Marilyn Brant

Matthew M - hey girl - readingAhhhh, Mr. Darcy would be very impressed indeed with all of us and our extensive reading!! 🙂

I’m hoping he’ll be equally impressed with our extensive writing…which, in my case, resulted in finally getting to type THE END on my sequel to Pride, Prejudice and the Perfect Match — my upcoming novel PRIDE, PREJUDICE AND THE PERFECT BET!!! (*wild confetti toss*) The first half of the book has been edited and revised. The second half of the book is in the process of being edited with revisions to be finished in late June. Then comes proofreading…and formatting…and it’ll be ready for release before the end of July!!

In celebration, below is a scene I haven’t shown to ANYONE but my editor yet. It’s about midway through the novel and it introduces a character that the readers have only heard about in passing up until now: Trey Willoughby, Jane’s ex-boyfriend. Hope you’ll like it! (BTW, if you haven’t read the two other scenes I’ve posted from the story and would like to, they’re here: Scene One and Scene Two.) And please don’t miss the special 99-cent boxed set sale announcement at the bottom of this post!!

From PRIDE, PREJUDICE AND THE PERFECT BET:

Given all that had gone on over the past couple of days, Jane hadn’t had the most restful of weekends. So, when Monday morning rolled around, she was understandably tired, still ticked at her brother for all the upheaval he’d caused, and wondering what had possessed her to call out Bingley on that bet.

At work, slumping in her desk chair in the school psychology office, she stared at her cell phone. Bingley had already texted her about setting up a time to wash her car tomorrow afternoon.

So soon? she typed back during her first break. You still have houseguests…don’t you?

Yep. But I have a chaperone in place, he replied.

It was the message that followed that sealed the deal, though.

Charlie wants to be my carwash helper & his friend Mikey is gonna join us, too. Good old guy bonding time.

What could Jane say to that? Bingley knew she had a soft spot when it came to Beth’s son.

So she texted, Want me to bring the boys home after school?

Nope! We’ve got it all arranged already.

Okay, she typed. See you tomorrow @5.

Then she studied the manila file folder in front of her—Charlie’s. The first round of aptitude testing had gone well. She compared his scores to the mean for his age range and noticed definite spikes in certain subject areas—verbal skills especially.

Now she had some hard proof. Good.

Jane was looking forward to being able to coordinate with the gifted/talented program heads some language arts enrichment activities for him and for a handful of other students in their grade.

There were many areas in her life where she felt confused and even powerless, but this was something she could do. She hoped it would expand Charlie’s world a bit more, help him make a few new school friends and keep that infectious grin on his sweet face. She didn’t want to see any of these bright students have their eagerness to learn stamped out of them just because they weren’t being challenged as much as they needed to be.

Despite her exhaustion and the tons of paperwork ahead, Jane’s day was starting to look up. Until she heard her email ding.

She checked her inbox, staring in disbelief at the name she saw on the computer screen. A name—a man—she hadn’t expected to cross her path ever again.

Trey Willoughby.

PerfectBet - Brant - FINAL - smallWHAT?! Why him? Why now?

A part of her wanted to delete his message, sight unseen. But the crazy, overly curious girl who’d had her heart broken by that cheater couldn’t help but click on it.

Idiotic inquisitiveness. It’d be the death of her.

Jane, his email began. Followed by his old nickname for her, Red…

I know I’m probably the last person you ever expected to hear from—

Boy, did he get that part right, she thought.

—especially after the way things ended between us a few years ago. But I’ve been thinking about you. A lot. I just moved back to the city of Chicago after having spent the last eighteen months working in the Pacific Northwest. I wrote a lot of new poems about rain and fog out there…it was hard not to be influenced by it…but I wrote about you, too. About us.

I still feel bad about what happened during college, and I know I owe you an apology. A personal one.

Any chance you would let me at least buy you a drink some night?

Trey

Oh, crap.

Jane read and reread the message.

