Early Release Announcement!

GIVEAWAY WINNER: Mary Evan! Check your email for a notice from MJ Stratton!
Good morning, everyone! I have exciting news! Yesterday, To Marry for Love released EARLY! I had everything ready, so why not?

This book is a Darcy and Lizzy variation. Jane and Charlotte have a part to play, too! Here’s the blurb:

Determined to marry for affection, Elizabeth Bennet rejects her cousin’s proposal, unaware that doing so will throw those she loves most into turmoil. When her decision forces her sister Jane to marry without affection and leaves her dear friend Charlotte Lucas bereft of hope, Elizabeth is ensnared in a tangled web of interference and obligation.

Fitzwilliam Darcy is certain he’s left Hertfordshire and the beguiling, impertinent miss he met there behind, only to find her in Kent when next he visits his aunt. While Miss Elizabeth Bennet may seem indifferent to his presence, wrapped as she is in her own concerns, Darcy finds it impossible to mirror her disregard. But as his love for her comes to the fore, her mire of obligations and hope threatens to keep them apart.

To Marry for Love is a sweet, low-angst Pride and Prejudice Variation where Elizabeth, Jane, and Charlotte find love and happiness in an intricate dance of duty, honor, and second chances.

This book has been such a fun story to write. My good friend Jayne Bamber gifted me the plot bunny, and I am so grateful for how it all came together!

Elizabeth struggles in this variation. Having her dearest sister go against everything they both believed in rocks her word. She really has a hard time coming to terms with this paradigm shift. As a result, she stubbornly clings to preconceived notions. She is slow to understand that sometimes life may take a detour before we get where we want to go.

Darcy is kind of oblivious to Elizabeth’s struggles. He, too, clings to hasty judgments about certain characters. He’s the same loyal, kind, charming man, and when everything comes to light, he does not abandon Elizabeth or sulk. His love for her is true, and he wants to fight for their happy ending. How could Elizabeth resist such a charming, handsome man? (Spoiler alert, she can’t!)

I hope you enjoy reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it.

GIVEAWAY TIME! I will be giving ONE copy of To Marry for Love to someone who comments on the blog post! Tell me your favorite trope!

Cheers,

MJ

58 comments

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    • Lois on December 21, 2024 at 1:35 am
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    Forced married and rich Lizzy are two of my favorites. Congrats on the early release.

    • Anna W on December 21, 2024 at 1:57 am
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    My favorite is probably forced marriage, and then the couple determinedly making it work. If that counts as a trope? Strangers (or at least, not-friends) to lovers, I guess. So, accidental compromise, arranged marriage, misunderstood (lack of) affection, marriage of convenience, that type of thing.

    • Jenny S. on December 21, 2024 at 2:00 am
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    It’s hard to pick a favorite one; however, I always love the Darcy and Lizzie against the world stories . I like to see them working together without a ton of misunderstandings between them. Congratulations on your new release!

    • Wendy T on December 21, 2024 at 2:17 am
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    My favorite trope has to be friends to lovers, as that’s how my husband and I got together…friends from 8-23, and lovers from then on. Thx for the giveaway!

    • Sarah P. on December 21, 2024 at 2:44 am
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    My favourite troupe is Bad Jane, especially when combined with bad Mrs Bennet
    Congratulations on the early release

    • Sabrina on December 21, 2024 at 4:06 am
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    Enemies to lovers, forced proximity (without early marriage) with a little action, adventure or danger.

    • Glynis on December 21, 2024 at 6:37 am
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    My favourite is early marriage with ODC taking on the world together. I also love soul mates stories. Not a fan of endless misunderstandings.

      • Megan on December 22, 2024 at 1:42 pm
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      My favorite trope is forced marriage. But I also love Darcy rescuing Elizabeth from danger.

      1. I love both those tropes, too!

    • Audny on December 21, 2024 at 6:42 am
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    My favorite trope is when ODC comes together early and have to fight difficult obstacles together.

    • DarcyBennett on December 21, 2024 at 7:46 am
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    I have so many favorite tropes, it’s difficult to narrow to just one. I guess time travel/loops would be my favorite.

    • SAF on December 21, 2024 at 8:45 am
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    Can’t wait to read it!

    • Jeannette on December 21, 2024 at 9:05 am
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    I strongly favor the “trope” where Darcy and Elizabeth get together early in the story and fight the forces of evil together-as a team. I despise stories in which Elizabeth hangs on to her anger and acts like a spoiled 13 year through out the tale!

    • Robin G. on December 21, 2024 at 11:20 am
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    I am a sucker for forced marriage, but I have been into Elizabeth is not a Bennet lately. Congrats and best wishes on the new release!

    • Jen on December 21, 2024 at 11:57 am
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    Although I love just about anything with ODC, my least favorite are Elizabeth is not a Bennet or meet as kids and then reconnect as adults. Forced marriage is always a favorite as well as friends to lovers or enemies to lovers. I have enjoyed all your books and this one sounds great! Congrats!

    • Linda A. on December 21, 2024 at 1:14 pm
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    I also prefer the ones where Darcy and Elizabeth get together early and deal with life as a team.

      • Esther Robinson on December 24, 2024 at 12:02 am
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      My favorite are arranged marriages or forced marriage in an effort to save his/her family from despair and then they fall in love.

