Freebies, ‘Coming Soon’ & A Scatterbrained Mamma

Good morning!

Thanks for stopping by for a chat today.

I think you’ve already guessed which scatter-brained mamma I’m thinking of.

Photo: BBC

Poor Mrs Bennet! In a time when no one had any understanding of genetics, it was regarded as the woman’s fault, and she was seen as having failed her husband, if she did not provide him with a son and heir.

And then there is Mr Collins and the entail, and a husband who would not exert himself for the good of the family, and often amuses himself at her expense.

In many ways, I think Mr Bennet does little to deserve Elizabeth’s affection, but that’s a different story. It’s her mother who tries to ensure that the girls have some security, even if she’s a nightmare in the ways she goes about it, and her concern for their welfare is mixed with a hefty dose of selfishness, and she mortifies her sensible daughters every time she opens her mouth.

As it happens, Mrs Bennet opens her mouth an awful lot in my upcoming book.

Here’s a little taster:

Excerpt from Chapter 12

“Ah, Lizzy! I was just coming up to speak with you. This way, come. Come into my chamber, we have much to discuss. You too, Jane. You always give good counsel. Now then, Hill and I have just had a good rummage through the pantry, the larder, the meat safe and the cellar to see what could be done about tomorrow’s dinner. Mercy me, I did not imagine that Mr Darcy would return so soon! The shock I had when I came home and found him in the parlour! All I could think of was the ox cheek! There was no time to rustle up anything better, not at half an hour’s notice, and there I was, struck dumb, with this spinning in my head: how am I to ask Mr Darcy to sit down to ox cheek and dumplings? I thought I should faint dead away when your father invited him to stay for dinner, with nary a notion of consulting me beforehand! Praise be, Mr Darcy had the goodness to refuse. I expect he saw me blanch. Oh, girls, this is the mark of good breeding: a gentleman from the highest circles never puts his hostess on the spot! Well, there we are. With any luck, by tomorrow night I will have done better than ox cheek. Thank goodness, we still have a good supply of fine wines, port and brandy, cheeses, dates and candied pineapple, for I shall not spend another farthing at Valpy’s. It will be inconvenient to send John further afield, but so be it. Never again shall that woman have my custom! Nor shall I waste my breath speaking of her and her confounded shop. Let us concern ourselves with things of significance. So, tomorrow’s dinner: there will be a saddle of lamb, and partridges, and venison – is Mr Darcy fond of venison, Lizzy, do you know? And what sort of fish does he favour? Oh, no matter,” she said with a wide flourish of her hand when Elizabeth could not oblige with an answer to either question. “We shan’t be able to procure it for tomorrow anyway. John brought back some carp this morning. I hope Mr Darcy is not averse to carp, if it is properly dressed. Though goodness knows if Hill can prepare it to his satisfaction. I suppose he has two or three French cooks at least.”

‘Heavens, never mind his cooks!’ Elizabeth thought with growing impatience. Yet, mindful as ever of what was owed one’s parents, she kept herself in check and evenly said, “You keep an excellent table, Mamma. No one can find fault with it, however many French cooks they might have. But pray let us set aside tomorrow’s dinner for the moment. There is something that Jane and I think you should know.”

© 2021 Joana Starnes

Image sources: Pixabay

If you’d like to know a few things too, here they come:

The title: Twists of Fate

Coming in July (fingers crossed!)

The (possibly final) blurb: What if Mr Collins were to shock Elizabeth with his base conduct at the time of his proposal, thus sending her dashing out of her house, and into the arms of Mr Darcy? What if that encounter was witnessed, and impropriety was assumed? Evil rumours, an early marriage, a dreadful misunderstanding, an old secret, and good intentions gone awry. What if the ‘I do’ is not the end, but the start of the adventure?

So, it’s a marriage of necessity, but not exactly forced. By the time they get to the ‘I do,’ Mr. Darcy is exceedingly pleased (of course 😀 ), and Elizabeth’s qualms are quickly vanishing;

Elizabeth sees Wickham for what he is very early in the story;

Darcy gets the wrong end of the stick big time and makes a BIG DEAL of it. So there is angst (of course there’s angst 😀 ), but it’s mixed with plenty of besottedness (I LOVE your word, Glynis! It’s absolutely perfect for Mr and Mrs Darcy!);

There’s a good chance that the old secret and 1-2 other things will land me in the village stocks, to be pelted with fruit & veg; (No turnips, please!!!)

Excerpts, giveaways, and the cover reveal coming soon (from 17 June).

Which brings me to the Freebies:

Some of my older covers have had a makeover, and I’m really pleased with the way they turned out. The same goes for the new sample videos, especially this one:

(I absolutely adore this Colonel Fitzwilliam, by the way. Talk about rugged manliness & not as handsome as Darcy but WOW!!)

To celebrate the new covers, The Falmouth Connection and The Unthinkable Triangle can be downloaded for FREE from the start of today, Mon 24 May till midnight PDT on Wed 26 May. Please follow the links below. (The promotion runs in Pacific Daylight Time, so it kicks in 3 hrs after this post goes live).

 

Thanks for reading and see you on 17 June!