Her hands shook as she moved the mouse. The cursor hovered on the screen, dancing indecisively between the REPLY and the DELETE buttons. She should ignore him. She should not only erase all digital traces of him from her email account, she should obliterate every memory of him from her mind, too.

Scary thing was, she thought she had. She thought she’d gotten over him.

Yet, just seeing his name in front of her sent her time traveling. Back to the maelstrom of emotions she’d felt when she was with him. Not only the lows, which had slayed her and forever altered her ability to trust a man, but the highs, too, which she hadn’t allowed herself to feel since she left Trey either. Kissing Bingley in the coat room was the closest she’d come to letting someone in again, and look at how well that had turned out?

But she was a student of psychology after all. She knew when there was unfinished business in her life. She either had to give in and go to therapy so she could finally move on, or she had to face her ex-boyfriend and get closure that way.

She typed: You do owe me an apology, Trey. A drink won’t change anything but, sure, you can buy me one sometime.

Jane squeezed her eyes shut and clicked SEND. She didn’t expect a response but, hey, at least she was taking control and slamming the ball back into his court. He probably wouldn’t set a firm date anyway. Follow through had never been his strong suit.

Which was why she was stunned all over again when her email dinged a second time.

Good, he wrote back. How about tonight?

***

LLHEA_CoverFinal_3D-smallerWhat did you think??! I’d love to hear your thoughts on the scene! 😀

Also: BIG NEWS — I have a special Reader Appreciation Sale going on right now along with seven other writing friends. If you’re a fan of romantic comedy, we have a *limited edition* boxed set with EIGHT full-length contemporary romances in it — all by New York Times, USA TODAY or National Bestselling Authors — called the LOVE, LAUGHTER & HAPPILY EVER AFTERS collection, and it’s just $0.99 for June!

I’ve included the description below — it releases officially on June 24th and will only be available for a short time — but it’s up for pre-order at AMAZON (worldwide), B&N and iBOOKS/APPLE right now. (Kobo and Google Play will be coming, too). Hope it’s something you might enjoy!!

DESCRIPTION: Just in time for summer!  An all-star collaboration by some of today’s most popular bestselling contemporary romance authors.  From the funny and sweet to the steamy and heartfelt, this collection has it all, with eight full-length FUN, romantic love stories hand-picked to bring a smile to your face while you’re lounging out in the sun this summer.  

This limited edition boxed set will only be available until July so get yours today!

COLLECTION INCLUDES:
— ON ANY GIVEN SUNDAE — by USA Today Bestselling Author Marilyn Brant
— FINDING THE RIGHT GIRL — by NY Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Violet Duke
— SWEET TO YOU — by iBooks and Barnes & Noble Bestselling Author Jessie Evans
— UNAFRAID — by USA Today Bestselling Author Melody Grace
— LOVE LOVE — by Amazon Bestselling Author Beth Michele
— TEMPTING LOVE — by Amazon Bestselling Author Melanie Shawn
— NOT OVER YOU — by NY Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Marquita Valentine
— And in her much-anticipated indie debut, Samhain bestselling author Erin Nicholas with the never-before-published novel, GETTING OUT OF HAND.

Happy Friday the 13th, all — I’ve always considered it a day of GOOD luck!! — and may you have a wonderful weekend 😉 .

29 comments

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    • Liz Castillo on June 13, 2014 at 12:25 am
    • Reply

    Yay!!! It’s finished!! I love the tease and am soooo looking forward to reading it!!

    Congrats on the box set! It looks great and I cannot wait have some time to read it! Although I am biased, I think yours would be the best!

    1. Liz, thank you for celebrating “the end” of the drafting with me!!!! I’m so excited to be this close to finally getting to share this story with you all! And I could hug you for your “biased” opinion 🙂 . Thanks for being so supportive and sweet!! xox

    • Joy Dawn King on June 13, 2014 at 12:35 am
    • Reply

    Marilyn,

    Great excerpt. Does she say “yes” to Trey’s “how about tonight?” (Sigh! Put hands on hips and stomp the floor!) It can’t be out soon enough. As for the boxed set -I’m pre-ordered. Yippee! Thanks for the great deal. We’re heading back to South America next week so will have more time and less distractions to read and write. Perfectly timed release.