    • J. W. Garrett on December 21, 2024 at 1:20 pm
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    I love the many tropes available from the JAFF authors. They include: Not a Bennet, not raised Bennet, wealthy Bennet, titled Bennet [also includes wealth], high connections unknown to anyone, second Bennet wife [Fanny and her nerves get on mine], D&E working together, D&E falling in love early in the story, thwarting Caroline, Wickham, and other villains, and [I’m sorry to say] the NSN Jane [not-so-nice]. Yeah, bless her heart. She was too good for too long and we needed to see what was under that veneer. This new launch sounds exciting. I have many plot bunnies, but not the chops to pull it off. Your story sounds exciting.

    1. That’s a great list!

    • AUBRY Dominique on December 21, 2024 at 3:01 pm
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    a gift before Christmas. Forced proximity and danger.

    1. love those too!

    • Laura H on December 21, 2024 at 3:29 pm
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    Thanks for sharing about your new book. I would very much enjoy reading it. I would have to say when D&E choose/decide/are forced to marry to help family, then realize it was meant to be is a favorite trope of mine.

    1. Thanks! I hope you love it.

    • Sheila L. Majczan on December 21, 2024 at 4:32 pm
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    I am reading this now.

    • Terri on December 21, 2024 at 7:27 pm
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    Read this book loved it.

    1. I am so happy to hear that!

      1. hope you’re enjoying it!

        1. Oh boy! Hope you’re loving it

    • Rana Mualla on December 21, 2024 at 7:57 pm
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    It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

  1. Congratulations on the new (and early) release! (No need to enter me into the giveaway; just wanted to say yay for your exciting news!)

    1. Thanks!

    • A. Woolfolk on December 21, 2024 at 9:30 pm
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    Can’t wait to read it!

    1. hope you enjoy it!

    • Glory on December 21, 2024 at 10:11 pm
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    Congratulations! A trope where they come together early in the story

    1. Yes, I love those! Forced or amicable, both are great.

    • Veronica on December 22, 2024 at 12:30 am
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    Having just semi-recently started my foray into JAFF, I had to think about my answer your question regarding my favorite trope, since there are so many great ones to choose from! Maybe unexpected inheritances, interventions by “fate” (i.e., loved your Christmas Charms series) , and ODC starting off as misunderstanding oppenents who get put into a different situation and thus learn new prespectives. I don’t typically care for a ton of angst, but I do like to wonder “what’s gonna happen next??” Congratulations on the early release, and looking forward to reading this book!

    1. I am so glad you loved the Charms series! I love playing with the side characters.

    • Destiny on December 22, 2024 at 5:47 am
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    My favourite is the resistance Darcy and Elizabeth have toward each other and the slow but revealing loss of that resistance

    • Destiny on December 22, 2024 at 5:49 am
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    My favourite is the resistance Darcy and Elizabeth have toward each other

    1. YES! The tension is epic.

    • Amie on December 22, 2024 at 1:34 pm
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    Congratulations! And Merry Christmas! In my most romantic mindseye, the only trope that brings me back to Ms. Austen time and time is the happy ending for the heroine. She grows a little and changes, but is happy by the end.

    1. HEA is completely necessary!

        • Veronica on December 23, 2024 at 8:40 pm
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        Agreed, absolutely!!

    • Mary Even on December 22, 2024 at 3:10 pm
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    I struggle when things do not go as I had planned! However, I have come to realize that the Lord is planning everything for my good if only I will follow his lead. I am a die hard fan of everything Jane Austin, even variations!! Can’t wait to read this one!!!

    1. What a great outlook!

    • Jo Dubé on December 22, 2024 at 6:38 pm
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    Thank you for the opportunity to enter this giveaway!

    I love all things Austen. I think my favourite trope must be the resolution of a misunderstanding.

    1. There seem to be a lot of misunderstandings between ODC!

    • Hannah on December 22, 2024 at 7:20 pm
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    Sounds like a lovely retelling/adaptation.

    1. Thanks!

    • Alannah Little on December 22, 2024 at 9:59 pm
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    I am a Caregiver in Calgary. I have a client who started the Jane Austen Society in Calgary Alberta awhile back. She would love to receive the new book. Her Niece just gave her the big book of relatives and places where they had done stories for Christmas. She’s looking forward to reading it.

    1. That sounds lovely!

    • Corrine Hudson on December 23, 2024 at 7:25 am
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    Pride and Prejudice is my absolute favorite stories . And I am excited to read your version.

    1. Thanks!

  2. I think we have seen many variations of E rejecting Collins, but rarely did Jane accept him. The indication that Jane thrives and comes into her own in this role is interesting.
    That E’s decision has unforseen consequences is a definite draw, but how E & D’s characters are written is always the key for me. Can’t wait to see!

    1. I hope you love it!

    • Cheryl on December 23, 2024 at 11:17 pm
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    Wonderful book! I gave it 5 stars on KU and will re-read it many times. Really entertaining and very good writing!

    • Laura on December 26, 2024 at 4:38 pm
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    I could not have parted with you dear Lizzy for anyone less worthy

    • Tina Watts on December 27, 2024 at 10:58 am
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    Love a good friends to lovers tale, marriage of convenience or forced proximity tale!
    Happy New Year!

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