    1. Joy, I’m so glad you liked the excerpt!! Thank you! You know I can’t reveal Jane’s next move…but, let’s just say, it was fun to write Trey and add in such a great creator of conflict, LOL. Thanks so much for getting the boxed set (!!) and YAY on your trip to South America! I hope you’ll have a fabulous time and will keep us all updated online with your adventures 😀 .

    • Ceri on June 13, 2014 at 2:22 am
    • Reply

    Yaaaay! Well done on finishing you book.

    Poor Jane. She was such a sweetie in the first book, I hope she has all her defences up!

    1. Thanks, Ceri! It’s a thrill to finally get to the last page!!
      And Jane… well, the good news is that we know she ends up with the right guy 🙂 .

    • Anji on June 13, 2014 at 4:23 am
    • Reply

    Aargh, don’t do it Jane! A guy named Willoughby can be nothing but bad news!

    Congrats on finishing the book, Marilyn. I’ve yet to read it’s predecessor (apart from the free sample on the Kindle store) but it IS on my very long TBR list!

    Thanks for the heads-up on the box set. Just put my pre-order in. For those of us in the UK, it costs out at 77p. Not bad for EIGHT full length novels, I’d say.

    1. Anji, yay on getting the boxed set! Thank you!!! Yes, 77p in the UK and the equivalent to about $1 US in Canada, Australia, NZ and more. It’s been a treat for us as authors to get to host this sale as a special thank you to our awesome readers! And thanks for adding Perfect Match to your TBR list 🙂 .

  1. Wow just read all the excerpts! So I have just purchased the perfect match so that I am ready! I pre-ordered the boxset last week 🙂 keep up the good work!

    1. Tamara,
      Thank you SO much on both counts — I hope you’ll love all the stories in the boxed set and I’ve got my fingers crossed that you’ll enjoy Perfect Match and Perfect Bet!! *hugs*
      😀

    • Jennifer Redlarczyk on June 13, 2014 at 9:24 am
    • Reply

    That’s an amazing offer. I love your books and haven’t read all in the collection. Can’t wait for the new one. Jen Red

    1. Jen, thank you!!! So pleased to know you love my books — that is a HUGE day brightener — and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate knowing that 😉 .

  2. I enjoyed the excerpt, Marilyn, and thanks for sharing the .99 deal! You and I are just about at the same stage – finished drafts needing a little polish before publishing later this summer. Feels good, doesn’t it?

    1. Shannon, it feels fabulous! Congrats again to you on finishing yours — this is going to be an exciting summer!! And thanks –I’m so glad you enjoyed the excerpt 😉 .

  3. Oh Jane, you can’t trust someone named Trey Willoughby!! Come on, girl! I mean, not that I’ve been in a similar situation or anything…no, not at all…. *shifty eyes* (not with Trey Willoughby, though).

    YAY for completed books!!! TingleyBingley must be so relieved to get his HEA. Great job, lady, and I can’t wait to read it.

    1. Monica, thank you!!
      And I’m telling ya, “TingleyBingley” owes YOU for a lot of my determination to get to the end of this book, since you gave him a nickname that makes me laugh whenever I think of it. My personal mantra this year has been, “I’ve got to finish writing TingleyBingley…” 🙂
      I hope Jane was listening to you about not trusting men named Willoughby. But I think she (like many of us, unfortunately) has to have at least one such ex in her past… Austen’s scoundrels are alive and well today, aren’t they?!
      xox

      1. Tell Bingley he’s welcome. Lol! I can imagine you sitting there typing, like “Gah, Tingles, hurry up and get your life sorted out so I can be done with you and she can shut up about it!”

        1. LOLOL!!
          TingleyBingley & I both adore you, Monica! 🙂

    • Deborah on June 13, 2014 at 5:32 pm
    • Reply

    OK. Just hit comment & my post went into oblivion
    Let’s try again. You finished! Yeah! Confetti, balloons, bunnly. & Godiva Chocolate! Enjoyed the excerpt, but it only wet my appetite for more. I don’t want to wait until July…(sniff), I think you folks love torturing us and we are crazy (insane) enough to keep coming back for more torture. :-). Trey has got to be bad news. What does he want from Jane? He’s got to be up to no good. I do appreciate your sharing the excerpt for us. It has truly wet my appetite for more.

    Thank you and your fellow authors for the generous offer on the boxed set. I preordered it from B & N last weekend. I am looking forward to reading it.

      • Deborah on June 13, 2014 at 5:33 pm
      • Reply

      Sorry….not bunnly…supposed to be bubbly

      1. I read it as “bunny” at first — I like bunnies!! — but “bubbly” is good too! 😀

          • Deborah on June 13, 2014 at 6:52 pm
          • Reply

          I too like bunnies, but they make me sneeze. 🙁

    1. Deborah,
      You’ve been so wonderful and supportive!! Thank you for pre-ordering the boxed set! I’m hoping you’ll love the whole collection 😉 . And YAY — I love the confetti and all the treats (Godiva – YUM! 🙂 ) and I especially appreciate your celebrating with me and reading the new excerpt! I’m thrilled you enjoyed it!

    • Sheila L. M. on June 13, 2014 at 8:31 pm
    • Reply

    I enjoyed “Perfect Match” so am looking forward to this follow-up. I went back and re-read the first excerpt as I didn’t remember all the details…memory is slipping, I guess. And I already ordered the $.99 set. I have to cool it as I now have a bunch on my kindle to read and others on my Wish List I really, really want to get my hands on. Tantalizing tease when I read the reviews and the samples! And now it seems that there are about a half dozen authors whose second or third in a series are coming out in the next 3 months. But “Count Your Blessings” I must remember!

    Congratulations on finishing and thanks for sharing all the goodies along with the excerpt.

    Having only been on these various “JAFF” sites and blogs for 6 months, I treasure all the shared WIPs, comments, reviews, etc. Icing on the cake would be if I could meet everyone. But happy for what I have.

    1. Sheila,
      I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed Perfect Match and reread the earlier excerpt, too! And THANK YOU for the congrats on finishing Perfect Bet and for ordering the boxed set, too! I truly hope you’ll like the collection of stories it contains!
      And I know all about a towering TBR list… (I literally have *hundreds* of books waiting for me on my Kindle, and there are more upcoming novels I know I’m going to buy!)
      These blogs and online social media sites are really wonderful for connecting with Austen friends near and far. Glad we’ve gotten to know you this year!! 😉

  4. Marilyn, congrats on finally finishing the book. Your excerpt is delicious and this Trey character is certainly a mystery. Why did he break Jane’s heart and thus turn her into a woman who does not let anyone easily into her heart? I’m looking forward to read The Perfect Bet when it comes out so I can read both your books back-to-back.

    1. Lúthien,
      Thank you so much!! I love that you called the excerpt “delicious” (it’s one of my favorite words!!) and that you’re looking forward to reading both of the “Perfect” series books 🙂 . I can’t wait to get to release this new one and finally get to share it with you all!
      Hope you have a wonderful weekend!! xox

    • Carole in Canada on June 16, 2014 at 10:04 pm
    • Reply

    Congratulations! Can’t wait for it to come out! Loved the excerpt and at first I read ‘Trey Wickham’ not ‘Trey Willoughby’! The mind does strange things sometimes!!! Heading over to pre-order the box set! Thanks!

    1. LOL, Carole!!
      Just saw your comment now, btw…it’s been nutty around here!
      Thank you so much for the congrats and the kind words 😉 .

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